Thank You!

I want to thank the Utah Valley Hospital for all the hard work and dedication they put into this program. This challenge has changed my life for the better. I never knew I could have this much success. It has been so nice to have a group believe in me and be there for me to make it happen. Thanks to Traci for listening to me and giving me "therapy." A huge thanks to Shan'tell who believed in me and kept me motivated and moving. Thanks to Riley for having the crash cart ready and close by! I also want to thank all the contestants who have been there going through the stuggle everyday. It has been so conforting to know that I was not alone in this challenge. Finally, I want to thank my mother who chose me out of her 9 kids to do this with. She is the true champion. I was so thrilled when she won the gold medal for her age catagory (60 to 69= she is 70 next month) at the 5K. What an inspiration she has been to me! Having my mom there as my partner has been an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. What a wonderful time I have had spending time plotting our course and planning our path through this epic journey of self discovery. I LOVE YOU MOM!

Tomorrow morning in weigh out. Wow I can't believe how far all of us have come. It was so exciting to see everyone at the 5 K run. That was a wonderful experience. It was great to be among friends for the run. I loved having Traci and trainers there cheering us on at the finish line! Good luck to everyone!!!

We meet with Shantell tonight. This is the last time we meet with our trainer. Wow has the time really gone? I am still nervous about the 5K. I know I can do it but I have never ever done something like this before. I am glad I will be amound friends!

I got a lot of exercise in yesterday. I am hoping that I am building more muscle. I have noticed that I am a lot stronger in a lot of things. The milk jug from the store is pretty light now. In fact I can carry two in one hand pretty easily now! I am also finding myself volunteering to run get stuff in our house because that is MORE movement. Movement =calorie burn! Good luck to everyone!

WOW last week of the challenge. I can't believe where the time has gone. I am really grateful for the chance I had to be in this challenge. I have done better than I have ever done in the past. That includes all those diet centers with their foods and plans. I am very very happy and feel like I finally have this weight loss under control. Thanks to everyone that has been so inspirational in my journey of self discovery. I certainly learned stuff about myself!!! I am so grateful. A huge thanks to IHC for recognizing the need in our community and putting this program together! I am so grateful.

Today was a beautiful day. I went walking in the park with my family. It was very nice to not have to worry about anything except enjoying my family. In the past I would have dreaded this type of exercise but not anymore. Wow have we all come a long way! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

We have Shan'tell tonight. It will be good to work out with the trainer. I always look forward to working out with her. She has such good tips and keeps us focused in the right direction. I can't believe this is almost over. Well the challenge anyway. I fully intend to keep up the momentum and continue to stay on the program.

Had a great workout today with Shan'tell. She is such a good coach and trainer. On monday a bunch of us are getting together at the hospital front door and walking the 5K. Meeting time is at 4:30pm. Brittany and Brenda have already walked it twice. They will be our fearless leaders. I am glad to get a walk through before the big day.

Today was the last nutrition class. It will be sad to not see everyone all together anymore. It has been a fantastic learning adventure for me. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. 100 days at the beginning seemed so far away. Now its only 15 days away!

Today is wed. Half way through the week. I can't believe how fast time flys. I had a great workout with Shan'tel on monday. She is still helping me discover new muscles. I can't believe how one little change in an exercise movement finds new areas of "wake up pain." ha ha

The weight is slowly and I do mean slowly coming off. This challenge had been "named" correctly. The heart challenge. I have been reflecting on how it has challenged my emotional heart as well as my physical heart these past weeks. It has been a hard wrestle with myself trying to change my bad habits. The accountability has been a real eye opening experience. It has been a reward to see such drastic improvements in my exercise stamina.

I can't believe it is raining again today. I was hoping for more nice exercise weather! I have been walking a lot in anticipation of the 5K that we are scheduled to do on May 22. Yep I am really worried about it. Our exercise with Shantell was excellent and I really discovered new areas that I need to work on.

It was nice to have a sunshine weekend. I walked around Temple square with the kids and my husband and really enjoyed walking and the exercise. I use to think we had to park "so far away" but now I didn't even notice until we were leaving how far we had walked just to get into the Temple grounds. It has really helped to get in shape!

