It's been awhile since I've blogged on here, but don't be fooled, I'm still in this hardcore. I am still working out daily, and trying to push my workouts to twice a day. I saw a friend last night that I hadn't seen in about a month and she was amazed at how much weight I'd lost. It made me feel great. My self confidence is back for sure. I think when I originally weighed myself my scale was a bit off tho, cuz I am pretty sure I weighed more than what I listed as my original weight. So i will be adjusting my weight ticker. Which ironically will show that I've lost more weight, but I am still about twenty pounds away from my original goal. Still encouraging tho I think. The only reason I found out about it was a doctors appointment that I had this week. So I'm grateful but at the same time annoyed. haha oh well at least I still like what I see in the mirror. And I'm proud of myself for losing 15 pounds since the start of this. That's more like it. I'm going to keep it coming off too. I feel like my discipline in this is carrying over to other parts of my life and i want to continue this healthier lifestyle in all areas.

Lara

That is my goal:  re-invigorate myself with my workouts and food.  I've been a bit lax this past week and it's a bummer because I am so close to 140.  But I re-did my weight ticker because I want to readjust my goal.  I'm heading for 130 lbs instead of 140 so I still have 12 lbs to go. 
This morning I went to my gym and did a hard core work out to get back in the groove.  I did elliptical, stair stepper and running on treadmill for a combined cardio of one hour.  Plus I did some toning with the weight machines.  I was pretty excited about it.  I had done workouts this week, but none of them had seemed very intense, so it was nice to step it back up.  And tomorrow I am going to go play ultimate frisbee for a few hours as long as the weather is nice, so that will be good cardio too.  Now to food.  Time to get ultra serious because I've been letting myself have a few too many treats a little more often than I had been before.  So getting those back to a once in a while special treat is a focus too.  This past week was really hectic and sad and stressful, but I can't let that be an excuse for not pushing myself.  This next week WILL be better.  And hopefully soon, I will be at 130 and will have lost some more inches on my bottom half. 

-Kaitlyn

i always have this fear that when i step on a scale or take a picture that i'll be disappointed because i thought i was skinnier than i really am. tonight, that happened. i wanted to update some of my pictures on here so i could see my progress. only problem is that once i took the pictures in the same outfit i had taken my originals in, i didn't see any real difference. it looked exactly the very same to me. i have been busting my ass for four months now, and to see that it didn't really look all that different on my body, caused some serious mental drama. what should i be doing differently? i know for a fact i could be more strict on food choices. i eat healthy usually tho, and am always within or below my calorie limit. so what else can i do? i feel like all my confidence and excitement have, at least for the moment, gone out the window. i even took a few pictures of myself naked just to get a realistic view of myself, and deleted the pictures pronto. am i being too hard on myself? or am i really a disappointment right now? i'm proud of myself for working so hard up to this point. and pushing myself past limits of comfort, but this is one of those road blocks that will knock ya flat on your back. i feel like i just want to sit down and cry. i feel like i'm face to face with exactly what i was afraid of, that busting my butt got me nowhere, and nothing has changed. that the person in the mirror has great potential, but just isn't reaching it. it's that same feeling i've always struggled with in all areas of my life. it's almost a feeling that i'm destined to be mediocre, forever that cute girl but never beautiful, that girl with the pretty face but let's ignore the rest of her. that's not what i want to be! i want to be so much more than the girl with a pretty face and nice personality. i want people to stop in their tracks when they see me because i'm something worth remembering. not just on the outside, but in every aspect. i'm tired of looking in a mirror and feeling invisible, and feeling like everyone else thinks that about me too....

Lara

So technically, tomorrow is the end of the biggest loser this season, but I really know it's not an "end" it's really just a new beginning of something that needs to stay in my life.  I am so close to my personal starting goal that it would be really great to step on the scale tomorrow and see 140.  I don't see that quite happening, but I do see maybe a 141 or 142 hopefully, which is pretty darn close.  Plus, as Lara said with her, I have lost quite a few inches and my clothes fit better- in fact, it's almost time for shopping spree- most of my pants are too baggy.  I would like to continue doing the email and website probably through the month of May to get down to 130-135 and then after that continue on the healthy path so I can maintain a good healthy weight.  It's great to see hard work paying off for people on here.  Way to go!  I really hope a girl wins biggest loser tomorrow night!  It's about time!

maybe a breakthrough has finally occurred. i've been feeling better about myself more and more lately which is a great feeling. kaitlyn and i are really consistent with our daily emails on food and workouts which is so helpful. and today i had an exciting happening. it was very warm today and i decided to try on my swim suit and see about getting a bit of color on my pasty white skin. i looked in the mirror and actually liked what i saw! imagine that! no walking awkwardly to hide cellulite and "wobbly bits" as bridget jones so accurately calls them. it was a great feeling. all things sucked in, tight, and toned. and then after tanning a bit, i went inside and put on a t shirt and a pair of shorts that last year were too snug, and this year hang off my hips. i'm not minding that one bit! soon enough i'll get my updated pictures up on here so i can show off the inches lost. even if the numbers aren't going down as fast as i'd like, i am down to a size seven now! i can actually wash and dry my jeans and pants and shirts instead of air drying them to insure comfortable fitting. haha i'm getting excited about this even more now and am so glad that my body craves healthy activity now.

