Day 17: 10.5 lbs and 10 inches DOWN BEYOTCHES!

Hello everybody.

Today I cheated and stepped on the scale....DUH DUH DUHHHHHHH .....10.5 lbs and 10 inches town beyotches! How do you like me now all you doubters out there?! HOT STUFF RIGHT HERE! haha. :)


Today was a slow day. Woke up---gym, lunch, relaxing, cleaning, dinner, poker, and then Channelside.


...I lost in poker. Really upsetting actually. I am trying to make some money because I haven't found a job yet. Bleh..but I am searching for one! Applying like crazy. Suggestions and referrals welcome!

Today's meals were great. We had an amazing Asian salad made by R, then sish kebabs for dinner with chicken, veggies and mashed potatoes (fat free really), and then some snacks in between. Yummylicious!


I am feeling pretty well today. Still, a little lonely but I have met a few cool people and been trying to keep busy.

OH I HAD A NAKED WILLIE!!!! It's a sugar-free, carb-free slushie for adults! YUMMY! :)

IT'S A GOOOOOOD DAY HERE IN SUNNY FLORIDA :)


All the love is appreciated guys! Thank you for your posts, comments and Facebook messages...it really helps me to keep going and pushing through.

Love always,
Stephanie

Day 16: Spat

Steph and I got into a rather large argument this morning which resulted in her packing up all of her things and claiming that she was moving back to CT. The root of the fight is irrelevant but I will keep it vague and say that it involved some confronting about sneaking food (by both parties) and some nagging by one party for the other party to get their ass up to the gym. One party thinks that they gave the other party plenty of time (1 hour) to get up there and get to work and the other party refused. One party claims that the other party does not trust her and is skeptical of her eating and exercise claims. Third party (a relative of the two parties) intervened and tried to mediate from CT. I could practically see the third party rolling her eyes via text message.

Anywho, we both took some time to cool off and the stubborn party eventually got her act together and the naggy party apologized...via handwritten note and text message. And yes, we still live in the same house.

I dealt with this argument by buying a massive amount of groceries. Since Rich and I are off, we eat at home a LOT more often so food keeps disappearing. One thing you learn when you cut restaurants out of your life and you eat at home is that you go through TONS of groceries. Last week we went through FOUR loaves of bread, THREE dozen eggs, THREE pounds of turkey breast, 1 pound of cheese, FOUR pounds of chicken breast, and TWO watermelons, just to name some basics. Holy crap, that's a lot of food!

Our food regimen has been as follows:

Breakfast: 1 slice reduced-calorie whole wheat bread with 1 egg and a half slice of cheese

Lunch: Either turkey breast sandwiches or salads

Dinner: Lean protein (such as turkey burgers, boca burgers, low fat hot dogs, chicken or pork) and veggies on the grill with a carb on the side such as corn on the cob or sweet potato

Snacks: fruit, 100-calorie packs, popcorn, and WW ice cream bars

I noticed that Steph really loves the salad bar at Sweetbay. Many of my friends have voiced the same frustration about salads; that it's not worth buying and preparing all the items that make it worth eating. They have a point. I spent $30 and about an hour of prep time on salad materials today so that I could put together a marvelous salad bar for the week. I'll admit that part of my motive for this was to suck up to Steph after our little spat. I probably won't put in this effort every week, but it will be nice for a few days to liven lunch up. My inspiration for the salad bar springs from Panera Bread's new Strawberry Popyseed and Chicken Salad (above). Yum!

Here are my ingredients:

-Pre-cut salad bags (I really can't be bothered to wash and cut lettuce up into teeny tiny pieces. I just won't do it and the lettuce will end up rotting in the fridge and then I'll end up hiding it from Rich so he doesn't yell at me, etc. etc.)

-Bag of spinach leaves (for iron and more green!)

-bag of dried cranberries

-sliced almonds (no more than 1 tbsp! There are 17 in just one ounce of these suckers!)

-Walnuts (again, watch it! 19 grams of fat per ounce! I mash these up before opening the bag so that there are tinier crumbles.)

-black and kidney beans (rinse these babies off to get rid of all the high fructose corn syrup they are packed in almost undoing the nutritional value of the beans themselves! Then store them in a tupperware for easy access)

-canned corn (packed in water)

-deli turkey breast (I asked the counter lady to slice the sale turkey breast into cubes rather than slices and she obliged!)

-strawberries (wash, cut, and store)

-blueberries (fine as are)

-your favorite light dressing (I am obsessed with Ken's Lite Asian Sesame dressing. It's amazing as a marinade, dressing or base for stir fry)

-an assortment of veggies (only buy what you know you will wash and pre-cut, otherwise they will just rot. Peppers, tomatoes, and red onion are good choices)

I'll post pics of our gorgeous salad creations tomorrow! Steph gets a prize from the Prize Bucket in the morning! For now, Steph can use your supportive emails, texts, Facebook posts, blog comments and phone calls! Go Steph!


-R-

Many have asked how they can contribute to the Prize Bucket, etc. You can support Steph's efforts by donating! Thank you!

Day 15: HERE WE GO BABY!

Today, was interesting as all hell.

R: Wake up! WEIGH IN DAY!!
DOWN another 3.8lbs and 5.5 inches! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!

I AM DOWN 10 INCHES IN SIZE! HELLLLL YEAH!

After my exciting triumph, I had to bring everybody to Busch Gardens. I had to stay behind today, as much as I wanted to go. My ass doesn't fit so well on the rides, but it will. Wait and see!

GYM! Let it be known that I kicked some serious ass today with my circuit training. I am up to running at a 5.0 mile per hour pace! I could only do 3.5 in the beginning. I am WAY up and am making exciting progress.

