Reporting in

Just to make Greg happy I'm letting everyone know that I'm down 9 lbs. 20 more lbs to go.
Jerry

I've hit a wall....

So I've hit the wall. I'm the same % this week as last week. I think part of this is due to my trial gym pass ending and not getting the real one yet, and I think I've hit that critical time that I need to change things up or get more intense with my workouts. I'm hoping to get a step ahead these next 2 weeks because then we'll be on vacation and things will be a little harder to control. I can think of it as 2 weeks of intense strict regimen and then 2 weeks of more relaxed, but careful decisions. I am counting on at least 1 day to IN-N-OUT, that will be the first time I've had fries in over 1 month!!! Honestly, fries don't really sound that good, but maybe once I smell them I'll change my mind. The other treat I'm definitely going to have is a frozen banana at the Big-D!!!! Mmmmmm frozen bananas!!!!!

The Scales of Frustration

So, my weight loss seems to be doing OK, but my scale not so much. I stepped on it Saturday afternoon after some good exercise that morning (playing a basketball game and refereeing two more) and the scale said I had dropped 30 pounds!
I weighed myself several times, and despite what the scale said, I didn't believe I really weighed 185 pounds.
So, we got a new scale. It is a cheap mechanical one without the decimal point precision I would like. Also, the dial is harder to read, so I am erring on the higher side with my weight. I think I'll need to find somewhere with a good scale to test myself on at least once a week.
So, with the new scale, I am down to 216, which is a total of 6.49 percent.
I need to start going to the gym now, because I don't want to restrict my diet any more and two times of basketball a week isn't going to do it for me.

Heidi Week 3 Progress

Well this week was tough too, who am I kidding, all weeks are going to be hard right? I wasn't as dilligent with my 5:30am wake-up to go to the gym, but I managed to get there 4 out 7 days, not too bad....I'm at a total of 4.79% so far. It's fun to try on clothes that didn't fit too good-post Boston. Hopefully they will be too big in the weeks to come.....

Greg - Week 3 Progress

10 lbs and counting. That make 4.42% weight loss so far. Since I'm running Hood to Coast this year I have a goal of getting down to 190 for the race. That's what I was when Heidi and I got married many, many years ago.

Bad things happened

I don't know what happened this last week. But I didn't do so well. i am only down .98%!!! I am blaming it on the beef stroganoff I made that was a little too salty, and the cookies Rachael made. It's all her fault!!

Greg - Week 2 Progress

3.33% so far. In case anyone is wondering that's 8 pounds for me since the beginning of the year.

Heidi-Week2 Progress

Well I still had progress in Week 2 even though it lacked some serious excersise. I tried to be really careful with what we ate (except the cookies last night...oops!) My total % so far is 3.72%. I hope this week is much better, I will make this week better.

Need spreedsheet

Greg can you email me your spreadsheet, please.
Weekends are hard for me to diet. I made cookies Friday night, but immediately put them in the freezer in the garage, so it will be an effort to get them, and I will probably forget about them by Wednesday. Hopefully Jerry will too. Jerry didn't gain any weight over the weekend which is amazing for him. I haven't weighted yet this morning.
Pat K

Rough Week 2

Well it's been a rough week for me. I went out of town with Greg for work Mon-Wed so it would be easier for Greg to eat healthy because I could prepare the meals at the house they rented, instead of eating out 3 nights in a row. It worked out great and we had a great time, it was a beautiful house and Brooklyn loved running all around it. I envisioned going on walks everyday and getting as much exercise as I could cause there was no gym there...but that didn't happen. I did however walk around the Wal-Mart for 2 hours, does that count??!! I tried to be careful with what we ate though and it seemed to pay off because we both still lost some weight, just not as much as we could have if we were in our normal routine. While I was gone I got an email from my boss with a last minute rush jewelry order (typical!!) so once I got home I was crazy busy sitting and doing jewelry until this afternoon when I finished and dropped it off. Phew! I'm glad this week is over and I'm more glad that I still lost weight and not gained this week. Now it's back to the regular routine, it's all about getting back on the horse right??

The Game is on!

We're home from our wandering all over the western states and ready to get serious. I'm not used to thinking in percentage. It's always been pounds lost. I've lost 1% and that's not a lot, but when you consider I've been eating out for the past 2 weeks I think that's pretty good. That's pretty normal for me. When I'm away from my kitchen I don't eat as much, even if the car is full of snacks and we're eating at restaurants.
I joined Curves last May, so that is a part of my routine that I love. Weight Watchers is next. That's 80 bucks a month, both it better work. I'll post some of my favorite recipes as time goes on.
Jerry and I are using the same email, so don't confuse us. hehe
Pat K

Struggling

Work out at the gym at least three times a day- not hard. Cutting down on my daily calorie intake- HARD! I have to feed five contantly ravishing people a day. One is on a high fat diet. If she won't eat it I will. OOPS! I'm at 1% since we've started:( I guess it's better than gaining weight.

yummy dip

I saw this on the food network, and had to try it. It is very healty, hardly any fat, lots of greens, and if you dip it with endive spears it is even heathier than chips. The endive spears give it a crunch like chips without the fat, and hardly any calories. I found out that a 9 oz. bag of spinach only has 60 calories....that means you could pretty much eat the whole thing and not feel bad!

