WINNERS! {from previous challenge}

Finally time to meet our winners from the previous fitness challenge back in December.  THE HARDEST TIME EVER!!!  These two women worked so hard and I love their stories.

So first up, let's meet Rachel! {you're adorable, Rachel!!!}

After struggling with weight for almost my whole life, I decided while pregnant with my 4th baby last year that this was my time to make the changes I needed and to GET HEALTHY for good! 

I joined Weight Watchers just after my baby was born 6 months ago, and I never looked back! In that time I have lost 50 pounds UNDER my pre-pregnancy weight.(This weight loss challenge got me almost to the end, and I finished it out just shortly after!) As for workouts, I simply set a goal to be moving! I park farther from the doors at the grocery store, I do the Walk at Home videos from Leslie Sansone, and have pushed myself to start running--I am now training for my first 5k (coming from a non-runner this is a big deal!! :) I FEEL FANTASTIC!

It was SO important to I be able to eat the same things my family was eating--and that I not live on salad alone! I have realized on my weight loss journey that much of the first steps of change are PORTION CONTROL and to stop snacking mindlessly. When you track what you eat, you are much more mindful of what you're putting in your body! :) I feel like my whole family is healthier as a result--

One of my favorite meals to eat is a homemade stirfry--the recipe can be found here:

http://excellenteats.blogspot.com/2010/10/beef-and-broccoli-chicken-style.html

If you want my whole weight loss before and after pictures and little story, you are welcome to share my link to it. If not, that's fine too...whatever works! I am happy to share...

http://brholloway.blogspot.com/2011/01/big-5-0my-before-and-after-weight-loss.html

Next, let's Meet Melanie!  {also utterly adorable!!!}

My husband and I are the parents of 5 boys, yes all boys (ages 3-13).  We recently moved from Highland Utah to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although we miss our family and friends out west, we love life in the South.  I love to cook, bake, travel, read, entertain, and create a home for my family. I also love blogging:)  I have two blogs, a recipe site I share with my sisters called The Sisters Cafe (www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com) and Melandboys (www.melandboys.blogspot.com)

I think the secret to my success was having such a great partner in this contest.  Rachel had already lost over 40 pounds and was on a roll!!  She was so committed that I really did not want to let her down. She is such an inspiration to me! She has been following the Weight Watchers program, so I joined online so we could be doing the same thing.  I will admit that dieting at Christmas time was hard, but I am so glad that I did.  With the weight Watchers program you can still have your treats, if you save the points by eating healthy the majority of the time. Now I am excited to keep it going and get off that last stubborn 15 pounds!

Here is a link to my favorite healthy and DELICIOUS meal!  Yum!

Thai Coconut Shrimp (

http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/2010/05/thai-coconut-curry-shrimp.html

Thanks, Rachel & Melanie!  You both make me want to try harder - thanks for sharing!

All Full!!!

Alright, everyone!  You all came through - good for you!!  We've got plenty of teams now - I'm compiling a list - and I"ll post it after my herd comes home from school.  Sorry, but I'm not taking anymore teams at this point - it's 2:50 p.m. Eastern time - if you emailed me sooner than this than I've got you down.  YAY FOR YOU!!!  Now get to work.

Team Spirit!

Okay, Ladies, normally I could understand any hesitancy about jumping off a building, swimming naked with hungry, killer sharks, or dumping acid on my face - BUT SERIOUSLY?!  Why isn't my email inbox full?!  I only have SIX emails!!!  WHAT THE?!  Are you CRAZY?!  Nobody wants to drop a jean size by Christmas and show off a cute tush for Santa?!  (by the way, Santa wants you to drop a jean size...it's his wish.)

Intervention time.  Stop what you're doing right now - grab a buddy - and email me - abbywelker(at)yahoo(dot)com.  We have a few more spots open!!!  You know you want to do this because, well, it's fun, you're going to benefit from it, you're going to feel amazing, and you could win some shopping money!!!  Is there a bad side to this?! 

While you guys get off the couch and email me - here is our team lineup so far:

Team Abby & Kadie (a.k.a. "the Winners")

Team Emma & Buddy (sorry, mom, you're doing this with me...)

