New Orleans

Hello all. My quote this week (a little late I know) is the following: "It's in the reach of my arms, the span of my hips, the stride of my step, the curl of my lips. I'm a woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that's me." - Maya Angelou This will be short and sweet because it's 5am and I'm on my way to take a 7am flight to New Orleans. Geez, I'm always pushing it with time. Nonetheless, I plan to lose at least 1 pound during my vacation. That will be a feat in itself going to New Orleans. My advice was to take as much food with me as I can. Well, I have enough Fiber One bars to be a sales person for the company that sells them. I also have some fruit with me and plan to buy more when I arrive. I also will be buying water right away. That's usually what I slack on during vacation......drinking my water. Of course, I've checked out the fitness center at the hotel I'm staying at and it's fabulous. Absolutely fabulous...........so you know it's on. I will work out everyday.......after a drink or two. OK, OK, OK, I will be good..........I will, I will, seriously, I will. I think I'm trying to convince myself!! I will post results upon my return. I plan to make you all proud. Gotta go!! The plane does not wait for anyone. Until next time.................. Alicia

Alicia Video Blog

Trainer Notes: June 24th 2009

As Alicia mentioned in her last blog, she is now under 200 pounds! She has been under 200 for 4 weeks now and we don't expect to see those 200s ever again! Her training has been moving along nicely, except for a small set-back at the end of last week. Alicia was having some pain and swelling in her knee last Friday, so we had to scale things back a little and switch things up a bit with her workouts. We stayed away from running and any other legs exercises (lunges, squats, steps, etc) for a couple days. Luckily the elliptical didn't hurt the knee so we were still able to get some cardio in! She also did some boxing, which is a great cardio workout, but also didn't affect the knee. In addition to resting the knee, she also iced it several times over the weekend (those bags of frozen vegetables make great ice packs!). By Monday the knee was much better and we were able to add some of those legs exercises back in to her workout. However, to avoid pushing it too much, I switched her "Leg Day" to a "Back, Biceps, and Legs Day" so less stress was placed on the legs. Her "Upper Body Day" then turned into a "Chest, Shoulder, and Triceps Day." Alicia was back to running today so hopefully the knee will no longer be an issue. It's important to realize though that aches, pains, and injuries like this do occasionally happen when working out....especially when working out almost everyday. However, depending on the injury, it is usually possible to continue your workouts. You just have to make modifications to avoid causing further injury to the affected area. This can involve not working certain muscle groups, decreasing weights, switching cardio machines, etc. But of course, for more serious injuries or ones that don't go away quickly, it is always recommended to see a doctor.

Alicia's Blog

200 My motivational quote this week is: "Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me." - Carol Burnett Soooooo if you've been following the competition, you may have seen the update on the last page of the sports section in this past Sunday's Journal Sentinel. And if you're a little good at math :), you will know that I'm now under 200 lbs. I'm so super excited about that; however, I wasn't going to blog about it until I reached 189 lbs. You know, just to make sure that I was truly under 200 lbs. But now that it's public knowledge, I may as well talk about it. OK, YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!!!! Do I seem a little excited about it? I am. I really am. I've been trying to think back and I honestly cannot remember when I was below 200 lbs. Now, my driver's license says 187 and was issued in 2003. I know for a fact that I weighed more than 187 at that time (I chose 187 because that was the number I pulled to be assisted-SERIOUSLY-they don't actually make you get on a scale) but what I can't remember is if I was over 200. If I wasn't, I was pretty darn close. Anyway, there's no turning back now. I will never, ever, ever be over 200 lbs again. Did I say ever, ever?? Holly told me last week that I should have NEVER been over 200 lbs to begin with and she's absolutely right. That woman sure tells it like it is :) I'm not at 189......yet, but I plan to be knocking on her door really soon. But as Carol put it above, I have to be the one to make it happen. I can't tell others to not invite me out, don't bring me a piece of cake, don't give me a piece of that Hershey bar. I must have the strength to decline what's not good for me and make changes for myself. I have friends, family and my beautiful babies to get healthy for, but ultimately, I have to do it for myself. p.s. - I'm still taking the stairs. I have not taken the elevator once since June 1. Ok, I did have to take the escalator in Boston Store....... BUT, I walked them. p.s.s. - Note to self: Get those calories together, girl!! Count everything you put in your mouth and write it down, write it down, write it down. This has by far been your biggest struggle. In the words of Holly, "make these last 2 months count." Until next time............ Alicia

