Article on Cristina

Check out this article on Cristina... a lot of errors (Packman, really?) but still pretty cool. Also, our local Marietta Daily Journal is working up a feature on Cristina that should come out in the next few weeks. They sent a photographer to the gym with her so that one should turn out better.

Since the show ended Cristina's kept losing the pounds and is down to 149 as of a couple days ago -- that's almost 40 pounds!!

Click Here to Read the Article

Video from the Finale

The Finale of Atlanta's Biggest Loser was pretty cool. And in primetime, no less. Saturday night at 8 they had an hour-long special where they showed everyone's final weigh-ins (all 12 came back for a weigh in), the makeovers and crowned the final winner (their winner, anyway).

So check out the video if you want. Cristina is pretty cute during the makeover and Belk shopping spree. You can really tell how giddy she was!

This one says Part 3, but it's actually Part 5.

Check Out My Hot Wife!

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who supported and continues to support Cristina. She was pretty despondent for about a day when she found out she didn't advance to the finals, but she was right back working out the next day and working hard (of course!).

It ended up that the final four all got a shopping spree at Belk and a makeover from Van Michael Salon in Atlanta. Cristina loved the shopping spree. The four all went in early one day before the store opened and had their own dressing area and personal shopper. I think Cristina was more excited to spend the $800 than she was on our wedding day. OK, maybe not. (I hope.) She got some awesome outfits and the only drawback was, as she says "I'm not gonna fit any of these clothes for long since I'm still losing weight!"

After the shopping spree they all got a makeover from Van Michael Salon, a pretty nice Aveda salon in Buckhead. Cristina was super excited, but unfortunately didn't really like what the stylist did (she said she didn't want highlights, so of course they give her highlights). Anyway, I think she looks great and she definitely looked awesome for the final REVEAL on the finale.

We had a great party with some friends and watched the finale, which was fun. In my opinion, Cristina's transformation was the most dramatic and, as you can see from the pictures, she looks AMAZING!!

Hopefully they'll post the video soon from the finale and we'll be sure to post so you can check it out.

For now, check out the final BEFORE/AFTER pics from the contest.

Cristina's final tally:

Pounds lost: 32.75!!! Percent: 17.42 % of her body weight!!

Good job Cristina and remember, You're the REAL winner of Atlanta's Biggest Loser!!

Here's the link to the contest if you wanna watch video and check out everyone's progress.

One LAST VOTE! She needs OUR help!

OK, the voting is now open!!

Go HERE and vote, vote, vote! You can vote once a day PER COMPUTER and in each Browser (IE, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, etc.)

Cristina really needs our help as it's down to just her and Nicole on the Brown Team. So, we are asking for your help to send her to the FINAL 2!

After that, the winner is crowned based on percentage of weight loss!

Cristina has lost 29 pounds in 10 weeks and is feeling soooo good. Not only about her weight loss, but the outpouring of support from all of YOU! I can attest to the positive change this has had in her life!

Also, we will be giving a little incentive for voting! We will be giving away TWO $25 gift cards to the GAP! Check out sarajoyner.blogspot.com for more details (later today she'll have the details)!

So what are you waiting for?? Go VOTE: http://atlbiggestloser.com and tell all of your facebook friends and family!!

It's Crunch Time!!

This week has been a hard week. Schedules were different, I was sick for three days, then when I got better, Naomi was terribly sick! The kind where you are holding your child all day. Poor thing ruptured her ear drum. She feels much better now. So, as soon as I could I got back to working it hard. Working out mostly three times a day. I'm a little tired now. During this last week I watched the scales go up and down. I did some good workouts this week, and I really think I gained some muscles! I went into train and my trainer forgot to call and cancel, but there was another trainer, Kelly, there doing P90x so we did it together. It was so fun! I felt that one for a couple of days. I've learned some good tips, too, that I will be sharing with you!

We had our weigh in today! I am down about another 4 lbs! I feel so good. I weighed 150 before I got pregnant with Naomi. But I am happier now than I was at my skinniest. You have given me that gift, because of your support. Because of your support I am challenged more and I want to work harder. Because of you, I've made it through to this round and I don't want to let you down or myself! So thank you for this wonderful gift of losing weight and feeling better. You are helping to change my life!

