I'll preface this by stating I havent watched the show yet, just am going by a summary I read - and it seems like something fairly shocking happened last night!

Week four definitely showed some improvement for alot of people! We had some teams where everyone lost at least 1% and several people who lost over 5 pounds! As a group we have lost a total of 183 pounds since the start, 44 pounds just last week and EVERY TEAM has a positive percentage lost this week. Nice work guys, lets see if we cant keep it up this week too!

I apologize for not posting more over the weekend but i was gone friday afternoon-monday afternoon and the house didnt have internet. I did do a little browsing this morning in some of the threads and saw a couple things that were interesting regarding the challenge. Here are a couple :

"i'm going to a restaurant tomorrow night to celebrate a friend's birthday & figured i'd have a piece of chocolate cake... however i already put it in my diary because i wanted to see how much i'd need to work off and it's over a 1000 cals (!!!!!!) for a slice of their chocolate cake.... and since i don't want to work off 1000 cals, figure i'll either opt not to have it or just have a couple bites of it. what i find interesting is that if i didn't look it up ahead of time, i would've just eaten the entire piece (i'm sure) having no idea how many calories (& empty ones at that) i was putting into my body so know that i know, i can make a more informed choice tomorrow night"

"I never logged my alcohol. I stated logging it. Wow, lots if calories Yikes! "

"Wow did not know that 1 cookie could have so many calories!!!!! "

Several people decided to avoid foods that are "bad" when realizing how many calories there are, others found that they pushed a little harder to get an extra calorie burn in, and others really struggled with it. I think alot of people learned something from it though and hope that will continue!

This weeks biggest loser is Katonaroof from the Purple team, and the Blue team was the bean highest BL. Team winners are:

Red: Jamiegephart
Orange: mentalmunchie
Yellow: Progressnotperfection84
Green: jessecpwrs
Blue: Justformel
Purple: katonaroof

I just wanted to reiterate that every team this week had an overall loss for the week, even with some teams having 1% penalties for some late players. That is a great step in the right direction. If you're like me and gained this past week or just arent seeing a change on the scale yet, try not to get frustrated or discouraged. Please let me know if there is something I can do to help motivate the group. I want us all to be successful!

And as a side note I want to give a shout out to jessecpwrs who had a goal to lose 100 lbs before her anniversary and she reached that this week!

Last night's challenge was to come up with a healthful, kid-friendly meal that uses lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. While all three teams came up with tasty choices, the blue team won with its Backyard Quesadillas and Fiesta Fruit Salad. Our challenge this week is to post a healthy recipe for others to try here. It can be one youve done for years, or one you just googled on the internet 5 minutes ago. It must however contain fruits and/ or vegetables, must be a complete recipe with all instructions, and you must include the nutrition facts of at least calories and fat, but more if you know them. Please post your recipes here

Additionally I'd like each team to come up with a meal and PM it to me by tomorrow evening at the latest. I will then post a new thread with all of the meals and not tell you which team came up with each. You can then comment on the thread with the meal you want to win. Each team that gets me their meal by 8pm EST tomorrow night will each receive 2 bonus points and the team that wins the vote will get 5 bonus points. The meal itself must contain a starter(appetizer), a main course, at least one side, and a dessert and must be below 1000 calories. Discuss within your team thread until you are satisfied with the components of your meal and then the coaches (or whatever representative you choose) will need to send me the information for the meal. Please message it to me in a format like this

Starter: house salad with dressing (300 cals)
Main course: Baked chicken breast (235 cals)
Side dish: steamed broccoli (60 calories)
dessert: fresh berries (80 calories)
total for meal: 675 calories

House salad
mix in a large bowl the following:
2 cups iceburg lettuce
1 cucumber, sliced
...etc

Baked chicken
preheat oven to 350
trim fat off a 4 oz chicken breast
top with cracked pepper
bake for 30 minutes
....etc


basically all recipes, both for the individual challenge and the team challenge must be able to be followed if someone wants to. This is always a favorite challenge as alot of us get some great new recipes to try. Remember to include any spices, oils, butter, etc when posting your recipes and try to include as many fresh ingredients (ie less processed items) as possible. Get creative (my example meal is super boring) and try to make it something healthy that you would enjoy eating. The meal contest will be judged on calories, creativity, and how delicious it sounds!

