Thanks to YOU Gamers....

I have run Game On games for the past 10 months. Gamers have thanked me for helping them, and I really do appreciate the thanks...but credit is due to them...because they are the ones who did it.

How is it that a community of people, I refer to as Gamers, (mostly women) can find such drive from each other?  I know some competitive women (some might put ME in that category....college degree came from major football university which is now NUMBER ONE again, but who is counting?), but I don't think it is the competition....

I know some groups are formed, even at the national level and are major businesses, where people come together, talk, compare notes, clap for successes and some people lose weight...some lots of weight.  I don't think it is that kind of group, although we do, our community of Gamers, do those things.

The plan, The Game On Diet Plan! works.  So, I do think that I can give credit due there.

But these Gamers, have all gotten to a point in their lives where they themselves said, "Sure, I will try...it has worked for you, what is wrong with me giving it a try?"  And the women and men, who really tried, for the most part, these Gamers, made it work. 

Has it worked for everyone?  Nope.  I rarely have folks tell me it is not a plan they can follow.  I have heard it all though: I can't drink 100 ounces of water, I can't give up my wine, I can't possibly exercise everyday, I can't add or takeaway any habits--giving up Diet Coke is bad enough!  AND I have had people who avoid making eye contact with me after trying to play the game.  I have had friends who say they are embarrassed because it doesn't seem to work for them.

I told one friend (a Gamer), last week, who has attempted to play this month, that she just isn't ready yet.  I would never say that to anyone about to play (unless they hadn't read the book, which makes me CRAZY!), but I said this to my friend because she has 2 good days, then falls apart.  And eats whatever, whenever.  And ducks around the corner so she won't see me at the office.  But she is not ready to throw it all out there for the good of the game and the good of her.  She may get there this way, and she may find another way.  She knows where my office is if she decides she is ready again. 

Some people are not ready yet.  Some people cannot believe this can possibly work for them.  But for those women and men, who gave it what it was worth, these Gamers need to look in the mirror and thank themselves.  I may have given that first encouraging pat, but every Gamer who has succeeded has succeeded because they made it happen.  So thank you to me, but thank you to you, Gamers....You deserve how good you feel right now--you were ready to make the jump, try something new and decide there was nothing to lose, but weight.  And you did.  CONGRATS my Gamer friends!

When the going gets tough, the tough keep PLAYING!

My July game is in the beginning of week two.  As usual, we have 50 or so friends, reaching out to each other, helping each other, keeping each other motivated...but for many of those 50, the two weeks before the game started were, let's say, educational.

As the "administrator" or "Game On Mom" as I was dubbed affectionately (I think) last week, I usually stick to the recommended four week game.  Because of where MY vacation fell (selfish perhaps, but I guess it is one of the perks of being the "MOM"), the last game was a long five weeks, and then we took off two weeks for my vacation and the week of the 4th of July.  Our intentions were to start again, for those who wanted to, on July 6th.

How much "fun" can one have in two weeks?   I will admit, being Game Off, is a bit free-ing...  Reminds me of the days when, as a kid, you could jump on your banana seat bike (with no helmet since we didn't know what those were then!) with the tassles on the handles and ride like the wind...in the street, hair blowing behind you with no one worrying or caring when you came home (as long as you were home for dinner).  For those of us who were truly away for vacation (as I was), it meant, saying yes to the nightly ice cream shop ritual (I did eat low fat or low sugar yogurt), drinking a glass or two of wine, and enjoying fried, well, fried anything, without too much guilt.

Before I left for vacation, I received several emails from gamers wondering if they would play in July...they were heading out for vacation mid-game, and they didn't want to worry about disappointing others, etc.  But by the end of the two week Game Off, most were ready to jump back in.  Even knowing they were vacationing mid-game....

Why?  Why do these folks WANT to go back to rules, boundaries, scoring, limitations??  There are a couple of reasons that are so clear to me.
     1. Like children, many of us crave order in our lives.  As much as we would love to jump on that banana seat everyday, all day, some days have to have chores and "have to's."  This game has given us an order in regards to food that works for almost all of us.  We can eat within plan, plan within the game, and stay within boundaries, even when we take a penalty for lack of sleep, an Orange Crush, a sweet 16 birthday party of a daughter or a day it is just too hot to exercise....  And we still lose weight and feel better internally and externally.
    2. We seem to be magnets for others to join us.  With each game, we may lose 10 or so folks, but the majority of "game friends" keep on plugging along.  And keep telling others about our success.  So when a "newbie" jumps on board, we all want to be our best for them because they deserve the best support from us that we got from others when we first started.

So, the summertime may be hot.  It may be full of fun excuses to go "off game."  But even if you do this game at 75%, you feel better, look better and are more in control than when you are completely "off."  And for that, I thank you gamers....for keeping me going and sticking together.  For jumping back on board, even when the going gets tough.  For playing, again and again.  We are making our little part of the world, a little healthier, one game at a time.

"Watch out for the TURKEYS!"

When I started this blog, the last thing I thought I would be posting in June would be a title of a wild turkey.  But our group, our wonderful community of "friends" continues to inspire me, as well as make me laugh.

This is a BIG time of the year for everyone to go to the beach, and many of our friends are fortunate enough to have a place on the Eastern Shore.  For many of our Game Friends, the Eastern Shore also means all those things that normal dieters find "forbidden" :  Thrasher's Fries, Fisher's Popcorn, Frozen Custard and the like...not to forget the delicious "adult beverages" that are usually thrown in coolers, huggies and fun plastic cups...

So what does a group like ours do in a situation like this?? Throw up our hands and say oh well??  For many of us, we are changing our lives, one day at a time...which includes the days we are at the beach.  So, for the first year, possibly ever, we add to those fun things above, a swim in the ocean...a good swim or a long hard walk on the boardwalk, or, according to two or three different friends, a run or walk down the InterCoastal Highway.

