Guess what, you gorgeous gum drop penguin? It's 8 weeks until Christmas! Say whuuut? Time for another of my spread sheet challenges! For any newcomers - welcome! Please read the rules below to find out more about this challenge.

This challenge…is the hardest challenge of the year. To get to Christmas you have to face Halloween candy, Thanksgiving madness and Christmas treats galore. I know in my family the entire month of December is a treat yo’ self extravaganza, so please only join if you are going to be dedicated to staying accountable towards Christmas.

For this challenge, BE REALISTIC! Are you aiming to maintain or lose? Set your standards a little lower for this one, because it’s good to enjoy the holidays with family, but it’s also good to not go overboard and remember you have an overall goal in life to achieve! One helping of food is enough! So let’s support each other in these trying months and make sure we feel proud by the time 2018 is over and we can say hello to 2019 feeling confident and ready to face the new year!

Here’s the aim of the game…lose the most percentage of body weight by Christmas and sit in your living room on Christmas morning in your PJ's and feel healthier and happier than ever.

• Please feel free to join at any stage of the challenge! However, please note that I will be locking entrants in from December 17th.
  
• Joining is super simple, in the spreadsheet (link below, but before you go scrolling please read the rest of the rules!), then input your username, starting weight and the weight you would like to be on New Year's Eve. Your starting weight is the weight you were at when you started the challenge, not your overall starting weight.
  
• Week by week, enter your weight into the spreadsheet and on Monday I create a chart to track our progress. Weeks are Monday through Sunday (example, Week 1 09/03 is Monday September 3rd through to Sunday September 9th), so you can weigh in any day of the week, it doesn’t have to be the start of the week! If you want to update your weight at any point during the week because you’ve seen another loss, go ahead!
  
• Please use the thread to talk to other contestants, we’re here for each other! Check in to the thread and view the Monday charts to see who’s kicking butts and taking names.
  
• If you do not weigh in for more than 2 weeks you will be moved (not removed!) to a Standby list. If you want to opt back in, let me know in the thread and I’ll move all your information back into the spreadsheet. Please weigh in asap so you don’t accidentally get moved back to Standby!
  
• Going on vacation, having a scale break or just don’t wanna weigh in but you don’t want to be moved to Standby? Right click on the cell and select “Insert a note” and type a short note to say you’re not weighing in. Don’t use a comment, because those get shifted around in the spreadsheet.
  
• If you want to change your goal week at any point in the challenge, feel free!
  
• If you’re joining late but already know all the weights you were at previously, feel free to fill in all the information into the spreadsheet. It’ll help for your final ranking!
  
• If you see a “-” in your cell for a certain week but you know what you weighed, go ahead and enter your weight!

Nominate your names for teams now and I'll create a poll for us to vote! Please remember to state which team you're nominating a name for. Example: 200 lbs below name: Team Gum Drop Penguin

Thanks Riestrella for starting this challenge for what can be the toughest time of year to stay on track. I'm sure we all appreciate the group support.
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I was plateaued very hard for the Halloween challenge, so didn't make as much progress as I'd hoped. But I'm ready to rock this challenge.

My goal all year has been to get to Onederland by New Year's, so even though it is a stretch for me, I'm going to set that as my goal for this challenge. Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't actually too bad for me. My family typically just does the one day for each, and it is generally a pretty healthy meal, and I only eat breakfast and then that meal for the day. So while I do go over on calories, it isn't drastic, and it is confined to the one day. So 16ish pounds in the 2 months is a stretch, but not out of the realm of possibility.

I'm not good at creativity, but I nominate the over 200 group to be named "Fluffy Ninjas"

My starting weight will be whatever I weigh on Wednesday this week, so I will update that at that time.

Thanks for another challenge! Im in another one for winter as well I really like seeing my weight in a chart like these. I have an app that puts it on a graph for me but I can't see each specific weight. If I made my own chart it would be so big because I weigh myself daily so it would be completely full in no time lol

Updated the chart with my starting weight.

Rie, thank you for getting another wonderful challenge up and running. Count me in, too! I really like Lacerta's suggestion "fluffy ninjas;" it makes me chuckle

200 lbs Above Team Name Nominations so far:

• Fluffy Ninjas

200 lbs Below Team Name Nominations so far:

• Gum Drop Penguins
• Dwindling Divas

I'll create a poll during our first week so keep the names coming!

Thanks, Rie for deciding to initiate the Christmas and NYE challenge! I know you have been juggling a lot so taking time out to set up the spreadsheet, create teams and keep everything organized is especially appreciated. I'm fine with almost any name really so if Fluffy Ninjas it is, I'm happy to embrace it !

Thank you, Riestrella, for this fantastic challenge!

Under 200's Team Name: Falling Snowflakes or Melting Snowflakes

I like the "dropping" imagery folks are using! I'll add Snow Queens Descending for the over 200 pound group

No problem, guys! Organizing comes easily to me, but when it comes to my own weight loss I'm all over the place!

200 lbs Above Team Name Nominations so far:

• Fluffy Ninjas
• Snow Queens Descending

200 lbs Below Team Name Nominations so far:

• Gum Drop Penguins
• Dwindling Divas
• Falling Snowflakes
• Melting Snowflakes

I'll create a poll during our first week so KEEP EM COMING!

Yay, Rie, I'm so happy you decided to open another challenge! I'm okay with this weight though a few pounds less would be fine as well; mostly I want to be held accountable through the holidays and my birthday later this month. So I'll set my previous maintenance weight of 120 as my goal, though if I can get back into a decent exercise regimen, that weight may or may not be right for me. Who knows?

The names suggested are great! But I'll throw out one for 200 lbs below for haha's sake: Gingerbread Pixies

I've added my starting weight to the chart. I love all the names and I have another one to add to the 200 and under team - Jingle Bell Rockers.

Great to see you guys and thanks for joining! Even though it's best for me not to participate in this one for my mental health, I'm still super excited to see y'all progress .

200 lbs Above Team Name Nominations so far:

• Fluffy Ninjas
• Snow Queens Descending

200 lbs Below Team Name Nominations so far:

• Gum Drop Penguins
• Dwindling Divas
• Falling Snowflakes
• Melting Snowflakes
• Gingerbread Pixies
• Jingle Bell Rockers

I'll create a poll during our first week so KEEP EM COMING!