30 Day Challenge Profile

Name: AnnG

Age: 44

Hometown: Dallas, Texas suburbs

Family: DH, That Kid (19 a Freshman at DBU) and That Other Kid (5 1/2 starting homeschool kindergarten next week!)

1) Complete the following sentence – “When I look in the mirror I see… someone who needs to lose weight and get back into shape.

2) What exercise do you take? What’s your current level of fitness? I'm working out with my WiiFit, workout DVD's with Jillian Michaels, and now Wii Active. I also occasionally go to the gym and use the eliptical machines or treadmill. I would say that over the past 5 months my level of fitness has gone from "couch potato to pretty stinkin' good!"

3) How do you relax? read blogs and play with my little boy

4) Do you watch your weight? Very closely NOW! Before March 25 I watched it continually climb upward all the while, sucking down cokes and eating junk food without getting any exercise!

5) What’s your favorite body part? thighs (when they are in shape)

6) What’s your least favorite body part? stomach

7) What’s your favorite way to workout? I love to bike, but don't have a bike right now, so my favorite way to workout right now is with the WiiFit and Active.

8) Its time to work out, we’re most likely to find you decked out in? hubby's old shorts, and ratty t-shirt

9) You’re due to workout, but it’s pouring rain. What do you do? open the blinds and watch the rain come down while I work out with my Wii!

10) What’s the one item you wouldn’t be without when working out? Water and Fan (well that's 2 but they are both equally important to me)

11) What do you hope to get from the 30 Day Challenge? continue to increase my level of fitness and lose more weight

12) What are you apprehensive about going in? making sure I can continue do some WiiFit occasionally so I don't lose all the momentum from the Hula Spins that I have gained.

13) How will you reward yourself after the challenge? Hopefully by then I will be able to wear a smaller size of pants so I will get to have new clothes!

14) Complete the following sentence – “I’m Active for …”
my health!

New Challenge -- Shrink For Good

This new challenge is different cuz the Sisters are teaming up with WeightWatchers to do this one. The premise is to lose weight for good and help people that don't have money for food. For every pound of "excess flab and blubber" I lose I will donate that many pounds of food to the local food bank. Sounds like a great motivator to me! I can help those people out there that are less fortunate than me and lose weight that can cause me to be unhealthy!

Want to join in this challenge with us?? Go here and you can find out more about it and sign up to "Lose For Good"/"Shrink For Good"!!


Edited*** I went to the gym and weighed myself and I had the most pleasant surprise! I now weigh in at (drum roll please!!) 199.9 !!
I no longer am in the 200's and I couldn't be happier!! I was beginning to think this day would never happen.

Yay for me!

So Ya'll Know.....

that for the past 5 months I have been working extremely hard at losing all this excess flab and blubber that I have been carrying around for WAY too long, right?!
Well if you read my blog, you can't help but know it...it's about all I talk about these days. I have lost 25 pounds!! I'm so excited that I have to wear a belt with my "skinny pants"! They aren't really skinny jeans, but 5 months ago they were so tight on me I couldn't even pull them up to my knees, so I'm calling them "skinny jeans"! But it has been a struggle to find a pair of shorts to wear while I work out. I finally resorted to wearing a pair of dh's shorts that were too little for him, but too big for me. They work, not great, but they are doable. But they are starting to get really hard to work out in, cuz I can't draw the waist in enough...but I deal with it.

Anywho...I was over at the Sisterhood this morning and ChristieO was telling me about these awesome shorts she discovered! And the wonderful people at Sports Basement are going to give away a pair of these shorts!! All I have to do is enter and tell everyone about them. So that's what I'm doing!! Go check out these shorts! You can enter for the giveaway, but don't cuz I want to win....and I'll have a better chance if you don't enter, ok?!

But even you can go buy stuff from the Sports Basement site and get a discount by entering "ShrinkingJeans" in the coupon area. They have awesome stuff!!

More Humor

You have got to watch this

But don't be having a snack while you watch -- you might spit the food out of your mouth!

A Funny YouTube!

