March madness

Checking in. Still running and playing a little basketball. Trying to cut back on size of portions. I've been doing ab ripper twice a week and it feels good.

I've also been doing a lot of standing while coaching track, which my back tells me is exercise and so it must burn calories. By the way my hurdlers are doing awesome despite losing my best kid to bad grades. My oldest kid is a sophomore and if he sticks with it he will be running at a college somewhere. I also have a 6'6" freshman that should be good.

December 31, 2011 finds me maintaining a regular exercise routine even in the middle of the winter and feeling good because if had six-pack abs for over six months.

Sad that all the Cougs are out of the tournaments. Hey, how do those comments keep getting in here?

Lean, Mean, Fighting Machine

Yeah, that's right! I will be lean and cocky, able to take on the world. Feeling good -- strutting around in my modest yet form fitting jeans . . . rocking the muscles, able to take on anyone in an arm wrestling contest. Lots of energy and able to make some Rocky moves!! I will fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

BTW Courtney and I went to Goodwill and bought some exercise videos. On Saturday we attempted to run (for me it is run/walk) to the Middle School but got rained out. It was pelting us, people!! So we came home and did some pilates and "the Crunch". We were getting crazy with the crunch (exact words used in the video).

I have done the elliptical every day this week except on Wednesday . . . I went to the temple to get spiritual strength. (interesting side note -- We have to take 5 different freeways to get to the temple -- crazy driving -- I took the Spanish Branch missionaries {who are from Utah} and they were impressed with the route we had to take).

But alas I'm not making progress in weight loss. I think I will have to modify my goal of just exercising and throw some dieting in there.

March Challenge - Keith

I imagine as a result of my disciplined excersizing and the discipline I am teaching myself to have in regards to my eating (snacking) habits, that I will get rid of this spare tire around my waist & reach my goal of 34 inches around at the belly!

Get together

It's too bad that we can't have a reunion on December 31. We could spend the day shopping for a new swimming suit for Marie and new pants for David. Oh, the energy I will have. Then we could while away the evening dancing with Ashlee and drinking green smoothies. Are you in?

Love, Mom

Report

My report is that I wish I had done at least as much as Mom, but alass my workouts were few and far between. April will be better. Thanks for the challenge I will keep trying. It is only when I quit trying that I have failed.
Life is full of ups and downs and I am headed on an up! PMA Thanks again everyone.

The Change a Year Can Bring

I see my self on December 31, 2011 as a much happier person. Instead of doing the usual of playing board games and consuming large quantities of junk food at home waiting to ring in the New Year I will be dancing the night away with Dance Dance Revolution and Just Dance. It is a great way to start a year already in shape with plenty of energy to keep me moving all night long. I see myself with an eager enthusiasm for each new day to be able to prove to my self that I can achieve my goals and feel great about myself. I see myself feeling proud of my accomplishments and not wanting to slip into the bad habits again. To sum it all up, I see myself as empowered.

March report

This is my March Report. I have continued to walk 4 days a week except for the day when I helped Gramps mow the lawn. I know this doesn't sound like very much but some days I find it really hard to motivate myself to get out and do it. I've done it for three months now and I can't give up. I am almost up to my old walking distance although it isn't nearly as fast. I'm glad I didn't put a time limit on it.

Mother Teresa said, "Do your best and trust that others do their best. And be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

This is Mom reporting in for March.

David's March Challenge

I am imagining it is December 31, 2011.  I have reached my goal in terms of weight reduction.  I have a ways to go to reach my ultimate goal but I feel good about my progress so far.  I notice my pants are loose around my waist and I need to buy small sizes.  My energy and stamina are much greater as a result of regular exercise and an improve diet.  Overall, I am quite pleased with myself.

Report

I just noticed that I have "report" written on the calendar on March 27. So here is my report of the past two weeks. I will also make it so it counts for the month of March.

I managed to get in all of my walking except for one day last week when I helped Dad mow the lawn. I can't walk and mow the lawn all on the same day. Besides that I had walked all over the grocery store several times. I'm always forgetting something at the other end of the grocery store. And it's a big store. So I counted that as a day of walking. I am also well on my way to meeting my goal for this week as I walked this morning. I'm happy to report that I am now up to walking clear down to Swift and back. I'm glad I didn't say how fast I would walk. I haven't made it up into the ranch house district yet. You don't find many pennies up there anyway. On some days I have had to walk on Saturday to reach my goal. I can never walk on Friday which is temple day but I should be able to count it as I walk all over the temple several times.

So, that is my report. I probably still need to report for March, right?

This is Mom signing out!

