Successfully HARD week! End of week 3 check check!

This week Big 'D' started his second semester in the RN program. We knew it would be a busy week, but we didn't realize how CRAZY busy it was going to be....ay ya ya! Really it was only crazy because we had all the new school requirements while sickness came back into our home which required some doctors appointments, re-adjusting work schedules, and finding interim babysitters etc. And of course Tommye-Lynn's soccer practices fall on the days that I work, which is just another thing for Darrin to do.  Not only did Darrin have his normal busy school to-do list, but he also had to study for two unexpected first-week-of-school tests, one of which is a pass/fail test and if a student fails they have to start the entire RN program over again! It's a pharmaceutical calculations test universally famous among many college RN programs, and has kicked a number of students back to the end of the line, or I guess in this case, back to the beginning. Well, I'm happy to report that Darrin passed!! We can breathe for a little while now. Darrin started a very difficult  RN course called Med/Surg. It is the baseline course that gets nurses familiar with knowledge that doctors learn and use in surgery so that a nurse can be on top of things and keeps them in good communication. It too has the reputation of getting rid of students. We have a lot of fun to look forward to, please hear my sarcasm!

I'm also unbelievably proud that whilst big 'D' was enveloped in this busy abyss of craziness, he held true to his workouts and did his cross-fit MWF at 5 a.m. AND held a second cardio workout at the Y on MW, and two-day cardio workouts on T,TH after school. This as sooooo much to squeeze into one week without a whole lot sleep due to crying sick children up all night! Darrin and I are very much team parents. Neither of us seem to able to sleep if the other one is up with a child who is distressed, even if we don't know it. With Darrin fitting in 5 a.m. workouts I tried to insist that Darrin just go to sleep so I could deal with a screaming Heston, but he insisted the opposite. I'm incredibly grateful for such an amazing daddy and equal partner in a husband. I feel very blessed that I've found someone who truly does accept every single flaw I have and who puts up with so much of my craziness. Anyways....Darrin did decide he wanted a cheat meal after nearly 3 weeks and afterwards hated it so badly that he doesn't want to do it again! Haha, we'll see :) He actually did really well and a pretty decent portion size, so I was glad for him. We were both afraid what number he would put up on the scale because of that cheat, but regardless, he lost 4 pounds! Awesome Big 'D'!! He has his first official weigh-in this coming weekend, and I will also post some updated measurements and progress pictures on the next post. Proud wifey here!

Our family physical activity this week was again, so. much. fun!! We really had to make time for it this week because of how crazy it got. Boy was it hard to find the motivation to do it, but we are so happy we succeeded, because it was so much fun and so memorable! For Christmas we were given the Nintendo Wii, and we thought since we were sickies, that we should stay in the warm house and take advantage of the cardio activities on the wii. So we played "Just Dance 2014". I'm not sure if we've ever laughed so hard AT each other and with each other before.

Didn't I already school him last week?? Ya, the one on the left is me motioning "in your face Hodgkiss!" The other pic shows just how much of a princess Darrin really thinks I am :) We were dancing to "The Time of our Lives" from Dirty Dancing. It was hilarious and embarrassing how horrible we actually did. 

                                                    

We did three rounds, it took about an hour and a half. What a great physical activity, we were all sweating and out of breath, well, okay, Darrin and I were! The kids of course were amazing! Brylee was priceless as she tried so hard!

 


     Tommye is actually really really good, she won two of the three rounds.






                              
                                And once again, we had to include Heston, he insisted on it :)

We will definitely be doing this again!

Our new healthy approach on healthy eating had an outstanding outcome this week! We introduced spinach, cucumbers and pears. They tasted all the above on Monday and by Thursday we were have almost a full bowl of salad before our meal!!!!

Who are these kids and what have they done with my children?? I think I'll take the trade-in! Brylee's salad is actually bigger than Tommye's but big sister is getting there. We had a salad before out dinner Thursday and Sunday. We left out of town on Friday and forgot to bring our veggie experience with us. Darn it!!!  The cucumber was a no-go this week for all of us accept Darrin. I have never liked them, and still don't, but I will keep trying on the cucumbers next round. The pear had a winning experience too! We have now added carrots, spinach and salad, pears, pineapple and honey-do to our regular diet and we have only finished 3 weeks! This process is actually working!!! I'm so dang excited!!

