Happy New Year, Skinny Minnies!!

Well, the new year has begun.  I'm so glad we weighed in yesterday morning, because the rest of the day was a bust for me-as far as eating goes!  I really let loose.  Yikes!  I hope you all had fantastic midnights ringing in the new year this morning!  And, if you didn't stay up, I hope you had a great dream at midnight kissing your beau!  

Okay, well, this is the last of the last.  I know you all are just as excited as I am for this to be ending.  I am  so glad though that we all took this journey together!  I know we all benefited from it and I am so proud to say that I weighed in yesterday at 195.5!!  A 19 pound loss!!  So exciting!!!!  And, I'm only in 2nd place by .72%!!   I am so excited to announce that RAENETTA is the SKINNIEST MINNIE of us all!!  She did a great job this whole time and accomplished a lot of goals for herself!  GREAT JOB!!

Here are the results for this week:

1.  Leah gained .49%

2.  Jenny .47%

3.  Jessie .27%

4.  Heather 0%

5.  Holly 0%

6.  Dana -.56%

7.  Raenetta -.56%

8.  Lesa -.66%

9.  Betty -.84%

And here are the overall and last results ever!!

1.  Raenetta 9.58%  THE WINNER!

2.  Jenny 8.86%

3.  Lesa 7.67%

4.  Holly 4.15%

5.  Heather 2.99%

6.  Leah 2.23%

7.  Holly 1.67%

8.  Betty 1.21%

9.  Jessie -.16%

Great job girls!  I am so proud of all of you for sticking with this for 14 weeks!  Keep up the good work and meet your goals in 2012!!  

Now for the technical details.  I need to send Raenetta her prize money-I of course, would like to do it as soon as possible!  Please remit your penalty payments to me as soon as possible!  If you need my address again, send me an email and I'll get it to you.  Below you will find what a list of what you owe.

Thanks!  

1.  Betty $17

2.  Holly $15

3.  Leah $12.75

4.  Dana $11.50

5.  Jessie $8.25

6.  Lesa $7.50

7.  Raenetta $6

8.  Heather $1

9   Jenny -$1.50

Results...Monday

Well, I hope you all had the Merriest of Christmas's!  We sure did at our house, we are certainly blessed!! Sorry for the delay in the results posting.  This Santa was busy! :-)

We only have one more week to weigh-in and I hope every can finish this week out strong!  I'm not saying anyone is out of the race, so to speak, but there is a pretty close competition between Raenetta, my Mom, and I!  And, all I have to say for myself is, I just completely pigged out at Olive Garden...3 bread sticks...yikes!!!  My tummy is-a hurting!!!  I think I may need to fast the rest of the week! :-)

Here are this weeks results!  The winner for this next to last week is Raenetta!!  She had an impressive weight loss this week!!!!

1.  Raenetta gained 2.71% to her total, taking her over a 10% loss!! SUPER DUPER!!
2.  Lesa 1.66%-also had another great loss!!  Really amping it up here in the end!!
3.  Jessie .93%
4.  Betty .84%
5.  Heather .43%
6.  Jenny .23%
7.  Dana 0%
8.  Holly 0%
9.  Leah -1.24%

And overall:

1.  Raenetta 10.14%
2.  Jenny 8.39%
3.  Lesa 8.33%
4.  Dana 4.71%
5.  Heather 2.99%
6.  Betty 2.05%
7.  Leah 1.74%
8.  Holly 1.67%
9.  Jessie -0.43%

Ok, so you may have noticed that we only have 9 players now.  Not really sure what happened to Amanda, but she sent me an email saying she was dropping out.   I hope everything is ok with her and her family.  Unfortunately, for the winner of this competition, I never received any type of payment from her initially, and she only owed $1 otherwise.  So, the total contribution for the winner will be less $15.  Sorry.  I'm not a very good rule enforcer.  But, seriously, I'm sure we all agree that we hope everything is ok.

I'm listing here below the amount everyone owes.  This is current, of course, minus what goes down next week.

1.  Me- still haven't added my own $14 to the pot, but am up $1.50 due to the mini-challenge, so $12.50 is what I owe, technically.
2.  Heather owes nothing!!
3.  Raenetta owes $4.
4.  Lesa owes $5.50
5.  Jessie owes $8.25
6.  Dana owes $8.50
7.  Leah owes $12.75
8.  Holly owes $13
9.  Betty owes $15

So for those of you at home keeping tabs, the winner will receive $191.50!!  Not too shabby!!
Good luck on this last week, skinny minnies!!!  Finish strong!!
If you all get me your weights on time, I will try to actually get the results posted on time!  It's my end of the year resolution! :-)

Mini Challenge Results

Well this was quite the mixed bag of results!!  Out of the 9 players, 3 conquered the challenge, with Jessie, oh so very, very close!!  Here are the overall results with refund info or debt info.

Heather earned $6 back!!  Way to go!!
Jenny earned $5.50, weighing in at 196.5!!  (2 more pounds until the 20 pounds lost marker!!)
Lesa earned $4.50 back!!  Good work!!
Jessie owes 25 cents!  Missed by .3 pounds!  Good work though girl!! Keep it up!
Dana owes $2
Amanda owes $2.75
Holly owes $3
Leah owes $4.75
Betty owes $5

If you add all of that up we add $1.75 to the pot total.  So we ended up pretty much equalling out!!

