Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Good late morning, lovely ladies!  It's been quiet lately on the blog.... What have you ladies been eating? Share your snack ideas and yummy meal recipes!

Kim, to answer your question from last week about what proportions to eat of what types of foods, etc, I would say your nutritionist would know what’s best and that it sounds pretty good. I’m no expert in that area, and I’m always trying to learn more and improve. That's an area I need to read some books on!  The guidelines I go off of don’t take a lot of thinking power luckily and are pretty laid back- 6 mini-meals a day instead of 3 huge meals, keeping my foods high protein, medium to low carbohydrate, and pack in as many raw foods like fruits and veggies as possible. When I have breads or pastas I make sure it’s multi-grain. I also have been trying since this post (about a fantastic Runner’s World Diet article that I can’t find any more on their site) to have the high-energy carbs of my day clustered around my workout afternoons/evenings and have my feel-full-longer fat/fiber of my day clustered around my mornings/mid-day when I’m not active. I have a lot of room for improvement in that department, though, because I don’t put enough thought into when I eat my healthy snacks, I just eat them when I want them, listening to my body.


It’s so amazing that raw foods out there were created for our every need! Here are some workout-friendly must-haves that I love:

Berries fight inflammation (relieving muscle and joint soreness post-workout)

Avocados have healthy fat to prevent muscle & joint injury, Bananas keep us from cramping up and give us energy to work out, and Chocolate Milk helps our muscles to recover post-workout

This & this & this all about how Tart Cherry Juice fights inflammation, too

I am really intrigued by the Cherry Juice. Have any of you tried it? I haven’t and I wonder if it’s yummy. I’m thinking about picking up a jug at the grocery store soon to give the experiment a shot!

Share your snack ideas and yummy meal recipes!

Tuesday Motivation

“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.”

-Carl Sandburg

How do you spend those precious spare moments in your day? Workouts don’t need to be a full hour blocked off on your schedule where you zone the rest of the world out- they can be quick little bursts throughout the day. Check out the workout page of Fitness Magazine’s site: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/. There are links to all kinds of 15 minute exercises: 15 minute butt, 15 minute arms, 15 minute cardio, 15 minute jump roping, etc. Honestly, who CARES if you’re a little out of breath and glistening when you run your next errand- you’re going to feel really proud of yourself, and your body is going to be slimming, so who cares what other people think!

If 15 minutes is too big of a chunk of time, try little things like sitting on an exercise ball while at the computer instead of on an office chair- tiny little flexes on your core will make a difference over time. Try doing plies (like Marianne) or squats while you’re brushing your teeth in the bathroom in the morning or while you’re in the shower shampooing your hair.

Park your car at the back of the parking lot and hike in. Not only will you not feel that anxious must-find-front-row-spot feeling, but you’ll be proud of yourself for the extra 50-100 steps you’re taking!

Cleaning the house, go ahead and do multiple trips up and down the stairs at a fast pace, rather than making a pile at the bottom of the stairs of stuff that needs to be taken upstairs and then taking it up only when it gets to be a massive load. Find a project that you need to do at home, like re-organizing cupboards above your head in the kitchen, or lifting and rearranging storage in the basement or garage- your arms and shoulders will love you.

Play with your kids; do airplane, horsey rides, tickling, rolling around and laughing, somersaults, cartwheels, jumping rope, hula hoop, etc. You’re doing double duty workouts & quality fun time with the kiddos.

In warmer weather, keep a jogger stroller or a wagon in the back of the car. If you’re waiting 10 minutes for picking someone up or while you’re running errands, take the littler kiddos for a walk or a wagon-pull around the school grounds. Be spontaneous and say “yes” when your kids see a fun new park or playground they’ve never stopped at and climb on the jungle gym with them for 5 minutes!

Just a little bit of exercise will ENERGIZE you for MORE exercise! Add up 5 minutes here, 2 minutes there, and you might be surprised by the end of the day how much of a workout you got in!

What other ideas do you have for squeezing in little workouts in your busy schedule?

Monday Morning Check-In

Happy Birthday, Nicki!

How did your 2nd week go?  Let us know how much you're up or how much you're down this week.  What's your game plan for this coming week- anything you're going to do differently or anything new you're going to commit to that you want the group here to hold you accountable to?

