Pretty nifty that we had to start a new thread, huh? Wow....how cool!

Interesting tidbit about picking our own teams next go round - that would certainly make it interesting. I'm all up for heading up the Black Team again next time around and I'd be all up for any one of you being on the team again (and any former Black Team members, I would gladly welcome them back). We shall see if the black team will make a return next go round.

It is a GORGEOUS day today! We've been outside most of the day. We were going to go to the zoo, but as soon as we got there, the line of cars waiting to get in just to park was backed up past the entrance, so we quickly nixed the idea. We are zoo members so we can go anytime we want to, and I forgot it was Spring Break week, too.
We also went to a Whole Foods market in Tulsa today. I L-O-V-E-D it!!! I just felt healty. I plan to do a lot of shopping there, for sure! The hubby and I picked up a colon cleanse. We haven't done one yet, so I'm excited to try it. Can't wait to see what comes out.

Diva - I'm so glad you got things sorted out!! You go girl!

It is pretty cool that we had to start a new thread. I have gotten so much inspiration and motivation from all of the posts in this challege.

I plan on joining in the challenge again. I want to be on the Black team for sure if we get to pick. I was secretly hoping to be on the black team when I first joined this challenge and was very happy that I got put on the black team.

We are having veggie chili for dinner tonight. It smells great and I am going to eat. Talk to you guys tomorrow.

Veggie Chili? Sounds wonderful!!!!


I find a lot of inspiration here too. I do so much better with my eating and exercising when I'm a part of a challege like this. I think it's the accountability thing.

London, I love you as Captain.

I am not sure if I will do the challenge again for a number of reasons though...I really want to focus less on the scale. I'm going to be starting a scale-free challenge for those of us who want to measure success in other ways, like body fat percentage, days on plan, consistency in healthy eating and exercise, how our clothes fit, and how our body-mind-Spirit feels.

It will be a NSV challenge, really. I mean, weighing won't be verboten for those who want to check at the beginning and again a few times throughout, but it will NOT be the focus!

I will miss being involved with this challenge though. I do think that more than pounds matter to me at this juncture. I did so well the last challenge and have done well this one too even as far as pounds are concerned, but I don't want the pressure of feeling like I HAVE to pull big numbers (it's self-imposed, no worries there, I have felt supported by y'all ).

So, I probably won't do TBL challenge again this next round.

Soulbliss- I love the sound of your challenge, I need to focus so much less on numbers. I need to start doing my measurements more so I don't conentrate as much on the scale.

Tomorrow I signed up or a spinning class, I have never done one before- and I am nervous. All those people come out of there totally drenched I can't wait to do it, I just hope I don't look like a fool doing so!

I got back on the wagon today, I got to the gym, I worked out for an hour and 45 minutes, it just felt so good!

Interested. This seems to be more of where I am now. I don't mind weighing and using that as a guide, but I am really working on a more holistic approach.

Have you read The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron? Worth a p/u at the 'brary.

No, but I've heard (I think I read you saying it, even) that it's like "The Artist's Way" which I did years ago. Thanks for the tip, I will look for it tomorrow at the library! I am glad so many people are into a holistic (thats the best way of putting it!) challenge.

I know I have appreciated the work everyone has done to make TBL happen and I may revisit in the future, but I am pretty sure I'm sitting this next one out for the other scale-free challenge.

I've really enjoyed TBL challenge. It actually got me started losing weight again after over a year of not being able to.

I will probably rejoin the next one b/c I still have a lot of pounds to go. I think Soul's challenge sounds great and I would love to do one of those in the future or maybe at the same time as a scale-related challenge. I need to learn to appreciate the OTHER good things that go on besides the scale numbers dropping.

Today for the first time I was back OP since my visit home with my mom. It's hard to get back on track after all the cravings come back. I don't know what will happen as far as the weigh-in this week. I may be up a little, but I would love to just break even after the 3 lb gain while I was gone.

Thanks for all your support through this challenge everybody!

I'd love to get the veggie chilli recipe Ahill!

Cait: let us know how the spinning class goes. I've always wanted to try one too.

Here is the recipe that I use. I cook it in the crock pot on low for about 6 hours instead of the way they say to. It is fabulous. We love it. Very yummy. If you have never bought smart ground-I find it at Kroger or Walmart with the Tofu and such. There are a few different versions of the smart ground. The one in the small cardboard box is 110% better than the plastic wrapped roll.

Vegetarian Chili with Smart Ground Mock Meat Crumbles


Vegetarian Chili with Smart Ground Mock Meat Crumbles recipe courtesy of Lightlife Foods.
INGREDIENTS:
1 12 ounce package Smart Ground Original
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
1 cup celery, sliced
1 15 ounce can kidney beans
1 15 ounce can corn kernels
2 16 ounce cans tomatoes, cut up
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
3 tsp salt
2 tbsp cooking oil
PREPARATION:
Saute the onion, green pepper and celery in a small amount of oil until translucent. Add the remainder of the ingredients and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Serves: 10-12 Per serving: Fat-2g, Fiber-7g, Sodium-220mg, Carbohydrates-26g, Protein-12g (soy protein 6g), Calories-160.

ahill- thank you for that recipie, I am going to have to cook it next week, it sounds VERY yummy!!!

ok team... i'm back in action today my headache is finally gone... i took like 1600mg of motrin and it didn't help, so i went home at lunch and took my Rx meds

Thanks Soul, you are a definite asset to any team!
I love your idea for the your challenge! I never realized how not important scale numbers were until I met my trainer. She's 185 pounds (only 10 pounds less than me), but she is not big at ALL. She's quite healthy, but she's all muscle. I don't want to be a slave to the scale. I love watching my Body Fat Percentage go down. I've been around the same weight since January, but my % has dropped 4% (I know I've mentioned that before).

I always thought a spinning class looked fun..... but tough! Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

It is rough! Way to go on getting back OP!

The recipe looks delicious!!! Crock pots are one of the best inventions ever!!!! AND, I'm glad your headache went away! Headache pains rank right up there with toothaches.......... just flat out annoying!

Hi every one sorry I haven't been in here lately I am staying op hoping the scales go down this week . I'm just happy to in 60's haven't been there for years it feels good . I have been able to get out and do a little walking , last Sunday DH and I and the dog went for a walk in the woods ,went to a pond out back of our house every thing was good till DH fell through the snow and was stuck in water both legs mind ya we were 2 miles back in the woods after several mins of twisting , tugging and pulling he was able to loosen his stuck foot and climb out so ended the trek in the woods we headed home because his pants were soaked along with his boots. So now we will stick to the field and road.
We had snow again so I cleaned the roof off with a roof rake and shoveled good exercise,
ahill1979 that recipe looks good did you find that on a web site?
I would be happy to be back on the black team next time around this is a awesome team and you all have done so good it has been encouraging to me .
Have a great day every one.

Sally---I am glad that your headache finally went away. Hopefully it wont come back.

Julz---I am so impressed with your loss of body fat %. Do you just get it measured at your gym?

losinit---Thank goodness your DH is ok. I would have freaked out. I bet he was cold. I did get that recipe off of a website a while back. Probably the lifelight website. They have lots of recipes. Here is the link: http://www.lightlife.com/recipes.jsp

I just found out this morning that my dh, Mikella, and I got a spot in the Peachtree Road Race! I am so excited about it. I have got to start training more regularly. I have never been in a race of any kind. It is a 10K. My goal is to be able to finish it in under 2 hours. Yay!