Monday, April 19, 2010

LESSONS FROM THE CRUISE and FAMILY SUPPORT

The cruise was great. The guests and the speakers were wonderful. I'm not so crazy about the Bahamas -- overcast, cold water, very little free access to the beach, no steel drums, etc. But our days at sea with the conferences were awesome! Words cannot express how enouraging and enlightening they are. I couldn't pick a favorite because each person brought something different to the table.

So ... came back from the cruise vowing to not let myself go on another cruise EVER again if I did not take control and lose weight. I've been sort of fluctuating with 15 pounds for over a year now. It is time to kick it over the hump and move on down the road. I am dedicating the rest of the year (until the NEXT cruise in 2011) to getting myself together. No weight "goal", but rather a "health" goal -- and the weight should follow!! lol (yeah... right... you KNOW I've got that perfect number in my head... lol..)

What has been really fun is that my sweet family has taken up the torch and we are all working on this together! My youngest son, on his own, lost over 30 pounds eating low carb and exercising 2x a day. He encouraged us all of us to join him. He is part of the "Pound for Pound" challenge through Biggest Loser, but I have to admit, I'm not exactly sure how that works.

We started out in mid March 2010 at a total weight of 1,234 pounds. We have a "secret" facebook group page and we post our recipes, menus, & challenges. As of today (4/19/10) we are at 1,157 pounds -- WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OF 76.5 POUNDS! That is so cool. There is six of us -- my husband, my 2 sons, my daughter, my daughter-in-law, and of course, moi.

An interesting observation is that even when one of us doesn't lose one week, or even has a slight gain, the total weight keeps us motivated. It's the "team work" concept I suppose. It is almost as if we are working hard just in case we need to "be the pound" for someone else. lol.

Our goal is to lose 100 pounds by June. We will do it. And then, next cruise, I will be back in my "comfort" level weight wise.

What's in your Toolbox?

I have had some discoveries lately and thought it might help someone else. I am calling this ALL THE TOOLS IN THE TOOL BOX. I started I.F...