Remember, according to the instructions in the link on the left side bar for how to accurately weigh and measure yourself, don't even get on the scale if it's your week of the month, b/c it will make you cry and it's just retained water.  If it's your week, just keep working hard on eating right and working out and you'll see two weeks worth of numbers on the scale the following week.  Keep your head up!

Happy Birthday, Ashley!

It's a big week w/ 3 Ten in Six birthday gals :)  Happy Happy Birthday, Ashley!!!!

Weigh in tomorrow morning (no measuremets yet) :)

End of First Side Challenge

Good morning & happy weekend, girls!  The side challenge for this week has been to plan an ACTIVE date night or an ACTIVE girls night out or adventure.  I am so happy that so many have done this- 11- that's incredible!  Just think what this commitment to a healthy lifestyle communicates to your family, to your friends, to the new YOU.  I love it :)  Here's what everybody's got planned in the order in which I received them, and I edited specifics to keep this as safe as possible:

JEN R:  DANCING "[My husband] and I are going to go dancing (ward dance in Feb, specifically). If that ends up not happening, we will go Contra Dancing by the end of Feb (13th, 20th, or 26th all available...). I commit! :)"

AMY: SNOWBOARDING "[My husband] and I have set an all day date for Jan 26. We are going snowboarding... I'm going to take a lesson since I have never snowboarded. [He] is dusting off his boards as we speak!"

KIM: SKIING, RACQUETBALL, & BOWLING "Well my husband has been trying to get me on the mountain for several years now and teach me how to ski. Everyone in my family either skis or snowboards and I am the last to learn. I usually play the cheerleader role and go up and take pictures and cheer them on but this year I think I will be brave and finally learn...We are going to go play racquetball ...and then we are going to go bowling. Boy my husband is going to be exhausted by the end of the night with skiing, racquetball and bowling all in one day! It should be fun and I am really looking forward to it and I'm glad I have another week to muster up some courage to learn to ski..."

LESLIE: SWIMMING "[My husband] and I have decided to go swimming at the YMCA for one of our date nights-- instead of eating out, like we usually do. I think it will be fun to change up the usual date-night routine and do something active together."

SHANDA: DANCING "My date night is going to ballroom dance class with [my boyfriend]! Learning the merengue is amazing and such a great workout then we stay for the group lesson so we are dancing for about 2 hours. We always leave class a little out of breath and smiling. Afterwards we go home and cook a healthy dinner together experimenting with fun new ideas and foods."

ABREY: ROCK CLIMBINNG, TENNIS, SWIMMINNG, ROPES COURSE, ZIP LINE, & SNORKELINNG "We have planned for our cruise on ship : rock climbing, tennis, swimming, also [my husband] and my sister have committed to workout with me on ship at least once each!! Off shore in Cozumel we are doing a ropes course, zip line and snorkeling adventure!!"

TARA: SLEDDING "I am off to a girls weekend this weekend in Galena and we are going to go sledding tomorrow morning after breakfast."

JENN P: WALKING, RUNNING, & HIKING "Since my husband is [overseas] I can't do a date night with him until the end of March! (He'll be coming home for a couple weeks on leave!) But I do have a friend/family that we do a lot of stuff together--our kids are close in age and have a lot of fun together. This week the kids were out of school for three days so we (both families) went to the ocean for two nights. We spent hours walking the deserted boardwalk and chasing our dogs in the sand. That was my fun/active time. We are also planning on taking a mountain hike together when the rain stops here."

MEGHAN: ROCK CLIMBING "I've been wanting to try some indoor rock climbing for a while and I thought that would make a really fun date. I found a place ... they offer climbing until 10 pm M-F. -perfect for a date night! [My husband] and I are definitely going to check this out!!

CHERISE: WALKING/HIKING "My active date night idea is to go for a walk/hike. We've got a lot of great parks around here and I would love to just go for a walk with my husband!"

SARAH: SNOWBOARDING "My hubby and I are going to give snowboarding a shot the 2nd week of Feb (deals on Tuesdays for beginners' lessons).  He's never tried it and I had a disastrous first attempt 7 yrs ago!  We are going to be so sore, but it should be a hoot!"

AND THE WINNER IS...........

Feel Good Friday

Good morning, fabulous ladies!