We only have 2 weigh ins left ladies!  Don't give up now!  Finish strong!!  I have a busy weekend, as do all of you I'm sure!!  Please don't forget to send in your weigh ins on Saturday sometime!  I will try to get the results posted Saturday night before Santa visits our house!!  If I by some chance don't, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!  Take a moment to count your blessings and remember that sweet baby Jesus who has given us everything to be thankful for!

Results

We are nearing the end!!  I'm kind of relieved, to tell the truth.  Not that I've been dieting to the extreme, or exercising either for that matter.  But, it just seems like this has been going on forever!!  You don't think 14 weeks sounds like a long time in the beginning, but it is!  I'm just so super glad you all have joined me on this journey, though!!  It has been fun and motivational, that's for sure!!  This week was really good to me.  Oh, except the being deathly ill part.  But, I mean, if you're going to be that sick, there should be a reward in the end.  Last week, I forgot to tell you that I weighed in at 200!!!  That means this week, with any loss, would be monumental...breaking that 200 barrier...and I did!!!  I weighed in at 197.0 yesterday morning!!  Yahoo!!!

Here are this weeks results!  The winner for the week was Lesa, my Mom!!  She really had a great loss this week, let me tell you!!!

1.  Lesa gained 3.00% weight loss this week!!  AMAZING!!
2.  Jenny 1.49%
3.  Dana 1.12%
4.  Amanda .84%
5.  Holly .56%
6.  Heather .42%
7.  Leah .37%
8.  Jessie .16%
9.  Raenetta -.14%
10. Betty -1.4

And the overall!

1.  Jenny 8.16%
2.  Raenetta 7.43%
3.  Lesa 6.63%
4.  Amanda 6.29%
5.  Dana 4.71%
6.  Leah 2.98%
7.  Heather 2.56%
8.  Holly 1.67%
9.  Betty 1.21%
10. Jessie -1.36%


Keep up the good work, Minnies!  And, I know you all are getting busy with your Christmas celebrations, but try to remember to weigh in on Saturdays!  And, of course on Wednesday this week for the end of the mini challenge, "All I Want for Christmas is a Skinny Backside!"  Have a great week!!!

Sunday results

See how I changed it up there?  Sunday.  It has a nice ring to it, don't you think??  Well, this is going to be short and sweet. I have a fever now and just got over the oh so fun GI bug going around down here.  Yeah.  I guess that's what I get for not getting the flu shot.  I am such a rebel.  A rebel with a fever.  I think I made my point.

The winner for this week is ME!  See aforementioned sickness, please!  And, Betty was only in 2nd by only .01%.

1.  Jenny 1.63% increase from last week!
2.  Betty 1.62%
3.  Leah 1.49%
4.  Raenetta .90%
5.  Heather .86%
6.  Lesa .67%
7.  Amanda .42%
8.  Dana .11%
9.  Holly 0%
10. Jessie -.54%

And, here's the overall results!

1.  Raenetta still has a strong lead!  7.47%
2.  Jenny 6.76%
3.  Amanda 5.45%
4.  Lesa 3.67%
5.  Dana 3.59%
6.  Betty 2.61%
7.  Betty 2.61%
8.  Heather 2.14%
9.  Holly 1.11%
10.  Jessie -1.52%

Keep up the good work, women!  And, just on a side note, I got weigh ins from everyone on Wednesday except for Raenetta.  Now that I'm typing this I know I've sometimes not received your weigh-ins girl, so if you did send it to me, please re-send it!  Just some honorable mentions so far!  Heather has lost 4 of her 5 pounds!!  And, Jessie has lost 3 of 5!  Good work, girls!!

Have a great week!!!

Beautiful Leah!

I'm so sorry about not getting these pictures up any sooner!  Monday and Tuesday combined I worked something like 28 hours.  So, not too much extra time on my hands.  But, today!  I don't have to leave until 11am.  So, I weighed in for our Christmas challenge and I'm about to do some exercising, yeah.   So, I thought I'd finally load these pictures from Leah!  Here she is along with her hubby, Peter and doggy, Pria!

Speaking of our challenge.  I've only heard from Dana as of yet.  8:30 central time.  I've heard from Leah and Amanda that they were also playing.  But, I haven't heard from anyone else.  I'm going to send out reminders to you all today.  But, if I don't get your weigh-in today, I'm going to assume you're not playing.  (Which is fine!)  Happy Wednesday!

Meet Me Monday - Leah

Good Morning ladies!  Today we get to meet Leah.  Well, I guess most of you already know her.  But, a few of you don't.  Leah is my oldest friend.  Wait, that didn't sound right.  I mean, we've been friends for the longest time.  We met in 2nd grade, Mrs. Love's class.  And, we lived in the same neighborhood, where we a year later added Dana to our posse.  She's great.  I love her.  It's early.  I can only speak in short sentences.

Here's Leah!

"Hello!  Sorry this is so late!  Thanksgiving went longer with our family than expected, so computer time was limited.  No complaining here!  I joined Skinny My Minnie because I wanted to be with all the cool kids trying to shed a few pounds.  Having always struggled with my weight since the dawn of time it seems, any chance to be motivated to lose weight usually catches my eye.  I've known Jenny since second grade, so that is how it all came to be!

Currently I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with my super husband, Peter and perfect dog, Pria.  I'm not biased, not at all.  I am a full-time student getting my masters in social work with a certificate in gerontology.  I also work as an older adult caregiver, which I truely enjoy.  In August, I pan to finish school and move back to Bloomington, Indiana to be closer to my parents and other family and friends.  Then, maybe we'll think about having kids?  I think so, most probably.  My main goal for the competition was to get to a healthier weight to prepare my body for having kids.  I know my own weight can not only affect the pregnancy but also my babies health, so I am trying to be healthy as much as my motivation  permits.  Thank you Jenny, for this oppurtunity and her's to one more month of being mindful of what we do to our bodies!

