can i please go back!! so fun!! thank you dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this was the most fun thing i have done for a while.I want to go back right now.!I HOPED EVERY ONE had a great time like me. Thank you dad for the cruise i know everybody enjoyed it!!

i had the best time on the cruise!!! i wish i could stay on longer!! time just went by so fast but was still the best time ever!! i hope everybody had a magical dream on there. what was everybodys favorite part? i loved that everyone could be there.

Hey Calorie Counters!

We are going to officially end the calorie counting contest this Saturday night at midnight

I'm sure all of you got Kelsey's email about final weigh-in's this Sunday.

The Christmas Party is Wednesday night and Papa, Kelsey and I need time to get prizes together.

Sometime Sunday please email me and let me know if you're still in and how many total pounds you've lost since calorie counting.

Don't forget to get your exercising in!

I'm so proud of you guys for hanging in there!

This has been a really hard but rewarding challenge. 108 pounds in 5 weeks is awesome.

It'll be fun to see what the final weight loss is.

I have enjoyed being your "Weight Watcher"

and am excited to see "Less Of You" at the Party!

Love,

Alyson

Welcome Home Mike

After being gone about 3 months, Mike is back home!

What a sacrifice Mike, Kelsey and their boys have made for the service of our country.

We're glad you're home safe and sound and just in time for Christmas.

We love you Hadley Family ;)

Week 5 Results

We're all alive and kicking! Nobody died exercising....

and as a group we lost 20 more pounds!!

There are still:

players in this competition!

GO! FIGHT! WIN!!!!!!

VERY Low Cal Soup

Cabbage soup

3 cups nonfat beef broth
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 of an onion chopped

1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 teaspoons basil
1/2 teaspoons oregano
Salt & pepper

1.spray pot with non stick cooking spray and sauté onions, carrots,
and garlic for 5 min.
2. Add broth, tomato paste, cabbage, green beans, basil, oregano, and
salt & pepper to taste.
3. Simmer for 5-10 mini until veggies are tender then add zucchini and
simmer for another 5 min.

Makes 6 servings with 21 calories a serving

Jocelyn and I measured it all out after making it and we figured 1 cup was 24 calories. We would triple the recipe and keep in in our refrigerator and whenever we were hungry we reached for a bowl. I don't really like cabbage but I love this soup. Try it, I promise it is good!

Aunt Tracy

I'm not sure who even reads this, but since I'm the one updating the Peck Blog right now I wanted to make sure and post this.

Tracy fell at Papa's and broke her hip this morning.

She went to the hospital in an ambulance. She had surgery this evening.

I don't know any more details than that. Not good...not good at all :(

Keep her in your prayers.

If any one does read this and would like to send her a little note, her email add is:

tj01@xmission.com

Week 4 Results

As a group we have lost a total of 88 pounds in 4 weeks!!!! Obviously you all can do the math but that's an average of 22 pounds a week! Pretty amazing, huh?

I honestly can't believe how many of us are pulling this off!?!?

There are currently:

Counters still in this game!

Curious as to who's still in?????

Aaron, Angela, Alyson, Chelsea, Dave R., Jocelyn, Kelsey, Lindsey, Matt W.,

Nicole, Reiley, and Tracy.

The Rules Have Changed....

There's a new addition to this competition!

In addition to counting your calories, in order to stay in this competition,

you must exercise at least 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes.

Papa defined exercise as, "Getting your heart rate up for 20 minutes." This could mean walking up the stairs for 20 minutes or jump rope and jumping jacks in place for 20 minutes. You could walk on the treadmill, or down the street, whatever. Just make sure your heart rate is up for 20 minutes and you're good!

Good Luck :)

These, my friends, are only 130 calories for 38 straws. Such a good snack!

Week 3 Results

Can I just say I am impressed how many of us stuck it out over the Thanksgiving Holiday!

We only lost 10.5 pounds as a group. Not bad considering....

Nicole lost the most weight at 3lbs! Guess she didn't have seconds on Thanksgiving.

Wait. Neither did I????

There are now:

Calorie Counters Counting!!!!

Week 2 Results

Another great week of weight loss!!!

We are all getting a little richer and a little slimmer. Such a Win-Win!

In week 2 we lost a total of 23 pounds.

Congratulations to Dave Rees who lost a crazy 8 pounds which is 1/3 of that!!!!!!

There are now:

Participants going into week 3.

Good Luck to everyone. This Thanksgiving weekend is going to be a tough one.

One Word: LEFTOVERS

I am thankful that Papa is so generous to reward us for getting healthy!

It just makes it that much easier...

Hey if you want some reallllly YUMMY low calorie meals or snacks go to:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

This website gives you the calorie breakdown per serving as well!!

-Angela

Week 1 Results

Congratulations Calorie Counters!!!

As a group we lost 30 pounds in one week. This is working!!! YAY!!

There are now:

participants going into week 2.

If you lost weight this last week remember you need to go back to the website: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

and enter in your lower weight for your lower calories this week.

Good Luck Everyone!!

Nicole is the one who told me about this particular Healthy Choice meal. I promise, it's good. And while you're eating it you'll feel all warm and "fall-ish".

Give it a try! 300 calories.

