Oh lord .. I’m probably going to get myself kicked off this new NBC site.  But I just can’t hold my tongue – especially when I’m trying to save the world!!

Yesterday NBC posted a new challenge over at the Biggest Loser League for the week. Challenges are issued each week as a way for members to earn points – and are typically designed to educate us on good health and nutrition.   In case you were not one of the lucky ones to see this challenge … it was about creating new Goals for the New Year. Some of us actually got to do the challenge before it mysteriously disappeared … and was replaced with the new wondrous water challenge.  But no one knows WHY!!

My guess is .. the Brita Sponsorship came through and they had to switch out the Challenge in order to get those ad dollars in!  {The new water challenge has a inconspicuous Brita logo beside it – and the web site has been plastered with Brita ads!}

Speaking of Brita and their “less waste” campaign … I actually took the time to do some research on this.

Did you know that the Dasani Bottles were made to be completly 100% recyclable? From the bottle itself to the label to the bottle cap! And I don’t have to waste additional water to wash it after every use. The tap water here in Florida is just unbearable to drink – even when filtered through a Brita Filter.  The Brita Filter Cartridges themselves {and the actual water pitcher and filtering components} … NOT RECYCLABLE .. and very costly!

But you can join up a campaign that is asking Clorox {the makers of the Brita filter} to start taking back these environmental hazards to recycle: http://www.takebackthefilter.org/ .  Just think of the carbon footprint this heavy plastic leaves when it disintegrates! Oh the toxic fumes! The original Brita company in Germay DOES recycle these materials … it’s just the North American division that refuses to run this program. I guess it costs too much money to try and save the environment .. but they can try and MAKE money by claiming to be environmentally friendly.  Go figure!!

I think I’ll stick with my Dasani.

It’s better for the enviroment!

Another 3 pound loss this week {2.9 pounds actually – but close enough} – thank you very much my friends!!!   While not the 5 pounds my home scale showed – I’ll take it!  In fact, I’m pretty gosh darn excited about it.  Why?  That brings me to a 21 pound loss in NINE WEEKS … AND 40 pounds lost total from my heaviest weight.

I’ve had some people say that my weight loss program is the “easy way” out in weight loss.  I’m told that I’m not learning how to eat healthy by using weight loss supplements.  I’ve been criticized for using phentrimine to give me an energy boost and control my binge eating.  I just have three words for those critics “neener neener neener” !

OK .. I’ll grow up now.  I’m just really excited that I’ve found a weight loss method that is working for me.  Today we had our first nutrition group class – and I’ll be sharing what we talked about with my team when I have time to write it all up.  So while I’m taking the weight loss supplements, I will be learning healthy eating habits, and since I’m eating one meal on my own each day I can practice what I learn during our weekly group sessions.

Once I reach my half way weight I’ll start to add back in “real food” with a better understanding of portion sizes, and a realization that I don’t need to eat more than 1500 calories a day to maintain my weight.

The hard part for me is still exercise .. I am going to set up a team challenge next week to help myself with that.  {Oh please NBC get that Team Challenge Modual working before the end of Sunday night!} I just can’t imagine how many more pounds I’ll lose when I start to add in daily exercise!  WOOT!!!

UPDATE:   In Job News – I was contacted about a Marketing Analyst position today.  I returned her message and will await her call tomorrow.   I just hope she doesn’t want me to interview the next two weeks … cuz I might have jury duty.  I won’t know till 1pm tomorrow afternoon.

The only downside to being a member of the BL League – is that I have to write two blogs now! LOL – so those who read both … you’re going to get A LOT of repeat news!! Haha!

Weigh-in today – minus 1.1 pounds. Woot! That’s a total of 14.2 pounds in 7 weeks … 2 pounds a week – not bad at all!!

