Hot 100 - Final Update!

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Well, here it is the last day of 2010 and also the last Hot 100 update. It has certainly flown by!

Outwardly I'm sure it doesn't show that I've had success at the Hot 100, but as I have mentioned before, this challenge wasn't about dropping lots of weight (at the moment). It was about getting my knowledge in line with my motivation.

And with that in mind - I am calling it a success.

In 2011 I will be hitting a new decade. I'll be entering my 40's at the end of the year and I have set the goal to be "Fit by 40." I have 365 days to make that happen. Well, technically a bit less since my birthday is at the start of December, but 300+ days is still a good amount of time!

Last week my goals were:

• Stay off the DMD! Drink water and tea only with an occasional Fuze or Life Water. I've still been working on this one. I've had three DMD's this week total. 
• Bed by 11pm every night. Didn't happen for a couple of reasons. One night this week my middle son had a really bad ear infection so I was up until 1:30 in the morning with him. I had another night where I was up past 11, but for the most part I am making it to bed by 11pm. 
• Begin a journal/diary/record of my life. I bought the journal. I will be sitting down today to map out my plan for 2011. I also found a new site online through another blog I read. It's called "My Plate" at the LiveStrong website. You can track calories and exercise. And it's free.

While I didn't end the Hot 100 weighing less than when I started, I'm also not heavier. I've maintained these last few months while I worked on motivation and habits. Without changing either one of those things, nothing else would have changed either.

The new year is set to be a great one and I can't wait to see what it has in store. Here's to a Great Day!

Hot 100 - Update #13

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Merry Christmas to one and all!!! This week has probably been one of my worst yet. Blah! I'm completely and totally blaming it on the holidays. My schedule this week has been very crazy busy and the extra holiday goodies have not helped at all - neither has the stress.

Last week goals:

• Stay off the DMD! Drink water and tea only with an occasional Fuze or Life Water.  I had a total of about three DMD's this week. I found myself reaching for them as a reflex. I'll be working on this more.
• Sleep! Get to sleep! Head to bed when hubby does. (He has to be up by 5am for work so he typically is in bed before 10pm.)  I did stay up Tuesday night to see the lunar eclipse. I was up until 2am when I finally realized we had total cloud cover and nothing could be seen. I had no other really late nights but I know I had at least one where I was up past 11. Most nights found me in bed by then so I am getting better on this one.
• Exercise - three days this week - 30 mins. Plan to use my Biggest Loser Wii game plus my Biggest Loser DVD using that for weight training. Zip, Zero, zilch, nada. I will be adding this in.

While the "Hot 100" challenge will be ending next week, I will be continuing on this journey. I have committed verbally to riding the Trek Across Maine in 2012 and being "Fit by 40" which happens in 2011. All of these goals will be met. I have made myself accountable here and with my family. 

Next week's goals will be.....

• Stay off the DMD! Drink water and tea only with an occasional Fuze or Life Water.
• Bed by 11pm every night.
• Begin a journal/diary/record of my life.

Here's to a great day!

I wanted to leave you all with this little nugget of truth I read on MercyMe's Facebook page....

My mom in law told me it's not how it's wrapped, it's what's inside. Everytime I look in the mirror I'm reminded of this nugget of truth (via @bartmillard) (Bart Millard - lead singer of MercyMe)

Hot 100 - Update #12

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The end is fast approaching to the Hot 100 - just two more weeks. Where do I stand? Physically probably not much better than I was back in September when I started this whole thing. However, emotionally I am light years ahead. And frankly - that is what I needed to focus on. Without that the weight loss would continue to be a desire with nothing to back it up. I am now feeling like I can start this journey and for the first time succeed.

Goals for last week were:

• Stay off the DMD! Drink water and tea only. I still had 4 DMD's this week total. I've finally come to the realization that this is not something I should have even on occasion. Tonight I had my last one. No more. 
• Sleep! Get to sleep! Must be in bed by 11pm every night. I may not be asleep, but I must be in bed. Less chance of letting other things keep me up way past midnight. I failed again at this. There are no more excuses. I will be heading to bed when my hubby does instead of staying up until all hours of the night. Not only am I cheating myself but my family as well.
• Exercise - need to get moving!  No exercise this week.

