Dreaming of Malibu...Please Vote For Me!

Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? Well, I'm tasting healthy meals, smelling sunblock and feeling like getting my butt kicked by trained professionals. What is happening? Am I going crazy? No. I am just a contestant in the 2012 Year of You contest. A four week stay at The Biggest Loser Resort in Malibu is the grand prize. Ten winners will be chosen by a panel of judges. Currently, I have made it to the public voting round. This round will narrow the contestants down to 30 finalists. The votes are coming in, but the number doesn't show, so I don't know how I rank compared to my competition. Rumor has it that the rankings will be revealed next week. It's enough to drive a person bonkers! I will just remain calm and continue on the campaign trail.

I'm not alone in my quest. I am fortunate enough to be joined in this competition by six amazing Twitter Friends of mine; Bethany Vale, Kristin Black, Rob Cohn, Kristy Landers, Sherrie Atteberry and Megan Owens. We all agree that it would be beyond incredible if we could all win and finally meet each other in person, at the resort. Votes are what we need right now. Once we get voted to the Final 30, we will have to trust that the judges will see how special we are. Please help us in our quest by casting your vote once a day until January 15th. Voting will close at noon that day. Here's the link to the contestant page and I've posted my contest video below, which also includes the same link in the description section. Thank you all so much!

http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/160284/voteable_entries

Vote for me! Pretty please!!!

Enjoy my video and please vote. Thanks! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Hiatus!

A Very Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and spending as much time as you can with your loved ones. November and December have been busy months for me, and I'm sure for many of you as well. Needless to say, with all the hustle and bustle of the season, my exercise and healthy eating have definitely suffered. Not to worry. I am in no way giving up. Knowing how hectic this time of year would be, I decided to do my best to maintain what I've already lost and then kick it back into high gear in the new year.

This photo was taken of our choir during our performance in 2009. I'm front and center and I've definitely lost weight since then!

I apologize for not blogging lately! So much has happened recently. In November I had the privilege and the pleasure of singing with the Macy's All Star Holiday Choir during the live broadcast of the Macy's Great Tree Lighting in Atlanta, GA, on Thanksgiving evening. I auditioned and was selected in 2009 and have been invited back each year since. It is fast becoming a favorite holiday tradition of mine. Of course, I made a couple of videos to vlog my experience. Those gems will be included at the end of this blog, along with a few others. November was also the month for the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, to be released. I'm a major fan, so of course I went to see it on the first weekend. Loved it and I can't wait for part 2 next year!



All decked out in my Twilightaholic t-shirt and ready to go to the movie with one of my BFFs, Natalie.

Shhhhhhhhh...The movie is about to start.

My December has been spent preparing for Christmas, which turned out to be a wonderful time spent with family. Now it is time to gear up for the year 2012. My next exercise goal is to be able to run a mile. I can walk 3-5 miles with no problem, but running it will be new for me. Also, I have to get back into the habit of journaling my food everyday. My next step with the journaling, that will bring me to the next level, will be to count calories. It's all about important baby steps that will add up to a healthy lifestyle and physical fitness. I hope all of you will continue to walk this journey with me. There is definitely strength in numbers!  Please have an excellent rest of the week and a very Happy New Year! Enjoy the videos I've attached! :)

Less Candy Equals More Fun

Halloween Fun for everyone!!!

Whoah! I just realized it's been almost a month since I last posted a blog. Well, it's been an interesting month for sure. Full of good times and struggles, but mostly good times. October got off to a great start with the Walk 2 End Alzheimer's. I continue to stay strong with the help of Josh and Alex's Track 2 Transformation boot camp on Saturday mornings. The fact that the cost has been lowered to $10 makes it that much better. Keeping up with my food journal has been the key to keeping my weight loss efforts successful. I am committed to writing everything down. No matter what. If I go crazy and eat five candy bars (no worries, I haven't) that gets journaled. I have to be honest with myself or this won't work.

Excited Trick-or-Treaters, Randy and Arianna (Spiderman and Spidergirl).

This Halloween, I dressed as FBI Technical Analyst, Penelope Garcia from the show Criminal Minds. My hubby loved my costume!

