Lisa and Mike's Biggest Loser Challenge

Well Week 2 is officially completed.  I am finally fully done with my bronchitis and was at the gym for 6 days last week.  We had our training appt today with Matt and our 30 minutes work-out felt like we were with Bob or Jillian.  We were sweating like pigs!  I took a picture of Mike's sweat-soaked shirt and uploaded it to the pictures.   I also met my other work-out buddy at the gym for spin class finally!  Excellent teacher and it was a great 60-minute burn.  I was also able to fit into a size smaller jeans than I was.  The best thing about that is I now have 4 new pairs of jeans that I haven't been able to fit into for probably about a year now.

 

We also have been making dinner together.  We love food and want to learn how to make healthy options without starving ourselves and/or getting bored with the same old salads.  Today's dinner consisted of a chicken stir-fry with brown rice and lots of vegetables!  Mike is still working on portion control and clean plate syndrome.  It's more like clean pot syndrome.  He sees the food in the pot and wants to keep eating it.  We made salads over the weekend as both a main course with grilled chicken on top and also as a supplement to start the meal off. 

 

As part of our Biggest Loser Challenge Mike and I decided to each pick 1 thing that we will focus on with our nutrition.  We want to see the difference that these nutrition decisions have on our overall weight-loss as well as how we feel.  The 2 things we chose for week 3 are salt and carbs.  While neither one of us adds salt to our meals we will focus on the amount of sodium that is in our daily meals as well as keeping our carbs to complex carbohydrates and using it to sustain our energy. 

 

Our fitness goals for the week include to still maintain our 6/day week workout - with at least 60 minutes of cardio and 3 days of weight training with one of those with our trainer.  Our appointment next week has already been set with Matt for Tuesday.  Mike's personal fitness goal this week is to complete 10 situps - he was able to complete 7 this week - woohoo.  Matt is having us do lots of core exercises that require balance and Mike is getting frustrated when Matt makes us do them.  However, I think his core will get stronger as well as shrink his belly by just doing standard situps.  My personal fitness goal is start running on the treadmill at least 2 days.  I want to complete another triathalon and I need to start my running training.  Also to take one more spin class and to secretly get Mike to take the class as well!

 

GO WEEK 3!!!!

 

You can tell what blogs are from me and what blogs are from Mike.  We had yet another new trainer, Matt, at the gym on Friday, but we think we found our match - if he doesn't get transferred somewhere else.  Matt really pushed both Mike & I and made us do continued workouts throughout the 30 minutes.  Our past experience have been trainers that didn't really push us at all or did more talking than anything else. 

 

As Mike mentioned, Matt had us doing some core exercises that were new to Mike.  It's hard for someone who has never done core exercises to get through them initially.  But Matt was patient with Mike and encouraged him to keep going even though his form was not kept.  Mike knows that these core exercises will get easier as he continues to do them as well as when he starts losing the weight. 

 

We had our first nutrition challenge yesterday as we made the decision to have lunch at a Mexican restuarant.  We chose fajitas for their grilled chicken, steak, and vegetable options.  We both have discussed the fact that long-term we have to learn how to use portion control, total caloric intake, and exercise for the day into account to maintain our healthy lifestyle after we lose the weight.  We don't want to only "diet" to lose, then turn back to unhealthy ways afterwards.  In the past I know that this has definitely been my problem.  I would lose weight but then immediately go back to having dinner and lunch out at a restaurant - this would then bring the weight right back. 

 

Our workout the day before with Matt had made us extremely sore and we knew that we should take at least one day off from a full workout, since we both have been at the gym for the past 5 days (Mike is at 6 days strong!).  We made a second decision that because we were having lunch at a restaurant, we would at least have to put in 30 minutes of light cardio if nothing else.  We had put in quite a bit of walking at the science fair that morning but we wanted to do something light to get our heart rate up.  We put in a 30-minute "weight-loss" option on the elliptical at the gym and then had a light salad for dinner.

 

Our next workout with Matt is on Wednesday and I have made plans with my other workout buddy to take a spin class on Tuesday.    Other than Wednesday, Mike and I will be on our own most of the week at the gym due to schedule conflicts.

We judged a science fair today at the High School.  We got in our cardio workout this morning with the amount of walking we did.  I hit it hard this week, going to the gym everyday and working with the trainer on friday.  Matt worked our arms and core during the training session.  Matt had me do some core exercises that were new to me and damn I am still feeling it today.  I recommend that if you have a desire to lose weight and keep it off that you invest in a trainer that will push you and motivate you to succeed.