Tonight we went to Rich's hockey game. It was a lot of fun, even though we got our booties handed to us.

Tomorrow---it's back to hardcore workouts since R is no longer dying of a sickness. DAMN IT. This week was pretty easy, R was in bed sick all week. Thank the Lord. No Sergeant Pain in my Ass! BUT, my easy week must come to an end, and she will be back in commission by tomorrow... unfortunately for my lazy ass :(


Okay, so I have a confession. Today I went on a blind date. It was okay.
Here is what happened:

Shawny Boy: "WOW! YOU LOOK HOTTER IN PERSON."

Me (In my head): Ughh you do not look like Channing Tatum in person like your pictures and profiles led me to believe! BUMBER.

Shawny Boy: I just want to tell you that I am paranoid of STD's and have anxiety.

Me: OH! (high pitched voice) I am so sorry to hear that. Have you had a scare before to make you worried or paranoid?

Shawny Boy: No man, I am just deathly afraid.

Me: Ohhhhhkayyyy, well we lost power today and my phone is about to die. So, I cannot charge it. If I do not get back to you tonight, that is why. (Runs/trips out the door!)


Yeah, so my day was ridiculous. But, it was also successful I suppose ;]

Please, let me know how you all feel about this. HAHA!

SECOND DATE?!

Day 14: How are we so busy when none of us have jobs?

Honestly, I thought I would get bored this summer not working. Rich and I are fortunate enough to get paid over the summer and Steph hasn't gotten a job yet. You would think that within two weeks the three of us would have driven each other nuts already. Well, we have but that's besides the point. Not one day has been spent lounging around the house. We have been out and about exploring, hiking, sightseeing, beaching, grilling, pooling, and all the while eating out very little (at least for this crew).

Today I went in to my internship until 1:00, came home and lounged for a bit. Then, we headed out to the Rays game. I am not going to relive the annoying details of tonight's defeat, but we had fun despite their loss. We ate chicken, burgers and veggies at home to avoid eating at the game. The second we walked in to the Trop, however, I wanted popcorn, a hot dog, a pretzel, Outback cheese fries, and beer. Oh, and nachos. And cracker jacks. Oh and ice cream and cotton candy. You get the point. It is to the point now where I am either insane or a more severe food addict than I originally imagined because I stopped at every craving and meditated on the feeling in my stomach. And you know what? EVERY time I actually felt hunger pains, not imaginary hunger pains, real live starvation in my belly. I think my stomach simulates hunger pains when it is around food that it can't have...

Anyway, I knew immediately that I wasn't getting out of there sans snack so I made the healthiest choice possible; large diet coke (only $9!) and a soft pretzel (8 WW points). It wasn't easy, but I forced myself to split my pretzel with Rich and Steph. After the pretzel though, I was surprisingly satisfied and able to concentrate on the game rather than fantasizing about tackling the vendors that kept yelling "cotton candy" in my face every time I talked myself out of telling everyone I was going to the bathroom while actually sneaking off to the concession stand. Luckily I premeditatively left my wallet in the car. Ha!

When we got home, Kaila, Steph, Rich, Dolly (yes, Dolly!) and I engaged in an impromptu Zumba session in the living room and then hopped in the pool. Lots of fun!

I am really curious about weigh-in tomorrow. Since I was incredibly sick for four out of the seven days this week, I really slacked on exercise and drank a lot of sugary liquids such as orange juice by the gallon and gatorade. Hopefully it's not a disaster. Keep your fingers crossed... Steph has stuck to her exercise regimen and food allowance really well. I am hoping to shake up our exercise routine a bit this week with some kickboxing!

~R~

Day 12-13: Day Trips!

HollEwud Booty Camp hit the road this weekend! Saturday was spent in good old Orlando and Sunday was spent galavanting around St. Petersburg. We gave ourselves a little slack since Steph and I both had visitors and we could only conform them to our militant diet and exercise regimen (and retain them as friends) for so long.

Saturday: I was still sick but rallied and drugged myself up on DayQuil (miracle drug) and Advil every 3 hours because Rich and I promised to take Kaila to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter as a graduation present.


People, even when you're sick, amusement parks are equivalent to slow torture for the dieter. Yes, you can try and convince yourself that all that walking more than makes up for all that greasy fried crap you're eating, but the sad truth is that it doesn't. In fact, the walking is even more dangerous because you run the risk of convincing yourself that you are "entitled" to even more lardy junk food than you would normally eat and it's just not true. Here is a break down:

Let's say you actively walk around Islands of Adventure for 3 full hours. That is very generous people. Before you start arguing that that number should be higher, let me stress that I am talking about actively walking. That is not waiting in line, posing for pictures with characters, sitting in the shade, or waiting in line at the pizza buffet bar. So if my legs are physically creating the motion of walking for 3 total hours, I have earned 10 Weight Watchers points. Okay, that's great! I can eat whatever I want now, right? WRONG! If given unlimited points, I would go for a milkshake. But guess what! My favorite SMALL cookies and cream milkshake from Chick-fil-a has 22 points in it. Yeah. So all that "extra exercise" earned me half (not all) of a SMALL milkshake. Now how many of you will actually drink HALF of a SMALL milkshake and throw the rest away? Certainly not me.

Anyway, I had to avoid all the burgers, fries, and sweets like the plague. It really helped that I was sick, but even that cannot completely suppress an appetite as huge as mine. We did stop at Chick-fil-a before going into the park (An A- rating according to the 2011 edition of Eat This, Not That). Rich and I split a chicken sandwich (10 points total) and no, I did not get a shake but Rich did happily slurp one down right in front of me. Some things just aren't fair...

