Update on me and my journey with Romance Biggest Winner!

Ok i meant to do this the first week of October which was the halfway point of Romance Biggest Winner. BUT like it happens sometimes i didn't get around to it and then forgot for a bit. We are heading into week 17 i think it is and more than halfway through the challenge. I have lost 22 lbs at this point. Feels good but my goal was 30 by January 5th which seemed crazy at the time but totally doable now. Fingers crossed!!!  Now that it's gotten colder I have pretty much given up outside exercise with one exception. Tell you about that in a minute. I primarily use my Wii for exercise. I use Zumba for Wii which i rent for $1 for 3 days at the library. Cheap way to try before you buy. I also use Wii's Gold's Gym too. They both give you a full body work out in dance form but Zumba seems to work my legs more and Gold's gym the arms more.  I also use My Fitness Pal online and for iPhone to track my calorie intake and exercise. It even keeps track of hip, thigh and waist measurements and exercise. I love it for iPhone i can take it with me anywhere and check calories etc.  Back to the one exception for outside exercise. I participated in my first 5 K in over 20 years this past Friday. Walking not running. I used to run in high school. I actually have not walked for exercise in a month so i was a bit leery BUT!!!! i ended up coming in first place in my age group with a time of 39 minutes and 36 seconds. I think i could've done better but i was figuring my way through the whole thing and it was dark. It was a Halloween walk. Pretty cool deal. I got a nifty medal for my trouble and bragging rights against my mom who does these all the time and was sure she'd beat me. She came in a couple minutes after me.  Anyway i am a bit worried about December. No one give me candy please. If you do it better be the really really good kind worth killing my calorie intake for the day. lol Lastly i want to share a couple before and after pictures. Well not the before one but you need it for impact. First one was taken July 5th or about and the 2nd Oct. 8th and that was at 18 lbs lost i believe. Follow along every Wednesday when results are posted on the Romance Biggest Winner blog to find out how everyone including me is doing. You can also search for the hashtag #RBW on twitter to find out what participants are saying. My cool team of authors and readers are called The Naughty Nine if you want to find us in particular. The Romance Biggest Winner blog is here http://romancebiggestwinner.blogspot.com/. Check there tomorrow to see how we all did with today's weigh in.

Lisa

 

Romance Biggest Winner. My biggest Challenge!

 Romance Biggest Winner it sounds like something you've heard on TV right? Well it kind of is in a way. Romance Biggest Winner was put together by author Ashley March.  We are all in for the same thing. To lose weight, eat better and feel better for life. We all have the same or similar struggles to get there. I joined right at the last minute. Didn't give myself time to think about it just emailed Ashley my info. Romance Biggest Winner or #RBW as it's known in a hashtag on Twitter is made up approximately 93 authors and readers.

 Borrowing from the RBW blog here's how it works. Each team member is required to weigh in every Tuesday. Next week the participants will calculate their weight loss percentages and the team representatives will report each member's percentage lost. The team with the highest percentage of weight lost each week will win free books! The individual romance reader and romance author at the end of the competition (January 5, 2012) will win $1,000 each. That's how it works in a nutshell.

 There are 10 teams and my team has nine members. It's made up some great authors, readers and blogger/readers like myself. We've been at it for a month now and team nine or otherwise known as "The Naughty Nine" won week 2 of the 4 weeks so far. It's hard but we all email each other and tweet each other and try to encourage each other to eat better and drink water and try new forms of exercise. We don't all lose weight every week not for lack of trying but none of us have given up because we get encouragement within the team and the other participants. As for myself i have lost 6 pounds in the last 4 weeks. Almost completely given up my soda pop addiction and barely hit the fast food restaurants at all and when i do it's for salad. This is a big deal for me as i am usually on the run and thinking I'll just grab something on the go and not worry about it. I've been exercising every day too. I started doing cardio walking 30 minutes a day every other day then went to every day and then to one hour a day. This past week my boys and i tried out Just Dance 2 for Wii. It will kick your butt but it's fun. I have a few other wii games here that are made to make you sweat that i plan to use to my advantage. lol

I want to share some of my teammates websites and blog with you. Some of them will probably blog about their experiences with Romance Biggest Winner at some point and I'll try to keep you apprised of how I'm doing as well as we go along. If you have a chance give them a look see and say HI! A few might just show up here on my blog in the near future. Remember to sign up as a follower on my blog so you can keep up with me on my journey and my teammates as well.

Romance Biggest Winner blog to follow along with everyone.
http://romancebiggestwinner.blogspot.com/

Vanessa Kelley who is a Regency romance writer and whose latest book My Favorite Countess came out in May. Vanessa often hosts giveaways on her blog page.
Website www.vanessakellyauthor.com
blog http://vanessakellyauthor.wordpress.com/

Author Hope Ramsey who is another awesome writer.
website www.hoperamsay.com
blog www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com
another blog http://blameitonthemuse.com/
Hope also has a giveaway on her blog Blame it on the Muse right now.

Author Cynthia Harrison who is another fabuloso author and fellow teammate of mine
www.cynthiaharrison.com

Helen Seeley who is a quilter extraordinaire. Who makes quilts, burp clothes baby blankets and many other things. Custom orders welcome.
www.cuteandcuddlyquilts.com

Rita who is a blogger at Not Another Romance blog.
www.notanotherromanceblog.blogspot.com/

Check out the Romance Biggest winner blog today to see how my team and i did this week.

Do you have a fitness or weightloss tip to share with me and my team? We would love to hear it.