We are into week 1 and I have been laid up in bed with bronchitis.  Last night was my first night back at the gym since last week.  While the bad thing about it was I couldn't work out, the good thing was I didn't really have an appetite and still lost weight! 

 

Mike and I kicked our cardio up a notch.  Mike's goal is to do at least 2 miles in 28 minutes (a pre-set program) on the elliptical.  Mine is to do 3 miles in 40 minutes.  We both sweated like pigs last night.  We also did 30 minutes of weight training as well as sit-ups.  Since it was my first day back I only did 40 minutes of cardio instead of 60.  Plus the pool was shut down and we usually pick up another 20-30 minutes of cardio by doing laps in the pool.  We set up our trainer appointment for Friday and watched our weekly motivation, the Biggest Loser!

 

Our motivation also came in that I picked up a pair of jeans at the store that is one size smaller than I used to wear!  Woohoo!  Mike also dropped a pants size but in case you have read our previously blog we have been working out since August.  This definitely helped boost our confidence in knowing we can make this happen and win!

 

Tonight we're sticking to our goal of 60 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training.  Tomorow Mike is on his own at the gym.  I have another gym buddy who I am meeting for yoga in the morning and my cardio. 

 

Anyone else want to join us?

It doesn't help to start out a weight-loss challenge when you have bronchitis and can't get out of bed.  Today I am feeling much better but still have my cough. 

 

Mike & I met about 11 months ago and decided after seeing ourselves in pictures at the beach in August that we were FAT!  We both have battled the weight our whole lives.  I have been a bit more active than Mike playing volleyball and softball as well as completing sprint triathalons in the last 3 years.  Mike was his heaviest weighing in at 420 lbs at one point in his life.  I will have that photo scanned in and posted.  After our Michigan trip we made the commitment to joining a gym and hiring a trainer in which we both stayed on track and lost weight but still have alot to go.  Mike has lost 23 lbs and I have lost 12 lbs since August.  We have joined the Biggest Loser Challenge as our stepped up effort to stay committed to our original plan of a healthy lifestyle. 

 

Mike's biggest challenge will be mainly eating but also increasing his exercise.  Mike teaches high school and used to subscribe to the starve all day and eat heavy dinner diet.  I have finally been able to get him to take a lunch to school to eat throughout the day.  Also, Mike didn't want to give up alot of his favorite dishes, but I think I have him finally convinced that eating those favorite dishes is ok, but moderation is the key and to plan exercise and his remaining daily diet to accomodate those dishes.    He loves it when we go out for pizza and weighs himself the next day to find that it hasn't negatively impacted the scale.  When we first started the gym in August and met with the trainer, Mike couldn't even do one sit up.  The joke he made was when you have an inner tube around your stomach your whole life you just can't expect a man to do a situp.  He does prefer to do the crunch machines but I am going to convince him that situps are better when you're using your own weight resistance.  Mike's favorite machine is the elliptical trainer, but he wont' budge on the resistance of 1.  Our trainer told us to work out for 30 minutes at a heart rate of 140 BPM so Mike has that in his head to NEVER go over that.  When you start working out, 140 can be alot but after 3 months, 140 is like walking to the bathroom from your bedroom.  You need to build up your resistance.  In the past few weeks I have seen Mike upping his resistance on the elliptical.

 

My biggest challenge is eating.  I feel that once I'm committed to my exercise plan my healthy eating habits fall into place.  Except for that once a month thing.  I get tunnel vision on eating carbs, carbs, carbs and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.  I have yet to overcome that craving.  I'm also an emotional eater and belong to the clean plate club (thanks mom).  I love working out as sick as that may sound.  I love the feeling and rush I get after sweating it all out.  I just want to be challenged and I think Mike and I are at different exercise levels.  Also I like variety.  I need to take a class or get outside to do my exercise in order to stay motivated.  Going to the gym everyday and doing 40 minutes on the ellipitical with 30 minutes of weight training is boring to me. 

 

Here's our stats taken from measurements at the gym last week by our trainer:

 

Mike:  Weight 264

Body Fat:  33.3%  (Taken from a body fat machine)

Neck 16.75

Chest 47.5

Waist 48

Hips 47

Bicep:  15.5

Thigh: 24

 

Mike's Goal:  220 lbs or 45 lbs to be lost

 

Lisa:  Weight 250

Body Fat:  40.8%

Neck:  15

Waist: 40

Hips: 51.5

Bicep: 15.5

Thigh: 26.5

 

Lisa's Goal:  170 lbs or 80 lbs to be lost

 

We both know that losing that much weight in the short time frame of the contest might be impossible but that is our long-term goals to be reached. 

 

Today, even with my bronchitis we have our trainer appointment that we are sticking to.  No pain, no gain!