Aweigh Week 6 The Final Week?

I don't know why I thought we had 2 weeks left last week. There is only one prize left and that is for today. So. My bad! Also? Me stoopid!

And gosh I hope our final contributor is still up for contributing! I've been a big slacker this round of Aweigh. I promise to do better next time. IF I do it again.

Anywho! This is is ladies! Last check in. Last prize.

Last week, the wonderful Chelle offered up a hand-knit prize...and it turns out she has the prize knit already! They are a beautiful pair of mittens. (Pretend I put the photo here. Man I am LAAAA-ZEEE.) She will let us know who the winner is soon! Thanks Chelle!

I will post my results later after I weigh as usual. This week I am almost positive I gained so YAY FOR ME ending on a negative note. ::Bangs head on keyboard:: I will say, in my defense, that I am making other changes in my life that will undoubted lead to weight loss eventually. I am optimistic.

The last prize is offered by Amanda, or Mrs. Dragon. Amanda graciously participates in Simply Joy Sunday here at Cool Zebras most weeks. She's pretty awesome. She's offering up some cards to our lucky winner this week. Please leave a comment if you're participating in Aweigh and tell us how you're going to keep up your forward momentum as well as your results for this week.

Thanks so much for participating in the second Aweigh. I'm hoping I'll be more proactive next year and get more sponsors, etc. We shall see.

xoxo,
Heather

Aweigh Week 5 Results and Prize

Only two weeks left!

Chelsea was the only one who answered the book question last week (my bad! I didn't even answer it. Whoops!) so she wins the bookmark! Congrats Chelsea!

It was yet another crazy week for me around the Zebra household so I did not make time to exercise at all. :( I haven't made it the priority it should be, but I am also working on other things...so. I'm actually trying to cut myself some slack on some things. I'm going to guess I gained a little but I'm not worried. I know I can turn it around again.

This week our prize is offered by Chelle! She's going to knit something for the lucky winner. She's also a very busy mom of three so if it takes her a little while to get the prize to the lucky winner we can all understand that for sure, right? ;) Please leave a comment with your results for this week (if you're participating in Aweigh) and also let us know what, if anything, you've been doing differently to help yourself succeed with weight loss.

Aweigh Results Week 4

Well, another week of being sick and not exercising. On the plus side, I'm fairly sure I haven't gained and may even have lost simply because I have been eating less. (Now watch, I probably gained.)


I'll update my progress after I weigh, as usual. (I lost 2 lbs. Yay me!)


I won the book from last week! Yay me!


This week our giveaway is from Bikini, who is giving away a beautiful bookmark similar to this one:



If you're participating in Aweigh, please post your results for this week in the comments...to be able to win the bookmark, please tell us about your favorite book!

Aweigh Results Week 3

How was your week?

I had high hopes but only managed to work out two days for 15 minutes each day. I ran for 10 of the minutes both days so at least it was more than just stretching or something. Then Wednesday I started to get a cold and I was up most of the night Wednesday night with a sore throat. Hello Strep you're not my friend. Wish I didn't see you again.

Oh well. Maybe next week.

Oh! But first I should tell you who won the drawing last week! Drumroll......Bikini! You won the Target gift card. I will get your info to Chelsea asap.

As usual, I'll post my results later in the day after I've weighed. Hopefully I haven't gained.

This week our prize is donated by @avapidblonde. You can read her blog here. She's donating a copy of the book her cousin wrote and published last year,The Manual of Detection: A Novel. If you're participating in Aweigh, please post your results this week in the comments section.

As always, thanks for the support.

Aweigh Result and Prize Week 2

Here we are at the end of week 2 already! How are you all doing?


First, I should announce the winner of last week's prize. Random.org really likes Chels because it once again has chosen her comment as the winner! Enjoy your Starbucks!


So, this week I worked up to running more with the Wii Fit Plus. Monday I actually ran for 9 whole minutes straight...which is laughable to any runners, but is a step back in the right direction for me. Then, yesterday afternoon I totally lost my head and attempted to run for 20 minutes straight...and I actually did it. I wanted to kill myself at about 12 minutes in, but I stuck with it. The Wii said I ran 3.6 miles. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but that's better than I have ever done. Maybe I will actually be able to work up to running outside this Spring and run with my friend again without making a complete fool of myself (only half a fool maybe).

All week (except yesterday) I shared some soup with Ms. D and some tomatoes for lunch. I tried to not eat after 7 p.m. and was successful most nights. One night I had a stick of cheese because I felt like I was starving! I obviously was not really starving, but I suppose my body needs to adjust to taking in fewer calories. Here's hoping for even better resolve next week.


As usual, I'll post my results later after I weigh myself.