Which then brings me back to the warning above...which for some reason, is still giving me the giggles.  One of our seasoned gamers, who happens to be younger than most of us, although only a few of us know that, heeded a warning to a  newer gamer who voiced plans to walk on the InterCoastal Highway....  L.D. stated to "watch for the turkeys" because on her run earlier that week, she had seen a wild turkey on her run!!  Oh my!!  I am picturing my sweet L.D. running with her blond, long ponytail  behind suddenly running faster and then seeing my other friend (who really wasn't there at the same time, but it makes the story better) like this:

and then B.M., picking up her walk to a run to get away from the fast moving WILD TURKEY!!

The moral of the story is, B.M. did lose weight on her first week at the beach as L.D. is proving she can do too, by adding in a factor that was not always there before...watching what they eat and throwing in some good old fashion, turkey escaping exercise!!  Here's to the second week of June and STILL PLAYING THE GAME OF A LIFETIME!!  GO FRIENDS!!

Pushing through to make your goals

The funny thing about making and achieving goals, is that they can start to change, day by day, as you get stronger, believe in yourself and believe in what you can do.  Losing weight and all the ways to get there constantly changes.  I, for one, don't think I can do it alone.  At this point in my life, I need the support of my friends, the gamer friends, to keep me motivated and accountable.

This week was a bit monumental for me with my goals.  I have never really loved to run...and this story will not end with me falling in love with running.  I LOVE to dance Zumba-style...even if I look ridiculous.  I want to learn to Salsa with my husband, and hopefully, by the end of the summer, using a Groupon we purchased, we will do just that.  I played basketball as a kid.  But I never enjoyed the act of running.

Running has always been something my husband has done.  He enjoyed it; he ran long distances; he felt good afterwards.  He loved to run.  I tried to do it with him a couple of times in the 24 years we have been together...and, I didn't like it.  I walked and I would do other things, but running...no thank you.

With this game, you do things you never thought you would do.  Some friends, NEVER drank water...ever.  Now, to have less than 100 ounces a day is unreal!  Some, never exercised.  Some, never lost weight.  Or didn't keep it off.  Or felt so deprived, they couldn't continue.  Like I said, many of us are doing things right now that we have never done before.  And, here, is where running came in for me.

I have "interval" trained.  Run a little, walk some more, run a little, walk some more, run a little, take a swig of water, oh good, times up.  One of my closest friends, who has weight loss journeyed with me through several yo-yo cycles (she too, has participated in the "let's try this one, this week!" plan) has been a "runner."  She doesn't head out for a 6 miler every day, but she is in good shape, and has lost a lot of weight in the past 10 months and has been with me all of the way.  She walked me through what she thought I was missing to run more than an interval. 

I will admit, my brain was pretty sure that I could not do it.  I could run 1/4 of a mile in the neighborhood or on the treadmill, but then would walk.  My friend's advice was a bit like this:
1.  Hold your arms looser...takes more energy to hold them to your sides stiffly...kind of let them go.
2.  After your warm-up walk, start your run slower than your interval runs (which were not super fast, but too fast to maintain for me right now), but so that you are still breathing properly and could talk if someone was running with you.
3.  As you are running your slow pace, with your arms a bit floppy, push through the first time you feel the need to stop.  It is not painful, you are breathing okay, and you will be done faster, if you JUST, KEEP, RUNNING.

And I did.  The following day.  That very thing.  And I ran 1.1 miles without stopping.  And the morning after that, I ran 1.0 miles on the treadmill.  And then, today, two days after the second day, I ran almost a 1 1/2 miles (downhill, but that still counts, right...and it was a faster pace because I was with long legged friends and proving to myself I could keep up).

These runs have put me in a really good place.  I feel great about what is in front of me...  I can't do this by myself right now.  I need the support and accountability of my friends.  And, thank goodness, I have it!

GOALS and getting to them.

I am SO excited for this next game...this next game, and probably the game after, which could very well take me to my goal.  I did that.  Me.  No pills, no surgery.  The basics...everyday.  Except days off.  And meals off.  And when we were Game Off.  But still, it was ME.

And it was probably YOU for those of you who are reading right now.  I think most people who are following my blog, and people who have jumped on this train and have NO INTENTIONS of jumping off are in the same boat.  We are excited, psyched, pumped, and ready to go.   We KNOW this works.  We KNOW that supporting each other, patting each other on the back, teasing each other and helping each other WORKS.  We are a community within a community that stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic (yes, literally).

So, here we are.  9 hours away from the WEIGH IN right before summer vacation starts.  We have NEWBIES in our midst again and we LOVE NEWBIES!!  Because the new folks remind us WHY we continue.  One friend told me tonight that she was jumping on this train because "you look great and I can tell you feel great and I want to too."  Yes, that made me feel good, but what makes me feel better is that this "virus" of feeling great, is trickling down to other people.  They are trying to believe that if I can do it, so can they--and they CAN!!

The poster above is perfect.  Not the model, although those abs would look very nice on me :)...but YOU can be your biggest obstacle to making your goal.  YOU are the reason you are who you are.  YOU control what you become.  YOU decide if you are going to make this happen or not.  YOU have to believe in YOU.  I believe in you because, it is possible, for all of us, and for me, it is happening in June of 2012!!!

Let's PLAY!

Mind/body game

For the first time since I started playing this game of weight loss, 10 months ago, I finished an eight week game with no real break.  I did this WITH another 30 plus women and men...It was tough, but we were trying to simulate real life...because, in the real world, if we are without each other, there is no "ONE WEEK GAME OFF."  In real life, we are always Game ON.

So, officially, right now, we are Game OFF, right now.  We stepped on the scale after a quick run to the bathroom this morning, and for some of us, a happy dance occured.  My Gaming Friend, M.D., did a happy naked dance...she is almost 100 pounds down, and an inspiration to ALL OF US!!  She is just a few pounds from her goal weight, and an example of great attitude, great commitment and great perserverance.  She showed us before/after pics, and they are, mind-blowing.  I am so VERY proud to watch her succeed.

Which leaves me with everyone else.  We are on Game Off.  Some of us may be confused about how we feel right now.  The major bonus of this group of incredibly supportive people, is that we are, indeed, incredibly supportive.  We may feel a little down that this month wasn't month one with 10 pounds down, but even at 2.8 pounds, we are better, healthier and truly, probably, happier because of this whole game.