I just saw this posted on one of my friends "status reports" on Facebook and laughed to the point of almost needing to go the bathroom. If you don't enjoy Tim Hawkins kind of humor or you support President Obama's political agenda, don't bother watching it, you'll be offended and I don't really need "ugly" comments!

YAY!! Weigh In Day!!

I get to collect a new button today! The 25 pounds down button! I'm so happy I could shout it from the roof tops! Since March 25 I have lost 25 pounds. I went to the endocronologist today and of course they weighed me. This time I wasn't dreading it as much as previous times. I knew I would be close to the 200 mark which was my goal for today, but it wasn't there, but pretty stinkin' close -- 201!! (I went to the gym to check my weight according to their scale and it showed 201.6, so that is my official weight for the Shrinking Jeans Challenge I was really hoping for 200 pounds but 201 is all right, considering the stuff happening around here the past couple of weeks.

Stuff happening around here -- Buying a new car for That Kid, buying all the stuff he needed for school, getting him moved into the dorms, cleaning out his bedroom at home, moving dh's office into the bedroom, starting the process of cleaning and organizing the rest of the house. I'm also looking for stuff to sell and gathering it up, so I can list it on Craig's List. All this "stuff" has kept me from being real consistent with the exercise the past 2 weeks.

Anyway, I feel that I have done pretty well and I am thrilled that I am down 25 pounds since March 25th. The doctor was happy, too!

The 21 Day Challenge is over day and I did ok, considering all the "stuff" happening, but I need to work on the bible reading and the getting outside more. These will be continual goals for the next month or so. It's all a process, right?!

What I Did Today....

I got up at 7:45 a.m.. and went to the living room and laid down on the couch till 9:30 when I got up and started my morning routine, breakfast, shower, PRAYER (did you see that?). I didn't get the Bible reading in, though, which upsets me. Why can't I get this done?

After the morning routine was complete, I started working to clean out That Kid's room. DH is planning to move his office into the bedroom where That Kid has spent nearly the past 6 years. Since he is living in the dorms he was not able to take MOST of his stuff. He left behind his tv, queen size bed, desk, desk chair, bookcase, and all of his trophies, and hockey players collection. That's a lot of stuff!

My goal was to get the entire room cleaned out and cleaned! DH wants to start moving in this weekend, a little at a time. So this is what I did today!!




ALL THIS AND MORE came out of his room --



After I finally got done clearing out and cleaning the bedroom, I decided that I really needed to exercise tonight. I haven't been able to exercise much this week because of the move and last night I really needed a night out with my friend to "let it all out". The stress of life is starting to really get to me. That Kid moving away, dh not having any work (therefore no money coming in), college tuition to pay, bills to pay, etc., etc. So even though I was tired tonight from all the physical work of moving and cleaning everything out I did my WiiFit Hula! It felt good and I really worked it....see for yourself!




In case you can't see this it says 3410 !! New RECORD!! Yay for me!!

Weigh In/Move In Day

First of all, I want to say a BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE OF YOU!! You guys have helped me make it through a really tough day!

I also want to thank Bo Pilgrim (ya know the chicken guy??) for his wonderful donation so that my son can have a beautiful building to worship in.

That Kid got moved into the dorms this morning without a hitch. They had upperclassmen helping to move the freshmen in and it was SO smooth! That Kid got there about 10 a.m. and had his car unloaded and in the room by 10:30 a.m. I arrived about 10:30 and had to wait awhile to get up to the dorms but there were TEAMS of helpers to unload my truck. My truck load was unloaded and hauled into the room before I even knew what hit me. By the time I got parked and back up to the dorm room, he had about half his stuff unloaded! Wow!! I was so pleased to have this done and out of the way. Once we got everything unloaded, organized and put away we were both starved so we went to the cafeteria that he has his meal plan with and we ate lunch, and it was GOOD FOOD! When I went to college 20+ years ago cafeteria food was AWFUL!