This week's prize is offered by Chelsea. Chelsea doesn't blog, but you can follow her on Twitter here. Chelsea is offering a $20 gift card to Target as our prize this week. If you're participating in Aweigh, please leave a comment with your results for this week and also tell us what you've been doing to help with your weight loss. Chelsea will choose a winner from those comments!


Thanks to everyone who has been posting encouraging comments.

First of 2nd Aweigh Results Show...Prize Included!

Soooooo. How did YOU do?


I did not do so well. I haven't weighed yet. I'll weigh later in the day and post my results BUT my disclaimer is that I did everything right the first day and gained 3 lbs. WTF? Seriously. Way to be supportive, Body.


I started out on the Wii Fit Plus for 49 minutes which was really the first time I'd "exercised" in months. The next day my body hated me...abs, back, legs hurt but I went back for punishment the next day. I only had about 10 minutes to devote before other obligations forced me to quit. But I did it. I've done some running with the Wii Fit Plus...not as much as I used to do but I'm just starting again. I have high hopes to actually run outside in the Spring and not want to die within minutes or seconds.


I'm doing what I can... I think. I probably could do more with regard to exercising, but I'm not willing to get up early in the morning. Perhaps gradually I can change my habits so that I can get up earlier than my kids. My goal for next week is to exersize more even if it is just on the Wii Fit stuff. Anything is better than sitting on my butt doing nothing right?


I"m first up for the prize this week. I have no photo but I don't think one is necessary. My prize is a $25 gift card for Starbucks. Before you tell me I've exceeded my own limit, let me tell you I found this gift card in a box of junk that I went through a few weeks ago and I was given it for a review I wrote. Soooo, pass it on!


If you're participating in Aweigh please leave me a comment telling me what you're changing in your life next week to promote your own weight loss.



{Want to join us? Here are some deets.}

Aweigh Round Two Begins Today

I'm not going to be doing the big motivational posts every Monday this time. I just don't really have time to do it and keep up with other things, so. Prizes and check-ins will be on Fridays.

So for today, take your before photo so when you lose you can see the difference. It's hard to see a pound here and a pound there if you don't have a starting reference.

I'm going to try to start exercising again. I've already cut down on the amount of sodas I drink, switching to mostly water. Bye bye late night snacks. I'm starting here. Let's hope some of it works so I don't get discouraged quickly.

See you back on Friday for the prize and check-in. Good luck all!

Aweigh starting Monday

I'm going to start the Aweigh challenge in hopes that more people will join us as we go along. As of now, we have only 4 participants (including me) and I've linked those who have sent me an email and indicated interest after my last post about Aweigh. I'm bummed we don't have more participants, but I guess we'll try for one month and see what happens. (Participants are linked in the sidebar under the Aweigh button.)

If you want to join please send me an email and tell me what prize you'd like to donate.

We start officially on Monday. I plan to have my photo taken on Monday as a "before" reference in hopes that there will be some sort of "after" result. I recommend that you all do the same. Even a few pounds can look dramatic if you thought to take the photo before. I think it's worth it.

I'm starting this challenge back nearly at my heaviest weight. It stinks. I wish I would have continued the momentum of weight loss that I had started last year but I didn't. Instead I gained almost everything back. I can hardly believe I'm one of those people who "yo-yo diet".

I hope to turn things around. Do you?

Aweigh Deets

The second round of Aweigh will start the week of January 18th. For the most part I don't plan to post anything about Aweigh on Mondays like I did last time, but we'll just post our "results" and whatever we want to talk about on Fridays.

This time instead of me fishing for prizes from people not participating I'd like to have each participant contribute a prize. I'll figure out a schedule for whose prize is up which week and let everyone know when it's their turn to host the prize. You'll draw the winner for your prize and be responsible for contacting the winner and sending the prize. You can decide how you want to choose the winner (based on weight loss, just leaving a comment, answering a question, whatever)

Of course if you don't want to participate, but would like to donate a prize anyway we won't turn you away! That would be a wonderful show of support to those who are trying to lose some weight. I'll link to your blog or shop or twitter profile if you'd like me to as a thank you for your generosity.

So, if you want to participate, please send me an email telling me what you'd like to contribute as a prize. (Please do so again if you already did back in November. I don't want to assume that nothing has changed since then.) I'd like to know all the prizes and participants by January 12th so that I can get the schedule organized. Also let me know if you want the participants to do something special like answer a question or whatever so that I can put that in the post the Friday of your giveaway.

I think I'll list/link participants in the sidebar too. (You do not need to have a blog or Twitter account to participate though!)

Any other suggestions or questions, please let me know!