Spinach and Cannellini Bean Dip
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (6-ounce) bags baby spinach
1 (15-ounce) can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil, over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 of the spinach and cook for 2 minutes until wilted. Repeat with the remaining spinach. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
Place the remaining olive oil, spinach mixture, cannelloni beans, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor.
Blend until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a small serving bowl. Serve with endive spears, crostini or pita chips.

Jordan First Week

Am I supposed to put my starting weight and current weight?
I can if you want. Also, Greg, please send me the spread sheet. Are we doing total percentage lost (based on the starting weight), or total percentage lost each week (based on that week's starting weight)?

First week I lost 4 percent.

Here is a handy weight-loss calculator I found, too if that helps anyone.

Yes, Greg, I would love the spreadsheet...it took forever for me to figure out the simple algebraic equation.
Since Jan 1, I am down 2.27%
-Tanya

Week 1 Progress

So here's are result so far.
Heidi - Total % weight loss = 2.66%
Greg - Total % weight loss = 2.08%

Post your week one progress here. I've create an excel spreadsheet that makes it pretty easy to track your percentage weight loss. For those of you that are excel illiterate and would like a copy just let me know and I can email it to you.

-Greg

Quick No Fail Whole Wheat French Bread

This is a great recipe!! I saw it on another blog where they used white flour and I thought it would be good to substitute whole wheat flour. I know carbs are bad, but if I'm gunna eaat carbs it might as well be whole grains right??!!! Ok so here goes the recipe, (I'm sure it's SUPER good with white flour but I'll never know cause I'll always use wheat now)
1 T shortening
1 T salt (this seemed like a lot, but I followed the recipe, and it did seem salty to me, I'll use less next time though)
2 T sugar (if I use less salt then I could probably use less sugar right??!!)
1 C boiling water
1 C cold water
1/3 C lukewarm water
1 T yeast (cut your yeast in half at high altitude)
4 1/2 C-6 C flour (I used wheat flour but I didn't really count, I just added until it was the right consistency
1 egg
Directions:
1. Place the 1 C hot water in the microwave for 3 minutes to get it boiling
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, stir it around until it is all mixed
3. Combine salt, shortening and sugar in the bottom of your mixer with a fork.
4. Pour the boiling water over the shortnening mixture-stir until dissolved
5. Pour the cold water over the mixture
6. Pour the warm water and yeast into the mixer
7. Begin to add the flour, one cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the side of your mixer.
8. Let the dough mix(kneed) on high for 8 minutes
9. Let the dough rise in the mixer for about 20 minutes (This step can be skipped if you are in a hurry)
10. Seperate the dough into 3 parts and place on a large jelly roll pan sprayed with cooking spray
11. Spread the dough out into a rectangle
12. Then roll the dough up- roll the long end of the dough so it is long and skinny not short and fat
13. Then bring the ends over and layer them on-top of eachother(fold into 3rds on top of eachother)
14. Turn the loaf upside down so the seams are down.-repeat for the other 2 sections
15. spray a sharp knife with cooking spray
16. Make your egg wash-just beat the whole egg until frothy
17. Cut 3 disgonal slits in the top of each loaf, cover with egg wash, being sure to get it into all of the slits
18. Place the loaves in a warm 170 degree oven and let rise for about 15 minutes
19. Turn the oven up to 375 for convection ovens and 400 for regular ovens. Leave the loaves in while the oven increases in temperature.
20.Bake for 10 minutes convection or 15 regular oven, or until the loaves are golden brown and crusty.
21. Turn the oven down to 325 for convection , 350 for regular and turn the pan around in the oven.
22. Bake for another 7 minutes convection or 10 regular- mine was actually done closer to 5-7 minutes.
23. Enjoy!

I have begun

Just a little bit of my progress. I have lost .2 lbs every day since Jan 1st....pretty good eh?!
And I just wanted to share a cool website I found.
myfitnesspal.com
it is pretty cool, you add your weight, your goal weight, and it tells you what your caloric intake should be everyday to meet your goal. It lets you add your excercise for the day, and has a pretty extensive food diary, so you can keep track of all the things you eat. So far, my breakfast was 314 calories, and it tells me how much I have left. One thing that I need to remember is how much the things I add to my meals adds calorically. I had oatmeal today for breakfast (it lets you choose the amount you ate) and I added the butter and honey I put on it. I only added a little, but it showed me how many calories that it was....i think I am going to put less on tomorrow.
I also and going to try and cut my refined sugar intake....so far, those are my tricks.
-Tanya

Before Pictures

As promised here are our before pictures: They're a little late getting on here so I back-posted them, but they were taken January 1. I normally wouldn't put out an aweful picture of myself for the whole wide world to see, but I find accountability to be the biggest motivator. Here's to never having another aweful picture like this taken!!!

Challenge #1

Ok so don't get any ideas that there will be challenges every week (I welcome any challenges others might dream up and post) this first challenge is simple. Take a great "before" shot of yourself to compare and post on the blog. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something to remember your old self by. Ours will be coming soon.....