Grand Totals

Can I just say, this was close! I can't believe I didn't push myself just a little harder, but I guess I've learned not to mess with KaRaeZee!
KaRaeZee-2,804.3
Heroic Hafens-2,747.5
Homebase Hasbeens- 2,540

Good job everyone! I think I'm gonna celebrate by eating some Halloween candy...Money is on the way. Is there a preference for who we give it too?

Saturday

Can you believe we made it folks? I'm sorry if you have been having a hard time seeing the blog. I put you all as administrators, so I hope that helps? I have the blog as public, so you should only have to sign in to post. Whatever. Blogging is not in my future. I have to say today was a great one for the diet after all. Not only did I exercise a bit by shopping with the sisters, but Jordon and I played Wii boxing for quite a while and boy are my arms TIRED! Today is my day off of food because I realized that tomorrow i fast Sunday, so bonus at dinner time! I know I will catch up on my calories with some super nutritious Danish Dessert. I have noticed that it has helped my habits. I now grab bottles of water without thinking about it. I look forward to exercising. And when my baby sleeps well, I pop awake in the morning with a lot more energy than I used to. I hope you've had fun! Can't wait to see the results!

Finally!

I've been trying to login to this so I could leave a message all week and it finally worked!! So I wanted to take the suggestion of the last day of the Beck Diet and go on a shopping spree--but somehow that day got away from me. Though I did enrich my life with and In n Out burger...does that count? Only a few days left and I'm feeling good! I hope everyone else is enduring also :)

Homebase Hasbeens

We have enjoyed being accountable for what we do. I don't know about more energy or any weight loss, but we think about what we are doing. I really try hard to keep snacks out of the house, but Halloween came. I didn't buy way too much this year, so it was okay. Now we are all looking ahead to the holidays! We have really tried to stick to fresh fruit as much as possible and I find that when we have it around and easily accessible (ie: watermelon cut up in the fridge) we do not seem to need junk food so much. Happy for Sunday to come. How are the rest of you doing?

Week 3 results

I am too lazy to keep calculating, so I am just going to give you this weeks outcome, not the overall total.
KaRaeZee is in the lead with 677.5
The happenin' Hafens are last with 640
And The Homebase Hasbeens take the middle with 647.5!

I haven't heard from the Struhs since the end of week one... Hope everyone is doing great! I would love to hear if this has been successful so far. Anyone feeling more energetic? Finding new ways to cook? Having fun exercising? Or maybe you just can't wait to be done and go back to your old habits (Jordon)? Let us know!

Home stretch folks!

Okay, only seven more days left. Yes, we are ending on Kari's birthday (Nov 7th). The Beck book only has a few more things to do, so after that we all get a free 10 points a day! I love free points. Here we go!

Day 1: Deal with a Plateau
Naturally, when you lose weight you are not going to lose weight every week at the same pace. You are going to hit plateaus where your weight will stay the same for a while and then it will continue to go down again (as long as you keep up your hard work.) Don't get discouraged by this! If you hit a longer plateau, you have four options:

1. Continue to do what you are doing and see if you start to lose weight again.
2. Reduce your daily calorie intake by 200 calories (As long as you check with a Dr. and are sure it is reasonable)
3. increase your daily exercise by 15-20 minutes.
4. Call this your goal weight

Day 2: Keep up with exercise
Is there something that stops you from getting consistent exercise? Do you view yourself as a non-exerciser? Tips:

• Focus on how you feel after you finish exercising, not during
• Put exercise in the no choice category
• Meet a friend or a trainer. They will make you more accountable and will probably make the time pass much faster
• Give yourself lots of credit. Come up with non-food rewards for your positive behavior.
• Focus on your progress. Can you walk a minute longer than the day before? Are you able to work out more vigorously?
  
• End your workout with something positive.
  

Day 3: Enrich your life
Have you been putting off doing things until after you lose weight? A new wardrobe, a vacation, join a social group, etc? If you stop putting those positive things off, you can start feeling better about yourself NOW and if you feel better about yourself you will want to take better care of yourself.

That's it! Have 4 free days! Hope everyone is doing well with your new healthy habits!

