WoW! I’m baaaaaaaaaack!

Hey everyone…The Bug here…I’ve been MIA around these parts lately, and I haven’t been very active OR awesome, but now that we’re allowed in the competition?  I’m stepping it up a notch!  Let’s get to it!

In first place….KAT!  with 840 minutes!  She spent her Sunday working hard and has been kicking some serious BOOTIE at the gym.  Keep it up, Kat! 

In second…with 515 minutes…OPH!  OPH is no stranger to being in our top three…I think it’s about time those of us that have been hanging out at the bottom (me included!) start making her work harder for her top 3 status!

And our third place finisher for Week 4 of April is Heather!! with 445 minutes!!!!

Way to go everyone!  I have vacation coming up in June, so I’m going to be getting BUSY!  And even if you don’t have vacation coming, shorts and short sleeves are on their way to a town near you!

Have an AWESOME week!  And don’t forget to send us your testimonials!

WOW — The Competition Just Got Tougher

The three of us discussed last week’s comments, and after about 5 seconds of deliberation, we have decided to officially join the competition. No longer will your three humble moderators stand back and simply observe how awesomely active y’all are. No longer will our minutes count for nothing more than a few calories burned and a few muscles toned. Who cares about calories and muscles when there are prizes to be had? Not us!

So step up your game, ladies. You’re now competing with one another AND with Anna, Deidra, and I. Game on!

Here are the top 5 minute-earners from the last week:

1. Operation Pink Herring! With 510 awesome minutes!

2. Me, me, ME! With 315 minutes! (Have I mentioned that I’m very competitive? And that I REALLY like to win? Oh, it’s on.)

3. Lauren! Who earned many of the same minutes as me when we went hiking together last weekend. She pulled in 300 minutes this week.

4. Lindsey! With 295 minutes!

5. Erin! Who, despite being sick last week, still earned 255 awesome minutes!

Great job, everyone!

Flab to Fab Week 3

I apologize for the lack of an update last week.  I was battling some weird flu-like disease.  Unfortunately that disease did nothing to help my quest for fabulous-ness.  I do have an exciting bit of news to share.  It looks like I’ll have a partner on this little journey of mine!  The very awesome Audrey has asked for a piece of the action.  Each week we’ll both share our progress.

I was really proud of last week.  I felt like I made good food choices about 85% of the time (the other 15% included 2 pieces of pound cake at work and a trip to McDonald’s).  On Sunday night I cut up fruit and vegetables to bring for work snacks and along with eating low fat vanilla yogurt for breakfast every day and taking smaller portions at meals I ended up losing a half of a pound.  

This week was pretty much the exact opposite.  My best day was Tuesday when a combination of getting over being sick and whacked out emotions led me to eat exactly 14 saltines and two clementines.  The rest of the week was a mix of greasy food from the work cafeteria and frozen pizzas or meals out for dinner. 

Unfortunately due to the above mentioned flu and emotional upheaval I didn’t work out much at all.  One of my main problems with regular exercise is that I get really, really bored.  Some nights I’m fine with slogging through 45 minutes on the elliptical (I’m very, very lucky to have one in my basement) but a majority of the time I quit after 10 or 20 because I just have too many other things I want to do and I can’t force myself to keep at it.  My goal for this week is to try circuit training.  I think the short bursts of different exercises will help keep me interested.  I also want to try to fit in fifteen minutes of exercise each morning before work.  I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I LOVE those extra fifteen minutes of sleep each morning.  My overall goal with F to F is to change my bad habits.  Choosing exercise over sleep (and veggies over fries) is one small step in that direction.

My dirty details for Week 3:

Current Weight:  141 lbs (I was actually surprised that I didn’t gain more)
Weight Last Week:  139.5 lbs
Left to Lose:  11 lbs

Here is Audrey’s info from her first week:

Weight: 129 (According to my $5 scale that probably isn’t super accurate, but it’ll do.)

Goal: 125 (I think. I’d like to say 120, but that might be too skinny — especially if I’m replacing fat with muscle. I figure I’ll get to 125 and re-evaluate from there. Mostly I want to tone up — lose the love handles, the rolls in my stomach, and the double chin that occasionally rears its ugly face.)

