New Traditions & Holiday 2006 Challenge ~ Let us Give Thanks & Enjoy the Holidays

2006 New Traditions & Year End Holidays ~ A Lifestyle Challenge!


Let us Give Thanks & Enjoy the Holidays

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Remember to take the time each day to make yourself a priority ~ this year will fly by too fast!  Try to set aside some personal time to focus on you, how you eat, and to get your exercise in, your own needs... 

If you are shy on time and doing your normal routine is just impossible because you just don't have an hour to spare right now, look for moments to get a little extra physical movement into your life :)  Look for alternatives!  Just don't give up and abandon all of your goals.  Enjoy the Holidays ~ the people, friends & family :)  They are important ~ not the food.

Worth repeating ~  Here are some gr8 tips for dealing with emotional eating!  Thanks Willow :)

And lest we forget the wise words of Erma...

• "What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?"  - Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving"

Happy Holidays! 


~ super food of the week ~ Turkey!

Turkey ~ did you know it's considered a super food ~ the skinless breast meat that is!  Even leaner than chicken, 3 ounces of the skinless turkey breast meat only has 115 cals and 0.2 grams of saturated fat (71 mg cholesterol) ~ Remarkable!  Highly Nutritious, low in vat, inexpensive, versatile and always availble, perhaps we should eat turkey all year :)   

The recipes are never ending ~ from the delicious holiday turkey recipes to the endless variety of left-over recipes :)   Turkey ~ Truly a culinary delight!  

So many ways to lighten the calories and fats in our Holiday meals and the all-time favorite recipes really are easy to adapt with simple little changes and a few ingredient substitutions.

~ inspiration ~

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

New Traditions for the Holidays Lifestyle Challenge

• Looking Ahead to the Holidays!
• SMART Goals ~ SMART Goals, Smart Choices!
• Kiss Strategies (Keep it Simple & Sweet :)
• Let us Give Thanks & Enjoy the Holidays!

2006 New Traditions & Year End Holidays ~ A Lifestyle Challenge!

Feel free to join late (double back, pick up the prior weeks here and catch up if you want, or just join us now :)  If you have to skip a week, don't fret!  Life happens this time of year.  Let's do the best we can to have a gr8 end of the year instead of the same old, same old eat our way to New Years!  Gah!  Let's send this year out with a bang!  A Healthy bang :)


Taking Stock & Looking ahead to the Holidays

So all year, Summer and this Fall, we worked hard on our goals, how we eat and exercise.   But all of a sudden, Halloween has come and gone, and we're zooming towards the winter Holidays!

I don't know about you, but I usually throw down the towel, abandon my diets & exercise and start eating with glee!   I *drool* just thinking about winter foods, fun events and the Holiday traditions.  And usually, I gain 10 lbs.  Forget how to exercise.  Get so busy my head spins around, and I hardly know what to do first.  And... I do everything except take care of my health, fitness and nutrition needs, goals.

.....skids to a stop!  Hold the Presses!  Stop those flying horses!!!

What if?  What if we don't throw down the towel, abandon our new goals, our new lifestyles????

What if we choose to follow our journey even through November and December?  What if we create *new traditions* for the holidays?  What if we start Now?  And continue together as we live through the coming holiday season? 

Whatchya think?  Want to play & stay together? 

Week 1 ~ Taking Stock & Looking Ahead to the Holidays ~ Our current & Holiday Goals & Traditions! 

Feel free to share here on the thread or if you prefer for some parts in a private place :)  Do part or do all! The questions are just guidelines for thought!  Really ~ it's all about {{{you}}} ~ your hopes & dreams & your journey! 

• Part a) Meet & Greet ~ Get to know you!  Why don't you post to the thread, join the group.  Tell us a little bit about yourself.  How you found calorie-count.  Why you're here?  What is your focus?  What are you working on? Anything else you'ld like to share!
• Part b) All about {{{you & your journey}}} ~ Start at the beginning! What have you already Done?  Take a few minutes and someplace private if you prefer, make a note about where you are now! The things that are important in your own journey!  What you focus on!  for example, How much do you weigh now and much have you lost this year so far? 
  • When did you start and what have you already done? How much have you lost?  Improved with exercise? Healthwise? In other important personal ways?
  • what are your current exercise habits and what are you able to do?  Treadmill for how many minutes, walk or run how far? Swim or bike or ice skate?
  • are you following a meal plan, how many calories do you plan to eat daily? 
  • what kinds of foods do you try to include in your meal plan
  • other major or important priorities you are working on?  Health goals, career or school goals? Personal goals?  Self-esteem issues? Socializing with friends? Procrastination? 
• Part c) Just this week? What are your goals for this week that you plan to do? 
  • Will you exercise?  Tackle a project?  Eat a certain way.  Do something different?  Keep everything the same?  _______?  
  • Goals should be attainable ~ what you really can do and intend to do... but not necessarily the same old thing? 
  • Do you want to stretch?  Try something new?
• Part d) Just this Month of November?  What are your goals for the next 30 days? 
  • Exercise?
  • Meal Plans? 
  • Health or Special Nutrition?
  • Maintain, lose or gain weight?
  • Special Events or Special thoughts?
• Part e) For the rest of this year!  Where do you want to be at the end of the year???
  • Did you want to hold the line?
  • Gain or Lose or just Maintain?
  • Exercise or lighten up over the Holidays?
  • Actively pursuing your journey with meal plans and exercise or take a vacation?  When? For how long?
• Part f) Share your Holiday Traditions! 
  • How do you celebrate and what holidays?
  • What events do you look forward to and participate in?
  • Do you usually host or are you usually a guest? 
  • Do you want to continue with those events, drop events or add new events and traditions?
  • Do the Holidays cause you discomfort emotionally and why?
  • Does eating or *dieting* over the holidays and/or during the events concern you? 
  • Do you abandon your diet or do you diet harder?
  • a What would you like to do different this year during the holidays?