Wednesday, I will be on our local show again at 11:00! So, that means it's voting time again! This is the last time you will need to vote! I am up against Nicole this week and the winner this week makes it to the finals and will then be up against the Pink team! And whoever has eliminated the biggest percentage of weight wins! The grand prize has yet to be announced, but the winner last year won 2 round-trip tickets anywhere and he is now the spokesperson for Good Measure Meals! So this is crunch time! This is the one that counts the most! I need your help one last time!

I will send out an email when voting has begun!

Love you!

Cristina Packham
Atlanta's Biggest Loser, because my family and friends, and friends of friends ROCK!!

P.S. Voting will begin Wednesday at Noon ET and go until Friday at 10 a.m. ET. And, as always, you can vote once a day per computer and on each Browser, too (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.)!

And The Winner Is...

The winner of $20 in gift certificates to Amazon.com is....

Amber Smith!



Thank you so much to everyone who entered the contest and voted for Cristina!!! We will be doing this again in two weeks when Cristina will need your votes again!! There should be just one more vote (between her and Nicole, the final two on the brown team) then the final 2 is decided by total weight lost, we believe.

Here is the video from today's show when Cristina found out she was safe! Holly Firfer is quite the Ryan Seacrest with her method of delivering the good news. Check it out!

Vote and Win Reminder!!

Win Win!
Remember you can vote again today! If you have different log-ins on your computers, you can vote once from each of those, on EACH computer you have access to. (And different browser allow votes, too!) Voting is open until 10 a.m. ET tomorrow (FRIDAY), so you can vote again tonight at midnight ET!!

And -- remember that you can comment below EACH time you vote, which increases Cristina's chance to win and your chance to win the $20 to Amazon giveaway. It's a total win-win situation!

CLICK HERE and vote for Cristina :)

Vote for Cristina AND win $20!!

Cristina needs YOUR help! Despite an AMAZING 7.5 pounds lost (!) this week, Cristina is in the bottom two (just barely) again.

That makes 25 pounds total in 8 weeks!!

Now, she needs YOUR help to stay in the competition and continue toward her goals!!

How can you help? It's so EASY to vote.

Just go to http://atlbiggestloser.com and on the right side will be a poll.

Choose CRISTINA to stay (you are voting for who STAYS)!
Enter the six-digit verification code and you're done. (until the next day!)

You can vote once a day from each computer from now until Friday at 10 a.m. EASTERN TIME. So you West Coast people will need to get up early that day (or vote late on Thursday!)

And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have everyone you know vote or post something on their blog, too.

This is such a small-scale contest in reality, so your vote WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Last time Cristina was on the block there were just under 5000 votes cast and Cristina won BY 13 VOTES!!

Cristina is NOT done and is so motivated to win this thing!

AND -- here is where we bribe you. I'm adding a $20 Amazon giveaway as incentive to vote AND spread the word!

Here's how to enter:

1. Comment on this post AFTER you VOTE for Cristina.

2. Post about Cristina on YOUR blog for FIVE extra entries. Comment again, and let me know your blog link (if I don't already know it).
You can copy/paste from my post, if you want. Just be sure to include this link: http://ATLbiggestloser and tell people to vote FOR Cristina, because we're voting for her to STAY. Tell everyone to go vote and then leave a comment here (honor system, people!).

Here's what you could win:
On Friday, once the voting is over, I will give away $20 in Amazon gift certificates!


Ok -- now go VOTE! And spread the word! You could win by helping Cristina win. :)
Ahhh yes, spread the love!

P.S. If I get over 100 comments on this post, I will draw for an extra prize on Friday! You can comment each time you vote (be honest)!

This kid would want you to vote:

Small Feature Video on Cristina!

Check it out!

Learning to Love Yourself!

I have decided to pay more attention to the daily goals. So, my goals are to write down my caloric intake and burn over 3000 calories a day! That should be easy!! LOL! It doesn't matter to me what I need to do to get there. Run, walk, Zumba, swim, clean, whatever. After every one putting in so much effort to keep me in this. I knew I would need to figure out a way to step it up to be in the top % and guarantee a spot in the final two on my team. The reason why my goal is high is because it takes 3500 calories to say goodbye to one pound! That's incredible isn't? So, I've decided to not only be accountable to myself but to you!