So, no downers, please.  Look at the photo above and remember exactly what it says.  Your body is listening to your mind...don't be down on you...even if you MAINTAINED, you didn't GAIN or even if you GAINED a little, it wasn't alot.  And, if you lost, and lost alot, don't blow this week...blowing a month of success in a week, is worse on your psyche than maintaining for a month...I know what I am talking about...I have done it... :)

Keep positive, keep going.  Enjoy your weekend, but don't throw it all to the wind.  Your body is listening to your mind...keep telling it the right things...food is to nourish, and enjoy...but one doesn't have to eat alot of it to enjoy it fully...enjoy your week off, but come back ready to be focused and lose...summer survival is around the corner my friends...and we are heading toward it POSITIVELY feeling better...because that picture above is MY FUTURE!!  (well, close anyway!!)


xxxx, Barb

Mother's Day and ending a game...

We are about to end another "game."  Fifty or so folks working together, supporting each other, helping, laughing, joking, answering questions for each other.  Some folks may be "done" after this game...I have a few observations from what is now, my 9th game.

1. Some people don't like how this works.  The food is not "it" for them.  The posting daily on Facebook, doesn't work for them.  They don't want to exercise, or drink the water, or change because, maybe they are not where we have been.
2. Some people LOVE how this works.  The comraderie of exchanging recipes, motivating through suggestions, leaning on each other for support, encouragement, and oftentimes, just sympathy or empathy...Misery loves company?? Well, sometimes, particularly, week 2.  But, what I have seen more often than not, is that happiness LOVES to be shared.  Favorite quotes of this week:   "I think I need to go shopping.  My last year shorts are getting really baggy!"  "It is amazing how differently you look at food after you play this game."  "I am so glad that I am so aware of what I eat and feel so good about it!!"  "No movement on the scale, better move my tale..."  "Went to my nephew's 1st Communion today.  Wore a dress I found in the back of my closet I forgot I even owned.  Was surprised to find out it fit."


In a group like ours, mostly moms, mostly juggling a million things at once, mostly crazy busy, we have found time to put ourselves in the front of our the family pack.  We may be getting up a bit earlier, leaving work a tad earlier or arriving a tad later, passing the buck for dinner to be cooked by a spouse, or getting ourselves a bit more organized so that we have the time to work out, fix our "good" meals, get our sleep...but all of us are getting healthier, better, and losing weight.

Ending a game to me is ALWAYS bittersweet.  The time off we take between games, even just a week, helps center many of us...jumping off the wagon a bit, is normal...but one week away is usually enough for most of us to want to jump back on again...And to those of us who really did the two 4 week games in a row, I say BRAVO...enjoy Mother's Day, enjoy the week off, don't go overboard because getting back on the wagon for everything is TOUGH...but we deserve it...Happy Mother's Day...you already have the best gift you can have....a better feeling you.

Vision for the Future

For many of us in our group, losing weight has been a lifetime process...something about THIS time makes us feel like it is going to work...really work.  Most of us are losing slowly at this point, unless we are doing it for the first time.  But slowly is the way we SHOULD do it.  And what we are proving, is that there is not a magic pill, a special surgery, hypnosis, therapy or other things...we are helping each other by doing it the right way...

Many of us look at our past with regret...why didn't we figure this out when we were "____" age?  Why couldn't we have done this when we were kids?  What is different now?

The problems we see in the news regarding obesity is alarming.  The part that scares me the most is in regards to our kids.  Most likely, obese, underactive kids, become severely obese very unhappy adults.  Many of us in our group were active kids...many of our issues happened as adults...and then for some of us, it has been a lifetime.

There is a town in PG County as detailed in the Post today (link below)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/a-town-trains-its-kids-for-a-5k/2012/04/17/gIQAjlN7NT_story.html?wpisrc=nl_health

that has made exercise, as a community, a focus.  Our group, has shown, that when we work, as a group for a common goal, exercise, diet, motivation is our focus---we do succeed.  It may be slow, it may not always be easy, but it does work. 

In the future, could all communities work like this small town in PG County?  Aren't we doing that, a little bit at a time in Catonsville, MD?  I think so....

Summer's Coming

Today is the first day of the rest of my life...and my fellow losers.  And, boy does it feel like it.  The sun is SHINING in Maryland, the birds are singing and everything is BLOOMING like crazy (even azaleas which bloom in late May usually in MD)...  And summer is COMING!!

This is the first time that our group supporting each other has not taken a REAL break...meaning a week between games.  Yesterday, the world was closing in on me...and I took penalties and ate a few things I shouldn't have, and well, finished the last month off basically at the exact weight I was before.  Some folks might think it was a waste...it certainly wasn't a plateau...but it was my anniversary, our spring break, Easter, a death in our community that hit us all.  Tough month.  And so is life.

So, I didn't lose at least 4 pounds.  No biggie.  I have a feeling that this group, right now, those of us playing, supporting, teasing and really rooting for each other...we are going to have a big month--Summer's Coming and these teams of men and women feel it...HERE WE GO!! LET's PLAY!!

New neighborhood, new neighborhood, time to move!

The fifty or so men and women losing weight in the same group as me are all coming to different bends in their road...hurdles, some say, not plateaus as I wrote about before, but teetering on what we refer to as "a new neighborhood." 

Everyone's new neighborhood is different, and rarely does one hint at to which 'hood they are reaching for...just one with a smaller set of numbers...going from 250 to 249 lbs...160 to 159...180 to 179...many of my loser friends, me included, come close, oh so close, only to bump back up...and that number feels OH SO DIFFERENT...even if the number is only said to oneself.

This is not just about the weight...this is about how much better we feel by doing what many have said, scientists, trainers, Oprah...eat more often, but eat less.  Eat some carb, eat some protein, don't get rid of all fat...Move more, drink less alcohol.  Drink water, lots and lots of water.  Move more.  Sleep more.  Less processed foods, more whole foods.

It all works.  Packing it all up to move to the next neighbornood might be the goal.  Or getting off heart meds.  Or using less insulin.  In our group, all these things are happening...  My advice to my fellow losers is, start packing...we are all moving to the next 'hood.  It might not be as fast as we want it to be, but by moving more, drinking more water, sleeping more, watching the fuel we put in our bodies and reducing the bad stuff that goes in our body, we will all be moving together...small clothes, healthier bodies, more confidence.  Together.

