BL 3 - Red Team week 15

[winniedapooh]

Answering the challenge this week.

Q 4. Holiday tradtion.

Ever since I can recall we had gone to Grammy and Grampy's Christmas Eve and had a lot of traditional Swedish and American foods. I do my own Christmas Eve now but I still serve some of what I grew up on: Swedish meatballs, scalloped potatoes, swedish bread, bond ost, medvurst, deli ham, crisp bread, spritz, coffee ring, cranberry bread. I bake my cranberry bread with my Gram's recipe using her pans from Sweden, and laying them out to cool on her linen dish towels. I make my own Swedish meatballs, did that last weekend in fact, they are safely in my freezer. I love the smells. Christmas morning when I get up I I butter a piece of bread add in a nice slice of bond ost (cheese), a piece of ham, and a piece of medvurst (thuringer). It makes my whole morning. I wait for that one treat every year! I also light up my Swedish Angel Chime and watch it go around from the heat of the candles, I love the sound. Makes me feel so warm and fuzzy. About 15 years ago I decided to reclaim my Christmas and began purchasing blow molds for outdoors. It all started with 1 santa that a man from church who was retired at the time and working at Sears sold me. I recall him laughing and saying it only takes 1 to get you hooked! John died several years ago and my yard has grown. It takes us several weekends to get everything up and hooked up and we turn it on Thanksgiving evening. So I have some old tradtions as well as some newly created ones for my DCherubs to carry on.

 

[simpilotswife]

I have several pairs of Crocs actually. I have 3 pairs of the flip flops, 2 pairs of the regular ones and one pair of the mammoth ones. Their flip flops give a lot of support once I got past the price tag. Now I don't mind spending the money. The mammoth ones are really nice right now.

One holiday tradition that I follow is that I make potato salad using my mom's recipe and bowl.

 

[dare2dream]

Happy Friday Red Losers!! Do you have exciting weekend plans? What ever you do stay on track with your healthy lifestyle. Our last weigh in is on Tuesday.

I exercised and had my 5 F&V yesterday. YIPEE!! I also worked on some of those projects I have put off. One involved picking up some trash in our back yard. As I approached the deck to gather more trash I stepped in the sink hole in the back yard. I knew it was there but just forgot about it. I fell flat on my face. I got leaves and dirt in my mouth. As a morbidly obese woman getting up from sitting on the ground is quite an ordeal. Rain was supposedly coming and I imagined getting soaking wet and still being stuck when DH got home from work. I finally managed to get myself up. Later in the day as I thought about this mishap I realized that if I had fallen about 6 inches closer to the deck I would have wacked my head on the deck and I could have killed myself. (Yes I am a drama queen). I mentioned this to DH and he said he was glad that did not happen because that is not the kind of thing he would like to see when he gets home from work. He said he would be very upset to find me dead like that. I was very touched that he would say that, I guess he does love me after all.

SparkPeople's daily tip for healthier holidays

Sweat more. Some research shows that adding just 10 more minutes of intense exercise to your usual workout can stave off holiday weight gain.

Red Team question of the day

To rack up some points for our weekly team challenge share a family holiday tradition.

Thanks to winniedapooh (Michelle) who had already shared. So I am not first this time. My father passed away before Christmas in 1995 after a year long battle with cancer. I miss him dearly. Remembering his Christmas gifts to my mother always makes me smile. Mom did all the Christmas shopping for me and my two younger sisters. Dad was never a big gift giver. Every Christmas Eve he would go to the local drug store, or another nearby store to purchase a 'special' gift for Mom. Some years there was more than one gift, some times there was just one. Every year, these gifts did not have a tag but we all knew by the way that it was wrapped that is was for Mom from Dad. The gifts always appeared under the tree Christmas morning. They were always in the brown paper bag used at the store where it was purchased with the top of the bag folded down and crumpled tight so no one could peek inside. The gifts were usually a box of candy or perfume or another 'special' trinket. Looking back I am grateful to a man who took time to get something 'special' for the woman he loved. His gift giving may not have been as planned out or as meaningful as others but it was from his heart and given in a manner that was consistent with his character. I love you and miss you Daddy.

I have another DH and kids story that I will share sometime this weekend so stay tuned.