For the side challenge, send me your active date/girls night out idea sometime today!  I'll post and do the prize tomorrow morning :)  So far I have them from Jen R., Amy, Kim, and Leslie.

This weekend Abrey, Meghan, Amy, & I are running a team marathon relay- good luck us :)

Today's feel good post is about success stories.  Reading other people's success stories can really motivate us in our own weight loss journeys.  "Wow, they lost SO MUCH weight and yes, it was hard, but they did it.  Yes, it took them a long time, but they did it.  I too can challenge my excuses."  I love it. 

Please search online and find a success story that you really like, then comment with the link to it for all of us to see (we did this last session, too, but I can't get enough of it, so do it again :) ).  Here's a ton of them from Women's Health in a slide show.  I really like this one and this one.  Stuck?  You can look through Women's Health, Fitness, Shape, Runner's World, Bicycling, Prevention, and probably a million others. 

From this article, 20 Weight Loss Motivation Tips, check out #7 regarding success stories, "People who lose weight are not super-human.  They just decided to go for it and then never gave up!"  Reading these success stories remind you of that.  Re-dedicate yourself to have a fantastic and healthy weekend, girls!

Feel the Burn Thursday

Good morning, sweating & shrinking divas!

What workouts have you done this past week?  What do you have planned for this weekend?

One of the best workouts you can do for your body is.....SLEEPING!  If you don't get enough sleep (sorry, mommies of newborns, this might be impossible), then you're more apt to come down with illnesses or injuries in your workout regime.  This Bicycling article is pretty good. It suggests 8-10 hours!  Whoa! This RunnersWorld article says getting enough sleep (again, 10 hrs) will improve your reaction time and speed in running.  This WebMD article suggests that getting enough sleep actually affects 2 important hormones in our body that affect appetite, so if you don't get a good night's rest, the next day perhaps nothing you eat will be satisfying or perhaps you'll be ravenous.  And the thing we probably all knew, this AFPA article says that sleep is needed for our muscles to repair themselves (when you workout tiny muscle tears happen and then your muscles rebuild bigger and stronger).

The other great component to a successful weight loss program is....WATER!  We know that often our bodies confuse the signal for thirst for the signal for hunger.  Sometimes when you think you're hungry, your body is actually thirsty and dehydrated.  Being sure to drink enough water will decrease your hunger & probably the amount of food you eat b/c of that. It will also increase your energy, increase your metabolism, cleanse your body, be easier on stomach bloat than diet soft drinks, and will just overall make you feel better.  How much is enough?  The old, well-known recommendation is 8 8oz glasses of water + any you drink during a workout. This RunnersWorld calculator that I like a lot actually customizes that generic recommendation for your gender and body weight, so it results in a little bit less water intake for me than the 8x8=64 fluid ounces/day.  But this smaller calculation still has the addition of + anything you drink during a workout.  And another cool tip is that if you sip ice cold water throughout the day, you'll burn a few extra calories from your mid-section as your body spends energy to warm up the water temp in your stomach to an absorbable and usable temperature.  And I've heard that if your body feels thirsty, you're already dehydrated- so drink drink drink!  Any tips for how you get in your daily water?  There's actually a free iPhone app called "8" that tracks your intake of 8 glasses of water a day like a checklist- kind of fun :)  I like a big glass of Crystlal Light w/ dinner, too :)

So the point of this post is not just to hear about what workouts you're up to (which I LOVE hearing about), but it's also a SLEEP CHECK and a WATER CHECK!  How are you doing in both of those departments?

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Good morning, healthy ladies!  What have you been eating lately?  Any yummy new snacks to share or healthy recipes that you like?

For those with kiddos, eating healthy to lose weight is extra hard when you have to cook yourself a "separate" meal from the family.  Have any of you had success getting the whole family to eat your healthy foods and meals?  Check out this link for Feeding Picky Eaters and then check out the "related links" down below the article.  I think the "peaceful plate" is kind of a neat concept, but generally chaos reigns w/ hungry munchkins, so it would take a lot of effort.  Is this all "roll your eyeballs" and "dream on" tactics or do you think that it could work or is worth experimenting with your kiddos?  Share some things that have worked for you in this department.  What healthy snacks/meals do your kids love?