For my last two weeks here are my goals:

• Stay off the DMD! Drink water and tea only with an occasional Fuze or Life Water.
• Sleep! Get to sleep! Head to bed when hubby does. (He has to be up by 5am for work so he typically is in bed before 10pm.)
• Exercise - three days this week - 30 mins. Plan to use my Biggest Loser Wii game plus my Biggest Loser DVD using that for weight training.

I am excited about the new year. This is my year. I may have mentioned before that I have a goal for the year 2012. I will have just turned 40 at the end of 2011. My goal in 2012 is to ride the Trek Across Maine as a physical challenge to myself. This is a 160 mile bike ride that starts in the mountains of Maine (Bethel) and ends on the coast (Belfast). It takes three day. This gives me 1-1/2 years to get in shape for this ride. It's not something I would attempt as I am now so this is my goal - my motivation. Since so many folks know about this goal, I'm being held accountable for it which is good. Otherwise I'd be tempted to blow it off. 

Starting in January my weight loss class will again be meeting. I'm excited about that as well. 

So here is to another great day!

Hot 100 - Update #11

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This week has been much, much less hectic than last week. I even had three days pretty much at home. What a nice change! Of course, this is a post about my weight loss efforts.


I want to state this once more...I joined the Hot 100 Challenge not to drop serious weight even though I have serious weight to drop. I am not on this weight loss journey hoping for a quick fix. I know that won't work. I've tried it time and again. I have come to the point where no matter what I try, it's going to fail....unless I get my head to get together with my heart and work on this process together. 


This week has been okay - not great - but I am seeing progress. On to this week's goals.

• Stay off the DMD!  I had a total of three this week. Again, not bad if you look at the overall picture (six plus a day) but I know I need to stay off this - completely.
• Sleep! Get to sleep! Must be in bed by 11pm every night. I may not be asleep, but I must be in bed. Less chance of letting other things keep me up way past midnight. Um, considering I'm blogging this at 11:06pm I know I still need to work on this. However, over the last seven days I had four nights when I was in bed by 11pm.
• Exercise - need to get moving! I'm starting to get this back on track. I even pulled out the Wii Fit this week. However, I discovered my youngest son completely erased all of my saved settings. All the levels I had unlocked, all the time put in for the last year are gone. ::sigh:: So I started at square one. Annoyed but not discouraged. And let's just say I did get a perfect score on the Wii Fit Rhythm Parade Beginner Level thank-you-very-much!

The end of the Hot 100 is coming up fast. Today was the last day of my weight loss class until the new year as well. I did end the class weighing a tad less than where I started - but only a tad. It's helping a lot with the heart stuff though. We'll begin again on January 7th. Next week we'll be getting together at a local cafe for lunch to celebrate the end of the study. 


I don't view all of these endings though, but rather chances to start fresh and continue on this journey.

This week's goals remain the same....

• Stay off the DMD! Drink water and tea only.
• Sleep! Get to sleep! Must be in bed by 11pm every night. I may not be asleep, but I must be in bed. Less chance of letting other things keep me up way past midnight.
• Exercise - need to get moving! 

And I'm going to add one more - which may be the toughest one yet....

• No computer past 9pm - ouch.....

Hot 100 - Update #10

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I'm not sure how to explain what it is I'm doing. I know there are a number of things in my life I have to get worked out or this journey I'm attempting won't work. As anyone who has ever had weight issues (over or under) it is a battle. One you must fight daily. Sometimes you win the battle and sometimes you don't. However, you have to take it day-by-day and that is what I'm attempting to do.

This week hasn't been great but it hasn't been horrid either. Here are last week's goals:

• Continue drinking tea and water (and the occasional "Fuse" or "Vitamin Water"). Obtained but more on this in this coming weeks goals.
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights. An utter failure. This needs to become my focus this week. I'm struggling to get seven hours of sleep a night. I know that it's not good. I also know that I will start getting migraines if I continue this way. I'm not prone to headaches as a rule but when I was in the hospital for a week after giving birth to my third son (who spent that week as a resident of the NICU), I discovered that lack of sleep brought on horrid headaches.  So far that hasn't happened and/or I've been able to stave them off with over-the-counter meds. 
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week.  Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly. Again, without the sleep I have no extra energy to expend. I spend my day just trying to function and care for my boys. This goes hand-in-hand with the above goal. 
• Increase my fruits & veggies (3 servings/day) Again - not happening. Although, the fact that I haven't gone grocery shopping in over two weeks could be a slight contributing factor. I typically shop weekly.
• Visit 20 "Hot" blogs this coming week and leave comments to encourage. Sorry all - didn't happen either.

