had to share

this is why we are bffs. because ali does stuff like this. one year ago today we (mca and i) lost our angel baby after 42 days in the NICU. and ali remembered the day. and made this amazing video. love you.

For Allison (Anderson)

Ali here. The blonde one. Tomorrow is November 19. One year ago, my BFF Allison went through something I could never imagine. She lost a child. Sweet baby Anthon, who was 42 days old. I had the privilege of meeting Anthon, and I can tell you that I've never felt a sweeter spirit coming from anyone. This sweet tiny baby was too special to stay on this earth. I know this past year has been very hard on Allison and her family. But what the world needs to know is that I admire Allison so much. Throughout everything she's been going through, she has consistently been a true friend. Someone who is there for everyone that needs her, when they need her. Being friends with Allison has changed my life in so many ways, and I am forever indebted to her because of things she'll probably never know.

One day, shortly after Anthon passed away, I found myself in the cemetary. It was during a very hard time for me, emotionally. There had been a girl that was considering giving her child up for adoption, and was considering us as adoptive parents for her baby. I had found out that morning that she'd decided to keep it and wasn't changing her mind. It was that week, also, that it was determined the current method of fertility treatments I was on wasn't working, and it had been discontinued. My heart was aching. I went to Anthon's little gravesite and knelt down. I told him that I knew there were other little babies needing to come to Earth, that not only I would get to be a mother to, but Allison as well. I asked him to watch over those babies and care for them until the time came for them to arrive. As I knelt there, in that sacred place, I felt the most overwhelming sense of peace. I knew my words had been heard. I couldn't stop the tears of peace and joy and love from streaming down my face. It's moments like that when you realize that Heaven just isn't that far away.

As I said in the intro, I believe in kindred spirits, and Allison and I definitely are just that. I hope she knows that I will always be here for her no matter what, as she has always been there for me. Allison, I love you. I know this is a hard time, a day of remembrance. And I know that you'll be with that beautiful baby again someday.

confused much?

well, it seems that only alison and i can keep each other straight. even after 3 years, people at school thought she had the baby in the NICU. and people at work call me on CPS calls all the time. no one (even people that know us both well - ahem, dcfs pals, husbands, and the like) still get us confused. i have been asked to make some clarification on who is who. i really want to insert some sarcasm here, but i won't. because we want you to read and enjoy our blog. so here it goes.

alison warner is blonde. she spells her name with 1 "L". she will forever now be "ali" on this blog. and because she is blonde, she will continually forget to do this and then i will have to continually remind her.

allison anderson is brunette. she spells her name with 2 "Ls". she will forever now be "allison" on this blog.

sorry we cannot accompany pictures with each post. we are technical, but not that savvy.

check in and weekly goals - allison

oh dear. last week was not good for me at all. it started off ok, but went downhill real quick. i had some emotional thing going on - i think i posted about it previous - and that just set me off. so i tracked maybe one time last week. and i did not exercise at all. AND i gained 3 lbs. so from the start of this blog i have lost 1.4 LBS. yesterday did not go well either.

preface: i have been diagnosed with sleep apnea (yay!!!). therefore, i do not sleep well. and yesterday i thought, i am going to sleep all morning because i want to. NOT a good idea. i ended up feeling worse and had a bad attitude all day. i am beginning to think that the more i sleep, the worse i feel - cuz its all around bad sleep.

SO, with all that said. i am back on track today. had my green smoothie - and got my crazy monster to eat some as well. i am really motivated that ali tracked and was under her calorie goal all week. AND she worked out. AND she lost 5 lbs. now SHE is the rockstar. here are my goals for this week:

1. continue to track
2. try and workout 3 times - one of these days this will happen
3. nana and papa are coming to town - so my goal is to STILL stay on track. even though we like desserts and such.
4. DO NOT emotionally eat on saturday. this is anthon's 1 year anniversary of his passing away. i am trying to gear up for this day. so i really want to be able to come back next week and say that i did not emotionally eat due to remembering this tragedy.

i keep telling myself that i have been through the hardest thing that anyone can go through - losing a child. and i'm still here, a year later. i know i have had some ups and serious downs over the last year. including the top three:

1. losing and gaining 30 lbs
2. trying to end my life
3. henry being in the hospital for a week

and yet, i am still here. trying to survive. trying to get healthy. so i will try to take this week in stride. remember my angel. know that without him i wouldn't have learned so much about myself. and keep moving.

here's to a successful week. here's to not trying, but doing (physically and mentally).