Tuesday Motivation

Good morning, girls!  Today's post will be a little rambly :)

Going into the second week here, we want to keep up that phenomenal momentum from last week.  Be really proud of your accomplishments, not just any weight you may or may not have lost, but the accomplishment of giving this blog a shot, the accomplishment of trying really hard to watch what you eat and fit in a few workouts, the accomplishment of being conscious of your choices & excuses.  Be really proud of all the great habits you've started!  Be your own cheerleader! 

This old article, 10 Tidbits of Weight Loss Wisdom from the Biggest Loser, touts just this as the second tid bit, "Be your own high-stepping, baton-twirling majorette!"  Ha ha, I love that mental image :) 

Life coach Dale Smith Thomas said in her motivational email yesterday that we need to be our own biggest fan: "Remember what Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.' You need to become your...biggest fan. Everyone needs a cheerleader...do it yourself! Talk yourself up...A strong, positive self esteem is essential for achieving the goals we have set for ourselves."  

Today, keep in  mind how freakin' awesome you are and then decide that you ARE going to be successful.  "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right." -Henry Ford

Think that you CAN and think that you WILL!  You can do it, ladies!

And I think a little self-confidence tends to cultivate even MORE self-confidence.  It snowballs. "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." -Vincent Van Gogh


YOU can be a healthy version of yourself.  Clean out the negative thoughts, doubts, fears, etc.  THIS is a fresh change, a healthy lifestyle start for you, something that you CAN keep up and maintain the rest of your life, something that you WILL succeed at and feel WONDERFUL from.  Stay just as strong this week as you did last week! 
 
Everyone comment and let us all know a cheer from you to you, since you're your own biggest cheerleader (this might be hard & awkward, but that's the point)!  You can also let us know any change that you've felt within yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, etc. either via your entire weight-loss journey or via this first week on the challenge here.  It will build us all up and help us see that the change we are bringing about is internal and not just external, and that it all STARTS WITH US! It all starts with a decision. Challenge your excuses!

Monday Morning Check- In

Good morning, shrinking sistas! Today's the first weigh in. Let us
know how much you're up or down in weight or how you're feeling after
your first week :) What's your commitment for this week? Anything you
plan on doing differently?

Happy Birthday

HaPpY BiRtHdAy to TwO AmAzInG WoMeN!  JeN R's BiRtHdAy WaS JaN 9th & MeGhAn'S BiRtHdAy iS ToDaY!!!!!!!  WiSh ThEm a HaPpInEsS & PeAcE tHaT's As SwEeT & BeAuTiFuL aS tHeY aRe :)

Feel Good Friday

Good morning, slimmin' women :)  Everyone's comments yesterday were great- I am so impressed with all that movin' & shakin' going on! 

Fridays are all about positive mental vibes, each of us inspiring ourselves and each other to hold strong through the weekend to our commitments.  Often, the huge chasm between doing the healthy lifestyle and bingeing has to do with a teeny tiny mental dialogue we have with ourselves.  The biggest one I used to fall victim to a lot was "Oh, well, who cares, this little thing isn't going to make a difference" and another one was "I worked so hard- I deserve this!"  BIG pitfalls!  I think that's why I love this article so much: 7 Mental Tricks That Shed Pounds.

I think to change our internal dialogue, we first need to reflect on all of our accomplishments and hard work, acknowledging our little successes, the decisions where we made the right choice, each bead of sweat that dripped from our bodies, every time we reached for the veggies and fruit, etc.  After you've got your good base foundation of feeling proud of yourself, then add to that all the things that you are grateful for, building your resolve tall and strong.  Then finally, after you're filled to the brim with good pride and gratitude, add a little roof to that tower, a roof of all of us 10 in 6 gals who are in your same position, who are trying our hardest, who are cheering for you and supporting you.  That's a pretty good looking building, eh?  :)  YOU are amazing and YOU deserve to feel confident, sexy, and proud NOW of all you've accomplished this week!  YOU are showing your excuses and old habits who's boss!  YOU are defining who you are and what you will become, not letting life just happen to you.  YOU rock, girls :) 

Here's the first side-challenge, should you choose to participate :)  This will run from today to next Friday morning.  Those who participate and email me their plan by next Friday morning will be entered into a drawing for a fun little prize that I'll give or mail to you. 