After the Park, we met up with Steph and Mel at Giordano's because I got an awesome gift card deal on restaurant.com! The 5 of us split a large pie and still brought home leftovers. I am figuring my slice of Hawaiian deep dish was 15 points but well worth it and we didn't go over our daily points budget. We felt bad for the balloon lady going table to table so we celebrated Rich's b-day a month early and asked her to make him a "30" balloon hat. Pretty hilarious. As you can see, Rich was thrilled. We also snuck into Orange Lake (our timeshare resort across the street) after dinner to hang in the hot tub! Great day!

Sunday: Today was the first day that I have not felt completely sick. I felt up to doing things without medicine so Rich and I cooked a delicious low-points breakfast for everyone including french toast (made with reduced-calorie wheat bread and egg whites only!) and low fat breakfast sausage. Each piece of french toast and sausage were only 1 point each!

Then, we all headed out to St. Pete to do the .75 mile trail through the Sunken Gardens. (Just $4 on Living Social!) It was beautiful! We saw lush plants, flamingos, and fish!








Next, we stopped at Tiujana Flats (my fave Florida Mexican spot) for lunch. Steph and I ordered off the "Lo" menu which only includes entrees with less than 500 calories. Steph had a chicken taco salad. She even let me convince her to get only a small side of sour cream rather than a gallon (which she and I would normally share) and she even forewent the taco shell!!! Way to go, Steph! I got a whole wheat flour grilled chicken burrito which consisted of fresh jalapenos and lettuce. Rich and I split a small side of rice and beans. I am calculating 8 points for the burrito and 6 points for the side of rice and beans (3 points for me since I shared).

Then, we ended up at Sawgrass Park where we hiked approximately 3.5 miles of trails. Steph did not complain once. Well, that's a lie, but she complained a LOT less than normal. We finally saw gators (albeit baby ones) and lots of plants and birds.



When we got home, Steph and I did our pool circuit and barbecued chicken and veggies for dinner. I decided I wanted to go to the new local froyo bar (that's slang for frozen yogurt, people) because I had another Living Social coupon ($25 for $10!). I tried in vain to convince Steph to walk the 2.2 miles there with me, but she refused. I gave her a break after 5 minutes of nagging because, honestly, she did pretty well today. Rich, Mel (Steph's friend visiting from West Palm), and I walked there and Steph and Kaila met us there by car.

Ellen, one of the owners, was incredibly sweet! She stayed open even though we got there past ten (due to my insistence upon walking) and she even broke down all the flavors into WW points for us! Froyo is another one of those things that dieters have to be careful with. Even fat free froyo is 1 point per ounce. So 4 ounces (standard half cup portion) is already 4 points. I ended up with 5.9 ounces of froyo and then lots of fruit toppings like blueberries and strawberries (0 points!)


All in all, not a bad weekend. Lots of physical activity and a little more eating out than I would have liked, but that's something we can work on for next week.

Day 10 & 11: Let's not be Lazy!

Hey guys!

Sorry I did not blog yesterday. It has been a busy past few days. Yesterday we did our circuit training and laps. R was not feeling well, so Kaila (Rich's niece) and I did the laps together.

Then, we decided to go to Clearwater Beach! Fun, right? I was starving. So, R and Rich went to go get us sandwiches that they claimed were located across the street....45 minutes, a call to the police to report a missing person, and a thundershower later they arrive with my Subway sandwich lunch for 8 weight watchers points.

Oh, it gets better! Skuttle the sea gull (from the Little Mermaid) decides it would be a good idea to come sit on my head, LITERALLY, and try and devour my food and also the food belonging to the gentleman next to us as well. They are SO DAMN ANNOYING.

We left the beach, came home, grilled and I went to Rich's hockey game with Kaila! He is pretty good! It was a lot of fun. I wish I knew how to roller blade or ice skate. I am going to make that a fitness goal of mine on this journey! Then we came home and watched I Love You Man. FUN!


Today was rough. I woke up with a really nasty cold and sore throat. THANKS RICH! He gave R and I his nasty sickness. But, I did not want to sit home alone, doing nothing all day. So, I agreed to go to Honey Moon Beach with them...I was promised the hiking trail would not be long, and that I would see wildlife like eagles, snakes, turtles, and that the beaches would be filled with millions of beautiful shells!

HAH!! 45 minutes after hiking in the blistering heat, I did not see ANY wildlife. I was moaning, groaning and pissed off. THERE WAS NO SHADE ON THIS HIKE! BULLSHIT I TELL YOU!!! I am telling myself that at least there will be the gorgeous beach with gorgeous shells to look forward to.....HA! NOPE. I tried diving into the water and was greeted by a face full of rocks, corrals and jagged shells. OUUUUUCH!

Everyone left the beach with some kind of cut or bruise...WHAT A GREAT DAY!

So, today's exercises consisted of a 45 minute hike through the beach and sand, which was about 2 miles. Tonight, I am going to the gym to do my circuit training. EVEN THOUGH I AM SICK, I push through :) As R would say, no But Face!

Let's do this. AMEN!


xoxox,
Stephanie HollEwud

Day 8: The "But" Face

(Below) This is my "but" face. Not to be confused with butt face.

But face: (n.) the facial expression that occurs when an individual is adamantly opposed to a situation and/or is desperately grappling for excuses to release herself from such a situation.


Rich and I had to wake up at 4 AM today. Why you ask? Well, I won't go into details but it had to do with a job fair and beating out crazy people desperate for jobs. To give you an idea, the event began at 7, we arrived at 5:30 and were in the BACK of the line.

