Biggest Loser 8 Fall Challenge -- for losers and maintainers!

[anut4disney]

These came from everydayhealth.com

Smart Snack Options
By Woman's Day

100 CALORIES

1 hard-cooked egg (75) with half a slice of toasted wheat bread (34)

1⁄2 cup ice milk or sherbet (100)

1 large rectangular graham cracker (60) with 11⁄2 tsp peanut butter (45)

1 slice (1 oz) angel food cake (70) with 1⁄2 cup fresh strawberries (25)

1⁄2 cup wheat-flake cereal (55) with 1⁄2 cup nonfat milk (45)

1 cup chicken-noodle soup (75) with 2 saltines (25)

1 small (4") whole-wheat pita (74) with 1 Tbsp hummus (24)

1⁄2 cup cranberry juice cocktail (72) and 1⁄4 cup nonfat plain yogurt (34) blended with ice

1 slice whole-wheat bread (69) with 1 oz sliced turkey breast (28) and mustard

1⁄2 cup 1% lowfat cottage cheese (80) with 1 cup cherry tomatoes (30)

1 cup baby carrots, celery and bell peppers (30) with 2 Tbsp light dressing
(70)

1⁄4 cup 1% lowfat cottage cheese (40) with 1 cup canned peaches in water (60)

200 CALORIES

6 oz nonfat fruit yogurt (160) mixed with 1 Tbsp raisins (30)

1 slice whole-wheat bread (69) with 1 Tbsp peanut butter (90) and 1 tsp jelly (19)

1 oz peanuts (166) with 1⁄2 oz pretzels (50)

One 8" flour tortilla (150) with 2 oz sliced turkey (55), lettuce, tomato and balsamic vinegar

1 medium baked potato (161) with 1⁄4 cup 1% lowfat cottage cheese (40)

1 container Fantastic Foods Hearty Cups Vegetable Barley soup (150) with 4 saltines (50)

Subway Veggie Delite 6" sandwich without cheese (230)

Thai Kitchen Mushroom Medley Rice Noodle Bowl (188) 1⁄2 cup lowfat frozen yogurt (114) with 3⁄4 cup sliced fresh fruit (75)

I hope it is okay to post this here.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

QOTD:
My first trip to Disneyland was in 1969.

Favorite Disneyland memory was the absolute awe I felt when I went on POTC for the very first time...it was like nothing I had ever seen before!

My first trip to Walt Disney World was in 1985.

Favorite WDW memory was during son's first visit in 1997, the expression on his face the first time he got to personally interact w/Mickey was priceless...it was a look of pure joy!

My first Disney Cruise was in 1999.

Favorite DCL memory was the first time I heard the ship's horn blow "When you wish upon a star"...it made me cry!

 

[Ronda93]

I was 30 for my first trip to WDW. Then I made up for lost time ; )
Favorite memories include Wishes as seen from the last drop on Splash Mountain, Main St deserted at night, coconut races at 'Ohana

Ronda

 

[labordefam3]

QOTD: How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

My first trip was to Disney World when I was 15. It was me, my mom, my sister and my grandmother. We had such a great time, and still talk about all the memories made on that vacation.

My husband and I went back to Disney for our honeymoon. Then back again for your 10 year anniversary, to which we took our DD on her first trip the world.

Our plan was to go back again for our 20 year anniversary, but my mom surprised us this year with plans to take my family and my sisters family over the kids Christmas break!! I'm so excited to go back with my mom and sister, plus my dad who's never been!! My mom and sister have also not been back since our first trip, plus her kids and husband have also never been. It's sure to be crazy busy, but I'm ready for it!!

 

[ShortyNBug]

My first trip will be in Oct next year! Can you believe that? I've never been there. That's why I need motivation to lose this weight...there will be lots of pictures!

 

[corinnak]

It sounds like we have a lot of runners and aspiring runners in the challenge. I was going to wait to suggest this until the challenge was more underway, but maybe a BL8-C25K thread is in order at some point here. That looks like alphabet soup!!