Post your goals, ideas, and replies here!  Each week, whatever you want to share with the group :) 

Watch this thread for updates each week.  Come chat with friends ~ Let's take this through the end of the year! 

Don't fret if you miss a week or things get a little wild.  No points for this game.  But these last 2 months will fly by and it will be time for New Year's Resolutions before you can blink an eye! Yikes!!!

Hold On!  Cuz Here We go!!!  Perhaps together we will stay committed to our journey through the Holidays ~ Plan a little ~ Make things better! Create New Traditions! 

Are you in?  Gr8!  Then, let's do it together :)

~ inspiration ~

?Self-help and self-control are the essence of the American tradition? - Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Part a) Meet & Greet ~ Get to know you!    Done
• Part b) All about {{{you & your journey}}} ~ Start at the beginning! What have you already Done? 
• I started on CC in Feb. 06.  I came here looking to lose weight without realizing there was going to be so much more to it than just counting calories and exercising.  For me there was the emotional end of my life.  I am still struggling to gain control of myself again both physically and mentally. 
• Part c) Just this week? What are your goals for this week that you plan to do?  I am going to start walking.  It may only be 10 - 15 minutes a day but I am going to start.  I am going to do it everyday.
  • Part d) Just this Month of November?  What are your goals for the next 30 days?  I am working on my attitude this month.  Finding the positive in all situations.  Realizing I can be my own best friend instead of enemy.
  • Part e) For the rest of this year!  Where do you want to be at the end of the year??? I want to be exercising a minimum of 3 times a week.  I also want to get my total daily calories under control without bingeing.
  • Part f) Share your Holiday Traditions!  I am starting to prepare, celebrate the holidays at our own home with our children.  We are looking forward to starting new traditions with healthy recipes. 

Count me in - but give me a chance to actually put my answers together :-)

Oh a nice support system. I like this. I would definately like in. I will get my answers up (either here or in my journal) tomorrow. :)

yes count me in as well! but I have to do homework before I put my answers up!

You know I'm in united :) But like the rest I'll need a little bit of time to get my answers up.

• Part a) Meet & Greet ~ Get to know you!  Done that already :-)
• Part b) All about {{{you & your journey}}} ~ Start at the beginning! What have you already Done? 
• I started out in February of this year after news from my doctor that I was possibly developing insulin resistance which could lead to nasty things like diabetes and other health issues.  The plan ? lose weight and exercise to see if it helps.  So far I?ve shed 30 pounds (though I took a couple of maintenance months over the summer because I was burning out mentally). 
• Part c) Just this week? What are your goals for this week that you plan to do? 
• Currently I?m working on becoming better acquainted with my shiny new elliptical since it?s too nasty I the winter to go for long walks.  I?m aiming for a good 20 minutes a day minimum. 
• Part d) Just this Month of November?  What are your goals for the next 30 days? 
• Going to stick to my calorie limits for the days ? no more it?s ok to eat at maintenance just for today attitude.
• I want to do my best to write every day as part of the write a novel in November challenge.
• Part e) For the rest of this year!  Where do you want to be at the end of the year???
• I don?t want to set a specific number of pounds for me to loose since they come off at an indeterminate rate for me but I do want to see a decent number off between now and then.
• I want to be able to go for 45 minutes on the elliptical without passing out.
• I want to see the insulin levels in my blood work drop down to normal again thanks to my hard work
• I want to see CC have 29 elephants lost :-)
  
• Part f) Share your Holiday Traditions! 
• Will add more to this later

Count me in guys - I'm having my knee surgery tomorrow am so I will spend my time in bed this weekend being productive and posting my answers!

OK guys!  Put your money where your mouth is and let's see some goals :-)

count me in, i'll be back w/ answers this weekend.

Mine is long... I'm going to break it up.

• Part a) Meet & Greet ~ Get to know you!  

       &nb sp;    Hi All, My name is Amy. I?m 20 and I am a junior in       & nbsp;       College at Arizona State University!

I?m studying to be a high school English teacher. I live with my bestfriend/boyfriend Kyle and my high school friend Sarah(not the best weight loss influence unfortunately).