Needless to say I am exhausted today. Yesterday morning I managed to haul my booty into the gym to do circuit training with Steph but today I am just exhausted. She really wants me to go do laps in the pool with her.

But...I don't wanna.

I can't let Steph down.

But I am exhausted.

Steph really wants me to go with her.

But I got 4 hours of sleep and want to go to bed.

Steph is giving me the evil stare.

But it's thundering and lightning outside.

Now she is charging toward me with undoubtedly more strength than I have at the moment. Maybe I can outrun her. That would probably require more energy than just doing the stupid laps.

But... fine I'll freakin' go. But if I sink and drown I am holding Steph personally responsible.


~R~

Week 2: New Beginning

Good news! Steph weighed in today and she lost a total of 4.5 inches in her first week! Way to go! Hard work really pays off!

Our new workout regimen is as follows:

1.) Circuit training: 2 minutes each on bike, elliptical, treadmill, and stair stepper, alternating with squats, crunches and chest press. This circuit will be repeated for a total of 22 minutes (2 minutes of cardio followed by 1 minute strength training).

2.) Pool workout: 3 laps followed by 50 squats and 150 leg kicks - repeat 3 times

3.) Leisure: 3-mile walk per day.


I still haven't decided what our challenge activity will be for this week. Let's put it to a vote!

Option 1: Canoeing with the gators
Option 2: Boot Camp class
Option 3: Rock Climbing

Steph's fate lies in your hands. You choose!

XOXO
R HollEwud

Day 7: End of Week 1

Well, it's after midnight and Steph and I actually made it through the first week! We both stuck to our food and exercise plan and avoided arguments! I am insanely proud of Stephanie as she has been a motivator both to herself and to me!

So, as Steph mentioned, we have been attending support groups for overeaters. I am a self-proclaimed food addict and chronic overeater. One of the coping mechanisms for overeaters is to distract yourself with positive activities when you are likely to binge. For me, this is in the evening. We decided to avoid boredom by going to see African Cats at the local discount theater (3 bucks, baby!) To avoid lardy butter popcorn and candy, I packed my bag with light popcorn and Skinny Cow candies (delicious, by the way!). I longingly stared at the lardy butter topping and Bunch a Crunch boxes behind the concession counter but was comforted by the healthy(ish) snacks in my bag. Hahaha. No fatty snacks for me! "I'll just have a large Diet Coke, please."

I was very pleased with my cleverness and foresight. Immediately after ringing me up though, the 16-year-old behind the counter stared suspiciously at my protruding bag and pointed to a sign which listed the list of prohibited items including "outside food." "Can I please check your bag?"

Bitch!

I decided to go the honest route. "Well, I don't think you should do that since I do, in fact, have outside food in here." I grinned cheesily and placed a $1 bill in her tip jar. "Can't you pretend you looked?"

Clearly insulted by my modest contribution she replied, "My manager will check again at the door anyway." I glanced to the theater door. There was no one standing there. Trying to be cute, I placed another $1 bill in her tip jar and then did this really weird side lunge tip toe walk thing toward the door while calling back "I'll take my chances!" I am pretty sure I came off far more creepy than cute. Apparently, she decided it was not worth the effort to turn me in and in the end, Steph and I enjoyed our semi-healthy snacks rather than the greasy (and overpriced) theater food.

Later that evening I felt yet another urge to eat when I was not hungry. I grabbed Dolly and dragged Stephanie on a late night walk down the block. I relished the warm night air and the breeze. I am not making this next part up and I have pictures to prove it. Just as I congratulated myself on going for a walk rather than staying home and stuffing my face, I looked up and guess what was sitting right there in front of my face? If you guessed "A delicious-looking juicy cheeseburger," you are correct! Let me clarify. I did not walk by a burger joint and see people leisurely enjoying a meal. That would be normal and I would have my normal reaction: drool and stare at the eaters until 1.) they became uncomfortable and forced me to look away or 2.) they were out of sight. I mean I was walking on the sidewalk, passed under a bridge and practically tripped over a perfectly intact cheeseburger sitting in its original container resting on a pillar. Alone. Abandoned. Sadly unconsumed. I should adopt this cheeseburger, take it home and make it my own. There is absolutely an argument to be made that this demon temptress burger was laced with hallucinogens and under surveillance by a concealed panhandler, waiting to kidnap and eat us (a very smart panhandler, by the way, for using the perfect bait). But nonetheless, it just doesn't get more FML than this; going on a walk to avoid eating only to have to hurdle jump over your favorite (free) food just begging you to eat it. And to answer your question, yes, I would consider eating an abandoned gourmet cheeseburger that I found on theside of the road and yes, I am aware that I have issues. No, I didn't actually eat it. Stephanie wouldn't let me.

Highlights from Week 1:
1.) Steph increasing her running time by over 300%!
2.) Hiking at Lettuce Lake Park!
3.) Saving a ton of money this weekend by not eating out like I normally would have.
4.) Being told that our blog is "inspiring."

Food Recap:
-Ate out only once this week at the semi-healthy Pita Pit.
-Made a bulk batch of light chili and chicken stir fry, both heavily vegetable-laden.
-Lots of snacks (3 per day)
-Lots of water (half our body weight in ounces)
-Grilling! Grills are a God-send for dieters, especially in the summer. Our main grill items this week were corn on the cob, Boca burgers, and turkey burgers.
-Eggs for breakfast every day for protein!

Workout Recap: 3 mini-workouts a day
1.) Pool: 20 minutes - 5 reps of this routine: 2 laps, 30 plié squats, and 100 bicycle kicks
2.) Gym: 30 minutes - 10 minutes of squats, crunches, and arms followed by 20 minutes of intense interval cardio (treadmill/elliptical/bike)
3.) Leisure: 20-30 minutes of walking, usually on Bayshore at a comfortable pace
4.) Challenge Activity: Lettuce Lake Park nature trail and fitness stations

And my favorite quote to sum up my feelings about this week come from the wise Dr. Seuss: Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.


