WE CAME, WE SAW, WE KICKED THE MILE!!!!!!

This is the blog I have been waiting to do for the past five weeks. I was going to enter it last night, but was so busy with interviews and stuff yesterday, we crashed at the end of the day.

So after 5 weeks, Erin has lost 24 pounds and I have lost 19. This is deffinately an exciting time for us. Because we are not even close to being done, and we have no intention to quit.

Thr most anticipated day was here yesterday. The Blue Mile Run. Over 2000 people running or walking downtown and stoppong traffic. You know, when you watch the marathons on tv, I either think, that doesn't look so hard or I'm never going to do that. Boy was I wrong. Cold, windy weather didn't help with the first run. But it was great feeling to do the race. There were times when I had to walk, but when it came time to get to a stop light, I ran as hard as I could. I didn't want the cars that were waiting for us to pass think I was lazy. But when I saw the the final stretch.... with the blue line, that was more reality than I expected. WE FINISHED THE BLUE MILE!!!!! To the doctors who said that Erin couldn't run....GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!!! I am so overly proud of her to do this. I wouldn't have done it without her. But this was a powerful experience.
And we are looking to go even further.

Oh yeah, the numbers so far. Erin finished the mile in under 15 minutes and I finished in 11.45 minutes

And to date, she has lost 24 pounds and I have lost 19.

We would like to thank ALL family and friends who voted for us and has been behind us 100% in our journey. We have only just begun.....wait.....no I won't sing. But we have begun something really big to be smaller. Keep an eye out on our blog for more updates.

And what's next? Rebecca is wanting to know if we might be interested in the Crush..... ummm baby steps.. but you never know.

Working to Stay Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 28 - The Struggle

Well, here we are at the beginning of another week of healthiness. But what a rough weekend it has been. But let's start with the numbers. As of right now, Erin has lost a total of 20 pounds and I have lost a total of 14 pounds. She is now shopping for new clothes and looking great. I am now officially on the last notch of my belt. Time to get a new one.

Here is where the challenge comes in. Let's start with Erin. Yesterday she was diagnosed with strepp throat. She is completely out of commission for the next couple of days. I feel bad for her since I will be working out without her. I am trying to cook smooth foods for her. Thanks to Rebecca, I made spaghetti squash last night. It was totally awesome! I am hoping she gets better soon.

As for me, I faced my biggest challenge this weekend. This was the first wedding that I have done since I started the challenge. Besides my meals fbefore the wedding, I had to have something to eat at night. They had chicken strips, meatballs, fried mushrooms, and of course, cake.

I got a plate with 2 of each.....not the cake and mushrooms though. But when I sat doen to eat, I had this really heavy weight of guilt on my shoulders. I was afraid to eat it. So I texted Rebecca freaking out. She said that it was ok. She said I could even have a small piece of cake. I LIKE HER!!!!!!!

But it has been a real challenge to not only get our workouts in and update our journals, but to also update the BodyBugg and also balance everything else out. I am starting to get a little stressed on that matter. I am going to see if a morning workout would help.

On the plus side, I was able to kill my mile in 14 Minutes on the treadmill. And Erin got a dress that really made her feel great. We are doing well.

Oh and check out whipit180.com for an updated video on us. You will notice one of the biggest differences. We are a lot happier with the results so far!!!!!!!!!

Working to Stay Healthy

Brad and Erin

Day 23 - Did She Just Put An Avocado In Our Shopping Cart?

Wow...What a week this has been. For the days we have been working out, we really have been pushing ourselves. I am especially proud of Erin. I on the other hand am disappointed in myself since I did not get a workout in today. But Erin pushed herself on the bike really hard and I am more than proud of her!!!!!!!

Tonight, we met with Rebecca at Hy-Vee for the big shopping day. The goal was to learn about healthy foods that we can get away with eating. I guess that takes the Chips Ahoy Cookies off the list. But there were a lot of things that we were able to learn. We got a lot of new foods that we have never even considered using. For example, we bought a Jicama. I'm sure that some of you are asking what the heck that is. It's ok, I am too. But she described it as if a potato and a pear had a baby, this is what you would get. I guess I'm up for trying something new. But then the odd event happened.

