BL Challenge ~BLUE TEAM~ Week 7

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Welcome to our Blue Team Week 7 thread. Our fearless leader Vija is still in WDW (lucky little punk), so you all get to deal with me! I apologize for not posting on the thread the past two days, it's parent/teacher conferences and my internet has been spotty. :(

I hope that everybody had a great week. We rocked it out last week and came very close to winning. Even though we didn't win, we lost a significant amount of weight on our team, and I think that's more important that any title! So let's keep up the good work and not let all the Halloween madness derail us!

[Eeyores Butterfly]

First... Let's welcome two new members: MinnieWitch and JenJolt!

Next: QOTD Friday: What time of day do you find it most difficult to stay on track? How do you compensate?
I'm sad to report I gained two pounds this week. Yuck. :( I hope everybody ahd a better week than I did.

I thought high blood sugar was supposed to make it easier to lose weight?

[TammyNC]

Next: QOTD Friday: What time of day do you find it most difficult to stay on track? How do you compensate?

When we first started BL I found myself having a lot of trouble around 3pm...I would just get my big cup of water and kept it right next to me to try and fill up on that instead of reaching into the cabinets for something else. I can say that over the past week, that urge has gotten less. I think it may be a combination that my body is getting used to the lower calories and I'm making better food choices through out the day which helps keep the hunger down.

Not sure how much I will be on over the weekend but will be thinking of everyone. Keep up the great work...let's stay focused and have a great week!!!

[leamom2princesses]

Hi everyone! I lost 1 lb this week and I'm really happy about it. I haven't lost more than .5 lbs for several weeks now-FINALLY a decent move in the right direction. :banana:

QOTD: I find the afternoons when I get home from work (6-ish) to be the worst. With two small children there are lots of treats/snacks around and the temptation to eat something not so good for me hits immediately when I pull into the driveway. I've been fighting it off by drinking some water/diet pop and starting on dinner.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Lea

[hobbester]

Hi Blue-sorry I've not been on the boards much this week, I was very UNmotivated. I would read the post, but nothing was working and it told on the scales this morning. I gained 2 pounds. I'm mad at myself for letting my temptations bring me down to a place that I don't want to be. I know we all have been here. I already feel better just typing this. I missed you Blue, and I'm sorry that I strayed this week.

QOTD Friday: When I get home. I'm home for about an hour before my husband gets home so it is usually too early to fix dinner. I'm trying to make myself use this time to exercise - some days are better than others.

Thanks Blue - Lisa

[jenjolt]

To all of you that weren't pleased with your results this week, as long as you don't give up you are a success. Losing weight is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I lost 60lbs once and I gained it all back and decided this week enough is enough and I'm going to lose it again I refuse to give into this.
Well I'm happy to admit that I lost 5lbs this week. I have to remember who I have to turn that in to?? I'm also a bit confused about the COWs how do we turn those in?? I'm sure I have read it and should go back and look.

[shewelch]

I had a 1.5 loss this week to reach the twenty pound mark since starting this challenge! This week my schedule did not allow me to exercise, and I had to go out to eat a fair amount, so making the right choices to still have a loss at all was a success in itself.

Thank you all for your support- this accountability and everyone's willingness to share in the challenge is a real blessing.
:flower3:

[minniewitch]

I wanted to say congrats to everyone even if you have gained weight you havent quit and that is the only way to conquered the scale. Stay positive we all have those weeks. The worst time of day has got to be at night after the kids go to bed. My day is run, run, run and then I realized I skipped breakfast had a late 2:00 lunch which causes me to not be hungry for dinner. I end up shoveling food in at night when I'm chillin out, no kids and my fav shows. Because of this group the last two days I have had all my meals at the right time and nothing after 6pm. One other big thing that I have added to my routine is working out while I watch my shows and the kids are in bed. I really hope I can keep this up I feel so much better and my mind is so much clearer. Thanx guys for all you support.