Date nights or Girls Nights Out don't have to be nights and they don't have to be centered around a 10lb italian pasta dinner with a dozen breadsticks- challenge the traditional notion of dates/GNO! Schedule a fun and active adventure instead! Plan and schedule a big active activity for you and a significant other or for you and a girlfriend to do some day within the remaining 5 weeks of this challenge. Pencil in the date, get confirmation from the other particpant, and then let me know via email what your plan is! Once I get them all, I'll make a post of them (censoring specifics so we're stalker-free). Come up with even better ideas than I have here :)  Is there an indoor rock wall gym near you that you and a friend could go to for a few hours of workout and laughter? Is there local gym that you and a friend could try out a "free-look" day pass at (pretend you're interested in joining) and take a spinning class, or take a dancing class, then relax in the pool, sauna, or hot tub afterwards? Is there a local dance studio that you and a friend could venture into for one lesson? Is there a yoga studio you've been wanting to check out that you and a friend could make a date to pop in for one session- maybe try Bikram if you've never tried it before? Is there a local ice skating rink or roller rink? Is there a state park that you and a friend could plan a hike through? Is there a local park district cross-country ski class that you could sign up for? Plan an afternoon or evening at a ski resort learning how to snowboard or ski with a friend (many places offer highly discounted evening passes from 5pm to 10pm). Try something new! The key here is to HAVE FUN and to be creative! And when we do it with a friend or spouse, we have even MORE FUN! Show your friend/spouse the new committment you've made to live life with spontenaity and fun, to be active, to make workouts an adventure! "When a friend is waiting for you, you're less likely to back out!"

Feel the Burn Thursdays

Good morning, calorie blasting beauties :)

Have you gotten in any good workouts this week?  What do you have planned for the weekend?

Here are my two favorite moves right now that are both kind of fun :)  Wacky Jacks that really work your obliques (sides of your core) and Swing Kicks (horrible quality video but all I could find on you tube) that really work your hips, quads, hamstrings, and lower abs. 

Did you know that your public library has workout DVDs you can check out for free (even TurboJam & all the expensive infomercial DVDs)?  And Wal-mart has all the Biggest Loser and Jillian Michaels workout DVDs for around $9 each?  Do you have a gym membership & go to the gym?  Do you practice yoga, running, cycling....?  Do you have equipment at home you use? 

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Good morning, healthy girls! 

Here's the simplest explanation for weight loss that you all know: You burn more calories than you consume.

Here's a little bit more complicated explanation: If you cut calories alone and don't exercise or strength train, the weight that you lose will be a good portion fat but also a good portion muscle.  Exercising combined with a reduced calorie diet will help you preserve muscle.

Here's a little more indepth look at the calories you're eating:  Eating highly processed foods doesn't take your body much energy to digest (an article from two weeks ago that we shared on here equated highly processed fast food to partially-digested food---ick!) and eating more "raw" or "natural" type foods like veggies, fruits, nuts, etc. take your body a lot of energy to digest and burn, thus burning more calories!  So over time, as you're getting used to a reduced calorie diet, you'll find via trial and error, that some foods just stick with you longer and some make you feel more satisfied, while others feel empty.

And here's what I'm really interested in studying out as of late: Will certain foods (i.e. high protein foods) further yet increase the fat lost vs muscle lost ratio?  We already know that high protein foods help us feel fuller longer, help our muscles repair and grow stronger, and give us lots of energy.  And we know that six 300 calorie meals/snacks are healthier for our metabolism and mental satisfaction than three 600 calorie meals.

Ok, ok, enough technical mumbo jumbo, but please do share if any of you guys know something or feel like researching the subject :)

Today's the day where we swap snack ideas and meal recipes :) So what have you been eating?????  What are your favorite healthy recipes?  Any yummy snacks you've come across?  Speaking to Kim's question, can you share breakfast & lunch ideas, too?

Tuesday's Motivation

Good morning, weight loss wonderwomen! Your "whys" behind embarking on this challenge are great :) How did your first day go? The beginning of any new fitness adventure, or any goal for that matter, enjoys high motivation. This post will hopefully help us all prolong that motivation for the long haul, so we can all hit our goals!

