12 Weeks Later

So here is my outcome of the last 12 weeks of Team Weight Loss-

I lost 13 pounds... not as much as I hoped but here is the kicker- 7.5% less body fat.

I also went from 10 sit ups in 1 minute to 30

Holding the plank (which is very hard for me) for 4 seconds to 38

And... no push ups to 6

I have made some great friends along the way and we all so enjoyed this class that we all resigned for the next 12 weeks!!

So starting Monday.... I am right back at it!!

I am hoping to blog alot more and add pictures. Some ideas I have are pictures of my "healthy" meals, my before and after shots, my cute trainer Chris, the supplements I am taking to help with fat loss, my cute trainer Chris (oops I already mentioned him). Can you tell I am excited about the next 12 weeks? Whats wrong with me?

Halfway mark

We are through 6 weeks of the 12 week challenge and so far I have lost 10 pounds and 3% body fat!!!

Yeah me!

Team Weight Loss

As if I don't have enough on my plate I have added one more huge committment in my life... I joined a 12 week weight loss challenge at Lifetime. It is all Heather's fault. She wants a personal trainer for her birthday and she took me up there to meet him (his name is Chris) and I got talked into this challenge.

It started Monday with the worst part... weighing in and being measured. Today we had to prove just how out of shape we are by showing them how many sit ups and push ups we can do ( or can't do in my case)! It is a grueling work out but fun with the group of ladies I am with. Here is a video promo -

http://www.lifetimefitness.com/team/index.cfm?strWebAction=video&intVideoId=9

I like that it doesn't focus on your actual weight but on fat loss because that is what I am focusing on. I have started taking a new supplement called Osolean that is supposed to burn fat- it is all natural (not like Alli or what we call poopy pants pill) and does not flush fat out of your food but burns the actual fat on your body. I have a special scale that shows my fat content (yuck) so I will update on how I am doing.

I Love Tim Hawkins!

The Pond Saga

I'm still not sure when it all started but somehow we have ended up with a huge pond in our backyard. For years the kids have swam in this large black (indestructible) stock pond that belonged to my in-laws. Our kids had outgrown it and having a community pool really made it obsolete. Chris had been wondering what to do with it so he decided to bury it in the ground and make a small pond out of it (remember that word small).

So we got our pool in the ground, Chris plugged a pump into and we even added a few Koi. We then started reading about Koi (always do this before digging random holes in your backyard) and we realized we needed our pond to be deeper for the winter months. Soooooo ...... Chris started digging again. This time he moved the Koi to a rubbermade bucket where one of them devised an escape plan that involved leaping from the bucket after a rainstorm. Obviously the little koi hadn't thought his plan completely out and we found him the next day on the sidewalk.

Chris dug a much deeper hole with several levels and filled that in with a black plastic sheeting. He made a huge mess while doing this and turned the water a dirty brown ( he thought his filter could handle it- it couldn't). He also added the koi back into the pond (1 original, 1 replacement) but since the water was so muddy we never saw them again along with a frog Chris tossed in that sunk straight to the bottom!!

After more research Chris realized he would need to pump all the water out and start over again. It took almost a whole day but he got all the water drained out (and into the neighbors yard). We were surprised to discover our 2 koi very much alive at the bottom of the muddy mess- no frog though.

Now with clean water in it and we started adding plants, rocks, and crushed granite around the pond. Chris also put 4 fish in this time- 2 koi and 2 goldfish which all promptly died.

We finally got the water balanced so I surprised Chris for his birthday and bought him 2 LARGE bright orange koi and put them in the pond. At that time I noticed the water had turned a very murky greenish color and I couldn't see the koi at all. This became quite the joke in the family as there was even doubt cast that I had bought Chris anything and just made up the fish since no one had ever seen them except me.

We finally fixed the green water and now the pond is wonderful. You can see the fish all the time, the lily pads are blooming like crazy and frogs no longer sink to the bottom.

I found this little pond on clearance at Walmart for $15- pump included! We have goldfish in it.

Just in case you missed the acceptance speech!

Traveling and sickness

July has been a busy month for me. We took our first real family vacation in a long time and drove to Colorado for a week long of incredible weather and relaxation. We got back from there and Chris and I made a quick trip to College Station for the Texas Firefighter Olympics. As soon as we got home we realized something was really wrong with Heather as she had had a sore throat and was not getting any better.... we took her to the doctor only to find out she had Mono.... Yuk!! She has since been sleeping for 2 weeks.

I will blog about the trips as soon as possible, keep Heather in your prayers. Now here are some pictures to tease you with!

My favorite picture from the trip

The girls at Desperation

I can't wait to blog all about Desperation... it was amazing!