Here is a delicious, cheap, and fast bean soup recipe I love!"

Delicious Black Bean Soup, Serves: 6

2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
2 (15 oz) cans black beans
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1/4 t cumin
1/2 t salt
Ground pepper to taste
Dash of chili powder, oregano, and red wine vinegar to taste
Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream as desired

Heath the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Stir the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic.  Cook 5 minutes until tender.  Mix in one can of black beans and chicken broth. 

In a blender, puree remaining can of beans until smooth.  Mix into the pot.  Bring soup to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Mix in spices and vinegar.  Simmer 20 min.


Thank you, Leah!  The soup sounds delicious!  And, I love all of the baby talk!!  Yeah!!!

Hope you all have a great week and I'm excited to get your weigh in's on Wednesday!! Don't forget!! :-)

***UPDATE***  I've been trying to post Leah's pictures for a few hours now, and my computer here at work is being all wonky.  I'll try to get them added tonight or tomorrow once I'm at home.  Sorry, Leah!!

I'm noticing a pattern here...

Ok, so maybe I should just go with it and say the results will now be posted late on Sundays!  But, let's face it...if I say that I probably won't get them up until Monday then!!  So, I guess it is what it is.

Anywho, here are the results for the first week of December.  I know, right?  December....you've got to be kidding me.  I can't believe this year is almost over.  It seems like it just started.  On a side note, speaking of December, we had the first snow of the season here this past week.  The snow made me want to bake.  So I did.  Delicious. Chocolate. Chip. Cookies.  I ate way too many, and I blame it all on mother nature.  Thanks a lot.  Thus my .5 pound loss for this week.  Really, I thought it was going to be worse.  I also never made it to the grocery store for the week and we ate pizza, Cheddars-twice, and a lot of junk food we had in the house.  Yeah, I know, I'm surprised I lost too.  Thank goodness for the cold I sort of had.  I think it helped me to be a bit dehydrated.  Uh-huh, healthy.

Right, yeah, on to the results.

The winner this week was Betty!!  Yeah!!  I know she has been having a rough go at it due to the fact that her house is completely torn apart.  I didn't get to the grocery due to my work schedule and let's face it, plain laziness.  But, she doesn't have a choice seeing that her kitchen appliances are all in her family room.  (See previous post about her house flooding!)  So, it's tremendous that she had such a great loss this week.  I'm sure stress had nothing to do with it!

I'm missing a weigh in for Holly-she went up to Chicago and doesn't have access to a scale.  And also a weigh in for Amanda.  I only have email access to her so, Raenetta, if you could remind her in another fashion that would be great!  So I will plug them in Monday or whenever I get it.  For now, I'm keeping them the same weight as last week and they will have to pay a $1 penalty.  But, if either posts a loss for this week she'll just owe the $1 and if she gains, she'll owe the normal $2.  Clear as mud??

Um, yep, the results...

1.  Betty lost 1.63% this week
2.  Dana up .73%
3.  Jenny .23%
4.  Raenetta .21%
5.  Amanda .13%
6.  Jessie .05%
Tie for 7th with 0% loss
7a. Heather
7b. Lesa
7c. Holly
10. Leah -.62%

And here are the overall results

1.  Raenetta 6.67% (2)
2.  Jenny 5.13%  (4)
3.  Amanda 5.03% (1)
4.  Dana 3.48% (8)
5.  Lesa 3.00% (10)
6.  Heather 1.28% (6)
7.  Leah 1.12% (6)
8.  Holly 1.11% (8)
9. Betty .98% (8)
10. Jessie -.98% (6)

I heard from Dana and Leah that they will be weighing in on Wednesday for the "All I Want for Christmas is a Skinnie Backside" Challenge.  That makes 3 of us so far.  So, are you going to play???  Just to push you over the edge in your decision making process, the number up there next to your percentage, in parenthesis, is what you owe so far!!  Have a great week and I can't wait get everyone's weigh in on Wednesday!!

December Mini-Minnie Challenge

The wait is over.  You can finally exhale.  I know you've been anticipating this since I first wrote about it last week.  Well here it is.  You can have your life back now.

The new challenge!  Now, I've been doing some thinking here on this one.  (With the few brain cells I have remaining after using the others for everything else that goes on in my life.)  And, I'm kind of excited about this idea.  This is going to be dubbed the "All I want for Christmas is a Skinny Backside Challenge".  Now, I can't remember what I've already said about it, and frankly, I don't want to go back and read what I wrote.  So, ignore any discrepancies between what was previously writ.  Is that the correct use of that word, not sure.  Forgive me.  Here we go.

This challenge will start Wednesday, December 7th and end on Wednesday, December 21.  So far, we're on the same track as the Turkey Challenge.  Wednesday to Wednesday and it's 2 weeks long.  Check.  Here's the difference.  Because we're coming to the end of the competition, I want for us all to be inspired and encouraged to do our personal best.  So, in this challenge you will be competing only against yourself.  What?!  Take it back-she's my worst enemy!  I can't possibly!  (Just a little inner dialogue-perhaps yours is the same??)  Oh, but yes you can!  Here's how she's going down!!  Up to this point, none of us have exactly been keeping on par with our beginning goal.  So, this shouldn't be too difficult for any of us.  To win this challenge against yourself you must lose 5 pounds or 3% body weight, whichever is less.  For example, let's say you weigh 200 pounds-3% of that is 6 pounds, so you would have to lose 5 pounds to win this challenge.  Let's say you weigh 150 pounds-3% of that is 4.5 pounds, so you would have to lose 4.5 pounds to win.  Does that make sense??  Feel free to ask for any clarification. 