After lunch we went over to the book store and picked up his books for the semester. They have a plan where they will place the order for your books and collect them, then you just go pick them up. We walked in, told them his name, and they brought them out. The ticket had already been rang up, just needed to total it out and collect payment! OH MY GOODNESS!! College textbooks are SOOOO EXPENSIVE! I nearly had a heart attack when the total came to $440! He's only taking 13 hours! How could his textbooks cost that much?? So out came the credit/debit card and I paid for his books. We went back to the dorm room and browsed through them briefly and I looked over the receipt (twice). He will have a lot of reading to do this semester if these books are any indication as to his classes, but it will be a good experience for him.

After browsing through the books we parted ways, but I had to have 1 last picture of him, standing in his dorm and a nice, big hug. I probably crushed ribs...I didn't want to let go, but I knew it was what I had to do (for both of us). I went to the parent session, and he went to meet up with his small group. That was at 2:50 p.m.
I left about 4:30 to pick up That Other Kid who gave me a hug that nearly knocked me down! It feels good to be loved!!

Around 6:30 I texted That Kid and told him "I love you and hope you have a good night", about 7:45 I received this text, "i love ya 2, night"
That just opened up my flood gate of tears! That would be session number 6 of tears, in case you were wondering! But I have been praying every time I start crying, so I think they are "good tears". And he'll be covered in prayers at least for a few days!

Once again, thanks for all your thoughts and prayers....I know that today would have been a lot tougher without ya'll praying with and for me.

Ok....onto the Weigh-in portion of this post, which is why most of you are here!

Last week: 203.3
Today: 203.6

BUT...I normally weigh myself about 10:30 a.m. and today I didn't weigh myself till 9:30 p.m. so I'm not sweating it! I also did a TON of walking today around campus and a lot of moving around to get him moved in, so it could just be a different time of day, or all the activity I've had the past couple of days. OR it could be the ice cream that I have indulged in over the past 2 days, too!

But...tomorrow is a new day and the start of a new week. I'm getting better with meeting my goals for this 21 day challenge which is good since I only have 6 days left! I did get outside almost every day this past week and I have had the 5 servings of fruits/veggies every day but 1. Reading my bible I'm still struggling with, but I'm getting better with that too.

So...I've rambled and babbled long enough...how'd you do??

Tomorrow Is a Happy/Sad Day

After tomorrow this scene will be one that won't be seen at my house very much so this past week has been full of emotional upheavals for me. You see tomorrow morning about 9:30 a.m. I will leave my house with That Kid and That Other Kid and I will come home ONLY with That Other Kid....I'm taking him down to college where he will start classes on Monday as a COLLEGE FRESHMAN!! I ask, how can that be?? He will be living in the Dorms and has 2 roommates. That should be interesting???!! I'm glad I'm not his roommates. He is a SLOB and he likes to leave his junk EVERYWHERE!! But God knows I love him and so does he. I have been an emotional basketcase all day long. My dh continues asking me what he can do to help, and I just start crying.

He's on his way to Sonic right now, to buy me a hot fudge sundae with caramel. I know that it isn't really going to help me feel better once it's gone, but I am feeling a need to have some comfort food, so that's on the list of comfort food.

We have spent the past couple of days packing up all his stuff. Determining what is going to the garage, and what is going to school with him. Of course, there are a couple of bags of just TRASH, too. We went shopping on Sunday to get the things he will need for school. Toiletries, school supplies, a cool chair, a water cooler so he can drink good clean water, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, you get the picture...everything you need to live on your own! I even bought toilet paper and paper towels for him! You know that stuff is expensive when you buy a TON of it, right??

We also decided to bite the bullet and get a new, used car that will not break down every month so now That Kid has a new car for college. He is responsible for the car payments, which were amazingly inexpensive by today's standards. He is thrilled to have a car that he doesn't have to worry about breaking down and it has a back seat so he can take his little brother places, and his friends! Of course, since he'll be busy with school and work there won't be many opportunities for socializing or doing things with his brother. But, at least he CAN!