As far as myself....I have been working on trading healthy calories in slowly as a continue to practice portion control. This month I am focusing on this goal entirely! I have done at least 60-90 min of cardio 4x's a week and 30-45 minutes of strength training 30-45 min 3x's a week. I was able to hit 4 miles without pain on the treadmil, my heart is happy!! Since October I have lost about 12 pounds. It's slow going for me, but hey, I'll take it and I'm grateful. I'm hoping that I can continue to get stronger and learn some cross-fit from Darrin to get this last 20 pounds off! Now, if I could only get to sleep early!! 

In spite of a very difficult, eventful and sleepless week, I am a very proud wife and mommy! Later guys!!

End of week 2.....this week was mentally, yet in a physical way, eye opening. AND announcing the plan of our community event!

It is my every intention to be very honest in these blog posts! I in no way want to appear as if this competition is a breeze and that my life is anything but easy. I think a lot of people make their blogs look this way and the same goes for many Facebook users. However, at the same time, who wants to read a bunch of pessimistic and depressing thoughts either? I hope to give you a good mix! I'm going to let our readers in on our highs and our lows, our many mistakes and you'll read about our failures and our success! How I write my post is how the week actually happened, well, in a nutshell and when my memory serves me well.  I believe in being honest in all our dealings, even in something as silly as a blog. Honesty is in fact the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Is there a book of wisdom? Well, lets pretend there is, and the first chapter is titled... honesty. :)

Now since we are discussing honesty, lets start there first and get the boring news out of the way.This weeks vegetable intervention was supposed to include carrots, spinach and peaches. This was the plan! Somehow I missed the peaches on my shopping list!  Justification: Peaches aren't in season right now anyways and they don't get their fair attention when they are eaten out of a can, so we will go back to peaches in the summer! And, who has time or who has time to remember to get back to the store for peaches? Not me! There you go, our first mistake and it's only week 2. Ugh, yes, this is going to get harder! Anyways, I consider the carrots a half way success.... We ate them on our salads, cooked on the stove and cold dipped with ranch. Tommye now LOVES cooked carrots! The first night she only tasted it, but shoot, the second night she dove right past the taste test and ate all six cooked carrots on her plate! The other forms were a no-go. Brylee HATED the cooked carrots, it was quite entertaining. I really think more than anything our dislikes of food can be so psychological. In Brylee's case, by the look of her face, I don't think she liked the squish of the carrot in her mouth. We'll see, because she gets to do it again in a few weeks! On the other hand, I put a plate of fresh cold carrots in front of her and her friends playing the Wii and when I turned back to see if she like them, she had already engulfed at least three or four and then continued to finish them. Yes!! She ate carrots and honey-do as snacks for the whole rest of the week. Goodbye fruity pebbles! The spinach we are carrying into this next week because I honestly kept forgetting about them as I have never liked it much either. This week I WILL be better!!

As far as the eye opening experience, this was because of our WAY fun family activity! We decided to play soccer because Tommye-Lynn starts back at soccer club again this week. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary and it isn't something we have never done before, but we have never ever intentionally taken time out of our day to go get exercise done together as a family. What a shame!!! Really, we had so much fun. We started out with a walk to the field, maybe a half mile, then we did few little warm-up running drills and then we played as much soccer we could for the next hour. Then we jogged home! 

Poor Heston wanted to be included so badly so we took him out of the stroller and let him mess around a little. He loved it. Future athlete at his best! 

                            

             And who does Big 'D' think he is?? You know I schooled him right?!! 

Darrin started cross-fit this week and absolutely loved it, just as we thought he would. He woke up at 4:30 a.m. to be to the gym by 5 and put as much into as he could. He loves the "hard core" feel of the venue, loved his coach/trainer and loved getting back into the game! What I loved.....his sore muscles!! Nananananana, welcome to the club of "It hurts so good!" I love that phrase cause it's so true. You know you worked hard when it hurts so good! Darrin did cardio on the off days and did great on his high protein/low carb plan.  His body bugg arrived this week as well and loved all the info it gave him. He did 9.5 miles in his 12 hour overight shift in the ER. That's crazy! This next week he will need to incorporate some two-a-days to get this thing won! I realize this isn't about winning, but hey, if your gonna work this hard, you may as well win something! He is happy to report that he is down another 6 pounds! The second week tends to be one of the toughest, so we are happy with this number. Keep it up Big 'D'!!

