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Q & A

1. What's your first name?

Mary Alice (Mar)

2. Why did you sign up for Quickerfit ?

I saw what fantastic results Stephanie was getting, and I could tell how much she loved it. I had to see what Quickerfit could do for me.

3. What part of Quickerfit are you working on ? Nutrition or Fitness ?

I'm working nutrition. I have a trainer here, and really need guidance on food.

4. What's your FAVORITE naughty food ?

Cookies. Without a doubt!!! Doesn't matter what kind, I love them all!!

5. What's the hardest part of re-vamping your nutrition and food choices?

I love food. I love to eat, my family loves to eat, and it always isn't the healthiest choice. So while I'm making them pasta and meatballs, I'm trying to stay healthier with my choices.

6. How does your family feel about the changes your making ?

They love it! It's only been a couple of weeks w/Quickerfit and already I'm getting compliments on how I look. Just what I wanted when I first contacted Eric!

7. How do you plan ahead for food emergencies ?

Before we go out, I always check the menu online to see what they have and what will be a good choice. I try to never get really HUNGRY because I know that's going to lead to problems.

8. Do you like to exercise ? What's your favorite way to burn calories ?

It's weird, but I love to exercise, once I start. It's getting me there to begin with! I can come up with ten excuses why I don't want to, but if I get my butt going, I love it!! My favorite so far is a boot camp class, but I used to spin and loved that too!

9. Do you have workout equipment at home ? If so what kind ? If not where do you workout ?

I have both an elliptical machine and a treadmill home, as well as a bunch of weights & balance ball. I alternate going to the gym to work with my trainer and working out here at home. I do a better job at the gym, but can't beat the convenience of being home.

10. Tell us a little bit about your family and daily life ! ;)

I'm a mom to 5 sons....ages from 28 to 15. Only the youngest is home full-time now, the second oldest is at college. So I guess you could say I'm semi-retired lol. My days are never the same, I don't really have a job, but I go to my husband's office now and then to help out (haha, shred, file, do the stuff nobody else wants to do), and then we'll go to lunch. We're in the process of planning the second wedding in two years, so this fall I'll be getting my second daughter!

11. What's your favorite thing to do in your spare time ?

I love being in the kitchen with my husband cooking.

12. What's your favorite word ?

Hmmmm, I don't think I have one?

13. How did you find out about Eric @ Quickerfit ?

From Steph. I took a chance and emailed Eric, not knowing what he could do for me, since I'm across the country.

14. How do you chart your progress ? Do you set goals for yourself?

Of course, I use the scale. But the scale isn't always a friend, when you're trying to add muscle at the same time you're losing fat. When I get discouraged I'll try on a pair of pants that I know didn't fit before. I do set goals and mini goals.

15. Tell us a little bit about what you really want to get out of this nutrition & fitness makeover and how you found yourself at this point.

When I started, I wanted to be "fit and fabulous at fifty" (this spring). As I'm getting older, I'm realizing that good nutrition and being fit is essential to a good life. I want to be able to move around and enjoy life with my family getting older, traveling more, having more free time. I realized that I didn't have as much energy and my clothes weren't fitting right and I just felt blah. So I knew I had to make a change, and make it a permanent one. Not some quick fix.

16. Tell us ONE random fact about yourself that we would never guess. ;)

I've lived in the Northeast my whole life, in the snow capital of the world, lol, and have never been on a pair of skis. Not downhill skis, not cross country skis, nothing. And I probably never will lol.

(A little bit about Mar and how I met her.......I have known her since the first AOL Message Boards back in 1995.......My son was an infant (He's 15 now) and I was home searching online for baby advice and help.......I came across a "SAHM" message board and there's a group of about 10 of us that still e-mail and keep in touch daily. We have gone through everything from grandchildren, graduation, marriages, death and so many things. Just knowing this group of woman are always there is so comforting !)

Nike +iPOD

So for Valentines Day my hubby and kids got me this cool thing. I don't have the Official Nike shoes that have the pre-made holder for the sensor but that's okay. You can kind of rig it to work anyway. Nike also sells a pouch to attach to your shoe. It works on the newer iPODS, Touch and iPHONES. You put the sensor in your shoe, put the little white thing above in your iPOD and you are ready to walk or run. There are also certain machines at GYMS that are compatible with the devices and will track for you also. It let's you know how many calories you burn, how far you went, if you met your goal and much more. You can program it for an open-ended workout, times, distance, how many calories you want to burn. It calculates it all for you and then will SYNC with iTUNES and you can upload to your NIKE account. There are all sorts of fun training programs it will help you train for. I entered one that's like a Coach helping you along the way for beginning walkers that want to start running. Now I don't want to start running for the most part but I thought it would be fun to try.