Now the dealership is trying to sell us a second vehicle, but the vehicle they were trying to sell us had 38,000 miles on it and had several cosmetic problems. It also STUNK!! So I ask, would you buy a new/used car that had these problems? Or am I just being anal? When I buy a new or used car I want it to look and smell like a new car!
Not to mention it's not the car that I originally wanted to look at from this dealership. So, as you can see this week is full of emotions and changes in my life.
My house is a disaster, my emotions are a disaster and That Other Kid is feeling neglected, but after tomorrow he will become my full focus and he will probably be smothered with attention, since my first baby won't be around to love on.

Once I regroup from this week, I have to reorganize and clean the house and prepare for homeschooling kindergarten with That Other Kid. Oh how am I going to survive the next few weeks??!!

Weigh In -- 21 Day Challenge

This week's weigh-in showed me down from 204.3 to 203.3, which is not what I would ideally like, but I can live with it. This is day 8 of the 21 Day Challenge and I'm not doing so great...I haven't followed through on any of my 3 goals.

My goals -- 1)read my Bible daily in the morning, so I can start my day off well.
I've done this 3 out of the 8 days.

2) Eat 5 fruits/veggies a day.
I've done this one better than the others...with 5 of the 8 days met.

3) Spend at least 30 minutes a day outside....
I've done this 4 days out of the 8.

Not so good, but this is a new week/day and I'm determined to improve.

Yesterday was the day of the month that I have been taking pictures and measurements and I am happy to report 8 more inches of flab off my body, with 2 1/2 of those inches off my waist!! That feels GREAT!!

So without further ado, here is what I looked like last month on July 11....












and this is what I looked like last night...







I can tell the difference and I can definitely feel the difference. I am feeling more toned and fit and my size 16 pants are starting to get pretty lose, not lose enough to try 14's yet, but I will be there soon...especially if I continue working out and eating all the fruits/veggies I have declared to eat...So here's to another week and another month. Can't wait to see the results next week and next month!

Tiny Talk

Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting! If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor! Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary.


We've had many things happen over this week that brought many humorous comments from That Other Kid...here are a few of them!

Seeing cows on the side of the road, That Other Kid wants to know how to know the difference between boy and girl cows. I explained horns and udders. So he said so you can tell a girl cow cuz of her "gutters". I tried not to laugh but couldn't help it!

Celebrating dad's bday this afternoon we started talking about old cartoons that we watched w/ That Kid when he was young. Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoons were favs of his. We bought 2 water guns for him when he was 2 and he would put them in his pockets and say he was "so sam" cuz he had 2 guns! Now That Other Kid wants to watch those shows so he can do that,too!

That Other Kid got a new kitty this weekend and he wanted to name him "samwich" and we told him no he had to name him a real name, so he named him "Sammy" which is as close as we would allow!

So meet Sammy....




He is incredibly sweet and easy going, but our old, cranky cat is having real issues with him....she isn't happy with sharing her domain with this "new kid on the block"!
Every night she comes out of our bedroom and hisses at him and stares him down. Tonight she came out, hissed at him, stared at him, then went back to the bedroom...It was hilarious!!

Me You Capture

I've been debating this all week in my head. Do I really want to take pictures of myself and post them willy nilly on my blog? I mean, I know my friends know what I look like and they see me at my worst and occasionally even at my best, but lately I just haven't wanted my picture taken. And by lately I mean over the past 10 years, since I started gaining weight. However, I have started earnestly losing the weight and it would probably be a good idea to occasionally have some pictures of me so that I can see the physical changes that are going on with me. So I took the plunge and did what Beth asked. I took a couple of pictures of myself. I thought about it all day and tried to figure out the best way to do this and of course the best time. I never found the "perfect" place or time so I decided to just do it....I chose right before I worked out



and right after I worked out...



Not exactly the most flattering pictures but they are pretty real. This is what I look like every night anywhere between 9:30 and 11:00 p.m.

And now I have pictures of myself, taken with my cell phone, of what I look(ed) like in early August of 2009 after already losing over 20 pounds, but still needing to lose 60 more pounds. Let's do this again around Christmas, k??

New Challenge - Weigh In

The new challenge started yesterday...in case you didn't catch it. It's only 21 Days this time and we are trying to establish some new HEALTHY habits, and break some bad ones. As always weigh in days are Wednesday so I hopped in my truck and went to the gym to weigh myself. I was, let's say, happy to see the numbers back down a little, but bummed that they weren't down as much as I had wanted.