Less than two weeks ago, we celebrated Halloween. Candy candy candy...Right? WRONG! In past years, I would buy several bags of candy in preparation for Trick-or-Treaters and just to have extra candy on hand for my own personal stash. This year, I made the decision to not buy any candy. My son, Anthony, and I went out with my friend, Natalie, and my niece and nephew, Arianna and Randy. Our fun that evening was centered around getting dressed up in costumes and driving around town hunting for Halloween events. Not candy. Now, of course, the kids did collect a small amount of candy, but I was not at all tempted to indulge. My son gave me one small Tootsie Roll out of his bag. That was the extent of my Halloween feast. Therefore, I was able to lose 1.4 pounds. That's the best Treat ever! 

This was me last Halloween and about 36 pounds heavier.

Check out my latest weight loss vlog...

These Feet Were Made For Walking

October is off to a fierce start! Saturday, October 1st, I walked in my very first 5K, the Walk 2 End Alzheimer's, to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association. My hubby and kiddies walked with me and we had a blast. My son, Anthony, and I finished the walk (3.1 miles) in 59 minutes. My daughter, Madison, and Hubby were close behind us at an hour and 7 minutes. So far, I have raised $330 towards my goal of $500 for the cause, and more has been promised. Sweet!

As you know, September was my month to participate in Get Up Give Back with Jason Devila and Christa Diehl. I am anxiously awaiting Jase's blog update to read how we all did, now that we've completed our challenge. In the process of waiting for the official results, I uploaded the data from my pedometer to my laptop. For the month of September, I walked a grand total of 150,199 steps. Whoa! That's 66.23 miles; 6,595 calories and 391.4 grams of fat. Go me! It's so rewarding to see how every little bit of movement adds up. I will definitely need to replace my running shoes very soon!

Quick update: I am now down 36 pounds and can wear a size 16 pair of slacks that I've been waiting 4 years to get into. Woot Woot!

Moving On: Life After The Biggest Loser Casting Experience

C'est la vie (Such is life)

It's official. You will not be seeing me on the 13th season of The Biggest Loser. The casting directors made their announcement via Twitter and Facebook, a couple of days ago, that all finalists had been selected and contacted. I was not one of those lucky individuals that received the call of a lifetime. Am I disappointed? Of course. Do I regret the experience? Absolutely not! Through my Biggest Loser experience, I have completely changed my life for the better and met some of the most amazing people.

Alex and Courtney are just two of the wonderful people I've met along my journey. Love them!

Now that I am no longer waiting to be selected, I am free to put more effort into my journey of weight loss, health and inspiration. More importantly, I will now hopefully be blessed with a paying job. Momma needs a paycheck! My plan of becoming the best me possible will continue. I am committed to finally completing my transformation. No turning back! The only help I will get from The Biggest Loser will be the extra motivation I receive from watching the show in my own living room. Even though I won't get the awesome opportunity to be on the show, I will always love it and plan to tune in every Tuesday night. Not to mention, I have a bit of a married woman crush on the new trainer, Dolvett. Ladies, can you blame me? Lol!

 My Donor Page-Walk 2 End Alzheimer's

Back to reality! Seriously, it is so amazing to look back at all I've accomplished in the past five months. Not only have I now lost 34.6 pounds (and still going), but I'm inspiring people every day to start their own journeys. Some of them have even started their own blog sites. Fab-u-lous! One of my fellow bloggers even made a window decal for me to promote my blog. How cool is that (pic below)? Next Saturday, October 1st, I will be walking in my very first 5K to support the Alzheimer's Association (link above). Currently, I have the pleasure of taking the Track 2 Transformation boot camp class every other Saturday. As soon as I have a job again, I will be at boot camp every Saturday and Zumba during the week. Look out world! Theresa is coming at ya in true beast mode (that's a good thing, by the way)!

My most awesome window decal. It rocks and looks so good on my KIA Spectra. ;)

My dear friends, it is getting late and I must get up early tomorrow for church. So, I will leave you with my latest update video and my Biggest Loser 13 audition videos, for anyone who's interested. Much love and many blessings to you all!

My official audition video for BL13.

My video of bonus clips for BL13.

My latest weight loss update video 9-22-11.

Who Is This Motivated Girl? I Like Her!

Alex Respess, me and the fabulous Courtney Crozier.