Mad Crazy Luv Minnie Witch:cheer2:

[shewelch]

minniewitch- adjusting your meal schedule and making time to exercise is awesome! keep up the great work!!! :cool1:

[njmom23grls]

sorry everyone - but I had a 1.4 pound gain this week.

Lisa

[shewelch]

Lisa- No apologies necessary. Thank you for making this a comfortable place to get back on track- we will all need the safety net. Did you have a good week otherwise? Some of my gaining weeks have been some of the best weeks of my life- vacations, special dinners etc

[njmom23grls]

thank you for that Shelley - Yes last week was one of the best vacations I've ever had - my husband and I went to Sonoma for 5 days and rented a convertable and drove around with the top down in the beautiful california sun. We went to more than a dozen wineries and tried several different wines and cheeses and so forth. I felt young and sexy and beautiful and not like the frumpy mom I am at home. I knew that it would be a tough week but I wanted to enjoy the experience and not look back with guilt. Today I'm struggling with the guilt but I will move on and remember the good time we had and not let it get me down. (It just may take a few more hours to process :lmao: )

Lisa

[ReAnSt]

I lost a pound this week. Finally some scale movement in the right direction. My foot is healed which is a good thing. I am going to be cautious but I am glad my foot is no longer fractured. So I plan on doing more exercise. I wanted to go for a walk today, but it is thundering and lightening and pouring and windy. Another day it will happen.

Keep making healthy choices, do not fall off the bandwagon. If you fell off hop right back on. We can do this together.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Blue

[shewelch]

thank you for that Shelley - Yes last week was one of the best vacations I've ever had - my husband and I went to Sonoma for 5 days and rented a convertable and drove around with the top down in the beautiful california sun. We went to more than a dozen wineries and tried several different wines and cheeses and so forth. I felt young and sexy and beautiful and not like the frumpy mom I am at home. I knew that it would be a tough week but I wanted to enjoy the experience and not look back with guilt. Today I'm struggling with the guilt but I will move on and remember the good time we had and not let it get me down. (It just may take a few more hours to process :lmao: )

Lisa

That is well worth a pound or so! see?:hippie: There should be no guilt on that one...:hug:

My hubby and I toured Napa Valley about 3 years ago and that is definitely one of my most favorite vacation memories. We still are in a wine club with one of the wineries we visited.

[Joanna71985]

Next: QOTD Friday: What time of day do you find it most difficult to stay on track? How do you compensate?


Hmm, that's a hard one. I guess right now it would be in the middle of the day, as I am at school and it's hard to eat right regularly. For good news though, I lost .8 pounds! Hopefully I can lose more this weekend (a football game yesterday, an all-day hike with my Geology class today, and a marching band festival tomorrow. Whew!).

[njmom23grls]

Congratulations to all those who lost this week AND to those of us who stuck with continuing this journey even if they didn't lose weight this week! You guys are great!

Its a beautiful morning in the Philly area this am - and I'm going on a Breast Cancer walk this morning (3.7 miles) and the Phillies won last night....:yay: :cheer2:

Have a great day and week everyone

Lisa

[jimmduck]

Down .6 pound this week - lucky I did not gain, considering how much I have been eating.

Back to point tracking today. Had a bit of a cold this week and have not walked since the race last Sunday.

The Arthritis Society Coordinator contacted the race director of Spacecoast and now I have a new, workable race plan.

Will tell you about it after the event.

Lisa - have fun on your charity walk - they are the best and that is a great cause.

The plan is for me and my nieces to do the Run for the Cure in my hometown next year - in honour of my stepmother (their grandmother and great grandmother respectively) whom we lost to this disease in 1990.

May do a strength training workout today if there is time - in any event, back to the track in the morning.

Have a great day everyone.

Linda

P.S. My worst time of day is mid afternoon, really have to plan a snack then.