Monday I ate under 1200 calories, and burned about 3300 calories! My lunch was my favorite ... i had a small piece of salmon, acorn squash, and an awesome salad! The salad included baby spinach, sprouted lentils, pea shoots, cucumbers, de-shelled edamame, sprinkled with a little Olive Garden dressing. It was pretty good! To burn all my calories I did my workout with my trainer, hiked Kennesaw Mountain with our family and some friends (Dustin and Robyn, then we all went to the park to let the kids play while Robyn and I walked and sprinted the track. Then my friend Sherri and her kids came and we continued to walk the track until the kids had to go to bed.


Tuesday, I went to my Zumba class and since I felt a little dizzy I decided to just walk the inside track with some 3 lb dumbbells until we needed to pick the kids up from school. After the kids ate lunch and took naps I went back to the gym for some more cardio and swimming. I want to do at least 3 miles of cardio and on the days when it's just cardio get 30-45 min of swimming in. Which definitely means I need more sleep and more stretching! I heard the other day that your body associates tension with stress and associates stress with producing more adrenaline. And too much adrenaline, not so good for you! Here's an article on it....

http://www.fitwoman.com/fitbriefings/stress.shtml

So stretch and breathe it out! My friend Kate came over and we ended up only having 20 min. to work out so we did jumping jacks, ran around the yard, did kicks and tried to be really cool and do the wheelbarrow. Do you remember doing that as a kid? We aren't that cool yet, we both fell on our faces in a good laugh! I ended up at about 3600 calories burned!

Today I have done great! I stayed at 1200 calories, eating a banana mango protein shake for breakfast, which was excellent! There was a cup of soy milk, 1/4 cup frozen mangoes, 1 banana, Alka Slim powder and protein powder equaling about 370 calories but I made enough for Drew. So it was actually about 300 calories. I worked out with at my trainers studio and did some cardio there. Then went home and had lunch. I split up a Good Measure meal to have one serving for lunch and another for a snack at about 3:00. I had a fish taco for dinner. Then went to the gym with my very fun friend Kate! We did 15 min on a cardio machine and then did our Zumba class! Which I absolutely love and adore! I had a banana in between those two workouts. Once home I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floors and mopped! That put me at 3988 calories burned today! Say goodbye to about 2 more lbs! Because all the calories burned add up or so my trainer tells me ...

A very important part of saying sayonara to those extra pounds is believing in yourself, and loving your body. If you keep telling yourself, "I'll never look like I want" or "It's impossible, I'm too old" or "I can't get rid of my cellulite" then how can you possibly reach your goals? You would only be setting yourself up to fail. The important thing here is WHY? What is your fear that is keeping you from dropping the weight? Is it loose skin? Is it success? What is it? I know what mine is, find your fear and face it. And then take the next step to believe in you and your body's ability to heal and do what you ask of it.

It is possible. You can do it! It's called hard work, and wanting it bad enough. You can do it!

Loving my Body? How can I love my body when it looks like this? Doesn't not loving my body give me motivation to look better? No. Think about this. What ends up happening when you look in the mirror? Do you say "I am beautiful"? Most likely, no! You say look at the fat on my .... and the wrinkles there ... stretch marks ... cellulite. You end up pointing out the things you don't like. How do you think that is making you feel? Making your body feel? Is your body going to support you in your goals when you are putting it down all the time? Your body has done nothing wrong. It has already done what you asked it to. It has taken me a long time to learn this concept. I have known about this for over a year and have not been able to apply it. But I get it now!!! Our bodies are the best example of cause and effect! Our bodies support us every day, no matter what we end up fueling it with, no matter how we treat it. Our body does the best it can with what we end up choosing to do. Whether it's good or bad.

So, the next time you look in the mirror, instead of telling yourself how bad you look, ask for forgiveness and appreciate what your body does for you every day and "send love and joy all over" as my yoga instructor would say! Learned how to love your body and yourself no matter what it may look like now or what stage of learning you are in.

Good luck!

-- Cristina

A SPECIAL Thank You from Cristina

Cristina is VERY thankful and really doesn't know how to repay everyone for their thoughtfulness. Well, she does know, and it's through song, of course! So check it out. And if she left you out, she really, really, really, is thankful!



P.S. You should see how hard Cristina is working these days. She has a new Ironman watch with a heart rate monitor that keeps track of heart rate and calories burned and is just giddy watching the calories burned go up and up... I can't keep her from the gym! Luckily, our kids LOVE the gym and the staff there is SOOO great! And WE love the FREE day care. Can't beat that!