Okay, so we have not been the greatest at blogging and  updating on here, but trust me, we are still in this thing!  Total combined we have lost 25 pounds, which I think is awesome.  Plus, if I did my calculations correctly, that is 12.4% of weight loss for us combined as a team.  Pretty sweet if you ask me.  And we are still going strong with our daily emails to each other in which we tell our daily food choices and what we did for exercise.  It's going pretty well.  We seem to run into bumps in the road and I think we have both experienced extreme frustration, especially over the whole food thing.  I'm sure food will always be a struggle, but I do think back to what I know I used to eat just thinking I was snacking or that it wasn't that much, but it in fact was a lot.  So I am a lot smarter about what I am eating. I do falter and have some not-so-healthy choices, but overall it's so much better.  And I crave exercise and I know I will stick with being active and in shape.  I feel tons better and now that I am within reach of my goal it is exciting and I want to push even more.  Tonight I am planning on going to the gym to watch biggest loser and go on the elliptical and bike while it's on.  I figure that will be good motivation and a good workout! 
  -Kaitlyn

Well, I made it back from Vegas and I had a blast.  That place is the worst for healthy eating though.  I tried my best most days.  Friday was awful, but the rest wasn't bad and with all the walking and even doing a few exercise videos in the hotel room, I kept within my calories most days and although some of it might not have been the most nutritious, I did okay with all the temptations.  And I had a few alcohol drinks, but I even kept that to a minimum because I know those calories are crazy.  And ta-daaaaa, I got on the scale this morning, and amazingly I am at the same weight.  I thought for sure I would have gained a pound or two, so I am pumped about that.  Now this week it's buckle down time again and get into workouts hardcore and really watch what I eat so I can lose another pound or two by the end of the week. 
-Kaitlyn

p.s i've almost reached double digits in weight loss!!! YAY!

things are slowly but surely getting better for me. i'm noticing that my endurance is through the roof now, which is encouraging. i used to not be able to get thru a jillian video without being half dead by the end. now i'm able to do a video and another workout in a day. which is totally exciting for me. i'm noticing my abs and legs are far more toned than they have been in a long time, and i'm really enjoying actually liking what i see in the mirror for the most part. food this week has been good for me, as well as last week. that makes me happy that i can actually exercise some self control. i was really starting to wonder about myself. haha i'm really making sure that i'm viewing this entire thing as a lifestyle change, not just something i'm going to do until i reach the weight i desire, and then quit.  i really want to make sure this is the way i live life now. eating healthy and exercising. i'm also glad because it keeps my cholesterol where it should be, making my life not only healthier but possibly a longer one. haha always a plus in my book. for the first time in a long time i'm actually looking forward to summer time and wearing shorts and summer clothes. my husband has been really good at telling me i'm doing a great job, and last night he told me that he thinks i've actually gotten smaller than i was when he first met me. kind of an exciting thing for me. anyway, so things are looking up so far. i'm going to continue to try to double up on workouts from now on to push myself a bit more. we'll see what happens....

Today was a good day.  It's been a pretty rough few days with one of my students and his mom at school and so I have been channeling all of my frustrations into my exercise.  I went to the gym for the first half of the biggest loser show tonight and did the elliptical at a pretty intense level for 60 minutes.  I was pretty proud of doing cardio for that long.  Usually I do a half hour and then lift weights or break it up into breaks, but I did 60 minutes straight.  So it's off to a good start this week and I hope it pays off with good numbers by the end of it!  Keep up the good work everyone!
~ Kaitlyn

I am so excited for warmer weather and I tried on some shorts from last summer that were pretty tight, and now they are much looser!  Check out the picture. 
I also took some pics of now since it is a little past my halfway point, and I am proud of the work I've done to tighten my stomach and I can see some changes, but I know that by the end I will be even more excited to see pictures of a fitter me! 