So this week I am paring this down to the three most important goals to me right now....

• Stay off the DMD! (Yes, I had some over the course of the last two weeks - from Thanksgiving until today. I used to drink six or more a day and in the last 10 days I've had four total. Still not great as I can see how easy it would be to slip back in to the habit.)
• Sleep! Get to sleep! Must be in bed by 11pm every night. I may not be asleep, but I must be in bed. Less chance of letting other things keep me up way past midnight.
• Exercise - need to get moving! 

I will report that my "tight" jeans were looser this week. I'm showing a couple pound weight loss. Although, that really isn't my focus right now. I'm trying to get good habits in place in order to start focusing on my food and weight loss.

Thanks to all those who continue to support my efforts to get healthy. My hubby & I made a pact this year to be "Fit by 40." Considering I just turned 39 this week, I only have a year left to reach this goal. Here's a great day!

Hot 100 - Update #9

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It's been an okay week. I will make a confession here and now though....I had the equivalent of one 20oz. bottle of Diet Mt. Dew this week. My choice. I am back to tea and water and "Fuze" drinks and "Vitamin Water." It did make me realize how easy it would be to just go back to it.


For those that think this isn't a huge deal so why do I keep dwelling on it, let me explain.


I have an addictive personality. This is something that has shown itself to be true in my family time and time again and it has manifested itself in certain ways with me. While I have never smoke or drank - it's probably a good thing - since I can forsee it becoming an issue.


Even though it's been two and a half weeks since I gave up DMD, I still crave it each day. Each day it's a choice to not drink one. This week I gave in twice. Once I shared one with my hubby and today I bought one and drank 3/4 of it.


So on to an update on my goals....

• Increase water - 3-4 water bottles daily (they hold about 16 oz) - almost but not quite. I'm getting better with this.
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights. Nope. Not even close. I really need to step it up here.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week.  Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly. Again - no. I did manage to do the equivalent of 8 miles worth though. Close. This include cleaning Grandma's house (vacuuming, sweeping, mopping & dusting), fixing my chicken yard fence (an hour of hauling large rocks and tree limbs to fix holes), and lastly detailing my truck (cleaning and vacuuming the inside of a Suburban is hard work). 
• Eat a salad 2-3 days out of the week. None this week. I need to work on getting more fruits and veggies in.
• Visit 20 "Hot" blogs this coming week and leave comments to encourage. Sorry - I don't think I managed many this week.

This week's goals:

• Continue drinking tea and water (and the occasional "Fuse" or "Vitamin Water").
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week.  Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly.
• Increase my fruits & veggies (3 servings/day)
• Visit 20 "Hot" blogs this coming week and leave comments to encourage.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Here's to another Great Day!

Hot 100 - Update #8

Because Pippa told me too, I started this update on Friday night (well, really early Saturday AM) in order to keep track of my progress better. I've linked to Pippa's update last week because she had such sound advice. Go check it out!

Goals for this week:

• Increase water - 3-4 water bottles daily (they hold about 16 oz) I'm still working on this one. I'm averaging about one water bottle a day. Sometimes two. I'm not sure why it's so tough. Personally, I think I'm just being stubborn. 
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights. Complete fail. I'm pretty sure I only managed two nights this week.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week. (Our local elementary school has indoor walking two days a week. I am going to look in to this). Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly. I managed five miles worth of exercise. I did manage to find out about the indoor walking so I'll be starting that hopefully soon. If I miss out this session, I will definitely be signing up for the one in January. Maine winters are not conducive to outdoor walking.
• Eat a salad 2-3 days out of the week. None eaten at all. Obviously I need to keep working on this.
• Visit 20 "Hot" blogs this coming week and leave comments to encourage. Sorry all - I managed three blogs this week. 

I will say that even though this was not a goal, I'm sure many are wondering. And if you aren't, just pretend you are and make me feel better....I am still DMD-FREE! Woo-Hoo! The headaches are getting better and so are the cravings. However, they are still there. I have had many moments when I almost broke down and bought one. It gets easier each day, but when I tell you I was addicted to DMD it was very true. Just as if it were any other substance or alcohol. Crazy, I know.

My goals for this week are:

• Increase water - 3-4 water bottles daily (they hold about 16 oz)
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week.  Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly.
• Eat a salad 2-3 days out of the week.
• Visit 20 "Hot" blogs this coming week and leave comments to encourage.

