Welcome to the CAROUSEL of PROGRESS challenge for December 2015!!

[pjlla]

Dec 14


Today is NATIONAL ROAST CHESTNUTS DAY! Isn't that interesting? The only thing I know about roast chestnuts is the SMELL! The smell of roast chestnuts IMMEDIATELY transports me to Christmas-y New York City on a cold December evening. I am young (perhaps 12 or 14 years old??) and in the city for the very first time with my family. Just a mere whiff of roasting chestnuts and I cannot help but remember that night!


Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

 

[CruisingKate]

Oooo, I love the smell of roasted chestnuts! Only ever smelled them in NYC, so I share that wonderful memory.

When my oldest was a little guy, he loved being read to and especially loved sensory books like "Pat the Bunny". During his first holiday season, we bought a Christmas sensory book that became a beloved memory for our whole family. One of the pages featured a scratch and sniff Christmas tree -"it smells piney and perky. It smells Christmas-good". We love the scent of our Christmas tree because it evokes memories of all Christmases past but especially reminds me of my kids' first Christmas.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Sorry I have been absent so far but the week in Disney got in the way of my weigh ins...the first Sunday weigh in I showed no change at all. During the week in Disney I lost 1.2 lbs so I stand at 17% of my goal for the month.

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

My mom used to burn Yankee Candles a lot during the holiday season, especially right before the Christmas Eve parties that we used to have. I don't actually know which candles she burned but a lot of the fall scents remind me of that time. I've never smelled roasted chestnuts before! Do they taste good?

 

[acbshada]

This is going to be a crazy jumble of random replies as I'm trying to catch up and doing a bad job at it.

Do you have a favorite holiday movie that you always watch this time of year? Maybe something popular like ELF or Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, or of course The Santa Clause..... or perhaps your favorite is something a bit more obscure. SHARE your favorite holiday movie!

"White Christmas" with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye has always been a Christmas tradition for me. My elementary school music teacher started showing it to us in kindergarten, and I loved it from the start. We watched it every year, and so I just continued on with it throughout my adult life. "Scrooged", "The Muppet Christmas Carol", and "Mickey's Christmas Carol" are also on my list, though.

How do you volunteer? I'm sure if you think about it, there are lots of things, big and small, that you do throughout the year to donate your time, money, energy to causes that you feel are worthy! What causes would you LIKE to volunteer for/donate to if you had more time/money?

I don't get the chance to volunteer as much as I used to. My workplace has volunteer opportunities that pop up throughout the year, though, and I try to take advantage of those. I've enjoyed going to the local food bank and helping them out with random projects these last couple of years. However, my main cause is cancer research and funding, and I would love to devote more time to that.

I am no longer overweight!!! Well, at least yesterday I was not. I did not step on the scale today after a birthday party for my BFF yesterday, so I am officially still at yesterday's weight. It was such a great feeling when my one weight tracking app turned all green in the background from yellow!

This is FANTASTIC news!!! Good for you!

So I did MFP for a while and really didn't see any results. That's because I had 1500 calories I could eat in a day. I could either eat smart choices or I could eat Oreos. I would rather eat Oreos of course! So that program didn't teach me to live a healthy lifestyle. It was simply calorie restriction for me. With WW I know that almost all fruits and veggies are zero points. So when I'm hungry it's much more tempting to reach for an apple than a bag of chips because it won't cost me anything! But with programs like MFP they both cost calories so I didn't often choose the apple.

I actually never gave much of a thought to Weight Watchers, but I really like your descriptions here regarding MFP vs. WW. I tried out MFP for a while, just to get an idea of portion size, but I backed off of it because I was getting obsessive with calorie counting. So I like the points idea. Nice!

As far as Christmas music, I have a love for the ridiculous. My Christmas playlist is very heavily weighted with things such as the Beach Boys' Little St. Nick, Snoopy v. The Red Baron, and I Want a Hippopatamus for Christmas.

These are all awesome songs. I'd steal your playlist in a heartbeat.

Wow, this month is crazy busy. I should have some time to catch up tomorrow. But for now want to report in at -1 pound, which is 25% of goal.

Woohoo! Good for you! Keep it up!!

During the week in Disney I lost 1.2 lbs so I stand at 17% of my goal for the month.

Sounds like you had a great week! Keep up the great work.

Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

Chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven and then right when they come out and you can smell them all throughout the house. We always left chocolate chip cookies for Santa (and a glass of milk), and that just takes me back to being really young and laying everything out nicely on a plate with my little hand-written letter to Santa. Makes me smile just typing it out, actually. lol

Brought my lunch to work today and didn't forget it! Probably won't make it to the community center for a workout tonight because things are just piling up too much at home. But training for the 10K starts on Wednesday, so I gotta start gearing up my brain for that.

