Weigh in numero dos!

Tomorrow is the big day.. what a whirlwind month its been!!

Please weigh in with a pen or pencil!

Good luck!

Another Challenge!

Drinking water is oh so important!!  When we asked LISA how much water we should drink a while back she answered this question with "you should be drinking 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water daily (that's a minimum)". Others will tell you more or less... BOTTOM line.. the general consensus is at LEAST 64 ozs of water A DAY!! SOOOO... here is your challenge:

Drink AT LEAST 64 ozs of water a day.

If you are up to it, pick a number that is 1/2 your body weight. Some of you will be drinking close to 150 ozs of water a day if you are up for THIS challenge. WHY? "Without enough water, organs can't function as efficiently, so your metabolism slows to conserve energy." -TECD page 43.

WHAT!?!?! You are SLOWING YOUR METABOLISM down?? Hmm... does this mean that drinking water alone can assist in weight loss? ABSOLUTELY! Staying hydrated increases your metabolic rate. AND it's cheaper than fad metabolism boosters that CLAIM to increase your slow metabolism.

HOW? Here's just one suggestion: Decide your goal. (Mine is 100 ozs of water a day.. NOT including what I drink during exercise.) THEN.... put it all out on your counter. FIND containers/glasses/pitchers WHATEVER you need to get it all out in front of your face. (If you will be working split your water up, leave some on your counter and take the rest to work , maybe a LARGE container that you can leave out on your desk.)

At the end of your first day you may NOT have accomplished this goal, but you will see just how far you've got to go! By the end of the week you should be a pro at getting water.

PS: You will go through a large amount of toilet paper this week so make sure you've stocked up! :o)

Are you dying to know?!?!?

Confession... I WAS AT A WEDDING!!  It was beautiful but delayed your results only slightly.  For those who stayed up late enough to see... the winners are:

1st- Jeannette with a 6.75% loss!

2nd - Amanda with a 6.43% loss!  

3rd - Robyn with a 4.76% loss!!

Congrats to all of you and to everyone who stuck with us this month!!  Here's to an exciting July! :)

Really?? Weigh in ALREADY???

Holy cow!!  The weigh in is FRIDAY!!!  I have school for the next two days and wanted to make sure I didn't forget to post all this stuff... so here goes:
Remember to weigh in at the SAME TIME of day, in the SAME CLOTHES or lack thereof as your original scale pic. Also.. don't forget to get me your AFTER PICS in the same OUTFIT. Front and Side are REQUIRED and you need to be holding the DATE and HOUSEHOLD ITEM IN THE PICS!!! Your weights are DUE to me at kariscomp@yahoo.com by 6 pm MST. Also, your after pics must be into me by Midnight. If you have any questions about these pics.. please feel free to email me.


The household item for this month is a PHONE!!
It's totally okay to take your AFTER pics tonight or tomorrow in order to have them ready to send in on Friday!! I would LOVE if the after pics came with the scale pics!! Also.. if you take your pics first thing in the morning feel free to send them at that time. I would love to have them coming all day long to save me from having to spend a ton of time in front of the computer at once. THANKS!

Can't wait to see how hard you've been working this month!! GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Challenges

In the past I have made an effort to post challenges for each of us on this competition site.  I will continue to do this.. but PLEASE comment... when I don't get comments I start to get burn out and feel like my effort is in vain!! 

Your first challenge is something you can do for yourself OR it can be a blog entry on your weight loss blog... (in fact.. if you don't want to share it for the world to see... compose it on your blog and just save it to your archives!)  There are a couple components to this.  If you've done this challenge before... DO IT AGAIN!!  It's amazing how things change, and priorities change with them! :)

FIRST... make a list of your long term goals. Really.. write them down.. why are you here? What are you hoping to accomplish? NEXT...write down your "list of excuses"; EVERYTHING that has ever got in the way of your success. This could be pivotal... if you are able to write down why you "can't" and can SEE it... it's easier to figure out how to overcome it.

