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....