Now, the reward for this All I want for Christmas is a Skinny Backside Challenge will be a credit to your account.  Ok, now I'm going to throw this out there and if any of you disagree with it, let me know and we'll come up with something else.  (Because this will change the amount of money the ultimate winner will receive.)  If you conquer this challenge, you will receive a credit to your account according to how many pounds you lost rounded to the nearest quarter.  In the examples above, if you lose 5 pounds, you get a credit of $5.  If you lose 4.5 pounds, you get a credit of $4.50.  If you lose, 5.3 pounds, you get a credit of $5.25.  If you lose more than the challenge, you will also get a credit for those pounds.  Let's say you lose 7 pounds, you get a $7 credit!  However, there will be a cap at $8.  (That's 4 pounds/week, and after that, we're definitely getting into losing weight in a non-healthy way.)

Ok, here's the kicker-there always has to be one, right?!  If you agree to do this competition, but fail to meet the goal, you will pay what you lack.  For example, if you need to lose 5 pounds and only lose 3 you will have to pay 2 additional dollars.  If you need to lose 4.5 pounds and lose 2, you will have to pay $2.50.  Capeesh?

This is the end of the end, ladies!  We must kick ourselves into gear!!  Are you in??  I'm in!  And, I need to lose 5 pounds!! YIKES!  That's half of what I've lost so far in the whole competition.  I must, I must, I must DECREASE my bust! :-)  That's some good ole Punky Brewster humor for you!

Ok, so if you're going to play, let me know on Saturday's weigh-in and then, weigh in again on Wednesday, December 7th.  Good luck!!!!

Results, finally!!

I'm a bad blog host.  I've gotten out of control.  Late again posting results.  I'm so sorry.  But, it appears as though I'm not the only procrastinator, seeing how I got most weigh-ins late Saturday and even some on Sunday!!  So, at least I'm in good company!!!

I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed your Thanksgivings!!  Christmas will be here before we know it!!  Sorry to bring it up, I'm sure you don't need the reminder!  Anywho, to the results!!

The winner for the week is HOLLY!!

1.   Holly went from 0% to 1.11% this week, thus netting a 1.11% change!  Good work!!!!

2.   Raenetta 1.04%

3.   Jenny .70%

4.   Amanda .42%

5.   Jessie .36%

6.   Lesa 0%

7.   Dana -.95%

8.   Heather -1.28%

9.   Betty -1.49%

There are only 9 players because Leah had immunity this week!!  

And, the overall top ten:

1.  Raenetta 6.46%   WOW!!!

2.  Amanda 4.90%

3.  Jenny 4.90%   we're tied for 2nd at the moment, actually!!

4.  Lesa 3.00%

5.  Dana 2.75%

6.  Leah 1.74% (based on last Sat weigh-in)

7.  Heather 1.28%

8.  Holly 1.11%

9.  Betty -.65%

10. Jessie -1.03%

All right everyone!  Time to really dig in deep!  We've just got one more month to play and get this skinny show on the road!  We can do it!!!  Tune in later this week to find out about the upcoming 2nd mini-Minnie challenge!!!  Have a great week!

Mini-Minnie Competition

Sorry for the long delay!  Just trying to build the anticipation! The winner for the Thanksgiving Challenge is LEAH!!!!!  Great job!  You can stuff your face full of whatever you want and will not owe us a dime come Saturday, no matter what!  Lucky. (said like Napoleon Dynamite)

Here is a list of the results, remember 9 out of 10 of us played.

1. Leah lost 2.35%!!!!!!
2. Holly 1.66%
3. Raenetta 1.53%
4. Heather 1.30%
5. Lesa 1.08%
6. Jenny .73%  (weighed in at 203)
7. Betty .65%
8. Jess -.16%
9. Dana declined to submit today, thus dropping out.

Ok, well, I am proud to say that this competition really did the trick for some of you guys!  You stepped it up into high gear and lost some pounds!!  Great work!!  Like I said previously, I think we'll do another mini competition-Tinsel Edition!  Now, Christmas doesn't really fall on the calender as nicely as Thanksgiving did.  And, let's face it, Christmas is all about eating pretty much the entire month of December, not just concentrated all on one day.  So, this will be a challenge with a different reward.  I'll talk more about this in an upcoming post!  It's going to be an exciting challenge, believe you me!  It's going to start Dec 7, prepare yourself, ladies!

I hope everyone remembers to count their blessings this Thanksgiving holiday.  Don't forget what is important in life, and cherish every moment!  May God bless you and keep you safe as you travel.  Now, go eat some turkey!

Week 7 Results-Halfway there!!

I had to work today...it was a long day.  I'm truly persevering here just to get this post up.   I noticed that most of you must have been busy today too since I didn't receive but a few weigh-ins this morning.  No biggie since I was at work anyway.  Thank you everyone for checking in today!

