We WISH You A Disney Happy Holidays – December Challenge

Happy Monday All!

I was surprised this weekend with a good loss when I weighed in at WW on Saturday. Part of my goal has been to track more, but with the new freestyle program (which has a lot more 0 point foods that don't have to be tracked), I find I am eating more 0 foods and keeping a mental tally of the other stuff.... which I think is the idea overall - learning how to eat well without holding your own hand for the rest of your life... Soooo in light of all that, I am not too stressed that my tracking isn't super on point right now. Especially considering I still had a loss after eating fudge everyday this week! LOL!

Accountability:

Gym: 6/15 -- lots of random things keep popping up and preventing me from getting all my time in. If I get to 12 I will be happy.
WW: 2/4 meetings -- Keeping me inspired for sure!
Tracking: 8/21 -- Ehhh as discussed above, I am not going to beat myself up too bad over this.

Averaging out at 43% towards my goal. Progress not perfection :)

As for shopping, I would say I did about 90% of my shopping online this year, and it was great! Yesterday, I nursed my holiday party hangover by sipping some bubbly sitting by the tree and wrapping all my presents while trite but fun Christmas movies played in the background. It was nice! I've only got 4 more gifts to wrap and I am completely done. Whew! I try to be done by the 20th each year so I can enjoy every moment leading up to the big day.

Tonight is a Hanukkah potluck AND my mother is coming in tonight--- The wine will be coming out in full force on both accounts so we will see how this week goes :rotfl:
 
QOTD: What kind of shopper am I? I only like to go shopping by myself, going with someone else is kind of torturous. I like to get-in/get-out early, before things get too crazy, and did most of my gift shopping on-line this year, as a matter of fact I just finished ordering gifts for my Brothers and SILs. Sometimes I go shopping with a specific mission in mind and sometimes I need to just look, but always stick to my favorite shops. Having worked for a high-end retailer for most of my adult life I'm kind of a retail snob and not much into discount stores... this weekend I went in to the local Marshal's for the very first time and it was eye opening to say the least. Fortunately I was just looking for gift bags, and they had a nice selection. And evidently I have little to no self control... I was highly resistant to putting together stockings this year, because I'm trying to break the habit of buying 'stuff', but wanted to do a little something since we'll be together up at the resort in the mountains, so while I was shopping this weekend I looked for small things every where I went and now have a gift bags full for each person. I'm almost done with my shopping... I need to get a cookbook for my Niece, fortunately the book store is right across the street from my office. And I want to get some hot chocolate mix for my Sister's stocking/bag-o-stuff. The knit things are all knit, tonight I'll block them so they have time to dry.

I'm cruising thru the end of the year. Over the weekend I resorted to my old style of eating, and paid for it with bags under my eyes and an upset tummy... but I'm confident that I'll get it figured out and that 2018 will be a very healthy year.

Daily accountability:
Lose 5 pounds...
as mentioned, I slipped back in to my old eating patterns over the weekend, so need to right the ship again.
Walk outdoors... my outdoors time ended up being down at the beach, so I did't find a tree to call my own.
Daily gratitude... did well here.
Spread peace... did pretty good here as well.

Well here we go, the last week until the Big Day. My intent for this week is to keep things slow and peaceful. Tonight I need to make sliders for the office pot-luck tomorrow, which means a quick trip to the grocery store. I went grocery shopping early yesterday but was focused on collecting charcuterie stuff to munch on while we're up in the mountains, and didn't pick up anything for sliders. I do really want to so some sort of holiday baking, I'm thinking some little mincemeat pies, adding apple and mandarin oranges to the mincemeat ala Paul Hollywood... who I could look at all day long, seriously, and I'm not even in to blue eyes per say... but I digress. I hadn't planned on it, but this morning on the way in I decided I'm going to take Friday off, since we're leaving mid-morning Saturday it'll give me more time to get things together.

Happy Monday everyone!

 
So I was sitting here reading @Lady Marie's post and I saw her say it was Monday!!! Turns out I lost a day lol sorry about that I was sitting here feeling like it was Monday morning but it is Tuesday! I was feeling really unwell last night as well so that probably contributed to my feeling out of it.