Aunt4 - that is a great list of snacks! Thank you for sharing it!

I love reading everyones Disney memories.


QOTD: How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

When I was in 7th grade, my mom won a trip at a party for her work. We got to go for 3 days, I think it was. There was only Magic Kingdom and Epcot back then, and we stayed at a motel offsite somewhere in Kissimmee. My grandparents were also down there camping for the winter, so we got to spend some time with them. So many memories from that trip.

1. We got stuck for a few minutes on Pirates at the part where the cannonballs are shooting! We got stuck on the Energy ride in Epcot in the middle of the dinosaurs and had to actually WALK out of the ride - that was so cool. It cracks me up that so many of us have favorite memories of rides stopping!

2. In the ride that used to be where Test Track is now, we ended up seated in a way that was not pleasing to my 6 year old brother and he insisted on switching seats with my sister in the car ahead of us with our mom after the ride was in motion and heading up an incline! I thought they were going to die, but the managed the switch and they didn't even stop the ride. Yikes.

3. I also remember someone smoking in the waiting area for the Tiki Bird show and my grandparents getting very upset because my grandfather had emphysema and the person would not stop. I'm glad smoking is no longer allowed throughout the parks.

4. I've been lucky enough to run a few of the Disney races, including one each with my Couch to 5K friends Kate and Kim. We finished the program 2 years ago, but we're still in touch and the races I ran with them have truly been two of the most fun races I've done.

5. My kids aren't featured in any of the above memories! Here's probably my favorite of all time: We were travelling with friends and staying in a 2 bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs all together. My older son had wanted to go to Beaches and Cream and get a Kitchen Sink from the time he saw it on Great Hotels. This was probably his main dream for that trip! So we had the night picked out and arranged with our friends so we'd have lots of ice cream eaters. We met up in Downtown Disney and were going to catch a Beach Club bus from there, but our friends had other things they wanted to do first. Goofy's Candy. Lego Store. Christmas Store. And then they were hungry and wanted to get dinner right away - I had been planning on getting something at B&C before the ice cream, and felt the evening slipping rapidly away from us.

Finally I was really frustrated with our friends since we'd been essentially waiting on them for over an hour and I said, look, you want to eat here, FINE, but this is the one thing B wants to do and we're going to go now. And we did. My younger son fell asleep on the bus and spent the entire evening asleep in his stroller. We had a lovely dinner at B&C and then....with 3 of us awake, ordered the Kitchen Sink. Can I just say, Never Again! There were too many conflicting flavors and my son ended up feeling ill, but it was quite a spectacle.

Finally, we left the restaurant and I wanted to walk down by the water. As we were passing the boat building, a cast member said hello after a few minutes, he offered us a FREE Illuminations cruise - someone had paid for it and not shown up and there was just enough time for us to get to Epcot to watch the fireworks. To me, it sounded like something you just don't turn down (though apparently several others had!!). My little son was still very drowsy as we sat on the boat and watched the fireworks together.

We realized that had our friends not delayed us or had they been along, we would probably not have had that opportunity. It turns out they had been fighting all afternoon and were exhausted so probably an evening at "home" was the better choice for them as well.

Whew - I can go on!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Here goes the last QOTD for my coaching week:

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

What a great QOTD! Now you're going to make us all happy as we read about each other's fantastic Disney memories!

I was 25 on my first trip to WDW in 1993 (oops, if you can do math you now know I'm in Generation X!) -- my dh took a delayed Honeymoon (we were married in May and went in October). I have a ton of favorite memories -- I think a special time was on our Land/Sea cruise in 2005. DH was not interested in the shows, and ds7 could not wait to go. He escorted me every night, and tried to be a little gentleman. That was incredibly precious!

Maria

 

[BilltM]

VOTE FOR OUR BL8 CLIPPIE!

