This is the latest update on my weight loss challenge Five in Five.  I actually have less than three weeks to go so I may not reach goal.

I haven’t lost as much, and it’s mostly my fault.  After talking about how hard it was, and how I had to be really diligent with exercise, I basically ate a piece of cake the size of my head and then didn’t walk for six days.

But I’m back on track, and walking in the bloody heat tonight.

I know that Oz is almost at goal weight, and Amy’s struggled a little, but she’s killing it with the exercise, so nicely done, everyone!

If you’ve been a friend of mine for more than 30 minutes, you’ve probably heard me joke that you should either move in to my house or move into one of the fourteen houses for sale in my neighborhood. It’s all funny except that I’m not really joking.

My family has always been my built-in support network. I loved living in a house of five people. There was always someone with whom to chat. That’s a good thing when you’re eight, have glasses and braces, and no good friends in the outside world. Oh, and did I mention I’m an extrovert? Very hard to be extroverted when you’re afraid to talk to mean kids. I think that’s why I feel this way: proximity feels good.

So now that I own a home in a place where I’ll likely live for the next 20 years, I’m busily wishing that my entire family and group of friends would move in. When a very good friend of ours sought a temporary place to live, we welcomed her to our home. I was frankly worried about the loss of privacy; however, we couldn’t be more happy. People ask me if it’s weird that she lives with us and I say “no” with a smile. We eat dinner together almost every night; we take walks or hang out while I clean the kitchen (or she cleans the kitchen and I put Ainsley to bed); we have toy fights where Ainsley’s (soft) toys go flying across the living room.

When the house next door was up for sale, I begged my sister to buy it. I won’t go into all the ways the stars aligned, but it’s a miracle that she lives next door.

Some nights, I carry a tray of food to their house. Sometimes I mooch dinner from them. We carpool to the grocery and have started trying to have Spanish-speaking lunches at a local restaurant. I’ve always wanted to have a relationship where we don’t have to make a fuss over coming or going. It’s not that I mind the hugging, it’s that I want us to be so close that we don’t have to. More like “oh, you. Here’s the tray I borrowed.” I knew it would be great to have her family so close but I didn’t know how everyday-wonderful it would be. I got to rock her son to sleep on Monday. The cousin relationship of the kids is blurring into siblingness.

I know I can’t make everyone move to my neighborhood, but I wish that I could.

This is an update on my challenge of Six in Six.  I was pretty nervous about the weight check, but I did it!

The only downside is that I worked hard. Really hard.  All week.  I was fastidious with what I ate and I strapped Ainsley in a backpack for a 1.5-mile hike every night.  I added in some strength training, too, mostly crunches to salvage my poor dilapidated abs.

So this challenge is going to be even harder than I thought.  However, my health improves with every good decision.

Oz and Amy, how are you guys doing?  While on a brisk walk Saturday night, my mother-in-law decided to join the fight.  She’s accepted the challenge of five pounds in five weeks.  It’s not too late to join, people!  Who’s with us?

As Oz mentioned on his blog, I challenged him to a weight loss bet.  No prizes, but hey, isn’t weight loss prize enough?

I’m really happy to report that I’ve finally lost that one pound that’s been hanging on for, oh, two months.  After going dancing and realizing that I’m out of shape, I decided it was time to step into high gear.

I’m eating fewer snacks, I’m back to being really good with my low-processed foods, abundant vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and I’ve added daily 1K walks with a baby strapped to my back.  I’m planning to double the walk duration every week until I’m at 4-5K nightly.  Oh and sit-ups.  I realized that my gut is not looking any better by just wishing.  True, I did have my stomach muscles cut apart, but that excuse is wearing thin.  Wearing fat?  You see the point.

Pre-baby, I always fought 10-15 pounds.  I never let myself buy the bigger size of pants and I swear that’s what kept me from weighing 400 pounds.  Recall that I used to regularly eat, as a snack, an entire summer sausage.  I can’t believe my arteries haven’t already given out from all that saturated fat.  Even when I was thin, I wasn’t healthy.  I ate junk frequently and nearly never exercised.

Happily, Amy joined the fight and we’re all going to be keeping each other on task for the next six weeks.

So the challenge is on.  I weighed 149 as of Sunday.  I will be posting updates.  Who’s with us?