Anyhow, I'm actually sad that we're halfway through since I'm not at my half-way point in my personal goal.  What's even worse, I gained a pound back, 205.5.  I can no longer claim to be in the "10 pound down club".  That was short lived.  I'm really not sure how it happened because I actually had a pretty good diet this week and worked out on Wednesday.  I know, only one day...but that's all I could squeeze in this week!  I'm definitely a pity eater because after I weighed in today with an increase I had one two doughnuts.  Followed up by Red Lobster rolls, some crab linguine, and Orange Leaf frozen yogurt for dessert.  Yeah, now I feel awful.  Never fails.  Unless I do amazing in the next 4 days, you can pretty much count me out for the Thanksgiving mini-challenge.  I guess you never know, though.  That's my attempt at positivity!!

Ok, here's the winner for this week!!!

1.   Lesa up 2.2% loss just from last week!!  Way to go!!! WOW!!
2.   Leah 1.74% up from last week!!  Great job!!
3.   Amanda .56%
4.   Heather .43%
5.   Raenetta .35%
6.   Jessie .05%
7.   Jenny -.46%
8.   Holly -.83%
9.   Betty -.93%
10. Dana -1.68%

And the overall top ten:

1.   Raenetta 5.42% (taking back the lead!)
2.   Amanda 4.48%
3.   Jenny 4.20%
4.   Dana 3.70%
5.   Lesa 3.00%
6.   Heather 2.56%
7.   Leah 1.74%
8.   Betty .84%
9.   Holly 0%
10. Jessie -1.36%

I'm not sure if Holly keeps up with the blog, so I'll see if she's up for Meet Me Monday this week.  And, Leah is on the roster for next week!!  Great work, Leah!

Don't forget about the Wednesday mini-challenge weigh-in this week!!  I'll post Wednesday afternoon/night sometime who gets immunity for the Saturday after Thanksgiving weigh-in.  And, Leah is, in fact, in the running as well.  So there are 9 of us total!  Can't wait to see who wins!  Have a good week, everyone!!!

Meet Me Monday - Heather!

Like how I added that exclamation point after Heather's name!  It made you "shout" Heather in your mind when you read it, didn't it??  And, now, you're super excited to learn all about her.  All with a punctuation mark.  So, Heather and I go way back.  I'm talking way, way back.  She's known me since I was a zygote.  Really.  She's my big sis.  I've pretty much been following her my whole life.  Purdue, marriage, career, kids.  What's next??  What bar are you going to set for me now, huh?! :-)  Actually, I think we should get Mom on board and open our own bakery...we could so do it! 

Anywho, here she is!

"Hi Minnies,

My name is Heather Knoy and I am Jenny’s sister. I am 32 years old and I have been married to my wonderful husband, Matthew, for 13 years. We have 2 beautiful boys, Mason, 5 and Cooper, 2. I work full time as a Quality Supervisor at Baxter Pharmaceutical. My hobbies include cooking, baking, reading, watching TV and movies and listening to music.

I have struggled with my weight my entire adult life. I have always been a “bigger” girl. I enjoy food, I love to cook and bake and I am not going to stop doing that. I have a stressful job and a lot going on at home, so I have a lot of stress and baking is one way I relieve that stress. It calms me.

Since I like to eat, I have figured that I need to move more to be able to lose weight. And here starts my struggle and why I have a hard time losing weight – my life is busy. After working 9-10 hours a day, I come home to 3 “STARVING” boys who demand dinner ASAP and then I have to clean up the kitchen, do some laundry, make lunches for the next day, work on homework, take kids to whatever sport/activity they are doing, … and the list goes on and on – just like for all of you I’m sure. I want to make exercising a priority – I want my kids to know how important it is to eat healthy and be active. So that is what I am working on now – how to make exercise a priority.

I wanted to share a recipe that my family loves and is so quick and easy and is good for you. It came from a weight watchers book - Asiago Crusted Pork Chops. I like to make this when dinner has to made in 20 minutes and I know my kids will eat it (even my picky 5 year old). Please try it and let me know what you think...

Asiago Crusted Pork Chops

4 boneless center cut chops - I usually buy the thin cut so it cooks quicker

1/2 C Panko (or regular) breadcrumbs

1/4 C grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese

1 egg white

Fresh thyme and 4 lemon wedges (optional)

Take 2 shallow bowls, place the egg white in one and whisk briefly, add the breadcrumbs, cheese and salt and pepper to taste in the other bowl. Take a chop and dip in the egg and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Add to a hot skillet drizzled with olive oil and cook until done. About 5 minutes per side depending on the thickness. Remove from pan and add some fresh thyme and squeeze a lemon wedge over the chop. I don't always have thyme or lemons, and these are still delicious without them. I usually steam some broccoli and make a quick salad and dinner is served. I hope you enjoy these with your family.

So that’s me in a nutshell … Keep up the good work Minnies!!"

Aren't those boys beautiful!?!  Seriously.  I could eat em up!  I'm so glad that Heather decided to join in the competition.  I wish we lived closer so we could work out together or at least watch each other's kids for an hour so we could work out by ourselves!  You should see me in my tiny apartment doing any type of exercise.  The kids think it's funny and they think I'm dancing so they start jumping around and turning circles all around me.  It's everything I can do to not kick one of them in the head!  How do you explain that at the ER?!?  I am going to try out those pork chops tomorrow! I've had some in the freezer for awhile just waiting to find the perfect recipe! Sounds fantastic!! 

Week 6 Results!

