So - Christmas at the Smith household was extravagant as usual. AND as usual Brett won the gift giving competition. I am sitting here typing my Christmas update on my new yellow dell laptop! What an awesome husband! He got me so many other things that I hate to list, but most of all, I enjoyed being with him on Christmas and the fact that he tolerated me getting up at 3:00am to open presents. He also made sure Abby had a good Christmas and had lots of treats. She didn't get any toys this year, but she ate a ton so she was happy.

 

We are on our way to Cedar City to go visit my sister Rhonda and her family. I'm so excited to see them. I'm sure we'll have a great time as usual.

 

Poor Brett has been out snowblowing the driveway for over an hour now. I feel so bad! He's probably frozen to the bone. We got so much snow - I think the weatherman called it the Oquihhr shadow. We have about 4-8ft drifts in our yard. Our deck railing is barely visible. Its pretty crazy but I love it. I can't wait to go snow shoeing again.

 

One last thing - congratulations to my step mom who quit smoking almost 2 weeks ago with the help of the NJoy electric cigarette. I am very proud of her.

 

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Brett's dad was supposed to be here this weekend, but unfortunatley due to mechanical failures, gremlins, etc- he won't be coming till Monday. Sad! It will be nice to see him NOT in the hospital since that is where I saw him last.

We had a great BBQ with the Seeleys, Thorntons (minus Peana), and my Dad and Suzan. Brett had another AWESOME steak night. Huge fat rib eyes from Sniders and he cooked them PERFECTLY. In fact the more I talk about it the more I want another! All hail red meat!

 

Speaking of Red meat - still on weight watchers - not doing bad - Brett has lost a total of 10 pounds and I have lost 8.5 - I missed my last weigh in because I was out of town in Kansas City at AMCP. I think I did pretty well though so I am anxiously looking forward to weighing on Tuesday.

 

We are getting closer to setting up our No kidding chapter - we've already got a few e-mails from interested parties. I can't wait.

 

Well - better get back to watching Browns vs. Redskins - 0-0 in the second quarter. BORING!

 

 

 Ok - what's happened in the last month or so?

 

*We bought a new Winnie! A 35 foot Itasca Sonova - I love it!

*We bought a new Jeep! it will tow behind the winnie

*We had an asesome time on vacation - roadtrip through idaho, washington, oregon, california, nevada - back home. I'm going to post new pictures

*My company (Long's Drugs) is getting taken over by CVS - maybe. Anyone looking for a managed care pharmacists??

*Abby is still as blind and deaf as every - but we love her!

*We are getting ready to go visit our good friend Jeff from Omaha and his girlfriend. I'm excited!

*We started weight watchers almost 2 weeks ago- lost 7.2lbs each the first week! Had a horrible out of control weekend (too much beer) so hopefully we didn't mess it up for week 2!

 

Thats it for now-

 

Lori and Brett

So I'm all into counting steps and no one will join my step party except Amy from work. I've invited others and they just won't join my group! Am I the only one in the world that is obsessive about steps?

Well - its been a while and I need to get back to blogging. I guess the weight loss is going a bit slower than I'd hoped so I've been a little less enthusiastic. We've worked out hard several times a week, gone snowshoeing a couple of times and eat very well. I did have a brownie on my mom's birthday and a couple of beers (not at the same time : ) Well we've got another day and then weigh in on Wednesday morning. Hopefully we'll do well. I'm not feeling it in my clothes yet, but being tall has its drawbacks. It takes about 20-30 pounds for me to drop one pant size. There is an upside too though - I can gain 20 pounds and still fit in my same size! (Wait - is that a good thing?) I am building up my cardiovascular endurance - that I can be proud of. Brett is running like a champ too. Wish us luck!