PLATEAU

It could be a large expanse of flat land...or it can be something unchanging, unmoving...for me, it is not the first, but the second...the only flat land I want around me is a flat stomach...The scale that is unmoving and unchanging is my reality.

I have done some research as I have consistently lost 4 pounds a month for 7 months...yep, not quite 28 pounds down.  Which is great!  Really, I am excited about being 26 pounds less than last June.  But my scale. Seems. Stuck.  And it has not been stuck for 5 days...more like 5 weeks...within the same up and down of 4 pounds.  Stuck.

I started doing some research.  I have honestly never stuck with a diet this long to know how it feels.  I have been on other plans where I have said I was STUCK.  But really, I just wasn't sticking to the plan any longer...so I wasn't losing any longer.  But right now, I can't say the same is true.  I am playing with some of my calories right now-continuing to play the game, but very diligently counting calories...something that Game On! does not require that you do. 

I so believe in the Game On! way of losing that I will not throw in the towel, cry uncle, and find my quickest route to The Breadery (down the street, down the Trolley Trail, first street to the right!)...instead, I will experiment so that I can help other gamers when they get to this point.

BUT,  I will NOT stop playing the game!  All of the good, that comes out of the game, makes the struggle at this large expanse of unchanging flatland worth it...now to find the downward hill....

Weigh In Report Day tomorrow...where's my water??

Wellness and Inspiration

It is almost the end of February.   For those of us in the Northeast, we are use to, at this point, to have had some lull in the winter doldrums with a nice, cold, blast of snow here and there....enough snow to make it too hard to go to work and school, but not too much that the kids can't play outside.  My snow days are usually full of baking, visiting with neighbors, helping each other shovel.  Not this year...global warming (well, not according to some politicians), or just the protection of the mountains and the sea, or God, or whatever, has kept us from having this wonderful feeling of hunkering down with our families, enjoying the beauty and taking a few days off from the everyday of, well, winter.

I am NOT complaining...I have been able to exercise outside alot this winter.  Enough that I sometimes question my gym membership.  But I miss the unofficial "winter break" because it is nice to hunker down.

Reading the posts on our February Game page, some of my February Gamers, have been feeling, well, down.  Unmotivated, uninspired, a bit frustrated with the rate of their weight loss and the rules with the game...Not the new Gamers, mind you, they are PSYCHED...after 10 days playing the game, many of them are down 4-8 pounds...and loving it...and I am SO happy for them...  But I might be teetering in that needing inspiration group...I have, for the most part, been doing this for 7 months...a big chunk of my year.

My dear husband handed me a helpful article today, that alone should be enough to keep us all going...  The Baltimore Business Journal listed items below as increasing stress levels in employees:
1. 43 % of employees received little or no support from friends or families (God knows, I cannot complain about that...this game gives me 50 new "friends" who support me like CRAZY every month!
2. 15 % of employees claimed they get no exercise....well, anyone following my blog knows, it is 20 minutes a day OR MORE, except the day off...
3. 12 % of employees rated their overall health as poor.  If this game has taught me anything, it has taught me that what I put in my body, makes me feel good or bad.  Simple...good food, feel good, bad food, feel bad.  My overall health, even when things feel a little down, is GREAT!
4. More than 80% of employees do not get enough sleep.  Ouch.  I used to be one of those folks.  The game makes you get 7 hours, every night.  I use to be "okay" on 6--or I thought I was....now, I realize, after 7 months of 7 hours per night, 7 makes me feel great...6, I am exhausted (and lose points!!)

Does this help?  The author of Game On! says that even playing this game at 60%, you will be better off than you were before you played.  I am playing more than 60%, but sometimes, I feel frustrated.  But that's the nature of the beast...focus on how many things you are doing for yourself that makes you a better employee, a better parent, a better spouse, a better friend.  And you can get through this plateau, or hard spot, or uninspired time...you are making YOU a better you!  After all, the tulips are starting to come up...yep, in February...

And They're OFF!

Baltimore is a bit of a horse town...well, once a year at Preakness..Big fun pretty hats, huge concert, some horses run around.   Part of the Triple Crown..another one in Kentucky (Derby) and then, the Belmont Stakes (I had to look those up)  I don't really follow horse-racing (more of a college football girl) , but I like the starting up analogy, because we are prancing around excited!!

Because here we go again.  More "newbies" playing the game.  Newbies make it fun.  They keep it exciting.  They ask fun questions ("I can eat a hard boiled egg??" LOVE IT!)  And they remind us all why we keep playing again, and again.  It works, it is fun, it is supportive, it works, it is motivational, it is accountability, and, did I say, it works?  It does.  Again, and again and again.  We have 50 plus folks playing the February game--36 of us have played before!  And it is a bit of a race.  Four weeks at a time.  My calendar seems to be divided into games now, not necessarily months.

A nutritionist listened to me rattle off what I basically ate on a daily basis.  She nodded, nodded and nodded again.  She seemed to approve of what I said although the game points made her laugh...communicate with each other? Okay, makes sense.  Good habit, bad habit?  Alright, maybe.  Sleep, hmm...Water, sure. Food, sounds right.  Day off, meal off, yeah...  Long term? Do we know long term? 

No, we don't know.  At least the "WE" that is playing in my game and has been playing in my games in the past don't know...WE are not there yet.  But part of WE is getting there.  We have Maintainers who are going to play a bit with the game.  They will still be a part of WE, but THEY will have a little more wiggle room than WE do...and that is okay...Because WE all hope to be apart of THEY soon!!  WE hope THEY can show us how to maintain rather than lose.  Although for the majority of WE, we can't believe that WE will get to that point...but believe, because if you stick with it, it WILL happen.  I BELIEVE :)

These horses are ready.  They are jumping around inside waiting to get out.  It is exciting because, for many, their lives change TOMORROW.  And we helped them. And they helped us.  And no matter who wins the 4 week race, we ALL WIN.   WEIGH IN tomorrow morning...HERE WE GO!!  GAME ON!  AND THEY'RE OFF!