Finally...................................................Remember how I discussed optional requirement of holding an event in the community that will contribute to its overall health?? Darrin and I have been thinking about this for a while now trying to think of something impressive. We've thought about a basketball family night, a walking group, a skiing trip etc...But then I thought wait, I work for "Family Health Services"! A community center that focuses on all aspects of family health! We have around 200 employees located in several different offices in the Magic Valley area. (I think this is the correct number of employees) I've been around many of these employees as I work part-time as a hygienist for FHS and I also fill-in on occasion in many of the offices when others call in sick etc.... I've noticed that these individuals/employees are in need of as much family health as anyone else. And then I thought, what if we did something within Family Health Services to help these 200 residents of the Magic Valley area??

 I went to Robyn, the secretary of the CEO this last Tuesday with the idea and my intentions. Robyn told me she would introduce the idea to the board of "C's" and would let me know as soon as she could. By Friday she got back to me and told me that the board loved my idea of an interoffice event. I will be planning and coordinating this event as we go!

Before I end let me to tell you what has been the hardest. SLEEEEEEP!!!! I can't seem to get myself and my little Brylee to bed before 11:30!! Last week we did GREAT, but not so much this week.  We just love the night and hate the morning. We will continue to work on it!

Thank you everyone for your love and support! I realize we are only starting on week 3, but I think I already see a light at the end of this tunnel! We are changing!!!!! This change will set us free! 

See you next week!!

The first week is always the easiest, but is was also the MOST FUN EVER!!

What a FUN week!! Okay, so I definitely realize that the first week of trying to make any lifestyle changes is the easiest. But usually they are the most dreaded?? Well anyways, that's what I expected. I thought my girls would be kicking and screaming every day at all the changes, but this wasn't the case! I'm really really really hoping we can keep this fire that we've built under our "bum bums" big, strong and hot! Keeping fingers, toes and eyes crossed!

We wanted to introduce this taste experimentation process to the girls a fun way, so we thought we would take them to their favorite restaurant here in Twin Falls...Sizzler. Yep, it's both of their favorite, and I knew it would be perfect to explain and start our plan because of the buffet of different "yucky" vegetables! I'll explain what happened as I post the pics...This was so fun and hilarious!

The "bad" food

The "yucky" foods

Our first night was last Monday and it started at the Sizzler....we explained what was going to happen at the dinner table and then had them get their first plate of every vegetable they wouldn't want to eat because it was yucky in their eyes. And then they were instructed to gather a second plate of things they enjoyed the most. End goal......Have their reactions be the opposite at the end of June when we have these lovely "yuckies" in our home!

 They started off with the easiest thing, a honey-do melon.

Honey Do

Honey Do

They loved this! I told them, all these years you have been refusing this yummy fruit!!  I knew the rest wouldn't be this easy :)

She might throw up!

Brylee with an avacado and Tommye-Lynn with a simple tomato. Some of the best reactions :)  Hahahahaha!! I know cottage cheese isn't a vegetable, but this is all about tasting things that they wouldn't normally try. I was so impressed with their compliance!! This competition may be the key to a whole new  healthy life, just as I dream! Let hope they end up liking more things, but not so much the cottage cheese! (I, myself have never and will never like cottage cheese)

                                                                     Tommye Tomato is so dramatic!!






The spinach and the cucumber got  "so so" reactions....This is good because now they have another 19 tastes till hopefully they will use it on a regular salad!

Throughout this first week we tasted avocados, tomatoes and pineapple.  EVERY night! Only once did I get a "come on mom!" So I see this as progress.  The dinners through out the week we tried to blend with an avocado or tomato theme. Tommye actually had a good reaction to both vegetables on the tacos. The second night with rotisserie chicken sandwich, not the same reaction! Brylee was very tolerant of the tomatoes but HATED the avocados. Tommye isn't a fan yet of pineapple, but I have Brylee in the bag! We will return to these items and taste them again in a couple weeks. But if the recipe I make on a certain evening calls for either veggie, then the girls will still have to eat them or try them along with the new veggie/fruit for the week. I consider this first week a success! This week will be carrots in all forms, spinach and peaches. 

And I had to include Heston, but he's easy, his tastebuds aren't too partial yet!

Tommye did AWESOME with incorporating my assigned breakfasts! Her week of healthy breakfasts included thin bagels with cream cheese and honey do, yogurt and oatmeal. She also didn't resist the idea of sandwiches, however would only eat a small portion, so we will work on that. We stuck to our one dessert on Saturday night which was frosted animal crackers! We forgot to get a treat for Monday :)

Our exercise of the week....I was able to start jogging again!!!! Due to some unexplained injury and immobilizing pain I haven't been able to use a treadmill for over 1.5 years. For some reason, I was able to jog this week without any pain! I wasn't able to get past 4 miles an hour or else the pain seemed to visit me again, so I kept that pace and will try to increase it as I go. This will surely help my weight loss!!

