Welcome to the Biggest Loser Blog Edition - Season 2!

The Next BLBE

2009-05-14T16:07:00.003-03:00

I have been getting many emails from all of you lovely motivated losers asking about the next BLBE. At this time, I'm not able to give you a date for another challenge. This was a long challenge and it was very hard to keep up with, so if and when there is another one, it won't be until after a much needed break and it will be much shorter in duration.

It is difficult to keep up with running the challenge on top of my own blog, a full time job and my own focus on my continued journey to my goals. So with that said, I would just like to tell you all that while I have no plans for another BLBE in the near future, I will make an annoucement for a roll call for challengers if and when there is another one.

Thank you all for your support and participation! So many of you made such amazing progress and it was SUCH an honour to watch you make those acheivements in your weight loss and health!

Cheers!

~A

Presenting Team Lean's Biggest Loser!

2009-05-03T21:27:00.002-03:00

I want everyone to give a huge shout out to Danee - Looking The Way I Feel, who is our team's Biggest Loser!

Danee has kicked butt at this challenge, losing an incrediable 44 lbs over the past 16 weeks. That is 17.46% of her total body weight! Danee, you are an inspiration to all of us!! Go over and congratulate her now!! (Danee, Angie has kindly listed your prizes and one of us will be in touch with you to discuss the details!)

I also want to mention that as a team we lost a total of 638.3 lbs, which is 3.73% of our total start weight! WOW!! We rocked this challenge!! I hope you're all proud of yourselves because I sure am!

Thank you to everyone who stayed with it until the end, I wish you all continued success in your journeys! Also, huge thank you to everyone that has donated prizes to our Winner!!

Drumrolllll Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease....

2009-05-03T20:34:00.007-03:00

And our official Biggest Loser for the A-Team is: BROOKE!!!!!

Brooke has lost 41.2 lbs which is 17.62% of her total body percentage in 16 weeks!!!!!! YOU READ THAT RIGHT!!!! Go and look at her recent post of her progress pictures! Brooke is a beautiful girl who has kicked some serious ass and has taken quite a few names in the process because those left standing at the end of this 16 weeks are only the finest of the fine ;-)

The Prizes! Oh yes the Prizes!! Well the Biggest Loser from each team will receive:

1) 6 jars of PB2 & 6 jars of Chocolate PB2 from Bell Plantation (this stuff rocks my world);

2) A prize package from General Mills who are sponsoring the Pound for Pound challenge. Don't forget to pledge all of your pounds you have lost to help feed the hungry! The deadline is fast approaching on Tuesday!

3) A Shopping List and Nutritional Guide from actual Biggest Loser contestants Phil & Amy from The Biggest Loser Families; and

4) to the A-Team's Biggest Loser: A gift basket of soaps, candles, potpourri etc. from Sugar Bush Primatives donated by the lovely and generous A-Team member Mary

I want to congratulate Brooke from the very bottom of my heart. It means so very much to me that all of this was worth it to her and to all of you who have truly pushed yourselves throughout this entire challenge. You have proven to yourselves what you are capable of and even though our challenge is officially over, it most certainly is not the end to your commitment to your health and your weightloss.

I also want to sincerely thank Bell Plantation, General Mills, Phil & Amy and Mary for donating their prizes. Having prizes for our winners truly made this challange so much more fun!

And of COURSE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU who has stuck through this to the very end! You have ALL done such an amazing job it's unreal!!

I also wanted to note the top five challengers from our team. These gals lost some serious pounds!

Brooke - 41.20lbs - 17.62%
Shari - 36.90lbs - 15.94%
TJ - 28.40lbs - 13.21%
Ashleigh - 32.40lbs - 11.21%

We had some serious numbers up there! And our team has lost over 400 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! That only those who stuck it to the end!!! UNREAL! DON'T FORGET TO PLEDGE YOUR POUNDS GUYS!!

*MWAH*

Team Lean - Week 15 Results

2009-04-27T19:23:00.001-03:00

Well, we're certainly down to the nitty gritty! Only one more week to go until the final WI! Our team has diminished quite a bit, which makes our stats lower but the people that have stayed in this challenge have so much to be proud of, there are many of you with very high percentage of overall weight loss!! So just keep up the great work in this last week and know that you've changed your life for the better!

So, sadly as a team this week we've gained 1lb. As in more people gained than lost. Over all we've still lost 615lbs, which is 3.59% of our total body weight.

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Jennifer S - Just Jen, who lost 2.6lbs, which is 1.75%.

In second place we have Andrea - A Cake For A Wife, who lost 3.6 lbs, which is 1.60%.

And in third, we have Hotch P - The Hotch Potchery, who lost 2.4 lbs, which is 0.99%.

A-Team's Roundin' the Finish! Week 15!

2009-04-26T21:49:00.003-03:00

We are roundin' the finish you guys and there is now just ONE week left in our challenge! Just one more week!!! After this last week we'll announce our winner and we've got all sorts of fun things lined up! I'm so excited! WOOOT!

But we will save that for next week! This week we had some pretty impressive results! The A-Team's first place loser this week was Bre who lost 2.72% of her total body percentage!! WOOOT!

Our second place loser this week was only behind Bre by a teeny tiny bit. Marisa lost a whoppin' 2.71%!

And our third place loser this week lost 1.83% of her body percentage! Way to go Lisa!!!

Having lost quite a few challengers, our team's stats as a whole has changed a bit. Our team has lost 454.7 lbs! If you all pledge your pounds lost in the Pounds for Pounds Challenge after next week (don't worry, I'll remind you again!), that's literally 455 lbs of food that will be delivered to help feed the hungry in America! So one more week everyone!

I hope you all give it your all this week and sprint to the finish! And for those of you who missed your WI this week please weigh in next week and finish it up! BRING IT HOME A-TEAM!!!!!

Team Lean is Shrinking

2009-04-20T18:00:00.003-03:00

In both a good way and a bad way.

The good is that this week as a team we lost 24.4 lbs, which is 0.14% of our body weight. Since the challenge started, we've lost 614.6 lbs!! (Yah we broke the 600 lbs lost like I had hoped!) for a total 3.59% of our body weight.

The bad is that I only got results for 16 of us, two of those being me and my hubby. I'm really disapointed that we've gone from around 80 participants to 16. :( I waited to post our results today in hopes that I would get a bunch of late emails but no such luck.

However, those of you who are sticking around are on the right path! You've committed yourself to losing weight and getting healthy and that simply rocks!! You'll have no problem getting to your goals if you stay with it. We have two weeks left, just two weeks so I encourage you to give it ALL that you've got! :)

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Tammy H - Mommy's Tired, who was down 6 lbs this week for a total of 2.28% body weight.

In second place we had Andrea M - My Live It, who was down 4 lbs for a total of 1.67% body weight.

And in third we had Caylyn K - Caylyn's Page, was was down 2.9 lbs for a total of 1.44% body weight.

All other results below:

A-Team Week 14 - The "Eye on the Prize Edition"

2009-04-19T21:50:00.003-03:00

That's right everyone, there's only two weeks left to the finish line of our BLBE2 challenge!! I can't believe that the finish line is right around the corner! This is where we all need to sprint to the finish, give it all you got and just keep your eye on the prize!!!! Two more weeks is all we're asking of ourselves and each other and two weeks is not that long at all!

Topping off the A-Team this week was Cadee who lost 2.31% of her body weight this week! HOLY! Great job!!

Diane earned a solid second having lost 1.60% of herself this week; and

Shari, not surprising in all her kick assness is sporting a respectable third place having lost 1.49% of herself this week too!

Way to go ladies, you deserve a major pat on the back from the A-Team and keep your eye on the prize!!!

A-Team Week 13 - The "50% Edition"

2009-04-13T12:04:00.003-03:00

Well my little Asskickers, here we are about 50% of us still standing at Week 13! It may only be 50% of our original team, but there you are, the survivial of the fittest in a very literal form! I am so proud of you all for sticking it out this far. It means a lot to me to see you succeed in acheiving your goals!

So let's get on with the show, shall we?

Edit: I totally messed up and Brooke was our top loser of the week having lost a whoppin' 2.17% of herself last week! She just skimmed above Suzi, but was our leader nonetheless! She is doing so incredibly well, and she certainly deserved the shout out! Way to go Brooke!!

Our top loser of the week this was Suzi who has lost 2.16% of her tiny little self and is so incredibly close to acheiving her weight loss goal! Goooo Suzi!!!

Our second place loser of the week was Ashleigh who has been kicking ass since the beginning of this challenge and this week alone has lost 1.6% of herself! Woooot!

And our third (and certainly not least by a long shot) place loser this week is Sandy who lost 1.57% of herself this week! You go girl!

So proud of you all so much!

As a team and due to some elimination of some consistent no-show WI's our team's total lost poundage has decreased somewhat because we had to get rid of the results that were no longer an accurate contribution to our team. But even still, in our team of 44, we have lost 457 lbs!!! That's incredible you guys! That's a total team percentage lost of 5.21%

Again, I am so proud of you all for your perserverance, your stamina and commitment to your goals. You're all amazing!

Team Lean - Week 13 Results

2009-04-12T20:17:00.002-03:00

Another week already; time sure is flying by! As a team we lost 25.4 lbs, which is 0.15% of our total body weight. Overall we've lost 591.1 lbs or 3.45%!! Do you realize how close we are to 600lbs lost??!! Keep up the great work everyone!

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Laura F - Journey to Goal, who lost 4.6 lbs, for 2.20% of her total body weight.

In second place we have Lisa E - Doin' It For Me, who lost 3.6 lbs, for 1.76% of her total body weight.

And in third place we have Hotch P - The Hotch Potchery, who lost 3.8 lbs, which is 1.53% total body weight.

Team results below:

Team Lean - Sincere Apology

2009-04-07T17:29:00.003-03:00

Well, I'm turning out to be a pretty bad team leader. If I had of known how busy my life was going to be between personal issues and work, I don't think I would've made this committement to all you. I take pride in doing my very best and lately, keeping up with this competition has been really hard for me. I'm so sorry for not always being able to post results right away; I really appreciate your patience.

So, on to the most important part: our weekly results!

As a team this week we've lost 23 lbs which is 0.13% of our total body weight. Since the challenge started, we've lost 566.1 lbs, for 3.3% of our total body weight!!!

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Kirby - Good Gals Inc., who lost 3 lbs, which is 1.89% total body weight!

In second place is Jennifer - Living Life & Achieving Weightloss Naturally, who was down 3.8 lbs, which is 1.71%!

And last but certainly not least is Cinemaire - Cinemarie English, who was down 2.2 lbs, for 1.45%!

The rest of our stats are below in the spreadsheet.

The A-Team Week 12 (already!)

2009-04-05T22:06:00.005-03:00

Well here we are challengers! I apologize for being a bit late with this week's results post, but I had a bit of an incident with a lost engagement ring this evening and well, it's found, all is good, the world is not going to end and that's all I'll say about that! :-D

SOOO, onto this week's business! The A-Team is quite proud of Ida this week because she is our chart topper having lost 1.91% of herself! Yayyyy Ida!!!

Not far behind was Kinder who kicked some butt, despite the struggles she has been having this week and lost 1.56% of herself! I hope you are feeling better Kinder ;-)

And of course TJ was not to go unnoticed because she was our third place chart topper having lost 1.44% of herself this week too!

Way to go guys! I'm so proud of you guys for giving it the gusto and really making these weeks in this challenge COUNT!

The A-Team to date has lost 521.5 lbs which is a total of 4.39% of our team's total body percentage! Great job Team!!!

Team Lean - Week 11 Results

2009-03-30T19:31:00.003-03:00

Good Evening BLBEers!

Once again, this week there was a delay in posting the results. I've had a rough, very busy week due to my husband's uncle passing away. However, this gave a few of you the opportunity to send in results as well. Unfortunately, I only got emails from 23 people this week. :( The Competition is almost over, lets really try and give it our all for the rest of the time! Me included!!

I would like to direct your attention to fellow teammate, Michelle (check out her new blog here!) who is now a contestant in a metro Milwaukee Biggest Loser style competition!! Show your support by voting for her here! Good luck Michelle, you rock!!

Now, down to business!

As a team, we lost 18.6lbs this week, for 0.09% of our total body weight. In total we've lost 535.9 lbs so far!!!!

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Crystal - ByeBye Fat Pants, who lost 4.8 lbs, which is 2.11% of her body weight!

In second place is Jodi - Anything But Ordinary, who lost 4 lbs, which is 1.42% of her body weight!

And in third, we have Bethany - Confessions of a Twenty-Something, who also lost 4 lbs, which is 1.37% of her body weight!!

Those are awesome numbers!!!

Results for everyone else below:

A-Team Week 12 - "The HAUL ASS Edition"

2009-03-29T21:07:00.003-03:00

Oh yes my peeps, it's crunch time!! And not just the abdominal way either :-P (sorry I couldn't help it). It's the last FIVE weeks of our challenge and it's time to HAUL ASS! It may be rounding the homestretch, but five weeks IS PLENTY of time to get some serious results on your score card for the results at the end, so I hope that EVERYONE decides to pull up their socks, remember why they joined this challenge in the first place (including myself) and HAUL friggin' ASS to the finish line! Capeesh?? Okay, Awesome, we're all on board, good :-D

So to get on with this week's results....the A-Team's leader this week was Jennifer who is totally back in the game and lost a whopping 1.97% of her body this week! Go Jennifer!

Our second place leader this week was Brooke who always seems to kick ass in one way shape or form and lost 1.92% of her body (this girl has lost 29.4 lbs so far in this challenge!!) Way to go Brooke!!!!!

And our third place leader this wee, was Robyn who lost an awesome 1.52% of herself this week too!

Way to go my friends, you are truly great examples for our team! Keep up the outstanding work and we'll see who is going to give a run for their money!!!

My Bad

2009-03-24T14:10:00.003-03:00

Okay folks I was so excited about Phil & Amy's contribution to our challenge that I should have waited on my post about their prize. Our winners for each team will be the lucky recipients of the shopping list as well as the nutritional guide.

That, together with the contribution from Bell Plantation with the PB2 and Chocolate PB2 (yum!) and the prize packages being provided by General Mills certainly makes for a lovely prize for our winners!

Sorry to get yas all excited about those documents, but if you would like to obtain a copy, you can certianly visit Phil & Amy's site and purchase them there! (whooopsie me!) So sorry for jumping the gun on that, I just got all excited and I got ahead of myself!

Team Lean - Week 10 Results

2009-03-23T18:50:00.002-03:00

My apologies for the delay in getting our team's result up, my hubby had a family emergency last night and I wasn't home to get them done.

So without further ado, this week as a team we lost 17.2 lbs, which is 0.100% of our total body weight. In total we've lost 519.3 lbs!!

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Gertrude - Evicting Getrude, who lost 3.4 lbs, for 2.01% of her body weight!

In second place we have Danee D - Looking The Way I Feel, who lost 4 lbs, which is 1.79% of her body weight.

And in third place we have Jennifer S - Just Jen, who lost 2.4 lbs, which is 1.56% of her body weight.

With 6 weeks to go, I really want to encourage everyone to give it their all! We've pulled some amazing numbers thus far and I would love to see us lose over 600 lbs by the end!

Below are the results for the rest of the team:

Week 10 - A-Team

2009-03-22T20:09:00.004-03:00

Hi Everyone! Can you believe that we have finished Week 10 already? Wow! Only 6 more weeks left!