Gentle prod

Thanks for the gentle prod. I knew this was coming up and that I should get busy so here goes:

I wake up on the morning of December 31, 2011 feeling great. I'm going to conquer the world. I jump out of bed and juantily mince over to the window. (Can any of you picture me juantily mincing anywhere without laughing out loud [LOL]?)I briskly raise the blind to greet the world only to be greeted back by a foot of snow on the ground. I quickly jump back in bed and turn up the electric blanket a notch and snuggle down to wait until my hip tells me, "Enough is enough. You've lain on me long enough. I've had it and it's time to get up."

Okay, just read the first four sentences and we'll pick it up from there. But first I will add a pinch of Sharon and Marie's optimism. I've never let a little bit of snow deter me before but instead of putting on my walking shoes and heading out into the storm, I put on my walking shoes and hop on my recumbant bicycle that Dad gave me for my birthday. I feel great! I will get my exercise that way. I can't let a little bit of snow keep me from my goal of walking 4 times a week and losing some weight in the process, although that wasn't my goal. After all, what joy in life does a 75 year old woman have besides food?

Okay, is that worth a point? If not, let me know and I'll see if I can come up with another story. I mean, it's all about points, isn't it?

Love, Mom

Need to get a Move On!

Thanks for the reminder Sharon.
I see myself going and playing raquetball for an hour or so, then heading over to the tennis courts for a game or two, (depending on how many it takes to beat Jeff). With us finally ending up in the jacuzzi for a nice soothing soak. I of course will be in my nice new swimsuit. :)
This is all suppose to happen in October so I need to get a move on!
My goal:
I want to be healthy and fit with of course a trimer body, (65 lbs. gone!)

Me on December 31, 2011

Okay, this is how I would like to describe my state of affairs on this day:  It will be 3 weeks after successfully completing the full Las Vegas Marathon.  I will have completed that event under four hours and I will have run the whole way.  And I just bet I will never have the need to run another marathon in my whole life.  We'll see.  After taking a break from running workouts, I will stay active through the busy holiday month of December with my other workouts of kettlebelling, biking, boxing, etc.  And I will be contemplating my next Golden Sneaker Challenge goal for 2012!!!!


Don't forget to submit your response to the March challenge by the 31st in order to get your point!!!  Here it is again:

Imagine it is December 31, 2011.  How would you want to be able to describe yourself on this day in regards to the health goal you set for yourself this year?

Write a few lines about how you envision your state of health to be as a result of your efforts this year.

Thanks, Sharon

A special thanks to Sharon for TRYING to help us improve our health and well being. I'm in awe of your efforts for the likes of we, your humble family. You must love us. I'm not close to doing everything you suggest but they are making me think. It makes me wish I weren't so old. As Lynn has asked me many times, "How do you feel knowing that you only have about five more years to live?" Since I know how hard it is to be old, I would suggest that, by all means, take care of yourself. There are a lot of aches and pains that come with an old healthy body. Think how you will feel if you don't take care of yourself.

I do have a few questions to ask. I looked in the store as I shopped today and I could find no sliced carrots. I assume they are in the produce department but I couldn't find any. Do all those veggies really produce an added amount of methane gas. Heaven knows I have enough of that. I'm already putting aroung like Grandma Orton. The doctor just told me, "It's payback time." And, can anyone tell me how to make comments on Sharon's blog? The only thing I know how to do is make a post of my own. And please, I want to do it for less than $86.00.

Keep up the good work everyone! I know I wouldn't have the will power to keep walking if it weren't for the support of all you guys.

Mom

Irish blood

Ashlee,

You do have Irish blood in you. Dad has an ancestor on his father's line that came from Ireland. Her name was Maggie O'Neal (You can't get much more Irish sounding than that.) As far as I know there isn't any Irish blood on my side. Gramps also said that you have some Swiss, German and French blood on his side. All I have that I know of in my line is a little French. Let's hear it for Bastille (Sp?) Day! Most of my line is plain old English. All of my histories say they are from good old English stock. Your Dad has some histories from my side that you can get copies of. They make for interesting reading.

Congratulations on going for the good stuff and ignoring the bad. I'm like Keith -- I would have headed right for the buttery popcorn. I have a weakness for buttery popcorn. Keep up the good work! And GOOD LUCK!!

Gram

Nothing like family to tell you what to improve

Last Friday we were watching my cousins kids. We take turn with them going on date nights since their kids are the same age. I told my cousin how well his kids ate for dinner that night. We had KFC. He responded by telling me that when they come to his house that they make them eat their vegtables. So that is something else we need to add to our list of things family thinks we need to improve on. We did have some Asparagus on Thursday and Reed ate two of them, and he thought they were good. Ella managed one. It was a difficult day for a challenge to eat something green, since I was caught up in watching so many basketball games. Especially with BYU playing at dinner time, pizza would have been easier, but we still made a more healthier dinner. I am in 1st in my bracket challenge, I have BYU in the elite 8 beating the Zags and Florida. No one is giving Jimmer and the cougars a chance against the Zags. It is time to get Jimmered.