She put an Avocado in the cart and said this is an awesome thing. Did she really put that in the cart? What the heck heck are we going to do with that? I know there are recipes for guacamole, but I'm not crazy about that to begin with.

While we were there, we ran into Katie and Rachel, two of the other people that are also involved with this 5 week program. They were on the search for Larabars, which I am totally addicted to. Good thing they are on sale with now. It's really cool to see some of the other participants of the event. They both cam up to us and said , "Hey, didn't we see you in the paper?"

That reminds me. If you haven't thrown out todays Des Moines Register, there is a big article in the Iowa Life section of the front page. Check it out.

But in the end, after 3 hours and 45 minutes of shopping and over $214 dollars later, we are home and read for bed.

Tomorrow will be a new day, and I am looking forward to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Working to Stay Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 20 - Rebecca Does the Happy Dance

BUSY BUSY BUSY. When does the madness end? We have been so busy catching up on work, family and health, by time we get to the night, we are beat. But that's a good thing I think.

Yesterday, we weighed ourselves in and we both have lost 2 more pounds. We are extremely happy with the result so far. Check back to the Whipit180.com site later this week and there should be new video showing our progress. But wow, what a work out day yesterday. Rebecca ran/walked with us. Nothing like chasing a truck with a camera in it that is shooting us. The funny part was when we turned a corner, the camera guy went back to park and started walking around the complex with the camera and audio equipment. WE LOST THE PAPARAZZI :)

But when we got back, Erin was having extreme pain with her knees and can't run until the Blue Mile Run. But we have other exercises to do to help her heal.

When it came time to measure us, Rebecca couldn't be more happy. Every time she was measuring Erin, she was doing a happy dance because the numbers are dropping for Erin and she is looking great!!! I had a few numbers drop too, which made her do a happy dance too. It's really exciting when your trainer is ubberly happy with you. :)

Erin is going to meet with Rebecca in a couple of days to go grocery shopping to learn about the best things to get. As of this minute, since the traffic is slow, I am entering this blog at the Hy-Vee Conference Center for the Everything Bridal Fair. I have never faced so much torture. Right in front of me is a cake vendor. And two booths over a vendor has a HUGE bowl of chocolate. Where is this fair?!?!?!?!?!? I have been in so much control I am proud of myself. I am also ultimately proud of Erin and want to do what I can to make her feel beter and more comfortable.


Working to Get Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 17 - Sorry for the delay

Good morning. This was supposed to be posted last night, but due to internet problems, we could not access the account. One other note. I figured if we blogged every other day or so, that will add to the suspense and we can give more good news.

Every dog has its day, and yesterday, was not mine. I am really proud of Erin to say first because she was able to ride for close to 7 miles to pick up Ellie at pre-school. But as for me, I feel like I failed the day. I was only able to power walk on my lunch break for 20 minutes. That was all that I did. When I got home last night, I was getting ready to meet with a client and then the time came and when I got home, it was 10:15. But after that, I sat down and accidentally fell asleep. I guess you can't count calories for planning on doing something and turn out not doing it. I am hoping that today will be better, except I got up way too late since I didn't get to bed until 12:30 AM. I guess I am just venting my own personal frustrations. You can do that once in a while.

I didn't mean to make yesterday a slack day, but it just happened. But on the bright side, we are really doing well. On Tuesday, Erin and I rode for about 40 minutes around Altoona/Bondurant. It was a long and winding journey, but we were both able to do it. And the eating has improved very well. Tuesday, she made salmon which was very tasty. I am really looking forward to learning about new meals that we can both enjoy. But for the time being, we are doing what we can to succeed and I am not only very proud of Erin but I am also proud of myself. WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!!

Working to Get Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 14

Before I get into the blog information, we want to thank all of our friends and family for the support and encouragement that you have given us. We are well on our way to a happier and heathier lifestyle.

