Week 6

Made it another week!!! This is getting VERY tough! The smaller people are killing us in the challenges and of course don't need to lose much to gain a higher % of loss. Overall I placed 7Th in weight loss with 4.8 pounds lost. Something was up with that scale I am afraid because it weighed me about a pound less than the scale at home. I hope this doesn't hurt me this week! Mother nature came and went this week starting on Saturday.....PMS stinks when you are in a weight-loss competition!

The challenge was on the escalators in the mall. They turned the two in the middle of crossroads mall to the going down position and put 12 of us on each side. Basically whoever lasted the longest won the challenge. I lasted a whopping 2.07 minutes! STOP LAUGHING! :) It was very hard. My legs weren't as tired as my heart was. Not sure why, but I was gasping for air. The winner(s) lasted 45 minutes. Keep in mind the there were 3 people left up there. One is a police officer, one was a young puppy, like 20-something and the other a marathon runner. All much lighter than about half the people there. Very strong! The marathon runner was UP for the week so the other two guys bailed and let her win......STUPID. Because of that my teammate, Jason, his wife was eliminated even though she had a better number than her and one other person. Now, I don't think these guys realized they just left someone who can beat them in the competitions in the contest.........

The contest is getting tougher, the workouts are getting tougher, but the results are showing. I am hoping for a good week this week. After posting BIG numbers two weeks in a row I feel like I am going to hit a wall soon though. Let's hope now.

This Saturday our challenge is at the gym. I found out today it is the One Ton challenge. Basically we will be moving ONE TON of weights from point A to point B......

I also found out on April 11Th we will be moving an AIRPLANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRING IT ON BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am down 25.6 pounds total since Jan. 28Th.

Another new milestone!

Tonight I got on my treadmill and jogged ONE MILE without stopping! I havent done that since high school. I can't explain the feeling I had when that light turned over......

Keep in mind this is AFTER already taking RPM (spin) class this morning and working so hard sweat was running into my eyes and dripping off my chin.

It has been a great day!!!!!!!!

Mid-week 6

FREAKING PMS!!!!!!!!!!

Swollen, tired, crabby! I am having a tough week. I am trying to work hard, trying to stay focused even though I just want a nap.

It is Wednesday and I am up one pound from Saturday. I have a lot of work to do. I need to drop 2-3lbs this week.

Week 5

I felt great this week! Full of energy, strong, mental ready to hit it hard. I KNEW I was going to have a good week. I HAD to! I started my week off going into the gym and taking Body Combat...then two-a-days everyday. I felt myself shrinking everyday.

Still feeling weak during our team sessions. Just cant keep up with Jean and Jason. My knee is also starting to hurt again.

The challenge this week was the toughest yet. We met at Branch Gymnastics at 7am and weighed in. We were then taken into the gym and were told to remove our shoes. Morgan showed us our obstacle course which involved a low to the ground balance beam (2 of them), climbing a hill of mats, pull ups, backwards left lifts on the horse, lots of HOPPING crawling under many, many feet of balance beams....and the PIT!

Since we went in the order of weigh in placement from the week before I was almost last. I watched women cry, men struggle and knew this was going to be HARD. When it was my turn I started out strong and steady. I quickly got out of breath before I hit the big hill.....managed my pull ups, struggled to get on the horse being so short but did it, crawled under the beams while Morgan told me to go faster. I kept thinking as he was saying this "I cant be out of breath when I get into the pit or I will need to be resuscitated right there! I got to the pit, stared it down and JUMPED. I tried to jump as far as I could. My first thought when I hit the foam was "pull my ass out now, I cant move!"........I gave myself a minute then started moving the squares out of my was, and pushed myself forward. For anyone who hasn't been in one of these it is best described like quick sand. Not that I have ever been in quick sand...but I cant think of anything else to compare it to. The foam stuck to my legs so it was very hard to move. I started pushing down the squares and tried stepping on them. It lifted me up and forward enough to grab the mat. People were standing all around screaming at you, cheering you on...but I just focused in on one guys voice who was right in front of me. The mat came up to my chin so it was a lot of work getting this butt up on that mat!! I finally did it....and CRAWLED to the finish line!

Overall I placed 19th out of 25 people. whoo hooo for me!

The weigh in was great! I lost 3.8 pounds and placed 5th............good placement, tough place to be going into the next week!

I am now down 21 lbs, only 9 lbs from my original 30 lbs goal AND only 2 pounds away from being under 250 lbs....

Week 4

Guess what happened to me this week??????

I am SICK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! What are the chances. Same crud I had two weeks ago. No voice coughing, no energy. This time it really hit me hard. I was very tired and sore. Workouts were unbearable. I was dizzy and struggled to move. I gave up my two-a-days and just tried to workout out with my team and once on Tuesday/Thurs. Carol was really awesome about it...