You can also be friends with people (real life or other runners/walkers) at the Nike website and share and challenge your friends to do better !!! I hope some of my friends will get this and play along with me.

There's a voice that comes on and talks to you while your working out and once your almost done a crowd cheers !!!! I like knowing how many calories I'm burning and if I meet my daily burning goal. For the price ($29.00 for the sensor) it seems like a fun tool to just keep you motivated and moving right along.

What do you think ? Would you get one ?

Who are you....Who Who Who Who ??????

I'm getting a ton of hits on my blog from all over the United States and also places in Europe. How cool is that ? I get inspired to keep blogging about my weight loss journey because of YOU !!!! How about leaving a little blog love today with a comment ? Just say HI and what state you are reading from !!! It really makes my day and if I can inspire just ONE normal, regular, every day type of person (Kinda like me) than I know my blogging is worth it !!!!

Thanks for reading my blog !!! I sooooooo appreciate it !!!

P.S. I need some Canadian fans !!!! ;)

Sick of sick.....

I have been sick all week. Head cold, congestion, cough, fever and chills !!! Yeah they were "Multiplying" (Get the song reference?) .......Funny because ever since the kids had Pres Day off I felt like I was getting sick. We spent that Monday exploring the Berkeley hills and Tilden Park. Have you even been there ? It's a pretty cool place and lots of fun for hiking, walking, riding the steam train and exploring. Funny thing is I LOVE Berkeley and being in the Bay but I was so tired that day. So all last week my body was trying to get sick. Don't you hate that ? So finally this last weekend it gave in. Here's a pic of my kids at Lake Anza.

So this week I have been trying to get better. I have not been starved but trying to eat. Eating good and on a nutrition "blitz" right now. My body was stuck a week or two ago at the initial amount of weight that it lost. My Quickerfit trainer helped me get a new nutrition plan to really "blitz" my body and let it know that it's not the BOSS of me and I refuse to be stuck at a certain weight. So it's working and I"m down 3 more pounds. I didn't get this size overnight and I certainly won't loose it overnight. If your a Type A.....I am in certain areas.....it's a real lesson in patience and waiting for your body to respond. So I take each day as it comes, try to plan my meals and be prepared. I see the results and honestly I can't wait to loose 15-20 more pounds and do some serious clothes shopping !! (I can imagine my husband is thrilled with the shopping part ! hahaha)

I'm going to try and workout tomorrow and get back into my body moving. Being sick and working out for me does not mix. Wish me luck !!

Tweet, Tweet Twitter !!!!!

There are a few things you should know right now about me:

I'm following the Quickerfit Diet and Exercise program. It's AWESOME !!!

I don't always blog each and every day BUT I do Twitter. Look to the right....see
the Twitter box ? That should have a pretty current status each day. Do you Twitter also ?
Add your user name in the comments below and we can be friends !

I have a cold/sore throat and that's a bummer cause it's beautiful out today !

I love fitting into smaller jeans and can't wait for a few more sizes to drop so I
can go SHOPPING !!! I love clothes !!!

I'm on a diet blitz. My body is telling me "HEY now that's enough weight lost" but I'm going to show, tell and WORK my body over to know that it's not over and there will be lots more weight lost. Just the word BLITZ alone is pretty cool

I love The Bachelor, House Hunters, Modern Family and finally saw the Notebook yesterday.

I love my new tennis shoes

I love that I can wear my workout pants each day. They are like pj's.

I hate the rain and need more and more sun

I want to motivate YOU to loose weight, get healthy and join me on your own journey.

Before, During and After

So it's been over 20 pounds, several inches and I'm down two jeans sizes !!!! Each day I feel better, have better mobility and even my "trick" knee feels better. I'm posting a few pics of how my body is changing. What goes first is my hips and I'm soooo glad that my tummy is now starting to shrink. I don't post these like a "Hey check out my BODY" type of post but more like "Hey you can have the same experience as me" type of thing !!!! I think that seeing how one's body changes gives us really tangible images that we can also visualize for our self !!!!

I did it !!!! p.s. dork alert

Well I can check something else off my fitness bucket list. I made it to the top of Pena Adobe !! This was no small feat as it was mostly all uphill. The views from the top were amazing to say the least !!!

What's on your bucket list for fitness ?

I'm still going strong with Quickerfit. The program just works and with a little planning and being organized it's wonderful. Shopping ahead and having all the basic "Quickerfit" staples in the house helps. Life is good, jeans are smaller and fitness is being achieved !!!!!

One step at a time........

