Sorry I’ve been missing. I just don’t have the heart right now to be doing what I need to be doing. Things have been extremely busy. We returned from Michigan Saturday 4/19, I had very mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand I was very excited to be getting back to warm weather and my own bed and house. But it is almost like while I was there I was in a time warp. I was near everyone that was close to my dad. I know he is gone and he is in my heart and around me every day but I still felt like I was leaving him behind when I left Michigan. I’m know it is because his presence was evident staying in the house he was living in (as he lived with my grandfather), being near his room, etc. I have this need to talk to everyone he knew and just be around them. Anyway I’m back and have been so busy with the kids back in school, projects, homework, sports, etc. I have a TON of stuff to catch up at work, and in between all of that my house looks like a tornado hit it.

On the weekends I’m trying to devote a day to clean and a day to play. So far it isn’t working out LOL I mean the playing is but I’m so behind, this weekend I’m still working at getting to the beach but I haven’t done laundry since I’ve been back EEK!!  So needless to say even though eating well is suppose to be a way of life I’ve fallen off the way of life right now. I don’t have the mindset to jump back on this week, but it is never far from my mind.

Cindy you look like you are doing a GREAT job look at you at 195 that is so awesome. I’ve been spending more time on myspace then anything else as I have some friends I’m staying in contact with. Cindy if you have one jump on by and we can be friends LOL www.myspace.com/honeys_mom. If anyone else is interested you are welcome to start up a friendship with my. My space is private and I have to accept you. If you are wanting to add me please let me know where you came from as I don’t usually accept friends unless I know them as I do post about myself and such on my blog.

Hope everyone is still winning the battle. Hugs Colleen

Hi everyone!!!

It's been a while since I posted...I had a bad week last week, no particular reason, just a hiccup in this journey. We, as a family, have been really active since the weather broke around here. Last week we went on an hour long nature hike and spent some time in our park. My computer time has been limited, but frankly, I'd rather be outside!

My daughter had another dance competition this past weekend and her class did very well. She took classes too, so that was my entire Saturday and Sunday...once again packed food so that we had some healthy snacks and lunches but was impressed with their concessions too. They were really conscious about providing salads, fruit and wraps instead of the usual burgers, fries, pizza and chicken fingers *blech*! This convention was local, so that helped too.

Colleen, my friend, I hope that you're doing ok...I've been thinking about you and your family.

Hope everyone else has a great rest of the week!

~ Cindy

PS -- OMG I just remembered I haven't posted about the finale...So, So happy for Ali and Bernie! WOOT! It was a great show and everyone looked amazing! And to Marcus & Amber, our MPMU Winner a HUGE CONGRATS!!! So when does the next season start???

I will be away for a week, I just found out my dad passed away. Cindy I didn't want you to wonder if I had fallen off the face of the earth. I didn't post Friday (haven't been doing well) was going to get back at it this week. We are flying to Michigan tonight, it is going to be a shock to my family's system (the cold I mean.) This has taken us by surprise and not expected at all. My father was 55 and it is believed he died of a heart attack. No one was home, as my grandfather (whom he lives with) was believe it or not, down here in Florida on vacation. The neighbors became concerned after not seeing my dad leave the house in a couple of days. They found him sitting in his chair which I'm choosing to believe means he passed suddenly. He had been to the doctor just that week complaining of shoulder and arm pain. However it was thought maybe he pulled a muscle. I do not believe now that was the case. They are working now to determine the actual cause of death.

Hugs to all I will check back in next week

~Colleen

At least a loss :) 0.4 lbs. but I'll take it!

The exciting thing??? I am down a size! I'm officially a size 14 and too small for the plus department WOO-HOO!!! HECK YEAH ~ I said too SMALL!!! I had to go shopping because all of my spring capri's are size 20's from last year! I went to Fashion Bug and because of habit went directly over to the Plus side of the store and loaded up on size 16's to try on...all too big! I think the saleswoman thought I was delirious when she asked me how they fit! LOL I had an enormous grin on my face and just said "they didn't!" and marched my butt over to the Misses section!

God that felt good!

~ Cindy

Soooo.....who did you vote for last night???