Thanks to the hard work and creative genius of corinnak and calypso*a*go-go we have a few clippies to choose from for our official BL 8 clippie.

Clippie #1 BL8 Football clippie

Clippie #2 BL8 Mickey clippie

and Clippie #3 BL8 Fall clippie

Please vote for your favorite and the clippie with the most votes at the end of Friday 9/18 will be our official clippie for this challenge. It will be informal voting so just chime in with your vote.

I have to say that I will miss our summer clippie. It is so bright and cheerful!

All three are great. As much as I like the Mickster I vote for #1. My thinking is #1 has more of a challenge theme (at least for me). Plus, I like football.

 

[pjlla]

Oh, I forgot to ask if anyone else is as excited as I am that THe Biggest Loser starts tonight? I can't wait. I have a meeting from 5:30-6:30 and then I have to get my girls from my mom's and should get home just in time to watch it. I'm so lame that my sister invited me over for dinner but I don't want to miss it so I declined. I told her I am to tired. LOL! Maybe I'll get my ball out and exercise on it while the show is on like I used to when I was actually kicking butt and getting rid of major pounds.

I love finding "healthy" shows to watch when I am on the treadmill. Have you ever seen "You are what you eat" on BBC America? Nothing like watching overweight, unhealthy people obsessing about giving up their "pound-a-day" cheese habit to make me want to work out harder! BL is a great motivator to work out.

Good afternoon. Just had a few minutes at work, with noone around to check in and post. I don't usually get too much free time at work. I am excited about the show tonight. I have exercised every day since last tuesda, and tonight I'm going to to the wii free step for the first half hour of the show, and then have my ww fudge bar. That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it. It helps me to follow through when I say or type it.


Molli- on the woman thing- (sorry guys) I think you can be peri-menopausal for several years before you completely go through menopause, and have symptoms like you are having, and be irregular. I would want to see an md, incase there is anything else going on, but I think it can happen anytime after 40. I'm 45, and things are definitely different over the past couple years, and lately, I think I'm starting to have hot flashes.

Hope you all have a good evening, and get inspired if you're watching BL tonight. From the previews I've seen, I think we'll need lots of tissues.

Glad you found a few minutes to join us! I love using the Wii step for some extra exercise in the evening when I watch tv. I built my own riser for it a while ago and I use ankle weights and hand weights when I do it.... I call it "Wii Power Step". I step really fast in spurts to really get my heart rate up and pumping... I can really work up a sweat in 30 minutes!

BTW, it was me who was asking the menopause question. TOM finally did arrive (12-ish days late) and I feel better and less bloated, but obviously the "change" has begun..... there goes my metabolism, down the drain!

I understand what you are saying. I had the same issue for a while. I knew I needed to lose weight but I just wasn't feeling it. What I did to help get me in the right mindset was to start doing other things to make me feel better about myself. I got the trays made and I whitened my teeth, I painted my toenails, got a facial and had a massage and I also got a haircut. All of these things made me feel better about myself and I liked the feeling and finally had the right mindset to work on my weight as well. Maybe try doing some things that make you feel better about yourself and see if that helps you! Good luck! I know you can do this!

Sarah

Interesting to note that you can take better care of yourself BEFORE you lose weight. I just didn't care about my appearance enough to bother with most of those things when I was overweight. It wasn't until I had lost about 35 pounds before I really began to think about stuff like that and finally felt like I could pull it off. I'm not a big girly-girl, so I don't care too much about manicures and such, but I do use more make-up now and wear more jewelry.... plus I own more than 5 outfits! (I worked part time for about 3 years with just 3 pairs of work pants and a handful of tops.) Good job taking care of yourself!!

I would like to join the challenge. I haven't been to Weight Watchers in forever. My classroom is super tough and I have been coming home exhausted every single day. I am going to weigh in tomorrow and get a fresh start.

Just wanted to say welcome back!

