Incentive!!

Boy oh boy did I get some last weekend!  Have you ever gone go kart racing?  Not the Scandia miniature golf kind.  I mean the cool karts that go really fast.  The karts where you can skid around corners like you're one of the drivers in that Tokyo Drift movie.  Well, as you can see from the picture, these things are fairly small and really low to the ground.  Once I got my behind wedged into that narrow seat and drove the kart around the track for a while I worked up a sweat just trying to get out of it.  I'm pretty sure that I was about as graceful as a turtle on its back and, for a while, I wondered if they'd need the jaws of life to pry me out.  A very sweet friend offered to try to help me out of the kart but I declined for fear of pulling her in with me.  I found my own escape route.  In all honesty, it probably took about a minute to get out of the thing.  But, it felt like an eternity.

All in all, a really great day with friends served two purposes - 1) making some great memories, and 2) incentive to work hard at this challenge, to remind me to focus on the goal of making positive life changes, and a reminder that just getting around in this world will be easier once I'm traveling in a smaller frame.

I hope that you all have a great weekend!  I'm hoping to fill mine with some gym time, good friends, and sleep :-)

Bye for now,
Cindy

Hello from Cindy - AKA Shaping up in Sacramento

Hi everyone!

I'm Cindy, the California girl in the challenge.  I'm super excited about the Survivor Slim down not only because it's a chance to start enforcing some positive, healthy lifestyle changes but also because I get to work really closely with two amazing ladies - Tamika and Pam.

Tamika, Pam, and I were all in Chicago over the weekend for the National Cervical Cancer Coalition's annual conference and, boy is it hard to stick to healthy eating at a conference!  The hotel food is mostly bread, pasta, and fruit but I was happy to be able to find a salad now and then.  Many of the ladies at the conference already knew about the slim down and most of them were really encouraging and were even talking about joining us for the triathlon next October.  Unfortunately, one of them wasn't so encouraging (although I honestly think that she thought she was helping).  The night of the cocktail reception that kicks off the conference I totally avoided the pasta table, only eating salad and one prawn for dinner, and having one glass of white wine to wash it down.  Someone came up to me  while I was eating my salad and asked "does all of this fit into your diet?".  I'm not sure how any of you would feel about that but it felt extremely judgmental and unsupportive to me.  I felt so good about controlling my portions and staying away from bad carbs and then someone who has never had to battle her weight asks that question.  Luckily, Tamika and Pam were there to lift my spirits and we all enjoyed the rest of the evening - including our late night workout after the reception :-)

My uncle sent me a joke the other day that I thought was funny.  Hope you do too...

I just had a call from a Charity asking me to donate some of my clothes to the starving people throughout the world.
I told them to go to hell!!  Anybody who fits into my clothes isn't starving!!

Thanks for following us along our journey!  I'll be back again soon.

~Cindy

My Date with IHOP!

This morning I had a meeting scheduled for 9am at IHOP. Normally, I would be excited to get out of the conference room, but since starting this "slimdown" I wasn't exactly thrilled. I knew the temptation would be there for chicken fried steak smothered in gravy and I was going to be with a group of people who know how to chow down - LOL!

But, I did the smart thing and planned ahead. I figured with this movement to slim down America that surely IHOP would have a calorie friendly menu - and they did! ;-). It's called, "IHOP for Me" and it literally was just for me! If you log on to IHOP's website click on "IHOP for Me" under the menu tab. They have menu items under 600 calories that they call "smart everyday choices". I choose the spinach, mushroom & tomato omelette for me and was happy and pleasantly full without finishing it.

It's all about lifestyle changes. I want to be healthy and I feel like that simple food selection helped me get one step closer to my goal. I also have to admit that I was inspired by Mo'Nique after catching a glimpse of her new late night talk show and her own personal slim down. Mo' is a self proclaimed "Fat Girl" and she has helped many big girls embrace their curves and rolls. I love what she is doing and I don't think she's selling out to the big girls, I think she's getting ready for her future.


Tamika
"Minimizing in Maryland"

Hello from Pam AKA "Slimmin' in Seattle"

Hi everybody!!!  I am Pam from Seattle, aka Slimmin' in Seattle.  I want to keep all of you updated on how things are going so far.  Well, so far so good!  Breakfast has been the easiest meal thus far, as I am a big fan of oatmeal and have already been eating that for my morning meal for awhile.  Steel cut oatmeal and old fashioned oats are not as bad as people think that they are.  Spice them up with some cinnamon, or fresh fruit!!  Yummy!  My biggest challenge will be to stay away from ice cream and fancy coffee drinks...I live in Seattle home of Starbucks, what more can I say.  Today though I switched my morning java from the calorie laden Carmel Macchiato to the more diet friendly Americano.

I am very excited about going through this life changing challenge with Tamika and Cindy.  What great women and an inspiration to all of us!  I know that there will be blood, sweat and tears along the way, but I truly believe that together that we can accomplish our goal of getting fit.  We are cancer survivors and that has made us the women who we are today and will help propel us to new begininnings and better health.

Talk to all of you soon and please continue to follow us through this amazing journey.

Pam :)

The Conference that changed everything...

My name is Tamika, but for the next year I will be known as "Minimizing in Maryland". A year ago I was in Los Angeles attending the National Cervical Cancer Coalition's annual conference where I was speaking. While there I met many amazing women. But, there were two who would make a lasting impression - Cindy (“Shaping up in Sacramento") and Pam (“Slimmin' in Seattle”).

Cindy I noticed right way: She was a "thick" girl with fabulous style - especially her shoes (you will hear more about the shoes later). I noticed Pam instantly, too - just like Cindy, she was "thick" and had incredible style. The agenda for the conference was very involved. But me being the "chatty girl" that I am and loving to hear people's stories, I found plenty of time to get to know these amazing women better. By the end of the conference a friendship began to bud - though I didn't know to what extent.

I ended up hanging out with Pam after the last day of the conference and to this day I don't think either of us will ever forget that night! ;-) That's a story for another post...

Cindy, on the other hand, had to head back to Sacramento so I had to wait to really get to know her. Fast forward: We all went back to our homes and kept in touch.

Over the months we all stayed in touch here and there, and then I came up with an idea - one hell of an idea! Each of us had beaten cancer on various levels but we had never beaten the battle of the bulge. So, I asked Cindy and Pam to train with me for a year to complete a triathlon. I know – crazy, right? But, what better way to motivate each other and do something amazing together and lose weight? And, can you believe it - they actually said yes!

So, on September 19, 2009, at my non-profit Tamika & Friends, Inc., annual walk in New York, we announced our plans for a "Survivor Slimdown" – and the support from the crowd was tremendous. Today - exactly one year from race day - we are on this amazing life-changing journey together, and I hope you will come along for the ride and encourage us along the way. Hey, I’ve already convinced two women to join me – maybe you’ll join us on race day, too!


Cyber hugs,
Minimizing in Maryland