Hope u have had a good start to the week and I will get us back on track tonight.
 
Checking in with so far 17 out of 17 days having met the water drinking goal. Yesterday was interesting though I filled my bottle then got busy and ended up leaving it in the kitchen until 11:30 and thus drank 32 oz ( the size of my water bottle) in less then 20 minutes. I got some bonus exercise plan called trot quickly to the bathroom before there is a puddle on the floor. Just realize I didn't hit post this morning.
 


Arrggghh! My mother in law put a plate of store bought cookies in front of me and I mindlessly ate them!!! What was I thinking??? I wasn't; that's the problem. Oh well, over and done with and I am moving on. In healthier news since I'm off work I got to play pickleball then go walking with my girlfriends. I love it! It's so great to just walk and catch up and solve all the world's problems for 50 minutes. I get to do it twice more this week. The last couple days of the week I am going out for breakfast. Once with them and then with another group of gals. That's the end of festivities with the exception of a Christmas Eve open house. Thank goodness! My Fitness Pal is probably screaming at me every time I log my food! :duck:Tomorrow I have to be a mad baker. I cannot believe I am out of so many ingredients. Like canned milk, I always have tons. Well, I don't. And what I did find expired three years ago! :rotfl:Now I need to make a list and hit the market. Thursday's breakfast will be exchanging gifts and I always give a giant plate of a variety of goodies. I've got a deadline looming. It's crunch time.
 
In healthier news since I'm off work I got to play pickleball then go walking with my girlfriends. I love it! It's so great to just walk and catch up and solve all the world's problems for 50 minutes. I get to do it twice more this week. The last couple days of the week I am going out for breakfast. Once with them and then with another group of gals.

Its great that you have some close friends to exercise with :D
 
As you know I am in Australia and our Christmas weather is very different to what many of you are experiencing (except maybe for @Lady Marie). We ended our day here this afternoon with a swim and then some fish and chips. This is Mooloolaba Beach and is about a 15 minute drive from our house. The water temperature was quite warm - which I didn't mind I do not like chilly water! lol - well unless I am really hot and want to dive straight in.



So, a swim and dinner at the beach was a nice change in our afternoon routine.

QOTD: What is your afternoon/evening routine and does it support or hinder healthy choices?

Bonus: When you want to break out of your usual afternoon/evening routine what do you like to do?
 


QOTD: Beautiful beach... thanks for sharing! I've lived in different places in Washington State, the Washington DC area, and Chicago - so all places that do have winters, even if snow on Christmas isn't common (except for Chicago). This year there isn't even much snow up in the mountains where we're going for Christmas, but it is going to be super cold and sunny, which is its own kind of awesome.

On work days in the afternoon I'm usually reaching for sugar, for a boost to get thru the rest of the day: this cycle has all been set up by the sugar I had for breakfast so that's where I really need to make the change. On the weekends, if I'm home I'll usually take an afternoon nap: sometimes I pop right out of it and get going again and sometimes it takes a while, but either way I'm OK with this napping and grateful that I'm able to do it.

Daily accountability:
Lose 5 pounds...
I tested nuts yesterday, lots of nuts, and they are definitely not a good choice for me.
Walk outdoors... my out doors time yesterday was hauling the garbage out for today's pick up and trying to figure out how to make the new laser light projector I got work.
Daily gratitude... thought about this a lot, so I get a gold star here.
Spread Peace... I did get a lot of things accomplish

It's very wet here today, so...

 
QOTD: What is your afternoon/evening routine and does it support or hinder healthy choices?

Bonus: When you want to break out of your usual afternoon/evening routine what do you like to do?

Such a pretty beach! And yes, we are probably having the same sort of weather. The high was 80F today. The water is a little chilly for us but I have swam the day after Christmas many years ago before I got used to the heat. It's weird to have had seasons and then come to this... It feels strange that this is Christmas time Haha!

When I am doing well, my after work routine involves going home, going to the gym, and coming home to cook dinner. When I am not doing well, I go home and DH and I decided where to go out to eat.... Thankfully, I have for the most part broken the latter habit and mainly do the former. But right now is a weird time of year where I don't have a lot of time to cook and I fall victim to the siren call of the take out places.

