Wednesday, November 12, 2008

tap, tap ... is this thing on?

So, I'm taking a break from decorating my husband's birthday cake (German chocolate if you must know) to see how my fellow fitness friends are doing and ... and ... where are you?

Are you there?


Do you need to have an incentive to not let the remnant Halloween candy and darkness that settles early upon the land turn you in to a hibernatory* creature?

(*According to Webster, that's not a word. But it should be.)

Alright then. Another shuffle it is. I would offer something up new and different ... like a sleek triathlon watch ... but honestly? I think that having good tunage** is more important than knowing what time it is.

(**Also not a word recognized by Webster. Really should be).

Leave me a comment telling me what your goals will be to get you through the holidays and then, leave me a comment every Wednesday from now until the end of the year as to how you are doing towards those goals.

You have seven weeks. The winner of a new iPod shuffle will be announced on Wednesday, December 31. New Years Eve.

If you don't want to leave me a comment on your physical goals, please wish my husband a happy birthday. He's feeling a little sad that not a single person in his family has called today.

Or maybe he's sad because we're out of wine.

48 comments:

  1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE! Today is my favorite brothers birthday. If and I mean I know you are just alike so you deserve the BEST! Happy Happy Birthday! Ps go get some wine QUICK!

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  2. Guy---Happy Birthday from your Favorite Mother in Law.
    Hope you like your present.You know it is practical if it came from me.
    NONI

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  3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!!!! ~Jeanmarie

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  4. Happy Birthday Charlie! How could you run out of wine? Sorry I haven't weighed in earlier...I have been in school today. Been going good on exercising, today while at school I walked for half hour during lunch, that's all I could get in today.
    Kathy

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  5. Happy Birthday Charlie!

    I started walking every day around the lake.

    Halloween candy isn't my weakness. It's the damn candy cane oreos and onion blossom pringles. Seriously, stay away!

    But, Im trying.

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  6. I recently discovered Bakerella and her damn cupcake pops. Now THEY are dangerous. That and Magnolia Baker cupcakes that someone gave me the recipe to.
    Alas, I love baking. So my goals are:
    1) To send 90% of everything I bake to my husband's workplace. Let them get fat instead.
    2) Buy a skateboardy thing for the back of the stroller and get both kids out of the house for a walk in the evenings.
    3) Start the couch-to-5km running program.
    4) Have Christmas at DH's gran's house. They're all so critical I'm too scared to eat anything for fear they'll comment on my weight! (and yes, they have done this. Several times.)

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  7. Oh and Happy Birthday Charlie from Australia!

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  8. Happy Birthday Charlie! Hope it's a good one! Enjoy that German Choc. Cake.

    I started today doing a new class called Aquasize at the YMCA. It was fun and I got a good workout. I am hoping to get in 3 or more classes of step and water each week. Our 90 day fitness challenge is ending next week and so getting through the holidays will be hard without that accountability and challenge that has pressed me on. But, people are commenting like crazy about how much better I am looking and how much weight (even though not but one pound on the stupid scale) I have lost! I feel much better and that is fantastic! I can tell I have lost inches...not sure what is going on with the scale!

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  10. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!! I'm toasting you now... and eating cake!!

    Finally ran an entire 5k w/out stopping!! The lungs4life in Greenville. Lots of fun had by all! The best part was having your mother, my mother, my father, the boys, Reiner and Lisa all participate!!!! It was really a special time! ;-) Next goal - Cooper River 10k in Charleston!! yeah!!!! And to loose a few lbs but I will think about that tomorrow...after I eat, drink & be merry in Charlie's honor!!!!!!;-)
    Love, Marg

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  11. Happy Birthday, Charlie!!

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  12. Happy Birthday CHARLIE!!!!

    That is so awesome that you guys went out! Good for you!!!

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  13. Happy Birthday, Charlie!

    My goals: lose about four more pounds. I will traveling, away from the gym, but I want to remain reasonably healthy and active, whether it be walking or whatever is possible, and not pig out on eating.

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  14. Feliz cumpleanos a ti, feliz cumpleanos a ti, feliz cumpleanos a Charlie, feliz cumpleanos a ti.

    Tracy B

    I don't have the ability to add spanish accents... You get the picture!

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  15. Happy Birthday Charlie!

    I know I should be focusing on fitness goals, but with a kinda preemie (he was 35 weeks), 2 busy 3 year old and a husband that works long hours, the gym is not realistic right now. Instead, I am focusing on losing the baby weight and trying to add in a daily family walk. So far I'm down 17 pounds and have 17 more to go. The daily walk is happening a couple of times a week.

    My goal for the next 6 weeks is to continue to stay focused and to LOSE weight (forget maintaining, I want to LOSE!). I want to treat each holiday (my birthday is in there too) as just ONE DAY to eat special foods, not an excuse to eat for an entire week or month.