Training: My tap class always kicks my butt on Mondays, and it’s a great way to start the week. I did a few other little things throughout the week, but the day I’m most proud of is Thursday, when I actually went home and worked out for the first time in a long time. Lately I’ve been lacking the motivation to work out on my own — without the structure of my dance class or my at-work walking buddy getting me to go on a lunchtime walk, it’s far too easy for me to spend an entire evening on the couch. I need to get back in the habit of working out in the evenings, and on Thursday I took the first step toward getting back on track with an intense 30 minutes of cardio. And it felt great!

Eating: Best — I have been much better lately at not eating when I’m not hungry. Rather than stuffing myself on dinner, I’ll just eat until I’m full (but not bursting) and then stop. Like Deidra said in her comment on last week’s post, this is one of the most important steps toward keeping the weight off. Worst — On Thursday, I had Chipotle for lunch. And, uh, stuffed myself completely on that delicious carnitas burrito. But at least I worked out that night!

And this week:

Weight: 129 still, but at least it didn’t go up!

Training: I spent all weekend doing squats and step-ups while painting, and I’ve also exercised every day this week. Last night (Wednesday) I did 45-min of cardio and then a 10-minute ab toning workout off of one of my workout DVDs, and I really liked it. My goal is to do at least 3 of these Cardio+Abs workouts every week, and get some form of exercise — whether it be a lunchtime walk, a hike, or weight training — every other day of the week. That oughta help burn the calories and tone those lovehandles away, right? (Absolutely! This is what I’m trying to do too. -Anna)

Eating: Best — last night Tim made delicious spaghetti and meatballs and even though I REALLY wanted seconds, I knew I didn’t NEED any more food since I was no longer hungry, and I resisted the temptation. And there was some STRONG temptation, believe me! (Okay, I may have eaten a couple of extra meatballs when I was putting the leftovers away, but, um, they wouldn’t all fit in the tupperware. Yeah, that’s it!)

Worst — I had more fast-food lunches this week than I really should have. (I hear you. I did too. -Anna)

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Your assignment for this week (What? You didn’t realize there would be homework? Well, technically it’s optional) is to share your favorite healthy snacks and fun workouts.

Tell us what you eat that’s healthy, but easy and great-tasting too.

How do you beat the workout blahs? What do you do to change it up? Keep it fun?

Enough questions? I’d say so.

WOW — In Which You Guys Rock and So Do I

Hey, y’all! It’s me again, with another installment of Work Out Wednesday.

You guys totally rocked it this week, as usual. Let’s cut the small talk and get right to business, shall we?

Leading the way for the second week in April is — you guessed it — OPH with 440 minutes.

Coming in second is Suzanne with 330, followed by Erin in third with 285.

Rounding out fourth and fifth places are Lindsey and Lauren with 212 and 207 minutes respectively.

And just because she was THISCLOSE to placing this week, only missing 5th place by 2 little minutes, I’m gonna give a special shout out to Kat for her 205 minutes.

Well done, ladies!

Now, would it be okay if I bragged for just a minute or two? It would? Awesome, thanks. As you’ll see when Anna posts this week’s Flab to Fab Friday (she missed last week, but promises to be back with a vengeance this week!), I’m working hard at stepping up my activity levels. I know, I know, as one of your moderators I should really be setting an awesome example for all of you, but what can I say? Since I’m not able to join the competition, and my main motivator for working out is apparently my competitive spirit, I just haven’t been getting as much exercise as I should be.

But that’s all about to change. Or, rather, has already changed, as I clocked in an impressive (if I do say so myself) 590 minutes last week! Granted, the main reason I got so many minutes in is because I painted pretty much the entire main level of my house over the weekend (don’t even try to tell me that painting isn’t exercise — after almost 8 hours of squats and step ups [gotta get to every part of the wall -- floor to ceiling!] my legs are STILL sore!). And even though painting isn’t an activity I do regularly (thank goodness!), earning that many minutes made for a great first week of my new exercise-more resolve. Although I know better than to aspire to 500+ minutes every week (come on, I’m no OPH!), I am feeling extra motivated to do more than I have been. And that, my friends, is awesome!

With summer approaching, I think earning those minutes is going to be easier than ever. Between hiking, early evening dog walks, and yard work, warmer weather means more opportunities to get off the couch, get outside, get active, and get AWESOME!

