Some Catching Up to Do

There are 5 weeks left in our bet, and I have 6 pounds go to. My mom has only 3.5 pounds left. I have some catching up to do.

Overall, my mom and I have been stymied in our weight loss for the last two weeks. She, however, has been kicking up the exercise a notch and may come in with a super drop surprise at some point soon.

A cold got me down last week, but I am feeling better this week and walked for over an hour yesterday and today, and did some strength training. My mother reported that she has started to even throw a little bit of running into her exercise. Go, Mom!

Not the Best Week

Last week mom stayed steady. She had the flu, unfortunately.

I went up 1.5 pounds. Yikes. I did get in my exercise.

I am starting this week off on a much better foot and am rapidly hoping to turn things around. :)

Weight Loss Blogs

Mom's favorite weight loss blogs:

theantijared.blogspot.com

zeusmeatball.blogspot.com

mcc394.blogspot.com

My only comment on my mom's favorites, is that they are all men's blogs! Where are the women?!

Strategic Grocery Shopping

I received a request for tips on how to have enough healthy food at home to last through a work week. Here is my shopping strategy (when I am not traveling for work):

1. Figure out my meals for the entire week.
2. Check that planned meals meet my fruit and veggie quota.
3. Count the number of snacks I will need (e.g. 5 fruits, 7 yogurts for snacks, small bag of carrots and hummus).
4. Make a grocery list.
5. Go shopping at least once a week, with the list. Make it quick, just going to what I need.
6. Prepare meals as much in advance as possible, including pre-packing lunches and dinners for the week (such as on Sunday).

In my opinion two well-planned trips in two weeks is better than one long trip once every two weeks. The more often you shop, the more fresh food you are likely to have. I started to do more frequent grocery shopping while I lived in France. My husband is also good about picking up food for dinner on the way home if there was a gap in the planning.

For a second opinion, try this article on 10 Tips for Healthy Grocery Shopping.

Mom Is Kickin' Butts and Not Takin' Names

Mom lost a whopping 2.5 more pounds this week! She is down a total of 6 pounds already. She fit in her exercise, but she may not hit 3 workouts this week due to a virus that is keeping her down.

I maintained my weight this week. I am pretty proud of myself for fitting in my four workouts, when I worked an outrageous number of hours between Monday and Friday.

I have 10 weeks left to lose 6 pounds. Mom is making me nervous... she has just 4 pounds more to go.

Counting Calories: Mom's Weight Loss Weapon

One of my mom's weight loss weapons is counting calories. She uses the tool available at caloriecount.about.com.

Drop It Like It's Hot!

Me: Lost 2 pounds total (one last week). I worked out every day last week that I was at the hotel, even when I had to wake up well before the sun did to fit in a workout.

Mom: Lost 3.5 pounds total (3 pounds last week!). My mom completed 1 hour core training, 30 minutes of core training, and did sit-ups/push-ups most nights. She also got in a walk in her new shoes at the zoo. She's dropping it like it's hot.

Hoping to keep up the weight loss and exercise, even though my travel schedule is starting to wear on me again. My fourth week of travel in a row... with many more to come.