So share away Red Team. I am looking forward to hearing about your holiday traditions.

Have a healthy day!

 

[winniedapooh]

Morning Brenda...I love your Dad story...and you are right he did it his way from the heart! Did you have a chance to figure out our numbers yet? Thanks for all that you do and for being such an ecellent cheerleader!

 

[dare2dream]

I have mentioned my daily emails from sparkpeople.com. Here is today's Healthy Refection. Much to think about. This busy time of year please take a time to stop and smell the roses and appreciate all the beauty and wonder that surrounds us everyday.


There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.

- Albert Einstein, physicist

Seeing the wonder in the smallest details

What do you appreciate and what do you ignore? Is a sunrise any less special because its image wouldn't make it on a magazine cover? Is any day less precious because, in your mind, "nothing special" happened? For some reason, it's hard to be impressed with anything these days. Driving a car is a source of strain instead of wonder. The internet is already old news. Quick--when was the last time you paid attention to a space shuttle flight? Remember when that was all people could talk about? Once you take something for granted, you also take the life out of it. When nothing is "special," boredom and gloom aren't far behind. Look around where you're sitting right now, and try to see it for the first time, like a child would. Think about the human potential that created the stuff in the room. Think about the miracles of nature right outside your window. Think about how amazing it is that you're even here to see it.


Thanks Red Team for sharing this amazing 15 week adventure with me. You have all touched me and inspired me in many ways. It has been a privilege to be a member of the WISH Biggest Loser Challenge Red Team with you all. May we all continue successfully on our weight loss journeys and may our paths continue to cross as we all strive to achieve our weight loss goals and enjoy a healthy happy prosperous life.

Brenda

 

[dare2dream]

I checked my email after winniedapooh's (Michelle's) inquiry and low and behold there was the report from the final team.

Attention Red Team!!
We have quite a doozie this week!!

Week 14 numbers are in and tabulated. Here are our weekly stats versus the other teams:

Red Team / Blue Team / Black Team
members / 23 / ?? / ??
not reporting / 10 / ?? / ??
reporting / 13 / 10 / 7
no change / 5 / 1 / 3
gains / 2 / 5 / 3
losses / 6 / 4 / 1
pounds change/ -6.6 / +?? / +??

Week 14 WISH Biggest Loser challenge team weigh in results

#1 The Red Team 0.235 %
Our 2nd week at #1 - weigh to go Red Team!!

#2 The Blue Team -0.09 %
They had a net gain this week!

#3 The Black Team -0.4 %
They also had a net gain for the week!

The top five Red Team Losers for Week 14

#5 dischick (Val) .542 %
#4 Tensixmom (Jennifer) .769 %
#3 agnes! .852 %
#2 winniedapooh (Michelle) 1.064 %

And the Red Team Week 14 Biggest Loser is ....
bridgetgabbie (Robin) 1.689 %

Weekly Team challenge #8 results

#1 The Red Team with 120 points
8 participating, 15 not participating

WOO HOO RED TEAM!!!
Nice Work!!
WE ARE ON FIRE again!!​

#2 The Black Team with 65 points

#3 The Blue Team with 60 points

The top Red Team participants

agnes!, bridgetgabbie (Robin), dizchick (Val), iggbees (Kristin), and winniedapooh (Michelle) with 15 points

And the Red Team weekly Team challenge #8 top scorer is ....
mom2alix (Rebecca) with 25 points!!

Red Team congratulations on another great week. I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work for the last week of our challenge. We may now reclaim our weekly challenge winner clippie.

 

[simpilotswife]

 

[mom2alix]

Family tradition:

First, let me explain that I was a lucky little girl. I am the oldest granchild on my mother's side and I had a living great-great grandmother, as well as both sets of great grandparents AND my wonderful grandparents. I also had my paternal grandmother. This abundance of grandparents explains why I needed nicknames to keep all of them straight as a young child. My Christmas tradition revolves around the memories of my granfather's mother, known to one and all by my special name for her "Cookie Grandma".