Some of you have seriously given it your all and are representing our team with some superior results! I'm so proud of you guys!

This week's chart toppers for the A-Team are:

Robyn who lost 3.8 lbs this week which was 1.58% of her body weight! Way to go Robyn!

Not far behind was Sandy who lost 3.4 lbs which was 1.32% of her body weight! Holy smokes!

And Lesley who has shown her face in the top three more than once, lost 1.6lbs which was 1.15% of her teeny self :-)

Way to go ladies, you've done great!

The A-Team collectively has lost 536.5 lbs which is 3.77% of our team's total body GONE!

So since we have 6 weeks left in our challenge, I say that we HAUL ASS and get the job done that we came here for, right??! Even if you haven't had the results up to this point that you had hoped, you STILL have SIX weeks to go and that IS enough time to see some significant results, so let's bring it people, let's get 'er done!!

Week 9 Results: Team Lean

2009-03-15T20:56:00.002-03:00

Good Evening Team Lean. Week 9 of our challenge and we are still pulling some amazing numbers!!! This week we lost 29.8 lbs for a total body percentage of 0.174%. Since this challenge started we've lost 518.3 lbs which is 3.03% of our total body weight!!

Tonight, I'm pleased to announce that our Biggest Loser of the Week is Amy Y - Way To Go, who lost 4.2 lbs, which is 2.32% of her total body weight.

In second place we have Heidi - It Just Fell Off, who lost 2.8 lbs for a total body percentage of 1.6%.

And in third place we have Caylyn - Caylyn's Page, who was down 3lbs, for a total body percentage of 1.43%.

As always our total results are posted in the spreadsheet below.

A-Team - Week 9 - The "We Rock" Edition :-D

2009-03-15T20:24:00.004-03:00

Well there's no stopping the A-team! Our first place loser for this week is Suzi (who is just 2.5 lbs away from her goal weight!) Yayyyyyyyyyyy Suzi!!!!

Our second biggest loser of the week is Kimberly H who lost 1.49% of herself (and over 10 lbs in the BLBE) :-D Way to go!

Our our third biggest loser this week was Shari who lost 1.45% of herself this week! (Shari has lost 27.1 lbs so far in the BLBE!!! Woooot!!!!!)

So proud of you guys!

Our team as a whole has lost 539.5 lbs which okay okay is not an entire ton which I said before, but a half of one - thanks for pointing that out guys ;-) - which by the way, can't quite understand why 2000lbs is a significant unit of measurement, but anyways, that goes along with my Canadian metric way of thinking I suppose eh! ;-D

Our team lost 21.25 lbs this week which is 0.17% of our team's total body percentage which I think is fantastic! Keep up the great work ya'll!

Have a great week everyone and I hope you're all smiling because in our neck of the woods it's feeling more like Spring :-D

Reason #2 Why You Should Pledge Your Pounds...

2009-03-12T09:00:00.003-03:00

Because General Mills, who makes all sorts of healthy cereals and products, and who is sponsoring the Pound for Pound Challenge, has generously, to my absolute DELIGHT, offered to donate a prize of General Mills products to our winner!!!!!

THANK YOU GENERAL MILLS!

So don't forget to Pledge those Pounds because collectively we have lost over 1000 so far as a group! That's a TON!!!!!!!!!

Be proud of yourselves my friends, no matter what your contribution to that number is because that will be actual pounds of food donated to feed the hungry :-)

Pounds for Pounds Challenge!

2009-03-10T16:17:00.003-03:00

Well whattya know, it looks like we may have gotten their attention after all! I received an email from the public relations for General Mills who is sponsoring the Pounds for Pounds Challenge that you hear about on The Biggest Loser and they thought that our challengers might also be interested in pledging their pounds lost to the cause of feeding the hungry.

How do ya do that? There are three ways to participate in the Pound For Pound Challenge:

Participants have until April 27th to pledge pounds and until May 5th to report their weight loss at www.PFPChallenge.com.
Mail-in the Pound For Pound lids and seals from specially-marked General Mills products. For every lid or seal mailed in, General Mills will donate 10 cents to Feeding America. Brands with the Pound For Pound lid or seal are included in this press release.
Donate directly to Feeding America by visiting www.PFPChallenge.com or www.biggestloser.com.

Well whattya think about that friends?! Your weight loss can directly influence how much food gets donated to people in need of food! HOW cool is that?

Thank you Samantha for your email!

Team Lean - Week 8 Results

2009-03-08T21:55:00.002-03:00

So, we completed 8 weeks already,which means that this challenge is half over... time flies! Two months of committment to ourselves is sure paying off; as a team we've lost an incrediable 491.9 lbs, which is 2.87% of our total body weight! I'm so, so ,so proud, keep up the great work!!

This week as a team we lost 23.5 lbs, which is 0.14% of our total body weight.

Our Biggest Loser of the Week title is actually a tie between Sarah H - Bulge to Bump, who lost 1.61% of her body weight (3.5 lbs) and me, Lynn - Life, Health & Fitness, losing 1.61% of my body weight (3.2 lbs.)

In second place we had Hotch P - The Hotch Potchery, who lost 1.56% of her body weight, (4 lbs.)

As usual, all results are posted in the spreadsheet below:

Just wanted to mention that while I read every email sent to me, I don't always have time to respond. I feel bad about that but I would be answering emails all day if I did. :(

Good luck next week!!

Week 8 - A-Team Results

2009-03-08T21:01:00.004-03:00

Well here we are everyone all the way into Week 8 already! What a fine and motivated bunch we have! The A-Team has lost a total of 522.40 lbs to date which translates into 3.56% of our team's total body GONE! WOW you guys!

This week alone, our team lost 32.4 lbs, which is 0.24% of the teams present body weight. Leading up our team this was was Cara who lost 4.6 lbs which is 2.65% of her total body weight. WOW Cara, WTG!!

And in second this week is Marisa who busted up 3.4 lbs and 2.06% of her total body weight = AWESOME results!

And our third place finisher for the week is Julie who lost 2.2 lbs which was 1.36 of her total body percentage.

Congratulations you guys, you are setting such great examples with great results for the rest of the team ;-)

P.S. I apologize if the table is screwy, I'll have it better for you next week!

Team Lean - Week 7 Results

2009-03-02T19:52:00.002-04:00

As a team we have lost 33.2 lbs this week, for 0.19% of our total body weight! Since the challenge started we have lost an amazing 465.6 lbs!!!! OMG that's 3 people! Wow!! I really want to thank everyone that is sticking with the challenge and giving it their all, those numbers are so awesome!

For this weeks' results...

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Valorie - The Skinny Pregnant Girl, who lost 4.2 lbs for a total percentage of 2.91 this week!

In second place we have Krista P - Krista's Kraziness, who was down 5.3 lbs for a total percentage of 2.88!

And in third place is Heather - Heather's A Loser, who lost 4 lbs, which is a total percentage of 2.42!

As usual all our numbers are posted in the spreadsheet, just click to enlarge.

A-Team Week 7!

2009-03-01T21:17:00.000-04:00

Okay losers, here we are with another week under our belts (our much loser belts, that is)! I am happy to report that our team has lost a total of 44.3 lbs this week which is a total percentage lost of 0.29 for the week! GOOO TEAM!! Woooot! ANd if that's not enough to get ya'll excited, in total our team lost 481 lbs in total!!!!!!!! That's a total team body percentage lost of 3.12%.
Leading our team this week was Kimberly who lost 5.5 lbs which is 3.93%!! Congratulations Kimberly!

In second place this week was Nicole who lost 6lbs and 2.1% of her total body weight! WOoohooo!

And holy look at Jeannie 3.2 lbs and 1.78% of her body weight! Booooyah!

Congratulations ladies, you're a fine example for everyone on our team (and Team Lean too :-P)

Team Lean - Week 7 - Delay

2009-03-01T20:18:00.003-04:00

Due to the fact that I was away all weekend I will not be posting our week 7 results until tomorrow evening after I get home from work.

To those of you who sent their results on time, I sincerely apologize for this short delay.

This also allows another 24 hours or so to send in your results if you have yet to do so.

A-Team Biggest Loser Interviews!

2009-02-27T20:05:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone! I am behind in getting these posted! I hope you’ll take the time to read these quick snapper interviews with our Biggest Losers of Week 4 and 5 for our team and maybe even visit their blog :-)

Congratulations Cadee and Natalie and thank you for taking the time for us!!

A-Team’s Week 4 Biggest Loser Cadee West !!

Weight loss To-Date

Well then end of the Competition. But If I dont get to my weight, I'll keep working out til I do.

Why BLBE?

Well, I love The Biggest Loser. And when My sister told me about this. I knew this would be my chance to help me lose weight.

Share you favorite healthy snack.

Grapes, Definitely Grapes!

Do you have an exercise routine?

Actually yes I do. Two or three days out of the week, I go to the track and run my mile. And five days out of the week, I do Turbo Jam.

Do you remember "the moment" when your commitment to weight loss solidified?

It had to be at least the week before the competition. When my sister told me about this. My whole life I wanted to lose weight, BUT.. I never got the urge to get up and do something about it, until the day the BLBE started.

When there's a long road ahead, how do you keep up your stamina and motivate yourself?

Well I tell myself that I've waited too long to start doing this, I can't stop now.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

My biggest Inspiration is my sister. Ashley. Bot her and I were overweight when we were younger and during high school. But once she got out she began to slim down due to her exercising and healthy eating habits. And she inspired me to lose my weight as well.

If you are a fan of The Biggest Loser, Bob or Jillian? Why?

All of them. They push you to do it. If you say, "It's too hard.' They say, Who gives a crap. Just do it! And That's exactly when I needed to hear.

How to you handle going to restaurants/ eating healthy?

Oh gosh, that is hard sometimes. But I try to find a healthy food. And When I eat my food, I eat until I know I'm full. Not finish the entire plate.

What's the hardest part of losing weight?

Keeping it off. Because those pounds LOVE to creep back up on you.

What's the easiest part of losing weight?

Doing the exercises. Which are quite fun!

What will you do to celebrate once you reach your goal weight?

Buy some new clothes! I would love some new clothes and possibly some more workout clothes.

Best weight loss advice you ever received?

That if you want to lose weight you can't sit there and say you will, and give a few puny sit ups. You need to give it your all.

What are your reasons you are on this journey?

I'm tired of being over weight. I want to be healthy for the rest of my life.

How do you balance life with weight loss?

Well if I don't have time to work out, I try to keep moving, while I'm dealing with life. Even just walking during the day or doing clothes help you burn calories.

Have you established rewards for certain goals?

Actually, I haven't. But that right there is a great idea!

Why did you chose to blog about weight loss?

Well, I would blog about my life. But that is quite boring. Haha. I think weight loss would be a bit more exciting.

Do you share you journey with the "real" world? (friends/family/co-workers)

My family. My family knows about my Journey and are behind me every step of the way.

Do you find it hard to stay focused during the holidays?

Oh gosh. Well yes sometimes. Especially during Thanks giving. You just can't let that food go to waste. Haha, but. That was then and this is now. =]

Share some steps you've made to change your life.

Eating healthier, Definitely. If you change your eating habits, that well help you tons. Exercising much more. And not do it for only ten minutes. Do it for a hour maybe two!

Do you follow a specific weight loss plan?

I do turbo jam five times a week. And I run my mile about two times a week.

Do you have any other related goals, ie: run a marathon?

I don't right now.

How do you handle food pushers?

I just tell them no.

Are you encouraging others around you to get healthy?

Yes actually. My mother has been wanting to lose weight so I've been encouraging her. And Ashley as well. She calls me her Jillian.

What are some of your "staple" food items?

Bread, rice, cereal, Pasta.

Do you have a favorite workout DVD?

Turbo Jam!

What are your favourite 10 tracks on your Ipod playlist.

Oh gosh.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
Don't stop me now - Queen
Start me up - Rolling stones
Get over it - Ok Go
Gunpowder and Lead - Miranda Lambert
We will Rock you - Queen
Nintendo Remix - Tetris Happy Hardcore Techno
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
On The Radio - Regina Spektor
Ashes to Ashes - Damage Plan.

I love fast up beat songs that will keep me going.

What are your most important weight loss tools?

Water! Lots of Water!

Provide an example of a daily menu.

Well my cereal which is Frosted Mini Wheats, good source of Fiber . Lunch is a Turkey sandwich on white bread (=[ Which I had Wheat) with lettuce, pickles, tomatos and some mayo. Dinner is usually a small portion of pork, beef or chicken. With Brocolli or a salad and water.

Provide an example of one of your work outs.

Running on the track. If I can on the first lap I like to try and run the full lap. Before I run the straight aways and either walk/jog the corners.

Share a former bad habit and what you replaced it with.

Eatin when I was bored. So now when I'm bored I either work out or I find something to fill up my time with.

How long have you wanted to lose weight?

Since I was a freshman so it's been about five years now.

Do you/did you have any health-related issues due to being overweight?

It's sometimes hard for me to breath because of how much I weigh.

A-Team’s Week 5 Biggest Loser Natalie !!

Weight loss To-Date:

on BLBE 15.8 lbs , total 35.2 lbs

Why BLBE?

I'm crazy competitive!

When there's a long road ahead, how do you keep up your stamina and motivate yourself?

My competitive side won't let me stop! Also when I'm at the mall I always buy an extra pair of pants a size smaller. This has worked so far, When I started my Weigh loss journey I was a 32 in jeans, now a 28 and I have a pair of 27 inch pants staring me down in the washroom!

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Melinda, my best friend, she has lost over 80 lbs, and is competing in a 10 km race in April!

What's the hardest part of losing weight?

Exercising. I am not one of those peppy people that jumps out of bed and right in to there runner.

What's the easiest part of losing weight?

The food part. I live alone, so my house is filled with only healthy things.

What will you do to celebrate once you reach your goal weight?

New bikini from Victoria Secret and one cheese burger. mmm.

What are your reasons you are on this journey?

Well, I know all the health reasons, but I'm only 22, so I hate to say it I'm doing it for vanity reasons.

Have you established rewards for certain goals?

No, I used to with new clothing , but now I just see that as a necessity,I went a while where I was mooning every one on the street with pants too big!

Do you share you journey with the "real" world? (friends/family/co-workers)

Yes! My goodness I could not imagine not blabbing about my journey. My dads cute though, and when ever I bring it up, he tells me I'm perfect and to not get an eating disorder. I then have to remind him that I love food still, just healthier kinds of food!

What are some of your "staple" food items?

sashimi, eggs, oatmeal, lean beef.

Do you have a favorite workout DVD?

Turbo Jam!

How long have you wanted to lose weight?

Is forever a good answer ? I have been a yo- yo dieter not by choice but in 2006 my mum was diagnosed with cancer, and I ate my emotions for 2 years. My mum passed away in March 2008, and I was finally able to focus on me, and the affects that emotional eating was having on me in October of 2008.

A-Team Week 6 Results!!

2009-02-22T19:57:00.003-04:00

Are you guys as proud as I am???!!!!

This week alone we lost 40.3 lbs and 0.21% and our top contributor to that overall success is my buddy Marisa who is totally beating me on our race to 160 lbs! She lost 4 lbs this week and 2.41% of her total body!