• Part b) All about {{{you & your journey}}} ~ Start at the beginning! What have you already Done?  Take a few minutes and someplace private if you prefer, make a note about where you are now! The things that are important in your own journey!  What you focus on!  for example, How much do you weigh now and much have you lost this year so far? 
• I was 200 pounds when I started. That was always the weight I never thought I could be :-( So far I?ve lost about 18-19 lbs. since Sept. 1st.
• When I started running in September I could BARELY do it five minutes straight. That was incredibly discouraging and so I stopped. I stole my sister?s DDR stuff and did that for a couple of weeks and I was burning ridiculous amounts of calories but not losing any weight! After I found this site I realized that it was because I was only eating about 1000 cals a day and burning 600 with DDR 5 times a week!

I got kind of burnt out on DDR and decided to start running again. The first time I set my goal for 8 minutes running as slowly as I needed to but made sure that I was in fact still running.

Yesterday I ran for two miles for my second time in the last week. This is honestly so incredible for me. Even in high school when I thought I was pretty fit I couldn?t run straight for even one mile!

Those 2 miles took me 24 minutes which is obviously not fast but I still feel amazing about them!

I also bike to school which is about 30 minutes MWF of biking.

I still eat kind of crappy because I do eat a lot of processed foods and foods with additives but I have made the move from white pasta/rice/bread to whole wheat and brown.

I?ve been a vegetarian for five years and I do eat a lot of vegetables which is good. I?ve also been a huge fan of water ever since I moved to AZ.

I do not eat fast food. I don?t buy myself junk food and that helps so much. I don?t really want to eat junk food anymore every once in a while a tasty morsel will make its way into the apartment and I?ll eat 300 calories too much of it. :-( It is rare though!

• Part a) Meet & Greet ~ Get to know you!  
• Hi, I'm Shelley.  Just turned 40 as most of you already know, it has been a mentally challenging birthday (see journal if you want to know more), I am married (10 years, great guy Jeff), have a furbaby - his name is Captain Duke, no children (hysterectomy at 35) of my own, one step-daugher in North Carolina that we see periodically.  I'm a fast food junkie and, a diet coke-aholic, a "trying desperately to quit" smoker, and a very basic "over eater" - I live near Los Angeles, California, USA 
• I found calorie count while looking for the calories in a baked potato via yahoo search
• Why am I here?  Love the food log, so started there, then just kinda jumped into the forums and have fun wasting time at work while it is slow on line.  Started posting to journal - have found it to be helpful and cathartic.
• My focus/what I'm working on:  Portion Control & Stop Smoking
• Other info:  I like to write, and we are repairing an old steel 1950's sailboat that was built in Holland in the hopes of one day sailing it around the world (or at least back to Pensacola, Florida where I am from & we want to get back to)
• to be continued....

p.s. Amy:  what the heck is DDR?

Part b) All about {{{you & your journey}}} ~ Start at the beginning! What have you already Done?

The Beginning (from my profile):

107 age 10, hit puberty age 10, 170 by age 12, back down to 135 age 13, stayed between 135-145 thru high school, up to 165 age 20, started working at mcdonalds lost to 125 (crazy, I know), married 1st time age 22, lost another 5, down to 120, marriage went bad, gained to 220 by age 25, divorced, lost to 185 in 2 months, stayed at 180-185 till 30, married again, 180-185 till 33, health problems, gained 15lbs to 200, atkins diet down to 175 in 4 months, gained back to 180-185 for couple of years, saw the scale hit 200 & went on "optifast" liquid diet 4 months, lost 40 lbs, weighed 159 for 1 year, slowly crept back up to 190 as of the beginning of October 2006.

• I've never been much of a dieter because I hate dieting & talking about dieting & feeling guilty about the food that I eat.  I've had 4 major weight losses in my lifetime 2 for no particular reason and 2 because I went on specific diets (atkins & liquid). 
• About 5 years ago we found out that Jeff had really high blood pressure (190/151 and really high cholesterol - in the 300's).  It is genetic and, for him, can only really be controlled by medication, but I made the decision at that time to change the food that I feed him to more healthy options.  The journey has been slow, but beneficial.  I changed from white to wheat to whole wheat bread.  I changed from vegetable oil to canola oil to olive oil to olive oil spray.  We've gone from basically no veggies to dumping frozen veggies into practically everything I make.  He will only really eat melon for fruit, so I try to have that around often, although I'm a fruit lover so I have oranges, apples, etc all the time.  I am trying basically to have high fiber, lowish fat, wholesome foods in our diet all the time.
• So, knowing that I changed from southern fried fattening foods to a really well-balanced menu at my house, it is surprising that I am overweight still.
• In my journey to provide good food for my husband, I stumbled across the Sonoma Diet, which is basically the mediterranian diet with emphasis on portion control.   Very heart healthy.  Their tricks - 7" and 9" plates.
• I put Jeff & me on 9" for dinner plates.  He lost 9 lbs almost immediately, and I stayed the same. 
• Portions, still a problem for me.
• So, I started counting calories.  I tried to eat 1200, but found myself too hungry, so now I have settled for 1700 or less (which would be maintenance for a slightly active, 5'2-3" woman who weighed 110 lbs which is not necessarily my goal, but definitely my dream weight)
• Which is how I came upon this site, and here I am 3.5 weeks later at 185, down 5 lbs!