-- Drew

Thank You from Cristina

Wow!! You all kept me in the Biggest Loser Contest! I am in your debt! I was overwhelmed with love and support by everyone! I am amazed at the lengths friends and family were willing to go to get me through this! And it was soo close! My dear friend Linda had the the whole YMCA staff and some of its members voting for me as well. The Y had some of their employees go home to enter more votes! For me! Diane, my sweet mother-in-law got up early this morning and made sure she made her vote! My friend came with me to a library so we could enter more votes! Everyone blogging and emailing their friends, myspace, facebook ... everyone made a difference, every vote counted!! I feel deeply loved! I am so appreciative of all that everyone did for me! And so many of you do not know me! I am in your debt! I needed everybody and you were so extremely helpful!

So this week I am going to step it up big time! Friday, after the show, Drew and I got a babysitter and went to the gym at 6:30, we did an hour of cardio then I worked with a personal trainer who worked it big time! She had me doing football runs, sit ups on an inclined bench, jump squats, bench press and much more! I am going to boot camp Saturday, then I'll do 2 miles, I will also be going to a 2-hour Zumba-thon! I need to lose 2 more lbs than the two girls left to avoid the bottom 2 in two weeks, so I will step it up big time!

I met two people at the Y Friday night who had lost major lbs! One man lost 56 lbs and I met a woman who had lost 90 lbs!! Wow! What an inspiration! I can do this! You have lifted my spirits and encouraged me so much! I am so blessed to have you all in my life!

Cristina Needs YOUR Help!

Well, Cristina lost two pounds last week, which makes a total of 17 pounds in just over a month!

BUT, it wasn't enough and she's on the block this week.

What does that mean? She needs YOUR help and it's so EASY to vote.

1. Just go to http://atlbiggestloser.com and on the right side will be a poll.
2. Choose CRISTINA to stay (you are voting for who STAYS)!
3. Enter the six-digit verification code and you're done. (until the next day!)
   

You can vote once a day on each computer from now until Friday at 10 a.m. EASTERN TIME. So you West Coast people will need to get up early that day (or vote late on Thursday!)

And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have everyone you know vote or post something on their blog, too.

This is such a small-scale contest in reality, so your vote WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Both times Penny has been on the block there were 3000+ votes, but the other two votes had 500 and 900 votes. So, we're thinking Penny has some great connections.

Cristina is NOT done and is so motivated to win this thing!

HERE's Cristina's message to everybody!




Here is a clip from today's show. You can tell how badly Cristina wants this. Her emotional plea comes near the end. Had me in tears!

It's Weigh-In Day: Send Positive Vibes

OK, it's weigh-in day for Cristina and the Brown team!

Cristina's doing awesome, shedding inches, and looking great. Cristina's feeling a little nervous today so any positive vibes sent her way would be much appreciated!

Thanks for the support!!

Pink Team's Elimination Week!

"Don't ask me who to vote for, they're both dolls!"

That's what Cristina says about Arlissa and Gabbie,up for elimination on the pink team this week. To vote follow this link...
Click HERE to VOTE!





Also, I started a group on Facebook to support Cristina, so join up if you're on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=57378639940&ref=nf

And here's another video from this week's show with Cristina's trainers (and a couple short clips of Cristina working out).

Enjoy!

The truth behind the scenes ...

Today was extremly frustrating! This was the Second saturday in a row that my trainer did not tell me that the boot camp time was changed. I came last week at 8 and it was moved to 8:30 due to paperwork (for newcomers) and it didn't start till 8:45 and I needed to leave at 9:00. So, I only got 15 min. of workout in. Today, I came at 8:30 and it was moved back to 8:00 again and then was over at 8:45. However, this was not the only time I have come and no one has been there. SO I was so frustrated! But I went to my YMCA, burned about 1000 calories, worked out my frustration and felt better! My hope is that this will not happen anymore, that we can move on in the competition and I will feel supported by my trainers equally.

The other crazy thing that happened ... Friday, sadly, when Sara Simmons was voted out of the competition one of my trainers jumped up for joy and hollered. Does that seem appropriate to you?

I did talk to the head trainer about all this and I think we will get it straightened out on Monday. I also talked to the person running the competition and told them about what was happening. She is going to have a meeting on Monday and will get back to me then. She also told me, as she understands it at the end it will all come down to a vote! When it gets down to two from our team there will be a vote. Then when it's down to one from each team there will be another vote to pick the final winner! (ME!!) I am going to need you to tell everyone you know to vote every day the voting is open!! Will you do that for me? I believe that I can get me to that point but then I will need you!!