Hello All!  First, let me thank you for everyone who responded with their weigh-in for the mini-challenge!  There are 8 of us playing for immunity after Thanksgiving!  I'm a little worried about my chances though seeing how much everyone has already lost since Wednesday!!  You girls are awesome!!  I didn't get weights from Leah and Amanda.  If either of you sent me your weight and I didn't get it, let me know what it was and I'll get it plugged in!  My weight on Wednesday was the same as it is today.  Now, I know this was a great big decrease from last week, but, I ate a large dinner the night before last week and didn't sleep very well Friday night.  So, I feel like my weight was slightly skewed last week and this week is more accurate.  Anyway, I'm really excited to say that I've lost 10 pounds now!!  Such a milestone!  Down to 204.5!  Let me just pat myself on the back a few times!!

And, I'll just keep tooting my horn because I am the winner this week for the weigh in!  But, that is just because of the aforementioned weigh-in from last week.  I lost 4 pounds, supposedly.  Here are this week's results!  I'm so proud of everyone!

1.  Jenny up 1.87% from last week!
2.  Dana 1.46%
3.  Raenetta 1.39%
4.  Heather .85%
5.  Holly .82%
6.  Betty .56%
7.  Amanda .14%
8.  Leah .009%
9.  Lesa -.93%
10.  Jessie -1.29%


And the overall results for the competition!

1.  Dana at 5.38%
2.  Raenetta 5.07%
3.  Jenny 4.66%
4.  Amanda 3.92%
5.  Heather 2.13%
6.  Betty 1.77%
7.  Holly .83%
8.  Lesa .80%
9.  Leah -.001%
10.  Jessie -1.41%

Tomorrow we get to learn all about Heather and meet her and her family!  I'm so glad that she decided to do Meet Me Monday because at the beginning she told me she had no idea what to say about herself.  Then she sent me her info today (I haven't read it yet) and said to shorten it if I need to!!  Love it!!

Next week, we'll learn all about Holly if she wishes to participate!  Yeah!!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!  Check in with us all during the week sometime and let us know how things are going!!

Turkey Day Challenge

Let's spice things up around here!  What do you say?!?  A mini challenge!!  Since this is impromptu, of course you don't have to join in.  But, I think it'll be fun and the prize is going to be totally worth it.

Here's how this is going to roll.  First we'll have a weigh-in tomorrow morning.  Yes, I know, short notice, so sorry.  There won't be any penalty from this weigh-in, i.e., no money due.  It'll be the baseline weight just for this mini challenge.  And, we'll still have our normal weigh-in on Saturday, keeping up with the competition as a whole.

Now, this mini competition will run for 2 weeks, until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Did you know that the Saturday before Thanksgiving marks the half-way point of our 14 weeks??  Scary!  I know that I certainly am not on track to hit my half-way goal!!  Yikes!   Ok, back to business.  So, for the mini competition we will weigh-in again on the 23rd.  (That's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.)

Let's summarize.  There will be two weigh-ins.  One tomorrow-a baseline.  One on the 23rd marking the end of the mini competition.  Simple as that.  Now for the prize!!!  I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.  If not, read on.  If so, read on anyway!!  Whomever has lost the highest percentage of their weight between those 2 weeks will have IMMUNITY on the Saturday weigh-in after Thanksgiving!!!!  Did you read that right?!?!  I'm talking Survivor here people!  You will be able to stuff your face with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, pumpkin pie, cranberry salad, sweet potatotes with those little, perfectly toasted marshmallows on top, anything your little heart wants and you will have NO penalty when you gain a few pounds for Saturday's weigh-in!  You will still have to weigh-in, don't get me wrong.  You just will owe nothing!  I know, exciting!!

Ok, so, if you're going to play just send me your weight like we always do.  If you have any questions, as always, feel free to ask!  If this works out well and we have fun with it, we'll do it again around Christmas!

Now, for some reason I'm craving me some good, home cooked comfort food...

Meet Me Monday - Amanda

Good Morning!  Hope you all had a great morning, seeing how we basically slept in another hour!  Not much to say this morning.  I know, you're so surprised!

Today we get to meet Amanda!  As you know by now, I don't know Amanda personally and so I can't really introduce her to you.  But, I have read her bio already and it seems like she is a great lady with a crazy, busy life!  Wish we lived closer so we could get to know each other better!  We'll have to settle for bloggie friends!  Here's what Amanda has to say:

"Hi fellow Minnies :),

My name is Amanda Dorsett. I am 28 years old, have been married to my wonderful husband Cody for 9 years. We have four children. Ty our oldest is 7, Zach our middle son is 4, Trey our baby boy is 2 and I recently gave birth in April to our spoiled little princess, Caitlyn. I am a stay at home mommy because really, who can afford day care for four kiddos :)? I do enjoy being able to stay home..... well not work outside of the home and run my kids to school, sports, church and all the other various activities that keep us very busy. 

I am struggling to lose my baby weight this time around. With my son Trey, the weight just fell off and by the time he was six months old, I was minus eight lbs and the smallest I had ever been. When I got pregnant with Cait, I gained close to 40 lbs. While I have lost close to 30 of it, these last ten pounds have stubbornly hung on. On top of that, I want to be at a fit weight for my height, so I decided to try and lose a total of 18 lbs. I know it can be done! I weighed 175 after having my son Zachary. I did not lose any of the weight I had gained while pregnant. When I got pregnant with Trey, I weighed 135. I lost 40 lbs through diet alone, because I HATE to exercise and honestly I don't have the time! My husband works two jobs, he has a regular 9-5 job, well in his case 6-2, and then officiates high school volleyball, basketball and baseball. Some nights we don't get to see him until close to 10 p.m.! So it's just me and the kids several days a week, with help from our awesome extended family.