:tinker: :donald: :dumbo: :mickeyjum

[jamesnnick]

Hi Blue Team

I am down half a pound this week....I'll take any loss since I indulged a bit last week since it was my birthday. Congrats to those of you who lost, and hang in there to those of you who saw the numbers rise...for me, this journey hasn't been a sprint, but a slow, trudging climb up a mountain with plenty of backsliding...but the views along the way have been remarkable!

The QOTD...the hardest time of day is 5 am when the alarm goes off and I have to make that choice about whether to get up and get my work out in or whether to get an extra hour of sleep in....the cold and dark of winter have been making that choice harder.

I hope all of you have a great week, and keep on swimming (or walking, jogging, biking, etc., etc.)!
Jen

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Sounds like almost everybody had a really good week!

QOTD Monday: What is your game plan for handling Halloween temptations?

[TammyNC]

Good morning Blue Team...let's make this a great week!!!:cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

Had a busy but fun weekend...went to my first NFL game (Carolina Panthers...and we WON!! :cheer2: :cheer2:). Just myself and DH, we made other plans for the kids, it was a nice couples day. Had some time to just talk about various things that sometimes we just put aside. Splurged on pizza for lunch but followed up with a healthy dinner, but we also got a good amount of walking in (from where we found free parking instead of paying $40, we figured we could walk, to walking to ramp and steps to the seats).

Haven't gotten meals planned out yet, so that is on the schedule today once we get school going then I'll hit the stores this afternoon. I don't like not being prepared because that is when I start to make those not so healthy choices.

QOTD Monday: What is your game plan for handling Halloween temptations?

Luckily, the Halloween candy isn't a temptation for me but will be going ahead and thinking of ways to work around the Thanksgiving and Christmas temptations.

Time to get things going with the kids...I'm sending everyone some PD :wizard: :wizard: for a great day!!

[njmom23grls]

My game plan for handling Halloween Candy temptations is to buy candy I don't like or am not really tempted by to give out - and I told the kids that I would pay them $5 to NOT give me any halloween candy they know I really like. Usually they go through and make a "mom" pile of the candy they don't like but they know I do - I told them to go ahead and make the same pile - but that the candy has to go anywhere else but to me.

[baby1disney]

Ughhh, back from another looong weekend!!! And, not really a good one!! Let's see: Aunt Flow came to visit, my wisdom tooth is acting up again, and I got a cold ALL on the SAME DAY!!!!!!:scared1: :scared1: I mean seriously!!!
But, I'm very slowly getting better. I worked this weekend, grocery shopped, had cake and ice cream for DH(today is his bday!!), and went on a ghost hunt last night with my brother!!! He has his own ghost hunting group and is even is a national haunting magazine called Haunted Times!!! It was pretty cool and creepy!!!

But, on a good note, I've lost another 3lbs!!! I was at 312 last week and I'm at 309!!! I started at 325. I've lost 16 lbs so far!!!! I'm so excited!!!

I'm so proud of all of you and I know I'm about due for a gain here shortly beause I've been doing way too good!!! So, I know I'm going to need the support of my awesome BLUE TEAM!!!! Plus, I had a really bad experience also and it's really upset me. Not sure if I should talk about it on here, but maybe later I will.........

[njmom23grls]

Oh No! I hope everything is ok.....


What an exciting weekend you had and congrats on your loss this week and overall - excellent!

[Jaime]

First... Let's welcome two new members: MinnieWitch and JenJolt!

Next: QOTD Friday: What time of day do you find it most difficult to stay on track? How do you compensate?
I'm sad to report I gained two pounds this week. Yuck. :( I hope everybody ahd a better week than I did.

I thought high blood sugar was supposed to make it easier to lose weight?

This is my problem...if I blow a good food day it will be at 4:00...I have been popping a bag of smart pop popcorn and leaving it on the counter so when I go to pick it is what I eat...it's been working for me.

Sounds like almost everybody had a really good week!