 

[courtneybeth]

Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

Scents don't remind me of things but they remind me of people. When I smell a gardenia flower or a certain type of perfume I am reminded of my grandmother. Or there's a very particular type of cologne that an exboyfriend used to wear and it still weirds me out many years later that someone wears it and I could swear that he was right beside me.


My chatting may be limited over the next two days as I prep for finals - just two more days and I'm officially an MBA!

 

[bigsis1970]

My favorite Christmas movie is Love Actually. I watch it every year!

As far as Christmas music, I have a love for the ridiculous. My Christmas playlist is very heavily weighted with things such as the Beach Boys' Little St. Nick, Snoopy v. The Red Baron, and I Want a Hippopatamus for Christmas. I try to balance it with Bing Crosby and Sinatra but that is really just for show. .

WE could be twins.. LOVE LOVE "Love Actually" and all the Christmas songs you listed my fave Xmas CD is Harry Conick Jr though..

Dec 14


Today is NATIONAL ROAST CHESTNUTS DAY! Isn't that interesting? The only thing I know about roast chestnuts is the SMELL! The smell of roast chestnuts IMMEDIATELY transports me to Christmas-y New York City on a cold December evening. I am young (perhaps 12 or 14 years old??) and in the city for the very first time with my family. Just a mere whiff of roasting chestnuts and I cannot help but remember that night!
View attachment 139921

Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

Not scents of season but well the scent of burning rubber (like tires squeeling) brings me back to my childhood when my Dad was a local stock car driver .. spent every weekend at the local racetrack from the time I was 4 till the an adult! it was awesome..

the smell of bag balm brings back memories of my grammie.. RIP Grammie

the smell of a cigar is the memory of my uncle.. Love when he comes to visit from New York!

 

[bigsis1970]

OH @pjlla Thanks for the info.. I got my new materials and am happy to see fruits and veg still zero but still working out the rest of the program..

 

[jaelless]

Dec 14

Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

Occasionally I will catch a scent in the air of who knows what, and it will remind me of whatever season is coming next. I do not even know how to describe the scent, I just know it as that season is coming. I do remember those scratch and sniff books as a child LOL the most vivid one is the honey from Winnie the Pooh. I like using scents will the seasons. Winter calls for cinnamon, spring is citrus, summer is peaches or coconuts, and fall of course is pumpkin spice LOL

 

[Lady Marie]

Catching up today!

Love the idea of a veggie juice instead of a cocktail.... perhaps you could pretend it is a Bloody Mary??

LOL! I like that idea!

We had my engagement ring sent in to be resized literally every 2 weeks between July and the first week of November because every time it came back from being sized, it didn't fit, even though I would try on the sizers in the store before sending it out (every. time.) and they would fit perfectly... It was SO frustrating, and there were more than a couple breakdowns in the jewelry store, because we couldn't figure out why this just would not work. We went back and forth constantly with the ring being fall-off-my-hand too big, so we'd take it down a half size, then 2 weeks later we'd get it back and it was painfully small, so back it went to go up a quarter size, but when that came back it was huge, so back it went to go down a half size because that was the sizer that fit that time, but when it came back, it was still too big.... Oh, I was a wreck. And on wedding day, I couldn't actually put on my wedding band because it refused to fit - during the ceremony, I ended up just holding it, LOL. But the entire week before the wedding, it fit fine. I didn't even take it on our honeymoon because I didn't want to chance not being able to wear it one day and having to leave it in the room. And of course, I processed it as "My fingers are too fat to wear my wedding ring", which was incredibly frustrating because I KNEW I had just lost 30lbs, and I KNEW I was trying on the 7.5-7.75 sizers rather than the 9's I was trying on just a year before... It was devastating, and I really stressed about it. Well, I started really paying attention, and it turns out that when I'm not drinking enough water, my fingers are the FIRST things that swell up, and boy do they! I still have days where my rings are uncomfortable, or just don't want to fit at all, but now I know that it's a sign I didn't get enough water the day before so I just need to really hydrate and they will most likely be fine the next day!

That's really interesting that water effects your figers so much! And it's funny you mention that because one of the things I HATE about my weight gain is my wedding rings are so snug. Haven't wanted to resize because (positive thinking here) they will be perfect again here in a few months!

Do you have a favorite holiday movie that you always watch this time of year? Maybe something popular like ELF or Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, or of course The Santa Clause..... or perhaps your favorite is something a bit more obscure. SHARE your favorite holiday movie!

Loving the themed questions!!! I love It's a Wonderful Life too-- DH loves Christmas Vacation... I was a one and done on that one though. I've got much more tradition linked to my seasonal playlists though. I love me some Christina Aguleira (sp?!) Christmas album (surprisingly good stuff!) mixed in with Harry Connick and Christmas with the Rat Pack. Love! I used to listen to that driving the 12 hours to south Florida from north GA for Christmas and it always brings back the excitement of the season for me!