Our second place leader this week was Lesley and only by a smidgen because she lost 3.4 lbs which was 2.40% of her total body! Holy girls what' a tight race!!

Our third place leader this week was Michelle who lost 5.2 lbs and 2.00% of her total body!

I'm so proud of you girls for totally representing our awesome team!

Okay A-Team get ready for this because we're kicking some ass!!! Our team so far has lost 444.9 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is equivalent to like 3 - 4 people!! It is 2.85% of our team's entire body percentage lost.

Week 6 Team Lean

2009-02-22T19:48:00.003-04:00

Good Evening Everyone!

Getting right to it, as a team this week we lost 34.5 lbs, which is 0.20% of our total body weight! Since the start of this challenge 6 weeks ago we have lost an incrediable 426.2 lbs!!

Huge round of applause for our Biggest Loser of the Week, Melissa - On Dogs and Coffee, who lost 4lbs this week for a total of 2.24% of her body weight!!! Keep up the great work :)

In second place we have Caylyn K - Caylyn's Page, who lost 4.4lbs this week - 2.09% of her total body weight!

And in third place we have Emily - Anything Is Possible, who lost 6lbs this week for a total of 1.88% of her total body weight. This is Emily's second time in one of the top positions; she was our Biggest Loser of the Week for Week 2.

Below are the team results for this week. Click picture to enlarge.

Happy, healthy vibes for next week!!

Week 5 for Team Lean

2009-02-15T20:45:00.003-04:00

Week 5 already, WOW this is certainly going by quickly! This week as a team we lost 20.4 lbs which is a loss of 0.12% of our total body weight. 394.9 lbs in total since the challenge started!! That's the weight of almost 3 people!!!

Please help me congratulate Amy Y - Way To Go, who is our Biggest Loser of the Week!! Amy lost 5.4 lbs which is 2.88% of her total body weight!

In second, we have Laura F - Journey To Goal, who lost 4.4 lbs this week,which is 2.13% of her total body weight.

And last but not least, third place goes to Hotch P - The Hotch Potchery, who was down 4.6lbs, which is 1.73% of her total body weight.

A-Team Week 5 Results!

2009-02-15T19:54:00.005-04:00

Hey ya'll A-Teamers! Our results are up for our 5th week on the challenge! I am happy to report that our biggest loser of the week this time around is Natalie who is seriously doing amazing! She has lost a total of 14.2 lbs which at her itty bitty size is a total percentage of 9.13%! Not only is she our leader this week, but she is our leader overall! This week alone she dropped 3.2 lbs and 2.21% of her body weight! WTG Nat!!!

Our second place leader this week was CJ who lost 4 lbs this week and 1.91% of her body weight (14.6 lbs and 6.64% total!) Wow CJ, you are a front runner on our team too!

And our third place leader this week TJ who's also blowing everyone away with having lost 3 lbs and 1.49% of her body weight this week (16.6 lbs and 7.72% total!) And GUESS WHAT! She broke through to onederland this week too!

Congratulations you guys and congratulations to our entire team because as a team we have lost 419.7 lbs and 2.54% of our team's body percentage!

This week our team lost 0.23% which is slightly better than last week, so let's see how Team Lean faired out!!

Team Lean - Week 4 Results

2009-02-08T21:29:00.004-04:00

Evenin' Everyone!

This week as a team we lost 40.9 lbs or 0.24% of our total body weight. I'm so proud to announce that after only one month into this challenge we have lost an incrediable 370.9 lbs!! WOW, seriously what an effort!!

This post is going to be short n sweet because I'm late getting in tonight....

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Tiffany - A Glimpse In The Life Of, who lost 4.44% of her total body weight! (7 lbs)

In Second place was Nat - Oh To Lose, with an awesome 2.15% of her total body weight! (5 lbs)

And in Third was Sarah H - Bulge To Bump, with 1.79% of her total body weight!(4 lbs)

Here's to the start of another great week, maybe we can break the 400 lbs lost this coming Sunday!!

PS. I have sent out interviews to all 3 previous Biggest Losers of the Week but have yet to get their responses but I hope to have something to post for you all soon.

A-Team Week 4 Results!

2009-02-08T20:17:00.007-04:00

Well A-Team, we managed to beat 41.6 lbs off of our team this week! That's awesome you guys!!! That's a team percentage lost of 0.28% for Week 4 and a total team percentage lost of 2.37%! We are getting there!!!

And our biggest contributor to our team's success this week is Cadee having lost 5.8 lbs since she last weighed-in which is a total percentage of body lost of 3.24%

Our second place biggest loser of the week is Diana who lost 5 lbs and 3.07% of her total body!

And Julie W kicked some major ass this week too losing 4.2 lbs and 1.89% of her total body!

That THAT Team LEAN!! :-P

A-Team’s Week 3 Biggest Loser Julie!!!

2009-02-06T22:51:00.001-04:00

Well well well challengers, we have a real serious inspiration and success story among us and her name is JULIE! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS and check out her blog!! Julie has lost almost 150 lbs thus far!!! Here’s are little Q&A Interview with her!

Blog Address: http://dutchbeingme.blogspot.com

Do you remember "the moment" when your commitment to weight loss solidified?

After joining WW in November of 2005, I lost about 25-35 pounds during the first year. I wasn't really motivated to do it, I just knew I had to lose the weight. Then on October 4, 2006 my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and it became all too real that if I didn't change anything in my life, I would be a statistic as well. After learning her prognosis (which very good as it was found in very early stage), I made the decision to get moving and get healthy. Thus far in my weight loss journey I have lost almost 150 pounds and have become a WW lifetime member. Also, my mom – after going through chemo and radiation treatments in early 2007 – has now been cancer free for almost a year and a half.

AATW: Wow Julie, that’s absolutely incredible! I am so happy to hear that your mom is doing so well!

When there's a long road ahead, how do you keep up your stamina and motivate yourself?

I have set reasonable goals for myself. I don't remember what all of the goals/rewards were along my journey, but I had them at least for every 25 pounds or when I hit a new "decade" for my weight.

What's the hardest part of losing weight?

Getting back on track after having a bad meal, day, week. I've experienced them all, but getting back to the plan for me is always difficult. Sometimes I have the motivation, but there are always things that distract and deter me from the plan that I am trying to follow. The temptations are difficult to overcome…

AATW: I agree 100%!!

What's the easiest part of losing weight?

Stepping on the scale and seeing that you've had a great loss for the week. It's a rush, a "high" perhaps, that helps motivate me into the next week.

Why did you choose to blog about weight loss?

I decided to start blogging because of 2 reasons. First, I found that it was helpful to me to write out my thoughts, my feelings, and struggles that I was going through. This is something I learned through counseling from years ago. Second, I learned quickly through the Weight Watchers Message Boards (of which I am a regular on) that I am not the only with struggles along this journey and that others are going through the same things… but maybe can't verbalize or share it as well. Ultimately, I now want my blog to be seen in order to help others achieve their goals and realize that they are not the only ones that struggle… even after reaching their goal weight.

Do you share you journey with the "real" world? (friends/family/co-workers)

Yes, I am a very open person when it comes to my losing weight. If I didn't share… after a while, I would hope that they would have caught on. About sharing my blog with my loved ones, this was kind of a difficult decision as I wasn't sure how much I wanted to share with my family on the struggles that I was going through. But in the end I found that their encouragement and celebrating with me along the way was well worth it.

AATW: I remember the exact same struggle!

Are you encouraging others around you to get healthy?

I do, or at least I try, in many ways. First is the blog. I hope that through my words I can encourage someone who might be struggling with their journey. Also, I go to a local health club and encourage friends that go there to come to classes with me… I *love* kickboxing.

What will you do to celebrate once you reach your goal weight?

When I reached my goal weight for WW, I celebrated by going out and getting my nose pierced and a tattoo. I had long wanted to get my nose pierced, but was always afraid of doing it because I was fearful of what others would think of me. I now don't live so much in the moment of what people think, because it is more about what I think of myself – and ultimately how I treat myself – that matters. The tattoo that I got was a butterfly (symbolizing "new life" and kanji symbols that mean "achievement" or "accomplishment".) The link of the pictures of this reward is on my blog at: http://dutchbeingme.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-reward.html I am now working to get back to my goal weight (the holidays deterred me from maintaining this goal) and ultimately reach my personal goal weight. When I reach that weight, I think a trip is going to be in order – I think to NYC. :-)

AATW: What an amazing tattoo!! How appropriate!

If you are a fan of The Biggest Loser, Bob or Jillian? Why?

I am a fan of "The Biggest Loser" and watch it every week. My favorite trainer is Jillian… although I don't know if I'd be able to handle training with her. While I think they both get to the "heart" of issues surrounding weight loss, I think she can identify through her own experiences.

What are your favourite 10 tracks on your Ipod playlist.

My favorite workout tracks on my iPod change often (new song monthly… if not weekly). Right now they are:- "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf- "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa- "Yeah!" by Usher- "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven- "Womanizer" by Britney Spears- "Disturbia" by Rihanna- "Keeps Gettin' Better" by Christina Aguilera- "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry- "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyonce- "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake

Thank you so much Julie for taking the time in sharing your answers with us all. I hope that all of our challengers will visit you and share in all of your inspiration and success!

~Angie All The Way

A-Team Week 3 Results!

2009-02-01T20:11:00.007-04:00

Lemme hear ya say "yeah!" Woot Woot! Congratulations A-Team for pulling through and coming from behind last week and coming out on top this week! Team Lean better look out because we have got ourselves a real competition, don't we! So fun!!

Can you guys believe that our team has lost a total of 368.30 lbs so far??? Body percentage-wise that's 2.20%! This week alone, we lost 42.6 lbs and 0.28% of our team's body percentage GONE!

A big congratulations to our Biggest Loser of the Week, the lovely Julie for stepping up and owning a li'l gain last week and who turned it around and lost 4.2 lbs this week for a total body percentage lost of 2.51%!

Our second place leader this week is Natalie who is totally kicking butt in this challenge and has lost another 2.8 lbs this week and a body percentage lost of 1.89%!

And our third place leader this week is Hannah who lost 2.5 lns this week and a body percentage lost of 1.75%!!

I'm so proud of you guys!!! Way to represent the A-Team!!!

And I should point out that there were 4 challengers from our team who were eliminated from the challenge (Amanda, Elizabeth G, Kristy and Rachel M) who never reported a WI, the three strikes you're out rule applies. Sorry :-S

We also haven't heard from: Cadee W, Cara, Daniela, Kallee, Kudret, Nancy H, Sarah M, Sherry J, Zak, Evelyn, Jess G., Julie W, Kimberly, Monica. Get your WI's girls!

To all the rest of you, WAY TO GO A-TEAM, YOU'RE ROCKIN' IT!!!!

neener neener Team Lean!!! :-P

Team Lean Week 3 Results

2009-02-01T19:12:00.006-04:00

Good Evening Team Lean!

This week as a team we have lost 0.23 % of our total body weight or 40.7 lbs! That brings our total lost to 327.8 lbs or 1.38% of our total body weight.

Our Biggest Loser of the Week is Lorraine D - A Journey, who lost an awesome 3.2 lbs for a total of 1.99% of her total body weight! Go show her some support today!!

In second place we have Jennifer S - Just Jen, who is down 2.8 lbs for a total of 1.77% of her total body weight!

Third place goes to Danee D - Looking The Way I Feel, who is down another 3.6 lbs for a total of 1.49% of her total body weight. Just wanted to congratulate Danee, as this is her second time being in one of the top spots! (Week One she took third place as well.)

All challengers WI's are posted below, just click on the picture to enlarge the chart in your browser.

Last but not least, some housekeeping:

Sadly, I have to announce that A 5K Everyday, Carolee's Creations and Journey to Dazzling are no longer part of this competition.

Also, this week I haven't heard from - Mary R, Rosie, Gail P, Jacqui, Andrea F, Becky, Karen L, Jennifer R, Nat, Ashley B, Diana and Michelle. I know some of you even lost weight this week and maybe just forgot to email me. Please try to send a quick email off to me by Noon on Sunday!

A few thoughts - I know losing weight is challenging. It's hard to track calories/points, plan meals, exercise, work full time and run a household. So let me say how awesome each and everyone of you challengers are for making time for yourself and for staying accountable!!!

Let's make Week 4 an awesome one! Start off this week by planning something rewarding for yourself. It could be a bath w/ a glass of wine, a pedicure, a new magazine or even something as simple as enjoying a few more minutes in bed in the morning. Take time to relax and focus on your well being. :)

Lynn
http://www.lifehealthfitness.ca

A-Team’s Week 1 & 2 Biggest Loser Interviews

2009-01-30T20:27:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone! I am pleased to provide you all with the first of a special weekly post which Lynn and I will do for our respective teams which is an interview with our teams’ weekly Biggest Loser! Since this is our first post, we will be posting our interview with Shari, the A-Team’s Week 1 Biggest Loser and also our interview with Natalie L, the A-Team’s Week 2 Biggest Loser.

Let me just say that there is a lot of helpful and inspiring information to be had right here in this post! Take a read, leave a comment and visit these guys on their blogs!

A-Team’s Week 1 Biggest Loser: Shari

Weight loss To-Date:

20.3 (15.3 since starting BLBE)

Why BLBE?:

I thought it would be really fun and get to share my experience with others. I also thought it would be a great motivator for me -- which is something I struggle with. Since this challenge spans further than the point where I usually give up I'm hoping it pushes me over the hump!

Are you encouraging others around you to get healthy?

Yes, but it's hard. I have some stubborn folks around me! I have convinced a coworker to join the corporate fitness center with me. My daughter is along for the ride but doesn't have much choice. :)

What are your most important weight loss tools?

Scale, measuring cups, Points Tracker and friends/bloggers.

What will you do to celebrate once you reach your goal weight?

A day at the spa. I'm already talking with the owner of the salon I go to. We're going to work on a perfect package :)

Why did you chose to blog about weight loss?

It helps me stay accountable and seeing things in 'writing' helps me celebrate my successes and get past my failures. Also, the feedback I get on the comments makes me smile to know others out there are celebrating my successes and telling me it's ok when I mess up. Since I don't have a lot of support around me (well they do support me but they are small so they really can't relate with how hard it is) it helps to see all the other ladies who have struggled and gain inspiration from their successes.

What's the hardest part of losing weight?

For me, it's definitely staying motivated and sticking with it. I start off so well but it seems that about 2 months in, I give up. I started my most current weight lost journey in Oct. However I gave up once the holidays hit and gained much of the 12 pounds I lost. So now I'm back at it since the New Year and hoping this challenge helps me make it past that 2 month mark. Anyone reading this has the authority to kick my bottom if you see me slacking off! (Emphasis added by yours truly :-D)

Do you follow a specific weight loss plan?

I follow the WW plan but don't go to meetings. I just do it on my own. Once I get a good distance into my weight loss, I'm going go the counting calorie path. I'm so familiar with WW so I didn't want to introduce too much at once.

Do you share you journey with the "real" world? (friends/family/co-workers)

They know I'm losing but they don't know specifics. I would be horrified if they knew how much I weigh. They know I'm part of 2 Biggest Loser competitions, but that's about it.

Share a former bad habit and what you replaced it with.

I've replaced not eating breakfast with eating a healthy bowl of oatmeal at the office. I've been inspired by your yummy oatmeal and have come up with some pretty good combinations too! I've also given up sugared sodas for diet soda or water.

