Almost One Week In

We are almost one week into the "Chubbiest Loser" and I am not going to lie, it's been tough.

It is always hard to take a look at your "food addictions" or let's just call them "habits" that have turned into a "lifestyle" that had creeped all over us. Without a major change, you never notice that every night you just sit down and watch TV for HOURS.

Or how often you reach for mindless snacks when you get stressed, hurt or frustrated. Instead of reaching for food, we now have to reach resolution. This is better in the long run, but sometimes a bit exhausting. :)

But the payoff?
Matt is down nearly 10 pounds.
I have lost 5.

WHAT?

In one week?
That seems crazy.

We have changed a lot around here.
But none of it has been terrible. Well, there was one terribly cranky day (Thanks Diet Coke for that addiction) but other than that. We are full, happy and have lots more energy. And are sleeping better at night. Matt isn't snoring anymore! YAY!

What have we been eating?
It has been a hybrid: Biggest Loser/Weight Watchers/Mediterranean Diet that I call: The Pinterest Diet.

If a recipe looks appetizing on Pinterest and is low in calories, carbs and high in fiber, I make it.
It has worked out fabulously.

Here are some of the recipes I have made:

Dijon Mustard Chicken Packs with Zucchini and Tomatoes

Source: eatingwell.com via Leslie on Pinterest

Grilled Feta Stuffed Turkey Burgers. These were amazing. 

Source: pink-parsley.com via Leslie on Pinterest

Biggest Loser Oatmeal Pancakes. The kids and Matt loved these. 

Source: biggest-loser-recipes.com via Leslie on Pinterest

Biggest Loser Turkey Chili. Winner All Around. 

Source: weightwatchers-recipes.net via Leslie on Pinterest

Lemon Water. All Day. Love it. 

Source: amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com via Leslie on Pinterest

It hasn't been killer to make these changes.
Here has been the biggest change. Our mindset. If I am going to buy all this produce, then we are going to eat that food that is sitting on the counter or in the fridge OR ELSE. It is too expensive and time consuming to cut up fruit and have it rot out in the fridge. So, we have to eat it or it goes bad.

This is honestly, a big deal for us.
We are on the go a lot and we eat out more than most people.
This is taking serious discipline to plan and eat around being at home and going to the gym or the park.

The payoff is already rolling in. So that is more incentive to keep going! 

Around Here

Matt and around 60/70 Young Life associate men began today what is being called "Chubbiest Loser". These boys are all vying for the rights of chubbiest loser in the next three and half months.

I am not permitted to post the before picture nor the before weight.
But let's just say it looked something like this:

I kid. I kid.

He is not nearly that big.
But like most people who "meet" with people for a living, nearly every meeting is over a meal or has food somehow involved in it.
So he has a little extra "padding" these days. Who doesn't?

So he, and by he, I mean WE are doing this chubbiest loser project.
It should be something worth reporting on. If nothing else, to share the highs and lows of detoxing from the extra 3500 calories a day that we have been consuming over Christmas.

Already, its only Day 1 and we are STARVING and we have been eating all day long.
Just none of the food involves butter, peanut butter, chocolate chips, powdered sugar or icing. It has been a sad day. Except that we have worked out, eaten a healthy breakfast, vegetables, almonds, hummus, cottage cheese and WATER.

So this is the plan:
Drop soda.
Add exercise. Daily.
Walk Ranger. Daily.
Drink lots of water. Daily.
No more chips. Maybe pretzels if we are desperate. (potatoes make you  more hungry after you eat them and leave you feeling less full. Drop the chips!)
If hungry, grab a handful of nuts or baggie of veggies.
Eat at home. No more eating out for dinner.

First weigh in is in two weeks.
The best part about doing this? You don't really want to sit around if you have nothing to eat.
We are getting stuff done!
Cleaned out the garage.
Laundry is done.
Met some people for work.
Dog is walked.
We have lots of more energy! Who knows how long this is going to last? PRAY FOR US! Join us.

I have started a pin board on pinterest with lots of recipes and inspiration to get you started:
Biggest Loser on Pinterest

College Soccer Summed Up In 4 Minutes

Last night I was watching The Biggest Loser on NBC.
There was a scene with one of the trainers in the gym and one of the contestants on the show who has been giving him a hard time. She hasn't been particularly motivated to work as hard as the others and it has been challenging to watch to see how he and the others on the show deal with her.

This scene was INCREDIBLY insightful to me as the scene unfolded I found myself hiding behind the collar on my shirt, then the pillow on the couch. As the scene went on and on, I found myself get hotter and hotter because I realized that I saw this scene on a daily basis between my coach, our weight trainer, our assistant coaches or some other support staff and someone (somedays, it might have even been ME) on my team; while the rest of the team had to stand by and watch them just yell at this person who was unrepentant and unwilling to just let go and do WHATEVER it was that the coach was trying to get them to do.

Here is the scene:


What is most frustrating about this scene? Is that Joelle could of course do it. That in the end, Bob pissed her enough that she got over herself and did what he asked. She had to swallow her pride and do it. Her teammates were yelling at her to "stop thinking of herself and think of others." Ugh. I can not tell you of the mornings that we had to run on the track because some freshman ducked out of study hall 15 minutes early and so we had to 15 400's for those 15 minutes.

And, I can almost hear the words coming out of my mouth as I was diving across the line while they watched us run FOR THEM..."STOP BEING SELFISH!!!!"

Oh those were the days.
Also, it is a lot easier to make myself run these days because I don't have someone standing in front of me YELLING AT ME THE WHOLE TIME.