Being sick nearly did me in for the weigh in this week. I woke up at 5am and got on the scale. NO CHANGE!!!!! OMG....I panic. I cried and cried. As I was getting ready to leave Carol called and told me to get on the treadmill for about 5mins and see if it helps so of course I did it!

Our challenge was a lot of fun, would have been better if I wasn't still congested and wheezing.

We met at Charlie Fosters Downtown Kalamazoo at 10am. STARVING due to the Friday night fast (nothing to eat or drink past about 5:30-6p). I had been at a party the night before and ate late so the fast didn't start until about 8p....yikes. But I will still hungry.

We were told that or team was going to be given a sheet with clues to local businesses. Once we got to the business we were to ask for a playing card, we choose one and go on to the next. There were 5 in all. The first team back wins immunity. Best Poker hand wins a GC for Charlie Fosters.

We took off and headed to our first stop, the train station....then the Radisson, the Library, Gazelle sport and the dance (something) cafe. My team was about 1/4 mile ahead of me all the time....I was working hard, hoping my legs didn't burst into flames as I ran downtown Kalamazoo feeling like I am in the Amazing Race....I got to the last 50 feet and started sprinting. I ran into the building, down the stairs looked up and there sat Dave and the kids. My kids had this look on their face like "is she going to die".....ahhahahahahaha.........

Our team placed 4th out of 10 teams!!!!!!! I was very proud.

On to the weigh-in. Placements started being given...down, down down....nothing. Morgan then calls out "the next two names I call are eliminated. I KNEW it....I was done, I failed...it is over. The next two names were not mine. No Shannon McDonald loser of the year....not me. I quickly told Morgan my name was not called......oh your safe he says...I placed 21. That would be the farthest down the list you can do without going home!!! Talk about cutting it close. I lost .8 of a pound. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????????

Looking back I knew the workouts were killer since I was sick and I did not eat all my calories.

I cried knowing I had another week to lose more weight.

Week 3

Workouts were a killer.......dont even remember them for the most part.

The challange this week was standing on one foot on a foam block. Sound easy? Nope!

I lasted about 2 mins, that is 2 mins longer than about 1/3 of the people. This was for individual immunity, which really takes the pressure off since I am slow poke on my team. The winner lasted 45 mins!!! Wowza is all I have to say about that.

I had a great weigh in this week. I lost 5 lbs and got 6th place. Was very surprised at this. Two more WOMEN were eliminated. All men still remain in.

Week 2

So, I cant talk, cant breath and cough with every move it seemed. But I kept at it! One workout I came in with a fever, when home and crashed. It lasted a week and I recovered fully.

We had our first weigh in and challenge this week. The challenge was Dodge ball! How fun is that? They included the last contest people and the survivor contest people (another contest the gym was holding) which made it interesting. I hadn't played dodge ball since high school!!

Our team lost first time around. I can proudly say I was NOT the first person who got out!! I was 4th out of 6 people. The orange team won the challenge and got immunity which was the worst case scenario for me. The two women who are closest to my weight are now immune and cant get eliminated! YIKES!!! I don't even look at the men because they can lose a pound when they sneeze. So they start to rattle off the placement and I wasn't in the top 10, not the top 15...and I started to panic! Finally they call my name! 19th place, 11.2 pounds lost. whew!

Due to immunity, someone got knocked out that didn't fall below the line which was heartbreaking and my worst fear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On to the next week!

Week 1

I am 6 weeks behind posting this....better late than never. I will get caught up and then go from there.

Week one was tough. Stepping on the scale and seeing the BIG, BIG number. I had spent the weeks before our first weigh-in OD'ing on Sonic burgers, Mexican food, Chinese, movie popcorn and chicken wings. All my favorites. I wanted to get that number HIGH, the only place to go from there was DOWN......

We weighed in on January 28th. Hold on to your hates folks, this is a big number. And the sad thing is, it isn't my all time highest weight. I weighed in that night at 272.2 lbs. okay, close your mouths gather yourselves and keep reading. My waist was 47 inches my hips 60 inches. My hips were only 2 inches shorter than my height....that is pretty eye opening. Like I said the only place to go from there was DOWN.....

I set my weight loss goal to lose during the contest at 30lbs. My trainer Carol gave me the oddest look when I told her this and simply said "you will lose more than that". I was terrified I would fail. I did not want to fail again. I have found that in my life I have learned to accomplish most anything I set my mind to, except this. Accomplishing this would mean giving up food, something I don't use it to Live, I use for entertainment, stress management, comfort..you name it.

Training started with a bang and I quickly realized and am by far the weakest person on my team. No matter how hard I tried I could not keep up. I did not stop trying though. The workouts got harder and harder each time but I gave it my best every time!

We workout at as a team mon/wed/fri, which are mandatory. You don't show, they had a one pound penalty to your weight. I was also working out in the AM and taking classes at the gym on Tuesday/Thursdays. I was whipped.

And my body let me know................I got sick.