XOXO
R HollEwud

Day 6: A New Beginning Continues

Today was Fathers' Day. Who doesn't know that? It was a hard day with many sad moments but R, Rich and I all stuck together.

This morning I had the usual breakfast; one egg, one piece of toast, and a half slice of cheese yum!
Then it was onto the gym...

I KICKED ASS TODAY!!! I ran 3 intervals today. 4 minutes, 3 minutes and 3 minutes. MY LONGEST RUNS EVER! I ended up running more than I walked, which I thought was pretty awesome! I wanted to cry I was so excited!

Then we went to the beach. On the way to the beach we went to Pita Pit! It was awesome. I had a stuffed pita with steak, peppers, onions, mushrooms, jalepenos, lettuce, tomatoes, and a little ketchup all for 9 weight watchers points! AWESOME!

I was a LITTLE DISAPPOINTED at the beach today..NO HOT MEN to look at! WHAT THE HELL!? I stressed my concern to R, and she told me it wasn't tourist time so it was just ugly locals. BUMMER!

....We then walked a mile and a half up and down the beach and I still couldn't find anyone to feast my eyes on :( BOO!


"Hi, I am Stephanie, food addict and overeater."
"Hi, I am R, food addict and overeater."

Today, we went to another food therapy group. How empowering and liberating it is to be in a room of people who share the same problems with you and genuinely care about you and your feelings. Some of the people in the group made me sad; struggling anorexics, bulimics, and overeaters who have let go of themselves and their lives. BUT they all had the strength to seek help. How wonderful and beautiful!


I miss you and love you, Dad. Happy Fathers' Day. Always thinking of you. Thank you for keeping me strong, motivated and inspired to lose weight. You are driving me hard. I am doing this in your honor.


LOVE always,
Stephanie

Day 5: The morning after (MY CORE IS KILLING ME!)

SORRY! I am writing for day 5, the day after. Yesterday was insanely busy.

9:45am:

R: WAKE UP! Time for a walk on Bayshore.
Me: NO! You said we were going at 8 when it wasn't that hot out, so I wouldn't die of heat stroke. Let's just go to the gym.
R: No, you have to do one outside activity a day. I want to go to Bayshore. Let's go.
Me: No, I am not going so have fun with out me I will go to the gym.
R: You are being extremely difficult and ridiculous. It's BS. Stop being lazy, and let's go to Bayshore. NOW.
Me: No, have fun without me because I am NOT going. I am going to the gym
R: FINE! BE THAT WAY! BUT YOUR BUTT IS WORKING AND RUNNING FOR THE FULL TIME I AM GONE. GOT THAT? YOU ARE RUNNING 3 MILES STRAIGHT, NO STOPPING. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO QUIT IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE DIFFICULT AND NOT COME WITH ME!

(She runs out and slams the door leaving me here in FEAR, because she scared me when she yelled.)

5 minutes later.... Me: HEY R! WAIT UP! I'M COMING (yelling down the road).

That's right, I caved. I stopped being afraid of the heat and dying of a heat stroke, and faced it and went for the walk/jog down bayshore! -claps-

The rest of the day was our day off and of relaxation. We had to do one intense workout and that was Bayshore! We then went shopping, I finished up decorating my room and bathroom and R had a few people over tonight to play poker and hang out!

Me: How many points is that for you? Do you still have enough left to consume that beer?
R: Yes (smirks)
Me: How about that hotdog?
R: (sad face looks away)
Me: I'll be taking that from you (eats it because I had enough points)

<3 hahaha, the point is WE keep EACH OTHER accountable. R kicks my butt and I attempt to kick hers. Sneaking food is so tempting and really easy to do. I had one too many burgers last night and went over my points by a few BUT I had my bonus points for the week that I used. And I will not use them anymore this week! I STAYED AWAY FROM BOOZE TOO! :)



However my abs (or lack there of) are killing me! I swear they are broken into pieces inside my body somewhere!

THANK YOU HOLLEWUD BOOTY CAMP!!!!

xoxo Stephanie Hollewud <3

Saturday Morning: Thoughts from R

So those of you that know us may have picked up on the fact that Steph and I have almost identical personalities...If you don't know us, let me fill you in. We are both loud, stubborn, loud, outgoing, loud and moody. Oh, and loud. For example, Steph picked a fight with a child (and said child's mother) at the bowling alley last night when the mother warned her not to hit her son with her butt while we were dancing the Cupid Shuffle between frames...

Anyway, when Steph inevitably gets frustrated and tells me to sod off (to put it mildly), my strategy has been to ignore her and/or pretend I don't hear her. I've noticed that it takes her approximately one and a half minutes to come to her senses or give in to what I am asking her to do.

Also, I have a confession to make. I have been sneaking food behind Stephanie's back. It's horrible. I am publishing it now, knowing Steph will read this and kick my butt, but good. We made a pact not to eat out this week. That was my idea. I stuck to it...until yesterday. Long story short, my trivia team won a $150 gift card to a local irish pub and we all decided to meet up and use it yesterday. I almost skipped the gathering because we are trying to avoid booze and eating out, but I persuaded myself to show up for an hour. I am glad to say that I did not drink at all, but I did cave and split a grilled chicken salad (dressing on the side) with a friend which was basically a half chicken breast on a bed of lettuce. I realize that the food I ate wasn't disastrous, but it's the principle. I caved broke the pact and I am sorry Steph! Please forgive me. I cannot be trusted to go to bars or restaurants and avoid food, so don't let me!