Here's to another great day!

And I just wanted to add this - "South Beach Steve" is a great support to those of us participating in the Hot 100. I just wanted to give a huge public "THANK YOU" for hosting this!

Hot 100 - Update #7

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Here we are at the end of another week. And here is how I did this week. Some good and some bad.

Goals for this week were:

• OFF DMD entirely! HUGE SUCCESS! It has been so very hard! Harder than I ever imagined it would be. I did go cold turkey and I have not had any DMD since Monday night. I am now drinking tea (yes, with caffeine but minor compared to what I used to consume - no artificial sweeteners though!) and water. I start the day with hot coco since it's so cold right now. 
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights. I think I made this. Honestly, I've been so tired now that I'm not drinking as much caffeine that I've been crashing in bed around 10pm most nights. I'm going to say I managed this one, but I didn't track it.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week. (Our local elementary school has indoor walking two days a week. I am going to look in to this). Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly. Nada. Well, I've done some strenuous housework. I'll start focusing more on it this week once I'm not so consumed with DMD cravings.
• Eat a salad 2-3 days out of the week. Success. I managed this twice this past week.
• Continue working on increasing water intake. Success. Now that I'm not drinking DMD and I'm only drinking tea and water it's gone up.

Still focusing on healthy. My goal is to be "fit by 40" and I only have a little over a year left. Time to kick it in to gear! My biggest hurdle and obstacle was the DMD. Now that I've taken that out of the equation I think a lot of the other issues will start to fall in to place. 

I'm not going to post a weight this week. Simply because I'm typing this late at night (on Thursday - love scheduling posts) and my weight wasn't my focus this week. It was getting off the DMD. I'm glad I managed it. Everyone has been wonderfully supportive and I want to thank my hubby & friends for encouraging me. In fact, I saw one friend last night and she told me she put her DMD in a travel mug in order not to tempt me. Awesome friends. I told her I may have tackled her for it otherwise....kidding...I think....

Goals for next week:

• Increase water - 3-4 water bottles daily (they hold about 16 oz)
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week. (Our local elementary school has indoor walking two days a week. I am going to look in to this). Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly.
• Eat a salad 2-3 days out of the week.
• Visit 20 "Hot" blogs this coming week and leave comments to encourage.

Hot 100 - Update #6

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Another on again-off again week. I'm still working on my goals, but - most importantly - I refuse to give up.

• Continue working on the DMD issue. No DMD with breakfast and no more than three in a day. Still an issue so....drum roll please...I have been asked to set a quit date by my accountability group (i.e. First Place 4 Health class). So by next Friday I will be saying I'm off DMD all together. Pray for strength. Seriously. My quit date will be November 9th.
• Bedtime by 11pm every single night. Getting better but there were a couple nights I was up after 11pm. 
• Exercise 20-30 minutes 3-4 days a week. Logging 10 miles of "exercise" this week. Very poor this week. 
• Eating a salad for lunch 4-5 days out of the week. I managed one day! Up from zero last week.
• Increase my water intake. Goal of 16 ozs. a day. Considering I rarely drink ANY, this will be a good start. I know I drank water but not every day. 

The great news though - even though I did not meet most of my goals (although it was up from last week), I lost four pounds this week! I cut way back on many of my portions and it seems to be helping.

Goals for next week (similar but with revisions):

• OFF DMD entirely!
• Bed by 11pm five out of seven nights.
• Exercise 20-30 mins 4-5 days a week. (Our local elementary school has indoor walking two days a week. I am going to look in to this). Log 10 miles worth of exercise weekly.
• Eat a salad 2-3 days out of the week.
• Continue working on increasing water intake.

I want to thank Steve at Log My Loss for hosting this challenge. The accountability has been great!

Hot 100 - Update #5

Log My Loss

It's time for another Hot 100 Update. I almost skipped this week, but I knew I had to fess up. I had a pretty good start to my week but then things went downhill.

My goals from last week:

Continue working on the DMD issue. No DMD with breakfast and no more than three in a day. I started the week well and stuck to this goal. By the end of the week I was again downing DMD's with breakfast and throughout the day. Obviously this is an ongoing issue. I have some local friends who are holding me accountable and I plan to share a "quit date" with them and go cold turkey. I'm stocking up on Execdrin Migraine first though.

Bedtime by 11pm every single night. Again - I started strong but I had three nights this week when I was up well past 11pm - including tonight. I will continue working on this as well.