Busy busy busy

I'm finding I have to be more creative with my diet/exercise plan in order to work it all in with all the holiday fun going on around us! Like walking through the mall to vote, and running up the escalator, we even took the kids to the park and I walked Zulu.....all fun but practical. Eating has been difficult to eat well rounded meals, but I squeeze some veggies and fruit into everything (plus I have the V8 fusion drink with veggies in it). Water has been the hardest thing this week. Going to all these events I can't be running to the bathroom all the time, so I just have to drink what I can.....Anyways, week three is almost done and WHEW! I'm glad we are in the lead, we'll have to see after the rest of this weekend!

Week Two Results!

Half way there! Here are the results as of now!
Homebase Hasbeens-1,232.5
KaRaeZee-1,413.3
Hurricane Hafens- 1,382..5

I haven't heard from the Struhs' yet. But I have to say it looks like the competition is heating up! Good job folks!

Beck week Three!

I highly recommend the The Beck Diet Solution. When I try to short cut the chapters for you, it can get to sound redundent. I hope you are getting something out of my short hand version...anyhow, here it goes!

Day one: Resist food pushers

Do you worry about hurting people's feelings when you turn down an offer of food? If you were a vegetarian would you eat meat just to spare someone's feelings? Or if you were on a diet for medical reasons (Which some of you are)? When someone offers you something unplanned to eat, politely say no thank you. If they insist, explain you are on a diet. No feelings will be hurt.

Day two: Stay in Control when eating out.

• Choose a suitable place to eat (Make sure there are foods available in line with your plan.)

• Go with a friend who will support your diet

• Plan in advance how much you are going to eat.

• Anticipate sabotaging thoughts

• When your food arrives, portion off the food you will eat. Don't be afraid to ask for a doggie bag up front (people did this all the time to me at Olive garden and I never minded.)

• Assess your success when you leave the restaurant.

Day three: Prepare for travel

Vacations tend to include different eating habits. That's ok! Some possible strategies:

• Allow yourself a few extra hundred calories every day

• follow your plan as usual but add minor splurges on a few occasions

• Follow your diet every day but the last day of your trip.

If your eating rules are too strict, you might get fed up and abandon the diet altogether.

Day Four: Eliminate Emotional Eating

Just about everyone fighting with weight issues eats for emotional reasons from time to time. People without a weight problem don't think of eating to feel better. Use mindset techniques to to combat emotional eating.

• Labele how you feel. I am feeling upset, not hungry.

• Stand firm. Tell yourself you are absolutely not going to eat because you are stressed.

• Don't give yourself a choice. You already made the decision, you don't have to make it again.

• Imagine the aftermath of giving in. Is it worth it in the long run?

• Distract yourself.

• Relax.If you need some techniques, I took a stress management course and would be glad to help you through some relaxation techniques. Or just take a deep breath and calm down. Whatever works for you.

Day Five:Solve Problems

1. What kind of thinking error could I be making?

2. What evidence is there that this thought might or might not be completely true?

3. Is there an alternative explanation or another way of viewing this?

4. What is the most realistic outcome of this situation?

5. What is the effect of my believing this negative thought and what could be the effect of changing my thinking?

6. What would I tell my friend if they were having this negative thought?

7. What should I do now?

Day Six: Believe it

Do you think you are the kind of person who just doesn't lose weight? Stop doubting and believe!

Day Seven: Reduce Stress

Everyone experiences stress everyday (mom?).

1. Solve the problem. If you are stressed because you have too many demands or responsibilities, make a priority chart and list all your activities and how high of a priority they are. Thishelps you organize and put things in perspective. Respond to negative thoughts that interfere with problem solving. Ask a more impartial third person to help if needed.

2. Relax. Chronic stress makes your body tense and makes you more prone to accident and illness. Be happy and healthy by letting go of the stress.

3. Change your mindset. Many people are chronically stressed because they allow unreasonable rules to guide their behavior. Do any of these sound familiar?

• I should always do my best

• I should always prevent problems from happening

• I shouldn't rely on others

• I shouldn't let people down

• I shouldn't make others unhappy

Identify the rules you have for yourself. Relax these self-imposed rules and relax your rules for others.

Homebase Hasbeens

Thanks for putting the info all together for me Kort. It helps. I really thought I had until Tuesday at noon, but I think I sent it Monday night. We will do better this week. Yesterday was a better "fitness" day for me because I was home and could cook and do a few of the things I have slacked off on. We don't like being the Schmucks but we haven't really thought of anything clever. I still need to make salmon this week---maybe tomorrow after the wedding. Working around all the extracurricular activities is the hardest part of the PLAN. Please take notice of our team name. We worked on it this morning. Good luck to you all.