Last night I tried something totally different. I went to a friends Boot Camp ! I have been on a committed health plan for about 37 days and really wanted to try something fun and crazy. I actually made it through an HOUR of cardio, weights, butt, abs and stretches. Ummm HELLO if you would of asked me a year ago if I would envision myself in workout clothes, moving the way I was last night.......what would I have said...NO WAY JOSE !!!!! The instructor is a friend of mine and we had already talked about modifications that I could do in case I wasn't ready for a specific move. My heart rate was up, I was sweating and I'm sure when people drove by they looked in and saw us all grooving to the "Vampire Play list" I really didn't care what people thought. There were all levels of fitness there. I was there to really see if I could survive a whole hour and if I could do it. The whole way home I was fighting back the tears. To some people this might not seem like a big deal....but to me I felt like I just succeed at something that was unattainable for a long time.

Growing up my mom was very protective of me. In many ways I can look back and so appreciate that. She never wanted me to get hurt and that included sports. I know this will sound kinda crazy but she really thought that if girls did to much they could "strain their ovaries" and never provide grand kids to her one day. I'm not sure where she came up with this ,but that turned into a running joke at our house but something she did kind of believe in. I was allowed to swim and play tennis. Now if she was here right now she would say "Well you never asked to try anything else" and that could be very true. I believe as a parent we have to push our kids a bit (In ever direction sports, music, arts, education) to see what they really take to. If I would of never signed Lexi up for swimming I would never know she had a knack for the BUTTERFLY and was driven to beat her own time each and every race. Same with Wolfie and karate and his other sports. TRY it all and see what you LOVE and feel good doing !!!!!!

She didn't even want me to have a bike. She was away at a church conference one weekend and my dad bought me the most AWESOME banana seat bike I had even seen. I rode all weekend back and forth in front of our house and when my mom came home I could not WAIT to show her my new talent. Of course she was happy for me riding that bike with a huge smile on my face. Even though nervous of all the things my own kids would go on to try and do.....She was always proud of them and knew I loved exposing them to different things. (LOVE ya MOM!) As moms we try and do the very best we can do for our kids. I don't blame my mom or hold anything against her. She kept me safe and I owe so much to her !!! She made me who I am today and there isn't a day I don't wish I could pick up the phone and tell her about my kids achievements. She would of been laughing with me if I could tell her about me getting through boot camp last night.

I think that I was fearful of trying new things athletic as I grew into my teens, 20's and 30's. I might fail, hurt myself and look ridiculous. I don't want to feel like that anymore. I want to LIVE OUT LOUD and feel good about myself. I want to break the old running thoughts in my head and have new positive thoughts. Unless you have ever battled anything in your life all this might sound like crazy talk. Losing weight, getting into shape is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I have done it many times over......I want this time to be the LAST !!!!!

Do you want to join me on this journey ? I hope you will and we can do this TOGETHER !!!!!! I write this blog mostly selfishly in order to get all this out. It feels good to write it all down rather then keeping it all in my head. I hope I can inspire just one person to keep going, drinking that water, moving their body and not giving up. If you have read this far....thank you !!!!!

Superbowl SUNDAY !!!!!

It's all about the MODERATION TODAY !!!! Life is short and I'm exercising to be able to live longer, maintain my health and be here on this earth longer for my family. Life is also short and having a few tidbits of tasty goodness today won't slow me down to much. We are heading over to my dads for a celebration. I am not even a follower of football but love the commercials and not having to do laundry for one whole day will be nice !!! (I'm a slave to laundry if you didn't know this already)

Interesting as I was at the grocery store yesterday and getting all the stuff for our family celebration I was like talking to myself "Okay Steph now you are giving yourself some wiggle room tomorrow but do you really need to wiggle that much?" In my opinion (In the future you will see me reference this as IMO) this means I'm really getting into this and buying into it. I went jeans shopping last night and was able to get into jeans 3 sizes smaller !!!!!!!!!!! Ummm WOW !!!!!!

So leave a comment and let me know how you will be MODERATING yourself today ? Just remember we are NOT perfect people.......When your at the Superbowl party have a few bites of this and that !!!! ;) lol

Don't forget you can also follow me on Twitter (StephSixMonths) and I have been really APPRECIATING the e-mails and support from you all !!!!!!

Thought for the DAY !!!!!

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

Pena Adobe

I went on a walk/hike today with my Quickerfit Trainer and it was a beautiful day. The weather was so beautiful. We did about a 2.5 mile walk and did some uphill. It wasn't to bad and a deer ran right across out path as we were walking on the trail. I didn't wear my new kicks cause it's still a bit muddy out there. I can't wait to go back and hit it again !!!!