Hopeful and Aweigh

Things have not normalized yet around here. The kids are tired and cranky, picking fights with one another and crying or yelling over the smallest infraction. We've attempted to move bedtime earlier, or at least we've had the intention to do so, but we find them still awake at least an hour past their bedtimes.


D is fussy and fitful, presumably working on another tooth, but she sees the things her siblings do to one another and to her and copies them as any toddler would. I can't help but point out to the big kids where she's learning these lovely activities. She's morphed into a curmudgeonly old woman at times, grunting ahg! with disdain when the item she carries slips from her grip. Just as suddenly, however, she bursts into the most delightful toddler giggles.


I've made some progress on de-cluttering the house (and hopefully my mind). It's a small dent, but a dent nonetheless. My hope is to continue to plug away at at least some small reorganizing task every day. Yesterday I cleaned Miss M's bedroom. It was not a thorough cleaning though since I didn't tackle underneath the bed or the "far side" of the bed, but I feel better about the state of her room mostly because you can actually see the floor. She has a little room back to play with her 472975 toys. I also went through several boxes of papers and miscellaneous stuff and threw away a few bags of stuff. I dug through the basket that was supposed to hold Ms. D's diapers but somehow became a catch-all for anything pertaining to her. It now holds diapers and the 2 pairs of shoes that still fit her instead of the 6 pairs that she has outgrown. There is much, much more to do but seeing the progress I made yesterday and the day before is encouraging. I can do this and get my home and my life back under control.

The holidays have passed us and it's time to get Aweigh back in progress. I'm setting the start date for January 18. More details tomorrow, but if you want to participate please send me an email letting me know, and also what you will donate as a prize.

So we enter the last week of the big kids' school break not tired of one another, but tired. The week will again go too quickly and they will be back in school and I'll wonder where the time has gone. Seven more days to try to make happy memories and just be together with these little (not so little as they used to be) people that mean the world to me.

Poetic Justice: A Snowy Edition

The grown man, sitting in his sedan wearing only a sweatshirt as the temps outside dip to -3 degrees, waiting pathetically while another man digs him out of a snowbank.

***********

Watching the cocky teenage boy gun his pickup just a little too much and launch it into the snowbank. Suppressing your laughter as he tries to power the truck out with no success. Seeing his embarrassment as he calls for help.

************

Psst! Those thinking about joining Aweigh Round 2, we're going to postpone until after the new year. Please email me with your intent to participate and the prize you intend to contribute asap. Part of the reason I'm postponing is that I had only 2 emails indicating interest and prize donation!

More Aweigh Preparations and Call for Participants

I haven't had much luck with getting sponsors this time around (although I haven't tried very hard either, to tell the truth) so here's my idea. If each participant contributes a prize we will all be supporting one another in yet another way! Prizes can be pretty much anything that you're willing to give and ship to the winner. We'll set the dollar amount at $$10-25 value to keep it affordable.

The more participants the better of course, since if we have more prizes, we can continue for more weeks. The more weeks the better as well!

(If there is anyone out there who doesn't want/need to participate but would still like to sponsor a week I'll still post your link in my sidebar and dedicate a post to your product/business/etsy shop. Please email me or leave a comment with your info!)

I'm thinking we'll start either December 7th or 14th, depending on how many people/prizes we get. I'd like to go through the holidays and into 2010 if at all possible.

So. Tell your friends! Spread the word. The more support we have the more likely we will have success. You do not need to have a blog to participate, but you do need to honor your commitment to contribute a prize and follow through with sending the prize to the winner. (If you cannot afford a prize at this time and would still like to participate, please send me an email. We'll work something out.)

Who's in?

Anyone for Another Aweigh?

I'm thinking about giving Aweigh another round. I haven't been motivated to exercise or do much of anything lately as far as weight-loss goes, so maybe Aweigh can motivate me as well as others out there!

I'd like to offer prizes again (anyone out there reading who'd like to donate a prize?!? You'll be given a text link in my sidebar for the duration of the challenge.) And this time I'd like to have myself be allowed to win a prize so we'll let whoever donated the prize draw the winner. (If they don't want to do that, I'll bow out of winning that prize.) Prizes should be shipped directly to the winner from the sponsor if at all possible. If you want to see what Aweigh was like last time here's a link to the posts.

Ideally, I'd like to have at least 10-15 participants and 10-12 prizes. No grand prize this time, just weekly prizes. Prizes can be anything from an item from your Etsy shop to something you made but don't sell or a gift card.

So. Who's in? Anyone want to donate a prize?

Weighty Haiku

My weight loss is stalled.
In fact its only weight gained.
I need some support.

Not only that I
need motivation what can
we do to help all?