It was raining yesterday morning so I walked the University mall for an hour. It was fun to see so many people that I know in there walking around for exercise. What a nice little secret place to get some exercise in. Plus I was window shopping and the same time. The best part of all was that the stores were closed so it didn't cost me anything and yet I know exactly where to go if I need a certain item. Not all the mall doors are open at 7 am but if you go thru the food court on the east side of the mall it is open. Again I was so excited to see so many of my friends in there exercising away!

I only dropped one pound last week. It is such a struggle to loose the pounds now. I am doing everything I should be. I feel upset by this. Oh well I will keep moving forward and ignore the scales now.

I hope everyone had a nice sunday with their families. Sunday is always a hard day for me because of the "sunday dinner." My family is big on eating and visiting on this day. I have to really buckle down and not indulge in the food. I made it thru the day within my caloriesd.

I really enjoyed the aerobic "70" class this morning.! What a great teacher! I also walked over 6 miles today. I can't believe how much better I am doing in that dept. The scales continue to be a struggle... I hope everyone else is finding all the success they are working so hard for.

Last night we met with Shantell and worked out. She really had me step up the intensity of the interval training on the tread mill. I can certainly feel it in my legs! The time is really going by fast. I am starting to slip in exercise here and there when I am "waiting in a line." I will hurry and do 10 reps of a leg lift. ha ha

We worked out last night with Shantell till 9:00. WOW am I tired this morning. We are building new muscles and hurting in places we never knew existed. I have been reading up on weight lifting for women for the last two days and am starting to understand Shantell more. I feel bad that I always stare at her in a stupor when I am working out. I am always so worn out that it is hard for me to keep track of what number I am on and how many reps I have done. Thank goodness she keeps everything in quantities of 10. Well onward and upward!

Went for a walk last night. sunday evening is a nice time to walk and enjoy the peaceful evening. We walked for a little over 4 miles. We were walking at 3 mph. We need to practice walking at a faster pace.

Tickled Pink went walking this morning in the Riverwoods. We walked for about an hour and a half. It was nice to walk along the river and enjoy the spring. Hopefully my weight will be down tomorrow.

Well spring break has been a nice change of pace. I am enjoying having my kids at home. My oldest had her wisdom teeth pulled out yesterday so she is home relaxing with the family. I am really going to miss her when she goes to college. She can only eat applesauce at the moment so its been easy for me to behave in the kitchen . I can't believe we are into the second half! Good luck everyone.

We meet with Shantell tonight. It is a good thing because the Easter Candy was very tempting. I am really missing those cadbury mini eggs. I saved some for the end of the challenge. I hope that none of my kids or husband find them and eat them before the challenge is over. I have been thinking about them for days.

This is the week of spring break. kids are out and wanting to have fun and eat everything in sight. We still have lots of Easter candy lying around. I am slowly throwing it in the trash instead of in my mouth. Hope everyone has a great week.

Today I went walking all over the mall with my mom. Later we went walking all over Salt Lake. My legs are once again tired. We park the car far from the entrances to the stores so that we can get that extra workout in. I like walking while I shop. I am surprised at how far and how long we can walk/shop. I call it exercising with a purpose.

Thursday night was a good workout with Shantell. We worked really hard on the weights and concentrated on doing new machines and exercises. Boy was I tired! It was good to see Alli and Matt there with the "Icy HOT" team working out also. Everyone is really looking good and improving so much.

Well I weighed exactly the same today as I weighed last week. This is very disappointing but I am pressing on. My mom did better than I did. I am feeling like I am letting her down.

Bought a heart rate monitor with a blood pressure band...and it didn't work very well. Riley checked it against the real equipment and we realized it wasn't reliable. so we returned them,

Went walking today with my sister and mom. It was so nice outside that I didn't even know that I was getting a good workout in. The weight is slowly coming off but it is still very difficult and a challenge. I notice that if I stray even a little bit I am punished by the scales. Today is the half way point I hope everyone is doing well!

Went to power put this morning. It was a good class and we worked hard on the weights. I liked it because there was not a lot of dance moves to tangle my feet up with. We see Shantell tonight.

Today is wed. We worked out with Shantell and we were really really tired from the swimming the night before. I am going to have to work real hard until sunday to make my goal at the half way point in this challenge. Good luck to all!