There are a few really short articles for you all to check out. This one is all about how to stick to the great goals that you've set for yourselves. Scheduling in workouts and treating them as a high priority in my day has helped me a lot. I love how it suggests to focus not on what you have left to accomplish but focus on your mini-successes. This one is about the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people, a network of friends and family who are dedicated to you achieving your goal. Share what you're undertaking with your spouse, boyfriend, best friend. Tell them why you're doing what you're doing. Try to spend more time with those friends or family members who are positive and less time with those who are negative. This one talks about motivation for beginning exercisers. Check out the fourth tip. It's exactly what yesterday's post was about! When you're feeling low, go back to yesterday's post and read why you're doing what you're doing. Remind yourself this is a lifestyle change and not some little fad or race. Your reasons for why are passionate, important, and worthy of you giving it your all. You can do it!

This blog's mantra is to Challenge your Excuses. Each of us has excuses, some more than others, but they're debilitating and crippling sometimes. Only we know what our own excuses are, and likewise, only we can make the consious decision to challenge them. Every morning we make a choice if we're going to sit idly by and let those excuses steamroll us OR if we're going to step up to them and try our darndest to challenge them. Ask for tips & tricks from other ladies on here! Re-evaluate your schedule. Decide that your healthy lifestyle is a priority for all the reasons you gave yesterday. Find a way to work out at home before the kids wake up or find a way to involve them in your workout or swap babysitting with a friend a few days a week for an hour. Try working out on your lunch hour or in the morning if you're too tired in the evening. Put the effort into making up a healthy meal plan and buying healthy snacks so that you eliminate the "it takes too much time to eat healthy" excuse. Whatever your excuse, decide today to challenge it!

Today, comment and tell us all how your first day went, what are your initial thoughts, what in any of the 3 articles struck home with you for your particular situation, and what you're going to do this week to challenge your excuses!!!!!!

Monday Morning Check-in

Good morning, girls!  22!!!  That's how many ladies are on the same boat as you, about ready to give it their all just like you, ready to challenge their excuses and rock this challenge just like you! So exciting!

So this morning everybody should weigh in and measure.  Record your weight and measurements in your MFP profile by clicking on the "My Home" tab, then click on "Check-in."  When you're all done entering in your data, click "Save Changes."  If you've already entered data into MFP before with another challenge or something, be sure to then click "Edit Previous Entries" and delete out your old weights (you can keep measurements in there, that doesn't matter) so that today's weight is the only weight in there.  You can also customize which body parts you want to measure and track.  Click on "Change Measurements" and at the bottom you can type whatever you want in the empty box to add your own.  I like hips, bum, thigh, calf, upper arm, waist, ribcage, & bust.  You can track more or less, whatever your preference is.  When you're ready to start tracking today's calories consumed, click the "food" tab, then "add food" under whatever meal you want.  You can customize the names and # of meals, too, by clicking "settings" and change "meal names" or you can customize the nutrients that show up on your daily summary by clicking "settings" and change "nutrients tracked."  I like to have breakfast, late morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner.  And I like to have fiber & sodium on my front page, too.  So ENOUGH housekeeping :) On to the fun stuff!

You've got your journey started now! Yay!  We're all going to be very different in what season we're at in life and what we do on a daily basis, but this connects us to a common purpose.  I find it SOOOO inspiring to hear everybody's "why" and their inspiration for losing weight.  Please comment on this post and share with us all WHY DO YOU WANT TO LOSE THE WEIGHT???  WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO DO IT???  HOW WILL YOU FEEL WHEN YOU LOSE THE WEIGHT???  WHAT WILL YOU BE ABLE TO DO WHEN YOU LOSE THTE WEIGHT???  WHY ARE YOU GIVING THIS BLOG A SHOT???  WHY WHY WHY???

Introduction & Set Up for Newbies- What's this All About?????

This Ten in Six blog is a free support group environment for ladies looking to lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks.  We are from all across the country and challenge our own individual excuses every day to live a healthier, active lifestyle.  The only rule for participation in this blog is that you've got to try your darndest to be positive and uplifting.  Over time, you'll get to know each other a little, cheer & be cheered, uplift & be uplifted, inspire & be inspired.  Weight loss and lifestyle renovating take time- it's a marathon and not a sprint.  This awesome group of gals will help you on your journey, whether your just starting out, if you're almost to your goal, or even if you're aiming to maintain.  No fad diets, just honestly trying our hardest to make overall changes for the better in our habits.

