Weight Loss Journey Week 15 and 16

Week 15 weight loss: 1 pounds

Week 16 weight loss: 3.2 pounds

I am back on track on my weight loss journey. It feels good to be motivated again and losing weight.

Week 15 our Biggest Loser challenge was step ups: On a step, you step up, up and down, down and that counts as 1 step up. 

Our goal was to climb as many of the 25 landmarks as you can in 7 days. 

My daily step ups:

W- 450 

Th- 500 

F- 655 

Sat- 600 

Sun- Rest Day 55 

Mon- 500 

Tues- 1087 

Total: 3847 

The landmarks I was able to complete:

Rocky Steps (Philadelphia)=72  Done

Spanish Steps (Rome, Italy )= 135  Done

Potemkin Stairs (Odesa, Ukraine) = 200  Done

Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) = 220  Done

Waterloo/Lion's Mound (Brussels, Belgium) = 226  Done

Schlossberg Steps (Graz, Austria) = 260  Done 

Tower of Pisa (Pisa, Italy) = 296   Done

Big Ben (London, England) = 334   Done

Neuschwanstein (Bavaria) = 345  Done

Statue of Liberty (New York, NY) = 354  Done

Chichen Itza (Mexico) = 364 Done

Capitol Building (Washington, DC) = 365  Done

Skellig Michael (County Kerry, Ireland) = 618  Done 

Wednesday through Monday I did the step ups on my stairs. It was a killer each day. I went up and down the stairs or did up, up, down, down on the first stair. 

 On Tuesday I decided to do the step ups at one of my customer's homes. I used their step machine and did 15 minutes to get 750. It was a lot easier than doing the stairs in my home. I loved it. 

 They also had this small step machine. I did another 300 on it. Again, so much easier then my stairs. I loved it so much that I ordered one for myself. 

Having to do step ups for a complete week was motivating and gave me lots of sore muscles. It was fun to see how many landmarks I could achieve too. It was a great challenge. 

I also was chosen to be Diamond of the Day for our team. Everyone send me goodies on my spark page and left nice notes. Awe, it was fun to be the Diamond of the Day. 

This is our Dazzle Diamond Dolphin for our team picture:

Our nutrition challenge for week 15 was to give up something you struggle with for the week. I gave up mindlessly eating at night. 

While going on my Boise Spark Team Saturday walks, we discussed some of the strategies that the other ladies had. 

Air popped pop-corn and salsa or hot sauce. She (Barb) eats it with chop sticks and sometimes dips it in salsa. I planned and tried this as part of my daily nutrition plan and it works. It fills the craving and boredom by eating with chop sticks. Great evening tip to not over eat or eat wisely. 

The other thing I always have planned for a evening snack is 1 cup of strawberries/raspberries/blueberries and 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt. I mix them and that is a filling evening snack. 

Another of the ladies always purchases a bag of cut up veggies and grabs a handful when she wants a snack. 

One more thing that I have noticed about my body is I'm extra hungry if I need more protein in my diet. If I start to feel so hungry all the time, I always barbecue a hamburger to get an extra boost to my protein - for me it keeps the unquenchable hunger at bay. 

Week 16 fitness challenge was to get as many steps as you can each day. This was easy for me because I try to get at least 10,000 steps in every day.

Wed: 13,798

Thurs: 6180 (rest day)

Fri: 11,928

Sat: 20,706

Sun: 23,372

Mon: 17,205

Tues: 18,133

Week total: 111,322 steps

The nutrition challenge was to get 8 - 8 ounces of water per day. This is easy for me, I drink a lot of water all the time. 

I have also been doing Saturday walks with the Boise Spark Team.

Week 15 we went to the nature trail I love in Garden City by the river. Here is a link to some of the fun pictures I've taken on this route.

We went farther this time and I took this picture of a waterfall. We ended up walking for 2 hours that day.

Week 16 Boise Spark Team walk was at Kathryn Albertsons park, Ann Morrison Park and the green belt.

 It was another 2 hour walk. I really enjoy walking with these ladies.

Here are some pictures I took on the walk. 

 We saw a baby deer at Kathryn Albertson park, bunnies, fish, squirrels. It was fun seeing all these animals. The baby deer was running around right by us. We never saw the mother, but enjoyed this baby.

There were bunnies every where too. 

 The backs of my walking partners Barb and Kathy going towards the fountain in Ann Morrison Park. 

 Another view of the fountain.

 I was able to catch a rainbow!

A shot of the Boise River. I love all this beauty. 

I've enjoyed getting out and enjoying all the beauty Boise has to offer on my weight loss journey. 

June Financial Wins

June Financial Wins

My Business, Sparkling Clean. I did an extra clean for one of my customers who had a party scheduled: $150 extra money earned not budgeted

Blog Advertisement: $135.26

I'm getting a check every other month from my blog. Thanks again for clicking on an advertisement on my blog!

Swagbucks: I'm still not doing very much. 

May balance: $4.94

June balance: $11.59

I saved $37.88 a year on my Sunday newspaper subscription. I called to cancel my newspaper subscription because I hardly read it. I only get the Sunday paper to look at the ads. But, they reduced it so much to keep me that I renewed. Yeah for making a phone call.

Unfortunately I paid out a huge part of my savings for a new air conditioner and furnace this month. I knew that my A/C was on the brink of dying and was trying to wait it out. Unfortunately the motor went out and I just decided to replace it. It was only $1000 dollars more to add a new furnace so I did both. The grand total for a new furnace and A/C was $ 5,791.71. 

I'm glad I have a savings to pay this bill in full and am still debt free. However, it took a huge chunk out of my roof savings as well. I will still get a new roof before winter, and may have to put some on my credit card which is heartbreaking. But, I will have this completed this year. No more waiting until I can pay for it in cash. I will then work really hard to pay it off as quickly as possible. 

It's great to have money in a savings/emergency fund so when huge bills appear, I don't have to stress out. I love being debt free!