Motivation

Wow...here again.  Almost time to start another game...we have done it again...adding another 10 or so new players and around 25 of the old players, playing again.  Some folks are taking this month off....Need the break, re-working plans, re-prioritizing...Their bodies and minds may be glad they did.

Good news came today in that one of our former players (I think last game was before Thanksgiving?) who lives in JAPAN, is re-joining us.  Misses the accountability...not in it to win the money...in it to win for herself...good for her...glad to have her back. 

Motivation does work in different ways for different people.  I LOVE the group atmosphere even though we rarely all see each other...going online has made it easy to connect with people who are on our team and on opposing teams...Motivating each other through trash talk, but more often through encouragement.  This is hard-this losing weight thing.  But we are all doing it.

Motivation also comes from success.  Wearing clothes you haven't worn in years...or having to buy new clothes that fit in 2-3 sizes smaller.  Motivation comes from compliments.  Motivation comes from how you feel--you feel BETTER living this way.

For me, at least for now, motivation does get you started...But the habits we are building-all of us playing this game-are what keeps us going.  It becomes second nature, almost.  You still have to work at it...we know that because in between games, it is tough.  Tough to force those habits because there is no one saying you should still watch what you eat.  But those habits are there-we bring them back, and it is easier, with the start of every new game.

Game starts again in 3 days...Here comes Friday and here come the gamers!!  Less of us in mass, more of us in numbers :)

A weight loss evangelist...can that be on my resume?

Before I started my last game, 25 pounds ago, I felt okay about who I am...doing my best to be a good wife, mom, friend....Not feeling great about what I looked like, but okay...Now, although I don't belong on the cover on a magazine or anything like that, I feel good about where I am going.  But WHO WE are helping? THAT might be the best feeling of all.

I admit that I went to the Y for another work out tonight...no worries about me...not becoming an exercise fanatic, but tomorrow is the LAST weigh in for this game. My middle one had swim team, so I could play Words with Friends with my friend who might be having a slow night as an ER doc in Ohio...or EXERCISE.  Well, with the last weigh in tomorrow, exercise won.  I immediately saw a neighbor friend which is like a gift from the exercise gods...yes, someone to talk to.  She had seen someone on FB post something about the game, and asked one question...well, you probably can guess the rest of the story...Yes, she's game...well, GAME ON! and has spoken for her best friend and her husband...hope they are ready to play GAME ON! too!

In the lobby at the Y, two women were talking about their weight loss goals for the new year...one said she was down 3...and I am sure she was...but the talk turned to an ad, on TV, if you had tried everything else, see their doctors, etc, etc.  I stood there listening until I could take it NO LONGER...

Can someone become a weight loss evangelist??  Oh dear, has it happened to me??  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I talk about what I believe in and believe in what I talk about...this program is EXACTLY that...more than any other weight loss program ever has been for me because it all MAKES SENSE AND it is FUN!  Do I need business cards with my contact info so they can join the game??  I live in a small town where truly everyone is connected...my guess?  I bet one of these two women is already friends with someone playing the game...

Six months ago, I was concerned about helping me.  And my wonderful original teammates: Margaret, Cindy and Jean....I credit them because we jumped out into that world of unknown, because, well, why not??  And all four of us, well less about 90 pounds of us, are all feeling alot better about ourselves today...6 months later.

Today, I am concerned about helping others.  Obesity is a HUGE problem (no pun intended) in the United States, and the health costs driven by problems associated with obesity are astonomical...I know I can keep all of this information to myself or just keep it amongst close friends, but WHY would anyone want to do that?? If you find a HUGE bargain, don't you tell everyone about it??  Well, this is the bargain of a LIFETIME...you don't have to take the magic pill, buy all your food from a diet company source, or really, go to meetings...you need a few friends, to read the Game On! book, follow a few rules and compete...Compete to lose...win by losing....we're winning by losing...hmmm....

Rhyming away our disappointments...

We are moving on to WEEK 4 of this NEW YOU NEW YEAR GAME ON.  For me, Chapter 6 in my personal Game On book.  I do have what it takes, but at times, it does take everything I got...laughing, helps, and I love to laugh.  Thankfully, so does this group...

This group of 57 different folks, are different in many, many respects.  The common goal of trying to be healthier and lose weight makes us all friends, of a sort.  We cheer, jeer and laugh at each other.  We just finished WEEK 3 of this current game.  Week 3 has been hard for me every time I have played Game On!  Some folks get cranky with lots of excuses...some get mad that they are doing EVERYTHING right and the scale won't behave...some are pissy because they got their alcohol taken away during Week 2, and the Ravens are playing in the playoffs...well, we all know what happened with that ...

So how does one make the results day fun??  Many of us didn't make our 1% goals in Week 3.  That's okay.  It is a process.  The first person to report that he didn't make weight said this:

B.H.:

"This week I gave it my all
But I still wasn't enough to beat the week 3 weight stall.
On to the next one, lets go week 4!"


BRILLIANT, I thought, that is going to make today fun...no cranky excuses, whiny anything...anyone who didn't make weight should post a short poem...oh, and did they make us laugh!!

Mine:
So my goal was just 1 percent, I was determined to only rent,
This week shows no loss again, Who thought I would want to be like a RAVEN??

So, not trying to beat a dead bird/horse/whatever...I am sad they lost too, but maybe next year...

I tried to copy and paste all of the ones folks put up, but FB doesn't always allow you to copy and paste all whilly nilly-like...so here's a sampling of losers who gained, yet laughed through it :).  LOVE THIS GAME!

J.H.:
That 1%, Dang it, I missed it,
Even though I drank all that water and pissed it...

  


L.G.:
Losing the 1% seemed so shady. Thinking like Cindy S blame it on Brady!
  
 L.M.


Missed it by 0.3
Woe is me
But cute black pants with tags
Now fit my butt with sags
So happy I will be!


 L.G.
I said to my daughter, I drink all this water and watch every crumb that I eat, yet still the scale I can't beat!

C.S.

I worked out twice a day
How can this tiny weight loss be?
Eating all the right foods…

…‘tis the curse of week 3


V.U.