Exercise 20-30 minutes 3-4 days a week. Logging 10 miles of "exercise" this week. Nope - didn't meet this one either. I was three miles short of my 10 miles logged this week. 

Eating a salad for lunch 4-5 days out of the week. Zero days.

Increase my water intake. Goal of 16 ozs. a day. Considering I rarely drink ANY, this will be a good start. While I did have more days of drinking water than normal, I did not do this every day.

Now I'm sure you can all see why I considered not posting anything. However, I'm vowing to change and I'm putting it right out here for all to see. So I'm posting - even when it's not been a great week. Oh & I even gained two pounds this week. 


Discouraged? Absolutely. But quite honestly, I have no reason to be discouraged. I have no excuses. I'm just not getting my head and heart in line. My head knows all of this, but I still do it. I'm getting there though. By not quitting I'm already changing things.


My goals for this week - they should look familiar: 

Continue working on the DMD issue. No DMD with breakfast and no more than three in a day.

Bedtime by 11pm every single night.

Exercise 20-30 minutes 3-4 days a week. Logging 10 miles of "exercise" this week.

Eating a salad for lunch 4-5 days out of the week.

Increase my water intake. Goal of 16 ozs. a day. Considering I rarely drink ANY, this will be a good start.

Here's to a great day!



PS: I've been messing with the spacing now for far too long. It keeps going wonky on me and I'm tired of switching back and forth and messing with the html so I apologize for all that white space.

Hot 100 - Update #4

My goals for this week were:

1. No more than three DMD's in a single day. None with breakfast. There were two mornings I had DMD with breakfast and I had more than three every day. This will be marked as a "needs to work on" goal and stay.
2. Bed by 11pm EVERY single night this week. I managed this 5 out of 7 nights this week. Definitely an improvement!
3. Exercise 20-30 minutes 3-4 days a week. Logging 10 miles of walking this week. Yeah! I MET THIS GOAL! Wow, it feels good to be able to type that! I counted cleaning my hubby's grandmother's house. It takes me 2+ hours to do and it includes sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. I always leave having worked up a good sweat. I also took the boys on a two mile walk and ended the week using my walking videos for the last two workouts (and five miles needed). It feels good!

I've been focusing on my goals and  behavior changes rather than my weight loss. However, I wanted to share that I am DOWN one pound this week. 

My goals for this week:

1. Continue working on the DMD issue. No DMD with breakfast and no more than three in a day.
2. Bedtime by 11pm every single night.
3. Exercise 20-30 minutes 3-4 days a week. Logging 10 miles of "exercise" this week.
4. Eating a salad for lunch 4-5 days out of the week.
5. Increase my water intake. Goal of 16 ozs. a day. Considering I rarely drink ANY, this will be a good start.

I'm not giving up and it's been an interesting week to say the least. I attended my First Place 4 Health meeting today and, as always, it was a great time of encouragement. I'm so glad I recommitted to this program.

We discussed those things that have been encouraging to us this past week. One thing I had to share is how God, once again, has gotten my attention. On Sunday our Pastor had a very interesting sermon to preach to us. He was not directing it to me or to my weight loss struggle, but it fit, all too well.

He asked us how many would change their life completely knowing that if they did NOT change, they would die within two years, but changing it would give them 20 more years of life. Of course, most raised their hands. He shared that 1 out of 10 who said they would change would actually succeed. This was based on a study done of heart patients. 

This was the part that struck home though. Everyone has the head knowledge they need to make a change. I know I do. I can spout statistics and reasons to be healthy. All very valid. He then shared that it is the heart that gives us the motivation to succeed. Without the heart and the head working together, we will fail every time. I'm working on getting those two things lined up. 

Here's to another week and more successes. 

Be sure to head over to Log My Loss to encourage others who are taking the Hot 100 Challenge! Click HERE to see a list of all the participants and give a boost to those who are working towards the goal of being healthier!

Hot 100 - Update #3

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Here we are already on week #3 of the Hot 100. That means we have (yikes!) less than 80 days left in 2010. This year is flying by so fast!

I'm not sure have shared a lot in regards to what I'm doing in my weight loss. I know I'm doing these weekly updates but a lot happens that I don't share. I find when I do, I typically set myself up for failure. However, today, you get to see a bit more. 

I started attending a "weight loss class" this previous summer. It meets roughly every week although I have seriously been lacking in my commitment to it right now. The class is really a Bible study focused on weight loss. Think Weight Watchers meets the Bible sort of thing. 

