Just me rambling. . .

So it's been over a week since I've blogged anything and I read on Mandy W.'s blog that being a good blogger means posting something at least once a day. Not sure that I'll reach that level, but I'm going to try and be a better blogger.

Most of you have already heard about this, but my latest obsession is actually myself. . .not like you think! As always I make the same new year's resolution and obviously don't ever succeed, but this year it's different thanks to this thing called a wiki.

In my blog stalking, I read my cousin's blog for her scrapbooking store and she posted that they were going to have a weight loss wiki and if you're interested email her. I thought, not sure what a wiki is, but a little competition might help (not that I haven't been offered money, prizes, etc. to lose weight before and again that didn't work!!)

She sends me the info, I'm interested and immediately have to get Courtney on board. . .we always do things better together. Well, the wiki started on January 1st and goes through June 30th. CT and I didn't start until Jan.2nd as HELLO, the 1st is a holiday and still plenty of food & drinks to consume!!

So in one month's time, Courtney & I have both lost 11 pounds (kinda crazy that we've lost the same amount of weight). We LOVE the wiki!!! Absolutely LOVE IT!!! I know you're asking "what is a wiki??" The wiki is a website that we all log into at least once a week and track our weekly weigh ins, journal our food, and at least blog on either our page or someone else's page. We each had to contribute $30 to the pot and since there's 30 of us the pot is $900.00 - WOO-HOO!!! We have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize. It's based on the percentage of body weight you lose.

Most of the women are from Kansas and are avid scrapbookers (make sense since it was posted on the store's website). Each of us have our own page where we tell a little bit about ourself, post pics, etc. Then we have a page for each week to track our food. We also have a daily journal page where you can vent your frustrations, celebrate your victories, etc. There is also the lovely weight tracker page. You didn't have to post your weight, but you did have to post whether you lost or gained each week. Most of the women we're like if I'm doing it, I'm doing it all the way so MANY of us posted our actual weight for all 29 other women to see. Yep, I did too! It was crazy!! Generally, CT is the only other person in the world who knows how much I weigh.

All I can say is that the wiki is ADDICTIVE!!! I love having a built-in support system of women I no longer consider strangers. There's very few that only login once/week. Most of us are on there daily and it's such a fantastic source of motivation, inspiration, & encouragement. It's definitely a great source of accountability.

I think the reason why things seem to be working this time is that I'm not looking at is as a diet. It's truly a lifestyle change. I want to start a family soon (within a year or so) and I need to be healthier and I need to have healthier habits so my children don't suffer like I did as the "FAT KID". Of course, I love Weight Watchers (WW) so I rejoined and absolutely LOVE my leader. I've been cooking a lot more (which HG loves) and really making this a lifestyle change for both of us. Thankfully, I have an extremely supportive husband who is making this so much easier!! He's completely onboard which is wonderful!! I've also added regular exercise to my life (which is critical) and I'm LOVING Yoga Booty Ballet and the Gazelle.

So since my life is pretty much consumed with the wiki, changing my lifestyle, and looking for new things, activities, etc. to help me achieve this goal I figured I should fill you in on it as I think my future blogs will probably have a lot to do with this new journey.

So many of you have already been extremely supportive (I really do have the best friends/family), but I want to give a special thanks to a few of you who have been absolutely FANTASTIC. . .Erica (we get weekly motivation emails from her and I LOVE them), Amanda (the queen of cooking light is sharing so many wonderful recipes), Jamie (keeping me motivated with emails and even asking me to share new tips/tricks), Jenn (she's creating a new lifestyle for herself and she's sharing tips along the way), and of course to all the ladies of Keeno who have agreed that healthy meals are a priority for our Keeno nights!!!

Okay, I've rambled enough. I'm going to try this daily posting business so check back often!