QOTD Monday: What is your game plan for handling Halloween temptations?

I am giving our playdough to the small children and chips to the older children this year...I never seem to go after the kids candy so I should be okay:goodvibes

Well I stayed the same this week...I am sorry I didn't post last week but I had a really stressful week. My dd took ill again..everything turned out well in the end but I was back and forth to the children's hosiptal all week.

I was afraid to get on the scales...I just ate whatever was easiest the avaiable to me all week no monitoring at all...

[shewelch]

Despite making the rounds to 3 different Halloween events this past weekend, I held true to my NO CANDY rule! It is so much easier for me than trying to regulate handfuls of candy corn.

When the temptation was bad, I reached for the pretzels or popcorn and it did an amazing job getting rid of the sweet tooth popcorn::

[minniewitch]

Ughhh, back from another looong weekend!!! And, not really a good one!! Let's see: Aunt Flow came to visit, my wisdom tooth is acting up again, and I got a cold ALL on the SAME DAY!!!!!!:scared1: :scared1: I mean seriously!!!
But, I'm very slowly getting better. I worked this weekend, grocery shopped, had cake and ice cream for DH(today is his bday!!), and went on a ghost hunt last night with my brother!!! He has his own ghost hunting group and is even is a national haunting magazine called Haunted Times!!! It was pretty cool and creepy!!!

But, on a good note, I've lost another 3lbs!!! I was at 312 last week and I'm at 309!!! I started at 325. I've lost 16 lbs so far!!!! I'm so excited!!!

I'm so proud of all of you and I know I'm about due for a gain here shortly beause I've been doing way too good!!! So, I know I'm going to need the support of my awesome BLUE TEAM!!!! Plus, I had a really bad experience also and it's really upset me. Not sure if I should talk about it on here, but maybe later I will.........

You go Girl so proud:):cheer2:

Minniewitch

[minniewitch]

where is the cows for week 7?

[MelanieC]

Ok - everyone, I've been hiding again. I've had a bad week since we last talked. I did good yesterday till snack time last night and then I had sesame sticks and ice cream (too much ice cream).

I had a very stressful week and weekend. My job is laying people off and the process and waiting is stressing me out. Friday night I watched a movie with the family and I thought I was dying the way my heart was beating. It didn't help that I had heard about Jennifer Hudson's family being killed. It brought all the emotions back of my own brother being murdered back in 1996. It was not a good night and it set me up for a weekend of stress eating.

I'll get on the scale in the morning and own it - so I can move on. So far so good today. This is just all so frustrating. I know how to do this, I just can't seem to get my act together.

[dare2dream]

Minniewitch, This is our COW off week. A new one will be posted this week, probably on Thursday. Stay tuned.

[minniewitch]

thx dare2dream I thought I was missing something.

[minniewitch]

ok I need some help! I've doubled my workouts and as a result my appitite has double. My meals have gotten bigger and my snacks has gotten more offen. All my hard work has been for nothing. I'm so discouraged. I'm right now on the elipitcal, posting and watching BL to keep myself on track what am I going to do? I feel like the harder I work the harder it is to lose wieght. I havent wieghed myself but I feel like I'm gaining weight again.

[Jaime]

ok I need some help! I've doubled my workouts and as a result my appitite has double. My meals have gotten bigger and my snacks has gotten more offen. All my hard work has been for nothing. I'm so discouraged. I'm right now on the elipitcal, posting and watching BL to keep myself on track what am I going to do? I feel like the harder I work the harder it is to lose wieght. I havent wieghed myself but I feel like I'm gaining weight again.

:hug: Hang in there! You are on the right track.

Muscle weighs more then fat so if you are exercising more you are probably building muscle...this muscle will help burn the fat but you may see the results in your clothes before on the scales...lately I tend to have a few good weight loss weeks then I stay still...almost like my body needs time to catch up before I loose more...

