For me the crunches works any day.. Or if I "must" pick a date , Maybe the next saturday, after the Jump Rope.. 7/12..
Getting extra points for reporting in time is a good idea.. That way we'll keep motivated to have something to report ..

About the red team, what I've understand their numbers were "to bad" to be posted.. But I really don't know..
BTW, they are saying some really nice words about our Black Team in their thread

CONGRATS BLACK TEAM! What an awesome week you had last week!! Congrats!

Lets go and cheer on red team. Its hard work and we all know they can do it!

Happy belated birthday Smurf

Happy Today Birthday Terri

Congrats teamies for winning this week.

Sorry I have not had time for personals - life has been hectic lately but I am supporting from the sidelines. Trying hard to get back into the exercise challenge again. I really liked the extra booster challenges we had the last round - put a little more oomph in the week over and beyond our regular plans. Thanks Ceegee for pulling this together again!

I thought I had seen numbers for the Red team - maybe just dazed and confused again.

I have a question that I thought someone on here might have answer...

It's about baked potato skin. I was thiking about healthier version of it..and instead of using bacons and stuff, I thought of using brocolli and low fat cheddar as fillings. But instead of regular white potato, I thought of using sweet potato. Do you think that's doable? Has anyone made "healthier" baked potato skin or sweet potato skin?

Thanks!

Yeah, I got it! Thanks so much, Tara!

Congrats to Staja, our biggest loser!

The 30 Day Shred is kicking my butt! I don't know how you guys do it. I'm only on day 3 of level 1 though. Here's hoping my body gets used to it...

It really gets easier...For me, it was around day 6 that it was getting easier.. I did 8 days of lvl 1 and 9 days of lvl 2 with some rest days. Level 3 has actual sit-ups, not crunches and i can't do them for life of me...I did 1 on the first day with modified version but since I was out of breath and all from strength and cardio before that, I couldn't go on after that so I do ab workout from Lvl 2 instead so that at least I'm moving. But I really love this workout DVD! =)

Tara,

Our company cafeteria is small and they are experimenting with some new healthier options.

One is a baked potato bar. It's not the potato itself that's so bad as much as the traditional potato toppings of butter, sour cream, bacon bits etc.

Other more healthy options in addition to your brocolli and LF cheese are salsa, LF turkey chili, chopped chicken breast mixed with black beans, tomatoes and a bit of taco seasoning.

I started getting used to eating sweet potatoes. They are lower in the glycemic index than regular potatoes. I weaned off the butter and now just use a sprinkle of cinnamon.

As for cooking the potatoes and getting the skins crispy, I coat them lightly with olive oil and give them a healthy sprinkle of sea salt and some pepper before I roll them in foil and bake them. I'm usually in a hurry with dinner so I microwave them 3 minutes on each side for a medium sized potato, season them, roll them in foil and stick them in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. There's something about the seasoning and the olive oil that makes them extra tasty. I've learned to enjoy the taste of the fresh potato itself instead of covering it up with fatty toppings. This method also makes the skins crispy.

Hello Team,, My weigh in today.. Yesterday I was at 137,, and today I was up to 139.. Don't know why,, At least that's the same as last week, so there's no gain.. I'll work hard to get down again for next week..!!

Jessica - Congratulations on getting the job!! Whoo-Hoo!!!

Theresia - Those 2 pounds will be off in no time!!

Terri - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Tara - Sounds like you're kicking some fanny!!!

Happy - I cannot get baked sweet potato fries to crisp up. Probably because I'm cooking 2 cookie sheets at one time. There is so much steam in my oven, they just don't get crisp. What's the secret??

Other Team Members - Thank you so much for your kind words!

Julia - How are you doing?

Glamour Challenge - I think we kind of hit this in the Black Team Gettin' Hot challenge.

Troo - I schlepped out of the house yesterday with no makeup and no shower. My hair was wet with sweat and I just put it in a ponytail and slapped on an Astros cap! lol!! Definitely NOT a glamour day for me. I'm going to a wedding tonight though so I've got to get cleaned up!! If I could put my hands up and step away from the keyboard maybe I'd have time to shop for a new dress.

Ceegee - The challenge looks great. Well, not as great as John Mayer, but hey . . .! I'm in for any and all ways to earn points.

Got a ton to do!! BIG HUG!!!

Ceegee-I think we could all come up with at least 5 goals and I think 25 points per goal is good incentive. I also like the updating on time idea as I slacked last month in that area

happy-good tips thanks. Living in Idaho we have potatoes a pleanty and I LOVE them! I skip the butter too and just do cottage cheese and S&P. My favorite part of the potatoes is the skins and love them with olive oil on them too.

Theresia-probably some extra water weight for it to fluctuate that much-next week will be a great weigh in!

Jessica-you (along with your name) seem familuar to me have you ever lived in Utah? Congrats on the job! and good luck with the shred-I might have to look into that soon

To all the rest of my lovely beautiful black teamies HI!

My run this morning felt so slow and slugish my legs felt like iron weights and my knees ached so I felt like my stride was altered so imagine my surprise when I hit a mile marker and looked down to see that I was at just over an 8 min. mile-holy smoly! Now if I could get my distance up to 3.1 miles I can start racing again (a favorite past time of mine). My fastest 5K was 25:08 (back when I weighed 135 and was 4 years younger) and I am dying to get it under 24 min. now!

We have a neighborhood party tonight and my DH birthday is tomorrow so I am really trying to be extra good so I can have a little treat later. I really want to loose 10 lbs this month.

Well I hope you all have a blessed happy Thursday and a GREAT 4th tomorrow. I am off to enter my goals in the exercise challenge thread...

One more challenge -

I've had this little voice in my head saying, "I'm tired . . . " for days.

I hate those words. "I'm tired." I think words like this make it harder to lose weight.

I'm going to banish those words from my life!!!

Hi GG thanks for asking. I am struggling a bit with routine. Just got use to a good one. But now that the kids are out of school...I feel sort of lost. I have my own three home and I run a home child care and have 4 more school agers in care from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm. So its been a challenge then toss in the long weekend! But I will get it sorted out by next week. I really did not want to structure to much for the kids first week off. Free play time is good for them not so much for me LOL.

happy2beme Thank you for the sweet potato recipe. I will have to try it. I eat sweet potato fries all the time but we will see how it goes with the baked potato skin. I never was a big fan of butter. I love sour cream but not sure how that will be with sweet potato. So I will stick to broccoli, lf cheese and salsa. sounds pretty yummy

gg I can't never get my baked potato fries crispy either. It's either soft or burnt. lol