Oh the Bangles,we are doing great,
I'm so sorry I didn't make weight!
Pms has hit me bad
and now I'm feling very sad!!

The last sampling is from a gamer who has played a few times before and has had the weight STALL for this entire game...she was doing her best NOT to get discouraged, but having a rough time with it...and she MADE her weight anyway...it all came off on the last 2 days!  Your body is an amazing thing...and your weight will come off when it is ready to...just keep on doing things right.  She didn't have to do her poem, but she wanted to because it was fun :)  LOVE HER.

M.H.


It wasn't week 3 that made me crazy,
It's the see saw scale that makes my mind hazy,
When you know indeed that you aren't being lazy,
But I must keep saying.."I won't let it phase me"!


"

T minus 8 and counting...

So, here we are...8 days until the end of this game.  You can see it in our facebook posts...or some lack of posts.  It is not as much fun as 21 days ago.  Not because it is not fun to lose weight, but because this is the teetering point.

At 21 days, they (whoever "they" are) say that a habit is formed.  I disagree...I think it is more like 2 months or so for a serious good habit to be formed/bad habit to be given up.  But I don't have a "they" behind me...this is my opinion.

I have a friend on the game who is truly eating the same thing everyday, and she is totally fine with that.  However, I think she was doing that before she started playing the game...she just wasn't eating all of the right foods..    Once she bought into how the game worked, she jumped on board.  She loses a pound a week.  She won't win a "game" but she's won a bigger game with herself.  She is not saying "T minus 8 and counting." She is in this for the long haul.   She takes her days off well...enjoys them and the food she is eating, and moves on.  She doesn't have regrets because she has jumped on this bandwagon with two feet, and she is in it for good. 

This same friend doesn't complain when things are not working the way they do with everyone else.  Although she envied my 5.9 pound loss for the first week of this game, I envied more that she didn't GAIN weight the week after Christmas when we were off the Holiday Game and waiting for this game to start.  She didn't gain because her good new habits are that--she has gained a habit, and is continuously losing weight...slowly, but the formula works...she plays the game EXACTLY as it is supposed to be played. 

So to my friend, and she knows who she is, I say cheers...she is not a person who puts herself all over the place, but she is one of my heroes in this journey.  She has found what works, and thankfully, it works for both of us...And when those who don't want to stay on the bandwagon, jump off, I know she will be right alongside with me...riding slowly, with all of our new habits, weighing less, feeling great, and in a better, healthier place.

Why the GAME works....

The food: yes, very clear, eat this, not that...The pure foods...not organic, not RAW, not just fresh off the farm, but most foods, at least when you start cooking, that are as basic as they come...
The sleep: yes, study, after study, after study, after study shows that the road to weight loss is paved in Zzzz's.  Get 7 hours, at least, you will LOVE it once you start it.  And how wonderful to have something other than yourself force you to go to bed.
The exercise: I was going through a website with former Biggest Loser contestants.  I use to watch this show religiously, but knew that these folks had to move away from home, exercise 8 hours a day and get yelled at to lose their weight...and MOST have gained some, if not all, back...I am not moving away from my family, don't have time or want to exercise 8 hours a day and NEVER want to do a weight loss program so fast that the moment I leave it, I gain 50 pounds back...NEVER.  Exercise on Game ON, minimum of 20 mins...that is NOT asking for much!
The water: Never have I seen a game where water was such a controversial subject.  I played this game 3 times, then had bladder surgery because I was NOT going to give up the amount of water I was taking in (truth be told, needed the surgery for 10 years, but after starting the game, realized that with my water increase, the original problem was 10 times worse...fixed it, now, no problem :)...and yes, I still pee all the time too...but I get where I am going first :))
The habits: Giving up a bad/gaining a new.  This game, I gave up complacency in regards to a wedding cookbook I am making for my cousin...who was married last May...yikes.  I now have 24 recipes typed and ready to laminate....yay for me...and my embarrassed self who still has not sent a present.  I have a year, right?
And my good habit: Sun Salutations every day...will admit to not loving it, but I do think the stretching and slow breathing is really, really good for me...
Communications:
THIS is why the GAME works.  Yes, you can play the game, do all of the above, and still succeed...but what you get from the GROUP communication, particularly as a woman, is leaps and bounds anything else you get, at least in my opinion, from this game.  The Game On! book stresses playful picking at each other.  We are not so good at that because we ALL want each other to succeed.  Our men in our game don't participate very much on our message boards, but they are getting what they need...perhaps the accountability or some of the things above.
But for the women, the checking in, sometimes several times a day, keeps us focused, in touch and from reaching to that dark chocolate, delicious Breadery pumpkin bread which will sit in my kitchen until my day off tomorrow.



Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.

- Virginia Burden

Quitting....and losing....

There may be someone who reads this who may have been playing our game who has quit...if you are, I am so sorry you left...and so sorry I didn't get to talk to you about it...because this isn't quitting a game..it is quitting you.

I received an email early in the week (Monday, I think) from a player who I have played with and watched WIN before...She is days from her 40th birthday, 3 great kids, great husband, wonderful support network.  She heard about the game from me on July 4th at the pool, and was instantly hooked...She is THE most organized person I know, and the structure, plus me RAVING about the plan, hooked her, and I joined her in HER game for my second game.

This person, who knows the game so well, hit a ROCKY point...  I bet anyone who is a parent has hit this wall...one kid with a fever, one throwing up, the entire extended family sick (and were at your house two days before)...the black clouds have rolled over your house, and it was supposed to a be a short, easy week.  AND this mom has to think about sleep (ha, ain't happening!), water (coughing, coughing, and we know where that goes!), taking care of kids, oh, 5 meals a day and exercise, RIGHT...done! 

DONE??  I received 2 emails reading her desperation and her readiness to throw in the towel...as soon as I drop off my youngest at school, we are on the phone.  She starts in on how bad things are.  She starts in on how she should just stop playing.  She starts in on this is NUTS...and I interrupt.

I am not ALL-KNOWING, ALL-POWERFUL, or ALL-COMPLIANT....I am sure I don't have the record for playing this game...but I know that I have not played all 6 games with extreme passion or conviction, but I have still played because it STILL worked.

