!!! Hey yall! (Yes, I realize simple things excite me.)

I had no clue yall were still posting on this, but for some reason I saw the link while going through my 'favorites' and clicked on it. I'm so glad I did! It's awesome yall are still posting!!! So of course now I have to give my crappy 2 cents. (I say that cause I'm a bad writer.)

I don't know how much I weigh; I haven't weighed myself since this challenge was over, but I have noticed huge change.
First off I'm gettin way skinnier (not a bad skinny, I wouldn't dare let that happen). Second, my running is faster and I've never felt better being out there. I'm also much happier overall (not like I wasn't before, but I'm even happier overall than before.). I struggled for a bit there with the heat/weather issue, but I'm out of that rut.

I guess you wanna know why. Call me crazy, but I think animal protien is the devil. A little harsh, I know. I am now officially vegan. (I won't admit this on my podcast, not yet at least, but I figured not many outside the group read this, so what the hay.) So this means I don't eat anything that comes from an animal. (Yes people, I'm living off chips and pasta...kidding!)

3/4 of our grocery cart now is whole foods from the produce section. I eat this cheese made from soy. I've been cooking food from all over the world! (It happens when you realize that most other countries have tons of vegan dishes, Americans though, do not.)

I could go on FOREVER about why I'm doing this, but if you wanna really understand why, read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.

At first I did miss meat, but not anymore. Once it was all out of my system (which wasn't pretty, ok too much info, i know) I didn't even think about eating it, not even seafood (which is a huge staple where I live). I eat fruits and veggies all day everyday. There are so many foods and meals that I'm now aware of that I never would've known existed before. I'm actually eating more food now than before, but I'm dropping the weight and running better. I actually look forward to eating every meal now, because I know I'll be eating something different and so delish.

I'm reading Vegetarianism for Dummies which is written by a nutritionist. She gives the run down of the nutrition in all the foods, so you know what to eat when you take meat and milk out of the picture.

So anyways, that's my short story. I really think yall should check out The China Study; I would love to know what you think!

-Jodi

Regression...but with a plan

Hello all! I haven't checked this blog in a long while but I saw that some others had posted their progress. My progress...well...has been more of regression than progression. While vacationing in Hawaii I gained a few pounds then, gobs of my family starting visiting and taking J and I out to eat, gained a few more. Before I knew it I gained back most of the weight I lost =(. Sad! BUT I have a plan, in fact I've already lost the 3 lbs of Hawaii weight--HOORAY. I started a running blog, I signed up for a bunch of races and I've been using my www.fitday.com journal religiously. I'm hoping to be down that full 10 from my starting weight of the challenge by Xmas. From the sounds of the posts, sounds like others are doing really well.

Back on the wagon

After this challenge I was really happy to live for a few short weeks at a BMI of 22. My scale I started with (not very good) was showing my weight staying below 140 and staying right about 135 which was the goal. The real weight according to the Wii Fit was about 139ish. While the Wii is not available the home scale is all I have. After this good Doctor visit and learning that I'm a bit over 1 inch shorter than I thought its time to drop a bit more weight I want to stay about 22 BMI it is doable and not too extreme. It is right in the middle of a healthy area. My goal now is to drop another 5LBs (130) and keep it off. I also need to increase my Omega 3 in take from fish (mostly Salmon which of course is going up in price).

So I will be posting back here on a weekly basis. If I don't please poke me via Twitter and help keep me honest and on track. You have all meant so much to me in helping me get healthy I can not thank you enough. The Doc said "your doing it right". He is happy to prescribe drugs because he knows people can be/get lazy. But taking the reigns myself to change my diet and lose weight is something that when he recommends it falls on deaf ears.

Lets all do our part for humanity and be healthy, happy and active. Thanks for all yo have dome to make me just that!

A Milestone

I bought a two-piece swim suit today. AND I might wear it in public. That's a huge milestone for me since I haven't had a bare midriff for 25 years. I need a tan on my tummy now. :)

Weight Loss Update

Hi you guys! Are you still out there ? Have you put all of that weight back on yet ? :)

I'm doing OK, but I have had some surgical assistance. My weight currently stands at 169 lbs, so thats down a total of 13 lbs since I started, but as I say, I lost a fair chunk of that through the surgical procedure I had a few weeks back.

But, I'm starting to eat properly again now, so I have to watch out for those pounds coming back. It would be nice to keep the weight off, so that I can see if it has any affect on the speed of my running.

I have only run 3 times in the past 4 weeks, so I've also lost a lot of muscle and my conditioning. I'm slowly trying to build my running back up, as I've missed it badly.