If anyone has good pointers for eliminating fat and adding muscle let me know!

Cristina Packham
Atlanta's Biggest Loser Winner!

Workout Video No. 3!

OK, here is Cristina's third workout video. She hopes you enjoy it and that it will help in reaching your fitness goals. She is working hard and dealing with a lot of obstacles, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell from the video she's shedding the pounds and looking great!

Thanks everyone for the support!! ENJOY!

Watch HERE (embed wasn't working for me... hmmm): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsAv_CNbavY

Weigh in Results are in!!! And she's.......

This was a scary weigh in, not at first but turned out to be! First that time of the month came early. But either way I was going to be confident, I felt good,worked hard!

That morning on my scale (which I have calibrated) I weighed 5 lbs. less! I felt good, I was hopeful that would be enough but my goal was 8 lbs. So, when I got to the station I put on my heavy jacket and walked up and down that big hill a couple times. I figured that would help drop a pound possibly.

But when I weighed in at the station I only lost 3 lbs! I made them weigh me twice so I could believe it. I was blown away. After everyone was weighed in I got up on the scale and did it again. There was a 4 lb. discrepancy!! It said I lost 7 lbs. I got the WellStar girl to come over and she saw it, and did it and got the same results! I stepped off and got back on and the scale said something different!

SO, Sara and I eliminated 3 lbs. I was sure I was in the bottom 2. Then, there was a question of the percentage being cumulative or week-to-week. We weren't sure! I went home and my husband and I did both sets of numbers. Week-to-week I was up for elimination. Cumulative I was the biggest loser overall! So, then I had to bite my nails for a few hours until they called!

Finally, Sara Simmons called and told me that it would be her and Penny in the bottom %! Cumulative won out and I feel like by the grace of God or something I was saved for another 2 weeks!! Whoa! That was a close call! Guess I'm gonna have to up it a notch some how and still be careful! Officially safe for 2 more weeks!!

Here is the videos from today's show, showing the weigh-ins, etc.:



You can go to the Atlanta's Biggest Loser Web site to vote for either Sarah or Penny!

http://www.11alive.com/life/contests/moms_biggest_loser/default.aspx

Some people ask me who to vote for... so let's look at it. First, we all want to lose about 50-60 lbs, so we all have the same weight to lose, just different start and end points.

Penny lost her mom at 10 and has been through some rough times. You can read her blog here:
http://atlanta.momslikeme.com/members/groupabout.aspx?g=767788

Sara has a 10-year-old daughter who has been fighting a battle with Leukemia for a few years. Sara has put her needs aside to take care of her child but her child is now in remission and she is taking this opportunity to get healthy for herself and her family. You can read her blog here:
http://atlanta.momslikeme.com/members/groupabout.aspx?g=767778#

Go here to vote:
http://www.11alive.com/life/contests/moms_biggest_loser/default.aspx

Thank you for your support! I have needed every single comment or show of support!

RESULTS SO FAR:

CRISTINA
START: 188.0 lbs
NOW: 173.0 lbs
15 pounds lost
8% lost

KELLY (ELIMINATED)
START: 178.0 lbs
FINAL: 171.5 lbs
6.5 pounds lost
OUT: 2/27

NICOLE
START: 232.0 lbs
NOW: 215.5 lbs
16.5 pounds lost
7.1% lost

PENNY
START: 263.0 lbs
NOW: 247 lbs
16 pounds lost
6.1% lost

RASHIDA
START: 198.5 lbs
NOW: 184 lbs
14.5 pounds lost
7.5% lost

SARA
START: 219.0 lbs
NOW: 206.0 lbs
13 pounds lost
5.9% lost

Positive Vibes For Cristina!

OK, everyone. It's time to send out some positive vibes for Cristina today. She has her second weigh-in at 12:30 this afternoon (just over an hour from now) and she's not where she wants to be... She's gonna try to get one more quickie workout in and maybe sweat out just a little bit more, but let's put our positive thinking to work and hopefully she'll have the results she's hoping for!

She is doing great and feels so supported by everyone dropping her notes and giving her well wishes, so let's keep it up!

Cristina WILL be Atlanta's Biggest Loser WINNER.

Advice From Cristina!

I lost 12 lbs. in 2 weeks!! How did I do it? I think there are a few key things that have helped me to do this and I want to share them with you!