Now on to the numbers. Drumroll please................................................. ......................... As of yesterday, Erin has lost 8 more pounds this past week. I am extremely proud of her. At the same time, I am concerned for her because her knees are really causing problems. Tonight, Erin rode around the complex twice and then walked/ran for a little bit. She couldn't do the entire lap. Hopefully the Campus will be good help for her so she can use the pool.

As for me, I also lost 8 more pounds. Originally it was 6, but after I got out of the shower, 2 more pounds were off. Rebecca said that can count. :) I also did a 2 lap around the campus on bike then ran/walked the third lap. Now my knee is paying for it.

So now we are trying new things and trying to eat out a little....but healthy wise. At Applebees, we had something from the 550 calorie menu. This totally helped with my steak cravings. And Chilis has healthy verions of some of the clssics. For the first time ever, I had a chicken sandwich with a tomato. Not bad.

One of my biggest concerns lately has been the steps issue. They say we need to get 10000 steps in a day. Very difficult when sitting at a desk all day. And trying to get over 8000 steps at night is tricky too. But at least the activity time and calories are met. Go burned calories.


Working to Get Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 12

In one week, we are meeting with Rebecca to update her on our progress. Erin feels like all she has done is gone backwards since both of her knees have prevented her from doing the exercises that we started doing last week. I am concerned for her as well since I am also working on bettering myself and can't include her all of the time. We are hopefully going to take out our mikes tomorrow to change that by starting to ride again . Have warm weather, will travel.

As for me, I am concerned about the lack of variety in the lunch meals. I am either dong a Smart Choice meal or Subway. But that is better than McDolands every day. As for the exercise, I am hoping that the trips to the gym will help us for the usage of the pool. We will swim, oh yes, we will swim.

Working to Stay Healthy
Brad/Erin

Day 11 1/2

Sorry for the delayed blog. This week has been crazy. We have been running around like a chicken with our heads cut off.... I wonder how many calories we can burn that way.

So this is the end of the first work week back for us. For Erin, she has been busy enough to not think about the calories and exercize. As for me, I sit at a desk for 8 hours and havr had some low energy issues. I am attempting to balance out my foods so I am neither hungry or tired. This is week 2 without pop so it has been rough. I had a Monster Low carb drink on Wednesday. Its ok.....Rebecca said it was ok. Just don't drink it everyday. Problem is, the next morning, I woke up the next day with a Monster migraine. Not sure if they are connected.

Erin was able to get in some walking and stretches yesterday. I on the other hand didn't exercize at all during the day..... yet it said that I burned 3002 calories and 1:30 of activity. I felt really guilty. It was like I put the BodyBugg os our dog and tok her to go chase a rabbit while I sit and play video games. But I made up for it later last night.

Erins sister and her four kids came to stay at our house last night. Her two oldest kids Stephanie and Michael went out to run with me around our complex. A difficult task to do when both kids are very athletic. In fact Stephaine was running barefoot and Michael was running doing high step kicks....showoffs.

I got to point where I couldn't run for a bit. Steph said why did you stop? I'm sore. She asked why. I said I am older than you. She said, Its ll n your head.

My head, back, belly, bottom. Its everywhere. But in the end I was able to sprint to the end. I'm impressed.

We are going to join the Altoona campus for a short time. This way Erin can use the pool and not be stressful on the knees.

Working to Be Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 10 - Improvements

For going back to work, the food has been going very well.  We have been to balance out the foods that we are eating pretty well.  Erin seems to be less irritable during the day.  I myself seem to be less high strung and stressed like I used to be.  It has got to be because of all the sugar that I am not taking in now, as well as the soda.  Erin has noticed that I am not in my "tunnel"as much now and I am actually taking care of things that need to be attended to before she has to ask me to.  This is not only making her happy, but myself and Ellie as well. 

Nutrition and exercise can really make a positive change to you and your families life.  

Working to Be Healthy

Brad and Erin

Day 9 - Much Better

Today went a little bit better for the both of us.  We both did walking during our lunch breaks as well as together around our neighborhood after work.  And we were also able to do jump ropes outside in from of the house.  My cravings have decreased a little.  And I think I have found a groove for how to eat my meals throughout the day.