Last week's weigh in: 204.10
Today's weigh in: 204.3

So I'm starting this 21 Day Challenge with the weight of 204.3. Let's see if I can be at or below 200 by the time this challenge is over, k??

I did start the day off with a banana and some pineapple juice so that is 2 of my fruit/veggie servings. I also started with my Bible and some prayer time. I'm going to get outside this evening after dinner, by enticing That Other Kid to go for a bike ride or roller skating. He loves to do both of these activities so it shouldn't be too difficult for him, me on the other hand...why is it so stinkin' hot out??? Me don't like this heat and humidity, ya know? Oh well only a few more months before it is bearable!

Brooke asked me what Bible reading plan I was using....so I'll tell everyone...It's from QuickVerse '08 "Read the Bible through in a Year". It is a software on the computer and it is very doable, but I feel like I'm going to need an actual Bible Study and I love Beth Moore's study's. I have one (Breaking Free) already that I "started" but never got more than a few days into, so I'm thinking about doing that. I also have several different devotional books that I think I'm going to get out and look at. I think I need something besides just a reading time, ya know??


So how are you doing today with your goals??

Back on Track

I'm beginning to get back on track now that I have had my "blah week". I'm trying real hard to eat better and I started exercising again with a vengeance. I did just over an hour Sunday night and last night. My muscles are protesting but I already feel better physically and mentally. I am using the "Biggest Loser Body Sculpt" DVD and my WiiFit Hula and Yoga. I am on level 2 of the DVD and it goes through 40 minutes of intense exercise. Level 3 will be 50 minutes so I'm going to give myself an extra week to build up to before I start that level, which I was scheduled to start on next Monday.

A new challenge starts today over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans . This go around is only 21 days (3 weeks) and we are trying to establish new habits and break old, bad ones. I think I finally have the "no exercise" habit broken. The days last week that I didn't exercise, I felt physically and mentally bad. I feel GOOD when I exercise! and I love how I can see my body changing and becoming more physically fit!

So what habits am I trying to establish?

How about eating enough fruits and veggies? I am not a fan of veggies, in fact about the only veggie that I can honestly say I really like are carrots and a plain garden salad with lettuce, carrots and a few tomatoes. But I LOVE fruit....I just find it difficult to make myself grab a piece of fruit instead of something like, say bread!

So my new habit -- eat 5 servings of fruits or veggies EVERY DAY!! That means I need to go to the store and buy some, but I do have bananas and apples in the house and I've already had 1 banana today, so I'm off to a decent start.

Another new habit I want to establish is -- getting my day started with reading my BIBLE and having a little bit of prayer time. Usually I get up out of bed, and go lay down on the couch for a couple of hours then fix breakfast for everyone, then shower, eat breakfast myself, then get on the computer for a couple of hours! I want to change this habit. In about a month I am going to start school with That Other Kid (kindergarten - homeschool) and I need to be able to devote at least an hour to hour and a half every day to school. If I don't change something about my morning routine, it's going to be late in the afternoon before we even start and I really don't want that. I want to be able to let him play and burn off energy in the afternoon's and I want to be able to go to the gym and do some cardio during the afternoon.

My third habit to establish over the next 3 weeks -- spend some time outside EVERYDAY! Summer in North Texas is brutal, but being outside is good for me no matter how hot it is, and That Other Kid loves to be outside. This will be a good way for him to burn off some energy and for me to soak in some Vitamin D, which the Endocronologist has told me I need to boost. I figure if I spend 30 minutes outside everyday then I will do both me and my son some good!

So there you have it, 3 things about myself that I AM GOING TO CHANGE over the next 21 days! So I'm off to eat another piece of fruit, read my bible and go outside with That Other Kid....


Edited *** I managed to eat 5 fruits/veggies, read my Bible and spend some time praying, but I didn't make it outside today except to go to the car and back when we went to indoor soccer practice. Oh well 2 out of 3 is better than none, right???!!