As for me? You'll have to hear me out on this one...

I was sooo totally voting for Mark to stay in the competition...I'm sorry, PINK has been my fav since day one! I'm a BIG Ali fan and think her and her Mom were unjustly voted off the first time!!! I soooo much want her to win this and be the first WOMAN (sorry guys!) Biggest Loser!!! So, my pea size brain figures she has the best chance against Mark so sure, that's who I'm voting for!

Then, my darling husband is rationalizing with me this morning and he doesn't think Mark deserves to be there...heck anyone that can make their way back into the competition and stick it out this long winning challenges after challenges DESERVES to be there...but... I understand he was already voted out once. Yes, Roger is the one that TRULY should be in the final...he was never below the yellow line until this week...he's done an incredible job.

So, I did vote for Roger to stay in the final...Hubby was calculating all the percentages and figures Roger and Kelly both need to pull some amazing numbers to be able to catch Ali. I figured if America votes him in, she will still have an awesome shot at winning this whole thing!

What are your thoughts? Who did you vote for? And what about those amazing weigh-ins this week, eh??? Geesh, wish I could lose 15 lbs. in one week!

~ Cindy

The quote on the rock reads:
"God wrought for us this scene beyond compare, but one man's loving hand protected it and gave it to his fellow men to share."
~ Sarah Evans Letchworth

We had a glorious Sunday afternoon! The weather was absolutely perfect and we couldn't bear to waste the day inside or just putzing around the house. We traveled about an hour out to Castile, NY to go on a hike at Letchworth State Park.We hiked the Gorge Trail which is about a 7 mile hike...we did about 3 miles down to the lower falls, had lunch, then turned around and hiked3 miles back to the car. The kids did great, and loved collecting rocks and pine cones along the way. Josh had enough in his pockets to literally weigh him down and he just didn't quite understand why he was having so much trouble towards the end. LOL I am so proud of them though!

Here are some of the pics...pretty, eh?

Well, I was reluctant to change my ticker to encompass the entire journey instead of just the BL Challenge...but now that I did I realize how much I really have accomplished. I have to admit...that 277 start weight a year ago is still really embarrassing to me.

Today was a great morning...great weigh in for me since it's been over a month since I've been able to post a loss. The leg is much better, the tendon is still not 100%, but I'm being careful. I started another 8 week session of Hip-Hop class and spring has finally sprung around here, so I have my park runs back. I am re-energized and ready to tackle this last 48.4 pounds.

~Cindy

Here's me in perspective...a little before and now ("after" will be when I'm finally at a healthy weight)

Before                        Now

First off Congrats Cindy on being able to post a weight loss this week! I bet it felt great to be able to do that. I hope your foot is doing better and so exciting to see you were able to get back under the 200 mark. Here’s to staying there LOL!

I’m very excited to say I’ve now lost over 40 pounds total. That was my mini goal getting to 156.5. Today I weighed 155.5 and am going strong. My next goal is 149 (under 150’s). I’m going to be able to get back to the gym this week since the boys are on spring break I have no after work commitments. I’m hoping the week back will help me get back on schedule I really miss working out.
 

Can’t wait to see the winners! Wish we were going to LA.

Oh I HATE April Fool’s day I’m so glad (cross my fingers, toes, and legs) I haven’t had any pranks. I HATE practical jokes, I feel like a party pooper saying that but I do. Like that show PUNKED oh I could never watch it, when they do practical jokes on the radio on people I switch the station. Anyway thought I would check in today as I haven’t been posting tons, just a little here and there. I have NOT gotten back to the gym, I was feeling bad about it but have decided I can only do what I can do and I just have so much going on with the boys sports and trying to get my house in order I’m not going to sweat it. I’m a little disappointed as my gym challenge is up Saturday and I don’t feel at all like I did what I could have done if I had stayed on track and really hit the gym. I’ve decided challenges like that maybe aren’t really my thing. I get more irritated that I don’t stay on track then using it to motivate me. I guess at this point in my journey I really don’t need a challenge to motivate me.

I weighed 157 this morning, which is great, I’m back to what I was the Friday before my week binge. So it is only losing from here, I’m so glad I count myself after a week and was able to get it all back off that quick. Here is to a great week and can’t weight to post my weigh in on Friday.