Ok - Brett is not going to allow me to be negative for long so here it goes. This past week I cooked healthy dinners at home almost every night and when I ate out, I ate very well. I avoided alcohol for 2 entire weeks. I exercised at least 6 days per week. I completed a snowshoe 5K. I ran a mile in my personal best time. I ran a 5K on the treadmill for the first time ever. Brett's week went the same as mine. Our weight change for the week. Brett: -2.8, Lori +1. Yes - you saw it right... +1. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

 

I'm so tempted to weigh again tomorrow to see if it was a bit of water weight but I'm not going to do it. I'm going to wait till next Wednesday and have a HUGE weight loss. Deep Breath......I promise I will be more positive tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Lori: I would say I usually weigh every day. I write it down and refer back - "How much did I weigh this time last week? Last month? Last year?" Its crazy. It causes a lot of highs and lows. I can  eat a salty meal and gain 5 pounds in one day. I can work out really hard and sweat out 5 pounds the next day. My mood that day revolves heavily around that weight. When I've lost - the day goes great. When I gain - it puts me in a foul temper. For this challenge. I agreed with Brett that I would only weigh once per week. It's been hard but I'm getting used to it. I think its the right thing to do though. You cant trust the day to day weight fluctuations. Some day I'd like to get to the point where I let my clothing decide when I need to weigh - and only get on the scale when my clothes get tight.

 

Brett: Before this challenge I weighed myself once a month or less. I was really afraid of what the scale had to say. I think a reasonable time frame is once per week. That is what we are both doing now. Once I lose my weight I will continue to weigh once a week so I can prevent getting myself into this situation ever again.

So - Brett an I signed up for a 5K snowshoe event this weekend and completed it this morning. It was our first 5K ever but not our first time on snowshoes. We clomp around in the powder up and down the mountains, but we've never put our minds to going very fast in one direction before. We showed up to find our running mates tanned, spandex-clad, super attractive types. Most of them had special snowshoes for running and looked like they had done this a few dozen times before. There were a few other people who were going to walk and not run and I heard a few mention it was their first time so I didn't feel too bad. We started out at a good clip and I was determined to keep it up. I was at a pretty high exertion level for the entire time. I'd say it was the 3/4 mark when I asked Brett whose idea it was to have our first 5K be on snowshoes. I hit the wall. My muscles were heavy and dispite the 24 degree temperature I was sweating profusely. (now I understand the spandex) We finished though. One hour 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We weren't last. In fact - we stayed around for the medals (the best time was 28 minutes!) and low and behold Brett and I both took first place in our divisions! There weren't  many walkers so we ended up being rated in a much smaller bunch of racers. It was actually quite funny - but rewarding too. We both did MUCH better than we thought we would. I'm wearing my first place with pride. Now we have another race on the 26th. I want to get under an hour.  We don't have much time to train, but I think we can do it!

Success! We lost 9 pounds each! We have worked so hard. I would have been devistated if it were anything lower. Am I the only person who watches the biggest loser weigh ins and gets all teared up when someone only loses a pound or two? Expecially when you have seen them work really hard and you just have to think to yourself - "Hang in there sister! The scale is a cruel master, but only a few more pounds to go and you can buy your freedom!" I have a confession to make. I have a little book in my bathroom with my weight written in it on just about every day going back approximately 4 years. Yes - I weigh every day. That is I did weigh every day until now. I promised Brett I would only weigh once a week. OOoo - there is a good question of the day for tomorrow. Am I the only freak that weighs themselves every day and hates it when they don't know exactly what they weigh each morning?

 

 

 

 

 

Lori: My feet. They don't fail me. When I gain weight and can't fit into my pants and my shirts get tights and my bra's make that awful roll on my back - my feet stay true. I will always be a size 9 -9.5 shoe - big or small. Today I love my feet.

 

Brett: My hair. It is the one part of my body that I can control easily.