I really like it. We do have a daily Bible study we are to do along with memorizing Bible verses plus a myriad of other commitments we need to make. We are asked to give the program one full year before giving up. The founders feel that within a year you will have made the changes you need to in order to change your life and loose weight. The name of the program is called First Place 4 Health. 

What I really like about it is that there is no pressure. However, there is accountability and support. Right now I need that far more than anything. 

I almost quit on it. I wasn't following the program. I wasn't doing my Bible study. I wasn't tracking my food. I wasn't exercising. I almost didn't go today. One excuse I wanted to use was that it met on Friday mornings. I didn't want to loose that school time with my boys. God has such a sense of humor and He always knows what we need. Last week, before I could email my leader, I received an email from her. She was wondering if it would be okay to switch our meeting to Friday afternoons so that she could work on school with her daughter! Yes, my meeting is run by another homeschooling mom. Okay, God, I get it. 

So I went today. I'm happy I did. Starting next month I'll only be able to attend twice a month since the other two Friday afternoons will have me at 4-H meetings with the boys, but it works. God wants me there. I'm going to be there. God wants the best for me and my body is His temple. It's up to me to be a good steward of it.

*************************

Now on to this week's goals.

1. Because I am already working on getting off the Diet Dew, I am going to consider this a "goal in progress" and continue working off this. By the end of 30 days (by my report on 11/12), I want to report that I am drinking no DMD! I have cut down on my Diet Mt. Dew drinking but it's not gone yet. My "mini-victory" this week. I began having days where I did not start my day by drinking one. I mentioned before that I would typically ONLY drink DMD throughout the day starting with breakfast. This week I had at least two days where I did not drink one for breakfast. I also found a different soda I'm going to try. It's Sierra Mist Natural. It's made with real sugar (what a concept) and while it isn't diet, it only has 90 calories and 23 carbs. It comes in 7.5oz cans. My goal is to get off the DMD and then if I still feel the need for a soda, I would drink a Sierra Mist. We'll see how that works. I will say that my ultimate goal is to be on NO SODA at all. 
2. Since we have all recently heard how much sleep plays a role in weight loss, I will continue working on my goal of going to bed every single night by 11pm. I did not manage this every night but I did manage three out of seven nights. Considering it was at zero, this is progress. Again - a "mini-victory" and I'll take. 
3. The last goal will be my exercise one. I am revising it slightly....20-30 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week. This would include a walk outside, a Leslie Sansone walking video (at least 2 miles), or the Wii Biggest Loser workout. I tried the yoga once this week. Oh.my.gosh. Tough! So yeah, that stays. I managed to exercise just once this week. That was this morning. I'm excited to say that at my weight class today we have challenged ourselves to walk 50 miles between now and the end of our study in five weeks. 

My goals for this week will be:

1. No more than three DMD's in a single day. None with breakfast. 
2. Bed by 11pm EVERY single night this week.
3. Exercise 20-30 minutes 3-4 days a week. Logging 10 miles of walking this week.

Be sure to head over to Log My Loss to encourage others who are taking the Hot 100 Challenge!

Hot 100 - Update #2

My goals:

• Kicking my Diet Mt. Dew habit for good 

While is this being lessened, I have yet to give it up for good.

• Exercising for at least 30 minutes 4-5 days a week.

I managed twice this week.

• Limiting carbs to 45-50 per meal and 15 per snack

Not even close.

• Using my tracking forms for food, blood sugars, and exercise at least 5-6 days a week.

Didn't happen at all.

• Going to bed no later than 11pm every night. 

I actually managed 3 out of the 7 nights - way better than ever before.

*******************************

There is definitely a part of me that wants to throw in the towel. It feels like I just can't do it. Then I watch The Biggest Loser. Yeah, talk about motivating! Seriously - it does motivate me. I just seem to forget that each and every day.

One thing I have realized is I need to focus on 1-2 goals at a time and then build on them. After all, "they" do say it takes about a month to establish a habit. I need to change some of my really bad habits in to better ones.

So - I am revising my goals!

