[Terri in MO]

To change behavior, it is said to take 21 consecutive days to make the new behavior habit or to undo bad habits. This challenge is to help us focus on behavioral changes.

Think about what you want to focus on for a three week period. Do you want to commit to journaling, drinking water, exercising, or undo any poor habits? Be realistic about what you can really commit to doing every day. Set as few or as many as you want. Start with one for the first week and build up over the next week or start with them all now. There are no rules as this challenge is to help us achieve our goals for the long run. Post your goals and periodically post how you're doing. At the end of the three weeks, post how you did overall whether its new insight, pounds lost, or improved physical condition. Have fun and feel great!!

Please join me as I start my first 21-day challenge. I will be starting a new thread each Friday because often the weekends are one of our biggest undoings. Join us whenever you want. Just don't give up if it gets tough. Rethink and revise your goals. Just keep challenged!

[Terri in MO]

Here's my overall goals for the first challenge:

1. Focus on planning and journalling.

2. Stay within my weekly food point allotment.

3. Rebuild exercise stamina.


To achieve this, for week one, I commit to:

1. Journalling food everyday using WW Online journal. Track my points banked in my calendar.

2. Increase my strength-building exercise time to 20 minutes daily.



:sheep:

[j-ann]

GREAT IDEA!

Let me see.....
This week I will:

1. Get myself thru the weekend without any unscheduled stops at Mickey D's or Burger King. If I stop it will be for a planned salad and iced tea.


2. Limit myself to one evening snack by spreading more of my points out during the day.

[COLOR=royalblue] These two steps, along with consistant, pre-meal, journaling should help me "in the long run" become more aware of planning filling, healthy, point-friendly meals and learning to control my habit of "picking" in the evening.[\COLOR]

That's enough of a challenge for me this week.

[slutbunny]

I want deeply to increase my commitment to these two things (both of which I think will help me on my wt loss journey):

1) Time alone with my husband - this is a stress-reliever, essential for our relationship, and a good opportunity to talk about things that make wt loss harder as well. Plus, fun!

2) Hiking. I love it, we don't do enough of it. I'm committed to two hiking days each week - even if its only a shorter, mile long hike.

To this end, this week:

1) kids are in NYC so that makes time together sorta simple - but in the spirit of making time together, we'll be going to the movies today as a date, ya know?

2) Tuesday we'll take the newly returned kids with us to Waterrock Knob - our favourite 1 mile hike. We're headed out of town Thurs - Sun for the 450-mile long yard sale - so I'm gonna have to count walking the sale for the second bout of hiking. Certainly I'll be on my feet and moving for 6 + hours each day. *g*

Thanks for starting the thread!

[Darby10]

Good Morning All~

This week, a day at a time, I will maintain my food journal, stay within my points, and exercise minimally 3 times this week. Friday, when I go to the WW Center, anticipate a weight loss by staying On Program.

It's not easy to stay focused and OP, but we can do this.

Darlene

[Terri in MO]

Happy Sunday!

Three days into the first step of our challenge.

I've been very faithful to journalling and therefore staying within my point range. This is probably the first weekend in a very long time that I have journalled and not blown myself out of the point water.

I did make my morning exercise a 20 minute workout. I do a variety of upper body exercise with hand weights, various types of sit-ups and leg lifts. These are things I can do after I've showered and still half asleep. I have been doing this fairly reguarly (at least 3 times) for 2 to 3 months now. I can feel the muscles developing definition but I'm not really seeing it. So its time to take it up a notch and increase my reps.

I'm off to drag out a Leslie Sansone tape and see how that kicks my butt! Then its time to scoop the dog poop (one of the non-joys of pet ownership) in the back yard.

Let's get challenged!!!!

[j-ann]

So far so good for me too!
Stopped at Mickey D's yesterday and ordered only an iced tea at the drive thru. YES!!!

Only had popcorn after dinner.

OOOH changing habits is hard but the little successes add up to a new me in the long run.

J-Ann

[Terri in MO]

Day four of the challenge has gone well. I did my twenty minutes of morning exercise and its feeling really good. It good when the body feels strong and stretched out before hitting the day. I just got to remember that feeling!

I've been doing some thinking today after my successful weekend. For so long now, weekends have been my downfall. My undoing almost every week. I've decided to face some truths about my weekends and our lifestyles (DH and I) and quit fighting them.

Truths:

1. DH and I like to eat breakfasts out. When we do, we enjoy the traditional foods (biscuit or pancakes, bacon or sausage,etc.) And we enjoy chocolate milk.