So Brett and I signed up for a snowshoe 5k this saturday. I was trying to estimate how long it would take for me to complete and that got me thinking about how long it had been since I've actually "ran". Back in my prime I once ran an entire mile straight without stopping. It was tough! I can walk all day long, but running for me is so difficult! So in some fit ot masochism I decided to see how quickly I could do a mile and see how long I could run vs. walk. Brett was sitting next to me on the bike while I was on the treadmill and said he didn't want to try running. "My knees can't handle all of this fat." But I started anyway. We watched the biggest loser and I just went into the zone. Neither of us said a word as I ran along at 5 mph and hit 8 minutes of straight running... 9 minutes... 10 minutes... I finished the mile - all running at 5mph - 11 minutes and 45 seconds! We haven't done much of any athletic activity in 8 months! So Brett decides that he isn't going to let me show him up. He gets on the treadmill and kicks it up. I tried not to look at him because I don't want to distract him but he kept on running and did great. 10 minutes and 35 seconds later we are high fiving. Brett ran an entire mile too. I can't explain it. I don't know how we did it, but I am excited to see what we can do with this weight off. I know we are going to do it this time because we are comitted to succeed together. The best part of the night was when Brett said to me "If you hadn't done it first - I would have quit half way through.". Just like we supported each other in our fight to quit smoking - we are going to support each other now. Work together friends and stay strong! We can do it. Together we are unstoppable!

 

 

Brett: I would choose Jillian. She takes the hard nosed approach and doesn't let you off easy. She takes you to the point where you think you can't makes it and then pushes you one step further. That's the motivation I thrive on.

 

 

 

Lori: Many things, but one of the worst is when your fat pants get tight. You know those pants that you can always get into - that at times were baggy and you knew they'd never let you down. And now they have. They are tight  - but I can still fit into them! There is still hope! You just wait fat pants....I'll retire you to the back of the closet soon enough!

 

Brett: I hate the way these extra pounds I'm carrying has slowed me down with my outdoor activites. Lori and I love to hike, bike, snowshoe and just about do anything outdoors. I feel like someone has snuck a 50lb weight into my backpack. If I have to watch some 50 or 60 something granola pass me on the trail one more time I'll go crazy! I can't wait to get my "spring" back.

Here it is Sunday night and I am glad to say that we did great this weekend. We avoided beer this weekend which wasn't our intention to start with, but I know it always helps. We were on the treadmill and bike quite a bit while we watched TV and for the most part tried to stay active. We got up this morning and went out to the Great Salt Lake Bird Refuge. It was snowing - you could imagine how many people were there bird watching.  The snow provided extra resistance so I'm sure the mile we walked was a lot more like two. We are actually looking forward to weighing in on Wednesday!

So - Wednesday was the first day of our weightloss journey. We are trying this time to make changes that we can turn into a lifestyle instead of creating some "wagon" that we are going to go on and off of. If you would have asked me Tuesday how much weight I was looking to loose, I would have said 40 pounds. I think I was a bit more indulgent than I thought over the holidays so my goal now is 50 pounds. Brett is looking to drop a substantial 45 pounds. It sounds like so much, but we've done it before. We have started off good. We bought a new treadmill and exercise bike this week and used it today while we watched the Redskins lose their chance at the playoffs. We've also signed up for a snowshoe 5K next saturday. I don't care how long it takes I just want to do something active that doesn't bore me to tears. We are planning on doing at least 1 5K per month. Who knows - maybe we'll get good at running. We've got to get in better shape at least before April. We are planning a trip to Bryce canyon with Brett's family and there will be a lot of hiking. His family is all very active and I can't stand to see those 60+ folks kick our butts.

 

 

It feels good to be back on track again after so long. I look forward to weighing in on Wednesday.  I know we we will have lost weight. I'm also looking forward to watching the biggest loser on the treadmill on Tuesday. (I wonder how many people do the same thing?) I'm sad that the green team got voted out, but I'm also glad that the younger girls (purple team) got to stay. I know they will do well once they are given a chance.

 

Ok - wish us luck to get through this weekend without eating something awful.

 

l&b