My Story-the long version.

So much emotion goes into your body image and I personally can't remember a single time in my life when my BODY wasn't an issue. Whether I was 115lbs or 280lbs, I have always felt the same about my body, NOT GOOD ENOUGH! Most people whom I have known since grade school or high school say to me "can you believe I thought I was fat, I would love to have that body again", I say this all the time. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was in gym class going head to head with Teri Cartwright, toes under the bleachers slamming out as many sit-ups as we can while Mrs. Larsen timed us. Back then I could do it. I could run, JUMP HIGH, push ups, sit ups..wear the bikini, mini-skirts, you know the drill.

After high school I did not gain weight. I actually lost weight. I moved out of the house into an apartment with a friend who loved to ride bikes. We would ride down the Kal-haven trail, I would do my buns of steal videos and eat healthy. However, even though I was fit and looked great....I still thought I was too fat. I remember thinking if only my butt could be smaller, if only my stomach could be flatter....give me a break!!!

Fast forward to after having two babies. I am now officially morbidly obese by all standards. I am well over 100lbs overweight and completely lost. It took 5 years to get my second child due to having PCOS and being so overweight. I am tired, I am depressed and I considering WLS. I am getting weight management counseling and I am fighting for every pound to come off only to have it come back after going through a major surgery with complications. At this point I can not believe I used to ever be thin. I still dream that I am thin. In my dreams I am still the thin person I used to be.....but then wake up this other person I do not know.

Fat forward to last January. Still Considering weight loss surgery, still thinking this is the option for me. I start discussing it with my dr who gives me my options. Discuss it with my therapist who says yes he will recommend it but feels confident I can do this on my own if I really try. During this time my father is diagnosed with Colon Cancer. He has surgery to remove a large tumor at the VA hospital in Ann Arbor. I attended all his pre-op appointments with him, help him to make a living will, talk to him about his lack of life insurance...never really thinking it would matter. I find out my family on his side has a history of heart disease, blood clots, cancer, and digestive problems. Still nothing really sinks in as we stop at Finley's on the way home from his last pre-op appt and I order a burger and fries. On December 30th I bring my dad home from Ann Arbor. He is tired and sore and sleeps while I go to the store to get food for him to help him heal. Notice I say HIM. I come home, give him his meds and tell him I am going to change his bandage soon.

After the meds take affect I put him on Colin's bed (the kids were at grandma's) and take off his bandages. I notice that is looks different. Something is not right. The more I look I realize that my father's bowel had come out of his wound and was staring me in the face. I go call 911, watching my husband pass out cold in front of me face down on the floor....and try to keep my father calm. After it was all said and done, a surgery and 4 days later my father died. Even though I informed the surgery that blood clots run in our family and have KILLED members of my family....they failed to give him any thinning medications and he died of a clot to his lungs. While laying in bed with my 10 year old son while he sobbed and cried after losing his grandfather. It was then..that moment was my AH-HA moment. I told Dave that I can not do this to my children. I can not live like this anymore because if something happened to me, I just don't know what they would do. Surgery was not an option. After seeing what I saw, watching my dad go through what he did after his surgery, I can not do it. It is not for me.

Two weeks later I saw an ad in the paper for a local "biggest loser" contest. The deadline was the next day so I jumped on my computer and wrote my essay to turn in at the gym. I had to audition on Saturday but really wasn't sure how things went. The audition didn't go well. I don't do will in front of people. 10 trainers a camera and other people I didn't know....I froze. I did not get picked. I was a mess! Cried, screamed......wanted to cancel my membership to the gym. Then I get a call from the general manager of SWAT who says they are letting "rejects" as I called us, compete for a spot later in the contest. Half price trainer, free meetings.....I went for it! Spent all of my Christmas money on a trainer and hit it hard. I lost 14 pounds in 5 weeks. I didn't make it back into the contest but I kept up my training.

When I first met my trainer Carol I felt very, very, very weak. Treadmill work consisted of me going 2.3 mph...2.5 was a bump up and 3.0 was just not possible for longer than a minute. The elliptical was WORK and 2 mins was my max.....push up?? Barely pulled out 12 on the wall.

By the end of June when we finished I could do 45-60 mins on the elliptical and 3.0 was my brisk walk....and I could do push ups on the bosu ball......squats, lunges, you name it!

Carol told me they were doing another Biggest Loser and I should audition. I couldn't due to cheer but told her I would if they did it again in January....which brings me to today!

I auditioned, got picked for Carol's brown team...and at week 6 I am still going strong. I have lost 21 lbs and MANY inches. I am jogging on the treadmill now for short periods and have done some tough challenges. I will bring everyone up to date on the contest in another entry as this was has the makings of a novel at this point! I will try to update each week with weight loss results and challenges for as long as I stay in the contest. I pray each week I don't get eliminated. It is a stressful game, and very intense. So prayers for strength and perseverance would be greatly appreciated.