So, how about you other guys out there...how's it going ?

Nigel.

One Hundred Pushups

Someone - I can't remember who now - posted this link on Twitter the other day. (If I go back and read thru the posts, I can probably find it and give them credit.) Update: - the first person I heard it from was Chris Gillebeau.

Anyway, there are a lot of us who have started the training plan to work towards doing 100 consecutive pushups.

I was doing pushups and ab work every night during the winter and had worked my way up to two sets of 15 pushups but since spring, my strength workouts have taken a back seat to tri training. So, I have joined this challenge and completed the initial test (a whopping 5 pushups), and have now completed Week 1, Day 1. I have ways to go. :)

There are three sessions a week, for 6 weeks, although some people may have to repeat a week or two if they are struggling.

Anyway, I thought I would post the link here in case anyone is interested.

How is everyone's weight loss going? Did anyone lose any more? Are you maintaining the weight you DID lose?

Why not give us an update!

I gained some of mine back when I was away for a week but I'm back down to 118 lbs right now and hope to continue the loss.

Final Update- Kevin

SO SORRY I have been a tad M.I.A.

Had some small issues to take care of and then some vacation.

Bottom line is that I have lost 5 pounds during the 10 week challenge. I guess that's better than putting 5 pounds on, but I have to tell you, I can sit down at a good meal and put 3 pounds on!

But still, glad to be rid of the 5 and thanks to Nigel for putting this together! Maybe we should celebrate with a big piece of carrot cake or two??!! ;-)

The cows have come home (Jodi)

As I sit here nibbling on carrots like a rabbit, I'm reading yall's posts, and it looks like everyone has done incredibly well with this challenge. Congratulations!

As of Tues. I weigh 131, so no change for me since 10 weeks ago...wait a second. There has been change.

I feel much better, I really do have less of a pinch on my belly. I'm accounting that mostly to me not eating much meat within the past few weeks (if you're wondering why, my post before this one explains it).

I noticed my physique looking much leaner since I've been passing on the meat. Within the past 2 weeks this is what I've eaten in terms of meat: I ate a small steak last weekend which we cooked on the grill. Since a group of us went to a club last night we ate Sonic before and Whataburger afterwards. I had to get some chicken from sonic, because it was either that or me eating nothing but tater tots.

However, my eating has gotten much healthier since my findings on the meat issue. I've been incorporating lots of soy, fruits, and veggies into everything I eat. Surprisingly, I don't mind the soy milk that much. I think I'll be sticking to eating a small amount of meat only once a week. That's all I really need.

My running has also been going well. I won 2nd in my age group in a 5K last weekend. It was really hot, but I pushed through it much better than I expected I would. As we neared the finish, I basically sprinted past anyone I saw ahead of me that was a female and looked between the ages of 25-29 :-) That was fun.

It was funny, at the 5K, my mom and I were talking to the dad of a runner from back when I ran cross country in high school. She would win almost all of the races and ran most of those 2 mi. races between 11-12 minutes. Well I don't remember how the subject came up, but when I told her dad I don't eat meat much anymore, he said his daughter has been a vegetarian for 5 years, and she has never run better. Well that gives me all kinds of hope!

So overall, the challenge went well, and I'm looking forward to even more changes in the future with my new way of eating. Thanks yall for posting so much great info.

-Jodi

Final Week Update

I'm just back from a weekend of living it up in Suffolk. Lots of free booze, free food ... perhaps not the way to report in for the last time. I'm still at 13.2 and disappointed I didn't do better than lose 5lbs. It all started out so well but I think I lacked the discipline this time around.

It's been great reading all your reports and I, too, want to thank Nigel for having the inspiration to put this together.

And incidentally, Nigel had surgery at the weekend and is on a liquid diet for 6 weeks. The lengths some people will go to!

Let's do this again sometime!

Week 8, 9 and 10: At least I ended up losng something

First, thank you Nigel for setting up this challenge. If anything, I have learned to be conscious of what I eat. The "team" as a whole has done really well. We have all lost something, and that is progress.

I can't seem to crack the code on what is going on with me digestively. Things have not been right inside. If I exercise and eat well I don't seem to make progress. And I find that my will power has not been very good at times either...which I am sure contributed to my lack of progress.

So the last 3 weeks: 133, 132.5, with final 134. Total net loss: 1/2 lb.

I am disappointed, but I don't think I made drastic enough lifestyle changes to really make a difference.

I am still going to track this thing. Vacation starts next week, which probably will add to my challenge, but when I return marathon training starts - and some of the weight should come off with the increased training (as it did last year with my training). We shall see in the coming months!!!