This week is hard--- holiday party tomorrow and company dinner Thursday night. Meanwhile, I am nursing another little hangover today from the Hanukkah dinner last night. I am starting to think maybe I've been too focused on controlling myself with holiday food and and forgot to monitor the holiday beverages. I don't have the tolerance like I used to and it's getting to me! :rotfl: Plus I am swollen from the salt and can just tell from my body that I overindulged last night on both accounts. It's so hard for me though getting wrapped up in the celebration of seeing family I don't see but for one day a year. It's totally the culture thing-- our family has a huge drinking culture, and I have to keep my own self in check otherwise someone is constantly filling my wine glass!
 
I'm OK with this napping and grateful that I'm able to do it.

I love a great nap also - but my body has been needing it way too much lately.

This week is hard--- holiday party tomorrow and company dinner Thursday night. Meanwhile, I am nursing another little hangover today from the Hanukkah dinner last night. I am starting to think maybe I've been too focused on controlling myself with holiday food and and forgot to monitor the holiday beverages. I don't have the tolerance like I used to and it's getting to me! :rotfl: Plus I am swollen from the salt and can just tell from my body that I overindulged last night on both accounts. It's so hard for me though getting wrapped up in the celebration of seeing family I don't see but for one day a year. It's totally the culture thing-- our family has a huge drinking culture, and I have to keep my own self in check otherwise someone is constantly filling my wine glass!

Be kind to yourself and enjoy the time with your family - you have been making some good gains this year in your healthy journey and it is about balance - there is no point being with your family and feeling miserable by being overly restrictive. It can be hard to keep a check when others are 'topping up' a glass you haven't finished yet - especially when you are chatting away and they do it without you even noticing sometimes! At a recent party I alternated a glass of wine with a lighter drink - if alternating is hard for you I was thinking about timing e.g. after an hour switch to a lighter drink or 2 - but then you don't want to be a time watcher either! It is tricky you will get there o_O
 


Chip n Dale are just too cute for words!

It is woohoo Wednesday... and if my google research is correct today is the last day of Hanukkah (please correct me if I am wrong).

What are you celebrating today?
 
The weekend and the first couple of days this week have been bad eating days. So much running around to get everything completed. The next couple of days will be busy too. DS surgery is later today, getting my hair and nails done with DD tomorrow, first Christmas party is Friday (I am cooking for my in-laws), a bit of relaxing on Saturday and Sunday (might go to dinner with my mom and step-dad and then maybe a movie depends on DS), Christmas at my moms on Monday and Christmas at my dad's on Tuesday. After that I will get back to my routine. At some point over then next day or so I need to get the house cleaned too.

I haven't had anything to eat yet today and not sure when I will eat. We don't want to eat in front of DS since he is not allowed to have anything. We will have a long day today. We told DS he can have what ever he wants for dinner if he is up to it. Thankfully a friend of mine took DD for the morning (we meet through our girls. They are the same age and good friends). She took the kids to Bob Evans for breakfast and then will hang out until my mom can get DD at about noon. Then my mom will take her to her riding lesson, dinner with my grandfather and who knows what else. I think they might go shopping and make cookies. My mom is keeping her for the night which will be good for DD. Getting some extra attention right now will be good since we will be giving some extra attention to DS.

I am not sure if I will be back until the weekend but I will try to pop in one night.

No real woohoo today as I am more worried right now but I will say that my woohoo is I am off of work now. Came in handy as I got all of my wrapping and the rest of shopping done over the 2 days while the kids were still in school.
 
Woohoo it's Wednesday... or is it Thursday? With taking Friday off it could qualify as either!

I spoke too soon about no snow up in the mountains, yesterday the rain storm that hit us here in the city dumped about a foot of snow up in the mountains passes. My Sister is totally freaked out about driving in the snow but the summit webcam already shows the roads clear this morning and no additional accumulation is expected between now and then, so I think we're golden... and will have our white Christmas after all.

