Noosa

Have you tried Noosa Yoghurt? It is seriously, hands-down, the most delicious yogurt I've ever EVER had!  But, my very favorite part is...only 9 grams of sugar per serving.  Which is unbelievable because it tastes like dessert. Most store bought yogurt and even a lot of greek varieties have 20+ grams of sugar per serving.  It is not greek yogurt, but does have a respectable amount of protein per serving as well. 

Water

Quite a few of you have mentioned how hard it is to get your daily water in. What are some ideas that you have about getting your daily amount of water in?
For me, I just like to try to get through as much of it as early as possible. I try to have it more than half way gone by 10am.  Here is what Bob Harper (that trainer from The Biggest Loser) has to say about drinking your water...

Drink Water Before Every Meal

“Let me put this plainly: drinking water helps you lose weight,” Harper writes. Getting enough water improves digestion, helps you feel full, and can make your workouts more effective. Harper says that when his private fitness clients start making an effort to drink more water, they have less muscle fatigue, recover more quickly, and feel more active in the afternoon.

Kick off this habit by putting a full glass of water on your nightstand every night before bed, so you can sip it first thing the following morning.

I dare you to try this!

I am obsessed with Tracy Anderson arm workouts- there are none better! This particular one is my favorite. It is just under 8 minutes long, but I dare you to try to make it through 5 minutes!

Guys....this was seriously me yesterday. yikes.

Question

Does anyone else think it's a bad idea to have our weigh-in the morning after our free day (which apparently, I translated as pig-out day) ?  Should we move our weigh in to saturday mornings? I would then collect points for monday -saturday on sunday or monday. What do you think??

Trick

Does anyone else get a horrible hankering for something sweet after they eat a meal? (I mean, I have the urge to eat sweets at all times, but it is strongest after I eat lunch and dinner).  :)
But, I've found a little something that helps me fight this. Cinnamon. After lunch lots of days if the sweets urge is getting too strong, i'll pop in a piece of cinnamon gum. And after dinner i'll do the same, or i'll make myself a cup of herbal tea that is either cinnamon already or I just add a bit of cinnamon to it. Anyways, it helps me, just thought i'd share!

Roasted Chickpeas

This is a really yummy snack. They have great flavor and a good crunch and are much better for you than chips if you are craving something salty!

Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:
1 15-oz can Garbanzo Beans
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans in a large colander. Continue to rinse until all the foamy liquid goes away.

Line the counter with a few sheets of paper towel. Place the drained garbanzo beans on top of the paper towel and let them dry for a few minutes.

Once the beans are dried, place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle on the spices. Using your hands, toss the beans around so they are all fully coated.

Place the baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes to roast. After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and give the beans a little shake and then place back into the oven for another 20 minutes.

What Diet are you following?

I'm curious what everyone is following for their 'diet'. I am counting calories using myfitnesspal.com. (which btw, let me know if you use myfitnesspal, too, we can be friends on there to see eachothers updates...)
I'm curious what you're doing and how you like it...

1st day done!

How'd your first day go? Mine went better than expected. I was prepared to have a major low from having no sweets. (I seriously have so many sweets per day it is horrible!) But I felt good all day, maybe the low will come today... :) I'd love to hear how all of your first day went!

The No processed salty fast food point...

So, concerning the No Sweets and No Salty Processed snacks/fast food point...this will be very subjective. There are going to be a lot of foods that are sort of in the gray area, so you just need to decide for yourself. I listed the obvious ones (chips, fries, unhealthy crackers), but just decide for yourself if you have a question about what fits into the category. As far as the 'fast food' goes, it doesn't mean you can't ever eat fast food, that's not realistic. It's just more about making a good choice at the fast food restaurant. So order the grilled chicken sandwich instead of the the double whopper with fries. :) make sense?

Each point is subjective, really, but you know what you need to do to lose the weight that you want to and to feel good!

Members

Hey guys!
I have had a few people wondering who else is a member of this challenge, so here is the list (so we can cheer each other on!)

Vanessa Neal
Kim Hansen
Danette Schellhous
Natalie Tenney
Andrea Gorze
Deanne Blanchard
Erin Bringhurst
Melissa Bringhurst
Mandi Barton
Amy Richardson
Melanie Sedalnick
Shay Brackney
Megan Stancliffe