This is going to be an interesting week Im sure! Thanksgiving is upon us and that ususally means time with family, eating alot of food and not being very active. Did you know the average american eats 4500 calories on thanksgiving day!?! I realize not everyone on here is from the states, not no matter what country you are from, we are getting into the holiday season and there is bound to be an event coming up where you will be presented with a holiday party or event where you are given the opportunity to over indulge. Holidays are meant for celebrating and I dont want anyone to deprive themselves too much, but also dont want anyone to ruin what they have worked so hard on just by one day. Just try to find a balance

A couple tips for thanksgiving:
1) if your family has appetizers, make yourself a plate and only eat what is on there. You're more likely to eat more calories than you intended if you continually "graze" the appetizer table
2) Speaking of apps, make your first plate of apps fruit and veggies. If you're still hungry after that, then have some other items, but many times our desire to eat apps is more to do with the desire to have something in our hands in social situations, rather than actual hunger
3) Pay attention to portions - I know you dont want to spend your day breaking out measuring cups, but there are visual ways to estimate portions as well so you dont overeat. For example, a serving of turkey should be about the size of your palm, and mashed potatoes about the size of a tennis ball. An ounce of cheese = 6 dice, baked potato - computer mouse. Aim to make your plate 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 starches, 1/4 protein as a general rule (obviously modified to your personal nutrient needs)
4) Alcohol is a common site at many family gatherings. Dont feel the need to avoid it if you'd like a glass or two. Simply make sure you have a full glass of water in between each alcoholic drink. It will help keep you hydrated, and will reduce the amount of alcohol you drink without making you feel deprived
5) If you watch football, make a game out of it. Here is an example ut you can add in others to make it more intense if you wanted http://ccsteffen.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/football-workout.jpg
6) Have fun and dont stress too much about the day - it is just one day after all.


The official challenge this week is just to do 30 minutes of exercise tomorrow. It has to be tomorrow (Thursday, November 28th) so everyone should be able to report this by friday theoritically. A small bit of exercise will set the stage for the rest of the day, and you'll likely make better choices and feel less guilty as the day goes on. Many schools and local groups do a turkey trot thanksgiving morning.....search for one and if you can this would be a great way to get your 30 minutes in, be social, and complete a 5k by walking or running. Alot of these tend to be done for charities and give money back to local food banks so you can also feel good about yourself

Speaking of giving back, we have a second, bonus challenge this week as well. Last night on the show the contestants loaded up trucks full of food in partnership with Feeding America to bring food to families in Monroe, Oklahoma who were still facing difficulties after a sting of horrible tornadoes earlier this year. This coming tuesday, December 3rd, there is a facebook based event called #GivingTuesday - Share a Smile. We all know Black Friday and Cyber Monday, clearly we love to shop and find deals, but we also like to give and Do Good. So, if we are going to have days to celebrate the shopping season, some smart folks decided we needed a day to celebrate charitable giving and doing good and thus Giving Tuesday was born.

#GivingTuesday inspires personal philanthropy and encourages bigger, better and smarter charitable giving during the holiday season, showing that the world truly gives as good as it gets. The second annual #GivingTuesday will take place on December 3, 2013 We don't all have the means to give money on Giving Tuesday, but anyone can give a stranger a smile and make their day a little brighter. Smile at a stranger, smile at the traffic officer, smile at your hamster…just smile. It is amazing the Good that can come from a simple smile. You Feel Good, the person you smile at Feels Good, soon you have a chain reaction of people Feeling Good. Here at Limitless Good, we alway want to encourage Doing Good and our thrilled to be partnering with GivingTuesday.Org this year. On 12/3/13, post a photo of your smile on our Facebook Page and we will donate $1 to Feeding America, an amazing non-profit. By working with local food banks, Feeding America can provide 9 meals for people in need for every $1 donation."

For this challenge you simply have to upload a photo to their facebook page and they will donate $1 to feeding america. Apparently you can do it now through tuesday. I dont want to penalize people who dont have facebook so thats why this is optional. If you do decide to do it though, simply respond to this (the main thread) with a to show that you posted a photo on FB to give back and you will get some bonus points

Our winner this past week was KateK8LoseW8 from the yellow team with close to 3% lost! The red team had an overall loss of 0.77% and was the team BL. The BL from each team were:

Red: 77Chantelle
Orange: RaineyLaney
Yellow: KateK8LoseW8 
Green: jfea 
Blue: MichelleP418 
Purple: soccerella

Nice job everyone!

Have a safe and healthy Holiday! I am leaving saturday for a week, so AprilStar480 is taking over for me next week and will be posting your challenge. Be nice to her and remember you weigh ins and challenges are still due tuesday at 8pm even though Im not here

************Challenge recap***************
1) 30 minutes of exercise on Thanksgiving day (thurdsay 11/28). Only counts on thanksgiving, cannot be done another day. Report as you normally would to your coach
2) Optional challenge (bonus points but wont be penalized for not completing) http://limitlessgood.com/pages/givingtuesday-share-a-smile Post a smile photo on this facebook page and they will donate $1 to feeding america this holiday season to help the less fortunate. Report on the MAIN THREAD ONLY your completion of this challenge with a
3) have a great thanksgiving and try to make smart food choices