Feel Great in Eight!!

We still have eight weeks left in this competition and we are more hopeful than ever! By golly, I think Big 'D' is getting it!! He has lost another six pounds and at the beginning of last week, left the 300's behind!! Again, no, he probably won't be winning first place, but we all know as I've stated many many many times before that this isn't about winning the prize money. Yes, it's an AWESOME ball to keep our eyes on and the bait that keeps us diving, but what we are really winning at, is life, and it feels great! Now, to really win the competition, we could have gone with something drastic and it would have worked, but Darrin doesn't want to pound all the weight back on. I was mistaken, thinking that this could be won so easily with real life eating and heavy exercising while enrolled in an RN program. Sadly, that isn't the way to drop tons of weight fast and to win the grand prize money. But Darrin is losing a steady amount that he'll be able to keep off! It took me a while to come to terms, that this is going to be a long process, but I'm okay with it now, and we are on the same page. He does however, wants me to strongly emphasize that he still has a shot at some significant prize money, but we'll see, right now, I'm just happy with the direction he is going!

Darrin has been focusing mainly on portion control these last few weeks as school has been demanding so much time and physical energy, and he's been doing amazing! He hasn't been eliminating much, except for added sugars such as drinks, desserts and bad carbs like doughnuts etc..., those items are reserved for his cheat day, and even then, he is portion controlling very wisely. On Friday night, the girls really wanted Oreo's and milk, which is a HUGE temptation for both me and Darrin. We did very well and only ate three! We all know how easy it is to pound a whole sleeve of Oreo's in 5.2, so this is a victory, haha! I really do believe that portion controlling is the answer for our family and lifestyle. It has worked for me and it is working for Darrin too, and it puts a smile on my face as I watch him push his plate away as he recognizes that he is full. Something I have to do some times when I'm full, but still want to eat the yumminess left on my plate......I run over to the sink, throw my plate in and poor water over it immediately. Yep, as silly as that sounds, that's what I do and hey, it works for me!

Aside from portion controlling, our family as you all know has also been adding different veggies and fruits. These last two weeks I've been focusing our efforts on our salad eating. In the first 8-ish weeks we really did great and my girls discovered that salad wasn't the enemy, and they have been eating them at least three times a week. In the last four weeks we lost our zest in the whole salad eating goal. We still did it, but I've been getting opposition again! No! We can't digress, this is about progress! So, in these next eight weeks I want them to really start ENJOYING the salad. So I'm going to find a way to make it more fun and dress the salad up with other healthy things they will enjoy. Tonight I will be researching how to do this, haha!!

Exercise for big 'D' has been in and out the last two weeks, but with school getting done in JUST ONE MORE WEEK, I'm confident that he will be able to bust it out at cross-fit and the 'Y' more than regularly for the next 8 weeks. It's been amazing watching his weight come off as he is finally finding his "mojo" in the diet department. Every part of becoming healthy is such a mental battle, and we are now so hopeful, that Darrin will win this battle. The war will continue on for the rest of our lives, but as far as this battle goes, I think he's got it!

Our community involvement with initiating an employee health challenge at Family Healthy Services, has been such a roller coaster ride for me. We started with A LOT of excitement from over 65 employee participants, and now, seven weeks later we are down to a mere 25. I had a meeting with the 'Y' so we could start a corporate membership plan, and to pick their brains to keep the momentum going for our remaining employees. Gilly Funk and Modesta (the 'Y' directors) were soooooo uplifting and wonderful. They gave me some great ideas and told me that having a remaining 25 is GREAT! I think I tend to set my expectations too high and then I get disappointed, but these two wonderful ladies made me feel awesome and rejuvinated my spirits, which in turn helps me help my employee challengers! They even have me contemplating getting some certification done to become an instructor/trainer at the gym.....hmmmm, not sure though! We have a lot going on right now, but it's something to think about. However I'm flattered that they deemed me worthy of such, and it gives me the motivation to stay strong. Last Thursday after work I did do a little personal training though! Five of my employee challengers met me at the gym with one small session at 7:00 and then again at 8:00 so I could show them some HIIT workouts! I had soooooo much fun! Even my boss came which I thought was going to be intimidating, but it turned out to be so rewarding and I loved every minute of it! They all did so great and exceeded the expectations I had for them. Way to go ladies!! The YMCA has also decided to put together something for our grand prize package in the next five weeks as well, I'm so pumped!