One line that the author wrote that I will never forget is something like this (paraphrasing) 'Even if you play this game at 60%, you are going to be healthier, feel better and be taking better care of yourself by doing so.'  This gamer was having an all out CRAPPY start of her week.  I don't blame her AT ALL for wanting to throw in the towel...but her family was not chronically ill...this was a family bug, that God-willing, would get be done in 3-5 DAYS...all of them!!  And then, what??

I told this gamer that it was the wrong message to quit.  That some score was better than no score.  And that the reason this game works is because of your teammates and your competition.  Yes, our cash pot right now would be nice in all of our pockets...realistically, it would be best in the pockets of our sweet, very cute youngest group who are all still in college or just graduated with no real money to their names....but in the end, we are all winning because we are all LOSING....

In regards to losing...we all did weigh in today.  The gamer above, not only made her goal weight, her team has shot to the top 3 teams...darn it...but yay...yay for her gummption to stick with it...

IF you are still reading, and frustrated by the lack of weight loss this week, please remember that this is a process...what many folks realize by week 2-4, is that there is truly no quick fix to having a weight problem.  BUT if you can find a program that will work for you, keep you accountable, have some fun doing it, and learn how to re-prioritize food, you may be able to stay on this plan long enough to NOT have a weight problem....

Emotional eating, eating with emotion, just eating....

In September of 2011, I vividly remember unwrapping a Snickers, laughing and stating, "Damn terrorists are making me eat this."  The fear of what could happen after 9/11 paralyzed me at times...I had 3 very young children and was fearful for their future and our families....living in DC and having a husband working in the government was enough for me to do anything I could to control what was going on....at that time, the only thing I could control was my food...and boy did I take it in...

Fast forward a few years, we had moved to another state in the mid-West, found friends with similar fitness goals, and joined Weight Watchers, again...pounds came off, but life was pretty grand there...small town, not too much pressure, stay at home mom, part-time fun little job.

Fast forward to another move...current state, going back to work...kids all in school...all of us under alot of pressure just because this is a faster pace of life than the mid-West...pounds, creeping back on...emotional eating full force again...

And now, today...the past 6 months...I have controlled my food in a way that emotional eating seems to be gone...Have I slipped up??  Sure...I have had days that were not my days off where I felt myself eating 8 Oreos at a time...and I texted each teammate to confess and ask for forgiveness and give myself the penance of 10 extra mins on the treadmill....but this has only happened once per game...Not 5 times a week...

This game doesn't give you the "Oh, I screwed up today, will start again tomorrow."  You can't...you are working with not just yourself, but your team...They just had a GREAT day, and you throw up your hands and say, tomorrow is another day??  If you screw up, and take in what you shouldn't, you lose points, disappoint you and your teammates, and move to the next meal...

But what everyone should work towards, is where I feel like I am today.  Food is not talking to me because it doesn't make me feel emotionally better when I take it in...it just sustains me.  I am in control because I can eat what I want on my day off, and feel BETTER to be back on plan the next day.  My body needs the good food.  My emotions don't need food...

Food sustains you, keeps you alive, and sometimes tastes really great.  Food doesn't make pain go away, solve problems or keep your emotions in check....  This game, if you keep playing, can get you to that point...sure, it is a game...it is a game with food, with friends, with support.   What you GAIN with this GAME is control....

FIRST WEEK, and we lost, a PERSON??

Pretty much, and a decent sized one at that...our 56 folks, playing the game, on my game 6, their game 1-5, and we lost a combined...drum roll....195 pounds!!  I know the Biggest Loser doesn't play with 56 people, but I am very impressed with all of us losing a combined 200 pounds....!!!

Yes, still many jokes about the water, and how much they are peeing...even to the point that we, those of us who have played alot (5+ games) if 100 ounces was too much...  We checked a website  (I googled "how much water should I drink a day?), and lo and behold, for me, the site stated "94 ounces."  I did this in my first game (because I felt I was drinking alot way back then), and it said "96 ounces."  And this was with two different weights entered because I am not almost 25 pounds lighter....So, go with it, friends, drink the water...in the end, if you pace yourself, slowly, you will receive the fabulous health benefits---beautiful skin, feeling BETTER, detoxifying your body, and losing weight...all great things!!

So, goodbye to the 195 pound person we lost...we made our carbon footprint smaller, we are all taking up less space, and we FEEL better!!  And our teams are supporting each other, even in this competition!!  So we all are winners...and losers :)

A Football Championship -- just about the football?

I have to admit, watching the Alabama Crimson Tide was PERFECTLY enjoyable tonight...and I did so with a GAME FRIENDLY snack of multi grain pita crisps, shredded low fat cheese and some pistachios...and ...water...

And I really enjoyed the game--and my team--will be PERFECTLY happy with me...and my teammate/husband did the same (except he had a GAME FRIENDLY smoothie of greek yogurt, frozen pineapples, peaches and mangos)...yummy...

ROLL TIDE--love the 14 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM!

Day off....meal off....life ON...game ON!!

In the Game On Plan, there is a day off and an additional meal off in the plan...meaning, you can save up for that special day, special party, special event...2 times a week....It is the bad habits where we make EVERYDAY a day for dessert, EVERYDAY a day to drink alcohol, EVERYDAY we skip exercise, EVERYDAY we say that we will fix those habits TOMORROW...those bad habits get us in trouble and eventually searching for a plan like Game On!

I took my meal off last night--it worked out great. It was Saturday and we had one kid out, another kid at swim meet all day, another one with a play date all day...nobody wanted to then cook...husband and I enjoyed pizza...and wings...and fries...all in moderation...a little bit of this and that...and then finished "meal 5" as a Game Friendly (our verbage) meal...Today was day off..but I didn't feel called to anything but an egg sandwich for breakfast (game friendly), and spinach salad wilted by warm sweet potatoes and chicken sausage...again, Game Friendly.  Dinner with friends was lasagna and salad...yummy, but again, special, not for EVERYDAY.

I can see what is happening to ME...the good habits, are becoming my habits.  The bad habits are fallling by the wayside....6 months in, and things are truly changing.

