Whoever Wants to Reach a Distant Goal Must Take Small Steps

Someone once said, "Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps". I think this is so true. So now, I am trying to set small daily goals. I am sharing my daily goals with the other local Biggest Loser contestants and challenging them to do the same. Today the goal was to drink 64oz and do 500 jumping jacks through out the day. Done! Last night I had done a tough leg workout with my trainer so doing the jacks was actually hard but hopefully it will help with my soreness tomorrow. I did 50 jacks every half hour.

I am going to try and set small little goals like this every day for the group. Please submit a comment or email slimdogmillionaires@gmail.com if you have any ideas for the daily goal and I will try and incorporate them.

Goal for tomorrow...do 100 pushups through out the day and don't eat anything after 7PM. (I think the 64oz of water should be every day)

Pop!!

Mmm...I have discovered PopChips. They are super yummy and all natural. They are not fried or baked but popped! They come in several different flavors and a serving size is 23 chips. These are 120 calories of pure deliciousness. They have zero saturated fat, zero trans fat, no artificial flavors or colorings, and no preservatives.

I don't see them at Walmart but Target and Kroger (Fred Meyer) has them. You should give them a try. They actually taste good and aren't like one of those gross baked chips. Let me know what you think and share your favorite snacks.

Fat girls don't wear True Religion

So just in case you were wondering True Religion jeans are only for girls with a 24-32 inch waist. Well, since last time I measured my waist it was like 40" that means I won't be getting a pair anytime soon. For the past 10 years I have been wearing the tried and true Levis. I always get the bootcut, mid rise, with a little stretch. I have also bought a few pairs of Old Navy jeans but don't think I have even bought those for the past 5 years. Well, all my jeans are old, are about to get holes in the legs from my huge thighs rubbing together and they are all too big. I was in desperate need of new pair. Since I am planning on slimming down even more though, I wasn't willing to spend much.

I had seen several commercials for the Riders by Lee jeans which instantly slim you. I was a little skeptical about buying my jeans at Walmart but this post is to tell you that I love them! For $18.95 I got myself a new pair of comfortable, flattering jeans. The good news is that these come in sizes 4-30 and also come in petite (short), reg and long. The other good news is that when I bought them I was in a big hurry and I quickly just picked up a size 16. I am going to keep them since they are comfy however I am going back to get one more pair and to get a size 14 because these are too big! Yippee!

Stacy London from "What not to Wear" is the promoter of these new Lee jeans. I was ordering my 14s online and was reading some of her tips. One of them that I found super funny & some helpful. She says "A common style pitfall for an apple shaped woman is wearing a jean that is too low in the rise. If the waistband of the jean sits too low, the tummy spills out over the top of the pant. Not a good look. Keep the muffin in the pan!"

These jeans have stretch which is nice, they have a mid-rise tummy control panel, are boot cut and have a no-gap waist! If you're looking for a cheap pair of jeans you should check them out.

Family Fun Weekend

It has been a while since we had a family fun weekend so this weekend we planned a trip to Chattanooga, TN. It is only about 1 hr & 45 minutes away and has quite a bit to offer. There are lots of things to do there in the summer but in the winter it is hard to find things. Chattanooga is home to the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discover Children's Museum. We left Saturday morning around 10AM and spent Saturday at the aquarium, spent the night in a hotel and took the kids swimming in their heated indoor pool, and then today we spent the day at the children's museum. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. Even the baby had fun looking at all the fish and playing. Our friends Karen, Dusting and their daughter Brianna met us Saturday for lunch and the aquarium.

While we had a great time and it was fun to get away it is so hard to stay good on a diet! When you eat out, you don't know exactly how many calories are in things and you feel like since you are on vacation that it is okay to cheat a little. When we first got there I had a half of a grilled chicken sandwich and a cup of clam chowder. The part that really killed me though was the room service we got once heading back to the hotel. We were all tired from a long day at the aquarium, it was cold outside and we decided that it would be too hard to pack everyone up to go out to eat again. I scanned the room service menu. It was a little pricey and I didn't want to spend too much. The only things very reasonable were the sandwiches. I had already had a grilled chicken for lunch so the only other thing that sounded good was a hamburger. It said it came with garlic aioli. Well my friend Jordan makes these awesome veggie paninis with garlic aioli. They are so yummy. When I read the menu and saw that the burger came with aioli I just couldn't resist. So I ordered it. Travis had the same. The part that really pissed me off though......is that if it had any aioli on it, I couldn't taste and or see it. So I wasted all those calories and didn't even really get what I wanted. Tonight I plan to shred it off.

