Sunday, April 22, 2012

one for the books

I wasn't sure if I was going to blog/post about this. After thinking it over, I have decided that it IS part of my story, part of my journey. Each day(except Sundays)I spend some time on my treadmill. I either walk or run intervals. To help with the "boringness" of treadmill time, I like to watch TV shows that I have recorded during the week. One of those shows that I like to watch is the Dr. Oz Show. I have learned many things while watching his show. Back in September 2011, Dr. Oz announced a new contest that he was going to launch with Sharecare. The name of the contest was/is The Million Dollar You Contest. The person who transformed their life/health in the biggest way would be awarded 1 million dollars and a trip to the the Dr. Oz show in New York. I figured, what the heck? I was in the middle of losing my 100 lbs. and needed that extra motivation, that extra push if you will. You had to get your initial weigh in recorded at your local Weight Watchers. I figured it would be easy because I was already weighing in, once a week at my local WW. Along with that initial weigh in, you had to complete 6 other steps to even qualify for the Million Dollars. I had to tell fiends about the contest, make an appt. with my Primary Care Physician, find out my family health history, find out what my BMI was and a few other things. I am happy to report that during the contest, I completed all of the 7 required steps, the last one being my FINAL weigh in on April 9th. The 9th was the last possible day to get your weight verified by Weight Watchers. After weighing in, I came home on that Monday and logged my current weight on my Sharecare page and sent my #'s off to the show for the contest. I was feeling pretty proud of myself, my total wight loss was 113 lbs.. Half of that weight was lost during the Million Dollar You Contest. So I went about my day, wondering if I even had a chance at this. The next morning, I went to the gym, like I do each day. I came home from the gym and logged onto my computer, wondering if there would be any news from the contest. This is what showed up in my inbox.

I was in shock and so very excited. Out of the 1.3 million people who had registered for this contest, I had made it to the Final 200. WOW! I quickly forwarded the email off to my little support group of family and friends who have cheered me on and then I tried to calm my nerves.

The next phase was to wait for one of the Dr. Oz Producers to contact me. On Tuesday(April 10), I received my 1st phone call from Annie, at the Dr. Oz show. She was super nice and wanted to hear all about my journey and how the contest/Dr. Oz had inspired me to transform myself. That phone call lasted about 45 minutes. I was so excited and was talking a mile a minute. She had to ask me to slow down because she had to type all of my responses :-). Again, she was super sweet. We said goodbye and I hung up the phone and wondered what my chances were?

Annie called me back on Thursday and we chatted a little bit more about my health and how it had changed with my weight loss. I told her that I had considered myself a healthy(happy) fat person. Even with the extra weight, I did not have high blood pressure. I did not have high cholesterol. I did not suffer from heart disease. I was simply a young Mom to 4 boys who wanted to live/lead a healthier life. I want to be around to watch my boys grow up and do amazing things. In order to do that, I knew I had to make some changes in my world and I did. I want to inspire others to find a healthier version of themselves. I want others to be happy. After a 25 minute phone conversation, I hung up the phone. Again, wondering what my chances were.

I am not gonna lie. It was longest weekend and the longest 5 days of my life. I hadn't heard anything and it was driving me crazy. It was Tuesday(April 17th) afternoon and we were on our way out the door to a baseball game. I hit the refresh button my laptop one last time to see if there was a new emails. It was there! In my inbox! There it was! Another email from Dr Oz/Sharecare. This email notified me that I did not make it to the next round/the TOP 50. My heart sunk. I'm not gonna lie, I was so disappointed. I began to replay the conversations that I had had with Annie, wondering if I had said something wrong. I am only human. As I sit here today and share my story via my blog, I am nothing but proud of what I have accomplished. I have worked hard. I have replaced bad habits with good ones. I have found an exercise routine/gym that I LOVE. I am happy and healthy and I feel great! I know I lost all of my weight in a very healthy way! I didn't take any short cuts. I worked hard for every single pound I lost.

At this point in the Million Dollar You Contest, they should have it narrowed down to the top 10 finalists. I am so anxious and excited to see who actually wins the Million Dollars and the trip to New York(what I was most excited about). I will be cheering that winner on simply for the fact that I know, first hand, how hard it is to make big changes.

Within a weeks time, I learned that I was the 3rd place winner in the Green Tangerines Biggest Loser contest and that I had placed in the Top 200 for the Million Dollar You Contest. Those two contests kept me moving towards some BIG goals. I am thankful for the push and challenge both of the contests gave me.
Many people have asked what I will be working towards next. My new goal is to have Michelle Obama arms :-). I saw her on the Biggest Loser working out with those contestants and was in awe of her very defined arms. I have decided that will be my new goal/challenge :-). With some hard work, I am convinced that I can check that goal off of my list in the near future!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Doing what he LOVES

Carter is thrilled to be back out on the field! Baseball season is here and we FINALLY have sunshine and blue skies...perfect baseball weather. Carter is still playing on the Padres with Coach Nick. He loves it! He has secured his position as short stop and is now on the pitching roster. It sure is fun to watch him to do his thing, what he LOVES!





Friday, April 13, 2012

Happy Birthday to you

Imagine that being sung with my best singing voice :-) and with lots of love!
p.s. if you really know me, you know that I don't have the best signing voice but I sure love to sing and will do it with lots of enthusiasm.