On a side note, I wrote in a previous post about giving up and adding good and bad habits for the duration of the game...I added Sun Salutations...day 1, felt nothing.  DAY 2...when I went down into "cobra"???  Well, let me just say that the stretch in those core ab muscles were SORE...well, AMEN to that...guess even those little bit of moves, little bit of stretches...do help...well, yay me!

The little voice calling to me....

I can hear it, almost as if there is someone on my shoulder..."I am hungry," it says...is it my inner self??  Is it my stomach??  Is it my dog??  No, it is my husband...who is on MY team playing this game and wants to take a SNACK penalty!!

What, I say to him, no, you go to bed...no eating, drink your hot herbal tea and go to bed...you are NOT disappointing our team...everyone else is having perfect days...you can NOT cave after 2 days...no, no and more no...

My husband's relationship with food has ALWAYS been different than mine which is why his GAME ON experience will ALWAYS be different than mine...as I think it is for most of the men who have played this Game with me and my friends...Why do men have more of the mentality that food sustains them and is not a reward or is "deserved" or feeds the soul...food does not feed the soul...food feeds the body...so in this GAME we give the body what it needs.  However, the benefits of this game make them come back...one of our current players lost 300 points in his trigylcerides after ONE MONTH on the game!!  He went from scary (I think it was 370 down to 90!!)...health benefits? I would say so.

Is he hungry? Probably...his timing was off today, so, he doesn't have an evening snack...and his metabolism runs high...Is he holding strong...keep your fingers crossed...I haven't seen anyone admit to losing points yet...and it is day 2...

One day down, a lifetime to go?

A friend complimented me in the parking lot...another gamer, one of my best friends was there....the complimenting friend asked "how long will you do this?  It's alot of work for you in charge of it?? That's crazy!"  My gamer best friend looked at me and said, "You are going to do this the rest of your life."

Hours later, this remark, although we have said it to each other and I probably have said it to anyone reading, is probably the truth....good thing is, for me, it feels do-able...Like I could, and very well might, do this the rest of my life...

I have had wonderful conversations with some of our 60 players today...those who took time off during the holidays and are SO glad to be back on track...glad to be starting the new year with focus, purpose and knowing the direction they are going.

And then our wonderful NEWBIES...LOVE their excitement, their enthusiasm, their questions...because it keeps it all new and exciting for those of us trudging along...it seriously kept me up at night and looking forward to stepping on the scale today...and doing my new habit this morning (Sun Salutation three times when I wake up---did I feel different, not necessarily, but hopefully, by the end of this game, I will...but I digress)...

So how did our group of 60 do??  There were many facebook posts (that's how we all communicate, through a private fb page) about how much they had to pee...and how much they had to eat (ever been on a diet with that complaint??!!) ...and how they missed their beer...well, true to all the above...  But tomorrow, many will weigh themselves in the morning.  And they will be shocked by seeing the number on the scale...  BUT even more, they won't believe how in control they felt today and how in control they will feel TOMORROW...and even, on a day they count as an "OFF DAY" how they will come back to the game...because even if they didn't feel strong enough to, their teammates will help them come back.

The fun, in this particular game, is the bantering...lots of fun, "we are going to kick your skinny asses" and "the deli man tried to get me to eat a SNACK by offering me a slice of deli meat!"  But it gets everyone laughing, which is what makes this GAME, FUN!!

Tips for Day 1 and Week 1

One more day...about 36 hours, depending on when my teammates and opponents wake up, we will start this game...For me, Game 6...for many, Game 1...  What I hope many see is that this GAME, can be for FOREVER...alterations can be made once you hit your goal, but at least for me, I see me doing this...forever...

So, how do you get through Day 1...the excitement, especially after hearing me going on and on, might be, well, perhaps a downer...That would be a disappointment for me if everyone wasn't as excited as me, but I have yet to see a game played where players are not SIGNIFICANTLY surprised and delighted by not only the results but that they CAN do it...I don't think a marching band will wake you on Thursday morning, but there will be voices in your head...your teammates and your opponents, telling you, LET's GET THIS GAME STARTED!!

So, if you are "playing with me :)", we weigh in for the first time on Thursday morning within 10 mins of waking.  That weight is recorded on the Week 1 scoresheet.  Your weight goal is 1% less than the weight on the first day of the week...so you need to be 1% less than you are this Thursday, next Thursday....got it??

And your day will begin.  Think carefully about the timing of your meals.  I HIGHLY recommend for newbies that you track your food through http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.  There is an app for your smart phone.  But you don't have to...if you are following the Game On! plan, you should lose weight. 

So, you have to do all your meals (5) by plan today, get in that exercise(at least 20 mins), communicate with the players (one opponent and one teammate or through our FB page), good habit(keep it now, a change will cause big time points lost), bad habit (get rid of--bad habits are holding you back!), drink that 100 ounces of water (yes, we are all drowning and walking to the bathroom again and again--you are in GREAT company)...no procrastinating on this diet...can't eat all 5 meals before noon and throw in the towel..those teammates will kick your butt!!  Don't save the water for the nighttime...you will never sleep if you do that...pace yourself, listen to your body, eat every 2-4 hours and savor the NEW in this plan...DON"T call it a diet...it is a plan and it is DO-ABLE and you CAN do it!!

My fun quote of the day: "First thing first; second things never."  This is our first thing, friends!!  If we can do this, and WE CAN, those other things we thought we would try to get off the weight or get healthier or both, will NEVER have to be done!!

Thanks for playing, thanks for reading...THANKS!  GAME ON!

EXCITEMENT growing, ANTICIPATION huge!! 2012 will be AWESOME!!

One of my best friends gave me a book of lovely, wonderful quotes today...This one struck me today:
"Believe in something big.  Your life is worth a noble motive."  Forty-five ladies and gentleman have decided to play Game On! with me starting on Thursday.  They have asked for Q and A time tomorrow to go through the details...newbies and experienced gamers are coming...they are excited, nervous, and getting me in the direction that I need to be in too...this Game works because the excitement can continue...This is our BIG today and this week, and truly, for the next 4 weeks...and some may not like it the way I do, but some, well, some WILL!!  And it will be worth it for them!!  Oh, this year, 2012, will be AWESOME!!  GAME ON!!