Carrots and Bananas

So I was eating baby carrots at dinner tonight and discovered I must have some sort of allergy to them because they make my ears itch, just like banana's do. I know that's weird, but it's true. So now I have a GIGANTIC bag of carrots that someone is welcome to, or my family will have to try to work their way through it. BUT I did get all my servings of veggies today! I'll just have to find a new kind for tomorrow.

Kari

Thanks!

Thanks for posting that info-it did help. So I just wanted to share that I think it is interesting that the diet this week is going better for me than last week. I am much busier-but last week got me into the routine of doing what I'm supposed to. My scores are better this week and I'm hardly thinking about it- maybe that is the trick!

Review

Mom requested I put everything in one place. I looked back at my first post because I thought I had done that, but I missed a few things. So here is the redo!

--Every day you can earn up to 100 points. You get points for drinking water, sleeping enough, exercising, following your diet plan, etc.
--You have to be part of a team. It makes you more accountable to know that if you lose points, it affects more than you.
--Everyone pays $5 to the winning team!
--You get one day a week you get full points and you don't have to follow the rules. That means in each category and it doesn't have to be the same day. So if you want to sleep less on wednesday, drink nothing on thursday, and eat like a pig friday, you can count those as your day off. I keep track every day and throw my lowest score from each category out at the end of the week.
--You need to turn in your points by noon on monday so I can tell everyone where they stand. Sorry if there was confusion on that one.

Here is the official point breakdown:
10 points for the Beck Book
10 Points for sleeping at least 7 hours
20 points for exercising at least 20 minutes a day
40 point for Eating within your diet
10 points for communication with someone from another team
10 points for drinking at least 2 liters of water a day.

Hope this helps!

Ammendment

I got Kinz's score. KaRaeZee's total is now 687.5.

Week One Results

The results are in! Mostly...(Kinz). I went ahead and added 50 points for those of you who turned in your scores on time, so here you go. If you haven't made up a team name, I made a nickname up for you.
Shmuckers (Phil and Sue) have 605.
Struggling Struhs are at 690.
KaRaeZee have 710.(I will average kinzee's in when I get it.)
Team Awesome aka the Hafenators are leading with 732.5.

I am proud of everyone! Those are pretty impressive scores! Keep it up!
Kortni

P.S. by Jordon
So really this is just so I can get my communication points. I am still going to win!

Who's gonna win?

Wow, One week down, 3 left to go! I still think our team is going to win!

Beck Week Two!!!

Hope everything is going awesome! Remember there is an extra 50 points per person for turning in your weekly total to me by noon monday!

Beck week 2

Day 1: Monitor your eating

Immediately after finishing each meal and snack write it down. Give yourself credit when you follow your diet. Respond to sabotaging thoughts if you don't so you get back on track.

Benefits:

• It helps you remain accountable for what you eat.

• It helps you strengthen your motivation

• It helps build confidence

• It helps you recognize and solve problems

• You get your points for the day if you do!

Day 2: Stop fooling yourself!

Ways people rationalize their eating:

• it's not a whole piece

• I'll only eat it this one time

• it's not that fattening

• I'll make up for it by eating less later

• I paid for it

• no one will see me eat it

• everyone else is eating it

• I'm upset and I just don't care

• I really want it

It is not ok. If you make a habit of eating unplanned foods or off limit foods, you won't be making a permanent change.

Day 3 Say “Oh well” to disappointment

You have chosen to follow a new plan for your life because it is good for you. Stick with it!

Examples: I want a donut. Oh well.

I want a hamburger. Oh well.

I don't want to exercise today. Oh well.

Just because you want it doesn't mean you give in. You can complain, but get over it and keep going!

Day 4: Counter unfairness syndrome

Put fairness into perspective. Remind yourself why you are dieting (remember your card?) and make a mental list of the advantages of what you are doing. Focus on the positive!

Day 5: Deal with discouragement

Are you thinking “It shouldn't be this hard” “I'll never be able to keep this up” “I don't want to do this anymore.” Here is what to do.