Our family workout this week was swimming, an activity my kids crave, but not so much us parents, but we had a blast! It was fun to be together as a family. Darrin woke up from his working the nocturnal shift at around 1pm so we headed to the indoor pool at 1:30 and left at 3:30 to get Heston down for his nap! We really never have made an actual conscious effort to do active  family outings before, so we look forward to this challenge.

Darrin has done so amazing!! Granted the first week and this week will be the easiest because school hasn't started yet, but it has been a great "breaking the ice" experience for him. He hasn't worked out for a very long time! He did a lot of cardio this week at the YMCA that included treadmill walk/run method and elliptical. He will continue to get faster and stronger! He starts cross-fit on Wednesday and he can't wait!!! Darrin's eating was impeccable! He did lots of chicken and green veggies and didn't feel the need to cheat yet. He ate as many meals with us at the recipe allowed and subbed in other low carb items as he needed. And, drum roll please.............................Darrin lost 10 pounds this week! We both know that the first week is mostly water weight, blah blah, but hey, he's working hard and motivated for now, so we'll take it! Hopefully this number will increase even more, but we know this isn't the unrealistic biggest loser television show so we expect a lot of ups and down. Way to go babe!!

Darrin actually just now called me very somberly and shedding a few tears. He said that he is now more motivated than ever....he is working in the ER right now, and just witnessed a man die of a heart attack right in front of the man's wife and children. I can't say his age and no details because of the HIPPA law, but lets just say he was too young to die. He says that he doesn't want to be the main star of that kind of story, and I said good, because I don't want to be the leading female actress in that story either. Time to kick it in high gear babe. You can do it!!

***The Infamous and hopeful "Before" pictures and measurements of Big 'D' and stats of me the crazy wifey :)

Darrin signed up at the Magic Valley YMCA Saturday Jan. 4 2014. At the weight-loss kick-off he saw lots of other dudes in his same boat. I'm glad because having other men to beat just made him want this more. He weighed in at 342 and was immediately humbled and hungry. #stolethatfromlinseydeveyloveyou :) Darrin knew he had lots of pounds to shed and is ready to get it off. This is a lot of weight, but he can do it! All it takes is hard work right? Easier said than done.... I officially signed up and had my weigh-in for the family portion of the challenge today as well.

We all know that motivation and dedication isn't something you can have or give to somebody else. Life would be too easy..."hey, can you go get my motivation for me today?" Ha! Wouldn't that be nice! That is something I have always struggled with, not understanding why some can have the drive and the determination to do one thing or another, and why others just don't. Exercise and eating right is a commitment that takes all the above and even more important, it needs longevity. Not only in this six month challenge, but in life. Darrin will need to come to the realization that food is no longer something to be indulged in or a fun activity. He will learn that food is now fuel for his body to get adequate workouts in and to build his body back up when it is being torn down. I know he can do it!!

Every month we are taking pictures and measurements so we can watch Big D lose it. He was a little hesitant at first to post all this info, but I explained that his friends and family want to see his progress and that this holds him accountable. Accountability often times leads to success! I am his little crazy wifey, I'm not letting him fail, and I need all the tools of accountability that we can get our hands on. I believe Darrin's life depends on it. So monthly pics and measurements it is....see that? I won, good crazy wifey :)

Jan. 5th stats:
   weight: 342 lb.
   peck/bust - 55.5 in.
   real waist - 56.5 in.
   arms/bicep - 19 in.
   thighs - 28.5
   (Darrin's calves are pretty much pure muscle so we skipped those, and his thigh's are pretty solid as well, but I insisted we measure them so he could see that they will get smaller too...he didn't like the word small, LOL, do you see what I'm dealing with here people! BTW, it took a while to get his peck measurement because he is very ticklish and he kept joking and insisting he has bigger boobs than me. This isn't a good, I told him! He knows that :) )

And here are the infamous and hopeful "before" pictures...

Crazy wifey stats:
Jan 5th 171 lb

Sorry, best before pic we will get of me



Please leave words of encouragement for Big D! All joking aside, his life does depend on it. Let's show him who cares and lets help him get rid of his high blood pressure meds!!

And yes our tree is still up!