There are a few keys to this blog's success:  First, everyone's holding you accountable, in a positive and fun way, to whatever goal you've set for yourself.  No nagging, but just encouragement, girls excited to hear how you're doing.  Second, we have awesome tools for tracking calories burned & calories consumed with the My Fitness Pal free online profile, and awesome tips & tricks for healthy lifestyles from all the girls participating in this blog.  And third, we keep healthy living at the forefront of your thoughts each day by either emailing you the post each weekday or emailing you every time another challenger comments.

Regarding the subject matter of the posts, Mondays are typically check-in days, Tuesdays & Fridays motivation days, Wednesdays recipe/snack sharing days, & Thursdays workout sharing days.  Check it out by scrolling through our older posts over the last few months.  You can also click on any topic that interests you in the cloud of topics on the left side of the blog and it will pull up all posts with that particular topic as the label.

So, are you in?  We hope so!  If you are, follow these steps to get all set up on the program.  This next Ten in Six challenge will begin with weigh-in & measurements on Monday morning January 11th and will conclude with weigh-in & measurements on Monday morning February 22nd. 

1. Create a free personal profile on the My Fitness Pal website. This is what you'll use to enter in your goals, weight, measurements, calories consumed, calories burned, etc. If you already have a profile, zero it out by deleting the past weight measurements (Click "Home, "Click "Check in," Click "Edit Past Entries," at bottom, delete all old entries).
2. When you're in the My Fitness Pal profile, click on the tab that's called "Tools." Then click on the link in the middle of the page that says "Get Your Personalized Weight Loss Badge Now." Then the second badge on the left down from the top, copy & paste that code to me in an email.

3. Email me (sarah.a.weight at hotmail dot com) your first name (or screen name if you want to stay anonymous), badge code, and what you want in your little bio on the right side bar. I'd love to see what your favorite workout is, what your favorite healthy snack is, what your goal for this challenge is, and what your reward will be when you succeed (massage, manicure/pedicure, new pair of jeans, new pair of shoes, new workout outfit, new swimsuit, new iPod, weekend getaway, new healthy kitchen gadget, new bra, new make-up, new CD/iTunes album, etc.). Also let me know if you want your email address added to the blog so that whenever another challenger posts, it goes straight into your email inbox. I am however limited to 10 email addresses, so first come first serve. The other option is to just be emailed once per day when I make a daily post, again limited to 10 email addresses.  And of course you could choose to not be emailed at all.
4. On the morning of Monday, January 11th, log into your My Fitness Pal profile and enter your starting weight and all the starting measurements you want to (read the instructions "How to Accurately Weight & Measure Yourself"). Start tracking calories consumed & calories burned through workouts. Check in daily to the blog here to let us know how it's going, what you're up to, share your successes & encouragement, etc. I'll ask for specific things in the posts for you to add your comment on or to check-in on, too.

Other things to note: Weights will be private (unless you want to share) b/c we'll just be reporting how much weight and how many inches we drop; no one will know the starting #s. No references to last names for security purposes please, or neighborhoods you live in, or which trail you're going to be running on at a specific time in the future, etc. Just be smart. I don't want to have to go private with the blog. Let me know your favorite songs on your workout playlist and I'll add them to the workout playlist playing at the bottom of the blog. I will also be doing 2 side challenges (one the second week and one the fourth week) for fun prizes.
If you were on the last Ten in Six Challenge and want to continue, just remember to zero out your info & send me any updates you want to your bio and what your new reward is going to be :)

If you were on the last Ten in Six Challenge and DON'T want to continue, just let me know and I'll delete off your bio, badge, & email address.

So go out and get all your girlfriends, moms, sisters, etc. to jump on the challenge here and decide now to challenge their excuses and reach the fitness goals they want to hit! I am so excited for this to start up a fresh round :) Let me know if something's unclear in the instructions above.

