Hello ladies!  I am not playing the game but did print out the food chart to try to follow.  What are you all eating for meat for breakfast?  I don't see anything listed and I am an egg and meat breakfast kind of gal.

Habits ... we all have got them!

Let's all post about the healthy habit we are going to start and the bad habit we are going to break!

Some examples of bad habits include the following:

• Swearing
• Texting While Driving
• Complacency
• Lying
• Negative Self-Talk
• Coffee
• Watching TV
  
• Internet Porn
• Gossip
• Ordering In
• Buying Bottled Water

Are you searching for the perfect good habit to start, but don't have any good ideas yet? Below you will find a list of some ideas the author of the book and her friends came up with:

• Take up Cooking (at least one meal a day)
• Organize Your House, Clear Clutter
• Study a Foreign Language
• Learn/Practice a Musical Instrument
• Rediscover Reading for Pleasure
• Take up Journaling
• Take up Yoga
• Take up Meditation
• Floss Daily
• Call Three People You Like Each Day
• Be of Service to Others (Do Charitable Work)

I strongly suggest (if you haven't read the book) reading this section on the habits rule. I am going to include my choices as a reply to this post and encourage you to do the same. (If you think the photo is a giveaway to my choices you are wrong, you have to read to find out!)

Helpful Apps

Here are a couple apps that some of us have already been using.
My Fitness Pal and Endomondo

You can search for them on your phone for the phone app.

Your Fitness Pal: Your Fitness Pal is here to help you get in the best shape of your life. Sometimes you just need a pal for a little advice, encouragement and motivation! You can track your food to find out how many calories you are eating daily, place your weight goal and track the calories you burned during an exercise.

Endomondo: Endomondo is a sports community based on free real-time GPS tracking of running, cycling, etc. Bring your mobile on the track and get a complete training log!

Sample Menu

Hello Ladies! It was great seeing some of my besties this morning and meeting some new ladies. And what a beautiful day for a walk!

Here is my Week 1 menu. Hopefully this will help everyone with setting up there meals. It seemed less daunting to me to create a weekly menu, this way I don't have to think of it daily. I am almost creating mine for the whole 4 weeks.

FYI Sanctioned Food Menu
*Note: I set an alarm on my phone for each of the times listed below.
I also tried to keep my carb intake low, so I am trying to choose low/carb options for my carb portions. Since I know that this has worked for me in the past. But I think it is still important to get carbs like it says in the book. I love Julian Michaels and she suggests some carbs, too.

Here is a blog I found with some recipes for this game. http://gameondietrecipes.blogspot.com any thing that has a blog link, I adapted the recipes a bit to make it work, example substitute plain yogurt instead of sour cream and deleted some ingredients.



As you can see I am starting mine tomorrow, since I am more of a Monday starts my week girl.

Monday, March 5
Meal 1 - 8 am
Carbohydrate: Strawberries
Protein: Cottage Cheese
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 2 - 10 am
Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Dessert
(blog for recipe: http://gameondietrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/01/applecinnamon-yogurt-dessert.html)

Carbohydrate: Apples
Protein: Greek Yogurt
Fats: 1 Almond or 1 Cashew chopped
Drizzle of Agave Nectar
Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, 1/2 cup of water

Meal 3 - 1 pm
Grilled Chicken, Cheese & Spinach wrap
Carbohydrate: Tortilla Whole-Wheat (low/carb)
Protein: 1/2 Chicken and 1/2 Cheese
Vegetables: Spinach
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 4 - 3 pm
Carbohydrate: Strawberries blended into shake
Protein: Protein Shake (Designer Whey - Strawberry)
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 5 - 6 pm
Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers
Carbohydrate: Kidney Beans
Protein: 2/3 Turkey 1/3 cheese
Vegetables: Red bell pepper
Fats: olive oil

Tuesday, March 6
Meal 1 - 8 am
Carbohydrate: Blueberries
Protein: Cottage Cheese
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 2 - 10 am
Carbohydrate/Protein: Greek Yogurt
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 3 - 1 pm
Left Over Turkey Bell Pepper wrap
Carbohydrate: Tortilla Whole-Wheat (low/carb)
Protein: 2/3 Turkey 1/3 cheese
Vegetables: Red bell pepper
Fats: olive oil

Meal 4 - 3 pm
Carbohydrate: Strawberries blended into shake
Protein: Protein Shake (Designer Whey - Strawberry)
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 5 - 6 pm
Curry Beef with Broccoli
Carbohydrate: Plain Yogurt
Protein: Beef
Vegetables: Broccoli
Fats: olive oil

Wednesday: GAME ON! WEIGHT IN
Week 1- March 7
Meal 1 - 8 am
Carbohydrate: 1/2 Apple
Protein: Cottage Cheese
Fats: Peanut Butter

Meal 2 - 10 am
Carbohydrate/Protein: Greek Yogurt
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 3 - 1 pm
Left Over Curry Beef with Broccoli in Lettuce Wrap
Carbohydrate: Plain Yogurt
Protein: Beef
Vegetables: Broccoli & Lettuce
Fats: olive oil

Meal 4 - 3 pm
Carbohydrate: Strawberries blended into shake
Protein: Protein Shake (Designer Whey - Strawberry)
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 5 - 6 pm
Chicken Cashew Lettuce wrap
(http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/01/recipe-for-quick-sriracha-beef-lettuce.html)
Carbohydrate: Plain Yogurt
Protein: Spicy Marinated Grilled Chicken (Seasoned how you like)
Vegetables: Lime, Green Onion, Cilantro, Lettuce
Fats: Peanut oil

