24 days...

They say doing something for 30 days in a row makes it a habit.  We're at day 24 in the Fit for Christmas Challenge, hopefully on our way to making these changes a habit, too.  I've definitely had my moments of struggle.  I've eaten a bacon cheeseburger every week since we started.  I'm still struggling to give up soda.  It just tastes so darn good.  I've missed breakfast twice this week.  It's a process, for sure!

I'd love to get some more feedback from everyone on how you're doing.  What are you struggling with?  What's going well for you? Are you noticing a change?

Thought I'd share a quick recipe we found last week.  If you like shrimp, this a fabulous dish.  Lots of veggies, low calorie but TONS of flavor.  I'd recommend using olive oil or another healthier type oil to cook the veggies in, rather than the butter. There are only like 5 calories in 1 shrimp, so eating a big portion isn't so bad for you.  We served ours over a small bed of brown rice, but be careful--rice has a lot more calories than you'd think!  You could serve this over spaghetti squash and it would be just about perfect.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/shrimp-creole-recipe.html

Enjoy!!

Weigh-in and new post coming (hopefully!) on Monday!  Enjoy the holiday weekend :)

Hello, Week 2!

Did you survive Week 1?

Only 19 weeks and 2 days left til Christmas!

I had a pretty decent week, all things considered.  Our son's birthday threw a curve ball into dieting, but I watched my portions and counted my calories.  I'm currently breastfeeding, so that gives me a few extra calories everyday.  Definitely a nice bonus!  My goals for the week were to lose 2 pounds, exercise more and give up soda.  I lost my weight, got a smidge (very, very small amount!) of exercise and had soda twice.  Once was because I was fighting off a migraine, the other time was sheer laziness.  All in all, better than the average week.

In week 1, I lost 5 pounds.  I don't know how, but I'm thankful that at least the first week wasn't a huge struggle.  I know the wall is coming.  If your loss wasn't as big, don't get discouraged.  We all lose differently and have to figure out what works for us.  Breastfeeding is also a huge help for me--so unless you already are--you'd have to gain weight and have a baby to get that advantage.  Probably not worth it just for the weight loss!  :)  Also, if you're not tracking your food on myfitnesspal.com, do it.  It will help tremendously!

I meant to take a "before" picture last week, but I forgot.  Here are this week's pictures---yes, they're gorgeous!  Haha.  Felt reminiscent of taking pregnancy "belly shots," but since my stomach is my biggest problem area, I thought it deserved a picture.  (Probably doesn't help that this is the exact spot that I took my last pregnancy belly pic right before leaving for the hospital with baby #3.)

See?  Guess I look better now than I did then.  Haha

Anyhow...I digress...

My week 2 goals:  Lose 2 more pounds, increase walking/exercise, continue to do away with soda and to increase my water intake.  

Overall goal:  Lose 40 lbs.  

Loss to date:  5 lbs

What are your goals?  Be sure to make them and take your own "before" pictures, if you haven't already.  It's not always as easy to tell how far you've come unless you can really see it!

Hoping to have a guest post to share with you this week!  Stay tuned!  If you're just finding us, be sure to "like" the Fit for Christmas Challenge on Facebook!

Surviving the Weekend

I intentionally have my weekly weigh-ins scheduled for Monday.  Why?  I don't want the weekend to be a reason to slack off.  If I don't have to be completely accountable for what I eat on the weekend, it's much easier to cheat and end up undoing the good I did during the week.  So here's some ideas for how to make it through the weekend without overeating:

--If you're going to be out and about, pack a snack so you're not tempted to stop for fast food.  When I went shopping this morning, knowing that the trip could stretch into the lunch hour, I packed a water bottle, string cheese and grapes.

--Find healthy versions of the foods you like.  Pinterest is a great place to search for healthy recipes.  I found a few good ones that I'll share here.  This one for nachos looks fabulous!  This is a whole article dedicated to healthy pizza options.  Check out this alternative for buffalo wings.  I've made the buffalo chicken balls with ground turkey before.  Quite tasty--and definitely worth spending a little more for a quality bleu cheese dressing.  Get creative!

--If you're more of a sweet tooth, check out the variety of low fat ice creams and even baking mixes. These are not the best options for something to eat all the time, as many of them have an array of unnatural ingredients in them, but they are good to use to help keep you from binge eating that tub of ice cream you forgot to get rid of before you started the Challenge.  One of my favorite dessert treats is a chilled banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter, a few mini chocolate chips, and a big dollop of light whipped cream.  It still has a decent amount of calories, but it's far better than eating a big bowl of ice cream--and it's fruit!

--If you're headed out to a party where you know you'll be tempted, snack on something healthy before hand so you're not starving when you get there.  Most hosts put out veggie or fruit trays.  Fill your plate mostly with those, but don't be afraid to try a bit of the other stuff.  Remember:  sometimes it's more about controlling our portions than completely avoiding unhealthy foods altogether.  Total deprivation is enough to drive you insane--and right back to eating like you were before.

Hope you're all having a great day!  Remember, this is all one day at a time.  We can do it!

If you have good tips for how you survive food temptations, share them here or on our Facebook page!

Fit for Christmas Challenge starts TOMORROW!

Are you ready?  The Challenge begins tomorrow!  Of course, you can join the Challenge at any point--it's never too late to start!  So what are your plans for starting?  Are you going cold turkey from all your favorite indulgences?  Are you hitting the gym?  I'd love to hear your plans to start!

My plan is to make small changes that will stick around.  Of course, I'll be counting calories and watching how many carbs I eat at a time (see the previous post for more about this), but I'm also going to start doing one small thing every week to help change my overall habits.  Some of the things I plan to take on are cutting out soda--even diet sodas, adding exercise, increasing my exercise times, cutting out late night snacking, increasing water intake and getting more sleep at night.  These are all things that will be helpful for me to achieve my goal, but it will be less painful if I focus on one at a time!  There's an old Chinese proverb that says, “It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”  Get motivated, get to work, but don't burn yourself out in the first week! 

My personal goals for this week are to cut out soda and to get a few minutes of exercise three times this week.  I'll still be having my morning coffee, but the soda and it's extra sugar have got to go!  The carbonation in them only adds to the bloated stomach look.  With my weight loss goal, I'm hoping to lose two pounds each week, so losing two pounds would be another goal for the week.  I'm excited to get started and looking forward to hearing how everyone is doing. 

Be sure to get your strategy for the week figured out before tomorrow morning.  I'm guessing you may need to take a trip to the grocery store and put some extra thought into your meal planning!  Don't forget to pack some healthy snacks to take to work to keep you from mindlessly eating junk food :)  Some of my personal favorites are nuts with a few dried cranberries or chocolate chips, apples and peanut butter, carrots and hummus, string cheese and lots and lots of water.  Staying well hydrated keeps you feeling full longer. 

I look forward to hearing your goals, sharing some more with you all tomorrow and seeing where the week takes us.  One week at a time!  Don't forget to weigh in tomorrow.  Feel free to share your weigh in numbers and goals, if you want.  No pressure, but you may feel an added pressure to stick with it if you announce your numbers to the world :)  As for me, we'll see how brave I'm feeling tomorrow!  Praying everyone has a restful night and will be ready to take on tomorrow!

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