AATW: Awww thanks Shari! :-) Thanks so much for taking the time out for us!

A-Team’s Week 2 Biggest Loser: Natalie L

Weight loss:

For BLBE - 10.2 lbs, and 30 lbs total.

Why BLBE?:

I love the support, and in reality, I'm really competitive. (Think Monica on Friends)

Share you favorite healthy snack:

Feta filled jalapenos. I love spicy food and they are only 25 calories each!

AATW: OMG I just got those at Costco and they’re great!

Do you have an exercise routine? If so, what?

Mondays- Treadmill for 30 mins, and 15 on the rowing machine. Tuesdays- Thursday- Mixing it up with different workout DVD's like Turbo Jam or Fit to Strip

Fridays- 30 mins on the stairmaster, and laps in the pool.

I take the weekend off, and every day I try to do as many "girl" push ups as I can consecutively.

I also live on the 10th floor of an apartment building, so I take the stairs about 90 % of the time.

If you're a fan of the "Biggest Loser" show, Bob or Jillian? Why?

Jillian. I really think the tough love way of training is great. I know if she was my trainer, I would be giving it 100 % in order to avoid her wrath! teehee.

How to you handle going to restaurants/eating healthy?

I always check to see if the menu is online before hand, so that helps me plan well before hand. I also love soup, so I usually will get that as an appy , and then when I get the entree, I cut it in half. My friends are now used to be attacking chicken burgers with butter knives.

How do you balance life with weight loss?

Well, I go to school full time, so I find my self sitting at lot, whether it be in class or the library, so it is actually really nice to come home and stretch and then work out .

Do you follow a specific weight loss plan?

I am doing WW's at home.

Do you have any other related goals?:

At the end of this competition I want to be able to do 100 "girl" push ups consecutively. When I started I was able to do 30, and now , 60!

AATW: Ummm, you = rockstar, me = wimp :-D

Are you encouraging others around you to get healthy?

Yes! My friend Corine has become my workout buddy for 3 days a week. I love having some one to push you, when needed! Also my best friend who has been loosing weight for about 7 months now , has lost more than 80 lbs! Now that I'm getting healthy, we chat alot about different work out ideas, foods ect. I have a lot of great support.

AATW: Oh Wow! Please tell Corine, I said congratulations please!

Provide an example of a daily menu.

B- I love my breakfast "burger", Which is two pieces of WW toast, a poached egg, slices of tomato and a drop of light mayo and pepper, and a mug of light hot chocolate, made with water. Yum...
L- Greek salad, or Soup.
D- Sashimi ( oh the perks of living by the coast!) and a small side of rice. ( I love carbs)
S- Grapes, or I like slices of red pepper with a low calorie dressing as a dip.

Share a former bad habit and what you replaced it with.

Grazing. Late at night, it was so easy to just stand in front of the fridge and pick at things , simply because I was bored. Now, when I'm bored I do little mini work outs with 5 lbs weights, and then go and read my text books in the bath. It helps my muscles relax and Its pretty hard to snack while sitting in a tub of water.

AATW: Thanks so much Nat for taking the time out for us and sharing your success so far with our challenge and providing us all with some inspiration to kick off the hardest part of the week for most = the weekend!

BLBE Challengers, show the love and leave a comment for our lovely A-Team Week 1 and 2 Winners!

Week 2 Results!

2009-01-25T19:48:00.011-04:00

Good Evening Everyone!

A bit of housekeeping first.....all challengers had a week to vote on a team name. As a result of the poll, our official name is "Team Lean"!!! LOVE it, sounds so strong and powerful!

Now on to the results of week 2 of our challenge. As a team we have lost 0.50% of our total body weight, or 86.1 lbs! Bringing our total pounds lost to 285.3.

Please give a round of applause to our Biggest Loser of the Week, Emily - Anything Is Possible, who lost 4.17% of her body weight, an amazing 14 lbs!! Such an awesome accomplishment, hope everyone stops by her blog to show some love.

In second place we have Hotch - The Hotch Potchery, who lost 3.27% of her body weight, which is 9lbs!!

Third place goes to Gertude - Evicting Gertrude, who was down 4 lbs, for a total of 2.27% of her body weight!

All challengers WI's are posted below, just click on the picture to enlarge the chart in your browser.
So last week I posted about kicking it up a notch and getting out of our comfort zones. I ask you all, did you follow through? Did you put the extra effort into measuring your foods, did you go above and beyond your usual exercise, even if it was only an extra 5 mins or 1 level higher? I can honestly say that I did. I ran 6K outside in the wind and over hills. It wasn't pleasant and I wanted to give up, BUT then I remembered how bad I wanted this. How bad do you want this?

I had several no shows tonight. In fact, this has been a disappointing week. When the going gets tough you pull through and face up to the scale, even if it shows a gain. This challenge is all about tough love.

Tough love is me asking akward questions like -

1. Why am I getting so many gains? Ang and I have gotten so many emails from people wishing they could join and be part of this challenge. Yet we have to turn them down b/c the challenge is full. We dedicate several hours a week to it and it seems like people aren't taking this seriously. It is your health, you ARE worth it, so give it your all!

2. Why aren't people reporting their weekly weights? Just a quick note with your current stats is all we ask.

So, my no shows for the week are: Hez (x2), Carolee (x2), Bella (x2) Kelly H, Gail P, Rebecca, Karen, Nat, Sandra, Sv, Valerie, Ashley B, Jen D and Mike. (Mistakes do get made so if you sent an email and I didn't get it please let me know!) Regardless, I do want to point out that that is 17.7% of my team NOT sending me their results.

On to next week, let's continue to do our best and push ourselves a little bit harder! I wish each and every one of you a healthy, happy week!

Lynn
http://www.lifehealthfitness.ca

_______A-TEAM____________

Okay A-Team here's our results for Week 2! Congratulations to Natalie (A New Natalie) for being the A-Team's leader this week! Woot woot Nat! She lost 3.4 lbs and 2.24% of her total body percentage!

Our second place leader this week is Heather (H-woman's Random Ramblings) who lost 4 lbs and 2.22% of her total body weight! Not far behind Nat at ALL!

And our third place leader this was is Kimberly (The Woman Inside Me) having lost a 6.2 friggin lounds and a hair behind Natalie and Heather with 2.18% of her total body weight gone FOREVA!

Here's our roster and the results for everyone:

Of those of us who reported our WI's, our entire team lost a total of 80.2 lbs this week and total team body percentage lost of 0.46%! We may have fallen a little short this week, but not by much! I hope you're all ready to give 'er this week and put the A-Team on top for next week!

Since the beginning, our team lost a total of 327.4 lbs and 1.84% of our team's body weight GONE! You GUYS that's like two entire people!! GOOO A-TEAM!!

Now, I just want to add to Lynn's disappointment of those of you who have not weighed-in. There are about 5 members of my team who have not reported since they signed up and I am just putting it out there to remind everyone of the "three strikes you're out rule" so if we do not hear from you for the next WI, we will be eliminating you from our teams because blank spaces have no place up there for our teams, am I right? Reporting a gain is not the end of the world, it just means that you are ready to move past it and try again with full force the next week! And to be perfectly honest, having you not afraid to report your gains and being honest about them is a necessary part of taking yourself and your weight loss seriously.

Lynn and I do put a lot of time and effort into keeping this organized and quite frankly, it has broken our hearts to have to turn some very enthusiastic challengers away, so as much as you owe it to yourself to lose this weight, you at least owe it to Lynn and I AND those who were turned away from this challenge to report your progress, right?

So, enough lecturing because the A-Team otherwise rocks the house and you are all such an awesome bunch and you all do such an awesome job supporting each other and that is such an important part!

Lynn and I have decided to add a new focus on the BLBE and that is that we're going to be emailing the Biggest Loser from each team each week with some interview questions that we will ask you to answer for us to do a weekly post on the blog. So Natalie and Emily will be our first official BLBE interview-ees this week! Don't be shy, it's your time to shine and share with the group what worked well for you this week :-)

-Angie All The Way

Attention Team Lynn!!

2009-01-20T17:34:00.004-04:00

Get your butts over to the forum to VOTE on our OFFICIAL TEAM NAME!!!!

A-Team “Week 1” Results!!!

2009-01-18T21:16:00.010-04:00

Well everyone, the time is here to reveal the results of our first official WI! I cannot express how impressed I am for all of you! The A-Team has had some phenomenal results to say the least. Now I know that Lynn's team has also had some amazing results, so this is going to be interesting!!!

Our team as a whole has lost 1.29% of our body percentage. That means that by adding all of our start weights, and all of our total team pounds lost, we lost 1.29% of our team! Our team lost 226.8 friggin pounds since we started!!!!!

Our top three Team Week Leaders this week are:

1. Shari with 4.32% lost! The A-Team Biggest Loser so far!

2. Me! (woot! :-D) with 3.76% lost!

3. TJ with 3.44% body lost! GONE FINITO!

And here is the results of our team in alphabetical order (click to enlarge in your window)!:

As you can see our team as a WHOLE has done amazingly well! I'm so pleased!!! Although I am quite dissapointed with the blank spaces. I haven't heard from: Amanda, Ashleigh, Elizabeth G, Jennifer R, Jennifer C-S, Julie W, Kari, Kristy, Lizzy, Rachel M. :-( If I am mistaken, please let me know!

Otherwise though, our team did awesome! I'm so proud of you guys and proud of your team spirit!

GO A-TEAM!!!! Bring it on Team Lynn!!

First Week Results - Team Lynn

2009-01-18T20:34:00.009-04:00

Good Evening Team Lynn/Lynn's Loser/Team Lean -we'll get that figured out soon I promise! :) Tonight is the night we've all been waiting for, the results our First Week's Weigh In!

I'm proud to announce as a team we have lost 1.16% of our total body weight, or an incredible 202.2 lbs!!!! WOW, you should be so happy with yourselves!!

In terms of numbers, please help me congratulate Gail - Doodles of Life for winning the title of Biggest Loser of the Week for Team Lynn! She has lost an astonishing 5.14% of her total body weight (9lbs!) What an inspiration you are Gail!!

In second place, we have Julie - 100001 Times a Charm - who lost a whopping 10.8 lbs, for 3.73% of her total body weight.

And third place goes to Danee - Looking The W ay I Feel - who lost 8.8lbs, for 3.49% of her total body weight!!

All challengers WI's are posted below, just click on the picture to enlarge the chart in your browser.

As mentioned before, I'm SOO proud of all the hard work and dedication that EVERYONE in this challenge is showing. Together we are DOING THIS and its such an amazing feeling :)

Like Angie, I had a few no shows tonight including - Carolee, Rosie, Bella, Karen L and Caroline M. (If for some reason I missed your email, please let me know.)

So there we have it. Let's KICK IT UP A NOTCH this week by get out of our comfort zones and pushing ourselves a bit harder!!!

Lynn
http://www.lifehealthfitness.ca

Last Day to WI

2009-01-17T15:53:00.006-04:00

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend so far! Just wanted to remind all challengers that today is the last day to report your First Official WI!!! For those of you who haven't already done so please email your results to your Team Leaders -
Angie - biggestloserblogedition@gmail.com Lynn - lynnblbe@gmail.com

We should have the results tallied by tomorrow evening.

ATTENTION TEAM LYNN MEMBERS!
There has been some discussion going on in regards to our team name. I encourage you to go to the forum and make some suggestions on what our official name should be! Once several names have been suggested there will be a poll created to determine what everyone wants.

A-Team Pep Rally!

2009-01-16T10:15:00.001-04:00

Okay "A-Team" or "Angie's Angels" or "Angie's Asskickers" I have a challenge for you!

I was inspired this morning my the lovely Shirley (Helping myself) who posted an adorable picture in support of our team. I encourage you all to go and see and then come up with a way to do the same :-D

Let's see who can come up with the most fun and creative way to show support of the A Team and how awesome we are and to show that we aint 'fraid a no Team Lynn! :-P

I have started a thread on our Team Message Forum where those to share their link!Let's have some fun with this guys!!

Choose Your Attitude

2009-01-14T09:14:00.001-04:00

Go and read Laura's post - she's put the nail on the head!

"Spotlight On" Healthy Food VS Diet Food

2009-01-13T19:27:00.007-04:00

Healthy Food VS Diet Food

Over the course of my journey I've made great head way into accepting that food is fuel for my body. Just like gas is fuel for my car. Sounds simple, right? Ah, if only life was that easy.

I'm certainly no "superwoman" and admittedly adore food. Good food - cheese, chocolate, wine, the list goes on. Sitting down and enjoying a wonderfully prepared meal with a loved one is one of my favorite things to do!

However; like most people, my weightloss routine started off with trying to get the most "bang" for my buck. Whether its calories or points that you're tallying, more for less almost always seems better, doesn't it? Diet sodas, fat free cheese slices, 100 calorie packs of my favorite treats, all there at the grocery store just waiting for me. They were great at first, helping me to stay on track and getting me through tough social situations.

But then curious me started wondering just what was in those foods. So I did some research online and started reading the OTHER part of the label - The Ingrediant List. WOW! Most of those lists were long and had too many words that I couldn't prononce. Those dieter's "dream foods" were just full of chemicals, empty calories and had miniscule nutritional value.

My journey to becoming healthy was just that, one of Health. Chemicals and empty calories do absolutely nothing to properly fuel and energize my body. While those above mentioned foods may be low calorie/low point they are by no means healthy.

Healthy is eating a variety of foods from all the food groups. Carbs aren't your worst nightmare, just choose complex carbs - whole grain over white - brown rice, whole wheat pasta & bread, quiona, oatmeal, couscous etc. Load up on the fruits and veggies, they provide you with tons of essential vitamins and minerals, not to mention fiber! Lean meats, beans, nuts and lentils are all wonderful sources of protein. Cheese, milk, yogort, I'll go back to what they teach you in school - they keep your bones and nails strong! :)

So next time you go to a restaurant and feel deprived because you "can't" have the breaded, deep fried wings and potato skins, chose to feel "empowered!" Take pride in the fact that ordering the grilled chicken and garden salad will provide your body with the nutrients it needs, instead of simple carbs that will only spike your blood sugar and transfats that can increase your LDL "bad" cholesterol levels.

Eat clean, unprocessed foods most of the time, (along with the occassional indulgence), and your body will thank you!

Just something to think about. :)

Feel free to discuss this topic over at the forum!

Lynn
http://www.lifehealthfitness.ca

Challenge Kickoff!

2009-01-11T21:13:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready to "officially" kick off this challenge!! Woooohooot! Lemme hear a "hells yeah"!!! No? Okay, well a simple "woot" or "wohooo" will do too! :-D
Now that we're hoping to have the major organizational stuff squared away and have the forum up and running, we will now be collecting your WI's as of tomorrow. So if you're a Monday WI-er like myself, please email your WI result to either me or Lynn depending on what team you are on.
Just to clarify and to give people another chance to make sure they know what team they are on, Here's a list of ~~the most fabulous players~~ er, my team roster :-D:

Amanda E (TBD)

Amie L (On my way to fabulous)

Angie All The Way

Angie M (Losin' it…losing weight without…)

Ashleigh (Bringing skinny back)

Ashley V (Aspiring Ash)

Betsey (Betseydoodle)

Betsy (Calorie junkie)

Bre (Bre's bloggings)

Brooke L (Pantenegirl)

Cadee W (I'll weight here)

Cara (Cara's weight loss journey)

Caroline M (Thinner Future)

Cat (Cat's meow)

CJ (Project 55)

Cory (This is the year)

Cowgirl Warrior (WW for life)

Daniela A (Losing weight - for good!)

