Holiday Survival Challenge

[nightsinge]

Hi everyone!

Hope your weekends are going well--and not too quickly.

Geha--sounds like you're back with a vengence! Congrats on an awesome welcome back WI.

Sulee--what a great WI for you too! Good luck avoiding "bratty eating" (I love that phrase...it's so fitting for me too!)

Katie--good going with your maintaining. I sure get that "phew" feeling when the numbers don't change.

Amanda--glad to hear that you're on the mend. Way to go on your WI!

Cheers to you, Beth, for your three-week-streak! What a perfect reward. Keep it up, girlfriend. Thanks also for taking on the challenge stats for us all.

Great attitude, Xena. Good for you for entertaining those cravings briefly, then showing them the door. Goodbye, dear cravings. Hope they visit someone else for a while--someone not at Kippy's!

Coco--how frustrating that gain can be. I'm so inspired by your attitude, noting that it is not a bad thing, only a wake up call. AND being inspired by your meeting instead of being down on yourself. You have the perfect mindset for success--and it will be yours! Wishing you a wonderful week.

[chicagobeth]

Geha & Ema - congrats on your losses this week!
Coco - great plan on your pizza dinner and great attitude overall.

I had a pretty good Core weekend - I have to tally up my WPA's but I think I had no more than 12 or so. I did a 7:30 a.m. spinning class yesterday - but my hubby betting me that I wouldn't get out of bed to do it helped motivate me! It was tough because I didn't have breakfast or coffee beforehand so I had no fuel. I think I have much more energy at the 9:30 class when I've been up for a few hours.

I bought a new bike today! I wasn't intending to, but it was on clearance and it's something we've been talking about purchasing. I still have my old 10-speed from when I was a kid!

The weather here was cloes to 60 degrees today so we're grilling tonight. Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

-Beth

[xoxohart]

Thanks all, for your good wishes. My dinner last night was a success. I used exactly 6 points, just as I planned -- two glasses of wine and 1/8 of a whole wheat Boboli crust (with Core toppings -- broccoli, grilled chicken, yellow peppers, tomato sauce, and ff feta). Everyone complimented the entire dinner and I was not the only one to eat "my" low calorie pizza.

I'm feeling really good about my food choices today. I am working on using about 5 WPAs or less a day, plus any APs I earn, and then just not stressing about it. There's just something about dipping into those WPAs that always makes me feel kind of stressed out, which is why I so often go off track and give up by Tuesday. Using them for high quality food, not junk, helps. Also planning in advance how I'll use them helps. Today I used them on: A small sample of sheep's milk cheese at Whole Foods (1); extra pasta in my soup at lunch plus a sprinkle of parmesan (1); glass of wine (2); some wine in the scampi sauce (1).

[katelight]

Sounds like a great start to this challenge. Many people reporting wonderful losses, and good motivation. Congratulations to all.
I'm having a bit of trouble staying out of contraband. I won't go into the details of what I've been nibbling on, but will admit it's self-sabotage (sp?) Our son's friend came over for supper last night, and then our other son called and said he and his friend are comming home to spend the night tonight. I LOVE having them here, but I do cook differently. I need to get my plan set and stick to it.
Here's to a GREAT Monday.
HIHO
Katie

[xenagoddess]

Well I stayed at the exact same Weight as last week. Go figure. I guess I was a lot less core than I thought I was.

I was successful with getting my 240 minutes of exercise. I already have my workouts planned for this week and am going to stay strickly core (within points) for the entire week.

Tomorrow is a new day and a new week. Go core go.

[katelight]

My mantra for the day...I CHOOSE THE FOOD, FOOD DOESN'T CHOOSE ME... repeat over and over till I get it.
I'm allowing food to choose me right now and it needs to stop. I need to stop.
So last night I had fish while my family had teryaki chicken with cashews. I always feel good when I eat fish.
Back to work today and hopefully we will be busy.
HIHO
Katie

[janek46]

Hi all,

I haven't signed up for the challenge, but I'm here. It's really a challenge in itself trying to do this Lifetime thing. Just another learning process...

You're all doing great and I'm cheering you on.....

Jane

[nightsinge]

Xena, maintaining is a good thing. Way to go on the exercise!

I'm starting my challenge off with a .6 gain. Yay, me!
It's ok. I'll just try harder this week.

Like Katie, I need to choose my food and not let it choose me. Great mantra. Good luck to everyone.

[susiesunshyn]

Hi all!
I'm Susie from Woodsboro, MD (halfway between Washington, DC and Gettysburg, PA.)
I am a returning Lifetime member with 15 pounds to lose.
I just started the Core Plan Monday.
So far so good.
I accept the Holiday Challenge!
My goals are:
1. Stick to the Core Plan and count Flex Points.
2. Go to at least one WW meeting a week and get weighed every week thru the end of the year - NO MATTER what the scale says!
3. Exercise at least 4 days/week or more.
4. Drink all my water.
5. Have a good time with this and remember this for ME and my health and it's not a punishment.
6. Ultimately become a Leader.
I look forward to getting and giving lots of support here.

[katelight]

Welcome Susie and great goals. I love the "remember this is for ME and my health and it's not a punishment."
I don't think you can really succeed this process if you have a "punishment" attitude.
Thanks for the GREAT reminder.

So....I'm having a terrible time choosing healthy foods. Well, I am choosing healthy foods, it's just that I'm eating the junk with it. Way too much junk. Ok back to my mantra...I choose the food, it doesn't choose me

Time to get back to reality.
HIHO
Katie

[chicagobeth]

Welcome Susie! I'll add your goals to our list.

Xena - good for you on maintaining and getting in all of that exercise!

Katie - YOU CAN DO THIS!

All is well here in Chicago. It's supposed to be 60 degrees today. Global warming is scary! We have already had snow flurries here a few times.

Challenge for the day: going to a "margarita party" tonight for my friend's 40th. I don't even know how many points a margarita is but I'm going to try and stay away from them and keep the chips to a minimum. Mexican food is a tough one for me!

Have a great day everyone!

-Beth

[xoxohart]

Welcome Susie! Core is a great lifestyle and you have the attitude to succeed.

Beth -- See if you can find Baja Bob's sugar-free margarita mix, and bring it with you. I haven't tried it, but my WW leader says it is delicious and 0 points (just count for the tequila you add!) They sell it at Bev Mo here. I think a regular margarita is about 7 points; the restaurant-sized ones in the big glasses are 15 or more. Yikes!

I'm hanging in this week, very proud of myself. I have avoided cookies and muffins in the staff room and just generally eaten well. Of course, it's only Wednesday, and tonight I have to go out for pizza with the football team.

[vita77]

I'm in. My goals:

Journal.
Practice better portion control.
Eat 5 veggies a day.
Get back to 177.

[nightsinge]

Welcome to the challenge, Susie! I look forward to reading more of your posts.

[susiesunshyn]

Day #2 of the challenge and so far, so good.
Stuck to the Core Plan yesterday.
Did BodyPump at the gym.
Did more research on becoming a Certified Personal Trainer.
My husband is kind of sort of trying to follow the Core Plan with me unofficially. I'll be searcing the archives for a Core Friendly Cookie or Baked Good recipe to make for him over the weekend.
Have a great day and thanks for the warm welcome.
I like "I choose the food - it doesn't choose me!"