Lucky in love:

Luckily for me I was forced by marriage into this 'Green' eating challenge, otherwise unlike Ashley I would have chosen the buttery popcorn! Good job Ashley! Woot! Woot! I have gained a couple pounds this week being cut down by injury much like Marie & her sickness, new grand baby, news of Brazil and oh yeah Karly dumping her boyfriend the night we were there! Just kidding Karly! Hahaha! OK, back to the reporting. As I let you all know in an earlier post I have a great disdain for gravity and always set out to prove her wrong (she always wins). I broke my ribs & greatly injured my shoulder. Then in an effort to prove I am not a wimp I went snowboarding again landing on the shoulder a few more times, darned gravity! Anyway, Sharon was able to force me to drink the spinach smoothie (sorry had to go bend over the toilet again!). We discovered that with enough honey anything can be put into smoothie form & thrown down the hatch! Chase that with a little (half the pan) mint brownies and even spinach in liquid form is pallatable. I felt a significant improvement in my shoulder's range of motion in the past 24 hours and will be riding my bike to work again starting tonight. By next week I hope to be back in high workout spirits again! Good job everybody! The beach will be much more enjoyable if you are in shape & ready for it. We are really excited to see everyone up there and play around! - Keith

Exercise

Not much exercise happening for me. It has been a rough month or so with having this and that going on. I do feel that my cold is finally coming to an end, I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Only 3 1/2 months till we all get together. We are looking forward to this so much, but I do want to look a lot better than I do now so I had better get my act together.
LOL
Marie

Green for St. Pattys Day

Nothing fun here, our green was spinach in our lettuce salad. I like the dark green of spinach in our salad so it makes it healthier. No yummy brownies either, darn.?

I want to thank you all for your posts. The encouragment I get from reading them and knowing I am not always alone in my struggles really help. Thank You

A couple of years ago when I lost all that weight I was helped with this saying that I came up with. "Food is a Fuel not a Filler." I would ask myself "how much fuel do I need for my body to function, and, is this the right fuel for my body?" I hope this helps some of us.

LOL (That stands for "Lots of Love" when it comes from me.) For the longest time I thought that that is what it really stood for, not Laugh out Loud

Marie

Lucked Out

Last night I was at the BYU women's basketball game and did not have dinner with me so I was left to resort to the hospitality room for dinner. Usually it is all just treats and snacks, but last night apparently was far more special since it was an NIT game. They had a fruit and veggie platter. I was so excited that I was able to get something healthy and accomplish this challenge. I ate to my hearts content of both broccoli and cucumbers. It tasted so much better than the buttery popcorn and super sugary sweets ever could. But I certainly did luck out and it should be certainly attributed to St. Patty's day. Who knows maybe I have a small amount of Irish blood in me.

Veggie Tales

I fixed an Irish stew for St. Patrick's Day. Full of potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. We had a cabbage salad to go with it . . . and yes I did fudge and make mint brownies as well. Okay, people I need motivation! Too many side trips to the brownie pan!! Not looking good for the waistline. Courtney has started the "diet of a lifetime" and I think I need to join in.

Sooo Cheesy

Well, for our green veggie, we had one of the family favorites…cheesy broccoli. Interesting note, whenever I type broccoli I always want to spell it with one c and two l's. Weird.

I think I missed the deadline, but I want to give a quick report for the first half of March. It's easy to sum up.

Lot's of work. Not much exercise. I did get out to run at least three times each week. My nike counter was acting up and didn't record a couple which makes me feel unvalidated.

Also, congrats to BYU, Gonzaga and of course Wazzu, even though it's only the NIT. I was rooting for Utah State, had them picked for an upset but they failed me.

Hope your brackets aren't completely busted yet. Oh, speaking of basketball, I did play three times in the last two weeks.

HUZZAH!

p.s. After 8 weeks in a splint my finger is just as broken as ever. Doctor says it may never merge back into one piece. Yay for bones!

It IS Easy Being Green

And I'm not talking about the "save the planet" type of green, either! I hope you all had your green veggies today.

I decided to try a green smoothie just because I never have and thought it would be fun to do something different.  Spinach makes it green but you don't even taste it.  It also has a banana, yogurt and a touch of vanilla and honey.

A little less fattening than corned beef and cabbage.

The girls were a bit trepidacious but they did each take a few sips.  However, the the only ones to finish the smoothies were me and Keith. 


Regan is skeptically asking,
"Did leprechauns really make this?"


When I was looking up the recipe for the green smoothie, guess what other recipe I ran across:  Minty green frosted brownies!  Just couldn't resist.

Yummy refreshments after swimming.



The girls were much happier with this
St. Patrick's Day treat!

