Welcome to the Delicious for Christmas 2015 Challenge!
Guess what, you gorgeous gum drop penguin? Next week it will be 8 weeks until Christmas! Say whuuut? Time for another of my spread sheet challenges! For any newcomers - welcome! Please read the rules below to find out more about this challenge.
This challenge…is the hardest challenge of the year. To get to Christmas you have to face Halloween candy, Thanksgiving madness and Christmas treats galore. I know in my family the entire month of December is a treat yo’ self extravaganza, so please only join if you are going to be dedicated to staying accountable towards Christmas.
For this challenge, BE REALISTIC! Are you aiming to maintain or lose? Set your standards a little lower for this one, because it’s good to enjoy the holidays with family, but it’s also good to not go overboard and remember you have an overall goal in life to achieve! One helping of food is enough! So let’s support each other in these trying months and make sure we feel proud by the time 2015 is over and we can say hello to 2016 feeling confident and ready to face the new year!
Here’s the aim of the game…lose the most percentage of body weight by Christmas and sit in your living room on Christmas morning in your PJ's and feel healthier and happier than ever. The challenge will run from Monday 2nd November to Sunday 27th December, winners will be announced on Monday 28th December and awarded shiny badges to include in their forum signature! Check them out:
Let's Keep This Simple! Please Read These Rules!
You can join this challenge at any time up until the final week of the challenge!!
Enter your Username, Starting Weight (at the weight you are at NOW), which forum you're joining from (20-Somethings, Chicks up for a Challenge or 100 lb. Club) and scroll to the right and enter your Goal Weight.
The rest is all filled out automatically by the spread sheet monkeys! Don't worry, they get plenty of bananas.
Week by week enter your weight on any day you want between Monday and Sunday.
Be sure to have your weekly weigh in on the spreadsheet by Sunday, because I make the charts on Monday. In the spreadsheet when the column is labelled "WK 1 8/31", that means the week BEGINS on the 31st August NOT the particular day you have to weigh in!
Check back in to the thread and I'll publish a weekly chart to show who's dominating over us all.
If you want to take a break from weighing in then right click the cell for that week and select "Insert Note" (definitely not a "comment" because these won't move with your username if new members join the spreadsheet!) and add your reason for not weighing in.
If you don't weigh in for more than 2 weeks without a noted reason you will be moved to Standby. Come to the thread and opt back in if you want to re-enter the challenge.
Optional before and after measurements challenge! Read below:
I've included a tab on the spreadsheet to enter your measurements! Measure yourself at the beginning of the challenge and at the end to see how much you shrink! -->Access this optional sheet here!<--
That's it!* A huge part of this challenge is the community support, so please use this thread to talk to each other and update us on your progress. It’s less about just saying “today I weigh ___” and more about actually communicating with fellow sexy candy panda’s and talking about your life and all its ups and downs. Think of this thread more like a chat thread rather than just a place to post weights. We're here for you on your road to awesomeness!!
*FAQ
Can I change my Goal Weight once the challenge has begun? ~ Yes!
There's a - mark in my cell for a week, but I know what I weighed! Can I change it? ~ Yes! The more information you can put in the better.
My weight changed during the week but I already entered my weight, can I change it? ~ OF COURSE! I always like to use my lightest weight of the week and that's perfectly acceptable to change a weight as the week progresses.
The chat thread for my forum is dead...can I talk in a different thread? ~ Absolutely! The 20-something thread is the most active in these challenges, please feel free to drop by no matter how old you are. We honestly wouldn't know the difference even if you're not in your 20's!
Enter your starting weights now and the challenge begins November 2nd!!
Last edited by Riestrella; 11-04-2015 at 04:04 PM.
I'm in! I'm going to put in my starting weight at the end of the Halloween Challenge, as hopefully it will be a different number from what it is right now.
Going to need to be super on to it for this challenge, my office is NOTORIOUS for ongoing treats from now until Christmas.
My family are coming for Christmas, and we're doing a Disneyland trip as well, so I want to drop at least a few pounds, if not more.
I'm going to update my starting weight at the end of the challenge as well.
My goal is 166.5, which would be a 25% weight reduction since July. I feel pretty good when I'm in the 160's.
I'm going on a Caribbean cruise with my in-laws (that I adore) for Christmas. Bathing suits and cocktail dresses, oh my! I've not bought a thing yet. Gonna go at the last moment in December, I'm sure. This challenge is a great way to end the year!
I am not going to join the spreadsheet since I found weighing myself too often to just sabotages me but I would love to join the chat on this as I am going to be committed throughout the holidays!
I absolutely LOVE Christmas! Or, well, the weeks leading up to it. So, everything past Thanksgiving and up to Xmas morning. I love it with a fierce and unholy love! Anyway, I'm so excited!
And OMG, the image of gumdrop penguins is so cute!