Tonight we are having a little house warming/ welcoming party for Steph. I have a lot to do (jello has been requested) so we are going to do one high-intensity workout instead of three. The plus about hosting is that we get to control what food is present. As of now, we are planning on turkey burgers and low fat hot dogs and perhaps a fruit salad. This should be a fairly easy day for us to stay on track!

Day 4: It's Bitter Sweet

Today, Rich and I worked out together. Talk about a sweaty man! Haha. R had a place to be, so it was up to Rich and I to keep my amazing progress going in the gym...

JOB ACCOMPLISHED!! I added another 30 seconds to my running time. So, from 4 minutes of running to now 8.5 minutes..CAN I GET AN AMEN???!!!!!!

Rich was beating me up in the gym, making me do nasty yoga ball squats, biceps, triceps, curls, and leaving his gross sweat stains everywhere for me to clean up before I could use equipment. It definitely grossed me out to say the least.

Me: Rich, how do you expect me to workout with your nasty sweat all over the bench? It grosses me out!
Rich: Shut up, it's not a big deal, let's get going! WORK!

..He is good motivation :)


Pool workout was good as usual, there was some fine eye candy sitting by the pool keeping me motivated, that's for damn sure.

Me: Why yes sir, I can swim laps faster than you ;]

haha..

Now, it is my down time and I am chilling with Dolly Dog :) I MISS MY TINO THOUGH! Late night walk later. We may go out to visit some friends. Who knows what tonight brings?

I ate leftover AWESOME chili cooked by R and a lean cuisine today. I also ate eggs whites on a piece of toast with a slice of turkey. I also had a 100 calorie snack pack for a total of 21 points all day and 21 left over for tonight! AWESOME.

I am starting to feel a little sad in Florida. I am missing my friends and family a lot. But, this is why I am here; to work hard, get my life straight and be healthy. It's hard losing people you love and care about. But, no person is worth your tears and the one who is, won't make you cry.

I love all of you!

xoxo Stephanie HollEwud

R's Light Chili Recipe

This is a fantastic recipe that I stole elements of from here and there, eventually morphing it in to my own concoction. The great thing about this recipe is that you get twice the chili for half the calories, fat, and in our case, weight watchers points. You do this by matching the amount of meat in the chili with the same amount of vegetables. In essence, if you did not add the veggies, you would only get 6 cups of chili. Because we add the veggies, we get 10 cups and far fewer calories!

Another reason chili rocks is because it is versatile. There are three of us in Casa de HollEwud so this recipe can last us for three different meals! On night one, we used the chili, lettuce, salsa, low fat cheese and low fat sour cream to make taco salads. On night two, we stuffed light tortillas with chili to make tacos. On night three, we topped baked sweet potatoes with chili for a delicious and filling meal. The jalapenos are optional as the HollEwuds love a little kick to their food. Rich is still paying for this one...

Ingredients:

cooking spray
1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 bell peppers (any color), seeded and chopped
1 16 oz can corn
1 16 oz can black beans, rinsed (water packed)
1 16 oz can light red kidney beans rinsed (water packed)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 c. chili powder
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1.) Coat a large wok with cooking spray. Let heat on high on burner for 1 minute.
2.) Add onion and cook for 2 minutes.
3.) Add turkey in small clumps, browning the meat, about 5-7 minutes.
4.) Add powders, pepper and salt. Stir thoroughly.
5.) Add tomatoes. Stir and let boil. About 5 minutes.
6.) Add vegetables and beans. Mix thoroughly and bring to boil again. About 5 more minutes.
7.) Let set about 10 minutes and serve.

Day 3 Continued: IN IT TO WIN IT!

After the hike this morning, I was pretty spent.


I did not feel like doing any more exercise and I wanted to give up. But I didn't. I did my pool workout as usual and shocker, Rachael and I got into our first argument.

R: We are waking up at 7 tomorrow to work out.
Me: Uh, hell no.
R: Yes we are because I have somewhere to be at 9.
Me: Um, no. That was not part of the agreement. I am not waking up at 7. That's bull and ridiculous! NO! NO! NO!
R: Fine, I am done. Do it on your own! (walks away flipping the middle finger)

I won, by the way. I just had to work harder in the gym tonight :)

So, I am in it to win it. I have gone from only being able to run 4 minutes to 8 minutes in just 3 days! R was crying tonight because she was so proud. I can't help but tell you, I was proud of myself too. I am really impressed that I pushed myself to the extremes.

I have shin splints, pulled muscles, and blisters taking over my feet, but I still push through them. Because when you think about it, it's all going to be worth it in the end. In it to win it!

We went to a food obsession therapy group. We all sat in a circle and talked. It was a cool feeling. Kind of cultic at first, but pretty sweet all together.

TONIGHT--I kicked ass in poker. FIRST PLACE BABY!! $145! THANK YOU TAMPA!! I was so excited. I think everybody was impressed that I won my first time playing with this crew. It was pretty sweet. It was Ewud time since R and I took first and second place. Randy came in third, but I must point out again that I beat R :)





I love Rachael. She does a lot for me and helps me to stay in check. She's pretty awesome.

I miss my family at home though. I miss my mom, Jess, Jordan, Paul my grandparents, and my friends. It's starting to get harder without them, but this is what I am here for and this is what everybody supported me for. IN IT TO WIN IT! IN IT TO WIN IT! I just have to keep saying that to myself.

How to Comment on Our Blog

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XOXO
R

Day 3: Fully Alive!

"I'm alive again, more alive than I have been in my entire life!" -Eminem What a great quote, so perfect for my day so far!