So this week is the big week to hit the 179! It is going to be very tough, as I had said, it is very lofty! However, I am going to try my hardest. I already told Travis what the 4 goals are and that he is to hold me accountable.
1) Shred it video everyday
2) 2-32 oz Nalgenes of water per day
3) Constant wear of the Bodybugg
4) Track all points with weight watchers on phone and do not go over daily allotment

Travis is supposed to check and make sure that I do all of these things each day!

Healthy Living Expo

Koli, Ashley, Me & Sherry

(Season 9, Biggest Loser Cast)

So, today was the Healthy Living Expo in Knoxville. My friend Nikki and I packed up the kids and decided to see what all they had to offer. There were tons of booths and exhibits. The season 9 Biggest Loser Cast was there and of course I had to get a picture. It is so exciting to see them. They have lost so much weight and it is inspiring.

There were exercise classes available and cooking demonstrations, etc but with the kids we couldn't really participate in that stuff. It was fun to walk around and see what they had to offer but there was also a lot of gimmicks. Wraps that melt off fat, the shake weight, the magic pills and so on. We all know that stuff doesn't work. The funniest thing today though was the lady trying to sell me her scientifically different wrap that was going to make me skinny. The funny thing though is that the lady selling it to me was fat. haha. I wanted to ask her if it worked so good why she didn't use it. It was also interesting just to people watch. It was also interesting that some of the Bariatric surgeons are overweight themselves and so is their office staff. Don't get me wrong...I don't want to buy weight loss products from super models with a six pack but I don't want to buy a magic fat pill from a fat lady....that isn't magic.

Anyway, it was fun. It is still going on tomorrow at the Knoxville Convention Center. Since we will be out of town for the weekend, you all will have to wait till Monday for another post.

In Ink

Well, I was going to put my goal of 179 on my arm next Saturday but tonight as I was talking to a friend, she was like you need to do it now! Maybe then you will even lose more if you focus on it. She also challenged any of my friends doing the Biggest Loser challenge to put their goals for the week on their arms in support. She is going to do it too!

So here it is! In permanent ink! I know that I can do it.....January 30th here I come. I haven't been in the 170s in over 10 years. I am also really looking forward to a size 14. I am so close. I have two pairs that fit. I think getting to 179 might just be the ticket!

Today I taught two CPR classes and then came home put the kids to bed and convinced Travis to do the "Shred" video with me. We both got our workout clothes on and did it at 10PM. The thing I love about the Shred is that you only need some hand weights and 20 minutes and you can totally do it. Makes it hard to make excuses. Last night Travis went skiing and my friend Nikki came over and did it with me. I can not tell you how great it is to have other people supporting me. It makes it way more fun to workout when you do it with friends. It has been nice making new friends at the gym too. I love my little workout group on Thursday nights. Sad, I had to miss this week and next week too but I'm planning to go to a make up session on Monday. Headed out of town for the weekend so have to watch what I eat so closely! I think it was good that I wrote it on my arm today. I don't think I would of worked out if I hadn't; especially after working from 11-9.

My plan is to do it tomorrow too and to take the video with me on our trip as well as my hand weights. I can do it with the MAC book in the hotel. I am also looking forward to all the walking and some swimming. I bought the baby her first bikini today. Pics coming soon.

Lofty

Okay so I am shooting for a two pound loss this week. That will put me at 184. I just got done watching Biggest Loser and one of the contestants wanted to weight under 350 for their way in; it had been years since he weighed less. He wrote 349 on his inside forearm with a permanent maker. It reminded him every day of what his goal was. It was a lofty one too. That was a 15 pound weight loss for one week. He ended up almost making it and weighing in at 350 (a 14 pound loss).

Well, I am about to do the same thing and set a lofty goal. We all know I am not on the Biggest Loser so 15 pounds would be totally unrealistic but I believe that I can lose 5 pounds and see 179 by the next weigh in on Jan 30th. It has been 10 years since I have seen the 170s. I'll take a picture of my arm and post it!

This weekend we are headed to Chattanooga for a weekend of family fun. We are going to the aquariums and the Children's Discovery Museum. We will be staying in a hotel one night (got one with a pool so the kids can swim). This will mean that I have to be very careful because we will be eating out for those meals on Saturday and Sunday.

I know that I can do it! So excited to get out of the 180s!!