Running

Hello everyone. My quote this week is: "True success is the alignment of one's body, mind and spirit." - Debbie Hartung So I'm running now. It's funny because I tease a few of my trainers because they run daily for pleasure. I just don't understand the whole running for pleasure thing. One trainer told me that once I start, I will continue. "Yeah right!" was my reply. I've never heard myself say "This was fun" after I got off the treadmill. LOL Actually running is not as hard as I anticipated it to be. I'm just really nervous about running a 5K without having to stop. But my support group is increasing. So far (yes, I'm putting you all on blast so you won't back out!!) I have Mary (the person who challenged me in the first place), Holly, Amy, Tammi, Kirk (who by the way I've never met. He is a member of the Whitefish Bay - FT and just ran his first half marathon. He's challenged himself to complete a run a month and for July, he is supporting me and running. How great is that??) Kyle is thinking about it. (Come on Kyle, do it, do it) And what about you, Monroe??? Sooooo, let's continue to build my support group. If enough people join me, I won't even have to run. You all can just carry me! hehehe A few random thoughts: -I've been overdosing on fruit lately and not taking in enough vegetables. Still trying to find that balance. Transforming will always be a work in progress. - I've taken the stairs since June 1. Yay!! I even took them several flights in the courthouse and although I almost passed out........I didn't stop to take the elevator. I apologized to the woman assisting me because I was so out of breath. She said "God made elevators for a reason." I thought that was funny but it also made me proud that I hadn't taken it. - I recently had my blood pressure checked and I was shocked because it was normal. I told the nurse that it had been high but I've been working out and that may be the cause of it being normal. I've since been checking it daily at work and it's been consistently normal. High blood pressure runs on both sides of my family so that was a concern of mine. I've always known of the connection between exercising and lowering one's blood pressure but now I'm living proof and I am so excited about that!! I will continue to monitor my own blood pressure and look forward to my assessment at the end of this challenge. Stay tuned for new videos. I tried to submit them myself without having to bother the busy people at my FT but, well, it didn't work. hahaha, not as savvy as I thought I was, I guess. :). As always, I appreciate everyone's support. To my fellow contestants: I view all of your blogs and videos because you are truly motivating to me. Keep up the good work! Until next time.......... Alicia

Trainer Notes

Alicia is continuing to lose weight. She is down a couple more pounds these last couple weeks, so we are moving in the right direction!

We have been focusing more on running for her cardio so she will be prepared for the 5k run in July. She is doing very well with this and has shown definite improvements. We haven't hit the full 3.1 miles yet, but we are getting there!

We encourage everyone to join Alicia on her 5k run. We would love to get a big group out there to support not only Alicia, but a great cause as well....and it's a fun way to get a workout in! Here are the details of the run:

UNCF Walk for Education - 5k run or walk
Saturday July 18th
Starts at 8:30am at 2nd and Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and ends at Veterans Park
The cost is $25 for adults, $15 for students, and $10 for children under 12
To register online, go to http://give.uncf.org/MilwaukeeWalk

We hope to see you out there!

Starting Over

Hello everyone. My quote this week is: "A friend is someone who makes it easy to believe in yourself." - Heidi Wills Marina's thoughts: Now that we are going into the final phase of DILIH (Drop It Like It's Hot-I'll explain later), I don't think it would have been as remotely successful without the awesome support that we give each other. Stay positive and know we're here for you! Some co-workers and I started a weight loss competition in August 2008. It was named the Drop It Like It's Hot weight loss competition. We have all been very supportive of each other and we've collectively lost a tremendous amount of weight. June 1 began "phase 4" and will be a full year in August. We are all really excited to see what a year of healthy living will bring for each of us. So stay tuned....... So you know how you begin a race, mess up and want to go back to the starting point to begin again? Well, that's me right now. I'm starting over with the transformation competition. How so, you ask? Well, it's all in my mind, of course. But as of June 1, I started over. I'm really going to stick to my meal plans and stay within my allotted calories. I'm also going to achieve the small goals I've set for myself. One small goal of mine is I told myself that while at work, I was not going take the elevator at all. I've not achieved that goal once yet. I've not gone an entire week without taking the elevator at least once. It's not that I was tired or aching, just got lazy at some point. Plain & simple. I'm starting over and I'm taking the stairs, period. Until next time................ Alicia