Green veggie

I am happy to report that I made a wonderful broccoli soup for dinner. I even put in an extra crown of broccoli. That's my green veggie. For dessert we did have the Andes Mint. It was green and it was wonderful. I served dinner to Dad and to Lynn so both of them got their green veggie. I'm off to bed after watching Gonzaga beat St. Johns. Alas, they play BYU on Saturday. Who do I cheer for?

Still winter here

Sharon talked about how beautiful springtime was in Las Vegas. Alas, it is still winter in Washington. It isn't really all that cold but we have been getting the rain. I'm not complaining because it is badly needed. I have seen a few signs of spring -- the forsethia (Sp?)is in bloom and the crocus have started poking their heads through. There is still no popcorn on the apricot tree -- we will have to wait a little bit to sing that song. However, I noticed that the calendar said that we were supposed to report in last Sunday. I'm a couple of days late but I guess that's okay as there were no points given for it. Just blame it on daylight savings time! I'm so sad to report that I only walked 3 days last week. I blamed it on the rain but I did manage to walk a couple of days in the rain. I'll just blame it on the fact that I'm in a funk right now. I get that way every once in a while and it takes me a couple of weeks to bring myself out of it. I didn't walk yesterday but I did today (in the rain). I hope to get in three more days this week. We'll see! Thanks Keith for showing us that you are not super human after all. I can't even use broken ribs as an excuse. I can't wait until Thursday so I can eat something green. I have already decided that we are going to have Andes Mints for dessert. They're green!!! If anyone has any words of encouragement, I could sure use them.

Love, Mom

Last week, I was able to run 10 miles on tuesday with my broken ribs & injured shoulder. I was quite impressed with myself. After that my workouts waned. I did get another little jog in with the girls but that is all I remember from last week. They were on their bikes, I was hunched over Zoey pushing her while trying to run fast enough to keep up with Regan. We got to the park & the running around there was considered my workout. I am weighing at & below 187 last year I was 230 plus. Not to shabby. I haven't measured my waist lately which is my goal for the year but about 2 or 3 weeks ago it was slightly below 37 inches. I am attempting to get near 34 inches by the end of the year (by swimsuit season would be awesome!). This is proving to be slower going than I expected. However, I was reviewing my 3 things Sharon had us submit as to how we would accomplish the main goal and I discovered; I was only concentrating on one of the three. The workouts seem to be the easiest part for me. I just LOVE snack time and feeling full so I still am eating junk and eating too big of meal portions. UGH! So I am recommitting to the three things I committed to in the January Challenge. 1) Excersize 2) Limit Snacking 3) Limit meal portion sizes. Thank you Sharon and everyone for your postings they do inspire me. I think we all need to be posting and checking in often to give support and make this the most successful healthy year our family has probably ever had.

March Bonus Challenge



It's not easy being green.



Here's an easy bonus challenge for us all.

Point Value:  1

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, eat one green vegetable on Thursday, March 17.  Let me know what it is!

March Challenge

Point Value:  1

Imagine it is December 31, 2011.  How would you want to be able to describe yourself on this day in regards to the health goal you set for yourself this year?

Write a few lines about how you envision your state of health to be as a result of your efforts this year.

This must be submitted to me in writing by March 31 in order to win your point!

Keith's needs

Just be glad that it isn't sex that Keith wants to fulfill his needs. I'll take camping over sex any day.

Shoes

Don't lace those shoes yet. We're all coming on strong.

Check It Out!!!

Wowie, zowie, woohoo!  I'm a little excited. I just got 3 more checks in the past 2 days bringing the pot total to a whopping $235. 

Wow, I'll be able to get more than one pair of shoes for sure!

Thanks soooo much for sending in the money, family!

The March Monthly Challenge is coming real, real soon.  I promise!

Lazy

Does this mean I have to quit talking about how bad my feet hurt. I guess I'd better keep my mouth shut. Because...what else is there to talk about? I taught you all I know about being lazy so I guess one lazy person appreciates another lazy person.

P.S. I haven't figured out how to make comments yet. I guess I'm just too lazy to learn.

Madison Marie

By all means, contratulations to Erin and Dave. She's done something that very few of us are capable of doing anymore. Hugs and kisses to Madison, Erin and Dave.

Love, Great-grandma (Can you believe that?)

Golden Bootie Award



The newest recruit!



We got the news that Erin just lost 7 lbs and 6 oz.  Good job, Erin!

Congratulations to Erin and Dave on the arrival of Madison Marie!  She's beautiful and definitely deserving of winning the Golden Bootie Award, which is given to really cute, sweet babies born in 2011. 

Be sure to give her the prize, which is lots of hugs and kisses from all of us!

Thanks Courtney

Thanks Courtney for reminding me of all the weeknsses I have that are trying to get out. I'll try to make it easier for them. Anything to get rid of the pain. Keep up the good work.

Love, Gram