I was surprised as anyone to be at the top this week. I did gain last week, on Monday ( Halloween) I was plus 2 lbs :( However I have gallbladder issues, and had an attack Tuesday. I was told to fast for two days, drinking nothing but juice and water. It worked! However, I may have to have surgery in the near future :( So right there is motivation to eat healthier!! I also have my own small business making cookies, candies and confections. I sell these mostly around the Holidays but I do have to taste most of my product as I am making it and let me tell you, the temptation is there to sample several of everything I make! I have a huge sweet tooth! So I am also learning self control. I enjoy hearing from each of you and knowing I am not alone in my struggle to lose weight."

Thanks, Amanda!  Your kiddos are absolutely adorable!!  So sweet!  I too suffered with my gallbaldder!  Just yank it out, you don't need it anyway! :-)  

See you all back here tomorrow for the Thanksgiving Challenge!!

Results- Week 5

Daylight Savings Time means you fall back one whole day, right?! No?!?  Hmm, wish someone would have told me earlier.  You know, I'm still considered new to this whole DST getup, I do live in Indiana, ya know.  We've only been doing this for like 5 years or something.  Yeah, well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Seriously, I'm super glad for all of you minnies that had good weeks this week.  Count your blessings!  Let me tell you about a few of the minnies who didn't quite have good weeks this week, it must of been the Halloween curse.  First of all, Betty-along with Holly, who lives at the same abode, had their entire 3 story home flooded by an upstairs commode.  (Rhyming not meant to make light of the situation!)  It's a mess!   Leah, has been preparing for midterms and preparing for her Mom's Retirement Party, the latter, of course not bad! And, with so much on her mind forgot to pack her scale! Lesa, was closing down her Btown home for a life on the road in Florida for the winter-I don't feel too sorry for her, but she was still a little pre-occupied. And, she also forgot her scale, however, found one to weigh in on.  And then there's me, who felt sorry for all of the above minnies and put on a sympathy 2.5 pounds!  Your welcome.  And, truthfully, I forgot to pack up the laptop for the aforementioned Retirement Party.  Thus, the Sunday results post.  I know this was a bad week for most of us because at least $10 is being added to the pot this week, perhaps even $12-see below.

Anywho, here it is, kind of.  I'm still missing weights for Holly and Leah.  Holly will return home this evening and let me know.  And, Leah will be back in Wisconsin tonight and she'll weigh in tomorrow.  Now, I hate to be a stickler on the rules here.  But, it is what it is.  Because I don't have their weights, they  will each have to pay a penalty of $1, as if their weights didn't change.  And, when they get me they're results, if they gained they will have to pay the normal fine of $2.  Capesh??

The winner for this week is: DANA!!

Week 5 Lineup
1.  Dana up 1.45% weight loss!!
2.  Heather .43%
3. Amanda .28%
4.  Jessie .06%
5.  Holly 0%
6.  Leah 0%
7.  Lesa -.27%
8.  Raenetta - .90%
9.  Jenny -1.17%
10. Betty -1.77%

And, for the overall comptetion:

1.  Dana has taken the lead with an overall loss of 3.92%
2.  Amanda 3.78%
3.  Raenetta 3.68%
4.  Jenny 2.79%
5.  Leah 1.74%
6.  Lesa 1.73%
7.  Heather 1.28%
8.  Betty 1.21%
9.  Holly 1.11%
10. Jessie .11%

Alright, for those of you in the top four this week, great job!  You guys rocked it! (and you must of kept your paws out the Halloween candy!!)  For the rest of us, let's step it up before Thanksgiving!! Speaking of which, I'll announce the Thanksgiving Challenge next week on Tuesday!  Be ready!!!

Come back tomorrow and learn all about Amanda, as she's agreed to do Meet Me Monday!  And, next week-our runner up will have a turn!  Yeah, Heather!!  (if you're up to it!)  Email me your bio and a picutre or two or three or whatever!  Can't wait to learn more about Amanda tomorrow!!!!

Have a great week Minnies!!!

Harvest Soup

Here's a Thursday morning recipe for you to try.  It's a great way to incorporate some of the fall veggies and fruits you may have around!  I made this a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was just ok.  Now, I know that doesn't sound very convincing for you to try it, but, I was a little out of my box on this one.  If you like the ingredients, I'm sure you'll love the soup!  The only thing extra I did was add a few spices.  I thought it was overwhelmingly carroty, so I muted that with some cinnamon and a small amount of curry.  Give it a try!

Havest Soup
adapted from PARENTS magazine, October 2011

1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 c copped carrot
1/2 c chopped celery
1/3 c chopped onion
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 medium apples, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
ground pepper to taste
spices to taste

1.  Heat oil in a big soup pot on medium heat.  Add your chopped carrots, celery, and onions.  (You don't have to perfectly chop these, as you'll be pureeing this soup.)  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.  Add your squash, apples, and broth.  (I used Gala's from Huber Farms, and they were quite small, so I cut up 3 or 4 of them.)  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the squash is tender.  Cool slightly.

2.  Puree soup using your preferred method. I use an imersion blender, a fun little kitchen gadget in my arsenal!  But a blender or a food processor will work just as well.  Taste and add your spices to taste.  Enjoy!

Nutrition info per 1.5 cups serving size. (Makes 6 cups)

185 calories
6g protein
4g fat (1g sat fat)
35 g carbs
6 g fiber
88 mg calcium
1 mg iron
531 mg sodium

If you make it, let me know what you think!  It actually is a really rich and creamy soup.  And, the best part...no cream!! 