I did it! I completed all the workouts I set out to do today! I did morning, noon, and evening workouts! I did all 3 WATP videos plus 30 minutes on the Wii Fit free step! I have also drunk more than I needed today of water! I didn't do any Crystal Lights and only had one can of Diet Mt. Dew! I also gave a massage to a client today and did a lot of sweating doing that too! I feel so good right now! I hope I can do all of it tomorrow too! I haven't been this motivated since the beginning of the year.

Way to go on the workouts! I haven't done three workouts in a day for a long time. But I was definitely noticing it on the scales when I was making the effort. Keep up that motivation and share some with us here!

Well I did not want to work out this morning, however I forced myself to put in my FIRM Fat Burning DVD and it about killed me LOL!!! It was a great workout and while I didn't want to do it while I was doing it, when I was done I was very glad I sucked it up and did it!!! That is 3 days in a row this week I have worked out...I'm trying for all 7 days this week!

Don't you love that good feeling you have from getting in that workout that you just wanted to skip? Those are the BEST workouts because you overcame mental roadblocks and not just physical limitations. On the days I struggle to make myself exercise I try to put in a HARDER DVD so that I have a bigger feeling of satisfaction when I actually finish.

so here's Wed QOTD:
Its a fact of life, that you will have to deal with stress. What non-food thing do you do to de-stress?

Well.... in general I don't have a lot of stress. DD (14) causes me some stress every day, but nothing that I really hang on to for long (unless PMS is in the house).

Cleaning is actually a de-stressor for me. And I do it without even thinking about it. If I am aggravated with DH or DD, I find myself grabbing a cloth and wiping down appliances or pulling out the vacume cleaner or wiping down the bathroom counter. Not that I am a cleaning nut, but when I feel out of control with one issue, I find that I need that control of keeping the house clean.

I know that I was an emotional eater in the past, and it still pops into my mind, but I think that I finally have some real control over it. I find I eat for fuel and not for "feeling good" most of the time now.

Oh, stress, the single most thing that will derail all my carefully laid plans and good intentions in the wink of an eye. When stressful things come along, I think of the wise words of pjlla who said "you can't control what happens to you, you can only control your reaction." So I try to remember that.

Did I say that? Sounds like something I would say. I'm practically famous now!

On a side note, we had donuts for someone's bday at work today and I went down without my peach (which I had originally brought for break) and had every intention on getting one. When I looked at them on the table it just wasn't worth it. So, I ate my peach and was fine and dandy. Woohoo!

Hold onto that "WOOHOO" feeling.... bottle it up inside somewhere and save that good feeling. Pull it out someday when you need some extra motivation to avoid a temptation or do a dreaded workout. Remember how GREAT that feeling is and how much you want to feel it again.

Here goes the last QOTD for my coaching week:

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

:

Well of COURSE we watched The Wonderful World of Disney on tv every Sunday without FAIL! I suppose that is probably my first Disney memory.

We took our first trip to WDW in December of 1974 when I was 10. The park had only been open a few years and was so new and exciting. It was a HUGE trip for me (and my parents, brother, and grandparents). My brother and I had NEVER been on a plane before, never slept in a hotel before, never been out of New England before, never been to any kind of theme park/amusement park, etc. It was a HUGE deal. We saw the Magic Kingdom and stayed at the Contemporary for a few nights. We also saw Sea World and Busch Gardens.

Plus all of the beautiful Christmas decorations were up in the park. I remember that the Christmas tree was HUGE!! And there were pointsettias everywhere.

My grandparents had been to WDW in the past (DGF was a big Disney fan) and they had lots of ticket books with extra tickets that they brought along for us to use, so we got to go on some of the rides multiple times. My most vivid memory was losing track of my Mom in the "stretching room" of the Haunted Mansion just as the lights when out.... I was TERRIFIED of the dark. But I found her as soon as the lights came back up and really enjoyed the ride. It's not my favorite today, but I still have that memory. And believe it or not, I DO remember meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time. I remember thinking that he was SHORT (not sure why I expected a big mouse??).

