Ever had a Dr. bounce into the room because he was so shocked by your results......Craig's Dr did! Everything was reversed...EVERYTHING. Craig was told what he did has only been done by less than 1% of his Dr's patients. No more liver damage, no more threats of life long meds, no more pre diabetic... Amazing what 6 months can do and we are still doing it....

This is really frustrating!! Our pics are all gone!

When we both reach 35 pounds gone we will be taking a new progress pic... But for fun here are the stats.
Mashel:
Wearing a size 14/16 in pants and a XL in tops. I can now shop on ALL departments!!!!!!
Wedding ring is super loose.
Shoe size went down 1/2 size.
Skin looks good and feels good....my heels are not dry and cracked any more!
Teeth are whiter from not drinking Cokes and Tea all day.
No more boob stains on my shirts... girls you know what I mean!

Craig:
Wearing 36 and 34  in pants, he is also in a XL in shirts (it is a broad shoulder thing)
He is about to lose his wedding ring, it falls off all the time.
Teeth are whiter!
Had to buy and new belts and pants
No more belly fat! The gut has gone away.
Cant prop up his arms on his belly ( Thank God)

Okay we have to go to church now.... have a great SUNDAY!!


 

Life sure has a way of speeding things up for you.... we have had house guest almost every weekend for a month and my mother is coming the same week Craig has to go to Vegas again. Poor Craig!! Really he will be in classes all day and hanging out with a cranky ol brit, think Gorden Ramsey to get the pic. I did just notice another food holiday is coming up this weekend Cinco de Mayo.....Gotta love this, so in honor of our Mexican neighbors here is my Corn Salsa just serve over skinless chicken breast with fat free cheese.....yummy!

Corn Salsa

The tastiest corn salsa is made with grilled corn. Four medium ears of corn should yield about 2 cups. If you can't grill or roast the corn, then use thawed frozen sweet corn or even canned sweet corn instead.

PREPARATION:

Combine cut or thawed corn, tomato, onion and pepper in a medium bowl. Add cilantro and lime juice. Toss well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 6

Per Serving: Calories 67, Calories from Fat 5, Total Fat 0.5g (sat 0.1g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 5mg, Carbohydrate 13.5g, Fiber 1.7g, Protein 2g

Last night when I was at the gym doing my elliptical training I caught myself day dreaming about the MPM Reunion. The thought of getting a chance to work out with all of you is exciting! Talk about motivation.. What would be even cooler is if we could have a BL Contestant whip us into shape..campus style. It is not that I want to toss my cookies in front of everyone, I just want to see who will cry first.
On another note of competition...do you ever sneak a peek at what the person next to you is doing? When I am on the elliptical I do 30 sec sprints every min and half. So there I was step step step...SPRINT...and the guy next to me took off in a sprint. I slowed down and then went again, he did the same. This went on for 20 mins and then he gave up....I skunked him!

Have fun tonight everyone! It is the weekend...

Couples "Team" Percentages

Mark/Jay: 40.21%
Dan/Jackie: 40.02%
Ali/Bette-Sue: 38.30%
Roger/Trent: 38.07%
Bernie/Brittany: 35.87%
Curtis/Mallory: 34.66%
Amanda/Neill: 29.57%
Maggie/Jenn: 27.25%
Jenni/Lynn: 19.89%

Everyones percentages
Ali would have beat both Mark and Roger no matter what!!!!

Ali 47.86%
Bernie 45.94%
Mark 45.26%
Roger 45.18%
Dan 43.87%
Kelly 40.22%
Curtis 39.37%
Jackie 36.18%
Jay 35.15%
Amanda 31.37%
Trent 30.96%
Mallory 29.95%
Maggie 29.29%
Bette-Sue 28.74%
Neill 27.76%
Brittany 25.79%
Jenn 25.20%
Jenni 20.22%
Lynn 19.56%

This is from Nichol's Myspace~~~~~
Okay, so even though I'm still bitter about BL 5 starting so quickly after OUR season, I figured I should be a good sport and head to the finale.  Okay, so I'll be honest, it's a little selfish on my part.  I'm staying w/ Hollie, and hung out w/ Julie today.  Bill and Jim are coming tomorrow!  I just LOVEEE these people!  I'll update more later!  Stay tuned!  xo  :)

  Update!  Check out the new hottness albums that is me and Hollie-wood!  (Check out the FAB view of "the hills).  xo  :)

 

Craig and I both have been bouncing around with these last 5 pounds before we lose 30 each. Lose 3 gain 1 lose 0 Gain 1.....UGGGGGG It is enough to drive you crazy. I suppose it is time we revamp the food plan and exercise. Craig and I both do weights and cardio 4 times a week. We try to move in some sort of way everyday. I am eating 1200 and 1500 cals and day. Craig is at 1600-1800 cals a day. I am not willing to cut the calories anymore, I truly believe that would be unhealthy...How do you kick start  it again??

This year Craig and I are both going on Mission Trips! Craig will be heading to New Orleans again to continue the Katrina Project. I am going on my first trip to Costa Rica, to help orphaned children in an education project. Our oldest daughter will be joining us on both trips, that makes 4 trips to raise money for!!! The Costa Rica trip is $2100 each and I am racking my brain as to how raise those funds. Then it hit me I have a closet full of clothes that are too big for me mostly size 18-22 , so I have started listing them on Ebay.  I have tried on every piece of clothing I own over the last few days and am down to about 1/2 of my closet. I did this about 2 months ago also luckly I saved that bag of clothes so I have those too. 90% of what I have is work clothes so I pray they sell well. Wish me luck guys....if want to start checking them out my user name is Rathmommy. If any of you know of any good funding raising ideas let me know please, any thing can help.