Drink plenty of water! Eight glasses a day are most likely not gonna cut it. In actuality you are supposed to drink half your body weight in ounces. Example: I weigh 176 lbs. so I drink 88 ounces a day.

No eating after 8. Eat your dinner beforehand and do not snack after that. Fill that need with water until your body adapts. This will also help you go to bed sooner, which your body needs anyway.

Watch your caloric intake. You may be eating more calories than you think! Check this site out and see what your caloric intake should be and how hard you need to work out to lose weight: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ Get yourself a cheap pedometer to monitor how many calories you burn and how much you have walked. Knowledge is power! There was a study done involving two sets of house cleaners. The first set of house cleaners did not change a thing in their patterns. The other group was given a CD about how many calories you burn when you do different chores around the house. The second set lost weight because they knew they were burning calories!

Eat more raw fruits and vegetables! They are so good for you and not only provide fiber and other nutrients, but they have enzymes that help reverse time from your body by providing the energy your body needs to regenerate cells.

Lastly, I have been working out 6 days a week and some days twice a week! Lots and lots of cardio! Choose more reps and lower weights. They will burn more calories, keep your muscles strong and won't add a lot more body weight. Our schedule has been: Mon., Wed., Fri. 1/2 hr of cardio with 45 min. of circuit training; Tue., Thur., 1 hour of cardio; Saturday has been a boot camp day. Our trainers tell us, Cardio, cardio, cardio!!

Hope this helps anyone out there needing to lose weight and trying to get healthy!

Cristina Packham
Brown Team, Atlanta's Biggest Loser
_________________________________________________________________ PS. I highly recommend THIS water bottle, which we bought at Target. It's got a nice spout to drink out of and has a ring that is labeled 1-6, so as you drink a bottle, you can turn the ring to keep track of how many ounces you've had!

Workout Video No. 2!

Cristina is sharing with everyone the workouts her trainers are putting them through on Atlanta's Biggest Loser. Her first workout video is here.

She is doing so good and is so motivated to get in shape. Just last night she took the kids to the YMCA, but found out when she got there they close the Daycare Center early on Saturdays. So, instead of just bagging her workout, she came home and did a workout in the kitchen, following a similar approach to this video.

Enjoy!

Cristina Rocks The First Weigh-In!

Posted by: Drew

Yesterday was the first weigh in for the Brown Team on Atlanta's Biggest Loser and Cristina had worked sooo hard the last two weeks. The Good Measure Meals are really good (some of them -- I get one meal/day plan, too and really like it) and Cristina supplements it with her own diet (on her two days off the GMM she's on an 80/20 raw diet).

She is working out so hard, too. Basically, they meet every day with their trainers (usually at 11 a.m. or so in their studios about 15-20 minutes from our house) for either a cardio or strength training session and have a boot camp session every Saturday. She's also doing a night session at our YMCA (shout out to McCleskey East Cobb Family YMCA who is really supporting of her!), so she's basically getting two good workouts in every day and I can attest that she is working out hard.

For those that don't know Cristina, she is a very positive person and believes very strongly in the power of positive thinking. So let me just say I have to pick my words carefully. Which, of course, I rarely do, so I've been on the wrong end of several rebukes for being too negative... Anyway, if you know Cristina you know she is very determined and plans on winning this whole thing and hitting her ideal weight goals.

So..... on to the weigh-in.

On our home scale, Cristina was showing big-time weight loss, even weighing in once at 170! So she was definitely expecting big numbers and was actually a little surprised when she got on the scale and saw 176 -- a total weight loss of 12 pounds!

The Brown Team's results:

CRISTINA
START: 188.0 lbs -- NOW: 176.0 lbs
12 pounds lost -- 6% lost

KELLY
START: 178.0 lbs -- NOW: 171.5 lbs
6.5 pounds lost -- 3% lost

NICOLE
START: 232.0 lbs -- NOW: 222.0 lbs
10 pounds lost -- 4% lost

PENNY
START: 263.0 lbs -- NOW: 254.5 lbs
8.5 pounds lost -- 3% lost

RASHIDA
START: 198.5 lbs -- NOW: 189 lbs
9.5 pounds lost -- 4% lost

SARA
START: 219.0 lbs -- NOW: 209.0 lbs
10 pounds lost -- 4% lost

So Cristina was the week's Big Loser!