Spoke with the doc about my most recent lab work. My thyroid levels are back to normal with the increased dosage of synthroid. So I’ll just have to suck it up and start using lotion everyday to get my dry skin under control. The bad news is …. I’m anemic. No surprise there for me. I’ve been feeling so sluggish and light headed the past few weeks … that explains EVERYTHING. The doc wants to run more tests, but I know exactly what’s causing the anemia and I’ll fill him in next week. My cycle has been excessively heavy the past 2 years. It’s no wonder I’m anemic. I’m going to make a conscious effort to take my multi-vitamin every single day from here on out.

Since I’m doing well on program .. and because I’m starting to get hungry in the afternoons .. doc wants me to take an appetite suppressant. I have mixed feeling on that – considering the historical issues with this type of medication. Doc assured me they would monitor my progress every week .. heart rate, blood pressure, etc … to make sure there are no issues. So I’ll give it a go for one week and see how this old body wants to respond. Doc said I was in excellent health .. if you discount my weight. So he sees no issues for me.

This week … my goal is to actually ride the damn exercise bike instead of staring at it from across the room and cursing it. Now that I know my lack of energy is anemmia and not some other strange disease … I should be able to talk myself in to doing it. Maybe. Perhaps the supplements will make me hyper and I’ll have too much energy to burn? Next you’ll hear from me .. I’ll be bouncing around the house unable to stop. hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Weight-loss goal for this week TWO POUNDS. I can do it. Yes I can!

A short and sweet post this evening … time is short and I’ve got stuff to do! Yes – TS Fay is still dumping water on us .. but so far we’re high and dry. Thoughts go out to everyone in Brevard County … they’ve got extreme flooding – with about 20 inches of rain dumped in 2 days time.

Weigh-in today was a measly 1.6 pounds lost. I even upped my activity level this week … and for what? I burned off 4 pounds worth of calories according to my Fit Day program.

I’m not going to spout off a bunch of excuses. I’m not going to get dejected. I’m just going to review my food logs and see where I can make adjustments. I have a funny feeling the ever so slow increase of my Diet Coke intake is the culprit. So my goal this week is to decrease the Diet Coke .. increase the water. I’ve already cut out the fruit I was having at lunch! There’s not much else I can cut out and stay on program.

On a side note – I got really upset this afternoon when Thomasville called to tell me there was yet ANOTHER delay in getting my furniture. It wasn’t coming this Saturday .. but September 6th. I’m proud to say instead of reaching for food .. I yelled at the sales person instead. Yep … instead of internalizing the anger and then reaching for food later .. I let her have it. It felt good too!

Exciting news – MANY of the original Chubby Network peeps have decided to join us over at the BL League web site. I’m so happy to see everyone and am now even more impatient for NBC to bring the site LIVE. I’ll let you guys know when they’ve allowed the teams to form – and we can start tackling these challenges together!

Tomorrow – we will battle the remaining rain from Fay to drive the son over to USF. We’ll pick up his parking pass, pick up his text books, and drop off the first load-o-stuff in his new dorm room. I’ll help him get it set up. Then Sunday – weather permitting – he’ll drive himself over to start class on Monday. If the rains are still here I’ll probably drop him off and bring the car home.

Time to make the son’s dinner .. let me run!

For those wanting a sneak peek at the new NBC weight loss web site .. here’s the link and the log in information – you can read about the site at the forum by clicking here.

The site is: http://tbll.nbc.com
username: tbllpreview
password: Ztr@52y

They ask that we don’t tell the whole world since the site is still in Beta .. but I know there are a few of you who stopped reading the forum around the same time I did. A little birdie told me about the site and I thought I’d check it out. It look pretty decent .. so I went ahead and registered. I’m sure everyone will figure out who I am eventually … but I’ll be keeping my comments strictly on my personal weight loss!

There are challenges, etc …. that we’ve all been wanting to manage ourselves. This will be a version of The Chubby Network .. just run by the Pros! I wouldn’t be sharing this site with you if I didn’t think it was a fantastic adaptation of what we have been trying to accomplish.There are teams forming … and I would love to have you guys on my team!  I actually requested to be a team captain and have called it “The Chubby Network” in memory of our old site.   So check it out and let me know if you’d like to sign up!