Today we celebrated John's 44th Birthday! We made today, all about him! He broke his own tradition, no birthday doughnuts for breakfast in his quest for a healthier him. We started his day off with presents. The boys could hardly contain themselves, you would have thought it was one of their birthdays. They were super excited for John to open his presents. We bought him new shoes for his workouts, new workout clothes,a lantern for camping, a new lawn chair for all of the sporting events we attend and a stadium seat for the endless baseball games we attend.

For his birthday dinner, John chose FATS restaurant. He has wanted to eat there since we've moved here(9 yrs. ago). It is an Asian Bistro and he loved it! I can guarantee you that it won't take him another 9 years until his next visit.

On Saturday(the day after his birthday), we met up with the Krupp side of the family and extended his birthday celebration by another day. I am kind of a fan of Birthday weeks instead of one day. We had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.






We sang Happy Birthday to John with the entire restaurant and enjoyed yummy cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. I am not a cake fan but a friend from the gym was raving about their cakes one morning while we were running sprints on the treadmill...can you imagine the torture while exercising :-)? This non-cake loving girl, has a new favorite cake. We all gave the Chocolate-Chocolate Chip bundt cake two thumbs up!





Happy Birthday, John! We love you and are so glad you are a part of our lives! We hope your 44th year of life is fabulous!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Biggest Loser Challenge...


Green Tangerines style! The Green Tangerines Biggest Loser Challenge just ended(April 6, 2012). This was my 3rd time participating in the challenge. It started back in January. At that point, I was soooooo close to reaching my 100 lb. weight loss. I was super excited for the challenge and that extra push to get to my final goal weight. Who doesn't love a friendly competition? We had weekly weigh-ins. We had to send a photo of our feet on our scale(had to be the same scale each week). Kelly would post the weekly standings and we could see where we fell during the contest. It was just what I needed to keep going towards my goal.

As I said, the contest ended and we just found out today where we placed. I am happy to report that I took 3rd place in the Women's category. Sure, I would have loved to have won first place(and that cash prize) but I am really happy with 3rd place. This is my 3rd time participating in the GTBLC. This is my 1st time placing in the top 3. You can check out the winners here (click on gt biggest loser to the right under favorites)and read about their journey. Along with their stories, you will find their before and after photos. That old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" is really true. What a difference 12 weeks makes. I am proud of each one of the contestants who stuck with it and continued to lose weight each week.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

egg hunt #3

We enjoyed Easter dinner with the Yuba City Krupps. Petra hosted dinner and it was fabulous. She BBQ hamburgers, hotdogs(for the kids) and chicken and she even prepared all the fixin's(salads and veggies) to go with it. It was YUMMY! Aunt Petra and Aunt Kristina spoiled the kids and hid 125 plastic eggs all over the front and backyards.







It would not be a holiday at Aunt Petra's without See's candy! She spoiled everyone with their favorites. Happy Easter to each and every one of you! We hope your day was filled with those you love!

Easter {egg hunt #2} 2012

The boys were thrilled to see that the BIG Bunny had visited our home!

The baskets had been filled and the eggs were hidden all over the backyard. It was so cold outside, the boys found all of the eggs and treats in no time...shortest egg hunt ever! I am sure it didn't help that NONE of them put their shoes on!










Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

tradition





A tradition is a tradition and my boys don't forget them. We had so much fun celebrating Grandma's birthday that we didn't get on the road(home)at the time we thought we would. So, in keeping up with traditions, we dyed our Easter eggs 10:15 pm the night before Easter. There is nothing like the last minute :-).

I then stayed up to finish up theses fun treats for my girls(YW). I made them their own Peeps S'mores and told them that they are some of my very favorite PEEPS...thank you Pinterest!

80 years young

We celebrated my Grandma Pung's 80th Birthday tonight. My parents, along with my Dad's siblings, threw my Grandma a birthday bash. The party was held in one of the banquet rooms in the Retirement community in which she lives. We celebrated her big day with dinner, cake, a slide show of her life, a memory/scrapbook book that was created by family and friends, dancing and lots of photos.

Here are the boys with Great Grandma. They received several compliments(from the older crowd) and how sharp they looked tonight. They were all sporting their new Easter ties/outfits.



We all had a great time. The boys love getting to spend time with their cousins and even met a few cousins that they'd never met before.
Here are a few of my favorite photos from the evening.














Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma! We love you!

Egg Hunt #1

We enjoyed a fun, chilly morning at our Ward Easter Egg Hunt. Breakfast was provided(fruit,yummy breads/rolls and juice). Kenzie sure enjoyed the spread. We sure love this sweet little girl and her pretty Mama :-).



















The children could not wait for the egg hunt to start.

As soon as they were given the go ahead, they were off and running, gathering eggs as fast as their little legs could carry them.

(Brody is in the orange sweatshirt)

There were sack/three legged races. There were bubbles. There were egg(on the spoon) races and lots of laughter.


We even had our picture taken(the entire family)with the Big Bunny! I am so glad the older boys are still willing to humor their mother.


Spending the morning with our friends was the perfect way to kick off our Easter weekend.