Day 67 - I Can't Wait for Turkey Day AND Breaking (the) BAD!

I cannot WAIT for Thanksgiving!!

Not for the OBVIOUS reasons - it's my FAVORITE holiday (memories of mom's turkey dinner), not ALL to do with food but OMG, could my mom (in heaven) cook?!!! Yes, she could. YUM!

But THIS year I'm almost (somewhat, sorta, yah...for sure) more excited about Turkey Day for another reason.

There's cash involved. If you remember, I mentioned a challenge I'd entered about a month ago. We all had to choose the amount of weight we could lose by the day before Thanksgiving; we all put in $100 give or take, and if we lost our goal weight, the winner would be determined by weight loss percentage.

Yep. So how's it going?

Good. With 6 of us in it to win it, the competition is fierce. There is a good mix of people too. 2 guys, 4 girls, 3 old(er) and 3 young.

My bestie, Deb, is in the lead right now with a whopping 6.28% weight loss. WOWZA! She's doing AWEsome but had better stay on her toes. Her significant other is creepin' up on her and so am I. The "kids" are rockin' it too but...

Have any of them lost their drive???

Only time will tell. And with almost $600 on the line, it's still very much anyone's game. Good luck to all!

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NOW, let's talk about Barb's Friday Fitness Tip, because Oh EM Gee, it fits right in today. I am rounding up (next Tuesday) week 10 and weekends are always a bit tough for me. I've also been slipping a bit lately and had to have a good long talk with myself, last night. More about THAT after we see this FAB new tip:


Barb's FAB FITNESS TIP #7: Breaking Bad Habits Once and For All

Breaking a bad habit can be frustrating.  How many times have you been determined to lose weight, only to find yourself slipping back into a bad habit?  For instance, when you're having a super stressful day and nothing seems to be going right, does it cause you to make a trip or two to the vending machine?  When you have an argument with your spouse, do you turn to comfort food?  These habits, or behaviors, that you revert (back) to when life gets challenging, are most likely behaviors that you learned long ago.  These ingrained behaviors just become an automatic response. 

Can these repetitive behaviors ever be broken?  Yes!  It takes work, but it can be done and the outcome will be so worth it!  It's a matter of teaching your brain to trigger a different behavioral response to situations.  Here are some steps to help you out.

Step #1.  Recognize triggers.  Identify the situations that cause you to want to eat unhealthy food or to avoid exercising.

Step #2.  Tell yourself you have options. The next time a trigger occurs, remind yourself that you have options.  For example, if having to do a lot of paperwork at your job causes you to eat a candy bar and down a cola, then tell yourself you have other options, such as: getting a drink of water, taking a short walk, or doing a few stretches.

Step #3.  Choose one of the options.  Follow through with one of your healthy options. Keep replacing the bad habit with a healthy option, and your brain will eventually automatically think of the new behavior (healthy option) instead of the bad habit!  You'll then be free of the bad habit!

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What Barb states above is absolutely true. We get into routines (bad ones) that seem hard to break and that's probably the number one reason (at least for me) that failing to lose weight happens. We do well for a certain amount of time but then we start to slip. Slipping turns into returning to what was comfortable and easy, and before we know it, we are right back to where we were before we decided to...

CHANGE OUR LIFE!

Guess what?

It only takes the body (and mind) about 3 days to begin reprogramming itself. After 3 weeks, with good behavior, your body (and mind) should be plenty used to the NEW habits, meaning you are less likely to slip and/or return to the crappy ones.

BUT...

...if you continue to play the odds - one week I'm good, the next there's a few slips but I manage to pull it out, the next could be good but the NEXT, major fail...

You have NOT broken those habits. You are gambling and as you know, the house (97% of the time) always wins.

True confessions time: I've been gambling for the last two weeks. Struggling to stay on top of this. Losing focus for stupid reasons and forgetting what for and why I'm doing this. Enough is enough...

Let's ALL do as Barb says: recognize triggers. Find healthy options. Break the bad and continue doing good.

It's for you. Your body, your mind, your spirit.

And you darn well deserve it!

Till next time!

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Starting Weight: 306.4

Goal Weight: 150

Today's Weight: 273.4

Total Lost to Date: 33

33 Pounds DOWN! Time to step it UP!

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Our Virtual Trip(s)

Michele: 5.75 miles 

Anna: 108 miles 

Sandi: 66.36 miles

Debbie: 37 miles 

Kathy: 67.84 miles 

Stephanie: 86.75 miles 

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