My 5 pre-challenge challenge:

1. Went for a 3 mile run at 6 am.
2. Fixed my husband a healthy lunch to take to work that included fresh veggies and fruit.
3. Did step aerobics and kickboxing moves while watching TV instead of just sitting on the sofa.
4. Searched vegan recipes online.
5. Planned healthy vegan meals for the next week.

Originally Posted by chellez:
Dee - Did you ever get my PM about the first Tanya Huff book?

Ooops. I did get it, I just promptly forgot about it. I swear I will find you a copy. Keep reading Bob for now and give me a couple of days. No one at work is admitting they borrowed it, so I'm getting a new one. :mad:

Originally Posted by onthetee:
PRE CHALLENGE CHALLENGE

Name five things you are doing today to make you and/or your family healthier.

• Had a great 110 minute workout at the gym.
• Resisted the urge to just eat a Balance Bar for lunch (convenient, you know) and instead made some falafel and and had a spinach salad.
• Am going to pick up our weekly CSA organic produce box at 3pm. Ordered lots of extras this week...:D
• Told the girls that the TV is off for the rest of the day. (So they are in my office with me!)
• The office where I work on M&F called and said that there is a great Chinese lunch provided for all employees in honor of the receptionists today. "No thanks!" That would not be good for me health!

PRE CHALLENGE CHALLENGE

Name five things you are doing today to make you and/or your family healthier.


Alright, I've never done a Biggest Loser Challenge before so I am super excited! I love this pre-challenge.

1. Did Pilates for an hour at the gym.
2. Have already drank 3 of my planned 5L of water.
3. After Pilates I planned all my meals for the day to make sure I don't go off track.
4. It is Bike to School day today so the boys and I are going for a long bike ride this afternoon since we are too far from the school for them to ride to it today.
5. I am going into the center to discuss self-sabotage. I feel that I have slacked (hence me doing this challenge) since I keep hearing how good I am doing.

Interested in joining a team if there's a spot open. Not really sure what i'm supposed to do. Does someone pick what the weekly challenge is and we all follow??? Or do we create personal challenges???? How do i choose a team? I haven't been on here in a while, and i have maintained my ticker weight which is good. Part of me feels let down however to think about where i could be. Last time i joined the site i guess i didn't really find the companionship on other threads if that makes sense. I tapped into the 20 somethings, and it just seemed like it wasn't personal enough to get to know people. So i guess i'm looking for a closer more intimate support group. I'm pretty self-motivated for the majority of the time, and others i don't think a crane could lift me off the couch one extreme or the other. It's hard for me to set small goal like drink x amount of water a day and what not i need to push myself more otherwise i get bored. I'll admit i'm needy....oh...and im from MN.

I have seen a couple of posts from people wanting to join the challenge. I just wanted to let you know that the signups are actually closed for the challenge. We are in the process of gathering starting weights for those people who did make the signup deadline and forming the teams. Sorry about that, BUT...you can keep an eye out because this challenge usually starts up again every 13-16 weeks, so check back!

Good afternoon all,

Just relaxing a bit before it's time to go make dinner so I thought I'd drop in and try and catch up (yikes).

Rhonda - I suppose it's a lot of calories burned, but some of that is because I'm carrying so much extra weight. I'm also lucky at the moment to have the time to do it. I've noticed this week as the garden work starts that it's getting a little harder to work it in, but I do plan to try. I'm not counting the gardening either (although as some of it has been heavy work, maybe I should be)!

Chellez - one of these days your luck will run out with the speeding. The ticket I got in college cost me $125, although today it would be likely that I would lose my licence for 7-days along with the car being impounded for that period of time. If convicted the fine would be between $2000 and $10000. I was doing 60km (37.5mph) over the speed limit at the time. Anything over 30mph (50km) is now considered street racing in Ontario. So if you ever visit Ontario --- slow down. :)

Roni - alcohol will dehydrate you, although it sounds like you didn't eat either. Usually that's the problem with drinking - the munchies!

Nori - are you eating enough to support that kind of workout? That's always my problem, trying to do too much on too little fuel. It will likely freak some people out, but on my lifting days (days I burn about 1200 cals in exercise) I've been eating 2600 cals (30% protein), although because of adding other exercising (gardening, light swimming) I've changed it to 2800. I'm still running at about a 2lb/week loss overall.

Onthetee - I like the idea of a pre-challenge challenge, so here goes:

* slept just over 8 hours
* cleaned out another berry patch (mmmm... berries in a couple of months)
* did my morning exercises even though I didn't feel like it
* got planned meal out (ready to cook soon)
* did my lifting in the afternoon followed by a nice relaxing swim afterwards

Laurie - congrats on the additions to your family.

Trooworld - :welcome: (although this is my first challenge as well)

Originally Posted by RealCdn:

Nori - are you eating enough to support that kind of workout? That's always my problem, trying to do too much on too little fuel. It will likely freak some people out, but on my lifting days (days I burn about 1200 cals in exercise) I've been eating 2600 cals (30% protein), although because of adding other exercising (gardening, light swimming) I've changed it to 2800. I'm still running at about a 2lb/week loss overall.