Monday Morning Check-In

Good morning, ladies!  I can’t believe that this six week challenge has already drawn to a close!  Thank you so much to those of you who participated.  You’ll never know how much your uplifting comments, tips, tricks, and encouragement inspired me.  It excites me every day!  I love this blog and this group of ladies.  It fills my heart & helps fulfill me.  I am EXTRA impressed that you all did this challenge during the most challenging season of the year, chock full with THREE+ holidays!  Wow!  Even if you didn’t hit what you want to hit, you should be so thrilled and proud of yourself that you even attempted a fitness and weight loss regime during this time.  You balk in the face of challenges- GO YOU, girl! 

I am very excited to hear how you all have done!  Let us know the total change #’s over this 6 weeks.  How much is your weight different?  How many inches did you shed & from where?  Do you feel any different?

GREAT JOB, EVERYONE!

Next challenge will start in one week, on Monday January 11^th, so grab your girls & get them on board :)  I will post an explanatory intro post for new folks this week.

Dr. Robert K. Cooper: Spend 10% of your time on feed back (what went right or what went wrong?) and 90% of your time on feed forward (from this moment on, what am I going to do?).  Focus on the present & focus on the forward! 

Tips for a Positive New Year from Jon Gordon (I picked & chose my favorites for you gals):

·         Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can know that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

·         Take a morning walk of gratitude. It will create a fertile mind ready for success.

·         Transform adversity into success by deciding that change is not your enemy but your friend. In the challenge discover the opportunity.

·         Make a difference in the lives of others.

·         Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

·         Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

·         Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

·         Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

·         Remember there’s no substitute for hard work.

·         Instead of complaining focus on solutions. It’s the key to innovation.

·         Learn from mistakes and let them teach you to make positive changes.

·         Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

·         Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

·         Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

Feel Good Friday

Happy New Year, Ten-in-Sixers!!!!!!!  Doesn't it feel awesome to have ALREADY been doing phenomenal things for yourselves and your bodies BEFORE new year's resolution time?  Yay, you!  Welcome, 2010!

Here is a fun New Year's quote I found:
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” -Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Think about your Most Amazing Future.  This is something we talk about a lot in the business world, with various coaches & authors touting the advice.  If you could think about your most amazing future possible, not just a cool future, not just a so-so future, not just the future that you think will probably happen, but DREAM HUGE and think about your absolute most amazing future, absolute best case scenario, if there was sno limit whatsoever to your dreams.  Take a piece of paper, write in big letters in the middle of it My Most Amazing Future.  Then all around it in smaller lettering, write all the things that are in your most amazing future, whether its qualities, characteristics, actions, habits, locations, activities, feats, accomplishments, whatever it might be.  And when you think you have it complete, DREAM BIGGER!  Add more.  Add it until the whole page is full.  If you want, do this as a family for an activity and come up with your FAMILY's most amazing future. 

Check out this audio clip that is the audio version of the emailed message I got earlier this week from the motivator Jon Gordon, that's kept me excited. 

Think about your goals within that Most Amazing Future (some of them will be short-term goals and some of them will be 30-year goals, that's ok).  Every choice every day will take you closer to that most amazing future or it will keep you stalled where you're at.  LEAP despite your self-doubts.  In that moment  when you're on the edge of decision, on the edge of choice in your attitude, remember that you have a choice- to give up or keep striving forward.  No longer allow fear to paralyze you.  No longer allow your self-doubt to limit your potential.  Be excited to jump into the ocean of abundance!!!!!  Take a leap of fate.  No one is going to push you over the chasm of struggle to create the life that you want.  YOU must take the leap!

What are a couple of things from that Most Amazing Future that MOST excite you?????????  Share a couple that are fitness related maybe....

And the winner is.......

Thanks for donating such an awesome prize, Amy!  The winner receives cannister of Arbonne caffeine free daily detox tea, a package of Arbonne Figure 8 weight loss chews (really yummy BTW), & an Arbonne eye shadow sample.

The participants in the "send me your schedule" side-challenge were all entered onto pieces of paper, put in a bowl, and the winner was drawn at random....

Drumrolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll....

TADAAAAAA!!!!!!

Congratulations, Abrey!  I'll give you your prize this coming week!  Horray!

(I'm out of town Friday morning through Sunday evening)

Thanks to Jen, Marianne, Tara, & Red Hot for also particpating :) Bum one of those yummy chews off of Abrey next time you see her!