This amazing woman walked with a cane because she had lost a leg in an accident long before I was born, cared for a bed-ridden husband at home until his death, was an avid quilter (all of us have many, many beautiful quilts that she made), made the best apple pies in the WORLD, AND she made the most beautiful, hand-painted sugar cookies for every holiday. Her Santa cookies had raisins for eyes, painted rosy cheeks, a red sugar-crystal encrusted hat, and a coconut beard. Each one was a mini work of art. There were also angel cookies, reindeer cookies, stars, etc. She made hundreds of cookies every year for friends and family for Christmas (and don't even get me started on the Easter baskets she made!)

Cookie Grandma has been gone for nearly 15 years now and we still miss her.

Anyway, my sister was lucky enough to inherit the famous cookie cutters so for the past several years we get together with my cousins and have a big cookie decorating party in honor of "Cookie Grandma". Our cookies aren't nearly as pretty, but we have a great time and relive part of our childhood.

 

[maryliz]

Hi RED team! I have been away for quite some time, and was in WDW last weekend ... sorry Brenda, I think I forgot to tell you that I wouldn't be weighing in this week.

I just wanted to congratulate you all on our Number 1 spot for last week! WEIGH TO GO!

Busy with December birthday stuff all weekend. Talk later!

 

[dare2dream]

We are #1!!

I can not believe how excited I am about that. I am so proud of you all.

SparkPeople's daily tip for healthier holidays

Bring a healthy dish. When attending a party cook a healthy low-cal dish to share. This way you'll have at least one healthy option when you're there.

mom2alix (Rebecca) thanks for sharing your Christmas tradition. How blessed you are to have had a 'Cookie Grandma'. Your 'Cookie Grandma' party sounds like so much fun. I would love to have such an experience with my sisters and cousins.

maryliz welcome home! I do have a note on my weigh in spreadsheet that you were in WDW last week. You mentioned it in you last weigh in PM on December 4. I bet WDW was gorgeous all decorated for the holidays. Please share a little bit about your adventure when you can. Good luck getting back on track with your healthy habits especially with birthday celebrations this weekend. Just take those baby steps and do your best.

I am still working on my baby steps. DH and I went out to dinner tonight. I only had one roll (He had FOUR!). After he only ate half of his naked (undressed) salad I ate the other half and just picked at my entree. I bought half of it home to enjoy tomorrow. I was famished before the meal but did not stuff myself silly. This is a good thing. I am hungry now and will have some fruit before bed.

Sweet dreams Red Team!

 

[winniedapooh]

Morning RED TEAM! I have been bad for the last two days, like I have no self control. I am a stress or emotional eater that is for sure. My extened family is like a human wrecking ball which has come my way the last few days...not nice. I am hoping to do better today and do the treadmill later this afternoon. I want to bake and think that will be fine. I am so close to my first goal and I don't want to blow it! GO RED!

 

[agnes!]

Nothing really awful/bad, but bad to me, kwim? Keep me in your prayers, throw lots of pixie dust my way, think lots of good thoughts. Had a wonderful weekend, then after we got home returned a phone call this evening and *really* it's nothing bad (like people being deathly sick and that kind of stuff), but, just the same, I am going to be really REALLY stressed out over the next few days.

Am trying not to cry, don't know what I am going to do and there's really not enough wine in the house.
agnes!

 

[dare2dream]

I'm so sorry you returned home to bad news. I hope the next few days fly by and the situation improves. I wish I could offer more encouraging words but not knowing the situation I'm afraid I would say the wrong thing. Here are some hugs and I am thinking of you.

 

[bridgetgabbie]

agnes!--I am thinking about you here and sending good thoughts your way. Hang in there, everything always works out for the best.

Robin

 

[agnes!]

This would be no biggie to many of you, but I found out last night that extended family (as in parental types and sibling-types) is coming to my house for a short visit on Wednesday. The house is a mess, compounded with holidays & our post-travelling junk, etc. I have *no* time today to try to clean, I have *no* idea where to start. *And* I will be picking one of them up at the airport around 1:30 or so on Wednesday. There is so much other stuff going on and I hardly *ever* entertain at all...

And I can't cry because of the stuff I have to be at *today*, that has nothing to do with the visit or with anything else going on around here.

This is such a disaster on so many levels.

agnes!

 

[simpilotswife]

Oh man

 

[ohMom]

final week here