I'm still almost done with my Christmas shopping... on Sunday I decided to put together little bags-o-stuff for my Brother, SIL and Nephew who are not joining us in the mountains, and I need to add at least one more thing to each. Also, I thought I had purchased gifts to be delivered directly to both Brothers, but evidently one order didn't complete correctly so I need to redo it this morning - if they don't get it until after Christmas that's OK, it'll be good for New Year's celebrations. I also need to get myself some Christmas PJ's. I finally washed and blocked the things I knit last night and now I'm really not sure about them as they all relaxed and softened so the fit might not be what I had thought, but won't know for sure until they are completely dry.

Daily Accountability:
Lose 5 pounds...
kind of scared to get on the scale as I'm sure the weight I lost while on the cleanse has all been gained back. Dang.
Walk out doors... yesterday it was more like swimming than walking, because it was wet!
Daily gratitude... a work in progress, but keeping it forefront in my brain.
Spread peace... had a little challenge lesson here, in the vein of carrying peace within yourself even when things around you aren't peaceful. Had to keep walking myself back, instead of getting sucked in to the abyss - and managed to do it.

This is a picture from the Stevens Pass webcam this morning... showing a smooth and peaceful passage:

 
The weekend and the first couple of days this week have been bad eating days. So much running around to get everything completed. The next couple of days will be busy too. DS surgery is later today, getting my hair and nails done with DD tomorrow, first Christmas party is Friday (I am cooking for my in-laws), a bit of relaxing on Saturday and Sunday (might go to dinner with my mom and step-dad and then maybe a movie depends on DS), Christmas at my moms on Monday and Christmas at my dad's on Tuesday. After that I will get back to my routine. At some point over then next day or so I need to get the house cleaned too.

I haven't had anything to eat yet today and not sure when I will eat. We don't want to eat in front of DS since he is not allowed to have anything. We will have a long day today. We told DS he can have what ever he wants for dinner if he is up to it. Thankfully a friend of mine took DD for the morning (we meet through our girls. They are the same age and good friends). She took the kids to Bob Evans for breakfast and then will hang out until my mom can get DD at about noon. Then my mom will take her to her riding lesson, dinner with my grandfather and who knows what else. I think they might go shopping and make cookies. My mom is keeping her for the night which will be good for DD. Getting some extra attention right now will be good since we will be giving some extra attention to DS.

I am not sure if I will be back until the weekend but I will try to pop in one night.

No real woohoo today as I am more worried right now but I will say that my woohoo is I am off of work now. Came in handy as I got all of my wrapping and the rest of shopping done over the 2 days while the kids were still in school.
Hope all goes well with your Son's surgery!
 
Be kind to yourself and enjoy the time with your family - you have been making some good gains this year in your healthy journey and it is about balance - there is no point being with your family and feeling miserable by being overly restrictive. It can be hard to keep a check when others are 'topping up' a glass you haven't finished yet - especially when you are chatting away and they do it without you even noticing sometimes! At a recent party I alternated a glass of wine with a lighter drink - if alternating is hard for you I was thinking about timing e.g. after an hour switch to a lighter drink or 2 - but then you don't want to be a time watcher either! It is tricky you will get there o_O

You are so right-- I think I am struggling since this is my first holiday season at this new weight and it's freaking me out! Haha! I am trying to think about it rationally and with balance, but it's hard to let it go a little and be at peace with the ups and downs on the scale as the month goes on. But yes, enjoying the season is the point so I will be working on letting it go a little at the party this evening and tomorrow. And the alternating is a great idea! :)

The weekend and the first couple of days this week have been bad eating days. So much running around to get everything completed. The next couple of days will be busy too. DS surgery is later today, getting my hair and nails done with DD tomorrow, first Christmas party is Friday (I am cooking for my in-laws), a bit of relaxing on Saturday and Sunday (might go to dinner with my mom and step-dad and then maybe a movie depends on DS), Christmas at my moms on Monday and Christmas at my dad's on Tuesday. After that I will get back to my routine. At some point over then next day or so I need to get the house cleaned too.

