Today is the DAY !!!!
Today is the first day of our ...
TURKEY DAY CHALLENGE / CONTEST / TOOL
This thread is to help clarify any questions.
GOAL
Our goal of this event is to estabalish new, healthy and weight loss behavior...While having a little fun competition.
For some of us this is a
CHALLENGE.
We don't like the pressure of a contest, but we do want to challenge ourselves so we can improve our results.
For others of us this is a
CONTEST.
We enjoy a little competition and it gives us that little extra push to do MORE.
We not only are competeing against others... we are competeing against our former selves.
Then for some of us this is merely a
TOOL.
A tool to use to discipline ourselves. A tool to improve our behavior. A tool to change our bad habits.
We don't have to analyze which aspect we are doing this for.
We just want to
utilize it.
-----------------------------------------------------
There are 4 main parts to this competition.
FOOD 
We need to first "define" what our food plan is.
You may choose any food plan of your choice or make up your own.
It is our goal to have a safe and sane plan of eating.
REMEMBER....What we eat is as important as what we don't eat.
After you have determined your food plan ... record it on the first page of your new journal.
Then each day you stay within your food plan... give yourself a sticker.
WATER 
In almost every book, article, or diet .... WATER is an important part of weight loss SUCCESS. We are to drink a minimum of 64 oz of water per day.
Again... each day you succeed at your water goal... give yourself a sticker for that day.
EXERCISE 
Exercise is not only good for your weight loss efforts... it is also good for your physical, mental and spiritual health too. Our goal is to exercise a minimum of 20 minutes per day.
Hopefully your exercise program will include both strength training
and aerobic.
For some of us... it is just getting off the couch and moving.
But the choice of exercise is up to you.
Some of us who have been DORMENT for years...
LOL .... We may have to start with 2 sessions of 10 minutes each.
Don't forget the FUN exercises too. Swimming, bowling, dancing, biking, golf, horseback riding to name only a few.
BUT... NO ...you do not get to count "making whoopee".
It is FUN.... great exercise.... and good for the heart.... but it does NOT count toward your minimum 20 minutes.... Sorry.
Don't forget to "score" your Turkey for completeing this requirement.
Last but not least is to
JOURNAL.
We already have recorded our food plan on page one.
And we are recording what we eat each day... and HOW MUCH we eat too.
We are keeping track of our water intake.
BUT... we all know how many of us eat to stuff feelings... or to celebrate feelings.
Overeating is as much a MIND GAME as a food problem.
A weight loss attempt that does not deal with our emotions is like a three legged stool with only two legs. It is doomed to fall.
So ... we need to write about our feelings.
It can be as simple as MAD / GLAD / SAD. ??
Or it can be as detailed as you want/need.
The important thing is to
WRITE it out.
At least write out a gratitude list each day.
Okay... to summarize... we are keeping track of our
ACTIONS.
The first step of action we want to do today is weigh ourselves.
Then we want to record it in our new JOURNAL..
Write out our game plan concerning our food and our exercise.
We need to drink plenty of water.
And we need to WRITE about our day.
That pretty much sums it up.
Ladies... This is NOT as hard as it sounds. LOL
We are "learning" a new way of life here.
We are "learning" a new way to eat.... and a new way to live.
Our old ways DID NOT WORK.
There are several lines that hit home for me.
"Insanity is thinking you can continue doing the same things but get different results"
" SUCCESSFUL people do those things the unsuccessful people would not do"
"HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT ????"
Okay ladies...
Let's take this opportunity to
CHANGE the things we did in the past.
Let's
DO what needs to be done.
Let's
WANT IT bad enough to take the ACTION needed to succeed.
Why stay Turkeys... when we can SOAR like the EAGLES.
Turkey Day Challenge /Contest /Tool
I really suck at buying things..I just forget and forget.. it might already be obvious that I usually don't even go grocery shopping till our fridge is empty (maybe its being a college studeent? 
:
Dancing with my arms. Richard simmons has a video called "Sit Tight" that seems silly in the beginning but it has helped. There are other sitting exercise videos too. I will come back and post a web site for a lady named BLISS. She has some good ones I hear.