Since the Biggest Loser Challenge is over we've decided to redo our page. I also thought since both Cindy and I started this journey long before this challenge we should change the stats to be that of our TOTAL weight loss. Cindy if you disagree you can keep your stats as is. I just thought it would be nice to see the BIGGER picture of how far we really have come. I will be changing the percentages in the right hand bar soon. I hope you enjoy the new "spring" page, hopefully it will bring some warmer weather Cindy's away as well as any of you up north. Here in Florida the pools and water parks will open next weekend.

If signing out, going to try to get my car cleaned why the kids play in a small pool I bought yesterday. Have TONS of cleaning and laundry to do as well as a trip to the store.

Hugs
Colleen

Weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 200.2...which is almost back to my last weigh in before the injury. I'm almost back to speed on the elliptical and I decided NOT to wait for Mother Nature and got back to my jogs in the park this past week. I did 2 miles on Thursday afternoon and 2 miles this morning. Not really pushing myself, but testing the leg out. Feels great to be getting some fresh air again...however this morning was brrrrrr cold!!!

Hopefully now that I'm back to my cardio routine, I can post some decent weigh-ins again!

~ Cindy

Was thinking of giving the site a new look just for fun, don't have anything in mind right now but thought now the challenge was over I can change it up some what do you think?

Well I STUPIDLY gave myself the freedom to eat what I wanted on my birthday 3/21, the worse part was I didn't get back to eating healthy until Thursday 3/27. I learned that I can not do free days on Friday as the weekend are too chaotic for me to stay on schedule with a free day under my belt. As long as I have been eating fine I can get through the weekend but if I'm battling cravings from a free day forget it.

So I'm up 2.5 lbs now from my Friday weigh in of 157 but hopefully by the end of this week it will be gone. I have eaten well for two days and am going strong, it will be great once again to get to my former low weight, now 157 and lose from there.

My challenge at the gym ends 4/5...I'm a little disappointed that I will not be showing a bigger lose but not at all upset at joining. My essay (which it was that they were grading LOL) I think turned out well. I think my picture will show some difference but I'm not sure how much, usually you compete against a couple hundred people. Hopefully I will get the pics back so I can share them with you guys.

Hope everyone is doing well. Cindy I hope the foot is feeling better.

~Colleen

Gosh it was nice to see the girls come out on top this week. They're up against 4 BIG boys and they've been killing themselves. WOO-HOO!!!

Sooo...the challenge. I couldn't believe how nonchalantly they boys were taking bites here, nibble there and just demolishing Ali and Kelly's tables. Hmmm Dan with a 1lb. loss...thinking hindsight is 20/20 here. Maybe he shouldn't have had that bite or two of a 700+ calorie piece of pizza, ya think?

What about the vote then? Was anyone else as shocked as me that Dan and Roger didn't go lobbying to get Mark voted off to break up that strong brother team? Looks like one of them is bound to win unless by chance they both fall below the yellow line because it's definite that they have each other's back. Anyways, sad to see Dan go...loved his sense of humor. Good for him for going to LA to follow his dreams. Rock on!

Next week should be a good one...coming down to the wire!

~ Cindy

First off...Colleen~You are one HOT MAMA! Look at you in your new bikini FANTASTIC GIRL!

I am back at the cardio...FINALLY! Yesterday I managed 35 minutes on the elliptical going pretty easy. Today I did 40 minutes at about the same level, just a tad faster. I am still babying the leg as I am petrified of hurting myself again. I can still feel it pull every now and then, so I know I'm not 100%...but HEY I'll take it! Another week of weights would drive me insane!!!

Now if I could only convince Mother Nature to stop being such a Bit** and warm us up here already...c'mon first day of spring could have been Christmas with all the snow flying around here! I miss the park and the fresh air WWWAAAAHHHH! I cannot wait to start my morning jogs in the park. My weight isn't back to my last weigh in yet, so I haven't posted a new one. Hopefully now that I'm back to the cardio, that will help!