    I would love to have the weight off by the spring so that I can focus on toning up once the baby can go to the germy gym nursery.

    You are picking the shuffle winner on my birthday...

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  16. I don't need a shuffle so don't enter me in the contest (my MP3 player is set with Bruce Springsteen and Billy Idol and that's all I need baby!:) but I'll gladly leave comments about my progress. Since I weaned my twins two weeks ago, I've started working out five times a week, counting calories and consuming tons of water. So far, I've lost six pounds and I'm feeling so much better! My short term goal - wear "real" clothes to Christmas instead of maternity! My long term goal - lose sixty pounds by August so I'm at a healthy weight to get pregnant again (uh, but this time with a SINGLETON!:)

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  17. My fitness goals...

    #1 Finish the Podrunner: Intervals Gateway to 8k running program by Dec 31, 2008.

    #2 Lose 25 pounds by Dec 31, 2008 (I've lost 14 already in the last month... on Weight Watchers).

    #3 Exercise 5 times a week either running, using my elliptical machine or doing a water aerobics class.

    I will check back in on Wednesday to let you know how I'm doing.

    Thanks for doing this contest... it gives me added incentive to keep going. :)

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  18. Oooohhh this is just what I need! I've been sporadically working out on my elliptical but I really want to gut my butt in gear before the holidays. My goals are to 1.) Work out 30 minutes/5 days a week either running or elliptical. 2.) Strength training twice a week. and the big one 3.) Run a 5K in both November and December.

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  19. This is actually perfect timing! I've found having smaller short term goals really help me achieve my larger long term goals. My current short term goal is to fit into my favorite little black dress on New Years Eve! I haven't worn this dress in over three years, and I would be THRILLED if I could wear it to ring in the new year! I've just joined the womens gym Curves, and I'm working on going at least three times a week. In comparison I guess my goal/plan isn't as hardcore as others, but this is the first time I've ever even begun working towards a healthier me. I'm excited to see where I am on December 31!
    - Michele

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  20. Forgot to say Happy Birthday to Charlie, the most patient, understanding Dad that I've never met....lol.

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  21. Happy Birthday Charlie!!!

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  22. Happy Birthday Charlie, I wish I could make you some of "my" famous cookies for your birthday. Hope it was a great one.

    xoxo

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  23. Happy Birthday, Charlie!!

    Fitness goals: I am supposed to be training for a half Marathon in February, but I am not doing very well at all. (I have a history of signing up for these things and never actually doing them... I have lots and lots of t-shirts from events I've never attended!) This time, I am determined to run that half marathon, whether it kills me (and it probably will) or not!
    So, as of today, I am up to 2 miles... did I mention that I am NOT a runner?

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  24. Wow, I really don't know what's worse, the lack of wine or the lack of phone calls. Here's a shout-out to Charlie for his birthday - Happy Birthday Charlie! Hope it was spectacular in every way! Now go relax and let Jen do it all (just kidding Jen). :o)

    P.S. Please don't enter my name for the iPod, I have one and would hate to take a chance away from someone else! I just didn't want Charlie to feel too alone. ;o)

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  25. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE!!!
    Okay, so my goal this time around is to lose another 20 lbs by New Years. I started losing weight in May of this year...starting weight was 246 lbs. I am now at 196 lbs. Goal weight? Between 135-150 lbs. I can do it! I KNOW I can! And Halloween candy isn't a weakness for me...mine is CHEESE! lol! Healthy, maybe. Fattening...EXTREMELY!!!!!!!!!

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  26. Happy Birthday Charlie!

    My cyrrent goals are to complete the 100 push-up challenge. I've made it halfway through and I feel that it's working, but often getting motivated is difficult. After I've completed that, I will be starting the Run 5k challenge you mentioned in your blog. I need to do this for myself so I feel more confident.

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  27. Happy Birthday Charlie!!

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  28. Happy Birthday to Charlie! Buy the man some more wine...he needs some "wine" to counteract the "whine" you all hear from the kiddos. (I'm assuming you hear a lot of whine...I do as a mom of 2 young ones.)

    Fitness goals...Well, I've never posted mine here. After infertility and then a long adoption process, I found myself very out of shape. I let the depression get to me during all of it. Anyway, I am happy to report that I took up spinning and hated it at first. My 2yo screamed during my first class last Jan and the childcare room had to page me to come get her. I was SO happy to collect her (READ it as..."so happy to get out of that room with the bikes"). Good thing I paid for a whole 7 wk session b/c I probably would not have returned after that. I thought it was literally an impossible thing to accomplish. Fast forward all these months...I took the summer months off due to scheduling/etc. but picked it back up in early Sept. I now do it 2x a week in combination with a pump class (strength training type stuff). I finally feel like a more fit person. I've lost some weight, but toned up much more, have more energy, and am happier as a result!