You can vote for either Penny or Kelly on the Atlanta's Biggest Loser Web site once a day/computer until Friday. Cristina's not gonna say who you should vote for, though. Cristina really likes both women and wants them both to do so well. But I know who I'm voting for, and to me, it comes down to who I think is most deserving. You can vote how you want!

Anyway, Cristina loves checking the comments and feeling everyone's support, so even if you don't know her, drop her a line! And especially she wants to know everyone's success stories and make this a spot we can all support each other.

_______________
And on a sidenote, I haven't had a Mountain Dew in three days, which, for anyone who knows me, knows this is quite remarkable. I started at about 180-184 (depending on which scale), today weighed in today at 171. My goal is 150-155 by the Finale (which Cristina will be on, obviously.) I can keep you posted if you're interested.

Again, here is Cristina's personal page on the Atlanta's Biggest Loser site: http://atlanta.momslikeme.com/members/groupabout.aspx?g=767806


This is a picture (right) taken at yesterday's weigh-in, two weeks after her first weigh-in (left).


And here is video from today's show, including the weigh-in and chat with the Bottom Two:

Results TOMORROW (Wednesday)

Cristina had her first weigh-in today and we'll find out the results tomorrow!

Everyone come back to hear how great she did! Don't be afraid to leave a comment -- friend or stranger, just cheer her on. :)

go, Cristina, gooooooooo!

MUSIC and BANNER for The Survivor!

All the contestants were given a nickname and Cristina is The Survivor.
If you missed this video clip below, check it out to see WHY they gave her that nickname:



Drew put together some tunes to set the mood for The Survivor's fan page!
Check out the playlist on the right ----->

Also, did you notice the awesome banner at the top? Thanks to Aubrey (C's sister-in-law) for making that for the blog. It really spices up the page, don't you think?

Cristina posted that she got sick over the weekend, so we hope she's feeling better. Send her lots of get well vibes and keep her in your prayers!

Go, Cristina, Go!

Here's another video...

For whatever reason I couldn't figure out the embed feature, but here's a short profile they did on Cristina. They did one on all 12 of the contestants. Enjoy.

http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-wxia-3321-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=sect_momsbiggestloser&maven_referralObject=1037793015

Cristina Blows Gilad Out of the Water

Yes, Sara I (Drew, Cristina's husband) take my role as Chris Harrison very seriously... And let me just say that you should stay tuned because this will be the most. dramatic. Atlanta's Biggest Loser. ever.

So Cristina wants everyone to join in to her blog, and wants everyone to share their stories about what's working, not working, what successes you're having and everything. Basically, she wants everyone to join in and work together to lose the weight.

To that end, I'm also getting the Good Measure Meals (just once a day/dinner), and they're awesome. The other two meals I've been doing pretty good so far and I just couldn't justify paying for them sending me a scrambled egg when I can do it myself. So far, we've had a Lobster Ravioli and a Chinese dinner concoction. Both really good. I've also been working out with her and just knowing we're going through this competition together has helped me become more motivated to lose the pounds.

Cristina has promised some people who didn't make the Competition that she would share some of the tips/workouts that her trainers have them do, so we made this video last night that shows the first Circuit Training they're all doing. (and don't miss the 3:01 mark... good stuff)... It's pretty basic stuff, but obviously these are exercises that have success for people.

and this is her group page, so you can go there and she'll update everyone there (and maybe here too, we're still trying to figure out how well that blog works)...

http://atlanta.momslikeme.com/members/journalactions.aspx?g=767806&m=3876981

New Link

I just got some new info from Drew.

The official website from the NBC station there in Atlanta is here:

http://www.11alive.com/life/contests/moms_biggest_loser/default.aspx

Cristina will have a contestant page, but I'll post when we see that it's working.
Drew is also going to be an author here, so I look forward to hearing more "behind the scenes" info ... like our own Chris Harrison from the Bachelor. ha!

Go, Cristina, Go!
Hope you're having a great day!

Here's a clip I got from the link above. You're awesome, Cristina!

Love for Cristina!

Click HERE to see C's page for the brown team. On the left is a list of her recent posts, as well as links to photos and other things.

I thought it would be good to keep this blog updated in case people don't remember to check that site often.

So, check in here and I'll update whenever I hear anything from Cristina! Leave comments and cheer her on. Subscribe to this blog in your google reader, or become a follower so you can keep up on the latest!

Sara (C's sister-in-law)