You know what? I was JUST contemplating this. I had another 1000+ calorie burning exercise session today. I don't factor in the calories I burn though. I still continue to eat the approx 1800 calories as usual. Just the same as my day(s) off of exercise. I think I'll try to add a few hundred calories those 3 days and see if I can bust this 251.8 plateau I'm stuck on. I'm actually kinda an idiot when it comes to the science of exercise. I LOVE to exercise and I love what my body can do. But I need to learn more.

I cannot wait for the challange to begin! This is my first time, but I really need something to keep me focused. I really look forward to getting to know everyone.

Today after work I went to the gym, even though the voice in my head was trying to tell me to go home instead (I hate that voice!). I did legs/back weights and 20 very intense mins on the bike--I recently started playing w/ the different programs on the bike and found some that kick my butt.

I haven't gotten on the scale, yet, waiting for the weekend (and TOM to end) to do that.

I'm having a bad evening to match my bad morning :cry: just nothing has gone right today. On the way home from Allie's gymnastics Tyler dumped half a bottle of gatorade all over his seat, in trying to hurry and get out Allie dribbled some of hers as well, then they let the dog out of the house while I was cleaning up the mess and she barked at the neighbors until I yanked her back into the house, then Allie was swinging on the porch swing and whacked Tyler in the side of the head with the corner of the swing. She jumped off the swing, ran in the house, and hid in her room, she could tell I was just about to explode. All that happened in less than 10 minutes :eek: then I realized I have nothing quick to make for supper so I'm cooking last minute and my head is starting to ache.

I have only gotten 15 minutes of exercise in so far, but as soon as I get them fed, bathed, and in bed I am going to put in a good 2 hour marathon and watch some TV. Then I am taking a hot bath and going to bed...hopefully not to the same dream I had last night. I was watching headline news when I fell asleep last night, so I'm wondering something on there could have sparked my dream, it was a rerun of Nancy Grace when I startled awake I think, so knowing what is on her program a lot of times it could have come from that. It has left my mind mostly, but I have been calling hubby to tell him how much I love him and squeezing the kids to death today.

My pre-challenge 5 list:

1. Go to the gym EVERY day and WORK IT!!:lifter:
2. Increase my water intake. (I'm so bad at this)
3. Deal with feelings instead of eating them away
4. Resist eating less, when I KNOW I should eat more for all the exercise I'm doing. (NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES TO SEE A DIFFERENCE ON THE SCALE!!!)
5. Work on my TEAM skills so I can be a great team member. I plan on being a cheerleader NOT a coach.


To chellez: OMG...I'm sorry I have your book for so long, but it is awesome and I'm slowly savoring every SEXY, STEAMY chapter. Holy crap, this book is GOOD!

It's 4pm. That killer time of day when I have one more hour of work before I get off at 5pm. I'm SO BORED! After work I'm off to the gym for an hour step class and about 15 minutes on the elliptical. Then it's time to do laundry.

52 minutes to go.
Beth

Originally Posted by Nori71:
You know what? I was JUST contemplating this. I had another 1000+ calorie burning exercise session today. I don't factor in the calories I burn though. I still continue to eat the approx 1800 calories as usual. Just the same as my day(s) off of exercise. I think I'll try to add a few hundred calories those 3 days and see if I can bust this 251.8 plateau I'm stuck on. I'm actually kinda an idiot when it comes to the science of exercise. I LOVE to exercise and I love what my body can do. But I need to learn more.

I'm the worst person to be giving advice, but even adding a post-workout meal might be a good idea. I usually take a protein shake and fruit salad, and sometimes add soy nuts as well. This for most people would be all in one blender (protein shake, peanut butter, fruit). :)

I just know that the first time I tried losing weight I did lose a lot to start with, then added exercise, and nothing. So I ate less, worked out harder (as well as having a job where I could be on my feet all day so I did that as well). Combine that with very little sleep (5 hours was a good night) and it ended badly - with me run down and unable to fight off a simple infection. Adding exercise is a great thing, but I think I've learned my lesson this time and added a little more fuel to compensate.

I changed many other things as well, but really hard working out requires really good fuel (ie. good food as well). I figure it this way, even if you add 300 cals 3 times a week, that's only 900 calories. The worst thing that should happen is that in 4 weeks you might not lose a pound (if you're losing), or you might gain a pound. I suspect neither will happen, but if you're stalled it's likely worth the risk. I don't know how long the plateau is though. I've promised myself not to freak out for at least 5 weeks. (I did before after 3 and without changing anything it corrected itself.)

Originally Posted by :
He weighed in at 10-14 and was 24" long.

First off Congrats! 10-14!!! That is more than my twins weighed together at 4-9 and 18" and 4-11 and 17".

Originally Posted by onthetee:
PRE CHALLENGE CHALLENGE

Name five things you are doing today to make you and/or your family healthier.

1. Buying POP foods and making sure other foods are not in the house
2. Exercising daily and encouraging DH to join me
3. Turning off the TV in the evening and encouraging other family activities instead
4. Trading the weekly restaurant meal for donating to our local food pantry (the same amount of $)
5. Buying a new electric bicycle and walking and cycling instead of driving

:)