I haven't had anything to eat yet today and not sure when I will eat. We don't want to eat in front of DS since he is not allowed to have anything. We will have a long day today. We told DS he can have what ever he wants for dinner if he is up to it. Thankfully a friend of mine took DD for the morning (we meet through our girls. They are the same age and good friends). She took the kids to Bob Evans for breakfast and then will hang out until my mom can get DD at about noon. Then my mom will take her to her riding lesson, dinner with my grandfather and who knows what else. I think they might go shopping and make cookies. My mom is keeping her for the night which will be good for DD. Getting some extra attention right now will be good since we will be giving some extra attention to DS.

I am not sure if I will be back until the weekend but I will try to pop in one night.

No real woohoo today as I am more worried right now but I will say that my woohoo is I am off of work now. Came in handy as I got all of my wrapping and the rest of shopping done over the 2 days while the kids were still in school.

Thinking of you and your son today and wishing him a speedy recovery :grouphug:

This is a picture from the Stevens Pass webcam this morning... showing a smooth and peaceful passage:


GORGEOUS!!! What a beautiful place to spend Christmas!!!


As for me.... well, I have a bit of a strange woohoo. I had an eye exam yesterday and my vision has gotten waayyyyy better. She said blood sugar can definitely affect the eyes and if I've cleaned up my eating that may have helped.... that or I suspect as I am getting older my near sightedness is balancing out as the far sightedness gets ready to kick in :rotfl: Whatever the reason, my prescription is hardly anything, so I'm excited!

Another health related woohoo: I have been having awful pain in my hip and was worried it could be a labrum tear, but while getting a massage yesterday the therapist was adjusting my hips and said if it was my labrum I would have been in pain with that so it probably wasn't a tear. But he thought it could have been my TFL. He stretched that out and YEP! That was it! Like this has been bothering me for months and I was planning on getting it checked out when my new (better) insurance kicks in next year. I am still going to get it checked out just to be safe, but man am I excited to A) have some relief for now and B) take a little comfort in that it probably isn't the worst case scenario I was picturing :)
 
You are so right-- I think I am struggling since this is my first holiday season at this new weight and it's freaking me out! Haha! I am trying to think about it rationally and with balance, but it's hard to let it go a little and be at peace with the ups and downs on the scale as the month goes on. But yes, enjoying the season is the point so I will be working on letting it go a little at the party this evening and tomorrow. And the alternating is a great idea! :)



Thinking of you and your son today and wishing him a speedy recovery :grouphug:



GORGEOUS!!! What a beautiful place to spend Christmas!!!


As for me.... well, I have a bit of a strange woohoo. I had an eye exam yesterday and my vision has gotten waayyyyy better. She said blood sugar can definitely affect the eyes and if I've cleaned up my eating that may have helped.... that or I suspect as I am getting older my near sightedness is balancing out as the far sightedness gets ready to kick in :rotfl: Whatever the reason, my prescription is hardly anything, so I'm excited!

Another health related woohoo: I have been having awful pain in my hip and was worried it could be a labrum tear, but while getting a massage yesterday the therapist was adjusting my hips and said if it was my labrum I would have been in pain with that so it probably wasn't a tear. But he thought it could have been my TFL. He stretched that out and YEP! That was it! Like this has been bothering me for months and I was planning on getting it checked out when my new (better) insurance kicks in next year. I am still going to get it checked out just to be safe, but man am I excited to A) have some relief for now and B) take a little comfort in that it probably isn't the worst case scenario I was picturing :)
Woohoo for massages (and self care in general)!
 
Last edited:
After work I try to hit yoga class three times a week. I usually don't make it! If I do it's yoga, go home, make dinner, be a sloth. If I don't it's wait for DH to tell me when he wants me to pick him up from work, since he gets off work on time even less than I do, pick him up, make dinner, be a sloth.

My wahoo is that DS is home from college! yippee

Today was play in the kitchen day. I made cookies, fudge, and brittle. I ate way too much, but it was yummy. Haven't tried the fudge yet. I have my doubts about it. I played pickleball, walked and did yoga so I should be okay calorie wise. We'll find out. Probably depends on how much fudge I eat! :lmao:As soon as I log off I'm going to wrap most of the goodies up since tomorrow's breakfast is also give away almost every treat! Unfortunately, I'll get some treats in return.