Thursday, March 8
Meal 1 - 8 am
Carbohydrate: Blueberries
Protein: Cottage Cheese
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 2 - 10 am
Carbohydrate/Protein: Greek Yogurt
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 3 - 1 pm
Black Bean Salad
Carbohydrate: Black Beans
Protein: Pepper Jack Cheese
Vegetables: Spinach or lettuce
Fats: Avocado

Meal 4 - 3 pm
Carbohydrate: Strawberries blended into shake
Protein: Protein Shake (Designer Whey - Strawberry)
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 5 - 6 pm
Turkey Ground Taco Salad
Carbohydrate: Pinto Beans
Protein: Turkey and Cheese
Vegetables: Lettuce, Cabbage or Spinach, Cilantro
Fats: Avocado

Friday, March 9
Meal 1 - 8 am
Carbohydrate: Strawberries or Raspberries
Protein: Cottage Cheese
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 2 - 10 am
Carbohydrate: Chick Peas (Hummus)
Protein: Pepper Jack Cheese
Vegetables: Carrot sticks
Fats: Olive Oil (in Hummus)

Meal 3 - 1 pm
Omelet with left over Turkey Taco Meat
Carbohydrate: Homemade Salsa (tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, cilantro)
Protein: Pepper 1/2 Turkey, 1/4 Jack Cheese, 1/4 Egg White
Fats: olive oil

Meal 4 - 3 pm
Carbohydrate: Strawberries blended into shake
Protein: Protein Shake (Designer Whey - Strawberry)
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 5 - 6 pm
Spaghetti Meat Sauce Over Zucchini
Carbohydrate: Tomato (Homemade sauce, garlic)
Protein: Turkey Ground
Vegetables: Zucchini
Fats: olive oil

Saturday: FREE DAY March 10

Sunday:  1 FREE MEAL March 11
Meal 1 - 8 am
Carbohydrate, Protein, Fats: Protein Bar

Meal 2 - 10 am
Omelet
Carbohydrate: Homemade Salsa (tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, cilantro)
Protein: 1/2 Turkey, 1/4 Pepper Jack Cheese, 1/4 Egg White
Fats: olive oil

Meal 3 - 1 pm
Carbohydrate: 1/2 Apple
Protein: Pepper Jack Cheese
Vegetables: Celery
Fats: Peanut Butter

Meal 4 - 3 pm
Carbohydrate: Strawberries blended into shake
Protein: Protein Shake (Designer Whey - Strawberry)
Fats: 1 Almond

Meal 5 - 6 pm
FREE MEAL

Some spices that curve appetite and speed up metabolism:
Cayenne pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, ginger and mint.
And guess what I found a chicken recipe that has most of these ingredients.

Chicken Satay With Spicy Peanut Sauce

I had this for dinner yesterday and my company, as well as my family loved it! If you use the peanut sauce recipe you may have to adjust the peanut butter depending upon how many you are serving, so that you do not go over your fat intake, same with oil. Then substitute Agave Nector instead of the brown sugar.

More natural way to increase your metabolism: How To Speed Up Your Metabolism Naturally

Strike a Pose, It's a Gangsta Party

So in our first meeting today we decided on a prize ...

Winners get chauffeured by the losing team and are treated to an appetizer or dessert and two drinks by the losing team as well. If that isn't enough the winning team will also get to wear tiara's .. how fun!

We are going to celebrate at Lola's Room on a Saturday night which is the 90's themed night .. FUN!!

Next plan of action is to decide on a date! I am proposing April 21st as a nice way to kick off the NEXT challenge and celebrate completing the first one. I was thinking if we like this we could start the next one on April 25th after a 2 week break!

EVERYONE ... please reply to give your input on the date we choose! We need to choose a date fairly soon I think so people can put it on the schedule!

Getting ready to get my GameOn!

I read in the book that for some people the hardest part was drinking 3 L of water per day. I am slowly increasing my water so that it won't feel like I am drowning that first week. There will be enough challenges I am sure. Also, I am working hard on limiting the snacks and chocolate. I have basically had an IV of chocolate since December. It is addicting for sure! I figure maybe I can slowly start going through my withdrawals now .. I need to kick the habit anyway.

Some people might be binging on junk food? Practicing your new healthy habit? Are you starting to exercise daily? ... I don't know if it is because I am a life long athlete or what, but I thought it was important to "train" before the competition. You should be fine even if you aren't doing anything, but in the book everyone struggles the most with the first three days... I just thought by easing into things it might be a little less shocking.

What are you doing to get ready?

Game On! Why ....

In the book they ask us to write down why we are doing the challenge. I know not all of us have read the book so I wanted to post that question here ...

• Maybe you wanted to get Melissa to shut up so you simply agreed?
• Maybe you are frustrated with the lack of increase in your running speed?
• Maybe you have been dieting for ages and had no long term results?
• Maybe you are a competitive nut and you wanted play to W-I-N?

I think it would be a great way to help us be supportive of each other and our goals (whatever they may be) if we shared that. Feel free to leave out actual pounds since this is the world wide web, but add a comment to this post with your feelings on why you are doing this challenge?

If you have decided you really want to read the book it's not too late to buy it and read it before we get started. If reading is part of your healthy habit you can complete the book as part of your challenge!

And why THIS photo? Did it make you smile? That's why ...