If you are exercising more you should be eating more and probably a little more lean protien and less carbs...especially for snacks...I find this helps me...for example if I have an apple for a snack I have a few almonds too or for a snack I have a weight control oatmeal. Sparkes people has a great website for tracking calories and exercise...I don't use it all the time but whenever I need to balance myself I find it to be a great guide.

If you are watching the foods you eat and your exercising and you are hungry you are more then likely not eating enough.

[baby1disney]

Hey everyone!! Thanks for all of your support!! I've been off work the last two days being sick with this darn wisdom tooth!!!:scared1: I can't wait to get it out!! But, with no insurance, that's just going to cost way too much!!

Anways, been doing so-so with my diet. Been eating alot of soups and lean gourmet meals and that's pretty good. I usally have my heaty meal for dinner and that seems to help. Well, for the first time, at least from what I can remember, I'm going to make a healthy grocery list this week!!! So, I'll let you know how it goes!!!:confused3

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Hi Everyone, we are back, and I am in the middle of the Disney Blues!:sad1: ;) We had so much fun, and it is so hard to come back to the real world. We were enjoying sun, 80+ degrees, and SWIMMING, then we come back to snowflakes...:scared1: Originally when I stepped on the scale I was up a pound (not bad considering I was up 3# last year when I went, and for a shorter time frame! :rolleyes1 ) and as of this morning it is already gone!:thumbsup2 Anyway WE HAD 2 BIG Magical dreams come our way, and lots of Birthday fun...

The first was at Epcot. We were chosen to be the first family at the character Meet and Greet at rope drop. We were ushered into the character connection and got a picture with all of the characters together. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. Then they took off and went to their individual stations. We then got to take pictures with each individual character. VERY cool!

Second was a teeny bit bigger… we were at MK on EMH day. We were first ones in line and dancing around to the music. A cast member noticed us and commented about dancing, but that was it… for now. About 40 minutes later (yes, we were there 1 hour before park opening – LOL) A castmember came to us and asked us to follow him. He asked if we wanted to be magic family!!!! So we got to open Magic Kingdom. WOW, what an experience. (This is the second time we have been picked for this, but this time was even better because of the characters). They had us wait for a minute and they brought out autograph books and pens for each of the kids, then we went to the back of the train station and got to take pics with an empty park behind us. Then the characters came! We had Mickey, chip, Dale, Daisy, Pluto and the Mad Hatter all to ourselves for a while. Took pics, autographs, interacted with them and then we were ushered across the train tracks to throw pixie dust and open the park. Can you believe it????

We also had birthday fun, everywhere we went cast members wished us happy birthday, we got cupcakes at all but 2 of our sit down dinners, at Biergarten I got a gingerbread man. At the new Toy story ride, we were waiting near the entrance while DH went to get Fast passes. As soon as he came a cast member let us in the fast pass entrance (without fast passes – right away in the morning, before the fast pass lanes were even open!) I got a free Itsakadoozie (the popsicle type snack), and DS got a free bucket of popcorn and free cookies. A dream team member gave me a Tinkerbelle pin. I think that is it, we had so much fun, that I can’t even put into words.

I think they are really starting the birthday celebration early!!!! Can't wait till next year when DD is going to have her turn to celebrate at Disneyland!

[shewelch]

Vija- Yea! What fun :banana:

Welcome back- Sorry you are dealing with the post Disney blues- sounds like the great memories will get you through that pretty quickly.


Congratulations on keeping the weight under control- impressive :cheer2:

[jimmduck]

Just a quick pop in - hi Vija and welcome back.

It was my birthday (and my 20th anniversary) yesterday and I have been eating non stop, pretty much, since Friday.

Have a new race plan for Spacecoast (that I will share later) but am starting anew today.

Here's to the next 20 years with DH!

In five years, I want to go to ground zero (we got engaged at the Windows on the World restaurant at World Trade Centre) and run the New York marathon!

Cheers everyone - will write later.