Dee S (My journey)

Diana C (Diana's weight loss journey)

Diane B (The incredible shrinking family)

Elizabeth G (Monkey)

Evelyn (Redwood-eve)

Genevieve (And so the journey begins)

Graciela (55 Alive and losing it)

Hannah K (Becoming)

Heather M (H-woman''s random ramblings)

Ida (Losing myself)

Jeannie (Points and pounds)

Jen K (Diary of a real girl)

Jennifer R (Let me be brave in the attempt)

Jennifer C-S (The me I was meant to be)

Jennifer P (Squishy)

Jennifer S (Fabulous new body)

Jess G (Food coma)

Julie DV (Dutch being me)

Julie L (New start, new life)

Julie W (The interoverted extrovert)

Kallee (Getting to goal)

Karen (My journey to a healthier life)

Karen Q (Baby fat go bye bye)

Kari (Taking back control)

Katie D (On my way…to a new me!)

Kiki (Overhauling-me)

Kimberly (The woman inside me)

Kimberly H (Reflections)

Kinder D (Me, only better)

Krissy (Takes from the midwest scale)

Krissy H (Fat and sassy)

Kristy (non-blogger)

Kudret (Fanulously Fit)

Laura (Lola Runs)

Lesley (Farmgirly)

Linda M (Operation stick to it)

Lisa G (Melting lisa)

Lizzy (A journey of a thousand miles…)

Marisa G (Trim the fat)

Mary M (Mary's biggest loser journey)

Michelle H (Dieting battle)

Michelle H (Skinny under my fat)

Monica D (Just keep swimming)

Nancy H (The best me I can be)

Natalie L (A new natalie)

Natster (Getting to goal)

Nicole B (Life is sweet)

R Doohan (I can do it, I will do it!)

Rachel M (Just do it)

Rebecca L (Fat fitness food)

Robyn (New every day)

Roxy (elle-lame-o)

Sandy H (A working mom's joy)

Sarah M (2009 is my year)

Sarah P (Back in step)

Shari (Shari's losing)

Sherry J (Urban diva on diet and fitness)

Shirley (Helping myself)

Sue W (Shrinking sue)

Suzanne (Spunkisuzi)

Tanya (Far more than just a chunky monkey)

TJ B (TJ's weigh or the highway)

Tracy A (Tracey's journey to health)

Zak (Aspirant trophy wife)

So far we've been seeing some pretty impressive results from all of you!!!! And for those of you who were a little disappointed or got a late start on things, you've got another week to get in the groove and get loosin'!!

Let the games begin!!!

~Angie All The Way

Does Saturday = A Lazy Day For You?

2009-01-10T06:29:00.005-04:00

For most of us working a normal Monday to Friday 9-5 job, Saturday is our day to recoup. After a long work week wanting to veg on the couch is totally normal. Between deadlines and crazy schedules plus trying to fit in exercise, prepare healthy foods, maintain a household and have time for family and friends, no wonder all we want to do is nothing!! Weekends can be tough simply because we're out of the normal routine but they should not be a free pass to eat whatever you want and not exercise because you're been "good" all week.

Enjoy a few chapters from your book, get a little shopping done, spend time with the kids but don't forget to take time for your health. Learn to incorporate simple things like getting out a for stroll in this crisp Winter air or try out a new "good for you" recipe. Just stay accountable and make yourself proud. You ARE WORTH IT!

Just wanted to be the pain in the butt that reminds you to do your absolute best today!

PS. Did we mention how excited we are to have our Online Community officially open?! Get over there to mingle with your team members (and lovely competitors!)

Lynn
http://www.lifehealthfitness.ca

We're Live!

2009-01-09T21:48:00.004-04:00

We know that most of you have started to peruse the blogrolls and we're excited to be seeing the new "faces" leaving comments and such. It is, of course, difficult to be able to make the rounds and visit everybody regularly, so we thought we would add a new tool to our BLBE this time around. Lynn has created a message forum for us to have a central place to have discussions and to cheer each other on, ask and answer questions, share ideas and you name it. Isn't that great?!

All you have to do is click on the icon above and register for the forum. You create your own username and password. Anyone can register for the forum, even if you aren't a member of our challenge. In fact, we added an "Off the Ranch" forum there for anyone out there who would like to join in and have a meeting place with others who missed the sign up deadline!

We've got seperate team forums as well as general discussion topics etc. Please don't hesitate to speak up if you've got an idea for any additional forum topics etc.

So go and click on that big button above and register to get going!!!

Let the games begin!!!

Challenge Kick Off Info and Fun Stuff to Come :-D

2009-01-07T09:01:00.006-04:00

Okay challengers I can tell you're all "chompin at the bit" (an expression I learned from Tasha (who by the way is on Lynn's team and is goin' down :-D) so I wanted to give you all a sense of what is going to happen to get this challenge kick off started this weekend!

Lynn and I have been working hard getting you all organized and appreciate your patience with the missing links and what not. Please do not hesitate to speak up if you do not see your link on either list. However, we are not sure if we are able to fix the issue with the RSS feed, but we are working on it. Btw, if anyone knows how to fix this problem, please don't hesitate to let us know. (Apparently for some blog links, it's not working properly for updates and/or the main link.)

Our goal is that by this weekend, we will have them all worked out and we will have a new special feature with our challenge this time around! This blog is a great central place for information, results, and other fun stuff to come, but what we're getting ready to do is provide a message forum for BLBE for all of us to go to for general conversations, a place to go to for help, encouragement, arse kicks when needed and when you need a question answered. In addition to checking up on our personal blogs, this will be a great place to go for general meeting places for conversation rather than back and forth comments on each others blogs which is still encouraged, but not always an efficient way to communicate. We will set up various forum topics as well as teams etc. If you have any forum topic suggestions as we go along, please do not hestitate to speak up :-)

Teams & Weigh-ins:

As far as reporting WI's go. In addition to the links on the side of the blog, we will post an "official" list of the teams that's easy to see to ensure that no one is missed. For weigh-in reports, I would ask my team members to email me at the regular biggestloserblogedition@gmail.com address and for Lynn's team members, please email her at lynnblbe@gmail.com as well as if you have any questions.

By the way, in case any of you are wondering, it was mainly a blind team split where we only looked at starting weights and tried to even up the teams so that each team had people with roughly the same starting weights and each team had roughly the same balance of starting weights. There are a few non-bloggers who we will post a link to at the side of the blog with their email address so you guys can contact them and see how they are doing.

We have collected your start weight information and you all will have weighed in this week or will weigh in. We won't be asking for that result this week. That's okay because for our first "official Week 1," we will be asking for this to begin as of this Sunday (or whenever your weekly WI day is next week). So if you WI on Mondays for example, this coming Monday please report your new weight since you have reported your start weight. This effectively will be two weeks' worth of WI's to start off, but will still be our "Week 1" results. This will be a relief for some of you I'm sure (;-P) and for others it will be a nice big result to boost the beginning of the challenge! (:-D)

Does that make sense? So in other words, please begin reporting your WI's on the day you weigh in, to your team leader starting this Sunday (if that is your WI day).

Again folks, thanks so much for your patience and we've got lots in store of you and are doing our best :-)

~~I look forward to kicking your asses~~ Er, I mean, you know! :-D

~Angie All The Way

Teams!

2009-01-06T20:36:00.002-04:00

Good Evening Bloggers!!

As you can see, all challengers have now been split up into teams, either on mine or on Angie's. We have done our best to make sure that everyone who registered before Midnight Sunday is on here. Hopefully everything has been sorted properly :)

If for some reason your blog is NOT on either team please post a comment with the following information exactly as previously submitted to us:

- First Name & Initial of Last Name
- Blog Title
- Blog Address

Thanks!

Lynn
Life Health & Fitness

Site Under Construction

2009-01-05T22:25:00.003-04:00

Over the next few days the site will be under construction so that we can properly organize the challenge. Your patience during this time is greatly appreciated!

I hope everyone is gearing up for the next 16 weeks because it's on!!! :) Get out there and get your butts moving and make sure your cupboards are stocked with healthy foods to fuel your fabulous bodies!!

We can do this together and finally lose the weight for good!

Lynn
Life Health & Fitness

Doors Closed!

2009-01-05T00:01:00.002-04:00

Thanks to all of you guys who were brave enough to sign up for our challenge! :-D Unfortunately the time is up for sign ups and we cannot let anymore people in. We've got waayyy too many people as it is methinks! Last I counted we were up around ~~150~~ 162!

Lynn and I are going to collaborate this week to get the teams organized and get all the good stuff set up for all the things we have in mind, so stay tuned!

I hope that you all will visit each other and get to know some of the the other challengers and especially the newbies who just started a blog for this challenge. They need you to check in on them most of all :-)

OH and we've already had a few of you abroad pop up and say where you were from and it's got our curiosities going. Please leave a comment and tell everyone:

a) How rockin' excited you are to kick some butt and lose some weight;
b) The city and province/state and/or country you are from!

Radio Interview!!

2009-01-04T11:17:00.002-04:00

Okay challengers, if you didn't get the chance to catch the radio interview online this morning, we've got it linked up here if you want to listen to it!

If you're a first timer to the blog and want to join the challenge, check out the details below!

BLBE2 Roll Call!!!!!!!!

2009-01-03T06:36:00.005-04:00

Okay challengers, it's time to sign up for the second "season" of The Biggest Loser Blog Edition!!

Woooohoooooooo! Are ya excited???!!!! I am! er I mean WE are! Who, what??? We?? Well I alluded previously that there would be a new "twist" this time around. Well this time around, I've got my partner in crime, Lynn, who's given us a new look for our new season (whattya think of the new digs?) and is helping out in running this challenge. That means that we'll be able to handle more participants this time around because we're doing this in TEAMS!

That's right! We are going to be competing as teams and it is going to be your job as a team member to focus on encouraging your fellow teammates while at the same time kicking their behinds if they start to stray off course and start spouting excuses. You have to think of everyone else just as much as yourself because you don't want to let your team down, now do you? Let's not forget that this is a tough love challenge. We all must agree that in addition to being incredibly supportive to one another, you must also be equally open to being held accountable for making excuses and for not "pulling your weight" on your team. AND you must equally be willing to do the butt kicking if you spot an excuse all dressed up as something else!

So the deets of the challenge are very similar to the last one.

To Sign Up: Email biggestloserblogedition@gmail.com and include:

your name (first and last initial is sufficient)
blog address
start weight
weigh-in day

We are closing the opportunity for sign-ups at midnight Sunday, January 4, 2009.

Reporting: Once we have all of our participants organized, we are going to divide the group into teams and we will post them. Each team will have their own email address to use for your WI reporting. On your WI day, please provide us with your results and the number that's on the scale that day as well.

Timeline: this challenge will end on Sunday, April 26, 2009 where the results will be final. The official "kick off" to this challenge will be next Sunday, January 11th and is for a total of 16 weeks.

Goals: we are all starting from different places and face different obstacles, so here's what I suggest:

This is an individual thing that you should do for you to help you along in your progress.
If you think that it's possible to reach your "goal weight" by April 26th, then by all means set that as your ultimate goal. If you reach your goal by then and maintain it or exceed it to the end of the challenge, you automatically "win" the challenge even though you may not have the biggest total body % lost. Obviously if this happens, there can be more than one "winner."
If you have less than 5 lbs to lose and you really want to be a part of this challenge, you must put up additional stakes. By this I mean that if you achieve your goal (say in the first month) then there must be a fitness goal of some sort that you want to achieve by the end of the challenge. For example, "I want to be able to do 20 free style chin-ups," or "I want to run 5km in less than 30 mins" etc. Try to avoid things like "go to the gym 3 times per week" by being more specific and orientated in achieving a specific measurable thing.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, your goal will be to work your hiney off to achieve as much as possible (i.e. full court press) all the way to the end (Sunday, April 26th) at which point, you're going to cry with excitement because you can lose a TON of weight in that amount of time months in a healthy way. That's not to say that I'm advising you to pull off crazy numbers like "real" BL does - those people are removed from everyday life and have Jillian and Bob kicking their butts all day long, that's a little different. Slow and steady does win this race in the long run, that is a fact.

Support: We will be linking you to the side of the blog. It will be your job to ensure that you you all visit each other and kick each others arses and applaud where need be. We need to do this together guys and we need to have a presence each and every day. You are in teams and you don't want to let your team down, nor yourself, right?! Lets keep the community busy!

Three Strikes and Your Out: That's the rule. If you do not report your WI and we do not hear from you for three consecutive weigh-ins, then you will be removed from the challenge. If you don't want to be in the challenge, at the risk of sounding harsh, we don't want you in it either. I don't mean that in a negative way, just that it only brings the group down to see blank spaces up on the board, right? Fair?

Friendly Competition: Since there will be teams this time around, we plan on making it fun by talking a little smack and keeping it interesting between the teams as we go along. The more participation in this, the better! :-D

Prizes: I managed to come up with something for Michelle for winning the first challenge, so we will do our best to come up with something for our winner again this time. Any suggestions or prize donations are appreciated. (i.e. if you work for a company who is willing to donate something, please don't be shy and let us know!) I think having a real prize out changes the stakes in your head, even if you don't want to admit it, right?

Results: Since you will be reporting to your "team leader," the results will be posted each week for each team, most likely in the same format at the last challenge.

So, if you think you're up for the challenge and got what it takes to take it seriously and realize that by joining this challenge you are committing to being subjected to some tough love and some good old fashioned friendly competition, then email biggestloserblogedition@gmail.com with your info and say goodbye to that number on the scale for-eva!

~Angie All The Way

DRUMROLL PLEASE.................

2008-12-29T20:26:00.003-04:00

I don't know what to say other than a big HUGE heartfelt congratulations to Michelle who totally and completely rocked this challenge! She has accomplished some major milestones during this time, one of which was recently acheiving her 10% keychain at her Weight Watchers meeting. She is a mighty force to be reckoned with you guys!

So I have mentioned a few times that I was going to try to round up a prize for our winner! Well I am happy to say that I've got one! Well, it's on it's way to me in the mail and not in hand yet, so it may be a week or so before I have it to send along to Michelle, but I am handing over the prize that I was lucky to win on Kristen's December Contest :-D It includes the new Weight Watcher Cookbook (I think it's Momentum inspired) and a new Weight Watchers POINTS calculator. We will see what other goodies are in there when it comes, but for now, those are the big ticket items :-D It's not the big $250,000 prize that the "Biggest Loser" gets, but it is a prize nontheless and Michelle, you deserve something for doing so amazingly well! I wish I had more and could reward some of the other challengers who kicked butt too! Maybe the next "Season" of the challenge will bring more donated prizes, ya never know! :-D

OH and of those left still standing, we have collectively lost a total of 170.10 lbs! SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS! Isn't that GREAT!!!! I'm pretty sure we can blow that out of the water in our next round, don't you??!