I was trying to figure out what to have for Christmas dinner. We asked DS what he wanted. He said he'd eat salmon or some type of fish if we got some. He's been a vegetarian for about a year now, but said he'll be the occasional pescatarian. Totally works for us! Somehow, though, I don't think twice baked potatoes will go with that. Maybe it will. Hmmm I have a girlfriend who always gets Chinese on Christmas. That idea is starting to grow on me!!
 
DS surgery is later today

Hope all has gone well for your little guy :hug:

This is a picture from the Stevens Pass webcam this morning... showing a smooth and peaceful passage:

So beautiful - I dream of one day managing to have a white Christmas with the kids. I have a friend who did it a few years ago and she told me the snow didn't make it feel more like Christmas for her it was just cold lol. But then I suppose when you grow up being used to a hot summer Christmas that becomes your norm.

kind of scared to get on the scale as I'm sure the weight I lost while on the cleanse has all been gained back. Dang.

From what I understand it is pretty normal to regain after a juice cleanse when you start eating again - but hopefully you will experience other wellbeing effects with your food choices post cleanse.

As for me.... well, I have a bit of a strange woohoo. I had an eye exam yesterday and my vision has gotten waayyyyy better. She said blood sugar can definitely affect the eyes and if I've cleaned up my eating that may have helped.... that or I suspect as I am getting older my near sightedness is balancing out as the far sightedness gets ready to kick in :rotfl: Whatever the reason, my prescription is hardly anything, so I'm excited

That is great if your eating has helped and a pretty funny benefit of ageing if your theory is correct.

Another health related woohoo: I have been having awful pain in my hip and was worried it could be a labrum tear, but while getting a massage yesterday the therapist was adjusting my hips and said if it was my labrum I would have been in pain with that so it probably wasn't a tear. But he thought it could have been my TFL. He stretched that out and YEP! That was it! Like this has been bothering me for months and I was planning on getting it checked out when my new (better) insurance kicks in next year. I am still going to get it checked out just to be safe, but man am I excited to A) have some relief for now and B) take a little comfort in that it probably isn't the worst case scenario I was picturing :)

Glad the massage helped.

My wahoo is that DS is home from college! yippee

That is a good woohoo - enjoy your time with him.

I was trying to figure out what to have for Christmas dinner. We asked DS what he wanted. He said he'd eat salmon or some type of fish if we got some. He's been a vegetarian for about a year now, but said he'll be the occasional pescatarian. Totally works for us! Somehow, though, I don't think twice baked potatoes will go with that. Maybe it will. Hmmm I have a girlfriend who always gets Chinese on Christmas. That idea is starting to grow on me!!

A good Chinese feast sounds wonderful.
 
What are you celebrating today?

I am woohooing:

That I found exactly the gift I was looking for - for my neighbour - I wanted a particular plant - after visiting 2 nurseries with no success and one guy telling me it ma not be sold in our area I was giving up hope - I went to one last one and WOOHOO that had about 10 of them!!! I got 2 and last night potted them in a nice blue and white pot - now I was sooo happy because it is almost a year since they lost their daughter and have recently made a special garden in their yard for her - and the plant I wanted has their daughter's name in it. I think she really liked it when I gave it to her today.

I have no healthy woohoos - I have pretty much shelved it until after Christmas now.

I have had some late nights and another one happening tonight - DS17 has been getting late shifts at work leading up to Christmas in shopping frenzy - his shop has been open till midnight for the last week - and he has had some 7-midnight shifts - tonight the whole shopping centre is open till midnight and he got a 9pm-3am shift - to help get the shop back in order for tomorrow.

Whilst I am looking forward to Christmas I will be glad when it is over this year - it seems like I spend all my time grabbing a few more things each day!
 


I need to hit the shops in the next few days to buy everything for Christmas lunch!

Lets talk Christmas food be it healthy or not ... No guilt involved here it is Christmas and we are going to enjoy the day with our families and/or friends.

QOTD: What is on your Christmas meal menu? What are you most looking forward to having?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top