Weekend Update - Alison W

Here is a review of my week.

Monday:
Food - Stayed under my calorie goal of 1590. Had a green smoothie. No soda.
Exercise - 15 minutes weight lifting, 45 minutes Dynamics class (high impact aerobics)
Tuesday:
Food - Exceeded my calorie goal by 200 calories. No green smoothie. Had soda (diet dr pepper and diet pepsi)
Exercise - none
Wednesday:
Food - Stayed under my calorie goal by 200. Had a green smoothie. No soda!
Exercise - 60 minute kickboxing circuit (combo of kickboxing and cardio/strength training circuits)
Thursday:
Food - Went over my calories by 10. Had one can of diet coke. Had a green smoothie.
Exercise - none.
Friday:
Food - Stayed under my calorie goal by about 100 calories. No green smoothie.
Exercise - none.
Saturday:
Food - Too early to know if I'm under my calorie goal, but I'm off to a good start.
Exercise - 45 minutes of competitive soccer

And the best part: I LOST 5 LBS!!!!

So here are my stats:

Starting weight as of 11/1/11: 299 lbs
Current weight as of 11/12/11: 294 lbs
Total weight loss: 5 lbs

Here's to another great week!

check in mid week

ugh. this week has been AWFUL. emotionally. i have been a wreck. and what happens when i am a wreck? food. food happens. cafe rio happens. DDP happens. not caring happens. i was going to ask our readers for some butt kicking advice. HOWEVER, i just read my partner in crimes post about her green smoothie experiment. and i have just been re motivated. thanks ali. i knew we started this blog for some reason... other than to go global and viral and such :)

anyone else have a green smoothie experiment or testimonial they would like to share? and/or recipes?

Green Smoothie Day 2

On Monday I posted about trying a green smoothie for the first time. All day Monday, I felt AWESOME! I was under my calorie goal, I ate healthy all day, and didn't have even a sip of Diet Dr. Pepper. I went to the gym and got my weight lifting in and did my dynamics class! Felt great. Slept great that night!

Yesterday, Tuesday, I went to iHop for breakfast with some co-workers. I had pancakes, eggs and bacon, more calories than I should have had, FOR SURE. No green smoothie. And by 12:00, I felt like I was dying. I needed caffeine. I had a 20 oz Diet Dr. Pepper, and felt a little better for about an hour. Then for dinner, I met an old friend at a restaurant, and definitely ate more than I should have. And I had two Diet Pepsi's. I didn't exercise. Needless to say, I felt icky. As I drove home, I felt super tired, and couldn't wait to go to bed. However, when I got into bed, I couldn't sleep. Time kept ticking away, and I finally dozed off at about 2 am, only to wake up at 6:30. And I'm the kind of person that NEEDS 8 hours of sleep.

This morning I got up groggily, and made an over sized green smoothie. It was over sized kind of by accident. Either way, I drank it all. Almost immediately I started to feel more awake. Now here it is, about 4 hours later, and I feel just as good as when I drank it this morning. I'm looking forward to going to Kickboxing Circuit tonight and then lifting a few weights after!

I'm starting to think there's really something to spinach and fruit in the morning...

Check in - Alison W.

Well, after Allison's post, I feel like I'm not doing quite as well as I should. She's a little rockstar. There is no wonder why I wouldn't choose anyone else to do this blog with! Here is my update from last week:

1. I did not lose any weight.
2. I tried on a pair of size 20 jeans...and they FIT. That's a step down from the 22/24s I currently wear.
3. This morning I attempted to make a green smoothie for the first time.
4. The smoothie was AWESOME.
5. I excercised one time - Kickboxing on Wednesday. Thanks to Halloween, there were no classes at the gym so I didn't get my dynamics in. I missed Soccer.