Hope you all are surviving the week well.  I'm not sure if you remember me saying I was going to jump back on the diet wagon earlier this week...well, I jumped and fell flat on my face.  That stinking Halloween candy is doing me in!  Hopefully, I can pull it together by Saturday! 

Not sure if you all realize it, but in only 3 weeks from today, it is National Food Binge Day, aka Thanksgiving.  And to prepare for that, I have a challenge for us!  I'll post more on that soon!  Check back!!

I know this is becoming an extremely long post, but, wanted to throw this out there.  If anyone wants to post a recipe for everyone to try, email it on over to me and I'll get it up here.  Now, I've taken several pictures of the food I've prepared, but when it comes time to post them, I'm too embarrassed.  First of all, my photography skills are that of a 6 year old.  And, secondly, I have a small, horribly lit kitchen.  The picture I had for the soup made it appear very unappetizing.  I'll try better in the future!

Toodaloo!

Meet Me Monday - Lesa aka Mom

Good Morning!  I hope you all had fabulous weekends!!  I nearly forgot that today is Halloween as I've already gone trick-or-treating twice!  There is way. too. much. candy in my house.  Seriously!  And, I've been really bad and helped myself to a lot of it.  Time to cut it out and get back on the diet wagon.

Anywho, today you get to learn all about my mom.  Her name is Lesa and yes, it is spelled with an 'e'- get it right, or pay the price! And by price, I mean, nothing at all, just a little annoyance.  I mean, I think we've all had someone get our name wrong once or twice, and admit it, it's just annoying.  And, my poor mom married a man with the last name of Snedegar...it's over, she knows it, everyone screws it up!  Well, here she is, Lisa Snedinger!  I kill myself!

"Hello Skinny Girls!!

I am Lesa, Jenny & Heather's Mom and Raenetta's Aunt.  Most of you know me, so I won't bore you with many details.  I think the only ones I don't know are Jessie & Amanda.  I very much enjoyed Jessie's "Meet Me Monday" last week, and I guess I might be seeing Amanda's next week.  Congrats!

First of all - aren't "The Big Bad Wolf" (Wyatt) and "Little Red Riding Hood" (Katelyn) adorable!!!!  Yes! They are - OK!  I might be a little biased!  Who cares?

I signed up for Skinny My Minnie with hopes of having incentive to drop 10-15 lbs.  My weight gain began last year while helping care for my brother, who passed away with Cancer in August, 2010./  Too many late nights, drive thru, un-healthy meals took a toll on my body.  So what is my excuse over a year later?  Don't have one!  I have been a member of Curves for 5-6 years now.  I do try to go 3x a week and enjoy their workout system.  Even that took a back seat last year and I amanged to get back into it this year after recovering from 2 shoulder surgeries!  Even if my weight does not reflect my efforts, I do have to say - I can see some changes in toning!  Along wiht Skinny, I signed up for Curves "Not for Sissies" challenge for October.  It began Oct 3rd and finished on the 29th.  It entailed a commitment to 3 workouts per week, as well as weight and measures, food journaling, healthy recipe contests, Mammogram (since Oct is Breast Cancer Awareness Month), and donations to the Middle Way House.  With each of these items, points are awarded.  Tomorrow is my final weigh in and they will tally all the points this week.

A few years ago, I was given a book called The New Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat by H. Leighton Steward, Morrison C. Bethea, MD, Sam S. Andrews, MD & Luis A. Balart, MD.  We were out in Cody, WY on vacation and met Leighton Steward and his wife Linda.  He gave me the book (and autographed it).  I read it on the drive back to Indiana, and though, "I can do that!"  It isn't as hard as you might thing, although sugar is one of my major food groups! I am a total sugar-alholic!  You simply eat like you are a diabetic, for the most part.  There are no carbs or calories to count, just sugar or anything that converts to sugar.  The first week of using his method, I lost 4 lbs and continued to lose 20 overall.  This was before Jenny's wedding AND a class reunion!  Later, I purchased the shoppers guide to use along with the original book. 

Ladies!  Keep strong and we all can have healthier lives, look better in our clothes and feel so much better!"

Thanks, Mom!!  Love you! 

So sorry for the late results posting this week!  I've been busy today doing this:

I know, right?!  So cute!  We trick or treated for the first time this year.  Yes, I said first, we will be doing it at least one more time, if not two!  I'm exhausted already.  Anyway, in case you can't tell, Wy is The Big Bad Wolf and Katelyn is Little Red Riding Hood.

Anyway, the winner this week is AMANDA!!!!!  Good work, girl!!  Here are the results for the week!

1.  Amanda had a 1.68% change from last week!!
2.  Jenny 1.63% (weighed in this week at 207!!)
3.  Betty 1.02%
4.  Raenetta 0.55%
5.  Heather 0.42%
6.  Leah 0.38%
7.  Jessie 0.05%
8.  Holly 0%
9.  Dana -0.11%
10. Lesa -1.00%

And, the winner overall so far:

1.  Raenetta 4.58% hanging on for another week!!
2.  Jenny 3.96%
3. Amanda 3.50%
4.  Betty 2.98%
5.  Dana 2.47%
6.  Lesa 2.00%
7.  Leah 1.74%
8.  Holly 1.11%
9.  Heather 0.85%
10.  Jessie .05%

There you have it!  Week 4 wrapped up!!  We'll learn all about my Mom on Monday!  And, next week we'll learn all about Amanda next week if she's game!  I'm most interested in learning about her because I don't personally know her!!  Not that I don't love reading about everyone else!!  Well, we'll end with another picture of my cute kids!  HeHe!!