7:45am: R: Wake up Steph!!
Me: UHHH (groans)
R: Time for our hike around Lettuce Lake!

Today, we went to Lettuce Lake. What a gorgeous and fun trail! I kinda slacked today and complained more than usual, but boy did I get a workout! My butt cheeks are on fire! We walked approximately 3 miles! It was good thing we went early, because it wasn't that hot. THANK GOD. I can't do the heat torture.

At the end of our initial walk, R tells me we are going to go on the boardwalk around the lake (it's a boardwalk suspended above the alligator infested waters) so we can see some gators. Oh yes, and R assures me that it ONLY TAKES TEN MINUTES. I thought why not? 10 minutes is nothing. SHOW ME THE GATORS!

...30 MINUTES LATER we are still heading north on our trail to a watch tower to look over the water. There are unidentified creatures below my feet under the bridge. I finally start to realize that R TRICKED ME! That's right guys, our "ten minute walk" was MUCH longer than I was told, and there were NO GATORS! I guess I'll let her slide on the false promise of gators since the waters were low due to drought, but she definitely snuck in more cardio and made me do a longer workout than she promised!!


...I laugh now, but I was upset earlier :)

Attached are pics of me working out on the outdoor stair-stepper and attempting the rings. There's also a photo of the hiking crew: Me, R and Katlyn! Onto the rest of the day: pool aerobics, laps, and the gym later tonight!

Lots of love!
xoxo Stephanie Hollewud

Setting the Record Straight: A Note from R

Because I am a HollEwud, I feel the need to defend myself just a tiny bit here. For the sake of comedy, my darling sister is exaggerating my monster a little bit. So please, friends, family, and complete strangers, stop sending me hate mail. It makes me cry.

Next, my favorite quote from the blog so far is "If there's nothing to complain about, you're not working hard enough." Way to go, Steph! Excellent Ewudism! Now, I am anti-exremism when it comes to diet and exercise, but a leisurely stroll down the block is not the stuff that results are made of. So when Steph says "It hurts," it's supposed to, but just a little. You should always push yourself about 10% past comfort when it comes to any cardio, at least in short spurts as we see in Steph's case. I have found, this is the most efficient (and I am the queen of efficiency) way to increase endurance.

Also, I am incredibly proud of Stephanie at this Day 2 mark. She has complained very little and been very disciplined with the food, despite her angsty (yes, I coined it!) entries. I was skeptical of this at first and promptly raided her room for hidden snacks. All clear. Lots of dedication so far. She has even agreed to get up before the sun tomorrow and go for a hike with me and the alligators!

And another thing, not eating out is tormenting me only 2 days in. I really wanted to order wings tonight at Beef's for trivia, but I just sipped my water and ate celery sticks (they were free so it doesn't count!) Instead of gorging ourselves on wings, Katlyn, Steph and I hauled our butts the 2 miles home, as Stephanie pointed out. Not to dilute her retelling of the story, but the complaining must have been in her head, for the only disdained I observed was the occasional scoff and eye roll.

Finally, storage wars rocked apart from us waiting around for an hour past the start time in 100 degree heat. I got very excited, the way you do when you are implementing a particularly risky bluff in poker, when I bid on one of the units. We lost the bid in the end, but it was the equivalent of making a feeler bet and then your opponent coming over the top. It would be very risky to move all in in this spot when you are unsure of the strength of your hand. I definitely plan on following up on these auctions in the future.

More tomorrow.

Day 2: The Complaining Starts.

So, today I was convinced. R is trying to kill me. We started off the early morning at 9am, and had a healthy fruit smoothie and went to the gym. Apparently, the plastic top for the blender fell in while R was making the smoothie (she failed to mention this to me) and what I thought were seeds from the berries, were actually shards of plastic in my mouth. Yeah, this is the first sign of R trying to murder me. When I complained about it, she said, "Shut up and lay on the bench. Time for crunches." This morning's workout consisted of crunches, arm lifts, and weight training. As I am pouring sweat, and dying of exhaustion, R throws me a curve ball, torturing me yet again, until my arms are ready to fall off, is not good enough for her.

Squats... Really? She wants me to balance this big ass yoga ball behind my back against the wall, and start squatting up and down and up and down. The pain I feel in my legs, ass and thighs is pretty unbearable and start yelling,

Me: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? KILL ME?!"
R: "Shhhh, you need to have your legs a little farther apart and go a little lower...now hold that position...hold it...hold it.."
Me: "I hate you."

Out of principal, I complained today. I feel like no extraneous workout is complete without some form of bitching and/or complaining. If there's nothing to complain about, you aren't working hard enough.

On to the treadmill. Today, we increased my endurance and strength levels! Run 1.5 minutes, walk 3.5 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes, walk 3.5 minutes...this cycle continued for twenty minutes. I was able to run half a mile! HOW SICK IS THAT?!...I know to some you may be thinking a half a mile is nothing, but really it's an accomplishment when you have excess weight on you...Damn it made me proud!

1:30PM: Storage Wars--it was all crap. I left and didn't bother bidding, Rachael and Rich stayed.

4:00pm: ITS TIME FOR WATER FITNESS! Again with the front stroke, back stroke, breast stroke, laps, squats, and kicks in the pool. I love working out in the water. It really pushes your muscles and the water works as great resistance against you. It makes you burn!

R: Stephanie, you cannot sit and do kicks in the water.
Me: R, I am holding my head back on the step, my body isn't touching the stairs and I am doing proper kicks, let it go and shut up.

I always accuse R of cheating in the pool. I am convinced she does.

