Last Week!!

I am SO glad this is the last week. I have developed some good new habits and am really glad that I participated and would do it again, but I am ready for a break! I did not have a good week 5. I mostly fell apart yesterday. But, it's a new day!

Hey MisFits. I'm away roadtripping for the weekend, so this in my contact for the day. I've been running the last 2 days and it's felt really great. I also managed to get 4 out of my 5 meals in correctly. Picking my entree became much more difficult when trying to get all carbs, proteins and fat. But I prevailed. And tomorrow is my free day.

I'll be on the road Monday too, so please also some communication then. And then on to the final week! Go team!

Water water everywhere

I think drinking 3 L of water is showing itself through the fact that here at work have used up our water from the water cooler before our next delivery. I'll take credit for this.

I'm singlehandedly keeping the water cooler company a float. ;)

Fitness Goal?

Can I change my bonus goal from weight-loss to fitness for the final 2 weeks? This won't give a penalty, right? I'm going to to be on roadtrips the next 2 weekends, so I'll be away from my scale for the Monday weigh-in. But I'll have running shoes! So this week my goal is to run 4 miles non-stop. And for the FINAL WEEK [what?! seriously?!] it'll be 5 miles. Both of these goals are a big deal because I don't know if I've ever run longer than 4 miles at one time, ever.

I'm still bummed that I missed out on the bonus this week. Stupid points.

Bonus!

I'm back into bonus land! This week was challenging. I was in court all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings in Lansing. I did miss two meals, but there was a salad bar in the cafeteria. If there is a salad bar, it's easy to put together the meal. I did stash baggies of sliced apples, cheese sticks and a few almonds in my purse! Today is my weigh in day for this week and not only did I lose the f&%$ing pound that showed up last week, I lost 3 more! (I'm sure that was a water pound last week.)

Yum

I tried this, as I needed some variety in my diet.  I found it to be delicious.

1/2 C Fat Free Ricotta
1/2 C Fresh Berries (I used Strawberries and Blueberries)
Dash of Vanilla
1 tsp.Honey or Agave Nectar
1 Tbs. Crushed Cashews or other nut of your choice

Ending Week 4? Good God

I can't believe it's actually the end of week 4. At times, this week has been harder, but not that much harder. I've found part of the trick is eating large salads AND making sure to eat enough. The enemy of dieting is starving yourself.

6:30 Jumpstart!

See you all this evening! I plan on doing O-Lifting at 4:30, then just hang around until Jumpstart. I'll be a regular gym monkey, or is it a gym rat?

Team workout?

Hey team. I was thinking it'd be fun to try to schedule a workout in which all of us could attend! It seems like a while since I've seen everyone [probably more my fault].

What works for everyone? Kettlebell on Friday at 5:30 is on my schedule for tomorrow.

Eating Out

Today I had a lunch meeting and was in quite a quandry as to what to order. I figured I would be safe with a salad, but also had to take into consideration portion size and what was actually on the salad.  So, I order as follows:  Chicken Sarwarma Salad with the chicken, pita chips and dressing on the side, which essentially left the greens on the plate. I ate my portion according to the "rules" and ended up with enough leftovers for 5 more meals.  A cheap lunch ($10) but got me thinking about how much I was eating previously. I wouldn't have finished the salad, but I would have made a significant dent in it, say half. And would have been full, if not somewhat uncomfortable and more then likely a bit sluggish.  Eating what I did was definitely satisfying, provided me the energy I needed to head into my next meeting, alert and ready to get something done.

Could it be bonus time, Baby?

Well, if yesterday's weight measurement is any indication, maybe. The massive consumption of greens is paying off. If you eat a heaping big salad bowl full of green leaves (aka leafy vegetables) two meals a day, you just don't feel as hungry. You don't eat as much high calorie food. You lose weight. Case closed.

Maybe.

Tomorrow is the acid test.

My Old Habit

As you all know (but I'm sure have forgotten), my old habit is complaining. I didn't get points Monday or Tuesday since I caught myself complaining about stupid things. However, since I lost those points, I have really been trying to pay attention to this old habit that I think contributes to a bad attitude. Anyway, I took my car for an oil change today. They were also checking something else for me. I planned to wait and eat my 3rd meal (that I brought with me), it was after 1:00 and I was hungry. I sat down with a magazine and my lunch bag with my tabbouleh with added feta (yum) and realized that I didn't have any eating utensils! I asked a few people who worked there, no one had any plastic forks or spoons. OK, I'll just suck on this mint that I found in the bottom of my purse, it's OK. An hour passes.... the old Sharon would have gone up to someone to ask sweetly and sarcastically if there's a problem, if that didn't work, the old Sharon would have complained to someone about good customer service or something. The new Sharon simply started strolling around the showroom. They called my name within a few minutes of stuffing down that complaint! Yay!

Rewards

I was just reading the Game On book and one of the authors suggested giving yourself a reward for reaching point goals. I thought that was a good idea.