My Dad dragged along a movie camera for that trip.... I'm sure he thought it was a big pain in the butt, but those movie images (now on VHS) are PRICELESS to me now!! We even have movies taken on the Skyway... great aerial views of the park. And we have parade movies. THey are "silent' movies, but still great to have.

I am feeling super motivated this week. I am eating well and exercising well. Hopefully all of that motivation will show up in the numbers on Friday.

BTW, if it still counts, I vote for the Mickey clippie................P

 

[wildfan1473]

QOTD: How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?


I was 8 when we took our first trip to WDW. I remember getting a call in the late hours of the night to our cabin at Ft Wilderness, it was a guy that worked there, and he was my dad's neighbor in PA when they were growing up. I remember the walk to River Country. And my grandmother was with us, this was the last trip we had with her before she died.

I broke down and went to a strength training class at the Y this morning. I really liked it, hopefully I can stick with it! DH and I were on a trip this weekend, so I didn't get my walk in on Monday, but I did get it in yesterday.

 

[BilltM]

Here goes the last QOTD for my coaching week:

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

I was 15 when we went to Walt Disney World. That is when I got hooked on the whole Disney experience. We always watched Disney every Sunday. When we arrived at WDW, by car from MA, my father said "were here" and so did the signs.

It seemed like we drove forever off I-4 before we reached anything. Then the Contemporary Resort came into view, which was incredibile back in the late 70's. Then the castle! We took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and when we started for the tunnel to Main Street USA the seven dwarfs came marching through with Dopey taking up the rear. I had tried pot already and thought I was high ... which I was but not from those type of stimulants. Maybe TMI at the end. I miss the Mickey Mouse Review!!

I went in 1976, 1977, 1978 took a break. Then 1988, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998, and the last was 2000. The next will be December 2009.

 

[tigger813]

Here goes the last QOTD for my coaching week:

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

I was 26. It was a Velntine's gift from my now DH. My parents had just been for the first time and suggested we go. We went in June of that year.

I have a few favorites: On DD1's first trip seeing her face when she first saw the castle and being pulled in the 3 pm parade by one of Sleeping Beauties Fairies. On our most recent trip the girls opened 1900 Park Fare and got escorted to our seats by Cinderella and Prince Charming. And finally being there at the holidays two years ago with my parents was pretty magical.

Having a rough day today as my stomach is bothering me. It started bothering me yesterday and today I'm extremely bloated. My scale said I had gained a pound and I was very good yesterday with exercise and what I ate. Hoping that this goes away before tomorrow. I've still lost 2 pounds but I was hoping for more as I've been really working. I'm watching what I eat today and drinking my water.

 

[ohMom]

No Julie -- i'm signed up for KTK tour in Oct....did you enjoy?

corinnak -- we had kitchen sink this summer, we asked and were allowed to 'customize' just getting vanilla, choc and coffee ice cream and no fruity toppings. it was yum!

why don't carrots and celery just taste scrumptious? i feel like i choked them down!

 

[dreamlinda]

QOTD:

I am a child of the 50's so grew up with the Sunday night "Wonderful World of Color" Disney program. I wanted to go to Disney Land so badly, but it never happened for me as a child. My first trip to Disney Land finally happened when I was 27 - I was so excited! At that time the park was closed on Monday's and we naturally arrived on a Monday. We could see the "DisneyLand" sign with the little castle flags. I made my former husband walk across the empty parking lot with me so I could look thru the gate. I guess I was 27 going on 5!!

Finally made it to Disney World in the 80's, had the good sense to marry a man who also loves Disney and we have been going ever since, even joined the DVC. Best vacation money we ever spent!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Have you ever seen "You are what you eat" on BBC America?