Wow, I am really exhausted this week, but I have been pushing myself really hard.  I have been trying to do a morning and an evening workout when there is time and I have been pushing to do some sprints during my runs.  Eating has been going really well, and after last week losing 2 more lbs, I hope to lose another 1-2 lbs by the end of this week.  I have been trying to trim down the carbs like bread and pasta, etc because that is my weakness.  I love them and so I make sure I am not overloading on the bread, and if I do have bread, I try to make sure it is wheat. I'm thinking since it is a halfway point, I might need to take some pictures and post them on here, so we can see if there is much change.  I see it in the mirror and I feel it.  I am by far much more toned and if I jump around my body does not jiggle quite as much as it used to, haha.  I think that I can get down to my goal weight by the end of spring break, which is March 30, if I can lose 2 pounds a week.  The emailing thing is helping Lara and it is helping me too because we are definitely more accountable.  Now if we could just match our schedules so we could maybe do a fun workout together every once in awhile, too.    Life is good and I love that spring is coming!  Warm weather makes working out outside so much more enjoyable!

ok so this week i've been jogging and eating pretty well. i'm proud of myself for the jogging attempts cuz it's still hard on me, but i always feel good when i get home and cool off.  i am still gradually feeling more and more confident, which is an awesome feeling that i've missed! i actually am feeling pretty again! i'm just wishing those numbers on the scale would keep getting smaller. too bad it just won't melt off all at once. haha kait and i have been keeping each other accountable by emailing our food choices and workouts for the day to each other which is still helping me lots. it's nice to have a buddy in this with me. we got an invite in the mail today for a friends' wedding in portland in may. i'm excited to go, and even more exciting is i get to buy a new dress to go there. i'm hoping by may 1 i will be buying a dress in a size six. that would be awesome! i'd love it if the scale would say 135 or so too. but we'll see. at the rate the numbers are dropping it may not be quite there, but i'll just keep on truckin. there's really no other option.

Ok so i'm in the middle of a rut i'm thinking. i'm still busting my butt and working out as hard as ever, but the weight just isn't falling off. It's frustrating.  I'm becoming more strict about what i eat now, and have started emailing kait daily about the meals i plan to eat and about the workouts i'm doing daily just to add to the accountability. Besides the weight loss pause, i have gotten a lot of compliments about how i'm looking lately which is definitely motivation.  I had a doctor's appointment earlier this week and the nurse that sees me each appointment was amazed at how i looked. It felt good to be complimented. even my mom, who i have a terrible relationship with, has mentioned my weight loss at least once every time i've seen her in the last few weeks. That was definite validation that my hard work is paying off. i'm just going to keep it up, and continue the strict food guidelines and i'm bound to get that weight loss ticker movin again!   I also saw an someone earlier this week that has caused me quite a bit of pain in the past.  She looked like she had lost some weight too and seemed to be sizing me up when she saw me. I heard through the grapevine that last year she had gotten herself down to a size 2 from a size 12, though she seemed to have gained it back when i saw her.  That seemed to kick me into gear even more on my workouts. If she can do it, there's absolutely NO REASON i can't do the same thing and KEEP IT OFF. Though i can honestly say i'm not aiming to be a size two. My size fives fitting me again will be good enough thank you.  Anyway, I guess any encouragement or advice will be appreciated as i prepare to gear up another week of bustin butt! I'm already seeing a boost in my self-esteem....i'm ready for it to be shooting through the roof!

It has been a good week and I have finally seen a 1 pound loss this week.  It has been forever.  So now I need to stick with it and see more pounds lost!
  -Kaitlyn

So I was organizing and rearranging yesterday and started looking through some photo albums, and I came across the time frame of about 5 years ago, when I was 19 or 20, and I reallllllllllly loved my pictures.  I was in such good shape.  So seeing those photos added some fuel to my fire, because I know I can be a smaller size and look fit, I just need to work at it.  At that time in my life, I was working out tons and doing indoor soccer, plus I had just been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism a year after  my surgery, so I was on new medication for that, which totally helped my energy and metabolism.  So I know that I just need to stay focused and get down to my goal weight and then maintain by staying active.  I'm thinking I should put up a picture or two around the room to remind me of what I can look like.  Hope everyone else is off to a great start this week! 

Pretty decent week overall, I stuck with workouts every day and kept up with healthy eating most of the time.  I had a few slip ups, but doing much better.  I did measurements this morning on inches and I have lost about 6 inches overall on the top portion of my body and only about 1.5 on my bottom half.  But measuring inches is another tool besides the scale to see the progress you have made.  I had someone at school come up to me and tell me she noticed I am looking like I've lost weight, so that was kind of reassuring. Just keep pluggin away and do what I do. 

So yesterday was pretty fun- it's finally getting warm enough out there to do some more outdoor activities, which I love.  So Jonas and I went down to the park with a group of people to play ultimate frisbee.  I played last year and was in such bad shape it was horrible.  This time I didn't feel as tired so quickly.  Plus, it was a fun way to work out.  We played for like 2 hours so it's a pretty good long workout.  The group is hoping to start playing weekly now that the weather is getting better, so that will be a good workout for me each week and allow me to mix it up and add some fun.  And maybe I'll actually improve at the game itself. I'm excited for spring and better weather and getting to do stuff outdoors!!!!!!!!!

Saturday- I went to the gym and did the elliptical and then the weight machines.  Pretty good workout.  This week was okay, but next week I do need to pick up the intensity.  Maybe I will get the drive back.