Erin is still in a lit of pain between her knee and back.   Her foot is actually getting better.  As for me, I am looking forward to going to the doctor on Thursday.  But I seem to be doing better on the steps.

I would like to know if there is anything that I can do while I am sitting at my desk everyday to help with exercising.  Just sitting there makes me think that I am not progressing and will fall behind.  I am looking forward to finding out about more exercises that can be done with the medicine ball and the inflatable ball as well.  The more we learn, the better variety we have.

Erin thinks that the food is going really well.  I feel the same.  We have not gotten to a point where we are saying that we are bored with what we eat.  We are planning ahead a lot better on the meals to allow us to be able to be together more and to get other tasks done as well.


Working to Get Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 8 - Adjusting

Unfortunately, this will be a quick posting, as it is late....again.  We are at a point where we are trying new foods and adjusting to the return of work.  We really need about 4 more days of vacation to adjust again.  It was very difficult to work today as I have to sit at my desk for 8 hours a day.  For the fact that for the past week, we have been constantly moving, this is like getting hit by a Mack truck and stopping in our tracks.  But on the plus side, I was able to walk up 8 flights of stairs twice at work and I only used the elevator twice.  Erin has been doing a lot of walking on her part but she is extreme pain right now with her knee and foot and back.  I spent 10 minutes rubbing Icy Hot on her back.  We really hope that this is a phase.

One accomplishment on my part was I did 200 jumps in one session with the jump rope tonight.  And Erin was able to do her jump roping in the gym at school.  That s a cool perk to working at a school.

On the down side.... We tried new Greek yogurt.  I'm at a loss of words.  It certainly is a different taste and will need some additional ingredients to make it really enjoyable.  And also as a plus, we are now eating tomatoes.  I'm impressed with myself.  Sorry it took so long to enjoy them mom.  So it's time to sleep again.  We need to start going to bed sooner.  We just have so much to catch up on.


Working to Get Healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 7 - The Numbers

Alright, I know we post at night, but have breaking news.  First, what we did today.

We woke up, went to Grey's Lake with the Dearduffs, who are also working with Daniel and Rebecca.  And we went around the lake.   1.9 Miles....BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!  I so miss working out in Arizona.  I couldn't feel my face after running.  But, it was good to get it out of the way so early in the morning.

Came home and faced the scale.  Erin reminded me that this was not the Biggest Loser and we are supposed to lose about 2 pounds a week.  I know, but when I stepped on the scale I saw the numbers going up and was waiting to go to commercial.  Then I looked down.

I have lost 5 pounds this week from the trip, and I feel great!!!  This is an awesome start and I know I can do a lot more!!!!!  Eating healthy and exercising right, will make a difference if you put your mind to it.  I was ready to go for another walk.

Erin also weighed herself and has lost 5.4 pounds as of today.  She is feeling great and excited.  She is still concerned about the knee and foot.  We did a lot of impact walking and running and stairs that might have effected it a little.

She is on the phone as we speak with Rebecca and getting some questions answered.



Later on, we will post another blog.

Day 6

Well, vacation is over :(. We are back in Iowa, at home and ready for bed.  I know, we are supposed to be in bed an hour ago.  But we have been trying to get cleaned up and organized for the week.  So i'll be brief since nothing much happened today.

Rebecca said that we get one day off a week.  This was the day.  But it was crazy.  To start off, because we were running late, we had to have an egg and cheese biscuit from the airport.  But fear not, we only had half of the biscuit.  And when we were on the plane, because I never trust airplane water, I got a Diet Coke.  So did Erin.  For a short time.  She spilled it all over our legs in flight.  So that must have been a sign.  I would have preferred someone leaning over and saying, you aren't supposed to drink that.  But I drank it, and you know what?  I really wasn't impressed with it.  I guess I really didn't miss it.  My bad.