Where's Martin?

Martin, are you out there? You never post! Miss ya!

Week #2 flying by?

Is this week flying by for anyone else? It certainly feels that way for me. Maybe the Game-On routine is starting to feel just that, routine. Today is my Free Day #2.

I've only seen Martin this week and I'm missing you all! My right hip flexor muscles have been really sore this week, at least I think that's what the muscles are called. So I've been doing less intense workouts this week like walking, pilates and running. And I think it's helping. I'm hoping to get to Kettlebell tonight, but that's iffy.

I've already met my weight loss goal for this week, but it's all muscle loss unfortunately.

Stress Eating

I had an extremely stressful day yesterday and all I could think of was COOKIES! But I stuck to the game plan and at the end of the day felt better that I had. I am sure all of us at one time or another use food to get us through tough situations, cause it makes us feel better, well at least for the moment. Having a plan and a goal really helped me through this one, but mostly a teammate and friend who provided valuable support and assistance.
 http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200311/stress-and-eating

1st Week Failure

Team mates- I am feeling very bad today. I didn't reach the 1% weight loss goal for the extra points. I learned a lesson about the free day - you can't drink a week's worth of wine in one night! I was just about perfect with the rest of the points and was down 3 pounds by Thursday! The alcohol really makes me retain water, so even though I drank 3 liters on the free day, I was only down by 1/2 a pound this morning. :( To top it off, I realized that I was complaining about it this morning, so there goes my 10 points for the old habit for today!
I feel like I've dragged the team down, and it's a shitty feeling. (I am so glad that I didn't give up swearing). But..... this is going to be a rockin week!

Free Day #1

So I took today as my free day mainly because it has been crazy busy with church, laundry, band concert, bowling and hanging out with friends. I found myself trying to stay close to the recommended food and portions because I know it's good for you. Plus, that's what was in the 'fridge and needed to get eaten. Ha.

But the one thing I'm lacking today is water! I've been mega thirsty because I've been on the go all day and I forgot my water bottle. I'll probably down a liter before bed and have to pee 3 times in the night.

High point of my free day: fried egg and homemade bread pudding [thanks mom!].

I'm over the urge to inject myself

Funny what you're free day in the Game On Diet will do to your head. I thought it was almost a message from God when I read the New York Times article about vigor. Fortunately, I had sensible people telling me to back off that ledge ;)

I think the upshot is that healthy lifestyle changes are about what you can do. Game on.

This is just too funny

OK, so I'm reading the ny times on my ipod touch in bed this morning when I come across this article, I kid you not, reporting that some men are injecting themselves with the urine of pregnant women to maintain youth. OK, so it's not quite that bad, it's actually a hormone extracted from the urine of pregnant women. But, still ...

And no, Women of Misfits, this is not available to you. It's apparently a men-only deal. Not sure whether to consider this the ultimate triumph of feminism or proof positive that it is indeed a man's world.

Core Purpose

To experience the emotion of competition, winning and crushing competitors - Nike's Core Purpose. Thought this might motivate you all. 

Quad-fecta

I covered four requirements in an hour! I went to kettlebell at noon. I communicated with Bud and some "enemies", exercised and Jenn made me laugh!

Fourth Meal

I just had my fourth meal and it didn't taste anything like Taco Bell!!

Water

Someone please remind me of the benefits of drinking 3 liters of water?

Foods for [healthy] thought

It looks like CNN wants us to eat healthy too:

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20332379,00.html

For us Ms. Fits:

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20331905,00.html

I think the salmon and brown rice is a definite in upcoming dinners.

Urine

It's clear!!!!!!

Water

I am going to count plain sparkling water in the 3 liters. That's ok, correct?

This is for Sharon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk

01/11/10

Great idea Bud!
This will be a good way to communicate, actually like it better than email.

How to play the game on diet is on the web

If you're wondering about how to play the game on diet, it has a web site:

http://www.thegameondiet.com/how-to-play/

Habits

I've decided I'm going to do the following habit changes:

• Quit mindless web surfing, specifically visiting political blogs more than 1 time per day and then limiting myself to Andrew Sullivan, Matthew Yglesias, and Talking Points Memo.
• Read 5 pages in a real book per day. I know that sounds pathetic, as I make my kids read much more, but I do a lot of other professional reading on the web.

Habit Questions?

Game On!

I was looking over the excel sheet and I'm confused over the "new habit," "old habit," and "change your habit." How is the "change your habit" different? Is it like bonus points for successfully completing the new good habit and dropping an old bad one?

Yes, these are all questions.

ps. Bud, this blog is a great idea.

I thought we might be able to use this to communicate

Email might be easier, but writing blog posts and commenting on them is also as easy. It doesn't matter if this does not work, but I thought I'd give it a try.

My first observation: Eating so much greens is really going to suck. My wife claims it won't, that it will transform me. We'll see.

BTW, writing posts and commenting on them counts as communication.