Add up the difficult hours. You think it was a hard week? Look back and figure out how much time you spent thinking about or working on the diet. I bet it doesn't seem very long compared to the other hours in the week.

Focus on what you can do today. Don't take on the whole world, just take on today and do the best you can.

Day 6: Identify Sabotaging thoughts.

There are common thoughts that are probably going through your head. By identifying them, you can label them as the sabotage they are. Here are some examples:

Dieting is too hard I really want it I have no willpower

I don't care I'll make up for it later I can start dieting again tomorrow

It's not fair I'll end up eating it eventually

Day 7: Recognize thinking mistakes

1. All or nothing thinking. I am either completely on my diet, or completely off my diet.

2. Negative Fortune Telling. You predict the future negatively without considering the positive outcomes.

3. Overly positive Fortune Telling. You predict the future so positively you trick yourself thinking you don't even have to do the work.

4. Emotional Reasoning. You think your ideas must be true even though objective evidence says not. I feel like a failure for straying, so I must be a failure.

5. Mind Reading. You are sure of what others are thinking. She'll think I am rude if I don't take a brownie.

6. Self-deluding thinking. If no one sees me, it doesn't count.

7. Unhelpful rules. I can't waste food. I can't inconvenience my family by cooking healthy just because I chose to be healthier.

8. Justification. You link two unrelated concepts to justify your eating. I deserve to eat because I am so stressed out.

9. Exaggerated thinking. You make a situation seem bigger than it is. I can't stand this craving.

Coomunity Garage sale

So, Kinz, Kort and I got our exercise garage sale hopping today. (I know we were aiding the enemy, but it was fun) Kinzee's community had a community wide garage sale, so we wandered through her whole neighborhood and managed to walk for over an hour! Yeah Us. (I even did a good chunk with Alia in the front pack) Yesterday was my "day off" and boy, I wasn't used to eating that much anymore. I had been cutting back on my food before we started, so it got a little much yesterday, so I guess this is working. I definitely don't need to eat as much to get full!

Dancing With the Stars

So I didn't get to go out and exercise today. After I got Sadie to go to sleep I pulled out the Dancing with the Stars workout dvd Kortni gave me. I'm embarrassed and noone was even here to see me...they don't slow steps down at all, they just go for it. I tried my best but I am not a quick dance step learner, or graceful--and I even took multiple dance classes in college! I'm just proud to say that at 9:30 at night I just finished my workout. It really was a work out too, even though I did over half the steps wrong.

ROAD BLOCKS

Dad and I are having a few "road blocks" the past couple days. Kyle brought dad a laptop last night and showed him how to work it (it has fancy art stuff on it), so we didn't get to walk after dinner. Today I have the Primary Program Practice and Pizza Party so I will leave home before dad arrives and we won't get home until after dark. You are all going to pass us up. We haven't gone to our situps as our back up plan yet. We would rather walk...........Keep smiling as you jump ahead with all your exercising points!!! I did carry Paul in his car seat all the way from the church cultural hall to the primary room. Oh my--it was SO heavy!!!

Communication Points

So I think that I am going to win. beat that you all.
Jordon

Dad

I put a fresh peach in my lunch yesterday so as to meet my fruit quota, and then barely made it to my prep period at 140 with an upset stomach. Today I stuck with a banana and some tomato's.

KaRaeZee.

We finally decided in a team name. We will be the KaRaeZee team ("Ka"ri, "Rae"leen, and Kin"zee"). We are all having fun and doing our best! (We're going to win!)

Oops

So, I forgot I had already sent Kortni a note as my check in yesterday and posted on here to count for my communication. So, I'll do a quick one today. I finally slept more than 7 hours...YEAH! Not much else has changed since yesterday!

Kari's insights

So far things are going well. The kids are complaining about meals, but that's just normal...heaven forbid I make them eat their veggies if I have to eat them too! I got melons to munch on when I get the munchies (mangled my thumb cutting them, but I'm sure it's all worth the bloodshed) and exercising feels good. Now that I know how much water I have to drink, it's not so bad and I guess I drink more than I thought I did. I tried to show the kids how to do a proper cartwheel and decided my goal of losing weight is probably a good idea....it was quite a sight!

Dad's Blog

I am enjoying walking with Mom. It is kind of pretty, though the traffic was more in the afternoon/evening.

