Thursday, September 9, 2010

Married to THE Biggest Loser

If you were to ask me to describe my husband, I'd have to respond by saying I am married to THE biggest loser.

Now, now. Before you think I've turned insanely rude, hear me out.

First, a little proof:
Exhibit A:

Here is a picture of Josh taken just over 8 months ago at our son, Jacob's, baptism.

While Josh might have been at the heavy end of the spectrum for his personal weight continuum, it had been such a gradual progression that none of us really noticed or considered him "over weight". He had undergone several surgeries in the past few years, including a knee surgery last September and ankle surgeries a few years prior, which had prevented him from exercising for long stretches of time as he recovered, completed adequate physical therapy and nursed himself back to health.

At the end of February, Josh was finally feeling like his knee was recovered enough to get serious about his health and fitness. He researched a lot of exercise & nutrition plans & felt that while many of them had good components, most were not sustainable long term.

Now enter THE BODYBUGG. The body what? THE BODYBUGG.

Basically, the BodyBugg is an arm band device which by way of 4 sensors collects data and in conjunction with the users body perameters (age, gender, height, weight) enables the most accurate estimation of calorie expenditure. (To read more about the science behind the BodyBugg, go here.)

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight realizes that you must burn more calories in a day than you consume if you are to shed those unwanted pounds. The BodyBugg system not only allows for the calculation of calorie burn, but has an online computer program component as well, helping you to accurately track the amount of calories consumed. The program takes your body perameters into consideration, along with a personal profile evaluation you complete, your weight loss goal and then helps you to set up a realistic weight loss schedule, showing you how many calories you must burn and eat in a day in order to reach your goal in a specified time period.

It's A-MAZING! You simply plug the arm band into your computer via a USB cord and your personal data appears on the screen. Using their online resource of food nutritional values, you enter the data for the meals, snacks and beverages consumed during the day to arrive at your calorie deficit/overage for the day. The program even has a personalized menu plan, should you struggle with coming up with your own healthy menu options that fit your calorie needs.

I won't drone on and on about the marvels of this contraption. Needless to say, it worked!

Three months later Josh had turned his flab into fab, having shed approximately 50 lbs. There were no fad diets or insane exercise routines. Josh simply adjusted his diet to a more health conscious plan, added appropriate consistent exercise into his schedule and reaped some marvelous results!

Exhibit B:

Fast forward less than 2 months later and 8 additional pounds lost and now you have my BIGGEST LOSER, enjoying the fruits of his labor (58 lb. total weight loss) while vacationing in Hawaii. (**We are at the beach on vacation, thus the bathing suits.)

Top/Bottom--before/after:

Exhibit C:
After observing Josh's success, I too started on the BodyBugg, following the birth of our 4th child in May. I'm down just over 40 lbs. with a little more to go towards reaching my goal. (That's over 100 lbs. between the two of us!!) If I can stay away from the Halloween treats that are already popping up in stores, I should be finished with my goal in the next month. Wish me luck! I want BIGGEST LOSER status too!

8 comments:

Jennifer said...

No way! You both look crazy awesome. I am so discouraged about my weight. Maybe I need a body bug! You both look fantastic! You are like those models in for weight lose programs that have a little asterik by their feet saying "not usual results". I will go have a piece of cake to celebrate for you!

Anonymous said...

Jenny P says - WOW! Amazing. You guys look great. Josh even has some series ab muscules! I have struggled with my weight since I was 5, Michael's struggle has been more recent, but we both have a hard time. He has been working out and watching what he eats, and I will soon be joining him. He has lost 60 pounds, I am still down 40 from my inital 60 pound loss. It's "funny" eat less, work out more seems to be the magic plan :)

Chris and Mari Spiker said...

That is so awesome!!! You both are looking so great! That little bodybugg sounds like such an awesome contraption too. Congrats on the awesome bods Carver Crew, you're lookin' fly :)

Spiker said...

Wow! He looks great!

Shells said...

Congratulations to both of you, that is fantastic!

Kelli said...

not that I am checking out your husband but he looks GREAT!

Groverfam said...

I am checking out Josh...he does look fab! So do you. I need to lose 20 lbs - I want the body bugg

Michelle said...

Congratulations! You and Josh look amazing and I'm sure it wasn't easy with four kids always fighting for your attention. I'm so happy for you and your beautiful family.