Our family activities for the last couple were so fun as usual! We are loving the bonding time that this has created and our girls are discovering that being active as a family is so rewarding! We played Volley-tennis and went to the YMCA's "healthy kids day". We originally went as volunteers, but when we got there we saw that they had more than enough help, so we decided to just participate. It was sooo much fun! They had a bunch of stations that had different physical activities the kids could enjoy such as an obstacle course, a basketball competition, freeze dance game, a baby/army crawl race, kid friendly yoga and some healthy foods as well. There was so much more, but that would take all day! As we left, they had a fire truck in the parking lot that of course the kids had to check out!

Tommye-Lynn is at the exact age where I fell in love with volley ball through Volley-Tennis! It was an after-school sports program that my sisters, my my mom and I were all actively involved in. We played this sport, basketball and softball. I wish they still did these sports as an after school program!! My mom was a volunteer coach for us and we loved it! We always won the championship in the volley-tennis season and we loved our t-shirts and trophies that told us so!

Such good memories, and I love re-living them with my own little fourth-grader!! It was fun as we were even able to get a few vollies going between each other.

Once again, watching Brylee was such a crack up. She put so much effort into such a small hit! Her cuteness overwhelms me as she tries so hard! She enjoyed every minute of it.

                  

 Big daddy 'D'was patient as usual with his little ones. If he could have it his way, he'd lay the smack down as much as possible. I have to kindly remind him that these are little girls we are playing with. :) I know he can't wait till he can play some real games with them when they are older. Me too!



And last but not least, the girls are loving watching the garden grow! We had a "freeze" on one night that we weren't prepared for, but everything but our Roma tomatoes made it through and are thriving. We will re-plant those this week and also be planting some peppers! Such a fun experiment and is teaching the girls a little responsibility as well.

      

I try to think of  or apply a new motto weekly, and this week is to "feel great in eight!" So here we go number eight, we got this!

Are we back in the saddle again??!! Ride that horse, pick up the pace, and go get em' Big 'D'!!

I wrote last week that Darrin sent me a text that stated he felt a new zest to pick up the pace.....well, this week he did it! He picked it up so hard, the pace didn't see what was coming!  Darrin weighed in at 301, that's 7 pounds!! Ya, baby! And this week you could really see the weight loss on him too! Such a handsome  boy, handsome boy! What was even more handsome? His zest to change, his drive to be better, his will to live!

What brought on this change??? Not sure my friends, not sure. What I do know is that he was having head aches again. Headaches like the ones  he had when his blood pressure was sky rocket dangerous. I was pretty nervous about it because of his past BP experience, so I immediately set up an appointment with the MD at my office (my dental office shares space with a medical office). Darrin went in this last Monday, and his blood pressure was high again. Not as dangerously high as a year ago, but still too high....155/105. When the bottom # goes over 100, this is NOT good. So the doctor put him back on his BP meds and this awesome MD that we both love, pretty much plead with Darrin to pick up his pace. (Partly on my behalf. I'm lucky, because I get to see this doctor every day at work and have become good friends with him. I've been able to share my concerns freely with him). He printed off a bunch of obese studies and some scary statistics and some other info. Thank you Dr. Anderson!

I think being back on meds and this info, hit Darrin where it hurts, cause that night through Friday....he busted out lots of cardio and ate like I've never seen him eat......small portions! I've never seen him eat with such a sense of control and determintation do do it right. I admire his hard work and effort, it was amazing to see. The doc said cardio has got to be the emphasis for the health of his heart. And that he has got to get a hold of his portion control. Big 'D' can do this, he proved it this week, that he can do this!!!  We both have a new sense of hope, and can't wait till the next monthly Magic Valley weigh-in and our own monthly picture update! Booya!!

Our family activity this week was so much fun! The weather this week was so lovely, so we took advantage of it and tried a new sport. We bought some cheap rackets and introduced our kiddies to tennis! Our girls loved every minute of it and cried and begged to stay....even though it had already been an hour and a half and was getting dark!