Communicating

Does writing on the blog constitute communicating for our points? I do Mom's Morning Minutes and today I talked to grandma. We talked long enough to count it for the whole week, but I will just give myself points for one day. Communicating is not my hard part. I hope everyone is having fun.

Question

I have a question about the points. So yesterday I had all smiling faces on my diet, except on fruit I had a straight face. I had 1.4 servings instead of 2. Does that mean that I don't get any of my diet points? Or do I just deduct?

Day one and already learning...

I just thought I would share what I have learned on day one:

1. I must be important because I was reason #1 on Jordon's response card (it says"cause my wife told me to")
2. It takes 50 minutes to walk to Jordon's pool and by then, I am glad to have a car seat in the car to get us home after we swim.
3. 2 liters of water goes fast if you sip while walking that 50 minutes in the sunshine
4. I need to increase my amount of food intake by 500 calories because I am still feeding Alia. Hope you don't mind!
5. Lots of foods will say the weight watcher points on the side
6. 3 1/2 cups of vegetables is a LOT to eat every day

Oh! Jordon wants our team to be called "the team that is going to win." I'll accept Hurricane Hafens or just the Hafens. Bring it on!

I am going to win.!!!

As stated above I am going to win. and kortni too. (Malicious evil laugh)
This is my communication points for the day.
Jordon

BetteSue and I have been on the HCG Diet and will be continuing with this. BetteSue started again at the beginning and I am in the maintenance phase.

Kinzee's Plan

I plan on using MyPyramid Tracker. I will try to get smiling faces for each food group to earn my points. Good luck everyone!

Kari's diet and exercise

So I've been talking it over with everyone and trying to find something I'll actually stick to. I tried doing the calorie thing this week as a practice and it didn't go well. So I'm going to:

Make sure to have 2-3 servings of veggies a day.
Eat well balanced meals
Eat only low-fat, low calorie, or no calorie (if I can find it) toppings for foods.
Bake with Applesauce instead of oil and find any other calorie cutters I can.

I will exercise for 30 min. 4 days a week on wii fit, and do 20 minutes of vacuuming of my house on other days (I promise it makes me sweat to do the WHOLE house).

I will do the water thing, but I may get some crystal lights to make it so I can keep drinking when water gets boring.

That is my plan. Grandma, Kinzee and I are on a team. We haven't come up with a name yet, but we'll keep you posted!

Dad and Mom Diet and Exercise Plan

After much discussion our diet rules are as follows:
1. We will eat fruit and/or vegetables at least 2 meals each day
2. We will cook at home 5 full days per week.
e. We will eat fish (salmon) once a week. (For mom's heart health and dad's too!)

Our exercise plan is to walk 20 minutes a day or do sit ups. Sit ups will increase by 5 each week.
Week one Mom will do 10 and dad will do 15. We know this varies a little from Kortni's plan, but it varies greatly from our current commitment. We really prefer walking. The situps are our punishment..........

Jordon's Diet

I am going to go with Weight Watchers.
Jordon

Grandma's Diet

Grandma emailed me her diet today. Sounds perfect! I am just going to cut and paste it for you.

This diet doesn't have a name. It is from a really old book called, "Recipes For Diabetics" by Billie Little, 1972. I used it to lose a lot of weight about 20 years ago. It teaches you to avoid most fats and sugars which I have a really hard time with.

Thanks Grandma!

Kortni's Diet

The rules of my diet are as follows:

1. I have to eat between 1500-2000 calories a day
2. I have to eat food pyramid portions for a well balanced diet, especially veggies
   
3. No soda, kool-aid, or other mostly sugar based drinks
4. I have to eat 3-5 meals a day.

I can't wait to hear your plans!

Hi Kortni--Dad and I are here. We will probably use the same sign in. We will be a team. I don't think we are going to do anything fancy with diet. We will eat. Our biggest goal is the exercising. I want to know if I get 5 points if I drink one liter of water a day or if I really have to get to 2 liters. I think dad and I will not ever get those points unless we can have a fraction....Or if we can count our entire fluid intake---dad is great with KoolAid! I drink a lot of heart healthy orange juice. We will come up with a name later and let you know. I just thought you'd be happy to know we are here......

Week One Beck Stuff

I was talking to Kinz and she thinks I should post a whole week of the BECK at a time, so I thought I would go for it. Now you can see how you are earning your 10 points!