Team Ashlee & Mom

Team Kathy & Amanda

Team Carrie & LoverBuns

Team Jill & Heidi

Team Brianne & LoverBuns

Team Denise & Buddy (yay, Denise!)

Team Courtney?  

Team Smullin?  holdin' a spot for you guys...

Team Melissa - do you have a buddy yet?!  Wendi needs a buddy - you two could team up! (let me know)

Here's a big Spartan cheer to all of you - may the best team win!  Now hit the gym because it's 

GAME ON!!!

Another Challenge!!! {eeek!}

Alright, ladies - and the occasional dude...let's do something CRAAAYYYZZAY!  So, I'm thinking, what better way to celebrate Fall, the upcoming Holidays, and the huge food fest that encompasses "Thanksgiving-Passing-Out and Christmas-Goodies-Overdose?!"  A weight loss challenge!!!  {yaaaay...horray....cheeeeerrrrr!}  No frowning...this can be a GOOD thing.

(Okay, let's be honest.  Kadie and I decided to challenge ourselves to a little "drop-10-pounds by Christmas" thing and we need some more motivation...)  SO......

We're opening this up to a few more people who want to join us!  The last fitness challenge we did HERE was a huge success, (A cute girl won something like $400! WOW!) but there was so much involved with that and I have no desire to do that again YET.  However, I thought it would be fun to invite 10-15 couples/buddies to join us in this quick, small little challenge.

Here's the Deal:

Loose as much weight as you can THE HEALTHY WAY by Christmas!  {aaakk!} (no puking, gagging, laxatives, starving, or anything deemed unhealthy. Getting the flu would be to your advantage, though.)

The first 10-15  COUPLES/BUDDY partnerships to email me gets to play! (yay for you!!)

You DO have to have a partner or, well, you're on your own...sorry....we still love you, though.

Everybody (EACH PERSON) sends $10.00 to our "Cash Corral" (my house) and I'll hold onto it for the winner.  (No worries - I'll be honest...as a whipperwill....or something like that...)  So if you win, you and your partner could split $200!  How fun would THAT be?!  (Kadie, we are totally taking this...)  

If you don't send in your $10, you and your buddy are disqualified and we'll all be upset with you because you short-changed us.  We'll have to tie you to the whippin' post and smack you around - and it won't be pretty.

NO CHEATIES!  This is an "On-Your-Honor" kind of deal.  You can weigh in and start as soon as I get your email - nothing prior counts!  We will determine COMBINED weight loss by PERCENTAGE to keep this fair - just email me you AND your partner's beginning and after weight and I will be more than happy to total the weight loss percentage in order to simplify everything.  (lots of confusion last time)

SO...if you weigh 120 and your partner weighs 180, then you would email me "300" as your starting number.  Got it?!  Then if you both, together, loose 40 pounds, then your ending number would be "260", making it a total 13.33% weight loss.  (here is a calculator)

It's pretty basic - just let me know if you have questions!

Yee-Haw!  Now go grab a partner and email me!!!  HURRY!!!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

First, congratulations to ALL OF YOU who participated and tried hard to make and keep fitness goals! THE CHALLENGE ISN'T OVER YET - keep going with those goals!

AND NOW...the winner of the $400 jackpot goes to the amazing Joanna Brittain! She lost a whopping 23 pounds!!!!! That was over 13%! UH-MAZING! Joanna worked so hard, too - I can't believe it! As soon as I get all of the information gathered, I'll give you Joanna's blog link, photo, and maybe she'll tell us what she's doing with her winnings!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who participated! Also, a big, wet kiss to Joshua and Tamara Schroeder for hooking us up with a ULTRA COOL website!!! Thanks a million! You guys are SO cool!

Now get back out there and keep workin' hard!

It's Crunch Time!

Doesn't this make you want to bite into that Crunch bar? WELL DON'T. It's bad.

Hey all you fitness challenge people! We've only got THIS week and NEXT week left! How are you all doing?! Make sure to log in HERE to our site and record your progress! I can't wait to see who wins!!!