I am so in!
This is going to be fun, guys! Could be difficult, but amazing!
Very excited for this challenge! I'll update my numbers tomorrow.
I think this year the holiday season will be a bit easier on me, since I don't live near my family and won't have nearly as many food-related events to attend because of that (though honestly I'm pretty sad to not be able to be at all the shenanigans...I don't think I'll even be having a Thanksgiving dinner this year). However, my parents and brother are visiting for an entire week at Christmas! We will surely have a few splurge days but they got a suite with a kitchen so that we can cook meals together and not eat out the whole time.
I think my exercise will probably suffer a bit once it gets cold. I may need to try to find a gym to use for just the winter months! Or buy lots more cold weather gear.
NNS - I'm the same way as you, this year is my first year away from my family. One good thing is that I won't be giving in to all the food temptation that happens this time of year. My family definitely focuses on food and drink for Christmas. That's so great that your family is coming to Colorado for Christmas! I'm sure the snowy mountains will be an amazing back drop .
So, what are everyone's holiday plans? Going away, staying home, fleeing the whole thing and running away to Hawaii?
I will be visiting a lot of friends and relatives, and I have four Christmas parties to go to, plus four other holiday events, plus Thanksgiving and a wedding before we even hit December. I'm spending a lot of overnights at other people's homes, too. It's like a food and drink gauntlet.
I usually don't have a problem overeating at an event. It's the leftovers I'm around that are the problem, especially while I'm staying with others (if I can't control myself at home, I pitch the item...can't do that at someone else's house).
But hey, it's all choices, either good or bad. If I choose to feed myself well and healthily and don't let myself get hungry, I should be fine. (Just in case, cross your fingers for me!)
NNS: I'm really excited for the challenge, too!
I'm sorry you won't be around family for the holidays (that's never fun when you miss people you love), but you're right that it will likely make your eating easier. I have no less than eight holiday parties to go to from mid-December through January 1st. It's a lot, with lots of food everywhere.
If you figure out the trick to exercise in cold weather without wanting to off yourself (or is it just me who feels like that?), let me know.
Penny - This year is my first year away from my family! I'm pretty bummed out about it, but it's only fair since the BF stayed with me last year. I think after this year now we're "even" we'll just go to our own families for Christmas! I've only got one Christmas party on the radar, the one that's held here at the BF's parents house. Apparently it's an epic affair, they get it catered and the BF's sister makes hundreds of delicious cookies. It's going to be tough! But portion control, portion control, portion control.
NNS and Riestrella - Like you this is my first Christmas not spent with my family either. I'm going on a cruise that week with my in-laws. My parents are gonna watch my dog, so I will see them before and after, but don't imagine I will spend too much time at there house after the cruise. My husband and I will just want to go home and make sure our house is still there. My younger brother missed Christmas two years ago and it was weird. I hope its not bad for my mom without me there.
Penny - "Food and drink gauntlet" That comment is hilarious and so very true. I have two Christmas parties to go to and I'm doing Thanksgiving twice in Nov. Like you I don't overeat, but I do like to have wine and cocktails. (I've not had any alcohol since July!) I think I'm just gonna say yes to one small glass of wine per event (of at all) and then enjoy myself on the Christmas cruise. When I come home I'll get real again.
Last edited by leopardspots; 10-31-2015 at 10:48 AM.
Riestrella: I know I'd miss my family a lot if I didn't see them around the holidays. I hope you get to at least talk with yours a lot, or Skype or something.
Wow, that Xmas party of your BF's family sounds so fancy! And like it'll be tough to limit yourself! But you can totally handle it. You're a pro!
Leopardspots: Man, everyone's away from family this year! Not easy, but let me tell you, a Christmas cruise sounds AMAZING! Is it going to be decorated for Xmas? With lights and trees and stuff? If so, how great!
Yep, the multiple holidays thing seems to be popular. I think enjoying yourself but keeping your food/drink intake moderate is a good plan.
Have a great time on your cruise!
I'm excited for this challenge and also for Christmas! I love to bake which can be slowing to weight loss, but holiday baking is great because instead of eating it, I can give it away to friends or serve it at family gatherings.
Last year I maintained my weight through Christmas but it was such a big interruption to my plan that it threw me off track and it took a long time before I started to lose again. So my extra challenge this year will be to pick up right where I left off after all the festivities.
~*Delicious for Christmas 2015 Challenge!*~
Welcome to the Delicious for Christmas 2015 Challenge!
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I'm pretty bummed out about it, but it's only fair since the BF stayed with me last year. I think after this year now we're "even" we'll just go to our own families for Christmas! I've only got one Christmas party on the radar, the one that's held here at the BF's parents house. Apparently it's an epic affair, they get it catered and the BF's sister makes hundreds of delicious cookies. It's going to be tough! But portion control, portion control, portion control.