Have a wonderful Easter everyone!
~ Cindy

Today is my birthday and I"m feeling great. Thought I would take a moment to say HI to all my fellow BL friends. I've taken the day off of work WOO HOO and pretty much have gotten nothing done.

My hubby got me a Zune player and a watch for by B-Day, my MIL got me the CD Carnival Ride and some awesome expensive and comfortable flip flops (a must her in FL), and I got $75 dollars to Wal-Mart which I've spent on some clothes, Hot Sticks, and an new bathing suit. Used the Hot Sticks this morning and I like them so far add some curl to my hair. And now for the best part...LOL at least to me as for ONCE I enjoyed trying a bathing suits. Here is my purchase. (Sorry about the photos I couldn't get either of my boys to take a photo so I did it myself.)

Ok so here is my take would love to hear yours.
 

Brittany-I hated to see Brittany go but you knew the guys were not going to vote for Jay, hey if I was in that group I wouldn’t turn either. I feel bad for her as it seems there is something holding her back from losing even though she is doing what she is suppose too, that seems to be what Jillian thinks. I think Brittany is a great competitor but I think during this game she kinda lost her momentum and started to feel like there is no way she could win so she semi gave up just a tad. I can’t wait to see her at the finale I hope for her she has lost her weight, she is a beautiful girl. I do think she looked great in the pink dress.
 

Kelly was the only one to me that really stood out during the makeover I think they did an excellent job on her hair and her makeup looked fantastic. She definitely out of all of them seems to have the lowest self esteem, always calling herself weak. The only thing that kinda grated on my nerves was when she was walking to the scale she said she never gets breaks. I guess I understand she meant weight wise but I do think she has gotten many breaks this season and I guess it hit the wrong cord. However I’m one of those people that likes to find the best in all and I think sometimes Kelly is just use to seeing the worse side of things. I would love for her to look more at where she has come, and say “I’m NOT WEAK”  whether she can beat the boys are not she needs to have that confidence.
 

Mark/Roger-I think that whole conversation was a waste of everyone’s time. I think Roger was sampling sticking up for Mark telling him there is NO NEED to apologize for winning, which I agree. Mark took it though as Roger wanted Mark to be more out in the open so Roger wouldn’t have too, I think this was Mark’s feelings being projected onto Roger. He is afraid his winning will get him voted off and I think after he won he was mad at himself for winning and took it out on Roger
 

Ali-I think she is doing a great job. I know many people have complained about her vote but this is how I see it. She KNEW the boys were voting for Brittany she KNEW Brittany was going so why show she has taken sides by voting for Jay, by voting for Brittany she may have earned herself more time as the guys may see her as in an alliance with them. Granted she may still not get further because they are tight. I’m just saying if it came down to Kelly and Ali in the bottom she may have helped her cause by voting with the guys.

I like to set these mini weight goals as it seems so much easier to say 2-3 more pounds to goal instead of 10. So my goals are usually right under a ten mark. Like they were 189, 179, etc. So I just met my mini goal (once again) I weighed 158.5 this morning which is the LOWEST I've weighed in 5 years. I'm very excited about that. Again I FINALLY feel like I'm on track to lose weight instead of losing the same 5-10 lbs I've lost before.

So my new mini goal is 156 the reason for this goal is I started out at 196.5 son 186,176, etc. are also my goals. Once I get to 156 I will have lost over 40 lbs. So here is to my next mini goal!!

It is just killin' me wanting to know which sites won?? LOL anyone else wondering?

Well...almost a week since the calf muscle thing and I'm doing better...not great, but better. I am able to put a little more pressure on it today and not walking with such a limp, so that's good. I'm still thinking I'm another solid week away from any cardio. *sigh*

I weighed myself today and of course I was up a bit (202.6), but I'm still having trouble standing with my feet close enough to balance properly on the scale...so I'm not gonna take that number too seriously, but it's probably accurate.

I finished my first full week of solid weighs and crunches and let me tell you....I am SORE!!! I have been switching things up everyday to try and give my muscles a little rest, but I'm still sore, UGH! I am going to take the weekend off and rest...hopefully next week will be it for weights everyday and I can go back to the cardio the following week...I'm crossing my fingers!

~ Cindy