Heston was only interested in "surfing". However, he had a ball, chasing all of the tennis balls around the courts!                                                                                      

Tommye says she wants to try tennis out as a sport, but we'll see....for now, we've told her maybe when daddy graduates.

Little miss Brylee I think loved it the most! She literally cried when we had to leave. She wants to get a pretty purple racket and pink tennis balls. Watchging her try to hit the ball, had to have been the best part of this whole activity.

                                       

Darrin again proved his Hodgkiss ability to be good at all sports. Gee wiz Darrin, take it easy on the unskilled wifey!

                                                 

Boy did I have a hard time making contact with that tennis ball, haha. But my favorite part was simply being able to move around the court. Movements I couldn't do because of debilitating pain only months ago, that kept me from just about everything physical. I'm so incredibly thankful to be mobile again!!!

This week, we also discovered that Brylee likes bell peppers! Well, kind of, she will now dip them in ranch, cold, and in small fashion :) She gave them a try, and surprised us all! Tommye takes more convincing! This week we are experimenting with the other colors of bell peppers, I'm kind of excited! We are also still trying so hard to get better sleep. All our weekend soccer getaway road trips are really making it hard to establish a routine!! But we are doing better, and feeling a difference!

Darrin has the goal to be in the top 15 this for this month against the other magic valley contestants, and then ultimately the top 5 by the end of June. Big 'D', you can do this!!!!!! 10 weeks to prove yourself. 10 weeks to say what you do, and do what you say. 10 weeks to change and begin the rest of our lives! Your tailing that top 15....now pick up the pace and go get em'!

We are now proud gardeners! 11 weeks left!

Only eleven more weeks friends, eleven more weeks and then it's all over! Ehhhh, wrong........eleven more weeks till the rest of our lives! Just as I've said all along, the purpose of this healthy change and weight loss isn't only to win this competition. It's to change the rest of our lives. This competition is only our catalyst to help get us there. We ALL have to have a catalyst or a goal. For some it is a wedding or a vacation or a landmark birthday (turning 30!). For others it is a reward such as a new car or winning an I-Pad. That is what life is all about, reaching goals. Our end goal for this life?? Living with our Heavenly Father right? And for our family to help us make our healthy changes..... it is this challenge to win a family vacation! For Big 'D' it's to win $7500! These are some GREAT catalysts that will help us reach our goals to live long, happy, active and healthy lives! And I'm happy to report that It's working!!

So far our family has added eating a salad more than three times a week! My girls went from shunning the mere thought of a salad, to now requesting one at restaurants.  A salad with spinach, kale, and romaine! A salad with wonderful nurtrients!! This alone is success to me. Yesssssss!!!!!! If we came out of this challenge with that alone, I'd be happy! Even better though, my girls are now more open minded than EVER to at least try new things and that as I have said before, is gold! We've added many more wonderful things and habits and though some items are still slightly mocked and only tolerated by the girls, for the most part they are enjoyed! This has changed the "spirit of contention" at the dinner table drastically, and we now all look forward to dinner time and we look at trying a new food as a game or something to conquer. I'm very proud of my girls! This last week we took our new found attitude towards our healthy foods to another level. I have been wanting to garden, but when you live in a rental that is often hard to do. So thanks to a great friend, we were given some awesome "rental" gardening ideas and we had so much fun! Here is our first gardening experiment! Thank you Tina!!!

We had to ask sooooo many questions, and this guy at Lowe's was so kind and helpful! We will hopefully watch this "container garden" grow big and strong! I will keep taking pictures and maybe we will actually be able to eat it??!! Wouldn't that be awesome! We've got tomatoes, onions, zucchini, lettuce, romaine, spinach, broccoli, carrots, strawberries, jalapenos and cilantro! We will add a few more containers and items as the weather permits. We had such a fun time!


In the last few weeks we have been back and forth with family visiting us and vice versa. Thank heavens for parks or else our poor kids would have a hard time being active!  What I have loved most about this challenge, is the support of our family members wherever we go, whether its in Poky or Boise, we've been able to keep up our hard work because of wonderful family. And they have been on their own healthy journeys as well. Thank you Heather and Tiffany!!