So we got home and back to normal.  We emptied out all of our JUNK food and un-edible foods.  Erins' parents took a huge Rubbermaid of food with them, including.....sigh...... the Girl Scout Cookies.....We don't get cookies Samoa.  I know, they changed the name, but forever in my heart, that is what I call them.

Tomorrow we start a new challenge.  We are meeting with an old high school friend of mine who has been working out with Rebecca and has lost a lot weight so far.  We are to run 1.9 miles around Greys Lake.  With some walking involved.  But rise and shine, 8 AM...no matter what the weather.....We're gone!!!!

Oh, and he is going to show us how to use the medicine ball the right way.  This is going to be awesome!!!

Working to be Healthy
Brand and Erin

Day 6

Wow, that zoo really did one in for Erins foot from yesterday.  She was in so much paid today and could hardly walk at the beginning of the day.

This is going to be a very quick blog.  We are on our way to bed and leaving tomorrow morning to head back to sunny Iowa....I think....Someone was telling us a joke about how they got like 6 inches of snow, but it melted.  Better stay that way.  We need to start running outside.

So we went to the flea market today and did about 3 hours of walking.  And again, it barely showed.  And to top it off, when we worked out tonight, Erin's bodybugg didn't register the 5 minutes that she did on the Eliptical machine and then 20 on the bike.  But we know she did the work.

I am concerned to know if we can ever hit the 10000 steps a day that Rebecca asked us to try to do.  I'll have to talk to her when we get back.

Tomorrow, we head back and I am really anxious to get on the scale to see how we did.  We will keep everyone posted.



Brad and Erin

Day 5

So here is the summary of highs and lows for today.  Lets start with a high.  After my father in-laws brother Bill started reading our blog of progress, he went and enrolled in a health club center.  He said that if we can do it, so can he.  That is great inspiration and motivation that we have created has made us want to do this even more.

Ok, one more high point.  This day is to be marked in history that I ate Broiled salmon today.......AND LOVED IT!!!!  I am not a fish lover.  In fact I really cant stand it.  But it was done my my mom and it was awesome.  DISCLAIMER: (Mom, I'm sorry for giving you grief for the past 38 years about the not wanting to eat fish).  She said, you should try catfish....Ok I draw the line somewhere.  I can't fathom eating a fish that is overly ugly.

Now the bad, but good at the same time.  Erin, Ellie and I went to the Phoenix Zoo today by about 10AM and didn't leave until 5PM.  The minute that we walked in there, Erin thought she was going to lose her mind with the smell of Kettle Corn fuming throughout the zoo.  Those poor giraffe have to smell it every single day.  They are right next to the food court.  But on to the problem.

We ended up walking close to 7 hours for the day.  But here was the work out count on me:

Activity: 38 minutes
Calories: 2700
Steps: 6500

Erin met her Calorie burn goal but I was way off.  7033 Steps for Erin.  She also had to push Ellie in the zoo cart, so she had a little extra force to work with.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!  We walked that whole zoo.  And, we went on the paddle boats and I did all the paddling.  But it was only clocked at 2 minutes of activity.  My foot was in extreme pain.  And I was sweating and breathing a little hard.  That is not an easy thing to do.  SO WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!?!?!  We got home and I was willing to do the band stretches that we do every other day.  But even though we did a lot of stop and go, we still did some harsh walking.  There were some hills that posed a great challenge.

We can't do anymore today.  Not after the zoo.

So we are going to plug in our numbers and go to bed.  This has been a very hard day for our bodies with all of the walking.  I can understand this is wrong if we only did an hour of walking but that was not the case.  We were on our feet in the sun and it was warm there.  We are not giving up, we are just in a slump for one day.

Oh and by the way, Erin said that she had 1 calorie left to burn while we were eating dinner.  So she put down her fork and started doing arm reaches while sitting to get that last calorie in.  Her Bodybugg alarm went off and she finished dinner.  We all laughed, but all I could do was pout because I would have to flap my arms like a chicken until I burn mine.  As I am writing this blog though, I have 66 calories left to burn.

Thanks for reading.