I'm not willing to
do another Aweigh since
I don't get to win.

Yes, I am selfish.
I need motivation so
that I keep working.

Aweigh Results Show The Finale!

Okay all! It's time to post our total weight loss and before and after photos (if you're brave enough!)

Here are my before and after. I'm not at all sure I look any thinner, but my jeans are a size smaller so there is that!

My net weight loss? 10 pounds!

What about you? How much did you lose?

Aweigh Final Week!

This is it ladies! The last week of our challenge! I hope you will all continue on with your efforts just like I hope I will. Those of you in my city I hope you continue to visit me here and/or on Twitter. Perhaps a get-together (should it be a walk around the lake?) would be good.

Our grand prize is from eworkouts. (I admit I haven't heard anything from them since this started so I hope they are still honoring their commitment.) Regardless, we should all have a photo taken on Thursday this week so we can compare our before and after photos. I'm guessing we all will be surprised at the difference.

If you want to, you can email me your before and after photos and I'll post them here. If you choose not to, that's totally fine too. But I hope you took the before and are going to take the after because I think it will be fun to see the difference and inspire us all to continue.

I may do a second Aweigh challenge next year. We shall see!

Hope to "see" you all on Friday!

Oh I almost forgot to have random.org pick the winner of Chelsea's Target gift card from last week! We only had 3 people post their results besides Chelsea so the odds were good for those who posted. The winner is...Amber! Congrats Amber!

Aweigh Results Show Week 13

I have yet to get back to the Wii Fit. Somebody please kick me in the rear?

On the plus side the weather is warmer here and there is promise that we may be past the snow for a few weeks anyway. I hope to get out and take the kids to the parks and on walks, etc. Of course yesterday it was 80 and we were inside because Ms. D had a fever and besides the wind was so wild I was afraid to let K go play in the yard lest a rogue branch bean him.

Thanks again to Chelsea (@flipflopschels) for donating a $25 gift card to Target for this week's prize! Post your results for your chance to win!

One more week left in the challenge!

Thanks to all who have participated either as a loser (ha!) or as a sponsor or both!

Aweigh Week 13 - 2 weeks left!

Wow, last week was brutal for me. So brutal that I'm not even telling my results! I am hopeful that this week will be different. I know what I was doing that sabotaged me last week and I'm going to NOT do that this week.

But hey! The rest of you are still doing great! That's wonderful! And next Thursday we'll have to take your "after" photos so we can see the results of our hard work.

The winner of Chelle's blog design is ... Amber! Congrats Amber!

This week the prize was donated by Chelsea! She doesn't have a blog, but she is on Twitter and you can follow her there. (She's @flipflopschels) Chelsea generously donated a $25 Target gift card. You know you want a chance to win that, so don't forget to post your results on Friday! Thanks so much Chels!

Hope we can finish these last two weeks with continued success!

Aweigh Results Show Week 12

Okay ladies! Post your results here!

Ha ha! I'm being even more lazy and not even writing a decent post.

For the record, I'm sure I gained and gained A LOT this week. Not sure why. Oh well. I also have not had my period again since that first time oh...what? 2 months ago? (No I am not pregnant.) So maybe that is coming again and that accounts for some of the weight gain. Excuses, excuses. I know.

Were YOU the Biggest Loser?

Well, it turns out that everyone who posted their results on Friday's Aweigh Results Show lost the same amount! So I put the names into the random list generator at random.org and drew a winner that way.

Oh wait! You don't know what you could have won!

I told you before that I asked Kelley who makes these gorgeous beads and jewelry featuring these beads for her Etsy shop http://kelleysbeads.etsy.com/ if she would consider contributing a prize to our challenge for the biggest loser on a particular week. She said yes (YAY!) and I randomly decided that week 11 would be the week I would award the prize.

Kelley made this beautiful pendant for our Aweigh challenge. She describes it so eloquently:

This comfortably fits in the palm of the hand. The front of it has waves of clear glass covering the red, white, raku browns/blues and the chocolate 'sand' across the bottom. The wavy texture on the front will draw the fingers to it to hold & feel, much like a worry stone captivates the touch. The back is melted smooth to lay flat and so the person wearing it will know the difference between sides without even looking. I will make the bead into a hanging pendant on a soft brown leather strap with a sterling silver hook & eye clasp. If I were to sell it in my shop, the price would be $45.

So who did Random put at the top of the list and is, therefore our winner? Amma! Congrats Amma! I will forward your address to Kelley!

Thanks to everyone who continues to participate in the Aweigh challenge. I can tell it's starting to get a little too long, but we have only 3 weeks left! Let's finish big, er, little...er. Whatever. You know what I mean.