Goals for this week:
1. Get some weight lifting in - on Wed I'm going to lift weights after kickboxing. Today, if I get to the gym early enough, I will try to squeeze some in before Dynamics.
2. Track everything I eat. This week I'm using www.myfitnesspal.com . If you want to be friends with me on there, my user name is Mustangali.
3. Go to Soccer on Saturday, and be ON TIME! My trainer will love that! I have a track record of being 15 minutes late every Saturday.

For your information:

Green smoothie was super easy to make and SO yummy! And I already feel awesome - maybe that's because I can say I had spinach for breakfast. Either way, here is how I made it.

I filled the blender full of fresh spinach! Then I added a cup of frozen fruit - today was pineapple, mango and strawberries. Then I added some water, enough to make it blend properly. It was great! However, after talking to other green smoothie enthusiasts, I have learned that I should add a banana for additional flavor. I could taste the spinach more than most people would probably like, but I don't mind the spinach taste so much. Anyway, I've added a picture of my smoothie for your enjoyment!

Here's to a great week! Bottoms up!

check in and weekly goals - allison

hello monday!!! yes i started the week out right already. out of bed at 6 am. so checking in for last week. here is what happened:

1. i lost exactly 4 LBS!!!
2. i tracked 4 out of 7 days
3. i did not exercise at all

and... for this week. i am:

1. going to do better on my tracking - and by better i mean all 7 days
2. going to exercise 3 times this week

i am going to think of a 3rd thing i can add for this week. something small - any suggestions? mca and i are going on a love-capade this weekend. so i was thinking perhaps i will make a challenge to NOT drink any alcohol and to attempt to stay on my daily calorie goal. but track what i eat nonetheless.

as for my monthly goal of getting on a schedule. i feel i did fairly well last week. i at least was out of bed most mornings before sunrise. AND this really helped with getting A LOT done at work. now i just need to put into practice the exercise part of this schedule and i will rock this goal.

yay for a new and successful week.

happy freaking friday!!!

i have this goal not to weigh every day. just once a week. but today i needed to reassure/reassess how my week has been going. well... i have been reassured. i have lost 2.6 LBS since monday. watch out ali. i have a feeling you will be going to a movie you hate at then end of the month :)

November Goals - Alison 1

My goals for November are pretty simple.

1. Maintain current workout schedule. That schedule is:
        Monday - Dynamics Class
        Wednesday - Kickboxing Circuit
         Saturday - Soccer

2. Add in weights two times a week. That will most likely happen Wed night after kickboxing, and Saturday morning after Soccer.

3. Stop eating SO MUCH! I've been struggling with food lately. A lot. I need to get back in control of what goes in my mouth. My goal is to stay below my calorie goal of 1500.

4. Track my food. I use two different sites to track food. I'm trying to decide which is better. They are:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
http://www.dotfit.com/
Both are great, but I will do better if I can decide which one to stick to.

5. I want to lose 5 lbs by Thanksgiving. Sounds like a small goal, since I've lost 5 lbs in a week in the past. But right now it feels huge. One step at a time.

bestie goals

each month we are going to have goals that we make together. visit the goals tab for more information.

november goals - allison

we haven't really decided how we are going to break up discussing our weekly/monthly goals. so i think posting them with labels will work for now.

october31 - november 6:
track all food. no matter what. i use the daily plate. it's free. easy. amazing.
exercise at least 3 times this week for 30 minutes


november monthly goal:
by november 30, i will be on a schedule. i have serious issues with this. i think this might help with my weight loss goals. if i got up at the same time everyday. made the dinner on the family menu. work when i say i will. move my bum. all that stuff. my schedule will look like this: simple.
m-w-f: get up at 5-6 am. be at work by 7 am. ball/weight exercises at night.
t-th-s: get up at 5-6 am. cardio. work from home. spend some time with my boys.
su: rest

i will update each week on how that is going. so far, i am at least getting up before the sun rises. positive thinking is part of my LIFE goal ;)

don't forget

to click on the tabs above. read the awesomely written ABOUT section that gives a little insight to how we met, our friendship, etc. more is coming...