DietBet

So, I joined in on a diet bet.  Actually, I joined in on two of them.  This one starts on Friday, this one on Monday.  Am I crazy?  Yeah, probably.  But even if I don't win it, the motivational kick in the pants sure can't hurt.

I love Roni's Weigh (hosting the first one )

And I've recently started following the Anti-Jared on Facebook, who is hosting the second bet.

The idea is that you have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight (which for me is gonna be a little over 6 pounds).  I figure I'm crazy because, this late in the game for me, that's a lot to lose.  Either way though, it's motivation and if I manage it then I will be ready to switch over to maintaining instead of losing as I will be between 150-155. 

I think the biggest challenge I face currently is trying to not eat everything the kids eat (like when they want those orange cinnamon rolls from a can) and this will motivate me to not touch it.  Late night craving for some left over Christmas candy that the kids STILL have not eaten?  Beaten.  Over doing the starchy-carby stuff?  Solved for a while.  So, yeah, even if I don't hit the target but I lose half of that then I'm going to be ecstatic anyway.

If you join in on either of them I'd love to hear about it!

Burpee

So I tried to do a burpee today (here's a how-to if you, like me, have never done it before).  As to how it went?...  Ha!  There should have been a video tape of that, it was that sad.  I can do a total of 6 (not well) in about 35 seconds at the moment which is pretty darn slow but once I can stop laughing I'll be able to make it a little quicker.  I'm taking the burpee on as my February challenge.  During January I have been doing situps (almost up to 100), pushups, and planks (still suck at those).  I plan to continue with them but I am going to add squats, burpees and wall sits in for Feb.  I can do about 20 squats right now so I'm aiming for 100 by the end of the month.

Are you challenging yourself on something for February?  What are you up to?

Non Scale Victories

Current Weight: 156.8
Lost so far: 53.2
Pounds to go: 1.8

I looked down at my arm today and there was actually a curve to it.  As in, there is a tiny bit of muscle showing.  Woo to the hoo! Today is all about the non-scale victories.

What are you proud of today?

Dinner

Tonight we made spaghetti for the kids and let green peppers stew in the sauce as it cooked. I used some of the extra beef and a little of the sauce and cooked it in red peppers in the oven for about 1/2 an hour. Dinner was delicious and under 400 calories. Yum!

Tried any good recipes lately?  What's your favorite go to?

Check In

Current Weight: 158.4
Lost so far: 51.6
Pounds to go: 3.4

I'm still going on The Sisterhood's Fab-Abs Challenge.  80 situps?  No problem!  30 pushups?  OMFSM I think I'm gonna die.  I'm rocking the situps like a boss but those damned pushups are going to be the death of me. 

Today is a Zumba day.  I've missed the last week and a half of Zumba for family stuff but today I will be there and I'm looking forward to sweating it up.  I could really use a good workout.

How's your week going?

100

I am just awful at push ups (still from the knees) BUT I can do 100 situps in less than 4 minutes and I can hold a plank for 40 seconds which is so much better than dying at 10 seconds just a few weeks ago.  I've still got a lot of work to do but I'm proud of the progress.

What progress are you proud of yourself for right now?

Daily

Today we recorded a temperature of 1, though it quickly was up to a sunny 15 degrees by about lunch time.  Luckily, in 2 or 3 days it's supposed to shoot up a full 20 degrees on the daily highs.  I never thought I could be so happy about the prospect of temperatures in the 40s but there it is.  The lower temperatures generally mean I'm exercising less as I hide in the warmth of the house so I have no changes in progress to report today, either up or down.

With it all being so cold outside I've been gravitating to my natural habitat, curled in my favorite chair with a book, a warm blanket, and my coffee.  In the last few months I've been through quite a few books actually, but my "to read" stack has also been quickly growing.  Recent reads include:
The Hunger Games trilogy
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Eat Pray Love
The Secret Confessions of a Call Girl
The Help

With the exception of Eat Pray Love, I devoured these books, hundreds of pages per day.  EPL, however, disappointed me and I've only gotten half way through.  It was awfully wordy and seemed to take a while to get where it was going.  I don't know, maybe my expectations were to high for that one but I'll keep going because the idea of not finishing a book kills me.  In fact, I've only not finished two books that I've started: Moby Dick and Fanny Hill, both of which I just could not get into and that made reading into a chore.

Read any good books lately?  Love one I hated, hate one I loved?