9:30pm: The PROOF of R trying to murder me....She decides it would be a great idea to walk 2 miles home pre-hurricane from Trivia Night, while I am chafing and wearing flip flops. Although it was a great end of the night exercise, a great cool down, awesome exercise and fun, I was exhausted and grouchy the walk home.

R: Stephanie, Move a little faster, pick up the pace here.
Me: Listen I am not the one who wanted to walk home, I am walking as fast as I can for someone who is wearing flip flops, and chafing, so kiss my ass.

11:01pm: In bed, writing a blog, enjoying my other gallon of water, and going to bed.

HOLY CRAP THUNDER!!

xoxo Stephanie HollEwud.


P.S. PICTURE ONE IS OUR YUMMY HEALTHY TURKEY BURGER WITH HALF A SLICE OF PEPPER JACK CHEESE, WORTH 6 WW POINTS!

PICTURE TWO IS MY YUMMY SALAD FROM SWEETBAY, WITH 3 TABLESPOONS OF LITE BLEU CHEESE DRESSING IT IS WORTH 10 POINTS, BC IT CONTAINS, CHEESE, CROUTONS, BEANS AND A TABLE SPOON OF BACON BITS. (Some of these ingredients sound fattening, but it is all possible on weight watchers to eat it healthily and in moderation)

PICTURE 3 IS MY TAN LINE FROM EXERCISING FROM DAY ONE OUT ON BAYSHORE BOULEVARD!

Day One, It's GO TIME! :)

Okay so, today was long as hell. I had to wake up at 6 and my flight was at 8:30. So, I got right off the plane at 11:05am, and was starting my first exercise program with R by noon. I almost had a heat stroke because she made me walk/jog in 100 degree weather down Bayshore Boulevard. I contemplated calling an ambulance to take me away and give me oxygen (plus the ambulance would have A/C), and then I realized I didn't have my cell phone and neither did she. So basically, I had to truck through the rest of the 1.5 mile adventure. But it doesn't stop there. We get home, and I (barely breathing) jump in the shower for a good 15 minutes to get my body temperature back to normal.

Oh, but no, the sick twisted torture of walking in the heat wasn't enough for R for day one. It wasn't enough to start off easy right when I stepped off the plane, it was GO TIME. After I got out of the shower, it was time for swimming laps and doing water aerobics, including squats, leg lifts, and bicycle kicks. I had to keep R in check because she was being a cheater and kicking off the wall. That's right, I kicked HER ass in the pool! (not trying to brag or anything) ;] Then it was on to break, un-packing, and book club.

10:30pm = Gym Time. Run one minute, walk four minutes, run one minute, walk four minutes.
Rachael: Come on steph! Increase the incline by one.
Me: R YOU ARE PUSHING YOUR EFFING LUCK! YOU ARE LUCKY YOU HAVE GOT ME RUNNING AT ALL, LET ALONE ADDING AN INCLINE WHEN I'M WALKING.
R: -Silence.- Well, $12. Jessica owes me $12, because it took you 12 hours to finally bitch me out about pushing you!

Haha, well that lightened the mood for the rest of the work out. We then proceeded to do crunches, and weight lifting...

So, because I did so well, I get to pick a prize out of the prize bucket today, I think I am going to chose the shattered black and silver nail polish! AWESOME. :)

I am trying to stay happy, upbeat and excited. This is going to be a great experience, I WILL NOT GO BACK TO CT UNTIL I LOSE WEIGHT! I appreciate all the support! I love you all <3

The Night Before Thoughts

I have tried blogging before. I follow the same cycle: write a whole bunch over a week-long period, invite people to join, then delete blog out of embarrassment.

This time, the blog serves a different purpose. The sole purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends updated on Stephanie's progress.

My dear sister, Stephanie is moving in with me in hopes that we can work together to improve her lifestyle. Stephanie and I will work together to set goals and work to achieve them. I believe it will take a year for Stephanie to get to a healthy weight and maybe longer for her to reach her ideal weight. I am dedicating 2 full months to helping her get started and then when I go back to work in the fall, we will work together to integrate habits she has (hopefully) formed over the summer into everyday life.

Some things I love about Stephanie:

-She is the only person I know that is more outgoing than I am!
-She has a great smile
-Damn, can she sing!
-She is very loyal (i.e., don’t mess with me or she’ll come after you)!
-Steph is compassionate and truly cares about other people.

I know she can do this!

So in my ADD, I created a crazy list of everything I have learned about weight loss that I want to teach Steph. Of course it’s an unorganized mess so I decided to take small steps. Essentially, I am starting with a simple check-list for her for the week. If she checks everything off, she gets a prize from my magic prize box! Can you tell I am a teacher? In addition to this, I want to help her find some hobbies. When I was overweight, I only had 1 hobby: eating. I am serious. I was interested in nothing and therefore had nothing to do except eat. Basically, I want Steph to create some fun distractions for herself to deter her from food. Luckily, there are TONS of these in Florida. Therefore, we will limit our plethora of ideas to 2 for the remainder of this week:

1.) Avoid eating out. Eating out is the worst. It is expensive and almost NEVER healthy. I really should limit it to special occasions, but I actually eat out at least once Monday - Friday and for almost all meals Saturday and Sunday. For Tuesday through Saturday, Steph and I will eat out only one single time. It may sound simple, but for restaurant addicts like us, this is much easier said than done.

2.) Find Steph some hobbies. We need to get Steph involved in some healthy activities. It’s hard to do this in CT since everything is so far away from where we live. I am hoping that Florida will prove much easier to find distractions.

I think that’s enough for tonight. Friends, please follow this blog and post encouraging comments when you see fit. We appreciate it!

XOXO
R HollEwud