Dec 13

2012:
In Florida, Mickey Mouse joins a group of VoluntEARS to deliver nearly 35,000 toys donated by Disney and its cast members to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program.

Do you remember the “VoluntEARS” program that Disney was running for a year? You got a free one-day park pass for participating in certain volunteer programs! I thought it was a terrific idea!
View attachment 139744
How do you volunteer? I'm sure if you think about it, there are lots of things, big and small, that you do throughout the year to donate your time, money, energy to causes that you feel are worthy! What causes would you LIKE to volunteer for/donate to if you had more time/money?

I remember that! Sweet sad story actually-- my cousin's family and I did that. They volunteered for a local children's grief organization, which sadly they needed to use 2 years later when her husband died suddenly. They were so grateful though for having found out about that organization though through the program else they wouldn't have known about them. Crazy how that came full circle though...

I think I've mentioned on here that I am a crazy cat lady volunteer for a local shelter. They rotate their kitties on display at our local Petsmart to get them adopted. They have someone go in 3 times a day to check on them, but my shift is once a week to feed, clean, and play! I love it-- even though it can be sad for ones that I adore who still haven't been adopted. I did try to foster last year, but got too attached and sobbed when I gave him back to go to his new forever home. I still give DH grief for not adopting him ourselves haha!

Dec 14

Today is NATIONAL ROAST CHESTNUTS DAY! Isn't that interesting? The only thing I know about roast chestnuts is the SMELL! The smell of roast chestnuts IMMEDIATELY transports me to Christmas-y New York City on a cold December evening. I am young (perhaps 12 or 14 years old??) and in the city for the very first time with my family. Just a mere whiff of roasting chestnuts and I cannot help but remember that night!
View attachment 139921

Why is it that SCENT MEMORY is so strong? What SCENTS of the season immediately transport YOU to a certain time or place? Do you try and recreate the scents at home (candles, potpourri, etc) or just wait until they happen unexpectedly??

What a wonderful memory!

Staying in seasonal theme, whenever I smell bacon cooking mixed with the aroma of coffee it takes me immediately back waking up Christmas morning! I guess we never prepared that simultaneously unless there was company because that scent is definitely tied to the holidays for me even though it seems like it could apply to any season! haha!

Also my mom used to boil orange peel, cinnamon, and cloves in water on the stove for hours to help the house smell like Christmas. I loved it and do it at my house now. It's just the smell of the season to me!

 

[pjlla]

Just a reminder that today is MONDAY so if you haven't posted or PM'ed me about your progress this week, now is the time to do so! I'll BBL to post the report!..............P

 

[courtneybeth]

The new weight watchers program is taking time to adjust to. My 2 point ice cream bars are now 5 points each and my 2 point sweet treats are now 4 points!

I now have 30 daily points and seem to earn exercise points much faster -- so I'm not sure how this all translates into the old system. I'm a bit perplexed.

Right now I'm just trying to shift my food and meals around so that I'm staying within this new daily total.

 

[DisPup75]

Good luck on those last two finals @courtneybeth ! And then you are done!!! Best feeling ever!

 

[flvy]

Ahhhh I missed the update. This is really the worst time of year for me to do anything but work and sleep. I'm sitting pretty at 50% though. Hopefully I can keep going on full steam ahead.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am very proud of myself: went on a 30 minute run this morning before work. The more often I do this, the easier it gets. I still did not move very fast, mornings just aren't my fastest times. I guess that is a reason why I should never run a Disney race, they all seem to be at ungodly hours!

Yesterday was a really good eating day and today so far has been good, too. I feel like I am getting back into my healthy routine. Of course soon DBF arrives and who knows what kind of havoc this will cause. However, he wants to lose weight as well and we have the best intentions to go out to exercise together and to eat healthy. I am really hoping that if I feed him the same diet I am eating and get him to move that he will drop pounds quickly in order to get him motivated to stick with the plan.

I am a bit sad that my weight fluctuated up half a pound and I am overweight again. But I also know that this is just a number on the scale. And that if all goes well (and it has been going well for three months now), it will only be a matter of time until I will never see a number again that means that I am overweight! This really helps me to focus my mind now during the Christmas season! I am determined to make a proper meal plan for over the holidays. In Germany we kind of have four days this year. The 24th is only half a business day as we celebrate Christmas already on Christmas Eve. And then the 25th (Christmas Day) and the 26th (Boxing Day) are public holidays. And the 27th is a Sunday. So, we really need to be prepared and stock up on healthy foods to last us through those 4 days and to ensure that we don't end up eating cookies and chocolate and then go out to get some pizza or so!!!

@courtneybeth Good luck with the finals! We will throw you a huge celebration here on the thread when you finally are a MBA!!!