Oh, and Joanna had a good idea - she suggested that for the FINAL weigh-in, you take a picture of the scale to show your actual weight. Some might round off the numbers a little (who would DO that?!) and the best proof will be a photo of the scale numbers. So don't forget to do that, okay?

Keep going! This is only the BEGINNING!!

We've Got a Website!

Hi Ladies! Okay, so our friend Tamara and her hubby have gone OUT OF THEIR WAY to help us out with our Fitness Challenge. They've set up a website HERE for us to track our progress, communicate, and stay motivated. SO..

1.) Go to the website and sign up
2.) Check your email for verification
3.) Wait to be assigned a profile in order to log your progress. (or in my case...lack of progress...)

Once you have a profile, you can log in, log your stats, and use the message board. How AWESOME is this?! It's just what we needed and I'm so excited I could blow! Now you don't have to wait for me to check my huge email inbox - we can post right to the website!

A GIGANTICLY huge thanks to Tamara and her hubby Josh!!! You guys rock! (don't you just love it when you make friends with really smart, capable people?! How beneficial!)

Fitness Challenge Stats

Hey Ladies! So....if there's one thing I'm learning from all of this, it's that you're apparently not supposed to eat chocolate chip cookies every day for four days straight. Geeze - what's that all about? (It's dumb if you ask me.) So...if you MUST know...I'm still at a big, fat ZERO. I do have the excuse of three weeks totally dedicated to 1 injured kid, 1 week of spring break, and then 2 ultra sick kids for a solid week. How's a girl supposed to go to the gym with that kind of junk going on?! Whateva - I'm re-dedicating myself RIGHT NOW. (after I have a Dove Dark)

Oh, but Kadie totally told me her trick. She's lost four pounds in a week because she has bronchitis. So that's something, eh? You just sit around, cough all day, and have no appetite. Kadie, I'm jealous of the killer abs you're going to have after all of this blows over...

K-so it looks like we've got some seriously motivated sisters out there (SMS's) and they're ON FIRE!!

In the lead: Jenna Z. - with 5.39% (holy crap, Jenna!)
In close 2nd: Joanna B. - witih 5%
Pulling up in 3rd: Tisha H. - 4.76%
Honorable mention: Wendy O. - 4.43%

So it's Jenna, Joanna, Tisha, and Wendy we've all got to try to beat! Let's go, girls! Work harder!!! (I'm right behind you...waaaayyyyy behind you!!!)

Weight Loss WEEK 3!!!

Okay - so things are SLOWLY getting back to normal, this is our last day of Spring Break, and I've done HORRIBLE with my dieting and exercise! This week three has to be do-or-die for me!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you well-wishers and nice people out there! I've received so many comments and emails about my little guy's broken arm and it's been SO nice to know you care!

Regarding my lack of posting...I've got so much housework and kid-raising to do today, but I'm putting together a post of who is in the lead, where everyone is at, and all that stuff. Bear with me and KEEP GOIN'! I can't wait to see how far everyone gets!

TODAY'S THE DAY!!!

HORRAY! Let the GAMES BEGIN!

First of all - our jackpot is already over the $200 mark!!!! But I still need more people so keep spreading the word! (Now $200 might seem like a measly amount of money but think about going to the mall with an extra $200 to blow on outfits or a cute hand bag or those adorable shoes?!!!! OR ALL THREE?!!! That's enough to make me want to run hard this week!)

So just a few things I want to point out:

1.) Just because today (Monday) is the start date, anybody can sign up at any point - we'll just have a head-start over you. If you missed the sign-up today, then no tears, just sign up tomorrow.

2.) Your LOG:
You are responsible for your log, but here is the info I'm looking for-
-Date
-Weight
-% lost (here is a weight loss calculator)

I'd love it if you would email me your % lost every Monday so I can make posts for the others to see where they're at in the standings. Kind of help keep that competitive edge going all throughout the 8 weeks, you know?

3.) I will soon be posting blog links to those of you who provided them to me where you are tracking your progress. IF YOU DON'T WANT THEM POSTED - if they're your private, family blog, please let me know.