I love that show! I've only been able to catch a few episodes of it...but I think Gillian is great. This is from the website:

Top Ten Tips

1. Avoid sugar - found in cakes, biscuits, confectionary, chocolate, candy, desserts, soft drinks and many other foods.

2. Use whole grains rather than refined carbohydrates - white bread, white flour, white pastry, white pasta and white rice should be replaced with brown rice, quinoa, millet, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat and red rice.

3. Avoid artificial additives - these may be sweeteners, preservatives, colorings or flavorings.

4. Avoid stimulants - caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and other recreational drugs.

5. Eat vegetables or salads with lunch and dinner - Variety is important, so experiment with those that you don't normally eat.

6. Include some sources of essential fats every day - these include oily fish (such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herrings and trout), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, linseeds/flaxseeds, hemp seeds, walnuts and avocadoes. Avoid processed fats such as low fat spreads and margarines.

7. Have at least 2 vegetarian days each week - good vegetarian proteins include chickpeas, lentils, mung beans, borlotti beans, butter beans, aduki beans, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, amaranth, nuts and seeds.

8. Avoid processed meats - ham, salami, chorizo, hot dogs, bacon and any smoked or cured meats. These all contain nitrates that have been linked to stomach cancer and are high in saturated fats and salt which are linked to cardiovascular disease.

9. Cook from scratch wherever possible - this means buying whole, natural ingredients and cooking or preparing them yourself. Avoid processed and packaged foods as much as possible.

10. Buy locally grown, organically produced, seasonal produce where possible - check out farmer's markets, farm shops and pick-your-own farms for the freshest produce.

For more information - www.gillianmckeith.info

Tips courtesy of McKeith Research Ltd ©2008.

 

[lisah0711]

A great big thank you to LuvBaloo for being our coach this week!

I do enjoy my adult beverages- and have the point values on each of my favorite drinks- does that count?

I do too!

I decided my reward this week would be to watch Sense and Sensibilty even though my husband will know for sure now about my silly crush. I am sure he suspects lol. He likes him a lot though so it's ok.

Another good Alan Rickman movie is Love Actually. It has Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Kiera Knightly and a lot of other folks in it. It is more of a Christmas type movie but it is good!

Here goes the last QOTD for my coaching week:

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

My first trip to DL was when I was 2. I grew up in Anaheim and went every year for my birthday. My first trip to WDW was when I was 43! I have never been on a Disney cruise but I hope to in 2011 when DL cruises on the West Coast again.

I have a lot of favorite memories from the summers that I worked at DL -- 30 years ago! I also really fondly remember the last time I was at DL with my folks, my sister and my family. It was the last time I went to DL with my Dad.

HI everyone. This is going to be fast. Yesterday I had no time for the computer. I was at the foot doctor's office for almost 2 hours. Between the initial wait, the wait for the doctor, the wait for the xrays to be taken and the wait to get my feet casted for new orthotics (shoe inserts) and $500 latter I finally got out. Then I had to get something for the computer and get dinner. The only thing I did was send some pictures of my fil to my sil for their insurance company.

Sorry you had to wait so long at the doctor's office. I hope that the orthotics work you. They are expensive. But it is so worth it to be able to walk and not think about your feet or be able to walk where you want without your feet hurting -- priceless!

I wanted to introduce myself - I just joined the group last night and I tend to be more of a lurker than a poster, but I would like to change that. So here it goes...

JanuaryF! I will check out your blog later as I am interested in doing the C25K. Congratulations on your loss so far!

I hope it is okay to post this here.

Yep, it's okay to post things like that here -- just be sure that you put a cite about where it came from. That was a good reminder that you can have some pretty tasty snacks without doing a lot of damage!

It sounds like we have a lot of runners and aspiring runners in the challenge. I was going to wait to suggest this until the challenge was more underway, but maybe a BL8-C25K thread is in order at some point here. That looks like alphabet soup!!

If people are interested and want to start sooner, that is great! We just don't want people to be overwhelmed with the start of the challenge and the COW and the mega thread.