****Challenge summary*****
1) post in the main week 5 thread a full recipe (all directions and include nutrition information) that includes fruit and/or vegetables
2) consult with your team to create a full meal (starter, main dish, side, dessert) under 1000 calories and submit one meal as a team through PM to soccerella by 8 PM EST thursday
3) Teams meals will be posted anonymously and voting will take place for best meal (based on calories, creativity, appeal, etc)
4) you do not HAVE to vote to get credit this week, challenge completion is based on posting your recipe correctly in the week 5 thread
********************************

coaches you do not need to keep track of challenge completions this week - ill be doing it as we go along. Why? This is one people always cheat at! Its so silly but I always have at least one person say they completed this challenge but never posted a recipe. Remember I can see this thread and check up on you! It would be helpful to record them on your team spreadsheets to make sure I didnt miss anything, but remember its going off what is posted in the main thread, not your team ones.

Do you guys want a physical challenge this week? I know people really like having a physical challenge to add to workouts, but since I havent seen the show yet I dont have any idea of fun workouts they may have done so if you have a suggestion for an optional physical challenge feel free to post it here

Lastly I know I'm behind on the points in the main spreadsheet but I'll update this afternoon or tomorrow!

Appetizer: Tortilla Veggie Pizza



Approximately 115 Calories, 3 grams fat for half the pizza * Will vary with the different veggies used

Spread 2tbsp MARINIA on a 10in LOW FAT WHEAT TORTILLA. Sprinkle with REDUCED FAT ITALIAN BLEND CHEESE. Top with any veggies you desire (my kids like pineapple, spinach, and olives). Bake at 300 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the shell is crispy.

Citrus Chicken

Ingredients

½ cup chicken broth
packet (1 ounce) 1 Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
4 boneless,skinless chicken breast,halves

Directions


Main Dish
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the chicken breasts and cook until brown on both sides.
In a small bowl, mix the seasoning mix, broth and marmalade, and stir until smooth.
Pour the liquid into the skillet with the chicken. Reduce the heat and continue to cook until most of the liquid has reduced, chicken is nicely glazed, and an internal temperature of 165°F is reached.
Serve immediately.

142 Calories, 6 grams fat, 620 sodium

I serve this over rice and you can add veggies too it also... I think I put broccoli in it before but I can't remember... I know it was green:bigsmile: I really wish I had a picture of this one, its a pretty dish.

Hope i'm not too late.

SPINACH AND MOZZARELLA EGG BAKE

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
4 packed cups spinach
1 1/2 cups shredded low-fat mozzarella
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
8 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon Spike seasoning (or any all-purpose seasoning mix that's good with eggs)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8 1/2-by-12-inch glass or crockery casserole dish with olive oil or nonstick spray. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add spinach, and stir just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer spinach to the casserole dish, spreading it around so the bottom of the dish is covered. Layer cheese and sliced onions on top of spinach.
2. Beat eggs with seasoning, salt, and pepper, and pour into the casserole dish. Use a fork to gently stir so eggs, spinach, and cheese are evenly combined.
3. Bake about 35 minutes or until mixture is completely set and starting to lightly brown. Let cool about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. (The dish will settle down some as it cools.)

Nutrition score per serving: 160 calories, 10g fat, 2.5g carbs, 14g protein


Im a big fan of chicken so i would vote the Citrus Chicken for main meal

Hi ladies,

I'm sorry for not being able to post earlier, I have been without internet until now :explode: ...

For a side dish: Watermelon and Feta Salad
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 4 - Size 1/4 of salad - Old Points: 4 pts - Points+: 4 pts-Calories: 157.4 - Fat: 11.4g - Carb: 11.1 g - Fiber: 1g - Protein: 4 g - Sugar: 8.9 g - Sodium: 219.6 mg (without salt)...

Ingredients:

* 3 cups seedless watermelon, cubed and chilled
* 1/2 cup crumbled feta
* 7 oz arugula
* 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
* 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* kosher salt and fresh pepper

Directions:

Wash arugula and dry well. In a large bowl whisk vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with the remaining ingredients and serve.

She doesn't have it posted... How does this look?

Starter: Butternut Squash Soup with Sage (56 cals)
Main course: Citrus Chicken (142 cals)
Side dish: Watermelon and Feta Salad (157 cals)
Dessert: Low Fat No Bake Cheesecake (222)
total for meal: 577 calories

She posted it late. We all get the 2 points for turning it in. She went out of town so she didn't see it till she got back.

How did this week go for everyone? I was surprised when I got on the scale this morning. I'm at 162.4! I haven't really been tracking much and felt like I had a slow week. I wonder if maybe I gave my muscles a chance to relax and lost some water retention. I don't know but I happy with my loss:bigsmile: