POUNDS FOR PONIES - We are on our way! Sign-ups closed.

[sabathamk]

Yay!  Go Kelpie!  I had a similar thing, except I lost weight at my Supersplash job (washing vehicles is quite taxing by hand... we had one day, 8 hours, and over 200 vehicles came through!).  I gained it all back when I had to quit due to eczema reacting to the washing water/soaps. 

Yay!  I 'm so excited to see so many members joining up!  Go, Motivation!!

[megt19]

Kelpie I know exactly what you mean! I used to work in a pizza shop when I was at University..... they gave us free pizza for tea every night, so as a poor student I wasn't going to knock back free meals..... but pizza 6 nights a week was not a good idea & we also got a free soft drink (soda) I think I put on like 15kg (33lbs) in the 8 months that I worked there

[Gypsy_Nights]

Yay!  Go Kelpie!  I had a similar thing, except I lost weight at my Supersplash job (washing vehicles is quite taxing by hand... we had one day, 8 hours, and over 200 vehicles came through!).  I gained it all back when I had to quit due to eczema reacting to the washing water/soaps. 

Yay!  I 'm so excited to see so many members joining up!  Go, Motivation!!

I had a similar job that I lost weight with.  I worked at a humane society and when we took the dogs outside on leashes, instead of hold them back from running, I ran with some of them.  And I was eating sub sandwiches for lunch everyday.  A whole foot long at every meal but I still lost a lot of weight.  I was the smallest I'd ever been!  I loved it.  Then I quit because me and my husband moved and I didn't have a job for a while just school and I gained it all back and then some.  I didn't stay that size for long.  I'd love to get back to it though!

[Crowning_Glory13]

Arg....need advice. I broke my goal improvement and we havent even started. Went to store to pick up milk....and i took home candy...sigh. so addicted to junk food...i even got a blind bag to curb but i couldnt. What is something that keeps fits in your purse and healthy...so disappointed. In my self

[megt19]

Arg....need advice. I broke my goal improvement and we havent even started. Went to store to pick up milk....and i took home candy...sigh. so addicted to junk food...i even got a blind bag to curb but i couldnt. What is something that keeps fits in your purse and healthy...so disappointed. In my self

Well, like you said, it hasn't started yet, so lets just call that your 'last supper' so to speak.
I have been trying not to snack at all, because once I start I know I can't stop, sorry, that's probably not much help.... I am the last one who should be giving advice....

[xkelpiex]

I've been allowing myself a small dessert after dinner with tea. Last night I had apple pie, and tonight I had a small piece of cake! Just from cutting out most of the daytime junk, it's been 6 days and I've lost 2 lbs. I got suuuuper cravings today about two hours before dinner, so I had a tiny glass of chocolate milk. Still has vitamins and calcium, and isn't as bad as pop or candy! So, I say, giving yourself a little leeway isn't going to kill you. You just have got to know your limits.

[SurfStar]

Sometime I will be doing Yoga x3 a week, but I'll also be doing Zumba as well on Tues/Thurs,

SurfStar......Do you have the Zumba video game?  Or is it a class?  Do you like it?    My friend has Zumba the video game and said she likes it so I thought I would get it to.  And when I searched it on ebay I found that there is a Zumba and a Zumba 2.  So I'm not sure which to get. 

Heyo,

I have access to both. Since I'm a military spouse they offer free classes here x2 a week. However, I rarely can make them since my schedule is usually too hectic. I DO have the video game and that's likely what I will be using. I've just got the Zumba video game for my Wii. I enjoy it but since I've taken classes the routine isn't too bad, honestly I find I get MORE of a workout when I'm using my Wii than when I go to the classes.

The Zumba 2, from the reviews I read on Amazon, seems like it would be better geared towards beginners since it's better with the tutorials and has a semi-slower pace. I couldn't tell you for sure though. I also alternate with the various 'Just Dance' titles and I have a couple of other good dance games. I just prefer those since it doesn't feel like I am 'working out' as it were. They also don't require anything but the Wiimote.

And for myself, I either want to exercise straight away in the morning or later in the evening (7-8ish) so I can just shower once that day. I hate having to shower in the MIDDLE of my day, so I generally try and time it around my normal morning or evening shower. I sweat buckets when doing Zumba, so that's also something to keep in mind.

If you decide to pick it up I'd be happy to share friendcodes with you and see if we could schedule 'workout' times that would work for us both =) What better way to get motivated than work out with friends! (This goes for everyone, I'm more than happy to share my Wii friendcode on Just Dance, Zumba, or anything else since I have Wii Fit and a couple of others that I like to use)

Crowing-glory:

They make 100 cal snack packs, though I buy the bigger normal size boxes and parcel out serving sizes to keep in my purse. That way I have something on hand when I'm feeling snacky. If you're not allergic to nuts that might also work since they are a 'healthy' fat. Just try and aim for a small handful at a time, eat them slowly and count to 30 between bites. That helps give your body time to catch up with you and tell your brain you're not hungry anymore.

[ladybrooklyn]

Ok... I had a response to this thread... all typed out yesterday... but IE decided to destroy it.   
 
So here I go again...
Age: 30 (cause I ain't 31 yet!)
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 235 or so... depending. 

Measurements using tape measure - I'm going to have to find my tape measure for this... 
Chest: ??
Waist: ??
Hips: ??

GOALS
1.) What is your goal weight?
For right now, I need to set more "realistic" goals. My "ultimate" goal weight... would be the ideal weight for my height... which is around 150. Loosing that much weight from a standing start... isn't realistic.
 
So... I'm going to set my goal weight for now, to be to lose 30-40 lbs... so I'm shooting for 200 or so...
 
2.) What are your goal inches?
I'll fill this in once I find that tape measure...
 
3.) What habits do you want to break?
There are lots of habits that I want to break... but most importantly... I need to stop drinking Diet Soda. I think in a lot of ways... if I can kick that... I'll feel a lot better, which will lead to more activity, and mroe weight loss....
 
4.) What habits do you want to develop?
I want to actually find a workout regime... that I will stick with. Something that I enjoy doing (hoping that new Wii Fit we got this month will help with that!) I'd like to start eating a healthier breakfast every morning... rather than opting not to eat, or eating something unhealthy....

PLAN
1.) What program will you be following (this is important, you need a PLAN for success, so be detailed)? I plan on developing a set of workouts using the Wii Fit... various stretches (I remember how vital stretching is to the process, thanks to my years of Softball as a kid/teenager), as well as evening walks with hubby.

2.) What steps are you going to take to improve your nutrition?
Step 1... cut out diet soda...
Step 2... cut out sugar/snacks!
Step 3... make sure hubby and I stick to our prepared meals at dinner time, rather than eating out.
Step 4... find some "healty/nutritious" snacks... to fill the voids left by sugary sweet snacks...
 
WHY
What are your reasons for wanting to get into better shape and play with us in this journey?
Hubby and I are FINALLY back in Arizona (we were in Texas for the last three years), and we are at the point, that we want to start trying to have kids.
 
*I* feel... that I need to get my body into better shape, before I even think of getting pregnant. I need to lose some of this weight... before I pack it back on (for a much better reason than eating myself to it. ) I need to tone up my muscles... to prepare for what I want to put my body thru... and obviously... cutting out the cafeeine is a big part of this too.
 
I also want to be in better shape for when I HAVE those kids... so I can keep up with them... and help teach them by a better example. I don't have to be a body builder.. but being close to my "softball fit" would be wonderful. I've never been a very lean person... but I miss the strength I had playing softball... heck... I miss playing the sport itself!
 
I also would like to be better fit, and lose some weight... so I can start thinking about horseback riding lessons. I know I could just start them... but I think I should lose a few pounds first... for the sake of that poor horse I'll be riding! Also... getting back SOME muscle tone... would go a long way to making those first lessons a lot less painful!
 
You know... I'm sure there are a lot more reasons to be doing this... but those are the main ones that come to mind!

[Gypsy_Nights]

Arg....need advice. I broke my goal improvement and we havent even started. Went to store to pick up milk....and i took home candy...sigh. so addicted to junk food...i even got a blind bag to curb but i couldnt. What is something that keeps fits in your purse and healthy...so disappointed. In my self

I don't know if this will help or not but I am counting calories with an iphone app called "Lose It!".  And you put in your age, height, weight, and how many pounds you want to loose in a week And it will give you the amount of calories you can eat in a day.  So I am trying to eat healthier but at the same time still able to eat some stuff I love as long as the total is around or below my calorie limit for the day.  I even ate a Twix today!  It was 250 calories and of course you have to factor in that that will not fill you up but I was running around pony shopping without the kids today and running to alot of stores so I grabbed it at a check out.     (oh and I got blind bags, and Fashion FLuttershy, Luna and Celestia while I was out!  Wanted the Cheerilee and school pals set real bad but they were all out!  I was sooo bummed!  Called Harker Heights and they said they didn't have any either.     Looked online when I got home and they seem to be out or limited stock in most stores.  I guess everyone is buying a couple of boxes to have some  for customs too.  That is what I was going to do.)
 
Anyway back to topic.  I have been using this app.(it is free by the way) for something like 5 days now and I did drop some weight already but it dropped so fast that I think it was extra water weight from me eating healthier and not so much food that may have been high in sodium.  I have my goal set to loose 2 lbs a week but I've been getting hunry at the end of the day so I might lower it to 1 lb a week so my calorie intake for the day will go up.  Anyway you can put in the foods you eat and it saves it to your "my foods" section so you can use it again if you eat the same thing a few days later.  It also has alot of food already saved to it that you can search, even resturant foods!  Also it has tons of exercises you can pick from and about how many calories you can burn for that amount of time.  If you run, dance, hike, even some wii games are on there, and things you wouldn't think would be on there like house cleaning.  If you do any kind of exercise that day you can log the minutes or hours you did and it will subtract those calories you burned exercising from your daily calories that you have eaten so that you can eat that many more calories that day. (I'm sorry if that sounds confusing.  Its hard to put into words this early in the morning)  I have over eaten my daily calories a couple of times so far, so I just did one of the items on the exercise list to burn some or all of them away.  Hope this helps some people.  Let me know if anyone is confused by something and wants me to explain part of it better.   
 
Also if anyone decides to count calories too let me know and I can share some of the foods I have been eating.  Like Lean Gourmets for one.  They are fast, cheaper than some, and taste Soooo Good!  They have alot of pasta dishes and I Love pasta!

[hlbmlp]

Day 1... .dang i'm more out of shape than i realized!!! ^__^

[psyknife]

Alright, I updated the first post to include the names of all who completed the JOIN form and posted your info!

TODAY IS DAY ONE!

If you laid out your workout schedule, as requested, then you should be able to look at it, see what your plan is for Mondays, and then totally go and rock it out!

AWARDING YOURSELF POINTS:
Give yourself 1 points for every day that you hit your goal (with your workout)
Give yourself an additional point for the day if you hit your nutrition goals (meaning, you stick to your plan!)
That means you can earn up to 2 points per day.
YOU are in charge of tracking your points!  At the end of the challenge, the person with the MOST POINTS will get FIRST CHOICE at prizes, and then we'll go down the list so that everyone who finishes gets a prize.  I have some rockin' prizes, though (posting soon), so get those points! :-)

On a related note, I need to top up the air in my exercise ball but I can't get the plug out!  Any ideas?  That thing is wedged in there good!

I'm not sure!  Eep!  I hope you got it out! :O

sorry about the weird formatting above ^^^- this new Arena does not like me.....

When I use Firefox on my Mac the formatting is whacky too... but when I use Safari it works just fine.  Weird.

This sounds great! One question- my exercise plan couldn't be as ambitious as some. I have lower back problems- I lost some weight a year ago, and have gained a lot back since my back got bad (again). I'm trying to get it fixed, but I'd have to stick to fairly low-impact stuff. And build up cardio slowly... I have a heartbeat irregularity that's not considered dangerous, but I do have to be careful about triggering it. I'm not asking for medical advice or anything, just making sure I can participate even if I'm not doing as much. Thanks! -EB

EmberBright... the idea of this is to set your own goals and work within your own level of intensity... so, everyone is going to be a bit different.  The key is to get moving and work on improving as we continue through.  So, definitely... do what you can do and strive to improve every day! :-)

Now I have that flabby belly that I have heard is impossible to get rid of.  Is that true?

Gypsy_Nights... not at all!  I know some moms who have had twins and now have a six pack... they worked hard to get there, but it's TOTALLY possible!

(not so much a "diet" as changing of eating and excercise habits)

That's EXACTLY how it should be, xkelpiex!  "DIET" is something people consider extremely restrictive and only a short term fix.  The BEST way to take care of ourselves is to adopt life long habits, and not quick fixes.  A big part of it is educating ourselves about proper nutrition, how our body responds to food, and what bad foods actually are doing to us!  This is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix, by any means.