FITFLOP
First of all the name cracks me up, fitflops! I have to wonder though do they work? I mean don't you burn calories by walking around anyways?

Recreates the gait of barefoot walking with a built-in micro-wobbleboard workout-enhancing effect....does this mean I could fall over and break my ankle?

Note to VS if you would like to send me a pair I will write a nice review for you!!

Ethan Powell passed away peacefully in the arms of his parents at St. Jude Saturday and the angles are rejoicing. I never met Ethan or his family but just like us here I  was given the great honor to share in their joys and disappointments. I spent all weekend looking at my sweet Maddox and praising God that we have healthy children who have the gift of life to look forward to. We are so blessed and  I want to embrace everything my life has to offer. At 232 pounds I was only living my life half way, I was letting fat and food dictate my happiness. This weight lose has become so much bigger than me, in reality I am sure I never thought I was worth it. However when I place my loved ones in the picture and I realize that by being over weight and unhealthy I am taking away their joy too....How selfish I had become.
Ethan Thank You for giving your parents the strength to share your life with so many, you were and will always be so loved....


 

I have been following the story of a baby who is from my hometown in Shreveport La. He is in St. Jude fighting leukemia and tonight is not a good night...The leukemia is almost all gone but something is attacking him and they placed him on a vent. He is the same age as my Maddox ,1 year old and I have been praying for him almost his whole life. http://www.ethanpowell.com/Encrypted.cfm?id=121 You can read the updates here.... if you pray God is listening....BELIEVE

 

When my ex husband and I where divorced I had just topped my highest weight ever at 262 pounds. I remember my baggy size 22 size jeans where tight and there was not much I could do or wear that made me feel good. I felt like a giant and even though I am only 5 foot 3 it was a feeling that took me over. I ate whatever, whenever and really did not care how I looked. Most of my adult life was spent around 230 but for about a year I was as high as 262....  Over the last 5 years I lost around 30 pounds just by being happier I guess. I lost 30 pounds even after having 2 babies in 2 years.
Last weekend I had to attend a dinner with my ex husband and even though I am almost 60 pounds lighter I felt like the biggest girl in the room. I have let go of so much that he put on me but for some unknown reason I still want him to approve of me. Why?? Not one time during the 3 hour dinner and banquet did I get a morsel of an acknowledgment that I had made a change, a change that he at one time said would make him love me more. The bitter truth is he never loved me to begin with and I invested all my emotions into a loveless marriage.  Every time I did  not do as he wished or acted like he thought I should he would belittle me in ways that still makes me want to vomit. Passive aggressive people never acknowledge someone else's accomplishments if they feel that person is not worthy of  the achievement. So sitting there I found myself wanting his approval, just one kind word. Then I looked down at my left hand and Thanked GOD for my Husband, his love and approval made me hold my head high. I forgot who I was sitting with and concentrated on who I was their for. 
When I said my goodbyes and walked out to my car I could feel a old burden lifted from my soul. I let go of that old desire to be worthy of my husbands love and embraced my new found love of myself. So down the road in a high school gym sits a 262 pound shadow of my former self, she is still waiting for someone to love her and I am not looking back anymore.

Craig is in Vegas this week and I am here planning on loosing big! He is being taken out every night to very nice meals and I am sure he is trying his hardest to not gain. He may find time to visit a slot machine or two also..... Have FUN Baby!!
I have slowed down on blogging because my work is picking up, I worked over 30 hours in 3 days this weekend alone. Real Estate is really picking up so don't let the media scare you from making a move or listing your home.
Just as an example while trying to write this the phone has rung 3 times......I need to get back to work.
Keep up the great work everyone, I can see we have all made that change......it is now time to start living with that change!!

I decided I am going to do a 5 K in May and started training last night at the gym. I am trying to follow the Couch Potato to 5K training method I read about in someone else's blog . I was on the track doing my second 90 sec jog  when I got what felt like a foot cramp, well I kept on jogging. I started to walk my 20 mins because my foot kept hurting plus my heart was pounding out of my chest. When I finished the walk I did 30 mins on a bike, it was a good full workout. Then when I started to walk back to get the boys I could hardly walk, my foot was killing me. You should have seen me hopping around my house last night, I was really worried I messed it up bad. Today it feels great and there is no pain left. Whatever I did must not have been that bad.  So I have come to the conclusion you can't take up jogging in 8 year old tennis shoes and having a sports related injury makes a cool story!
So heres to my first injury and hope NOT many more to follow.
Now I am off to buys some tennis shoes!!

Bye Bye Bunny and all your sugary yummy sweets... We survived another holiday and avoided eating a whole ham. Please tell me why we think each holiday is only special if we stuff ourselves with high calorie treats? Is it tradition or do we truly just think it won't catch up with us because it is only "once" a year? The sad fact is we have a major food holiday about every month....in these 12 weeks we have had New Years, Super Bowl, Valentines Day, Mardi Gras and Easter. There really is no end end in what I like to call "Once a year Treats" it should be more like 12 or more times a year treats.We have both resolved that we will not be indulging in any fest until around Thanksgiving. This is not about depriving ourselves anything, it is all about treating every meal as if it is special.

So I would like to leave you with my new Favorite Spring Greek Salad...so yummy and oh so good for you

Spring Greek Salad

4 cups Spring Mix Lettuces ....30 cal

2 cups Baby Spinach ......50 cal

1/4 cup Fetta Cheese Crumbed.....90 cal

1/8 cup Dried Cranberry......65 cal

1/8 cup Soynuts....75

1 hard boiled egg....60

Makes 2 Large Salads at 185 Cal each

Dressing of your choice we use a Greek House dressing that 25 cal for 2 tbsp

This salad is sweet, tangy and just different.

Enjoy!!!