Today is the day !!!
Today we begin our February
Cross-Country Challenge Road Trip.
It does not matter if you gained...maintained... or lost weight in the past. Put that behind you.
Today is a
NEW BEGINNING .. a new challenge ... a new chance to improve your way of life. So everyone needs to wipe your slate clean. Throw away any guilt you may be carrying. Cast away any doubts. It is time to
START ANEW !!!!
Today... Feb 1, 2005 .... step on the scale
:
write down your weight
and start at where you are....
as of today.
----------------------------------------------------------------
GOAL
Our goal of this event is to estabalish new, healthy and weight loss behavior...While having a little fun.
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 record your success at following your plan
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.
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 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, walking the dogs to name only a few.
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 ... AND WE EAT WHEN WE ARE STRESSED !!!!!
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
STRESSED ????
It can be as detailed as you want/need.
The important thing is to
WRITE it out.
Maybe 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 then follow that game plan.
We need to drink plenty of water.
And we need to WRITE about our day.
That pretty much sums it up.
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.
Okay ladies...
Let's take this opportunity to
CHANGEany mistakes of the past.
Let's
DO what needs to be done.
Let's WANT IT bad enough to take the
ACTION needed to succeed.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Now for the
BONUS
Week One is Tuesday - Saturday.
The following weeks will be Sunday - Saturday.
The last weekly bonus ends Feb 26th.
It does
NOT have to be Dr Phil's book as listed on the instruction sheet. You do not have to go buy his book.
But it does need to be one chapter from some POSITIVE reinforcement weight loss book. Possibly ... the "South Beach Plan", " Overeaters Anonymous" .... "Weight Watchers Book"... etc.
It would be great if you shared here what you got from that chapter.. but not required.
It is to replace positive thinking for our old negative thinking.
The daily posting is required on any thread "within the 300+ forum."
Many of us post in other locations too. To earn your bonus you must post on one of the threads within our forum.
Examples... Weekly Weigh In, Cross Country Challenge, 300+ daily #, Bio, Did you exercise today, etc.
The 2 point bonus is pretty self explanatory.
Good Luck my fellow travelers.
I hope we cross paths while crossing the country.
Feb / Cross Country Challenge Road Trip
Map your course ... buckle your seat belts ...
... small details ... and theme.
I am into the FUN part. 
I don't know where to go first!
I hadn't changed my tracker because I weighed at a diff time than before so I wasn't sure if I wanted to count it (or I just didn't want to own up to the 2 pound gain over the weekend 
