Mary Lindsay-Vonk writes, 

Well we are coming down to the end. Lots of highs and lows throughout this adventure.

My biggest success have also been the most challenging.

Now let me tell you the down and dirty and what's crazy in this challenge; I have tried every silly diet in the books and spent well over thousands of dollars and guess what? It truly comes down to is eating healthy and exercising. There is no quick fix!!!! It has taken almost 40 years to figure that out, isn't that crazy? Oh wait I am a firefighter that runs into burning building when every one is running away. I guess it's all relative.

That's where my frustration/lows have come from. The weight is slow to come off. One pound a week, if that. I want to see this fat come off! But let me tell you that while the scale is going slow, how I feel now is amazing! With some of those other crazy diets such as the 500 calorie diet I was miserable. I was hungry and craving yucky foods, to the point I never stopped thinking about food. In this challenge sometimes I have to remind my self to eat, because it's time to and if I wait too long I get "hangry". That would be angry hungry, lol. 

I never thought I would be one to not think about when my next meal was. Now don't get me wrong. I have to plan my meals because if I don't I sometimes take the easy route and that's okay sometimes. Maybe once or twice a month. But for me that's about it. I can totally feel when I've eaten something unhealthy. I feel like sludge! So I try to stick pretty close to healthy foods that are on the "outside aisle" at the grocery store. Of course the bakery is usually on the outside too, but...... :)

I have discovered I love trying new foods. Some have been a......... Hmmm. Never again!!!!! And some have now become a staple, such as sweet potatoes. When I was a kid I hated them. Now it's like having a treat because they are so sweet.

My other struggle has been running. I was feeling pretty low about that! But the amazing Meagan stepped in and helped me find better ways to run and feel good about it. It was almost like I was having an anxiety attack when I was running because I would tense up so much. She has me run some drills that are only 10 minutes long (totally doable!). and as of this weekend.....I have knocked 3 MINUTES off my mile. Whooohooooo!

I can't wait to see everyone at the end of the adventure. And I appreciate all that our team has done for us!!! Talk to you all in a few weeks!