****Big 'D' and His Fam Bam are losing it!! The PLAN!

Hey friends and family, this is our new  blog! Everyone we love already knows Darrin will be participating the Magic Valley Weight Loss challenge as an individual, but now, we have also entered a separate competition within the same competition. Let me explain...We discovered that within the big overall challenge there is also an optional family challenge. At first the idea of entering seemed absurd because my girls are young and tiny and I myself have around twenty-ish pounds to lose so I thought winning would be elusive. But, then I found out, to win this family challenge doesn't mean the kids and I have to lose weight.... The winner of this challenge is the family that has increased their overall family health in the greatest way, with weight only to be considered. In fact, it was created this year to have families jump in and help the individual who is in the main competition. This excited me on so many levels because I KNOW we are one of the most "average Jo" health- ignorant families out there and TONS of changes can be made in this small family of five. We can help Big 'D' lose weight and get healthy! Now, I really couldn't keep this idea off my mind.

Both Darrin's and the family portions of the competition will be about 24 weeks long ending on June 21st. Official weigh-ins have to take place monthly and at then a final one at the end on June 21. Darrin's portion of the challenge is won solely on the percentage of weight loss by body weight. Darrin will need to lose over 100 pounds  to win the massive grand prize of $7500! On the opposite end of the spectrum there are many components (some mandated others optional) to win the family portion. We are asked to keep track of our progress, and attending already planned competition events and planning a community event will help our odds to win! I have ideas for everything, but it will be a work in progress!

Taking this on will be a HUGE commitment. Not only will Darrin  be attempting to lose tons of weight, but he is also starting his second difficult semester of the RN program and working over-nights in the ER all while being a father and a husband. Then you add Tommye-Lynn's, our 9yr old, schedule of homework, piano and soccer practices in with me, a mommy working part-time and entertaining Brylee, our four year old and Heston whose ten months....yikes, this is going to take some hard work!  I didn't think I could help lead my family in an anything else, but like I said, I just can't keep thinking about it. I DREAM about it! Anyone who knows me, knows that my dreams are vivid and many times are set in action. Sooooo, I'm going to set this family challenge into action!

What is the point of all this hard work you say?? Well, for a while I've been wanting to lead quite a few changes in our Hodgkiss lifestyle, but I am never ambitious enough to follow through. I remain ignorant because ignorance is bliss right?  I already know our family should do a lot more, be a lot more, and eat way better, but, have chosen to keep my blinders on and continue on in our unhealthy ways. In the long run, choosing ignorance now would  prove to be much more challenging than this challenge. These lifestyle changes will be for my children while they are young, so as they grow into adults they can be better parents for their own children. We won't be changing our overall family health, we'll be changing generations of family health! Ignorance is NOT bliss, its disabling.  And of course the catalysts are the prizes! Not only can Darrin win $7500 as an individual, but as a family we can win a dream vacation package valued at $2500!! So, we get to become a healthy family, Darrin loses pounds AND we win money and a vacation???? AWESOME!

So here are the things we plan to change and the plan, to get'r done....

Just to preface, all of these changes are going to apply to the concept of overall health, so they will encompass and create healthy bodies AND healthy minds!

• Change what we are eating! - My kids hate most vegetables! I take full credit for this disability. I've chosen to take the easy peasy road because I have felt at many different times that is wasn't worth the battle. I am certain that we are in the same boat as many other parents. Why, do this?? Healthy food develops a healthy body and mind in more ways than one....physical fitness, brain development and actual body development that affects our internal organs, brain development, vision, physical growth, and immune systems. 

Darrin - 

1. Lower Carbohydrates/High Protein - Cutting as many unhealthy carbs as possible. Darrin will focus most of his carb intake on fruits and vegetables. There will be a lot of chicken in his diet and we will throw some steak into the mix as well. Lots of green veggies are in his future!
2. Cheat Meal - One cheat meal a week will be allowed for Darrin. He doesn't have to have a cheat meal, but can use it if he feels like he needs to.
3. LOSE WEIGHT! Darrin would like to lose as much as possible. He will need to lose over 100 to win the challenge we assume. And we would like to at least see around  70 pounds which is 2-3 pounds a week on average.