ANGELPONIES!  Stick with Power 90!  That's the first exercise program I ever did, and it helped me lost 35 pounds AND it completely changed my life with health and fitness forever!  That was my building block for getting into the fitness industry!!!  Stick with it!  You can do it!  Take the word "might" out of there and say "I WILL"!

EVERYONE... if you have NOT yet broken your week down into daily activity (like Teagan_Louise's below), please do that!  That way you have your PLAN!  When a day of the week hits you KNOW what you are doing!  Plan out what time of day you are going to do it... and DO IT!
EXAMPLE (thanks Teagan_Louise... and everyone else who did this as well):
Monday: 10 min yoga/stretching, 30 min Zumba
Tuesday: 10 min yoga/stretching, 20 min aerobics, 10 min cardio
Wedneday: Repeat Monday
Thursday: Repeat Tuesday
Friday: Rest and be lazy
Saturday: Repeat Tues, every second week repeat Mon
Sunday: Rest and be lazy

Arg....need advice. I broke my goal improvement and we havent even started. Went to store to pick up milk....and i took home candy...sigh. so addicted to junk food...i even got a blind bag to curb but i couldnt. What is something that keeps fits in your purse and healthy...so disappointed. In my self

The solutions you have are these:  A.) THROW THE CANDY YOU BOUGHT AWAY... or, give it away, or B.) Tell yourself NOT NEXT TIME!  Mistakes happen, embrace the fact that a mistake was made, forgive yourself, and promise not to make that mistake again... use it as a lesson for yourself... but don't let it drag you down.

I've been allowing myself a small dessert after dinner with tea. Last night I had apple pie, and tonight I had a small piece of cake! Just from cutting out most of the daytime junk, it's been 6 days and I've lost 2 lbs. I got suuuuper cravings today about two hours before dinner, so I had a tiny glass of chocolate milk. Still has vitamins and calcium, and isn't as bad as pop or candy! So, I say, giving yourself a little leeway isn't going to kill you. You just have got to know your limits.

That's one step... for the next step, make it every other day, not every day.
The key is to get out of our sugar addictions (and trust me, I have 'em)... so, start to break this down to every other day so that you don't feel entitled to sugary sweets every day, but you can learn to break your body of craving it and gain control over your cravings   It's a great start, though!



ALRIGHT, DAY ONE IS ON!!!!!!!!  COME ON, PONIES!

[Crowning_Glory13]

Daily break down
Monday. Do 2-3 reps if my posted work out in the AM and after work. Alternative work out is to play my wii dance game for 30 plus min with arm and leg weights.
food goal. To not snack and not go over 2000 cal. There sre more blind bags in my Walmart....That is all i am going to get...no junck food.

Posted this a little late but i am doing good so far. Did my AM eork out if 3 teps. Cereal for bteckfast....salad for lunch. after work will be the test of will power. My hubby is gone and i tend to get munchie when alone....
Good Luck to all.

Oops forgot to do the whole week. My work out is so small...i want to start out doing it every day. Sunday is the only exception. It the only time i get to realy be with my hubby. If things are not everday with me i dont stick to it. Same goels for the 2000 cal mark. No exceptions there.

Sorry for the stuff below...phone is being very silly.
Oops....forgot to do the whole week. Since my work out is so small i want to do it every day do it

[Eviecorn]

Okay, so I think I worked out a work-out schedule:

Monday: 10 min yoga, 30 minutes mixed strength exercises
Tuesday: 10 min yoga, 30 minutes cardio
Wedneday: 30 minutes bicycling or 45 minutes kickboxing/dancing (weather depending)
Thursday: Repeat Tuesday
Friday: Rest!
Saturday: 10 minutes yoga, 20 minutes mixed strength exercises, 20 minutes cardio
Sunday: Rest!

Every day except Saturday will be done after my kidlet goes down for the night.  I'm planning on joining the gym as well so that I'll have a place where I'll have to work out, instead of being at home and having the temptation to do other things.  If I can't go to the gym, I'll pop in a DVD (my friend has a whole box she's letting me borrow.)

So tonight I start!  Eee!  I think I did well with eating today... I actually made myself have specific MEALS, and I feel a little better.

[EmberBright]

Do we post our points here or just track them ourselves and report at the end?

[Skeen]

Day One:  Sick as a dog!  For breakfast I had a decongestant, a multivitamin, and a few sips of coffee.  I am SO not hungry.