2. DH loves steak and we're going to have it once a week unless I can get him off on something else.

3. The weekend is when we're going to most likely have our biggest or most point laden meals.

I am not going to be very successful in changing all of those things because a common thread in all of this is that DH is involved. I can't force him to change his habits. I can try to help him but, hey, we BOTH really enjoy these habits.

So, here are some things I am going to try to change in my own behavior:

1. Bank points during the week through careful planning and exercise. Something I can draw from if needed and still end up with banked points at the end of the week.

2. Have my breakfast out and then eat very lightly the rest of the day. Or if I know we're having other big meals, choose something lighter but still satisfying. Learn to make tradeoffs!

3. Have steak with DH and eat only salad along with it or enjoy a chicken griller allowing him to occassionally have all the steak to himself.

The key is to work around what I don't really want to change about our lifestyles.

[Darby10]

Love breakfast in a restaurant, and sure got my money's worth at breakfast buffet's.

What I do now, isn't quite the same, but adjusting to it. Order 2 slices of bacon (2 points), 1 or 2 poached eggs (2 or 4 points) specify no butter when poaching egg(s), and will have an English Muffin (2), or "dry Rye" Toast 2 slices (2). 1 TBSP Jam/Jelly is 1 point....so, for a 1 egg breakfast it's 7 points, 2 eggs is 9 points.

Steak was my favorite food. Would indulge several times a week, but since being on WW, had to let go of the RibEye, TBones and NY Strips. Started buying the leaner cuts. I like my beef medium rare. The leaner beef is tough cooked medium rare. As much as I like steak, don't care for roast beef all that much, and long cooking of the leaner cuts of beef tasted like roast beef to me, so just don't buy beef anymore. With WW, can point the type of beef steak I like, but to me, it's just not worth the amount of points it takes to eat that.

Bought a George Foreman Grill, heard a lot of good things about them, and bought Laura's Lean Ground Beef, as well as store brand lean ground beef. Every single time, they were "tough" and tasteless. So, don't buy ground beef anymore either. Must not be using it right, very disappointed in the George Foreman Grill and just use it now for reduced calorie bread and ff sliced cheese, a nice sandwich for 1.5 points with tomato soup.

Buy the "other white meat", pork tenderloin and it goes on special all the time. I like it nearly as well as the beef I used to consume.

It has taken me 5 months to adjust to low fat/fat free,....whatever, over regular, but, am adjusting and glad because it leaves me a lot more points.

Congratulations to all who are making small (and large) subtle changes, know firsthand it's not easy. It encourages me to stay OP too.

Darlene

[slutbunny]

Just a note about the Foreman Grill and tough, dry cooking - to make a low point burger:

(this makes 6 burgers)
1# of the leanest ground beef going
1/4 cup dijon mustard
seasoning to taste (I use chopped onions, pepper, and Mrs. Dash table blend)

Mix it all together, form six burgers, cook until done on the FGrill.

The 1/4 mustard means the patties your form will be very, very moist. This is a good thing - and comes out in the cooking.

I use similar techniques for Chicken (always marinate, also lift the lid and douse with left over marinade once or twice during cooking), steak and pork chops.

***
No hiking yesterday - kids were in very, very late as their plane was delayed. This meant we didn't get home 'til after midnight. Today is planned as a get back in the swing of things day - Subway for lunch, walking either here or in the woods planned for early evening.

We'll be out of town (or working like maniacs) until Sunday - so I'll check in later.

Terri - I loved your post about "truthes". Its something I've had to look at and realize as well - knowing what to change is more important than just willy-nilly changing everything.

[Darby10]

Thanks Bunny for the tip on cooking burgers on the George Foreman Grill......will give it a try.

Darlene

[Terri in MO]

Hi long runner challengers!

How did we do on our first week? I had a great start and it kind of fell apart between work and losing our baby horse. I'm struggling today but I know I can't give up. I am going to start a new thread for our second week.

So, post how you did, what worked, what didn't and start thinking about our next week. I'm going to carry over my goals and then add to or may leave the same.

Hope you are still energized and challengeized so let's keep going! (I'll be better once I get past Saturday and going to farm for the first time without our baby).

[j-ann]

Greetings,

First week went pretty well for me. I'm conquering the Fast Food devil and working on my nighttime snacks.

If I can keep it together 2 more weeks I'll probably add adding walking to my exercise routine. Huff- Puff

See ya soon,

[Darby10]

Congratulations to all those who stayed OP and made healthy choices over the unhealthy ones.

This was a good week for me.....Weight Watchers Weigh in showed a 4.4 loss this past week......yeeehaw!

Darlene
320/259/1??