Day 1: Record the Advantages of your program

Today, you need to make a “response card,” a card you keep on you all the time to help respond to negative thoughts. On a card or piece of paper (remember, you have to keep it with you, so small and durable) write your reasons for participating in this diet. Try to list reasons from most important to least important.

Example: I'll have more energy

I'll be supporting my wife

I will be a good example to my kids

I won't feel so self conscious

I want to beat Kortni SO BADLY!

Whatever is going to motivate you. Whenever you are tempted to go off your diet or not drink water, exercise, etc. you pull out your card and look at why you want to do this.

Day 2: Eat Sitting Down

Do you do the following?

• Take free samples at the grocery store

• Taste food as you prepare meals

• sneak bits of food when you clear the table

• munch while you walk around talking on the phone

• nibble on something you see in the refridgerator while on your way to getting something else out.

Calories add up, so you should be conscious of what you are eating. Since you are probably eating less food, it become important to see it all spread out in front of you and you will be more psychologically satisfied. Therefore, no munching, sit down and notice that you are eating.

Day 3: Give yourself credit/get back on track

No one is perfect. Focus on the good things you are doing with your diet and be proud. If you mess up, move on. If you dwell on a failure, it is likely to snowball.

Example: You eat a big piece of cake. 500 calories. If you just move on, you have an extra 500 calories. If you dwell, you might say today doesn't matter anymore. Add a donut (now you are up to 800 calories) some icecream (1,200 calories) a candy bar (1,500) spme potato chips, a muffin, a pretel, a few cookies (3,500) and now you have eaten 2 days worth of calories instead of just that extra 500.

So be proud of what you do right and let go of what you don't.

Day 4: Eat slowly and mindfully

• When you eat slowly, your brain has time to register that you are full

• When you notice every mouthful, you feel more satisfied when the food is gone.

Day 5: Overcome cravings

• label it. Tell youself this is just a craving.

• Stand firm. You have reasons to say no.

• Imagine the aftermath. You get what you want, but you lose your points, you feel guilty for breaking the diet, and you are letting Kortni win your cash!

• Distance yourself physically from the food you crave.

• Drink a no-low calorie beverage (And it goes to your 2 liters!).

• Distract yourself. By the time you finish what you have to do, your craving won't be so strong.

Day 6: Prevent unplanned eating

You have made a plan and you will follow it, no ifs ands or buts! Following a rule eliminates the struggle over what to eat or not eat. Take out your card of reasons and write on it NO CHOICE. When you read that, you will remember you already made the choice, so you don't have one now.

Day 7: Change your definition of full

After a meal, ask yourself " could I go for a brisk walk after this?" If the answer is yes, good job! That is normal fullness. If not, tell yourself that this is overeating, not normal fullness. Look for and remove triggers of overeating.

For me, that means clearing leftovers off the table instead of sitting and talking after a meal. If I stay at the table and talk, I keep picking at food, even if I'm stuffed.

The Bacefenth Challenge!

Hey there! Welcome to the official challenge! One more overview, just so it is all written down in one place, ok? Here is the gist:
--Every day you can earn up to 100 points. You get points for drinking water, sleeping enough, exercising, following your diet plan, etc.
--I don't care what kind of a diet you want. If you want to follow a diet that requires you drink 20 sodas and eat only candy bars, that is fine by me. I plan on coming up with requirements for myself to eat balanced meals and hit a certain number of calories. I am going to use mypyramid.com to help me with that. But you choose your own plan and as long as you follow it, you get points!
--You have to be part of a team. It makes you more accountable to know that if you lose points, it affects more than you.
--Everyone pays $5 to the winning team!
--You get one day a week you get full points and you don't have to follow the rules.

Here is the official point breakdown:
10 points for the Beck Book (I will post it daily on this site).
10 Points for sleeping at least 7 hours
20 points for exercising at least 20 minutes a day
40 point for Eating within your diet
10 points for communication with someone from another team
10 points for drinking at least 2 liters of water a day.

This is my first time trying to blog, so hopefully you are all able to post whatever you want. I would like everyone to post here or email me your diet plan by October 10th and who is on what team. I'm thinking awesome team names are a given. Everyone get to know your rules. I'm excited to be doing this with everyone!