Last, set new goals to help you achieve your long term ones.

I think that realizing just how many of my "roadblocks" were actually just an excuse CHANGED MY LIFE!! Sometimes we have to sacrifice to get what we really want out of life. This could mean you wake up earlier, go to bed late, or something in between. It might mean you need to ask for help from others... but, anything is possible.

 Bottom line... your challenge for the week is to:

Face your excuses head on and determine how you are going to take control of your health and your life.

Good luck to all of you! You are your greatest ally and your most fierce enemy. Don't stand in the way of your success.

Whats in a blog?

Many of you have NOT done this competition with me before.  I thought I would take a minute to explain what the blogs are and why we do them.  You will notice to the right there is a list of everyone in the comp.  All of the names are LINKS to each persons blog.  If you click on my name and go to my blog you will see that I have my blogs listed in order of who blogged most recently.  I find this to be an easy way to SUPPORT the people in our competition. 
We blog to document our journey.. we also blog to be accountable and to get to know one another.  I would encourage you to make a similar list (this is sort of a pain in the butt as you have to click on each link one at a time and then copy and paste them while creating a "blog list").  If you are not interested in making your own list.. FEEL FREE to use my personal blog as a link to everyone elses blogs.  Try to read what other people are writing.. and encourage eachother by commenting.  Even if your comment is YOU GO GIRL!!  or HANG IN THERE!!  It's NICE to know that people are reading! 
Blogging is also a great way to keep "tabs" on the competition.  It's also a way to draw ideas and inspiration from one another.  The blogging rule will be strictly enforced.. if you haven't blogged DO IT!!  You will not be eligible for prizes if you do not meet the blogging standard as outlined in the rules. :)

Weigh in #1!

Tomorrow is the big day!  The first day of the rest of our lives. :) Here's to a new start... a new chapter... a new world of opportunities.  Here's to healthy living! :) 

Today I get to list instructions for weigh in!  Bare with me as I use some older photos as examples.

1. Weigh yourself at the same time of day eachtime you weigh in (including your initial weigh in!)

2. PLEASE weigh yourself in the same clothing (or lack there of) for ALL weigh in's! If you are planning on weighing in naked for subsequent weigh ins.. be naked for the first one!!

3. Make sure that your scale is on a flat surface each time you weigh yourself. A scale placed on a bathroom mat or towel will not read accurately. 

4. Remember you must use a DIGITAL scale! WII scales do not count.

5.  The pictures are to be taken in fitted clothing (no sweat shirts, sweat pants, or baggy clothes) and competitors must wear the same outfit for all pictures taken for the duration of the competition.


The household item is a WATCH/CLOCK. Your scale picture needs to have the date and the item and look something similar to this:

Then you must send pictures of the side and front view and they need to include the DVD and date in them . I strongly encourage you to take back pictures as well.. they are very shocking and revealing (as you never see yourself from the back!!) Either way.. here's my examples of the front and side.

Below are a couple of examples of acceptable outfits.. the pictures are NOT to standard but they give you some ideas.  You could take pictures in clothes that are WAY TOO SMALL and watch yourself progress into fitting... or a tank top and shorts... bikinis work... just know that WHEN you win.. your pics will be posted on this blog.

Please MAKE SURE  to get your entire body in the pictures.. head to feet.  I will crop them to post winners but having full body pics is important not only for the integrity of the competition, but for YOU.. to see your full body progress throughout the comp.
I also STRONGLY recommend taking measurements for your own purposes.  Losing weight can be a struggle and on days when you feel you are at a stand still... a measurement can remind you that you are making progress... even if the scale doesn't say so!

Last but not least... I BELIEVE all of the spots for the competition are full HOWEVER.. if you have someone who is interested I would love to put them on a list in case people don't pay their contribution.  Currently I have collected contributions from 11 people.  If you have someone interested please have them email me @ kariscomp@yahoo.com . There will be NO people added to the comp after June 5th.  If you haven't sent your contribution in.. please at least arrange payment with me ASAP!