    My goal is to stick with it...esp through the holidays...and keep feeling better and better!

    Hats off to you for motivating others to get/stay fit! (If YOU can find time to do it, I have NO excuse!)

    Amy in OH

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  29. Happy Birthday, Charlie!!

    My goals: In June, three months after giving birth to my third child, I had my first attack of Multiple Sclerosis. I had my first migraine in the middle of this first attack and it was followed by many other firsts - first weekend in the ER, first neurologist appointment, first time I couldn't walk or talk as an adult, first month of having to sleep 16+ hours a day, first very scary drug prescription, first drastic weight loss.

    My Catherine is now eight months old and I haven't had a second attack. The neurologist is hopeful that I won't. But in the last month, since I've started feeling like ME again, I have realized how selfish I have been in caring for my body and myself. The skipped breakfasts, the fast food lunches and soda, the lack of vitamins and exercise.

    I'm almost down to what I weighed in MIDDLE school, which I can't complain about, but as a cyclist, my amazing legs are now completely void of all muscle tone. So my goal is to get back into cycling. Not only that, I'm going to race in the state mountain biking championships next spring.

    Exercise strengthens your body, your spirit, and your mind, and I will need all three if I have a second attack. Not to mention, I don't want to look back and think of how I lost my body for a month and didn't learn from the experience or set a better example for my beautiful children.

    This week, I've moved up to running three times a week, pushing my massive, heavy double jogger along with me! And Saturday, I will take my oldest daughter on our first mountain bike ride together this fall. I can't wait.

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  30. Happy Birthday Charlie!!

    My goals are to start taking family walks in the evening at least until it gets freezing. I also want to commit to riding our stationary bike at least 3 days a week. And finally i want to try and find a fitness course through our parks and recs that i will be excited about doing, so that i can get healthy and have me time all at the same time (i have four kiddos myself)

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  31. Happy Happy, from the Bartees!

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  32. Fist of all HAPYY BIRTHDAY. Would you like me to shen you a bottle of yummy dummy wine? HEHEH. I am not offically in love with Jazzercise! Don't know if I have lost any weight, but I enjoy being there. I am in a cometition with my dear friend, anyone team of 2 that attends 36 classes by the end of the year will receive a jazzercise shopping bag. November and December are busy months for us, both of my girls are Turkey babies, born 4 years apart. So party party, and hubs is the day after Christmas. Halloween candy has been a challenge, errrr, but I'll shake my rump a little more to burn it off. I have recently purchased a relaxation DVD. Gotta get the mind fit too!

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  33. Happy Birthday! yum I love German Chocolate, or at least the frosting, so good.

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  34. Hi Jen!

    I hope you'll be shooting out some reminders for the weekly update.. *laff* I'm great at starting these things and then I crash and burn because I don't follow through.

    I have a different goal in mind. I've already lost about 70 pounds over the last two years.. I could use to lose more.. but that's not my goal. My goal is to be better about taking care of my Type 2 Diabetes. I had GD when I was pregnant and it turned into full blown Type 2 after the little dude arrived. I'm horrible at keeping up with it since it is only "my" life in the balance and i'm not carrying a little dude.

    We'd like to have more children, but among other things, I need to get myself disciplined. I thought of a few things that would help me reach that goal.

    1. check my blood sugars daily
    2. stop eating fast food (HUGE for me.. i'm a McGriddl-a-holic)
    3. start treating sweets as a treat and not a food group.

    Good luck to us all!

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  35. Oh.. and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!

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  36. Happy Birthday Charlie!

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  37. Happy Birthday Charlie! I hope you had a wonderful day!
    :)

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  38. Happy Birthday to Charlie!

    Now, onto my goals or lack thereof. I have to do this; my clothes are starting not to fit. It all started last night when I competed in the Mom's Challenge -Punt/Pass/Catch for my 8yo son's football team. It was fun and I finished 7th out of 21 Moms, yeah!

    I have a 5K picked out on 12/14 for my 10yo daughter and I to complete. Since she is doing it with me, I'll say in UNDER 45min.

    I REALLY need that tunage -- Viva La Vida is my current favorite song!

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  39. Oh yeah -- I told my kids last night that I WILL do a 1/2 marathon by the time I am 40 --- only 11 months to go.

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  40. hi husband! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I'm a tad late (just by a day) of reading this blog but I do usually read every day and enjoy it immensely. You are a wonderful writer:)
    Let's see - goals for getting thru the holidays: egg nog (w/ brandy, rum and some Jack) and my antidepressant! Well, at least I'm being truthful.