Just to make sure we're all on the same page here... This challenge is not taking place of the entire Peck Biggest Loser Kelsey has been working on this year (Thank You Kelsey!). You will still need to report your weight to Kelsey when the time comes to see if you hit your goal that you set earlier on in the year. If you don't remember what your goal was hit THE SCORE tab and scroll down to the end and Kelsey has it posted there.

How cool is it that Papa does this for us! Coolest Grandpa EVER!!!

Participants in the calorie counting challenge are:

Tomi Shauna Natalie Matt Warnick

Mindy Nicole Jocelyn Greg McArthur

Aaron Angela Chelsea Lindsey

Reiley Alyson Tracy Greg Markham

Kelsey Dave R.

"A study of 811 overweight people who participated in four popular diets found that whether diets were low-fat, high-protein, or a combination didn’t matter — weight-loss success depends on cutting out calories."

-Everyday Health

*********************************************************************************************************************

Ready, Set, COUNT!!!

$1,000.00 Prize for this challenge Folks!!!!

Here are the rules of the challenge:

1. Read the email below and it'll give you directions on how to figure out your calorie goal. If I were you, I would use the staggering method to give you more flexibility. If you have questions or need help figuring that out, I would be more than happy to walk you through it. My phone number is 909-374-5713. Or if you don't want to tell me your weight you can call Kelsey since she already knows your weight and I know she would be willing to help as well.

2. Email me back no later than Monday night, November 8th (giving you guys one more day to respond), if you're up for the challenge. I know we all have ways of getting ahold of one another. So if you think there's someone in your immediate family who's interested, make sure they know about this.

3. Starting this Tuesday (just to give time to get the word out to everyone), November 9th, you have to count your calories. Everything you put in your mouth must be counted. The challenge is not to exceed your daily calorie amount listed on the Fat Column of the website I gave you. Just for the sake of the game we're going to check in weekly on Tuesdays. Each person who checked in with me and stayed within their limit wins:

$10 for week one. $20 for week two. $30 for week three. And so on and so forth until the day of the Peck Christmas Party.

But you have to check in with me!!! Text me if that's easier.

*** If you go over your limit, you're disqualified. ***

You can collect any money that you've won in the previous weeks at the party but you'll no longer be able to compete for further weekly prizes or the $1000.00 prize.

4. There will be $1,000.00 cash at the Christmas Party (you don't have to be there to win). If 2 or 3 people were able to stay within their calorie limit without fail, they will split the money between them.

If only one person makes it, they keep the entire $1,000.00. How rad is that? Papa is so cool for doing this!!!!

We can do this! There are so many resources available to help you count your calories.

Fitday.com is a good resource. Mindy told me you can enter a recipe and based on your serving it will give you the amount of calories you ate.

Any questions, please ask! Can't wait to hear from ya'll!

Alyson

Below is the initial email that I sent which has the link to the website where you find your calorie intake.

---

Hey Biggest Loser Players,

We all know the holidays are the infamous time to pack extra pounds on. Yikes!!! However, the goal here was to lose weight, not gain it!

The Christmas Party (which is the deadline for our personal weight-loss goals) will be here before we know it. With that in mind, we are getting back into 'The Peck Biggest Loser'! YAY!!!!

So here's to an extra "push" to help us reach the goal that we set for ourselves earlier this year.

When it comes down to it, weight loss is a simple calculation.

Calories In vs. Calories Out

That being said, this new challenge is a calorie counting challenge. It's really a successful way to lose weight and everyone can do this!

Every body requires a different amount of calories so I've attached a link to a website we are going to use that will calculate the amount of calories you need to stick to every day.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

Enter your personal information, then hit calculate. The number we are using is the Fat Loss Column.

A good way to keep you from failing is to click on the 7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag) to stagger the daily amount for you. This way if you know that you're having a date night, party, or something where you want to have the option to eat more calories, you can trade a lower calorie day for a higher calorie day. If you're pregnant you would add 500 calories to your maintenance column and if you're nursing you would add 500 calories to your Fat Loss Column. Make sense?

I need you to email me back whether or not you're in along with an idea of a prize that will motivate you to 'endure to the end'.

We all have different things to motivate us so I need your feedback. Maybe it's money, but how much? Maybe it's a gift card to the mall to get that new outfit that you've had your eye on. Or perhaps you're dying to go see someone and a plane ticket would motivate you.

Obviously, a million dollars or a trip to Jamaica isn't gonna happen but Papa is generous and wants to see us lose some weight.

Today is Friday so I'll give you until Sunday to reply.

Once I know how many players we have, Papa and I can figure out the time frame and the rewards for participating!

Be watching for a follow-up email Monday for further details..

I know counting calories isn't super fun and that this is a tough challenge. But if we're going to hit our goals we've gotta get c

o

u

nting!!!

Update

I POSTED THE CURRENT SCORE AGAIN!!! GO SEE WHERE YOU STAND. ALSO, SEE HOW MUCH MORE WEIGHT YOU NEED TO LOSE TO REACH YOUR PERSONAL GOAL!!

The Results

Check under "The Score" at the top to see where you stand. Don't give up! Remember, even if you aren't the biggest loser if you reach your personal goal you still win!

The Winners Are..

JOCELYN-1.58%

for the girls

and

GREG Mc-1.6%

for the boys

Congrats to the both of you!