The Challenge is on!

As some of you know... Steve and I are having a weight loss challenge. (if you've seen me in the last few years... you've seen me get quite large!- it's okay... I know it... but I'm working on fixing it!).





Anyways... the contest is whoever has the largest percentage of weight loss wins. Yes, girls, I did agree to this bet! I've had lots of people tell me that I shouldn't have because Steve is a guy and will lose weight faster. But, that's okay... I am still doing it. So, here's the deal... we weighed in on January 5th and the challenge lasts until April 15th... yes, tax day... that's how we remember it! The wager: If Steve wins... I have to cook dinner for 7 nights in a row. Now, some of you are thinking... "so what, I do that already" or "that's nothing". Well... if you know me, you know that #1, I HATE to cook!!! #2- I CAN'T cook! I only know how to make a few things. So, for me... this is TORTURE! YIKES! If I win... Steve has to take dance lessons with me... like country or something to learn the twists, turns, things like that... not line dancing! He HATES dancing. I try telling him that if he knew how to dance, then he would enjoy it.





Here's an update on where we are at... Steve has lost 27 lbs and I have lost 20 lbs. Percentage wise... Steve is beating me too! That's okay though... I'm loving my clothes getting too big and having to drop to the next size smaller!





If you're wondering what we're doing to lose weight... I'll tell you. Mainly, we're just watching calories. We are eating 1500 calories a day. Lots of people ask us, "are you cutting carbs, sugars, fat, or anything?" When we started the diet, we said we weren't going to do that because we've tried those kind of diets and they worked only for a short time. However, we soon learned that in order to keep a 1500 calorie/day diet... you CAN'T eat most of that stuff. It's been VERY enlightening as we've counted out EVERY calorie! It's kinda funny... before I eat anywhere, I go online and look at their nutritional information so I know what I'll be eating. If I can't find it... then I have a chart that lists just about all foods and I look up each food item individually. What's crazy is when we look at the calorie count on what we used to eat in a day... HOLY COW! No wonder I gained so much weight! (here's an example... we went to Chili's. I used to eat a Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/ French Fries... that alone-- not counting honey mustard or the tea-- was 1100 calories! Steve would eat the chicken fried steak w/ sides, toast, and gravy and it was 1890 calories! YIKES! That was just one meal! Now... in an entire day we only eat 1500 calories! WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!





We also exercise on the elliptical machine... Steve is WAY better at the working out part. I am still not very disciplined at doing this.





All this to say that this is now becoming our lifestyle. This is not something that when April 15th gets here that we're just going to throw down the drain. It's amazing what it's done. This might sound funny to some people, but before we started the diet, I was nervous as to whether or not I could do it. Most of you know that I'm quite the picky eater! Well, as part of my prayer I prayed that God would change my taste buds. And... He did! I eat some things that I would have never eaten before. Now... there are still some things I still just don't like... but, I'm better!





So, my challenge for anyone who is wanting to lose weight or just to get healthy... is to count your calories! Steve and I still have a hamburger every now and then... but we split it and the fries. And... that will go in our calorie count for the day. So, we know we have to eat light calories the rest of the day or something. Anyhoo... just letting you all know! It's changing our lives and I challenge others to try it out!