If I were a betting man.......

isn't that the phrase?!?!?

of course I am a woman......and I think betting is generally not a good idea. but that didn't keep me from joining a site called DietBet. the premise is that having placed a bet, you will be incented to try harder to lose the weight!

in most cases it is $25 to join and as many people as want to can join a group. there are some groups with higher buy-ins......and a few specialty groups. you can win a trip to the Biggest Loser Ranch, donate water to charity, etc. all very cool! at the beginning of the month you "weigh in" and send them a photo of yourself on the scale and one of the scale showing your weight. they give you a "secret word" to help time stamp the photos.

the goal is to lose 4% of your weight in the 4 weeks. I like this! the percentage thing levels the playing field. afterall, it would be much easier for a 300 pound person to lose 10 pounds than a 190 pound person. but 4% means your weight loss goal is personalized for you based on where you are at when you start. you will also be disqualified if you lose too much weight or they find out you used unhealthy means to lose the weight (not sure how they would do that.......perhaps you shouldn't have that box of Fen-Fen laying by the scale?!?!?) the whole plan seems well thought out and I applaud whomever sat there (or walked on their treadmill) working it all out.

however........at some point in a healthy lifestyle change, weight loss is not your main goal. yes, when your BMI says you are "obese" you need to focus on bringing the numbers down. but at some point you need to start thinking about the end game. if you work on toning and gaining some muscles, you are not going to lose weight. you will be more healthy, but you will not necessarily weigh less.

THIS is why I won't join another game. sure, I still have pounds to lose. but I found that I was making some decisions that benefited me for the game (btw, I lost 5.7% of my weight during the game so this isn't a case of sour grapes......oooh! wine! lol!). but these decisions weren't what may have been the best for me in the long run. had I not been in the contest, I might have added some strength training to my schedule. looking ahead, I am signed up for another half marathon that I want to do some running in. I should have started training for it two weeks ago (but was still training for my first half!) and it includes cross training and strength training. but muscles weigh more than fat! that would hinder the weight loss.....I might LOOK better but I didn't want to lose my $25!!

see my point?? at my weight and physical condition it probably isn't really an issue. I can build muscle AND still lose weight but I don't even like the feeling that my choices might be influenced. my end game is to feel GOOD and look good......not what the scale says.

#TeamHerkimer and my first guest blog post!

Shortly before the horror at the 117th Boston Marathon, a friend at the Sacramento Zoo asked me to write a guest blog post about our family’s participation in the 32nd Sacramento Zoo Zoom. This is that blog post:

It all started with an off-handed comment: “Sure I could do a half marathon…….if I could walk it!” A few days later a friend sent me a link to a walking half marathon the first weekend in May (aka TOMORROW!!). There was no time limit! How could I ignore that challenge? So my husband, Jeff, and I signed up and I started training.

In preparation, I knew I would want to complete a 10K, and what better than the 2013 Sacramento Zoo Zoom? We love participating in Zoo events and this would give us the experience we needed on our way to that half marathon. But, the same concern arose: time limit. I was assured that we would have at least 2 hours to walk the 6.2 miles. I could do that, right? And if we were the last people to cross the finish line, who cares? Slow but steady still completes the run! Our teenage boys both agreed to do the 5K making this a family event.

That gave me the next crazy idea. Why not have the Zoo’s tortoise as our own personal mascot? Herkimer, the Desert Tortoise, is an Animal Ambassador for the Sacramento Zoo and gets to meet and mingle with zoo guests.

Thus, #TeamHerkimer was born! We embraced our slow tenacity. With help from Kreative Design/Marketing I had t-shirts made for the race including our name and team motto.

Boy did we stand out against the turquoise run shirts! It was great! Even better was meeting our inspiration, 86-year old spunky Herkimer! He loved our shirts and team spirit! Just look how excited he is! Equally as fun were the fans #TeamHerkimer inspired along the race. Several of the more hare-like participants took a moment to high-5 us or shout out a cheer as they sped by. In fact, one of the guys in the lead complimented our motto as he lapped us to place in the top 10. Whoever he was, he totally made my day!

So how did #TeamHerkimer do? We finished the race! Out of 555 participants in the 10K, Jeff and I placed 538 and 537, respectively (he let me beat him), with an average pace of 15:48. Hubby placed last in his age group and I placed 74 out of 77 in mine. Appropriate positions for #TeamHerkimer! The boys really took the team motto to heart and finished with a 17:17 pace, both second to last in their age groups.

But #TeamHerkimer did what they set out to do and had a blast doing it! Look for us next year!

I will be honest, I did not consider myself a “runner.” As my boys like to remind me, I walk fast. I walk for my health and to exercise my dog, Dolly, not for speed. I did not know when the Boston Marathon was taking place. I had runner friends who were talking about it, but the event was so far off my radar that it wasn’t until I heard about the explosion that I started paying attention. In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon, the camaraderie of the ZooZoom was even more poignant. These people didn’t know us but they showed us that the running community is a family…….a big happy, sweaty, supportive family! I may still only walk really fast but I now consider myself a part of that family, a “runner”……a really slow runner. But the running community has opened their arms to my tortoise-paced self. What more can you ask for?

The Year of 24 - Month 4

Scrapbook layouts: 2 (goal of 2)

and this is only because of the crop day the last weekend of the month. seriously! no time to scrap!

Operation Write Home cards: 2 (goal of 2)
yeah well.......I made my goal, right?

Scrapbook purchasing versus usage:
this needs to stop........but it did slow down during April. I am back to just not buying at all. no scrapbooking = no buying!
Pounds lost: 6 (goal of 2)
I did a whole lot better this month at minimizing my bad days and more walking......well only 4 more miles (which seems low since I felt like I was doing more)...... probably joining Dietbetters gave a little "umph" to my efforts!

Dolly walks: 22 (goal of 24)
missed by 2.....but Dolly didn't notice! we hit 10 miles on 2 separate occasions. now she is crazy trying to get in to the car thinking we are heading out for a trek! being down and out with a nasty cold in the middle of the month and the start of baseball season (Go River Cats!) didn't help either. I am starting to think this goal might be unrealistic but am going to keep it because getting Dolly out is important!

Blog posts: 3 (goal of 2)
recap, National Grilled Cheese Day, and a really gross recipe memory......what an odd month! I have a few blog ideas planned for the future so hopefully you will see them soon! I also did write another blog post but it was as a guest on another site. it hasn't been published yet but I will psot here once that has happened.

Books: 4
(although Goodreads only shows 3 for some reason.....)
of course Lover at Last from JR Ward was my favorite of the month. but, I really enjoyed all the books I read in April. it was a good book month! I would highly recommend The Girls From Ames. excellent book about friendships.

so looking back on April, it seemed like a pretty good month! too bad it flew by so quickly!