So tell me, what outdoor activities are you most looking forward to as summer approaches?

WOW — April Showers Bring March Winners!

This first week of April seems to have left a lot of you feeling less than awesome, am I right? Is that why only 12 of you reported minutes this week? Y’all, I know you’re out there being active and awesome — but if you don’t tell us about it then you can’t get any of the glory (or prizes)!

Anyway, those of you that did report minutes clearly have gotten April off to an Awesome start. Let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

Coming in first with the high total we’ve come to expect from her, is OPH with 590 minutes!

Holding strong in second is Erin with 360.

In third and fourth place are Kat and Lindsey, with a respectable 300 and 295 minutes respectively.

And in a very close fifth is Christar with 273 minutes.

Way to go, girls!

Now, was there something else we were supposed to be talking about today? Something really important maybe? Something like . . . I don’t know . . . March’s Totally Awesome Winners!

Thanks to all those hours logged moving boxes and furniture, I’m pleased to announce that Suzanne is our big winner this month with 3,905 minutes! Way to go, Suzanne!!

The rest of the top five, who will all get to display awesome March Winner badges on their blogs are:

• Heather in 2nd place with 1,995 minutes.
• Kirsten in 3rd with 1,960.
• OPH in 4th with 1,780
• and Lindsey in 5th with 1,559

Congratulations to March’s Totally Awesome Winners! You all kicked some serious exercise booty this past month! Watch your inboxes for an email with details on how to claim your fabulous prizes! (Due to technical difficulties at the SangriaLover household, the winners’ badges won’t be available until tomorrow — sorry!)

To everyone else participating in GaGA, congratulations to you, too, for being incredibly Awesome! Anna, Deidra, and I are seriously impressed with all of your minutes every single week. Keep up the good work!

When you comment this week, help us help you — tell us what we can do to make GaGA work better for you. Is there anything you’d like to see us do that we’re not doing already? GaGA is all about you guys, so let us know if there’s anything we can do to make it more awesome!

Don’t forget to check out Anna’s Flab to Fab Fridays. She’s inspired me to jump on the Flab to Fab bandwagon, and we’ll be doing joint posts starting this week. It’s sure to be awesome, so check it out!

Audrey

From Flab to Fab Friday

I can remember the first time I ever thought I was fat. 

It was the summer between fourth and fifth grade.  I was at our community swimming pool and couldn’t help but notice that the other little girls’ tummies weren’t as round as mine.  Their legs weren’t as chubby.  It’s very likely that we were all the same, but it didn’t change the way I FELT.  That day set in motion years of an up and down battle with my exercise and eating habits.

I’ve never been what you would call a physically active person.  I’ve always chosen curling up with a book over going for a walk.  The only exception was spending hours upong hours dancing around our family room to Paula Abdul and New Kids on the Block or leaping about pretending to be a gymnast or figure skater.  Unfortunately as I got older I realized my dancing was pretty embarassing so I retreated to bookworm-dom.  I played sports on and off through high school but was never particularly good at any of them.  I joined more for the social aspect (not much else to do in a small town) than for moving my body.

All through high school I thought I was fat.  Looking back at pictures now I realize I was WRONG.  Bad dresser – yes, overweight – no.  My most desperate attempt at losing weight was a three day diet that involved dry canned tuna, frozen peas and vanilla ice cream.  As you can probably imagine, it didn’t work.  I can’t tell you why I was so caught up in how I looked.  No one ever called me fat or ugly, but I was convinced that they thought it. 

I think I was at my fittest during the spring semester of my freshman year of college.  I worked out in the fitness center almost every day.  I bought workout videos when I was home on spring break.  I lost weight, but more importantly I felt better, stronger than I ever had.  Until the summer came and I worked a full time job during the week and waitressed on the weekends.  All of my hard work was erased in a matter of weeks as I had my fill of fast food lunches and free chocolate shakes.

I gained about 20 pounds through all of college.  I was at my personal heaviest right around college graduation.  After battling some personal issues I was more concerned with how I felt emotionally than with what was happening physically.  I was dating the guy that would eventually would become my husband and he told me how hot I was.  All the time.  I never believed him.  Later that year I joined Weight Watchers.  I lost ten pounds but I was miserable.  I hated counting every single thing I put in my mouth.  So I quit.  I put some of the weight back on, but not all.  I didn’t really try to lose weight for my wedding because I knew I had a big, poufy dress and I’ve never really been that worried about my top half.  I carry almost all of my weight in my butt, hips and thighs.  I’m your quintessential pear shape.