Went swimming last night and got a great work out! I am excited for the spring and the sunshine! The work outs seem to get easier. An hour goes by faster than it did in the beginning of the challenge.

Hello Monday.
Well we almost half way done with this challenge. I am glad the weekend is over. That is the most difficult time for me. Hope everyone is doing great!

Thank you to the people struggling thru this challenge

I would also like to thank all the people who make comments during the nutrition class. Thank you for bringing your recipes. Thank you for being honest about your struggles. Thank you for bringing treats to share that are healthy. You all inspire me to do better!!!!!!!

tough weekend. I have really struggled. Lots of emotional reasons to self medicate with food. Hopefully the scale won't be too damaging in the morning. Fun seeing Icy Hot team at the trade show. Keep up the good work you guys!

Carob Smoothie

this little drink is fantastic and won't leave you craving sugar and chocolate.

Carob Smoothie
1 cup avocado
1 cup coconut water from a baby (white) coconut
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup raw Cacao Powder
1/2 cup young coconut flesh from the coconut you got the water from
Put in blender and blend well. makes pudding. add ice and it turns into a milk shake! This recipe is from the Raw foods club and Tamalin Christen.

Note on Raw Cacao Powder-Get it at Good Earth. It is expensive but worth it. 16oz is around 16.00 but it lasts a long long time.
Note about coconut. If you go to Good Earth they have white coconuts wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator section. Crack open the very top of the coconut drain water out into measuring cup. drink what you don't use. scoop out coconut flesh (it is very easy to take out because the coconut is young) The smoothie tastes FANTASTIC and will stop those nasty chocolate cravings during Easter!

Exercise

We had a good work out with Shantell last night. She is so careful to track how we are doing on our papers. She knows exactly how much weight to use and how many reps we need to do to improve. She even went the extra mile and spoke to Traci and her BYU instructor trying to find out ways to improve my sad core muscles. I am impressed with her attention to detail. I love how she softly encourages me to "try just one more." She has really helped me to understand the equipment and to not rush through my exercises. She always is watching my heart rate and telling me to "slow down" or to "move a little faster" to keep my heart in the proper zone. THE WEIGHT is finally coming off. Plus I actually like working out now. SHOCK!

Apple cider vinegar...

I have been running around all day but have managed to keep my food journal going. I notice that I don't need as much food as I think I do. On the DR. today. TV show they said that you should take 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar every day for health. Mainly because it is alkaline. I just got a little glass out and drank some. WELL it really killed my food cravings immediately. The show never mentioned that side effect. But the show did say that it would help with heart burn.

It was a long weekend. I was working at the expo and was tempted beyond belief by all the goodies available. I didn't mess up though. Thanks for everyones support!

Friday

Had a great workout with Shantell last night. She is the best! Exercise improvement continues to go slowly but I am seeing improvement. Shantell is patient with me and I am glad. I think she must be secretly in shock by how out of shape I truly am.

MONDAY

I am very excited to see my trainer tomorrow. I am looking forward to working out! Thanks to everyone for the recipes and all the support.

another week

Well here I am another week down. I am doing pretty good. I am starting to like working out. I wish it would stop raining all the time so I could walk outside. I am looking forward to the sunshine. The weight is slowly coming off.

Exercise

I saw a lot of improvement in my ability to exercise last night! this was really exciting. I never once felt like giving up during the training session. This morning I was sore but ok. Seeing improvement in my endurance is very encouraging!

Monday March 1, 2010

Good morning everyone! Well we all made it another week. I started thinking on all the goodies I have passed up this past week and it was a lot! Wow am I glad I didn't eat all that stuff. How depressing would that have been? I can't believe how many goodies I would have eaten if I had given in. My junk food journal would have been longer than my food journal. So many bad choices out there....Thanks to Ali I am keeping a pack of gum in my purse at all times. I just grab for the gum. Sunday night I almost went thru a whole pack! Weekends are tough.

sunday

Yesterday we had the exercise class at the hospital. It was intense. I wish I could say that I kept up but that would be dreaming. Yep I have a long long way to go. I am trying not to be discouraged after that class. I am frustrated but still keeping the course. It is really a fight isin't it?

workout success

Just met with the trainer. I tried real hard to work out and push myself. My heart rate got up to 167 so I had to slow down a bit. That was such a nice thing to hear. I found when I monitored my heart and kept it where Tracie said to that I was able to work out longer and feel better while doing it. (my trainer corrected that mistake!) Loved seeing friends from the challenge at the gym. Everyone there was cheering each other on. Trainers are so awesome and encouraging too. Wow I had a good feeling all day even without the Dr. Pepper.

cold morning walk

went for a walk this morning early. It was very cold. My mom is in better shape than me. NO kidding!

we are walking.....