One other thing that I didn't mention on here, but I did mention over on my blog is that I had been approached to do a radio interview about our challenge and it will mostly likely be aired this coming Sunday. That's pretty exciting eh! It can be heard from their website on the "listen live" button on the top right and I will post the specific time when I hear back from them. During the interview, he asked me how much weight I would guess that the group had lost and I was way off it looks like. I think I answered around 130ish but I can't quite remember (I was too busy trying not to sound like a dork! :-D)

I hope that the interview will give our next group of challengers a little extra "kick in the pants" to know that "they are watching us" in the same kind of way we watch the show on TV, in a sense!

Details on the next challenge will be announced in the next week or so, so keep your eyes peeled. What I can tell you is that there will be a new "twist" to our second "Season."

Oh and I wanted to thank you all for hanging in there and "fessing up" to your weigh-ins even though it was sometimes hard to do when the results were not great. That is truly such an important part to being successful overall. I felt that it was important that those who stuck with the challenge through to the last few weeks followed through with it because I think it will help you move forward into the new year and a new challenge. If you're gutsy enough, that is!

Results Tonight!

2008-12-29T09:59:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to give you all one last reminder to send me your final weigh-in. Please don't be shy to send me your final weigh-in, even if you've not sent them to me in a few weeks. If you think you want to join the next round, use this as an opportunity to "rip off the bandaid" and report because it will help you move in the right direction for the next one. Trust me guys, I have had less than stellar results the last few weeks and I deserve to have my butt supremely kicked!

We've had many people report results that they were not proud of, and although we are maintaining a "no excuses" mentality around here, let's face it, it was Christmas! But now it's over and don't be shy and step up :-D

Also, I think it's important at the end of the challenge that the results be accurate, so I'm sorry that I will have to eliminate you if you have not reported your final results. We want to see the total poundage that our group has lost in total and if I haven't received your WI, it will no doubt not be accurate from the last time you reported.

Challenge Wind Down & Gear Up!

2008-12-26T13:28:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to remind everyone that this is our final week of our challenge and the Final Results will be posted on Monday. I will be out of town the next couple of days and may not be organized enough to make sure that I have everyone's results recorded for posting, and I want to give you all a little extra time to get your final results to me just in case you were unable to on time. Regardless, the Final Results and our WINNER will be announced then (although I think we alllll have a pretty good idea who that will be! ;-D)

So this is IT you guys! We did it! We are in our final week! Many many of you have sooo much to be proud of! I am so proud of each and every one of you for sticking to your guns and weighing in, even if you felt unsatisfied with your results at times. We all had those ones!

I also wanted to say that due to an overwhelming response from you guys and those who emailed me a little too late for this challenge, that there will be a "Second Season" of our challenge beginning in January! Woohoooo! How could we not????? It's January for heavens sake and that's when we're all bursting at the seems with renewed motivation to get to work on creating healthier versions of ourselves! Right?!

If you managed to stick through this challenge you have done yourself a HUGE favour! You already got a head start on the "new year's resolution" bandwagon, didn't ya! YOU ARE AHEAD OF THE GAME!! There's no mustering up of motivation required because you are your own source of motivation! LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED over the past 14 weeks! Even if you didn't quite meet your mark or even if you didn't fair out as well as you had hoped, please don't give up. You have as many chances to acheive your goals as you are willing to allow yourself. You are worth it and your family is worth it, right?!

Week 13 Results - the "Last Chance Workout/Weigh-in" edition

2008-12-21T20:25:00.004-04:00

Our chart toppers for this week are:

1. Angie with 2.33% GONE!
2. Cinemarie with 0.92% GONE!
3. Fiona with 0.88% GONE!

And our Challenge leaders nearing the end of the challenge are:

1. Michelle with 10.46% GONE! Forever, see ya!

2. Lesley with 8.41% GONE! Au revoir, bon voyage!

3. Angie with 6.67% GONE! Adios amigos!

Michelle is going to be a hard woman to beat you guys, but let's give her a run for her money for our final WI this week!!!!!!! This is your "last chance workout/weigh-in" week where you get the chance to spruce up your stats to enter into 2009 proud of your progress so far. You get the chance to come out on the other side of all of the holiday temptations with great results and that will propel you to continue your progress in the new year - no need for resolutions here you guys! Nope! That's because we've already got to work on them and we're ahead of that foolishness :-D

Week 12 Results - The "OMG we're almost there edition!!!"

2008-12-15T09:36:00.000-04:00

Our Week 12 chart toppers are:

1. Karen with a whopping 2.46% gone!
2. Kimberly with 1.39% gone!
3. Krista with 1.12% gone!

And our challenge leaders remain, with Lesley stealing second:

1. Michelle with 9.79% GONE! Forever, see ya!
2. Lesley with 7.64% GONE! Au revoir, bon voyage!
3. Alexia with 7.2% GONE! Adios amigos!

YOU GUYS THERE IS ONLY TWO WEIGH-INS LEFT!!!! WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!!

Week 12 Coming!

2008-12-15T08:34:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry for the delay in posting the results guys! I promise I will have it up later today when I get the chance :-)

2008-12-12T11:12:00.001-04:00

Check out Kristen’s from Shoutin’ from the Rooftop’s blog she’s having a cool contest! There are three ways to enter to have a chance to win a great prize package valued over $40 :-)

Week 11 Results - the "challenger list is dwindling" edition

2008-12-07T20:14:00.003-04:00

And then there were 45! Wow are list of challengers still standing is dwindling! The rule is 3 strikes in a row and you're out, but I carry it out to the next week in case you were late getting your WI to me that third week. So there are still a few challengers here who will be eliminated next week if I don't hear from them.

So aside from that we have alot of kickass-ness goin on here! I'm so proud of you guys!!! Some of you are seriously kicking ass and taking names!

Our chart toppers this week are:

1. Renata (non-blogger) with 2.84% lost this week!

2. Kimberly with 2.04% lost this week!!

3. Tanya with 1.47% lost this week!

Great results you guys!!! Keep up the great work.

And our challenge leaders remain, with Lesley stealing second:

1. Michelle with 9.43% GONE! Forever, see ya!

2. Lesley with 7.52% GONE! Au revoir, bon voyage!

3. Alexia with 7.24% GONE! Adios amigos!

HOLY you guys!!!! I'm soooo proud of youuuuu!!!

Week 10 - The "look out she's on your tail" Edition

2008-11-30T19:55:00.004-04:00

This week's chart toppers are:

1. Angie with 2.08% lost this week!

2. Melissa with 1.94% lost this week!

3. Lesley with 0.94% lost this week!

And our challenge leaders remain:

1. Michelle with 8.25% GONE! Forever, see ya!
2. Alexia with 6.54% GONE! Adios amigos!
3. Lesley with 6.50% GONE! Au revoir, bon voyage!

Uh oh, Alexia, you better watch out girly because Lesley is on your tail!

Way to go guys!

There are 4 weigh-ins left in this challenge and that's still some time for some serious poundage to say b'bye to before the new year!

Week 9 - The You Kick Ass Edition

2008-11-23T19:50:00.006-04:00

Damn you guys rock! We had some amazing results this week and wouldn't ya know it we have got ourselves a competition on our hands! Wooohooooo! Lesley comes out of no where, takes first place for the week and then steals third place overall! And Jen comes in and takes second place for the week! Alexia and Michelle have been doing a great job of staying in the top two, but ladies we've got some competition on our hands! Woohooo!

Our chart toppers for this week are:

1. Lesley with a 2.24% loss!

2. Alexia with a 2.17% loss!

3. Jen with a 1.96% loss!

And our challenge leaders are:

1. Michelle with 7.73% GONE! Forever, see ya!

2. Alexia with 7.24% GONE! Adios amigos!

3. Lesley with 5.61% GONE! Au revoir, bon voyage!

Congrats ladies!!! You totally kick ass!

Week 8 Results - The Still Standing Edition

2008-11-16T20:40:00.007-04:00

Hey there challengers!

This results post might kind of jump out at you a little bit because I think that it's time to shorten our list. There appears to be wayyy too many blank spaces up there and I think the sight of that is taking away from all the awesome WI results that ARE there and for all of you who are reporting and trucking along regardless of what your WI results are - THAT is dedication, persistence and determination! So I have highlighted in orange those people who have not reported a WI in the last 3 weeks or more in a row and I want you to be aware that I think I'm going to shorten our list and remove those people who no longer wish to be a part of our challenge. What do you think? We are all here to work hard and to take this challenge seriously, are we not? I'm not even trying to be all "tough love" on you either, I just think that those who no longer want to be included shouldn't be.

So if you see your name up there highlighted in orange and still wish to be remain in our challenge, please let me know and please be ready to represent and kick some butt!

Sooooooo, without further ado, our Week 8 Chart Toppers are:

1. Kelly with 1.59% GONE!

2. Angie with 1.26% GONE!

3. Suzi with 1.17% GONE!

and our CHALLENGE leaders are:

Our Challenge Leaders remain:

1. Michelle with 6.85% GONE!

2. Alexia with 5.18% GONE!

3. Tiffany with 4.12% GONE! (Amy you are so close to taking 3rd!)

Damn you guys kick ass!

Keep your eye on the prize my friends! There WILL be a prize ;-)

Week 7 Results!

2008-11-09T20:25:00.004-04:00

Our Week 7 Chart Toppers are:

1. Melissa with 2.41%
2. Noelle with 2.00%
3. Leigh Anne with 1.90%

and

Our Challenge Leaders remain:

1. Michelle with 7.00% GONE!
2. Diana with 5.21% GONE!
3. Alexia with 4.71% GONE!

You guys are doing such an awesome job!! Keep it up guys!

Progress Evaluation Time!

2008-11-03T09:08:00.007-04:00

Okay guys we are into Week 7 of this challenge and I think we have enough weeks in to give us a good look at our performance so far. Many of you need not pay attention to any of this because you're kickin' ass and takin' names! WoooHoooo! I'm so proud of you guys!!!

Some of us, however, need to re-focus and evaluate our progress and open our eyes. Even if you've had things come up to wrinkle your plan now and then, I think that 7 weeks is enough time to have a good look at the stats and regardless of what has come up here and there, you should be able to see if you are truly giving it your best effort.

Remember, this is a tough love challenge and we all signed up for that very thing. So if you want to snarl at me for saying so, remember it is what you signed up for, right?! Preachy? Maybe, but no one else is stepping up to do the dirty work are they? You should have no reason to be upset at me for being honest. If you are upset by this post, then maybe you are not performing up to what you wanted and don't quite want to see the real reason. That's up to you.

If for some reason your progress so far is not where you had imagined it would be at this point, can you honestly blame it on A or B specifically? That's 7 whole weeks of time to put into this challenge and to lose some weight, right?! What I mean is, that sure there are some things that come up in our lives that make it more difficult in some circumstances than others to stick to your weight loss plan, but it is not likely (not saying not possible, just not likely) that it could influence 7 whole weeks of effort. Are you constantly rhyming off one excuse after another as to why you're not doing as well as you wanted to be?

If you haven't done as well as you originally have planned so far, what I'm saying is that you have to be accountable for what is in your control and what is not. That is entirely up to you what your standard is when deciding what is in your control and what is not. It's all relative to each person. You be the judge of what you want to believe is or isn't in your control.

Me? I certainly do not want to be a hypocrite because I had my share of poor results too. Sure I have my ~~reasons~~ excuses for why, but that doesn't mean that it is acceptable to me in my heart. It is not acceptable to me because I do not believe it should be acceptable for you guys. I have been honest with myself about it and that's what I'm asking of you now.

Vacation? Illness? Work parties? Birthdays? Thanksgiving? Halloween? An impossible "in-law" staying at your house for 3 weeks perhaps? There's a million of them isn't there? It is what it is. It's our job as ass kickers to not accept those kinds of things from stopping us and hindering weeks of progress. We must be armed with a Plan B to get us through those tough times.

It's completely up to you.

In addition to that, have you been doing your job and obligation to your fellow challengers to call them out on excuses when you hear them? You owe it to each other to be the bad guy sometimes and not to pat each other on the back when we haven't performed the way we wanted to perform. We need to depend on each other to pipe up and say so. That creates accountability in an environment that we have become too comfortable.

We ALL want to enter 2009 with a smile on our faces because we have already accomplished some major headway on what otherwise would have been a New Year's Resolution, would it not? I know that it is going through some of your heads that "in the new year" you'll definitely give it your all. Am I right? Did you say that in January 2008? I did.

What I'm saying is, what if this was your moment to go back in time before the New Year and give it the gusto and storm into January with some major accomplishment under you belt, even a few new notches made from your belt getting smaller and smaller? No one feels great about resolving in January to lose weight. No one. Sure you might feel that newly polished sense of motivation for a day or two, or a week or two, but just imagine how great you will feel at your holiday parties coming up slimmer than you are now!

Just sayin'!

Week 6 Results

2008-11-02T19:36:00.006-04:00

Our Week 6 chart Toppers are:

1. Jeannie with 2.27%!

2. Mary Frances with 2.16%!

3. Carrie with 1.8%!

Our Challenge Leaders remain with Michelle taking the lead:

1. Michelle with 6.41% GONE! (By the way, she has lost 17.4 lbs so far on this challenge!!!!)

2. Diana with 5.21% GONE!

3. Alexia with 4.42% GONE!

WOW YOU GUYS! Congratulations to you!

Motivational Nudge...

2008-10-31T19:52:00.003-03:00

Thank you Laura for sending me this link. If you guys are looking for a little inspiration to get your juices turning, check this out.

Hey all you avid blog readers!

2008-10-31T08:38:00.003-03:00

I wanted to make mention of a lovely lady who was a smidge too late in signing up for our challenge but who has been following us along and has been keeping track of her own stats. She's our at "at home" contestant so to speak! Anyway, she leaves comments on your blogs and is doing well herself, but also needs some support in return. Her weight loss blog is private (as many of you can appreciate), so it makes it difficult for her to have you "stumble" on her blog. You might recognize her name (Hydro) from a comment or two around here. Since she is private and would really love some more support, I would ask you to email me your address so she can invite you to her blog, or leave your email address here in the comments section so she can invite you!

We all need each other's support :-)

Let's talk Prizes :-)))))

2008-10-29T15:20:00.003-03:00

From the beginning of this challenge I felt that for this to be a challenge to want to stick to, there should be a prize for the winner, agree?? I hadn't at the time had any idea what that would be of course, but wanted to think about it and see what came up. Since then, I have gotten a few emails from some of you who had item(s) you were willing to donate toward a prize "package" i.e. a new cookbook that was never used or something related to health and weight loss or all around something fun!

Now I was planning on just coming up with something myself, but I'd love to put it out there if any of you had any ideas, or work for a company who was willing to donate a gift certificate or anything of the sort. I'd love to hear from you if you had something to include. Wouldn't it feel great to be the recipient of a prize on top of having lost a ton of weight?!

ASS KICKIN'

2008-10-26T20:07:00.002-03:00

I hope that all of you are able to have a look at the list and see who is showing blank spaces and go and see what they have been up to. They signed up for an ass kickin' didn't they? I think they did.

Week 5 Results

2008-10-26T19:50:00.006-03:00

Our Week 5 Chart Toppers are:

1. Alexia with 1.24% lost!

2. Renata (non-blogger) with 1.52% lost!

3. Leigh Anne with 1.01% lost!

Our Challenge Leaders are:

1. Diana with 5.21% GONE!

2. Michelle with 5.15% GONE!

3. Alexia with 5.05% GONE!

And can I just say.....here is a teeny dose of perspective of what's truly possible on the priority list for weight loss by pointing out that Alexia (who just happens to be our #1 chart topper this week and our 3rd place leader over all) is currently in China for a significant period of time, completely away from everything she is used to, living in hotels and still finds a way. She still finds a way to WI at whatever place she is at and emails me her results. She's kicking ass and taking names.

