Hi Team Members!

Just wanted to remind everyone that the challenge officially starts on Saturday! Make sure you enter your starting weight and goal weight on the spreadsheet by Friday. If you entered a starting weight when you joined the challenge, you may want to edit it if your current weight is different. And remember the challenge is only 5 weeks long so keep that in mind when setting your goal weight. Is it reasonable to expect to lose 2 pounds a week or is 1 pound a week more in line with your usual loss pattern?

Also, is the Team interested in doing mini challenges each week? I'm thinking of really simple things, like "Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day" or "Log your food every day."

And......the challenge officially starts TODAY! :happy: Hope everyone got their starting/goal weights logged on the spreadsheet yesterday!

What are you planning to do to kick-off the challenge with a BANG? Let's get super excited about this!

This week's mini challenge is all about fruits and veggies. You can use this calculator - http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/fruitsvegetables/howmany.html - to determine the appropriate servings for your age, gender, and activity level. Then, attempt to eat the recommended number of servings per day....and remember that variety is important to get the broadest nutritional profile. (Of course, if you're doing a diet plan like Atkins where fruits & veggies are restricted, you can modify as needed.)

Are you a lover or hater of fruits and veggies? How easy/difficult do you think this mini challenge will be? What's your favorite veggie? What's your favorite fruit?

Hi Novus, I logged in my weight. Pretty presumptuous to assume I'd be accepted I know but the invitation did say all were invited to join. On the spreadsheet it said to enter your current or starting weight an your goal weight. Is that the goal weight for week 1 or for the entire challenge?

Your goal weight is what you hope to lose over the course of the next five weeks, the duration of the challenge. Good luck!

I love veggies... not so big on fruits though for some reason. I think my favorite is probably brussel sprouts. There is an Asian blend of frozen veggies that I really love too. It has snap peas, baby corn, and water chestnuts... I can eat the whole bag by myself no problem:bigsmile: I'm always looking for new recipes to get my kids eating more veggies though, does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm totally the opposite.....I could eat fruit all day long but I have to remind myself to eat my veggies. I do like veggies though (especially broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, and beets).

About your kids and veggies, you can sneak a lot of veggies in recipes like meatloaf and pasta dishes. Or maybe try use spaghetti squash or z'oodles (spiralized zucchini) in place of pasta. Or maybe try mixing a veggie they like with one they don't like as well, like roasted carrots and beets. (Don't all kids love carrots and hate beets?)

Don't forget to log your weekly weigh-in on the spreadsheet by midnight (EST) tonight! If you miss two weigh-ins you are out of the challenge so logging is important!

How'd everyone do with their fruits and veggies this week? I do pretty well including them in my meals but once I started trying to hit my specific goals I realized that I wasn't really eating as much of them as I thought! Anyone else experience this?

Hope everyone has had a great week and has a great loss to post!

PEWTER POWER. Yay.

And this week's mini challenge.......

Most people have a preference for either cardio or strength training and tend to like one type of workout more than another. The challenge this week is to get out of your exercise routine and try something all new to you!

Maybe you have a workout DVD you've never done. Or perhaps your gym offers classes and a drop-in option where you can take a class just once to try it. Or you have a friend who attends a class of some sort and can get you a guest pass. Or you could hunt down something new and interesting on the internet - there are a lot of sources for free workouts out there.

So, what will be your new workout choice this week? Is it something you've always meant to try but haven't.....or is it something you dread doing? What's your favorite form of exercise and why do you prefer it?

Me, I love running. I'd rather do that than anything else. I love that it's self-competitive and goal-oriented. I love how it makes me feel. I love that it's simple - just throw on the sneakers and some tattered old clothes and head out the door. Bam....running. And what new thing am I going to try this week? A friend gave me a belly dancing workout DVD so long ago that it is coated with a foot of dust. I dislike dancy - choreographed types of workouts so I really don't even want to try it. But, who knows, it might be fun.