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  41. Thanks for inspiring us! I have to report that I ran my first 5k last Sat. Although my finishing time was nothing to brag about, I beat my practice time by SEVEN minutes! My DH ran with me, he could have totally smoked me but instead ran by my side and encouraged me the whole way. An ipod would be awesome, but not nearly as great as he was. :) If only he could always work out with me!

    I plan to run another 5k mid Jan. and shave two or more minutes off my time. I hope that this will give me the willpower to keep the eating under control over the holidays as well as continue training 4 to 5 days a week.

    And Happy Birthday to Charlie. I hope the phone calls came after all.

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  42. Awww...Happy birthday to Charlie! I hope he had a great day. Loved the video of the kids singing.

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  43. Oh poor Charlie a double disaster, no calls, no wine.
    Not the way to spend your birthday.

    So in the better late than never category
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE

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  44. Happy Birthday yesterday to Charlie!

    How come we can't leave comments on your newest post, Jen?

    I'll leave my comment here instead... I just wanted to say that I'm pretty shocked that they aren't serving healthy snacks and that they aren't encouraging healthy snacks be brought in my parents. The elementary school I'm doing my teacher's college placement in is all about the healthy eating... to the point where they veto'd a bake sale that was going to be used to raise funds for a grade eight field trip... because they want to promote healthy choices and a trans-fat-free school. And this is just a public school, no less.

    The childcare centres I've worked at, and the schools I've worked in here in Ontario are ALL about promoting the healthy eating. At the daycare centre I used to work at, snack was rice cakes with apple butter, or yogurt, or apple sauce and some apple juice to drink. lol.

    Stick with your guns on it... it's only going to benefit the children if the initiative is taken to reduce the amount of CRAP they're eating at school. I can totally see why you're hesitant on enrolling them in January... I would be too. That's a lot of money for barely any "schooling".

    Best of luck! :-)

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  45. My goal -my new goal, that is- is to run a 10K, hopefully by March. I'm not hoping to set any land speed goals, just to complete it with a minimum of walking.

    Oh, and to lay off the chocolate cake doughnuts which have been dancing through my head lately... Mmm. Deep fried chocolate cake...

    Ahem. Yes, the goal is to attempt to be a bit more cautious about the amount of sugar in my diet*, and to work towards that 10K completion. I am hoping that keeping those goals in mind will be what gets me through the holidays, knowing how hard I work to get weight off in the first place, knowing how much harder it is to run when I'm carrying extra weight. I am also very much hoping that I am able to stick to my training schedule despite the travel. That, I think, will be the true test.

    Oh, and a very happy belated birthday to Charlie!



    *yes, like you, I am appalled that the montessori school serves your children a gigantic pile of sugar and fat for an afternoon snack. Appalled. And yes, I would complain again, definitely. That is simply unacceptable.

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  46. Happy Birthday Charlie!!! Go get some wine! STAT.

    Still on track for my half marathon in the spring. But I'm not going to keep updating. I never win anything. Just not lucky that way. (And you didn't enter my blog contest......)

    Congrats on fitting into pre kid clothes! Feels good doesn't it?

    Kathy

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  47. Happy (belated) Birthday, Charlie!

    My goal is to *run* a whole 5K. I ran a good 5-10 miles daily in high school, but when I started up the Couch to 5K program, I realized that it's been a LOOOOOONG time since I was in high school! Ten years and two babies later, I am way out of shape. I started exercising again when I couldn't get through my day without gasping for air. My doc said it was probably just asthma, but I think it's the extra weight, lack of sleep and junk food that I've been weighing myself down with. Lo and behold, I've been exercising (kind of) regularly for the last couple months, and I have hardly had any gasping attacks lately!

    It's been rough trying to fit in exercise time with two kids, no double jogging stroller, and a hubby who works all the time, but I've been doing it. I did my first 5K at the end of Oct, but I didn't even try to run the whole thing. Still, I finished, and I kept up the jog/walk rotation that I was aiming for, so I'm proud of that. I'm doing a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to jog the whole thing, but we'll see how it goes. I also have my eye on another 5K in December, so I'll definitely accomplish my goal THIS YEAR!

    Cheers,
    Sarah

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  48. Happy Birthday Charlie!

    And to make this an even better day for me, I finally made some progress! I actually got out to go on a brisk walk every other day these last two weeks! When I stopped and thought about it after reading this post I almost cried because I was so proud of myself. Pathetic, I know, but it sure feels good to be taking a step in the right direction rather than sitting on my lazy bum and being amazed as each week goes by and I still haven't done anything. Being sick took so much out of me these last few months, and I thought I'd never get started, let alone reach my goal. So I'm glad I've gotten started!

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