WAY TO FRIGGIN GO ALEXIA!!! THAT is truly a kick in the pants to everyone else and yours truly. Thank you.

Week 4 Results

2008-10-19T19:00:00.004-03:00

Our Week 4 Chart Toppers are:

Jennifer with -2.55%

Fiona with -1.89%

Krista with -1.63%

Our overall leaders are:

Michelle with -4.27%

Tiffany with -3.88%

Alexia with -3.85%

Our leaders remain the same with Tiffany sliding by Alexia by a smidge! WOoohoooo!!!

Everyone should go and congratulate their awesome kick ass success!!

On another note, there are alot of blanks up there and I am really disappointed about it.

Week 3 Results!

2008-10-13T16:59:00.004-03:00

Our Week 3 Chart Toppers are:

Karen with 1.68 % lost this week
Suzanne with 1.59% lost this week
Sarah M with 1.45% lost this week

And our challenge leaders so far are:

Michelle with 4.71 % lost so far

Alexia with 4.22 lost so far

Tiffany with 3.88 % lost so far

WAY TO GO YOU GUYS!!!!!! Everyone should take it upon themselves to visit these guys and congratulate them! :-)

Week 3 Results Pending

2008-10-12T20:42:00.002-03:00

Since it's Thankgiving weekend (here in Canada) and I am still awaiting quite a few WI results, I'm going to post the week 3 results tomorrow just to give those people an extra chance to report their WI's.

I hope you all are having a marvelous long weekend!

Three Strikes You're Out

2008-10-11T20:53:00.003-03:00

There are a few challengers who have never reported a WI:

Angel (get in shape girl)
Caroline (caroline's commitment)
Jyllian (non-blogger)
Sara (The Chronicles of the new Sara)

I hate to play bad cop, but if I don't hear from you soon, I gotta nix ya from the list! Blank spaces don't belong on the chart!

Weekly Goal Accountability Time!

2008-10-10T10:47:00.003-03:00

So many of you piped up with some great goals you wanted to acheive this week. Now that the week is nearing a close, I wanted to to a re-cap of what you had said you wanted and how you did!

So Mel, how's the running on the treadmill going so far this week? I was hoping to see some Nike+ running results on there - what gives? (although damn I love shrimp and scollop creole, and I'm trying that recipe - thanks!)

Jen has just left for Vegas and vows to eat properly during her stay. Her rules were to allow one "treat" meal per day and only one. Other plans include doing lots of walking (and boy will you ever - Vegas is an awesome place to do LOTS of walking) and to acheive a stay the same result for next WI. Good luck Jen!

Gen told us that she was cutting out diet pop who was already 4 days into it (yay Gen!) and to get 4 good days of workouts, to drink more than her 8 glasses of water and the super tough goal of not eating after 7 p.m. By the looks of things, she's totally killing the diet pop goal! Great job Gen!!!

Kimberly was going to be away in Atlanta for work this week living out of a hotel and having to rely on eating out at every meal (oh boi) and having to work longer hours. So she was going to do cardio at least 4 times, lift at least once and make healthy choices during her dining out. Okay Kim, I've got special "skinny thoughts" going to you in particular! And I must say it's looking like she's doing a mighty fine job deflecting most of the temptations firing at her every day!

Suzi promised that she was going to count her points honestly this week, go for walks at least 4 times and was going to try yoga twice! This girl seems to be on a roll! In addition to these goals, she mentions in her blog about upping the water ante too! Way to go Suzi!!

Karen told us that she was going to refrain from eating out which also included no convenience foods. She also wanted to not only plan the meals, but follow the plan and not let being tired or feeling like the kids were "starving" as an excuse to not follow the plan. (You'll all find out on WI result day, but Karen lost 4 lbs this week! Yay!!!!)

Krissie planned to take her lunch with her every day this week (and actually eat it) lol That girl makes me smile on a daily basis, which is why you should all go and give her a *hug* cause it sounds like she's having a down week.

Christy wanted to ensure that she exercised at least 4 days this week to step it up! Tell us girl, how'd it go??

Katie's plan was to workout 5 times (each day left before her WI) and to stick to 24 points per day. She even said that next week's goal is not to munch away her flex points too early! It looks like she's hasn't quite gotten in her 5 (very ambitious) workouts, but STILL this girl's on fire!!!

Alexia wanted to set a new challenge like the one she did with the lazy man's triathlon. She found that it helped keep her on track. So, she's decided that by the end of this challenge she wants to be able to run 5K and in order to be able to do that, she needs to start run/walking intervals this week along with 1 hour east of exercise. I just checked in on her to see how she was doing and couldn't help but read this post about social support/pressure and how much more success it has been proven that people have! So how did you do with the run/walking??? *finger wagging*

Jen wanted to ensure that she exercised on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. And although she didn't blog much this week, her competative side is coming out having just missed the chart toppers list last week by a smidge and I'm hoping to see her name up there this week! So how did that exercise go this week??

Mickie wanted to crack down on late night snacking and just plain say "no" and up the water intake..oh and knock at least 5 workouts this week! She hasn't blogged since and it sounds like she's also having a tough time, so I hope you'll all go and see how she's doing.

Kelly wanted to eat clean this week. Sounds like a simple goal, but one of the hardest I'd say. She hasn't said much about the eating clean part, but she's still getting out there and running even though her running partner is not MIA. WTG Kelly, THAT's awesome! So how about the eating clean?

Leigh Anne wanted to focus on weight training this week and getting something in every day. How did that go this week? Although I loved her post this week where she gave herself the pat on the back for her loss, but then wasn't satisfied with it and didn't allow herself to settle for slack efforts. So how about that weight training??

Roxy said she wanted to cut back on drinking her points in the form of juice and chocolate milk. Now I know Roxy and that would be a big goal for her! So tell us how that went girl!

Sarah wanted to spend more time working out this week and felt that her being "busy" has caused her to slack. She also wanted to comment more on your blogs. She's admitted to not exercising this week and there was also mention of cakes and cookies. However, she is going away this weekend where there is lots of opportunity for exercise, so I hope you come back a sore woman (in a good way). Blog commenting is a great goal - there is never enough time to keep up it seems!

Carrie's goal was to go to the gym during the day when she is home and to take her daughter to day care at the gym for the first time which is a bit scarry I would imagine, but wanted to conquer that fear because she knew that it would make her be able to go more often. Now I didn't see any posts following up on this goal specifically, but she's participating in a marathon relay tomorrow! Go Carrie! Good luck!!

Lisa wanted to stay 100% OP this week - all week - no exceptions and to get in 30 mins of exercise 6/7 days! Wow! How'd she do, you ask? Well she lost 3 friggin pounds, that's what!!! GREAT JOB LISA!!!!

Week 2 Results

2008-10-05T20:45:00.004-03:00

You know what they say about "Week 2" guys! But there were still plenty of awesome results! Congrats to our week 2 chart toppers and our overall leaders!

Week 2 Chart Toppers:

1. Fatinah - 1.77%
2. Paige - 1.44%
3. Lesley - 1.42%

Overall Largest % Lost so far:

1. Leanne - 3.68%
2. Angie - 3.56%
3. Christy - 3.24%

Need Motivation?

2008-10-04T13:08:00.002-03:00

http://www.212movie.com/

Thanks Laura :-)

Goals for Next Week

2008-10-03T07:29:00.000-03:00

I think it is important to remain focused and keep your eye on the prize, especially since we all know that motivation waxes and wanes. So I'll encourage you guys to comment here about what sort of specific goal you would like to really focus on next week. It could be something like getting 4 hard cardio sessions in, staying away from processed foods, not munching and snacking after you've planned in the evening etc.

What types of mini-goals can you think of that will help get you to the finish line on December 27th at the top of the list? You should really take these goals to heart and work really hard to acheive them. These are the stepping stones to getting the job done!

~A

Week 1 Results! Click Image to Enlarge

2008-10-02T19:29:00.006-03:00

Okay Challengers, here is the results from our first week of kicking butt! To actually "see" it, click on it to enlarge!

2008-09-28T21:34:00.002-03:00

Okay, here's the deal - hubby has some better way for me to post the charts so that they're aren't going screwy on and not lined up, but he's MIA this week unfortunately. I promise to make sure that it is better next time.

I am so pleased with the results from the WI's this week! There were sooo many awesome hard earned results! The way the results were posted may seem a little backwards because the gains are actually showing a minus sign in front of them, but that's because of how the spreadsheet was set up with formulas. I figured we won't be getting used to seeing any gains, so it's not going to matter ;-)

Leanne is our leader so far with a 5.8 lbs and 3 .68% of body lost!!! WAY TO GO LEANNE!!!! WOOOOOT!

There were some other great honourable mentions this week as well!

Michelle lost 8 pounds this week, with a total body loss percentage of 2.95%! Holy smokes Michelle!

Christy lost 5 lbs this week, with a total body loss percentage of 2.45%

I could go on and on, there were so many awesome WI's, so congrats to you guys for setting an amazing example for everyone!

This is what you're up against guys!!!

Week 1 Results!!!

2008-09-28T21:19:00.001-03:00

Challengers:

Adora (birdies nest)

Alexia (the one last thing)

Amy (Amys quest to skinny)

Angel (angel-lifehappens)

Angie (Angie all the way)

Barb (Losing but not lost)

Candace (Javachick)

Caroline (Corlines Commitment)

Carolyn (One pound at a time)

Carrie (Newlywed)

Cat (Cats meow)

Christy (weighting for critter)

Christine (non-blogger)

Cinemarie (english cinemarie)

Cowgirl Warrior (WW for life)

Diana (Diana135)

Donna (Tidbits of Info)

Donna K. (non-blogger)

Espressomama (On dogs and coffee)

Fatinah (Fatinah)

Fiona (Fionas journey)

Genevieve (A year from now)

Heather (Heathers WW Adventures)

Janessa (Darkness to Life)

Jason (Sorry to myself)

Jeannie (Points and Pounds)

Jen (Fabulous new body)

Jen (La vita bella)

Jennifer (Jennifers-journey)

Jyllian (non-blogger)

Jodi (Accidentally extraordinary)

Julie (10000 times a charm)

Julie (newstart-julie)

Karen (My journey to a healthier life)

Kari (Kari taking back control)

Kate (Fab 50)

Katie (Recommited to myself)

Kelly (Choosing Losing)

Kimberly (Country jacket)

Krissie (Questions for dessert)

Krista (Kristas Kraziness)

Laura (Lola Runs)

Leigh Anne (Automatic eater)

Lesley (Farm girl)

Lisa (Doin it for me)

Lori (Second verse, same as the first)

Lorraine (Second verse same as the first)

Lynn (Confessions of a Curvy Girl)

Lynne (Chubby girl does good)

Maria (non-blogger)

Mary Frances (Finding the Real Me)

Mel (A box of chocolates)

Melanie (Mel-now or never)

Michelle (dieting battle)

Michelle (Fat mom is a loser)

Mickie (TrickieMickie)

Monica (Confessions of a + size girl)

Noelle (Fighting to have fun)

Paige (nerds-n-coke)

Leanne (No more short and round)

Randi (The next thing to try)

Renata (non-blogger)

Roxy (elle-lame-o)

Sara (The Chronicles of the new Sara)

Sarah (The New Sarah Sundae)

Sarah B (Goal is set)

Sarah B (non-blogger)

Sarah Z (non-blogger)

Sherri (Goal Digger)

Suzanne (Spunkisuzi)

Tanya (More than a chunky monkey)

Tiffany (From 12 to 6)

Lost lbs
no show
5.5
4
no show
4.8
1.8
-0.9
no show
no show
no show
1
5
2
0.4
-0.2
3.8
0.8
2
2
-2.8
2.2
0.8
0.2
4
0.9
-1.8
no show
1.2
0.8
no show
1.6
no show
-0.1
5
2.5
no show
2
3
2
no show
0
1.5
-0.4
2
-0.8
no show
2
0.9
4
0.8
2
1
no show
8
2.2
2.2
0
0.8
1.5
5.8
-1.2
0.4
1
no show
-3.2
2.4
1
0.2
0
1.2
4
4

Lost %
0.00%
1.83%
2.15%
0.00%
2.67%
0.71%
-0.63%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.39%
2.45%
1.25%
0.25%
-0.11%
2.15%
0.39%
1.21%
1.07%
-1.80%
1.59%
0.32%
0.09%
1.45%
0.34%
-1.03%
0.00%
0.53%
0.50%
0.00%
0.53%
0.00%
-0.04%
2.07%
1.00%
0.00%
1.07%
1.34%
1.42%
0.00%
0.00%
0.86%
-0.22%
1.27%
-0.38%
0.00%
0.86%
0.44%
1.72%
0.52%
0.96%
0.67%
0.00%
2.95%
1.14%
1.07%
0.00%
0.41%
0.89%
3.68%
-0.88%
0.30%
0.63%
0.00%
-1.28%
0.84%
0.51%
0.12%
0.00%
0.87%
1.41%
2.35%

Tick, Tick, Tick - Kick, Kick, Kick

2008-09-28T20:00:00.003-03:00

Okay guys, I still haven't heard from:

Adora (birdies nest)
Angel (Angel-lifehappens)
Carolyn (one pound at a time)
Carrie (newlywed)
Cowgirl Warrior (WW for life)
Julie (1000 times a charm)
Kate (Fab 50)
Krissie (Questions for dessert)
Lori (Second verse, same as the first)
Maria (non-blogger)
Melanie (Mel-now or never)
Renata (non-blogger)
Sara (The chronicles of the new sara)

I'm going to be posting up the list as it stands in half an hour.

I'd hate to have any no shows, that's not very good in the very first week!

Week 1 Results Tonight!

2008-09-28T12:02:00.003-03:00

I'll get the list posted up later on this evening when everyone who hasn't yet emailed me with their WI's can get the chance. Please don't depend on me reading your blog to get the information because even though I do try my hardest to check in on you, it's nearly impossible to keep up with, so please shoot me an email with the result, even if I've commented on your post.

Oh and just in case it happens, we were expected to get some strong winds and rain from Hurricane Kyle this evening, so if we lose our power, I'll get it up first chance tomorrow. I think the path of the hurricane has changed, but you just never know!

Thanks!

It's Friday Folks!

2008-09-26T07:30:00.000-03:00

Yes my lovely kick ass group of elite weight loss challengers, it's Friday. I don't know about you, but it's the hardest part of the week for me. I just wanted to poke in here and remind ~~myself~~ you all to stick to your guns this weekend and follow your plan. I know it's tough, but nothing in this world worth doing is easy. The easy way out got us in the position to have to join this challenge.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that stuff you already know, but wanted to remind you in case you hadn't thought of doing it. In addition to taking a picture, is to take your measurements. We want to think of this 3 month period as a special "give it your all" experience that we want to measure in every possible way: the scale, a picture and the measuring tape! It will show in many different ways in our very diverse group of challengers we have here, so I hope you do it just to have the comparison.