We got stuck for a few minutes on Pirates at the part where the cannonballs are shooting! We got stuck on the Energy ride in Epcot in the middle of the dinosaurs and had to actually WALK out of the ride - that was so cool. It cracks me up that so many of us have favorite memories of rides stopping!

I've been going to Disney for over 40 years and haven't been stuck on a ride -- ever! I used to think it probably wasn't as fun as I imagined it would be but reading these stories makes me feel differently . . .

Don't forget to PM your weight to LuvBaloo and your COW info to donac tomorrow!
Have a great OP day all!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Oops -- somehow I ended up with a duplicate post.

 

[corinnak]

If people are interested and want to start sooner, that is great! We just don't want people to be overwhelmed with the start of the challenge and the COW and the mega thread.

Lisa, the beauty part with the C25K is that people don't all have to start at the same time to discuss the program - the people who are partway through are great resources to the people who start later and everyone kind of goes at their own pace anyway. Maybe I'll start a thread and post a link later in the day. If it gets used, great! If not, not really a big deal either.

Also, re: getting stuck on a ride, I guess you're right that it's not the MOST fun thing that will ever happen to you you at Disney, but it definitely can be memorable. After you've heard the pirates shout the same thing about 6 times, you start to wonder if it comes to evacuating that ride, how exactly do they do it.....though eventually the boats just started up again for us.

Maria - that story about your son escorting you to the shows - just SO sweet!

ohMom - your kitchen sink sounds a lot less gross than the one we had. Maybe someday we'll go that route. There is something wrong about mint chocolate chip and pineapple sauce together. Not morally wrong, just aesthetically wrong.

Shannon - Thanks for being our coach this first week! You are a bold, brave woman, and your QOTD have been superb!

 

[MelanieC]

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

I'm not 100% how old I was the first time I went to Disneyland, but I know it was somewhere around 6th or 7th grade so probably 12 or 13 years old.

My favorite Disney memory would be a cumalitive of trips over the years with my kids. Just watching them grow up enjoying Disney and to see them become just as crazy about Disney as me. One memory that stands out is once when we arrived for a trip, we had just gotten to Disney and went to MK. We were heading to Splash Mountain and as we got to the line (which was probably a few hours long) a CM came up and asked us if we had ridden SM before. We told her that we have but not this trip. She took us right to the front of the line and we got to go through the exit and get right on the ride. What a great start to a magical vacation!

 

[NC_Tink]

Here goes the last QOTD for my coaching week:

Its time for another fun question. How old were you on your first trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld? And what's one (or more) of your favourite Disney memories (either at a park, cruise ship, or even just watching Disney)?

Wow - this board is moving! Love reading about everyone's favorite memories! I'm hoping to make some new ones starting tomorrow as we head to Cape Canaveral and get on the Magic on Saturday! Can't wait for our cruise!

I was probably about 7 the first time we went to Magic Kingdom. I had an uncle that lived in Tallahassee. Whenever we visited, my folks would take us for a day trip to MK and a few days at Daytona.

My fondest memories, though, are not of my own childhood visits but those with my own kids. I remember the first time my older DS, then 3 1/2 rode Goofy's Barnstormer and couldn't get enough. He rode it again and again and again -- with a the biggest grin on his face every single time. Should have known that he would be my roller coaster rider! Now when we get to WDW - he practically runs to Animal Kingdom because his new favorite ride is Everest! With my younger son - it was just last year. We went to Typhoon Lagoon and he's never been much of a "rider". He's not my thrill seeker - but he started on some water slides and then decided to try the "Crush and Gusher" which is full of ups and downs and turns going very fast. He laughed with pure excitement the entire way down the slide and then had to take a run on all the different options! It was awesome to finally see him take chances and really enjoy himself.

If I don't get to check in tomorrow - hope everyone has a great week! I'll be back to catch up after the 26th (hopefully not weighing 10lbs. heavier than I will be at weigh-in tomorrow morning )