My biggest problem (as you can probably tell) is a major lack of discipline.  I can give you any excuse in the book for eating junk or not working out.  For example, ”I’m starting on MONDAY.  I’m going to eat whatever I want now to get it out of my system.”  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used that one.  I always get excited about how I’ll feel about being in better shape, but I forget how much work it takes to get there.  Eating is the same way.  I’ve always gravitated towards the things that are not healthy for me.  At my new job they order in pizzas or subs or Chinese a few times each week and I have a really hard time saying no.  I had french fries and ice cream for dinner last night, for Pete’s sake!

Most people would look at me and say, “You’re not fat.”  Technically I know I’m not.  I’m not obese.  According to the charts I fall within a healthy weight for my height (albeit at the higher end of the range) but I FEEL heavy.  And unhealthy.  I know what I need to do, the hard part is actually DOING it.

Last fall I ran my very first 5k.  For a person that insisted she was NOT a runner I was pretty happy with how it worked out.  I didn’t lose any weight during training, but I did feel great when I finished the race under the time I’d set for myself.  I’m planning to run another one this spring/summer.  This time I have an even bigger goal.  I want to finish in 33 minutes or less.  An 11 minute mile may not seem that hard, but for me I can assure you it is. 

But the 5k isn’t it.  I also want to lose ten pounds by July 1st.  As I mentioned in Wednesday’s post my 10 year high school class reunion is this summer.  I would love it if I could look as good (hopefully better) as I did back then.  I also want to feel good.  I want to look in the mirror and be happy with what I see, rather than “eh, good enough”.  There is also a possibility that we’ll be traveling to Europe this fall and I want to be able to enjoy it without being winded from all of the walking or thinking about how my clothes fit.

Each Friday I’m going to report in here.  I’ll have an update on training – what I’m doing, how it’s going and possibly a countdown to the race.  I’m also going to weigh in and give you the best and worst of what I ate for the week.  I’d love it if you want to join me on either the 5k or the weight loss.  We can keep each other accountable and on track.  We’re all friends here and there will be NO judgement (seriously, if anyone says something that seems less than encouraging it will be DELETED).

Today’s Info

Weight: 140 (I weighed myself twice and got two different results so I’m using the average)

Goal:  130 (I would love to say 125, but I know me and I think 130 is more attainable for now)

Training:  I worked out for forty minutes this morning with a recently purchased dance-inpsired DVD.  The rest of this week was kind of a wash.

Eating:  Best – I ate salads for lunch three times this week, Worst – everything else I ate this week

Anna

WOW – March Goes Out Like a Lion

ROWR!

You all really stepped it up for the final full week of March.  I believe we have our very first tie for first place.

With an impressive 535 minutes each, Kirsten and Kat share the top spot

In a very close second was Heather with 520 minutes

Followed by Jennifer with 425

In our top 5 for the first time and in fourth is Christar at 296 minutes – definitely way good!

And rounding out the top five minute mavens was KM with 285

Audrey will be here next week to share our most Awesome for this month.

In an effort to add a little more content to the site I’m going to be writing an additional weekly post.  With Deidra and Audrey’s permission, I’m going to focus a little more on the weight loss aspect of getting active.  I asked D and A for their blessing because intially GaGA was meant to encourage people to get off their rears and start Doing Something.  We weren’t going to focus on calories or pounds and I still whole-heartedly agree with that being our main focus.  However, I don’t think I’m alone in getting active because I want to see that number on the scale go down. 

Thus, Flab to Fab Friday debuts this week!   I have two ultimate goals – run another 5k and shave 5 minutes off my time (I ran my first last fall with a final time of about 38 minutes) and lose 10 pounds by July 1st.  People, I have my ten year high school class reunion this summer.  I NEED to be smokin’ hot.

Don’t forget, if you have a great, active story to share we’d love to include YOUR testimonial.  Or is there something you’d like to see us cover, is there anything you think we could do to make this site more useful or fun?  Please let us know.   After all, we’re here for YOU. 

Stay awesome!

Anna