The Challenge is Over

Last year I blogged about the Cruise Lifestyle Challenge we were doing with my family and X's mom for a year. The challenge officially ended October 1st, and everyone had a good amount of success with completing their goals.

I ended up losing 55 of the 60 pounds I wanted to lose! Unfortunately I couldn't find a "before" picture (not sure if I even took one), so I figure an "after" picture won't be worth much without something to compare it to. Instead, here's a picture of 5 lbs. of fat, so you can just imagine what it looks like (and feels like) to lose 11 of these :)

I also successfully completed a year without sweets (minus the once-in-a-lifetime desserts I was able to try in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan). I had hoped it would be relatively easy to stay away from sweets after a whole year without them, but unfortunately Halloween proved this to be incorrect. At least I feel like I'm eating a lot LESS than I used to! Here's to keeping it all off - until the cruise at least!

50 Down... 10 to go!

After 9 months I am almost at my cruise goal to lose 60 pounds! I still have 3 months left for the last 10, but I definitely feel like I have plateaued and it is going to be quite a struggle to go this last little bit. It is definitely easier though to resist sweets after all this time! I'll definitely post before/after pictures after the challenge is over.

Cruise Lifestyle Challenge

Ever since we got back from our cruise in May, we have been DYING to go on another one! But we didn't feel like we could just freely spend the money - we felt like we had to EARN it. So we started brainstorming ides of how we could use another cruise as motivation to get something done. We ended up settling on losing weight - neither of us have felt motivated enough to really work hard at it since we got married! And as part of the deal, we decided to invite my family and X's mom and sister (none of which have been on a cruise before) to go with us, with the deal that we would cover the cost of the cruise if they also made a list of goals and got them accomplished in the next year. What better way to help inspire change, but also to let people feel like they owned the changes they were making to themselves?

I've always heard that if you write your goals down you are more likely to get them accomplished, and if you make them public you are even more likely to accomplish your goals! So here are my goals for the next year:

1. Lose 60 pounds by:
1. Exercising at least 2x a week for 30 minutes
2. Not eating any desserts, candies, or sweets (except for the rare "once in a lifetime" chance to try something new)
3. Walking to get the mail every day
4. Only eating one helping at meals
5. Not drinking any soda or sugary drinks
2. Read the Book of Mormon and pray everyday

And here are X's goals:

1. Lose 18 pounds by:
1. Exercising 4x a week for 30 minutes
2. Eating slowly and stopping when satisfied
2. Read the scriptures everyday for at least 10 minutes
3. Read the entire Old Testament by reading 2+ chapters each day
4. Pray every morning and evening

We start tomorrow and go until next October. Wish us luck!

Come Sail Away

We are going on a cruise for our first anniversary!

We are headed to the Mexican Riviera on the Carnival Splendor cruise ship. We'll spend two "fun days" at sea, then visit Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas the next three days, and then another "fun day" at sea on our way back to port.

We'll be sailing over the week of our anniversary, which is right before I start work in Nevada. We've heard nothing but excellent reviews from our friends about cruises, so we are excited for our first cruise and first anniversary.