These last twelve weeks we have really focused on our veggie and fruit experiment, and we will continue to do this, as it will probably be something we will always continue to work on..... But these next eleven weeks we are going to put added emphasis on our "mental-physical health" as well. During the week last week we were able to get Brylee our five year old in her own bedroom and we all made it to bed before 11 pm! The kids were asleep by 9:30 and us by 11, and some nights it was even by 10:30. This was INCREDIBLY difficult!!! Such a hard habit to break! But I agree with many other voices and I'm convinced that sleep plays a huge part in our mental and physical health. This week our bed time goal for the kids is 9:00, and 10:30 as a habit for me and Darrin. I'm not sure it could get any earlier than that? Like my sister Heather says, and I am in agreement, sleep can be just as important as eating right, so lets put this to the test! 

Our "community project" is going unbelievably well! We are 5 weeks into the employee health challenge that I initiated because of our Magic Valley family challenge. It has been unbelievable rewarding to help others want to make their lives better as well. One of our employees has even lost 9% of her weight already and she is doing it the right way! My company....Family Health Services wants to continue this as an annual event, and I plan on being at it's head every year! We have collected two award packages.....both include mini I-pads and one even includes a free one year membership to a local gym! I am currently working on other donations and plan on having both award packages be amazing! We held an opening meeting that included a healthy eating class where a "pampered chef" came and made a health version of chicken fajitas that were delicious! We had great attendance and they all reported loving the class! I also have a cross-fit class set up for the end of April and some YMCA group fitness classes that we will attend in May. On May 31st we will still hold our CSI obstacle course and I am sooooooo dang excited about this! I have invited and am hoping my family living in Pocatello will come and participate as well!! They have eight weeks to prepare for this event. They can use this as their catalyst! Come on family, you can do this!

Of course you are all wondering how the star of this show, Big 'D' is doing right?? Well, the numbers are going down so this is GREAT! His progress has been slower than we BOTH anticipated, but regardless, the number is going down and that is really all that matters! He started at 342 and 13 weeks later he is now 316. He has lost an average of 2.0 lb's a week which is a healthy rate to keep this weight off! In reality, no, at this rate, this will not win him the big $7500. But it will indeed win him his life. If he continues to lose at this rate, he will in reality, be able to live. And that is the ultimate purpose of this competition, to live.

We did however receive and email saying that he is #35 in the top 50 participants of the competition. He has 11 weeks to move it on up! With that being said, here are Darrin's "half way there" stats... GO BIG 'D'!!!!!! This is why I love before and after pictures, he is making great changes! (I've decided to only post the first week, then the latest most current two pics...too many pics otherwise! And forgive me as I'm still not a very consistent photographer)

Darrin texted me at while work this week a very motivating message. A message that expressed that he feels a new zest to pick up the pace. An attitude to work harder and to do better. I believe he can! It was obvious that my being his "Nazi" or his "Jillian" clearly wasn't doing the trick. So we've changed our stride this half of the challenge. It is my every goal during this half to only use optimism. To be his sidekick. To be his cheer leader, To be his wife. And as sad as it is to admit it, this will be hard for me. Probably as hard as it is for Darrin to lose weight. I am a realist that errors on the side of a pessimist. Well, at least I've made myself believe that I am, in my thought. Something I desperately need, want and am going to change. My outside world gets to see a very different person than my inward world has to see, and that's not fair. My home and family deserve better than that. So we'll see how this in turn helps Darrin's success. Its been said that this is about Darrin, not me. I firmly disagree. I do agree that there is a HUGE element to Darrin's success that is ONLY about him, but oh, there are many more elements that make it about much more than just him. I won't list them all, but I'm one of those elements, and I plan on being a positive one!

So here is to your next 11 weeks Big 'D'! Your next nearly 3 months! Here is to your rejuvenated zest! And maybe, just maybe you can still get to that prize money! Use it as your catalyst to reach your goal to LIFE! You can do hard things, we can do hard things!!          

(P.S. We regretfully had to pull out of our ballroom dancing class :( We made it to four classes, and had a great time, learned some fun things, but due to Heston being sick two weeks in a row we just couldn't leave him. Then he got tubes the following week. Something had to give, and that class was the giver! But we will sign up for the next!! Also, Heston is doing wonderfully!!!! So blessed! And one more thing....Darrin got an 88% on his first test on his new rotation! Way to go!!! Lots on our plate and we are eating it all)      :)