November Diet Thread - Christmas Challenge IT'S ON!

[danidance]

This is it. November 1. Time to get our butts in gear for our Christmas Challenge. This is also my birthday challenge. I promised to be 10 pounds lighter than I am now by my birthday, but took a "break" in August that has lasted until now

Let's go for it! I don't know if 10 pounds is possible for me by then given a slow rate of weight loss (all good - I'm not complaining or being ungrateful for the bounty of goodness and positiveness in my life or other things - don't worry if you don't get that reference).

November 1 - time for a fresh start....turn on your engines and set your calendars, ladies....

PS - first thing on checklist: remove hallowe'en candy that no kids came by to get.

[ssipes]

I'm up for it!!!

Currently I have my carbs (and thus my appetite) under control and am newly motivated to get to the gym as many days per week as I can. Also taking the stairs to my 4th floor office/lab and walking around campus as much as possible.

OHW (zero holiday weight) is my motto.

I went in my deptartmental office yesterday and someone had sat a box of chocolates out. Of course I grabbed one. It turned out not to be very good, so I threw half of it away! I know its a small thing but I'm rather proud of myself. I also became aware of communal cupcakes later in the day and didn't go find them.

Sedonia

[weese17]

Yay!

Okay, so I'm curious to hear what everyone's exercise routines are. I'm trying to plan one out now, and my main problem is that I keep overdoing it. For example, I only ate a salad for lunch (on days I work out, I usually eat something carby for lunch), and then ended up working out around 4. It was going to be one of my easy cardio days, but I ended up getting bored with jogging and just RUNNING, full out, for about 20 minutes.

So I ended up completely drained, with no resources at all, on a night that I needed to go to class after work.

Result -- I drank/ate a gatorade, a bowl of cereal, some oreos, a veggie box, a bowl of cream of spinach soup, and I forget what else - all between 5:30 pm and 10 pm, and all in an attempt to refuel. I wouldn't have needed to refuel so badly if I'd either taken it easy, as I had planned, or planned my lunch better.

What are your routines?

[jessedan]

I need to lose exactly 10 pounds too. And it had better come off my A$$ and nowhere else.
Do you mean in one month Dani? Or 10 pounds by Christmas?

Regards
Priscilla (visualizing endless and torturous squats)

[danidance]

Priscilla - by xmas....so almost 2 months :)

Lucy - the refueling thing is interesting. Somehow you have to figure out what your body really needs - those items aren't sounding too healthy but they are sounding like your body is after something (nutritional beyond carbs).

I think "we" - er. that would be me - often think refueling is way more than we need. Maybe you could start by eating half the amount of all that stuff.

Exercise - I need to do it. I'm awful. I have been promising myself to go back to dance class for months. I am going to try to do it soon. I just want a fun bellydance class with no pressure and lots of movement. I'll probably go back to Mesmera's or Fahtiem's classes for a while because they make you sweat.

Hey Sedonia - I think no weight gain is a great goal. I actually have to plan on losing to not gain.

[Adishakti]

Hey guys... I'm with ya. Again. I need to lose 15lbs. Darn Halloween candy is staring me in the face and I can't get rid of it - it belongs to my kids!

Thankfully, I'll be away for the weekend and they'll eat all the good stuff. But behaving for three days, eating in restaurants is not easy! Sure, I know it can be done, but it's just so gosh darn hard.

The plan is to bring some healthy treats with me and hopefully that'll help curb my appetite so I don't overeat. No appetizers, no deserts, minimal drinks and lots of veggies....

My clothes are getting tight and I am not happy about it!

:-(

[Lauren_]

I'm in! I'm finally getting my eating under control, time to add workouts back in. My plan is to get to the gym 3X per week for 20 minutes of cardio & some weight machines. Plus a daily dog walk as long as the weather holds out. I tell myself I only have to walk her a little bit each day, just to stay in the habit, but I LOVE to walk so once I get out there I'll go at least 2-3 miles, usually.

That plus teaching 12 classes a week (5 yoga, 7 bellydance) and rehearsal for a bunch of performances coming up OUGHT to do the trick if I can keep my calories at 1400-1600 per day.

[miriamgamal]

I'm in!

I started Body for Life this week because I really needed some exercise guidance and they have a workout plan with weights and cardio which I'm adding to dance.

The real challenge is going to be next week. We're visiting family and sometimes the food isn't the most "waistline friendly."

Lauren ~ What a workout schedule! Make sure you eat enough! :)

[yasmindiab]

Count me in too! After putting 2 ounces back in this week, I'm SO ready to lose the rest of this weight! 10 pounds by Christmas shouldn't be TOO awful...I just have to start getting back in the gym! (which I hate.)

You know the hard part though...stuffing at Thanksgiving, and cookies and fudge and all that other not good for me crap that my family insists on having for the holidays. Maybe this year will be different, since ALL of the women in my family are doing Weight Watchers...

:)

Sedonia, GOOD JOB on throwing away half the chocolate! :)

~Yasmin Diab

[gwyncara]

Time to get down and dirty!! I'm in! Thankfully, I'll be starting to teach Jazzercise 2 days a week again, plus my weight training, and I got the Hadia's Ultimate BD System from Amity, so that got added in this morning after my stretch routine. Like Adishakti, I can't ditch the candy, it belongs to the kids. But, I did put it away. Out of sight, out of mind. (hopefully...)

[weese17]

Dani - I think you're right about me missing something. The other night, I wandered around my house for hours trying to figure out what exactly my body was craving - I felt like I was missing some vital nutrient, but I couldn't figure out what. The closest I could get was knowing that I really, REALLY wanted apples!