Hi walked 5 miles today. I have blisters all over my toes! Going again in the morning.

Went to the gym this morning and did the treadmill and spin class.

Then came home and had egg whites (buy them in the store in a carton) and broccoli buds and salsa. I cooked them in a skillet and then ate them. It was pretty good. The egg whites make you think you are getting more food than you really are. The broccoli mixed in there got rid of 2 veggie servings. It is tough eating all the veggies you are suppose to for one day. I used the Jack salsa from costco. It helps to flavor things up. Basically the whole thing is scambled eggs minus the yoke with salsa and broccoli buds thrown in. I get the big bag of broccoli at costco. I am also cooking a pot of it and putting it in the fridge so it is ready to go.

Yesterday I stuck to the plan but it was emotionally very difficult. I hate having to write down what I eat. But every mouthful got written down and let me tell you there are not enough lines in the booklet they gave us. I wonder if they are trying to tell us something about portions and quantitiy? HA

Yesterday was my birthday! I didn't eat any cake or goodies. I wanted to though! Today we met with the nutrionist. We still don't know what we should eat or not. She told us we were on our own for another week. So I will keep chugging away at what I think I should do. The time exercising is rough when you work and have kids. But so far so good.

Yesterday I walked 45 min with my sister around the neighborhood (she is jealous that she wasn't picked for the heart challenge). My sister has decieded to shadow me and my mother and try and do the best she can with our support. I am proud of her! My husband is getting up at 6:00 am every morning and making me a spinach smoothy. Sounds gross but it is really good. It has blueberries, flax, strawberries, soy, and of course a lot of Spinach! I call it my popeye drink. I hope my husband's eyes "pop " when he sees me after 100 days!

The diet is HARD! last night my family had pizza ( I have a teenager). So my sister in law called in the nick of time and took me to the gym before I could get a whiff of the gooey cheese. I can honestly say I have NOT cheated once since last friday when we started.

The Tickled Pink team sees the trainer tonight! Wow we ARE lucky lucky lucky! I never dreamed I would have a personal trainer.... SUCH a luxury!

met with trainer

Well today we met with our new trainer! She is from BYU and her name is Chan'tel. I think I am spelling her name wrong. We were put on different machines and tested to see how in shape we were. I am not. So I have a long road ahead of me for improvement. Tracie and another very nice lady from the hospital were there also to supervise and encourage us. I felt like a movie star with all the fabulous attention and treatment I was receiving. It is incredible how concerned and how serious our trainers and the hospital staff are taking this. I hope I don't disappoint them! I am trying to be very careful in what I eat. I have discovered over the last few days that I am a big emotional eater. I catch myself all the time wanting to just take a bite here and take a bite there. I am working hard to nip that nasty habit in the bud. Well now its time to go get on the treadmill! OH we have decieded to call our team Tickled PINK Bonnie

First blog 2nd day I am shaky but still on course!

Hi today is my very first blog. I started the heart challenge 2 days ago. Yesterday Feb 13, 2010 was a very difficult day. I was extremely tired and was working at the KMS cobra sports car open house in Provo Utah. There was lots of food and tons of people. Lucky for me they had lots of veggies that I could munch on. I was able to barely miss eating the cake, cookies and goodies that kept calling to me. I kept thinking about the heart surgeon who said that we were all in a "launching period" like the space shuttle. He said it would take a lot of energy to get out into space but then we could cruise with little effort. (He was talking about the eating and exercise program). Ok the launching IS hard. I was fighting with my inner self all day. It was distracting and annoying. Part of me wanted to eat just to shut up the siren lure sugar. Well I made it. I didn't break my 100 day vow of behaving.