Working to be healthy
Brad and Erin

Day 4

We went to bed Tuesday night with some ibprofein and ice packs.  Between her knee and foot and my foot, we made a sore couple.  Yesterday was extremely big in our workout level.  We walked around a park across the street which I believe was over 3 miles.  The steps were harsh at the end again.  Someday, we will dominate those steps. 

But this morning, our bodies actually spoke to us.  They said...Ouch.  Once we stretched out and did our workout around the same park, this time with Ellie, our muscles loosened up.  As they say no pain, no gain.  But we are concerned that there might be a little too much pain right now :)  Just kidding.  So, now it's time for our lunch and then nap.  Hey, we are on vacation, we have to rest sometime :)

The beginning

Welcome to the Feingold Whipit 180 Blog.  This blog is to show the progress of our ongoing fitness challenge with Wellmark.

One week ago, we sent out a mass email and Facebook update to ask for everyones support in voting for us to become finalists for the Whipit180 Challenge.  For one week, people voted and now the voices are heard.  We have been selected to be the finalists for the Challenge.   For the next 5 weeks, we will train our body and our minds to better ourselves and become the healthy family that we need to be.

The purpose of this blog is to keep you updated on our progress.  To let you know of the highs and lows of our journey.  We are a couple days off for the blog but here is a general 3 day update.

We met with Rebecca Meyer and the film crew.  This was a very exciting and also very scary at the same time.  The fact that I am normally behind the camera and now in front of it was really a different experience.  She showed us great new ways to stretch and warm up and also presented us with the prize package.  Then, the hard part, she opened up our fridge.  We felt really guilty when she found the Cadbury Eggs and Girl Scout Cookies.  But on the bright side, at least we didn't eat them all and we helped the Girl Scouts raise money.

We arrived and started fresh.  The first major challenge was shopping for food.  I know we shop weekly, but never like this.  We had to make sure that we picked out the right foods.  Looking at the calories, the fat, the sugar and more.  I never realized that so much goes into eating healthy.  And the food that we chose was different from what I ever expected.  Humus, for example.  I never thought that I would be eating that. But with the right cracker, it is not bad....Still adjusting to the taste.  Another new food was Greek yogurt.  For some reason, this is becoming a big thing.  But without a chunk of fruit in it, I can't see why.  We also are doing something that I wasn't sure I was able to handle.  We are now sort officially  soda free.  While we have our water substitute, I myself have been craving a Diet Coke a little.  But we have found a energy drink that is like Crystal Light but better.  So that problem is resolved.

Now on to the exercise.  Again, something that I really haven't committed myself to in a while.  And we have tried using fitness clubs before.  We decided that Arizona is the best place to jump start our journey.  With the exception of rain yesterday, we have been able to work outside for 2 out of the three days.  We have walked several miles so far including the Fashion Square Mall.  It's really big.

But the real challenge began to se how long it would take both Erin and I to run a mile.  For me, it was 17 minutes.  Erin was also at 17 minutes.  Considering that the last time I ran a mile was in 6th grade and that took me 45 minutes.  But now we are walking and doing running spurts to help get us moving on to a good pace.

We have also vowed to use the elevator only once a day.  This is also challenging because my parents have a condo on the 6th floor.  Going down was the easy part.  It's going back up after walking over 3 miles is what can be challenging.  We are also jump roping.  Again, something that we haven't done since we were kids.  The first time I did it , it took a while, but now I'm at a better pace.  As for Erin, it is very difficult for her to do the jumps because of her brace and sore foot.  But we are able to get through it and we are not completely sore.  Her knee is a little sore and I have been having problems with my left foot as well.  But all in all, we are off to a great start.  We really haven't had many bad cravings.  The more we are away from the sugar, the more that we really aren't interested in it.  And this is a big challenge since my mom has a huge jar of mini candy bars in the kitchen.....  "Control, control, you must learn control." - Yoda

So we are off to the train park and will come home and have another healthy meal and then off to bed.  Thank you to everyone for your support, and we will try to keep everyone updated daily.

Brad and Erin