After working out last night, I could just feel how completely depleted my body was. I barely had enough energy to hold my head up. The gatorade helped quite a bit - maybe I'm low in potassium or something. I sweat a LOT when I work out, which is why I have to be really careful about getting enough hydration and the right hydration at that.

A nutritionist is probably not a bad idea.

- Lucy

[weese17]

OH! But in other news, the scale has finally registered my efforts - I have apparently lost one whole pound. :D

[*Shira*]

One thing that has been helpful for me lately:

• Think about what types of snacks I can eat that are better choices than what I've had in the past.
• Make a list of what those are.
• Put the list where I'll find it easily.
• When I go grocery shopping, stock up on those items.
• When I find myself craving a snack, consult my list of planned snacks, and pick one.

In the past, when I've wanted a snack I've ended up eating stuff that was really bad, such as candy, sugary breakfast cereal, etc. Now, I usually pick something from my planned list. This approach seems to be working for me.

Stuff I'm keeping on hand for snacking purposes:

• Raw carrots and celery. My grocery store sells them already washed and cut up, so I don't have that as a deterrent to eating them.
• Fresh fruit. Stuff I keep on hand: bananas, peaches, grapefruit, apples, pears
• Mixed nuts. I buy the mixes that have cashews, Brazil nuts, hazlenuts, and almonds.
• Yogurt.
• Unsweetened breakfast cereal. Just a handful of shredded wheat, without milk or sugar, sometimes satisfies my cravings.
• Bacon. I microwave a slice for 2 minutes. I drain it and give the grease to my cats after it cools off, and I eat the meat.
• Slice of whole-grain bread with peanut butter from the health food store (ie, less sugary than the big-name brands)

[BabsGrrrl]

I was given a really awesome early Christmas gift from my Mom and Dad - 16 personal training sessions! I went and did the paperwork last night and next week will be week one with the trainer.

I have been at the gym this week and even managed to increase my time on the elliptical so that I am nearing my goal of being able to balance on that thing for 30 minutes straight. (For some reason that machine gives me fits, but I LOVE the motion of the stride and the workout I get on it so I keep plugging away at it.)

With having this awesome gift I'm feeling even more strongly about eating correctly too. I'm off to the grocery store to re-stock my desk and mini-fridge at work with good snacks so I am not tempted by the junk food aisle at the CVS across the street any longer.

[ssipes]

Originally Posted by weese17

Yay!

Okay, so I'm curious to hear what everyone's exercise routines are. I'm trying to plan one out now, and my main problem is that I keep overdoing it. For example, I only ate a salad for lunch (on days I work out, I usually eat something carby for lunch), and then ended up working out around 4. It was going to be one of my easy cardio days, but I ended up getting bored with jogging and just RUNNING, full out, for about 20 minutes.

So I ended up completely drained, with no resources at all, on a night that I needed to go to class after work.

Lucy, one trick that I have had alot of success with is to make sure each meal and snack I have has a combination of protein, fat, and carbs. For me, I need about 1/3 of my calories to come from each -- that's alot of protein but I don't metabolize carbs well.

A salad for lunch is good so long as it includes protein and fat. Yes, you can go overboard with the fat if you float it away with ranch dressing, but too often dieters go the other direction and use a non-fat dressing. Use a teaspoon of olive oil at least, and include beans, nuts, tofu, or egg.

If you feel completely drained, you probably just need to eat more. That's why food logs are so important I think. It is easy to eat too much, and it is also easy to (at least for a few days) not eat enough, which in the long run undermines your efforts because you feel crappy and fall off the wagon.

Gatorade is full of sugar. If you think your potassium is low eat a banana.

Sedonia

[straightleftknee]

guess I shouldn't had have that wispa bar I found in the works tuck-box. I'll behave from now on. Target loss 14lbs before xmas.

[weese17]

Originally Posted by ssipes

A salad for lunch is good so long as it includes protein and fat. Yes, you can go overboard with the fat if you float it away with ranch dressing, but too often dieters go the other direction and use a non-fat dressing. Use a teaspoon of olive oil at least, and include beans, nuts, tofu, or egg.

Gatorade is full of sugar. If you think your potassium is low eat a banana.

Sedonia

Hey Sedonia -

Yeah, my salad yesterday had non-fat dressing. I usually make my own balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing because I know that the oil helps my body absorb the nutrients in the salad, but I don't think I ended up with ANY fat in yesterday's lunch. Not good!

Gatorade IS full of sugar, but I hate hate hate hate hate bananas to the billionth power. I WISH I liked them, but just the smell of a peeled banana can bring on the gag reflex. :(

Lucy

[KathyC]

Keep it up girls!

I'm doign the Slimfast regime which I find simple and probably more nutritious than my usual diet!

So far have lost 7 pounds, 3 to go to target (but then it's the maintenance aaargh!).

It'll be worth it!
Kathy x

[danidance]

Lucy,

you definitely sound like you are missing a vitamin of some sort. get thee to the nutritionist and get some input OR make sure you're taking a good multi-vitamin and the Bs and C-complex.

I've gone through that crazy craving only to find that after eating too much one thing - like an apple for instance - was exactly the satisfying thing. Took me a bag of bagels, peanut butter, etc. to figure it out though :)

[suzyq52]

I keep joining for the month but just never seem to do anything at all!!!! I lose a couple of pounds and then put them right back on again! This is the month to buckle down and get serious with changing my eating habits. My son and daughter-in-law just came for a visit - she has lost over one hundred pounds, all through proper eating, keeping track of what she eats, six small meals per day, and an exercise program. After seeing her, I know I can do it!!!!