1. Because I am already working on getting off the Diet Dew, I am going to consider this a "goal in progress" and continue working off this. By the end of 30 days (by my report on 11/12), I want to report that I am drinking no DMD!
2. Since we have all recently heard how much sleep plays a role in weight loss, I will continue working on my goal of going to bed every single night by 11pm. 
3. The last goal will be my exercise one. I am revising it slightly....20-30 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week. This would include a walk outside, a Leslie Sansone walking video (at least 2 miles), or the Wii Biggest Loser workout. I tried the yoga one this week. Oh.my.gosh. Tough! So yeah, that stays.

Here's to the end of the year and new habits!

Hot 100 - Update #1

My goals:

• Kicking my Diet Mt. Dew habit for good 
• Exercising for at least 30 minutes 4-5 days a week.
• Limiting carbs to 45-50 per meal and 15 per snack
• Using my tracking forms for food, blood sugars, and exercise at least 5-6 days a week.
• Going to bed no later than 11pm every night.

I started the challenge on Tuesday.

{One} I typically drink at least six cans of Diet Mt. Dew each and every day. I even drink it for breakfast. Talk about a true confession! Today I had hot chocolate for breakfast. I didn't drink my first Diet Dew until 10am and it carried me through lunch. I had another can in the afternoon, one for supper and one after. So that was four total today. Definitely less today.

{Two} I attempted the Wii EA Sport Active game. I borrowed it from my sister. I was again reminded why I do not like this game. I gave it back to her today. I find it very hard to get the game to read my movements. I know it's all in how I hold the remote. It's not worth me yelling at the TV. LOL I pulled out my trusty Wii Biggest Loser game. I did the warm-up (6 minutes) plus the "Light All Body Workout" or whatever that one is called (18 minutes) and finished with a cool-down (8 minutes) for a total of  32 minutes. In addition my sister was here for the day. In the afternoon we went for a walk on the logging trails behind my house. We were out for 30 minutes.  I know I won't typically do 60 minutes, but it was a nice kick-off.

{Three} I didn't count carbs today.

{Four} I did not use my tracking form today. I need to print them out.

{Five} It's after 11pm already and I'm not heading to bed yet. Missed this one today too.

Okay, so the rest of the week can be summed up like this....a dismal failure! I have been eating junk food - and lots of it! Drinking Diet Mt. Dew - lots of it. NOT exercising. I took a quick 15 minutes walk on Thursday pushing a double stroller with about 80 lbs. of children in it (or at least it felt that way). 


Tomorrow IS another day and all things are made new. Here's to a great new day!

ISO: My Motivation

logmyloss.com

During my blog reading today, I came across something interesting. It's a weight loss challenge called the Hot 100. It started on September 23rd (but you have until October 1st to sign up) and from that point until December 31st, there are only 100 days left in 2010. Let's just move past the fact that there are only 100 days left in the year and focus on what that has to do with this challenge.

The Hot 100 is hosted by South Beach Steve at his blog, Log My Loss. The goal of the challenge is simple: make some positive changes to help with weight loss during the last 100 days of the year. There are currently 70+ people who have signed up. I'm now one of them.

Participation is easy. The motivation part may be hard. To participate I need to simply list at least three goals for myself here. (drum roll please) I will be focusing on the following during this time:

• Kicking my Diet Mt. Dew habit for good (more on this in a minute)
• Exercising for at least 30 minutes 4-5 days a week.
• Limiting carbs (as a diabetic, it's easiest for me to count these) to 45-50 per meal and 15 per snack
• Using my tracking forms for food, blood sugars, and exercise (it's my own design) at least 5-6 days a week.
• Going to bed no later than 11pm every night.

Yes, that's more than three and I'm sure I'll toss in some mini-goals for myself as well.

Recently I've realized that I'm not living life fully. I'm gliding through. I'm letting things and stuff and schedules slow me down. I need to change a lot of things and find my motivation. It's been missing now for a while. I continue to say "I want to loose weight" or "I want to get healthier" but I still am not making those changes I need to in order to meet that goal. I'm making those changes now.

I have been a lover drinker of Diet Mt. Dew for at least 10 years. Prior to being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I used to drink either grape soda or full bore Mt. Dew. Recently I read something very interesting about not allowing any food or drink to become your idol. It's time I smashed mine. Addictions to anything are hard to kick, but I know that is what I have for my Diet Dew. Please pray for me as I work this week on kicking that habit for good. Oh, and if you see me in real life and I'm a bit cranky, well, you'll know why. 

I will be posting weekly updates. If you don't see one, bug me about it, please? I will need the accountability. 

And I'm even tossing in a photo....taken just a few weeks ago....we'll call this "before."