Linda

:tinker: :donald: :dumbo: :mickeyjum

[MelanieC]

Hey everyone!

Welcome back Vija! sounds like you had a terrific time.

Ok - I weighed in this morning and I lost a pound from last week. All is not lost, lol.

I did good yesterday - YEAH! Today is going good. I'm meeting a friend for pizza, but I can work it into my calorie allowance, so I'll still be on track!

Yesterday I had a meeting at 4pm - where my two bosses explained how the process for the layoff's was working. This is such scary stuff - I hope I make it to the other side- they seem confident that my past performance reviews will help me. Nov 10th is the day we should find out. Keep your fingers crossed- I can use some pixie dust. When I got home - I felt like I emotionally wanted to grab fistfulls of food to numb myself, but I pushed through it and I won!

The next few weeks are going to be hard - I just have to take it one day at at time.

[minniewitch]

:hug: Hang in there! You are on the right track.

Muscle weighs more then fat so if you are exercising more you are probably building muscle...this muscle will help burn the fat but you may see the results in your clothes before on the scales...lately I tend to have a few good weight loss weeks then I stay still...almost like my body needs time to catch up before I loose more...

If you are exercising more you should be eating more and probably a little more lean protien and less carbs...especially for snacks...I find this helps me...for example if I have an apple for a snack I have a few almonds too or for a snack I have a weight control oatmeal. Sparkes people has a great website for tracking calories and exercise...I don't use it all the time but whenever I need to balance myself I find it to be a great guide.

If you are watching the foods you eat and your exercising and you are hungry you are more then likely not eating enough.

Thx for the tips I'm going to look up sparkes people right now.

[PRINCESS VIJA]

HEY EVERYONE! ON Oprah 10/30 they are going to do a Biggest Loser show with Jillian and Bob, and previous players. Looks good!:thumbsup2

[MelanieC]

I can't wait either.

I'm doing good - a little higher in calories for the day, but still overall very good and i consider it an OP day.

[hobbester]

Princess Vija-Wow, I'm glad that you had such a good time. Congratulations! I set the dvr for Oprah today, thank you.

Yesterday was my TOM and I wanted to eat everything I could get my hands on. Today is much better so far.

Hope everyone is doing well this week. Go Blue - Lisa.

[MelanieC]

Ok - I haven't been doing well with exercise. Next week I'm getting into gear. Who wants a mini-challenge? Who wants to get serious with exercise next week? Make a plan and then lets hold each other accountable. Maybe its getting up early and posting here - maybe its just setting specific goals for the week. Whatever it is - Lets get serious - I challenge you- I triple dog dare you!

[shewelch]

Ok - I haven't been doing well with exercise. Next week I'm getting into gear. Who wants a mini-challenge? Who wants to get serious with exercise next week? Make a plan and then lets hold each other accountable. Maybe its getting up early and posting here - maybe its just setting specific goals for the week. Whatever it is - Lets get serious - I challenge you- I triple dog dare you!

I have been getting up to get on my exercise bike, but some days I just dog it- so I will take your double dog dare. I will push for 8 miles in 30 minutes at least 4 times next week.

[minniewitch]

I'm so in for the challenge. I'll start wieght training this week. I've only been doing cardio so this is a great opportunity to get out of my box and try something different.:yay: hey they need a smilie face lifting weights:) P.S. loved the oprah ep on bl

[dare2dream]

Thanks for the challenge Melanie. I will exercise. I will make a plan and post it on our team thread. I will do it this week.

This weeks COW encourages us to try new activities. I will do three new things this week.

I am going to sign up on the November exercise challenge thread. Let's get this party started!

[Dianatlol]

Sorry I haven't been around... work has been so hectic!!! I am down so that is great news!

I'll survive halloween chocolate somehow!!! LOL

[TammyNC]

Do we have a week 8 thread yet?? I didn't see one, but don't always trust my eyes!!