I think that's all for now! Happy Getting Fit! This should be FUN - so if you're not having fun, well, just wipe that look off your face and go have some fun! Get your friends involved and be active!

Feel free to email me any questions!

Okay, okay, I've caved!

So if you're holding out on our fitness challenge because you're deathly afraid of Paypal then go ahead send me an email so I can send you my address so you can send me a check. Make sense?! Good - now get goin'! I need more people!

Spring Fitness Challenge

Hey all! So this is nothing new, people are doing this all over the place, so Kadie and I figgered "WHY NOT?!" The more people who play along, the bigger the prize - so tell all of your friends to get over here and have some good, clean, healthy FUN! You've got nothing to loose except jiggles!

{{Honestly...I deeply, deeply apologize, but the thought of another apron swap is staggering to me so this is my alternative answer to the apron swap requests - maybe in the Fall?}}

So you wanna look HOT just in time for summer and win some cash?!

So here's the nutshell -

*You and a hot pair of sweat pants
*Anybody can join - boys and girls alike
*$10.00 per person to play
*8 weeks
*Weight loss challenge-lose as much as you can in 8 weeks (see rules)
*Jackpot cash prize - winner takes all

(there's nothing like a crappy economy to inspire some weight loss, eh?!)

Sound interested? There are rules in place, so if you wanna play, read on!

OFFICIAL RULES: (may be changed or altered to best fit the needs and demands of anybody smarter than I am...or anybody really mean because the mafia scares me.)

SIGN-UP: March 23rd - March 30th
CHALLENGE BEGINS: MONDAY, MARCH 30TH - MONDAY, JUNE 1ST

* YOU CAN'T BE A SKINNY CHICK or DUDE. Sorry. You need to have a minimum of 10-15 pounds to lose. In case you're completely clueless and don't know if you've got extra baggage, here is a site where you can configure your height/weight ratio to see if you can play along. (for the rest of us, the rolls and jiggles pretty much confirm our qualifications...) Oh yeah, and you can't be preggers, either. How 'convenient' if you were to go into labor during our little game here.

* You MUST email me your:
name
mailing address
email address
beginning weight AND height
"before" photo
NOBODY will see this info except me and, frankly, NOBODY CARES. It's necessary for me to determine the winner and if you've legitimately lost weight.
email address is: featherednestfitness@yahoo.com
You'll also have to track your weekly weigh-ins on your own - details on that below.

* Winner will be determined by percentage weight loss. This makes it fair for EVERYONE and you can have a shot at winning over your husband who can loose pounds just by walking to the mailbox.

* You MUST play fair - no pill-popping, liposuction, starving yourself, false impersonation of a supermodel, cleanse rituals, voodoo, photo editing your face on Heidi Klum's body, or unhealthy dieting thing. You're on your honor here - ONLY HEALTHY DIET AND EXERCISE methods allowed! If you're unsure of what that is, check this website here for a start. (they're my fave!) The key here is HEALTHY.

* You MUST pay your entry fee before your name is on the list. No cheaties! 100% of the entry fee will go to the jackpot - so work hard if you want some money! I have set up a separate Paypal account just for this competition - I'm NOT going to steal your money - it's all there waiting for you! If I get tons and tons of people, I'll break the jackpot up into groups so there's more of a chance to win.

SEND YOUR ENTRY FEE VIA PAYPAL TO: featherednestfitness@yahoo.com
Sorry, only Paypal will be accepted here. If you need to go set up an account, here is a link.

* You MUST use the same scale to weigh yourself each week - EVERY MONDAY. If you're fully dressed on your initial weigh-in, you must be fully dressed during all of your weigh-ins. (no suddenly gettin' nakey for the final weigh-in!) You're on your own to track your weekly progress because (I'm assuming) you're a grown-up and are capable of doing that, which leads me to the final rule:

* You MUST track your weight loss and fitness progress. If you want to win the jackpot, I need to see a WEEKLY LOG! Grab a pen and paper and get goin'! I cannot allow you to win the jackpot without your log - VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

So what are you doing?! Go email me and join us!!!


**If you'd like to track your progress through your own blog, send me the link and I'll post it on the sidebar of my blog.