Family -  

1. What? Vegetables, fruits, breakfast and lunch food items and water intake.  During this challenge we are focused on vegetables, fruits, breakfast and lunch food items because that is our family's main battle. . 
• Overall I will be making healthier dinner meal items (chicken, pork etc..) however the more intensely healthy foods that my children don't like will be added after the competition ie...fish, soups, more chicken etc... 
• I am a HUGE advocate of portion control. Its been the reason for my individual success in the past 3 years losing 50 pounds and maintaining. Overall, my children eat a very moderated amount at meals naturally. Over eating is not a plague for my kids, thankfully! For Darrin, it's an ongoing battle that he always fights. I also continue at many times to fight that "overeating demon".
2. How? *Fact* Scientifically it is stated that it takes some individual palates twenty separate attempts or tastes of a certain food before they can learn to enjoy it. (Info from twin sister and registered dietitian Tiffany Topliff ) :)
• Fruits and veggies (This is all experimental!)
• Every week, during the first 20 weeks of the challenge I will pick out one to two different veggies and one fruit that the kids would normally shun, and they will try that item (Each food will get a total of three weeks,but on an alternating random schedule.)Three weeks = 21 tastes of the food = like or dislike
•  I don't expect my children to be able to incorporate EVERY item into our diet because there are some foods that people just don't like or some tastes that develop with maturity.
• This should result in approx 14 different vegetables and 7 different fruits. We will have to leave room for error! 
• Breakfast and lunch foods
• Our 9-yr old daughter Tommye-Lynn will be the main focus here, she is our pickiest and most complicated eater. She hates or won't try most breakfast and lunch foods.
• Breakfast -  Because it's the most important meal of the day.....we are focused on easy prep meals as she runs off to school every morning. 
• Snacking - Tommye is in school all day and unfortunately can't monitor whether she eats her meal or not. So on the weekends and after school we'll focus on different healthier snacks. 
• My goal here is to have the veggies eventually used as snacks!
• Dessert -  Only having dessert two times a week...on family home evening and on Friday, Saturday or Sunday night.
• Water Intake - We simply need to drink more water. We purchased a water bottle for every family member. We are going to be conscious of how much we are drinking and the goal of how much we drink will be determined by our weights. 

•  Change Physical activity - Why?? Physical activity ultimately keeps us live! It keeps the heart healthy and keeps many chronic conditions at bay. Darrin is on high blood pressure medication, so one of our goals is to get him off these meds. And of course it keeps our bodies fit and lean which results in the ability to take part in many daily things that otherwise one cannot enjoy while being over weight.

Darrin -

1. He will need to workout every day of the week except Sundays. We strongly agree that Sunday is a day of rest to honor the Sabbath. And thank heavens for this, cause everyBODY needs a day of rest! On Sunday we will take a family walk or leisure bike-ride :)
•  Exercise will include:
•  LOTS of cardio - at least 90 minutes a day...we will be mixing in elliptical, treadmill walking/running, spinning classes/outdoor biking. A lot of this will take place at the YMCA.
• Crossfit workouts which Darrin is so dang excited about!!! This wasn't in our original plan cause it can get expensive. BUT.....Darrin's awesome sister who is a crossfit queen surprised Darrin with an unlimited membership! This will be highly motivational and effective for Darrin as crossfit incorporates much of what he loved about what he did his entire life....Football :) 
• Body Bugg - and another quite amazing family member purchased a Body Bugg system that Big 'D' can wear every day. Because of his awesome mom, Darrin will be able to track how many calories he is burning a day with and without exercise and keep track of his intake of calories. This is an invaluable tool!!! 
• Thank you Momma Hodgkiss, Linsey and Jordan for believing, supporting and having faith in Darrin. It means the world to him and our family. We love you!!!!!

Family - 

1. What? We will incorporate many different changes to make our bodies more efficient.  Physical fitness and get more sleep!
2. How?  I believe one of the best ways for children to learn is by example. So Darrin and I will continue on in our separate workouts. Thank heavens for the daycare at the gym because I couldn't do it otherwise...and my kids get to see me workout everyday. Best example!
• Individual workouts as adults.
• My weight loss goal is 15-20 pounds
• Family physical fitness activity will be at least once a week. These activities will be decided along the way but so far include: Soccer, swimming, hiking, jogging, biking, tennis, hiking, etc... We will come up with more as we go.
• Attend as many planned family activities and classes set up by the Magic Valley competition.
• LEAD, coordinate and plan a community health event. To be determined.
• We also want to do a landmark activity as we get better in shape. 
• Jump-Time activity Our "before an after" activity is Jump-Time. Darrin is too heavy at the current time to participate in our "before" activity, which is why it is our "before" activity. It is our hope that Darrin will be below 280 so he can participate in our "After" activity!
• Sleep! Simply to try and get more sleep :)

• Accountability!!  Why? Because it is an awesome tool that helps us succeed! I will be posting as much as possible.... Darrin's weight loss stats as we go and his progress. I will also post updates on how our experiment of adding healthy food items is going and taking pics of our family activities.