Since beginning my weight loss journey in April, I have committed myself to getting active. No more lounging on the couch and daydreaming of what could be done, but actually getting up and doing it. Surprisingly, over the past five months I have found that I actually like exercising. When I am unable to workout I feel disappointed. What is happening here? Who is this person? It's ME! I am changing for the better and I love it!

Our group shot from boot camp 9-3-11.

This past Saturday I tried out a new boot camp class called Track 2 Transformation. Alex Respess from Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition has teamed up with a personal trainer named Josh Rohr to offer this class to people in the Atlanta, GA metro area. I've included the link to their Facebook page so please check it out. T2TBootcamp Track 2 Transformation is offered every Saturday at 8:30am and 10am, and the cost is $15 per session. I not only got a great workout, but I had a lot of fun as well. Alex was very down to Earth and patient with all of us. He worked us out hard without having to be a bully. Josh Rohr was not at the class when I went, so I was not able to meet him and see what his training style is like, but I'm sure he is great. We did, however, have a special guest. Courtney Crozier, from The Biggest Loser 11, (Alex's girlfriend) was there to offer her support. Courtney is still recovering from her recent surgery, so she was unable to work out with us. She kept pacing around while we were exercising. You could tell she so wanted to join us. After the class, we took pictures and I had the delightful treat of getting to chat with Courtney. I must say that she is a total doll! Courtney is so genuinely kind and so easy to talk to. She really encouraged me. Love her!

We had a blast! Can't wait to do the class again!

Boot camp was a great way to start the month of September! I am also participating in a fitness challenge to raise money for charity. My friend, Jase Davila, started a project in August call Get Up Give Back. Each month he selects two Twitter friends to commit to exercising as many days as they can during the month that they are assigned. For each day the friend reports their exercise to Jase, he pays $2.50 to the charity of the friends choice. At the end of the month Jase tallies up the days of exercise and donates the total amount to the predetermined charities. Which ever charity earns the highest amount, Jase will match it to double the donation. My friend Christa Diehl and I will be the participants for September. I have chosen the Alzheimer Association for my charity. We are gonna rock this!

The most awesome Jase Davila. Give Up Give Back!

At the conclusion of the Get Up Give Back challenge, I will be walking in a 5k on October 1st to support the Alzheimer's Association. I've included the link to my donation page, if anyone wants to join the cause. Walk To End Alzheimer's-Theresa's Page

As you can see, I am definitely keeping myself busy while waiting to hear if I get selected for The Biggest Loser 13. My journey has kicked into high gear and I am truly transforming; physically and mentally. I am no longer the same person I was five months ago. I'm staying on this path to health and fitness. No turning back!

From April to September: 32 pounds lighter and noticably smaller.

Hoping For The Call Of A Life Time



This is me waiting for my call. Good times!

The last casting call for The Biggest Loser, Season 13, wrapped up last Saturday, August 27th, in Los Angeles. Several of my Twitter Friends attended this call and they all reported having the time of their lives. I was unsuccessful in my attempts to FedEx myself to Beverly Hills, so I settled for living vicariously through the Tweets of my Girls. Thanks for the shared memories!

Now that the casting calls are complete and the call back calls have been made, the home video round begins. The casting directors have all committed to watching every last video that has been submitted. Good luck! Meanwhile, thousands of Biggest Loser Hopefuls, like me, are waiting in anticipation for that life-changing call from the casting team.

This can be a very stressful time in the casting process. It's not easy being glued to your phone and computer, while simultaneously checking your voicemail, email, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts; in hopes that the "Golden Ticket" of messages will finally come. Talk about multi-tasking! Plus, most of us have jobs, families, friends, etc...that need attention as well.

The best thing to do during this waiting period is to stay positive. Remember that we've done everything we can do at this point. The ball is totally in the court of the casting directors now. If I am given a chance to be on The Biggest Loser, I will be beyond thrilled! However, if the call never comes I will of course be disappointed, but I've already made up my mind to not be devastated.
I know that I'm worth it and I am determined to this! With or without The Biggest Loser, I am going to lose this weight and be the best me I can possibly be. With all that said...Biggest Loser, please call me! What? I'm still in it to win it! OXOXO