 

[pjlla]

Dec 15, 2015



Here we are at the HALFWAY mark of December! Are you making the PROGRESS that you were hoping for.... or just continuing to ride that CAROUSEL without getting anywhere? What are you going to do now to make SURE that the remainder of December is beneficial for your health and your waistline?? Pick ONE action plan you are vowing to STICK WITH until 2015 is over and let us know about it! Maybe it will be drinking 64 ounces of water every day.....or maybe it will be making SURE that you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.... or perhaps you can commit to a healthy OP breakfast every day until the 31st!

 

[bigsis1970]

Dec 15, 2015

View attachment 140106

Here we are at the HALFWAY mark of December! Are you making the PROGRESS that you were hoping for.... or just continuing to ride that CAROUSEL without getting anywhere? What are you going to do now to make SURE that the remainder of December is beneficial for your health and your waistline?? Pick ONE action plan you are vowing to STICK WITH until 2015 is over and let us know about it! Maybe it will be drinking 64 ounces of water every day.....or maybe it will be making SURE that you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.... or perhaps you can commit to a healthy OP breakfast every day until the 31st!

this is a good question.. a short term goal... I am going to commit to tracking - this has fallen to wayside since I was on vacation at the end of Nov. I don't mind tracking at all I just let it slip.. Back at it starting today!

 

[ohMom]

Morning losers!

Magdalene -- cyber high five on seeing the green background! I'm sure it's frustrating to bounce back and forth bc you are right on the line but I have no doubts after the holidays the green background will be your everyday look!!

Surviving my super busy week, we baked tons of cookies sun-mon. I need be strong and really choose wisely when to have a cookie and just one. Thankfully I've lost a lot of my sweet cravings, but we made some of my favs which will be tempting. Balance and moderation!

For volunteering, I had to step back on a lot of the volunteering I was doing when I got sick. Now I make food for our church's funeral meals as much as I'm able too, am trying to be active in our Emmaus community again, and our life group from church does volunteer occasionally as a group. I shop through amazonsmile.com to a foundation that has the goal of lobbying each state to change the laws of what medications are required on ambulances to include the life saving steroids that folks with adrenal gland diseases. It's a cheap medications, but it's not required as the need for it is rare. But hey, we count too!

Gotta get a WO in today to keep on track for my holiday challenge......have a great day!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Dec 15, 2015

View attachment 140106

Here we are at the HALFWAY mark of December! Are you making the PROGRESS that you were hoping for.... or just continuing to ride that CAROUSEL without getting anywhere? What are you going to do now to make SURE that the remainder of December is beneficial for your health and your waistline?? Pick ONE action plan you are vowing to STICK WITH until 2015 is over and let us know about it! Maybe it will be drinking 64 ounces of water every day.....or maybe it will be making SURE that you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.... or perhaps you can commit to a healthy OP breakfast every day until the 31st!

My goal is to run at least 3 times a week (my WW week starts on Saturdays so that's what my weeks will be for this as well) for the rest of the month! I can feel the changes in my muscles and I'm starting to feel stronger and more accomplished.

 

[Flossbolna]

Here we are at the HALFWAY mark of December! Are you making the PROGRESS that you were hoping for.... or just continuing to ride that CAROUSEL without getting anywhere? What are you going to do now to make SURE that the remainder of December is beneficial for your health and your waistline?? Pick ONE action plan you are vowing to STICK WITH until 2015 is over and let us know about it! Maybe it will be drinking 64 ounces of water every day.....or maybe it will be making SURE that you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.... or perhaps you can commit to a healthy OP breakfast every day until the 31st!

Yes, I am very happy as to where I am and I am a bit scared of the second half of the month. So, in the spirit of today's QOTD I will officiall commit to go for a run every second day! And if it is just 15 minutes... They ONLY valid excuse will be icey streets - don't want to slip and break a leg! But so far the weather forecast is far too warm for the season anyway, no real chance of snow and ice currently.

this is a good question.. a short term goal... I am going to commit to tracking - this has fallen to wayside since I was on vacation at the end of Nov. I don't mind tracking at all I just let it slip.. Back at it starting today!

Great choice! And isn't it strange how just stopping to do it makes it so difficult to get started again. I have the same problem.

Magdalene -- cyber high five on seeing the green background! I'm sure it's frustrating to bounce back and forth bc you are right on the line but I have no doubts after the holidays the green background will be your everyday look!!

Thanks!! I am a bit scared of the holidays as I usually end up with quite a gain over the holidays because I use them as an excuse to eat horribly. I am very much motivated to keep a reasonable diet through the holidays and to keep tracking!!

For volunteering, I had to step back on a lot of the volunteering I was doing when I got sick.

Hey, you are doing a big job as volunteer: You are a Moderator here in the DIS! In my book that counts as volunteering!!