Oh and also don't forget to email me your WI's for this week. I haven't received WI results from some of you Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs WI folks, so please send them to me at your first opportunity, so I'm not bombarded with numbers on Sunday when I'm getting everything ready to post.

I've already gotten some pretty awesome results from some of you and I'm super proud of yas. For those of you who aren't satisfied with your result this week, make sure you recognize the difference between not giving it 100% and the fact that it wasn't a "full week" for many of us who weighed in early in the week. If that's the case, you'll rock next week!

Keep up ass kickin and the pats on the back, I know a few of you have been doing a great job at being honest with yourself as well as us and that is KEY.

Proud Examples

2008-09-24T07:30:00.001-03:00

I wanted to send a shout out there to Janessa who caught my attention with your dedication and determination not to let excuses stop you.

Look at this post for example: look what she did when she wanted to be able to extend the time of walk with her 4 year old and 2 year old! She improvised and created a little craft and play stations in her childrens stroller to occupy them them while she pushed the heavy stroller for her long walk! The stroller with the kids etc. weighed about 122 lbs!

If you see someone who's showing some serious kick ass determination and no-nonsense approach to gettin' it done, I wanna know about it because it deserves to be commended and I want you all to see what your up against.

So shoot me an email with your tip and snitch on the ones who deserve the pats on the back as well as those who deserve a kick in the pants :-)

Biggest Effort & Such

2008-09-23T07:29:00.000-03:00

Well hello all you lovely motivated bloggers who are all doing so well already! Some of you are stepping it up big time! If I could kiss yas, I would ;-)

I just wanted to make sure that you all know what this challenge is really about. Sure we're going to be "competing" with our body loss percentages each week, but what's really the point of this challenge is that we are being honest with each other and ourselves about our effort and that we are putting our heart 100% into it. Otherwise, you're in trouble and someone will find out, beat your bum for it and snitch on you ;-) I will play bad cop if required :-P

Your weightloss program of choice is up to you and I'm not telling you what you should do. The majority of us seem to be WWers which makes it easier to give and get advice and suggestions etc., but you are the one deciding what program you're following.

Now I didn't think I would have to do any sort of disclaim when I started this challenge because I had no idea there would be so many of us when it started, but of course you all know that your doctor knows what's best for you, right? Also, since the Biggest Loser people may or maynot care that we're doing this, I'll be posting some sort of gadget on the side stating that we're not affiliated with the show in any way, and that we're an awesome bunch of inspired fans.

Say GOODBYE to these numbers! :-)

2008-09-21T21:12:00.010-03:00

Brave Soul:	Starting Weight:
Adora (birdies nest)	158.8
Alexia (the one last thing)	301.2
Amy (Amys quest to skinny)	186
Angel (Angel-lifehappens)	220
Angie (Angie all the way)	180
Barb (Losing but not lost)	253.4
Candace (Javachick)	144
Caroline (Corlines Commitment)	220.8
Carolyn (One pound at a time)	*
Carrie (Newlywed)	202.8
Cat (Cats meow)	256
Christy (weighting for critter)	204
Chrstine (non-blogger)	160.4
Cinemarie (english cinemarie)	157.2
Cowgirl Warrior (WW for life)	188.2
Diana (Diana135)	176.6
Donna (Tidbits of Info)	206.2
Donna K. (non-blogger)	165
Espressomama (On dogs and coffee)	187.5
Fatinah (Fatinah)	155.4
Fiona (Fionas journey)	138.4
Genevieve (A year from now)	249.8
Heather (Heathers WW Adventures)	222
Janessa (Darkness to Life)	275.8
Jason (Sorry to myself)	265.4
Jeannie (Points and Pounds)	175.2
Jen (Fabulous new body)	220
Jen (La vita bella)	227.4
Jennifer (Jennifers-journey)	158.8
Jodi (Accidentally extraordinary)	303.6
Julie (10000 times a charm)	282.5
Julie (newstart-julie)	243.4
Karen (Blogging for Balance)	*
Karen (My journey to a healthier life)	242
Kari (Kari taking back control)	249
Kate (Fab 50)	305.8
Katie (Recommited to myself)	187.2
Kelly (Choosing Losing)	224
Kimberly (Country jacket)	141
Krissie (Questions for dessert)	230.4
Krista (Kristas Kraziness)	185
Laura (Lola Runs)	175
Leigh Anne (Automatic eater)	181
Lesley (Farm girl)	157
Lisa (Doin it for me)	211.6
Lori (Second verse, same as the first)	233
Lorraine (Second verse same as the first)	233
Lynn (Confessions of a Curvy Girl)	205
Lynne (Chubby girl does good)	232
Maria (non-blogger)	153
Mary Frances (Finding the Real Me)	*207
Mel (A box of chocolates)	149
Melanie (Mel-now or never)	234.8
Michelle (dieting battle)	271
Michelle (Fat mom is a loser)	193
Mickie (TrickieMickie)	206
Monica (Confessions of a + size girl)	230
Noelle (Fighting to have fun)	197
Paige (nerds-n-coke)	168
Paige's Mom (No more short and round)	157.4
Randi (The next thing to try)	136.8
Renata (non-blogger)	128
Roxy (elle-lame-o)	144
Sara (The Chronicles of the new Sara)	166
Sarah (The New Sarah Sundae)	*
Sarah B (Goal is set)	*285.6
Sarah B (non-blogger)	198
Sarah Z (non-blogger)	170
Sherri (Goal Digger)	230.2
Suzanne (Spunkisuzi)	138.6
Tanya (More than a chunky monkey)	284
Tiffany (From 12 to 6)	170

As you can see there are a few *'s here and there. The ones with the *'s and the numbers mean that those people still owe me their WI's from today and these numbers were their WI's from last Sunday that they had provided me:

Mary Frances (Finding the real me)

Sarah B (Goal is set)

The ones with just the * means they didn't give me a number at all. So these guys are in trouble:

Carolyn (One pound at a time)

Sarah (The new sarah sundae) - not to be confused with "The New Sarah"

Oooooooooh, you're in trouble!!!!

Ready, Set....

2008-09-21T10:27:00.003-03:00

Okay everyone, now that the doors are officially closed, I hope you are all clicking away and getting to know each other and leaving comments and getting all giddy and excited! You all seem like such a great bunch! I love that we're all different and are coming from different places! No matter what you think, there is someone in the SAME boat as you on this list!

Challenge Deadline Closed

2008-09-21T00:00:00.001-03:00

Okay guys there it is, the doors have closed for joining the challenge! Congratulations to all of you for stepping up and getting involved. I had to close the doors for a few reasons. Firstly, it's hard to manage that many people (last count was around 70!) with their WI's every week, being on different days and keeping track of all the results and posting them etc., and also because it's not really fair for everyone who has been there from the beginning to have joiners jumping in half way through. I think closing the doors will help us all feel more committed and take it as seriously as it is intended.

So we're off to the races and I'll have everyone's starting weights posted up once I receive all of the Sunday WIers results! Make sure you guys get them to me ASAP!

-A

Here's your Challenge Button!

2008-09-20T22:22:00.004-03:00

Lynn was so clever to come up with this logo and it's perfect for you guys to save and add to your blogs. For those of you who don't know how, it's pretty simple. Right click and save the picture to your computer, then on your blog go to your layout and add a gadget and choose the picture option. Upload the picture and you can link it to this blog by putting in this blog address in the url field. It will be your daily reminder on your own blog and it makes for an easy button for you to click on to come here from your blog!

Before Pics

2008-09-20T13:29:00.002-03:00

Hey All!

I think it would be fun if everyone took a before picture of themselves now. You don't have to share it, but just do it because in 3 months, we'll all do it again and you'll have a comparison of all of your hard work.

It's one of those things that you can't go back in time to do, so just do it now, and ponder over it later ;-)

New Deadline

2008-09-20T11:14:00.002-03:00

So in light of the crazy huge overwhelming response to this challenge and how it makes me want to cry because so many of us are gathering here together to get this job DONE, I'm going to ask anyone who still wants to join, to do so by midnight TONIGHT. This will allow me the time I need to get all the data organized and ready for posting start weights tomorrow.

Jeeeez we are one awesome bunch of sexy mamas (and papas ;-) )!

-A

Tell us your tricks!

2008-09-19T16:18:00.000-03:00

You know, the mind tricks and justifications you use on yourself to allow you to over-indulge when you shouldn't or when you give yourself veto power on gym days. Some of us know each other pretty well already, but let's face it, we're creeping up to about 50 participants so far and we don't know each other well enough to call each other out all the time.

So I think you should do a post recognizing your own excuses and the kinds of behaviour you know is just fluff. Randi posted this today (I keep putting her on the spot, but she's the perfect BLBE person because she always honest and she sees her own weaknesses). She says:

So fellow BLBE-ers, I'm asking you to keep me accountable on the portion size thing, on the eating less than I do now. I'm not going to want to tell you how much I'm eating, and I'm going to justify how much I'm eating every way I know how ("my metabolism is high from my muscle mass" "I need more food because I work out so much" "i'm eating fruit for crying out loud, you can't limit my fruit!") but I need you to watch out for these and then kick my ass when I use them. This is an ass kicking challenge, not a make her feel better about herself challenge. In fact, if I do say stuff like that, remind me of my goals, wearing a smoking hot *tight* dress at SILs wedding, being comfortable in a bikini, LOOKING like a fitness instructor. Remind me of how I feel when around my in-laws (like a giant amazon woman), how I love to be the envied one and the one people talk about, how good it feels to go shopping and have things fit. And remind me that having a banana after a full meal does not get me there, and having snacks more than 200 calories keep me from being that person. Yes it's healthy, but it's not weight loss.

That is what we are all here for guys! I want you to be serious and be able to handle it if someone pipes up and calls your bluff.

-A

Semi-private invitations

2008-09-19T12:05:00.000-03:00

I mentioned that there were a few of you who hold private blogs. Those people need to know your email address to allow you access to them. Those of you who would like access to their blogs should comment here and and include your email address so that they can invite you. There is only about 4 privates or so I think. They need you to access their blogs so that you can encourage them (and kick their asses).

Cool?

If you have a privacy issue with that and don't want to post your email, I can pass along your address to them through the blog email account if you send another email. But since it's alot of work getting this set up, I hope you won't mind posting it here for them to invite you. But I will pass it along if you need me to.

Joining Deadline

2008-09-19T11:05:00.001-03:00

So I'm organizing like a mad woman to get this all under control and getting everyone's links up. I am going to go through the emails and list and make sure I got everyone when I get the chance tonight, but if you don't see your link up there, please email me and I'll make sure you're up.

Since the big challenge kicks off effectively on Sunday with the posting of the start weights. I think that is when I am going to close the doors on people joining. I know that people will want to join after that, but to keep it fair and to keep it organized I think that might be best - that way everyone starts together and finishes together and we're keeping it consistent. What do you guys think?

After Sunday, anyone of course can follow along etc., but I think the line will have to be drawn at some point for joiners.

So, having said that, everyone better hurry up and email biggestloserblogedition@gmail.com midnight on Saturday to be included in this kickass, no nonsense, get to where you're goin challenge!

The "Deets"

2008-09-18T19:58:00.002-03:00

Have you guys got it coming to yas! At least those of you who are brave enough to sign up for our Biggest Loser Blog Edition challenge! I'm so happy with those who have stepped up and are just plain sick and tired of hovering around the same numbers on the scale. Now don't be afraid - er, wait yeah BE afraid, whatever gets you where you're goin'.

IT'S HALF WAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER!!! That's pisses me off in the sense that even though my head has ALWAYS been thinking about "getting to goal" here I am no further. FRIG that people - ENOUGH! Let's get it done and over and be done with it already, right Randi??!And no more "enabling" you guys to stay in the same place either! Encouragement is necessary and picking ourselves off the floor is too, but don't make us feel like it's "okay" we didn't if there's no legitimate acceptable reason for it.

We need to re-define our level of commitment.

Food for thought: I stayed cooped up in my house with a broken hip, broken foot, soft tissue injuries, among other things, had to use a walker, raised toilet seat, bath transfer bench and extended shower head for 2 MONTHS while I weighed 240lbs. I didn't let THAT become an excuse, so unless you've got some better excuse to cop out, don't use it. If you are limited physically the way I was, then you had better be on your nutrition game 100%.

So here are the deets of the challenge:

Reporting: I need your current weights as of this Sunday (if your WI is on Sunday, this Sunday will be your start weight. If you haven't already, please email it to biggestloserblogedition@gmail.com. I know it's kind of skewed a little where WI's after that day will be official week 1 results - i.e. mine is on Monday so that will be my "Week 1 weigh-in" even though those results won't be revealed until the next Sunday). Please report your WI's to me as soon as you WI, so you don't forget and have to kick your arse for administrative reasons on top of it. On your WI day, please provide me with the number that's on the scale that day as well.

Timeline: this challenge will end Sunday, December 27, 2008 where the results will be final.
There was a lot of people in favour of keeping this challenge moving through the holidays to the end of the year and that is the last Sunday of the year.

Goals: we are all starting from different places and face different obstacles, so here's what I suggest:

If you think that it's possible to reach your "goal weight" by Dec. 27th, then by all means set that as your ultimate goal. If you reach your goal by then, or before, you automatically "win" this challenge even though you may not have the biggest total body % lost. Obviously if this happens, there can be more than one "winner."
If you have less than 5 lbs to lose and you really want to be a part of this challenge, you must put up additional stakes. By this I mean that if you acheive your goal say in the first month, then there must be a fitness goal of some sort that you want to acheive by the end of the year. For example, "I want to be able to do 20 free style chin-ups," or "I want to run 5km in less than 30 mins" etc.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, your goal will be to work your hiney off to acheive as much as possible (i.e. full court press) all the way to the end (Sunday, December 27th) at which point, you're going to cry with excitement because you can lose a TON of weight in 3 months in a healthy way. That's not to say that I'm advising you to pull off crazy numbers like BL does - those people are removed from everyday life and have Jillian and Bob kicking their butts all day long, that's a little different. Slow and steady does win this race in the long run, that is a fact.

Support: I've linked all of you to the side of my blog, so I hope that you all visit each other and kick each others arses and applaud where need be. We need to do this together guys and we need to have a presence each and every day. There are a few of you who either don't have a blog or who are semi-private. I would suggest that maybe you can invite the other participants to read your blog by commenting on theirs. If you are having trouble connecting, email me and I'll get the message through. Those of you who do not have a blog, you are still allowed to participate, but it makes it pretty hard for us to check in on you and kick your butt, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to consider starting one! Already there are a few of you who have done so as a result of this challenge, so lets keep the community busy!

Prizes: there has to be a prize(s), but it's not yet determined. Any suggestions from you guys are appreciated. I think if we make a real prize out of this, it changes the stakes in your head, even if you don't want to admit it, right?

Results: I will post the results every Sunday. I am still deciding how this will best be done. I've got a spreadsheet started to track the data etc., but I may end up manually entering in the results in a weekly post. I've also considered starting an entirely new blog for this challenge, so we'll see how it works out as we go.

So that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure things will come up as we go along. Oh and Lynn is getting to work on making us a cool button graphic that we can all paste on our blogs showing that we're participating in the challenge! How fun is that! Oh and if anyone has signed up and you don't see your link under the list on the side, please let me know and I'll fix it!

Thank you Lynn!!

2008-09-18T19:58:00.001-03:00

For creating our very own Logo!!

Isn't is awesome!