20 Challengers out of the original 30 still at it! Thanks to those who checked in! YOU ARE LEARNING A VALUABLE THING...just by not quitting...that will serve y ou--and me--well for maintenance. ALSO: A request for specific blog posting if you're willing. Please read.

With the late additions of T2KO, Nanette, and KT, we close out at 20 challengers checking in.

With only 4 updates to go, we are down 1/3rd from the original 30 challengers.

Pat yourself on the back if you didn't quit, if you stuck it out thick or thin, computer or life woes included. You are learning a very valuable weight-loss-sustaining lesson. You stick it out.

Life will suck big rotten eggs sometimes, as some of us have learned. People you love will become gravely ill..or die. People you don't love will make you miserable. People you love may make you miserable. Finances will tighten (or, we hope, blossom). Computers will be wonky.

For the rest of our lives, no matter how much weight we lose, want to lose, or plan to maintain OFF, we will have to find a way to do it through good events, bad events, tempting events. Through illnesses, holidays, milestones, meltdowns.

Whatever is happening, good or bad, in your life, it might be a pitfall--and, yes,  joyful events can make us overeat, too, not just stresful ones. Vacations may be fun and relaxing, but they can make us hit the bad food mojo hard. Anniversaries and birthdays and Channukahs and Chritmasses and solstices may bring feasts that barrage our will. Divorces, deaths, moves across town or across countries or across oceans can make us just not know what the heck to do to keep going on our health strategies.

But we have to figure it out or all this hard work we've done to get fitter and less fat...will be UNDONE. It will vanish.

Just look around at the weight loss bloggers who gained it all back when vigilance went down or strategies got abandoned or focus flagged.

Regain is amazingly easy. As I'm finding in the refeeding/metabolism healing current phase. I have a different body composition, but I don't fool myself. I have to work this, and work it hard. :) Or I'll be obese again. Easily.

I would like bloggers who have lost and regained to consider doing a blog that might help others see how hard it is to keep focus. I would like bloggers who lost and have not regained (in months, at least) to give tips this week.

And all bloggers: Consider doing a "my holiday strategy post" this week by Wednesday. It may help you get through Thanksgiving. What specifically will you do in terms of focus/foods/planning to keep your eating in check and your exercise on target? STRATEGY: Have one. Share it. It might help someone else.

This is not a challenge requirement like the original rules (reread the rules if you have forgotten, lost track, or gotten lazy about the things you are supposed to do). This is a request that might help YOU and US.

So, kudos to all who were accountable, checked in--good, bad, or in-between--and are still fighting the fat fight and NOT QUITTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This alone makes me very happy and proud of you, OF US. All of us who just keep doing it, being real, being honest, and not just throwing in the towel.

You and I, we make it, we  eventually get there...if we don't quit. Epiphanies and knowledge only come as we continue to try, learn, do, fail, do again.  GO FORWARD!!
I believe in our abilities. :D

Many blessings and grace upon you --and your families--all this week when we remember our many, many blessings...be well

LINKY IS NOW UP FOR CDCC UPDATE #10 DUE BY MIDNIGHT SUNDAY, NOV 20TH. (Please read previous post about prizes, too. Thanks)

Prizes for Challengers: One from Julie's Big Heart for Your Slimmer Body, One From Amazon for Your Brain to Help Your Body.....Will you win one, both?

We're winding down....downhill side of the challenge. I hope you are making progress that pleases you. I hope you are learning from your reading (the challenge-required element of some helpful book or books) and from other blogs. I hope you are being supportive of some/many/all of the challengers. This is what it's about--learn about yourself, help others as they learn about themselves, in order to get healthier and fitter.

Now, Julie had offered a custom-made jewelry prize. Here is a photo to show you  the kind of stuff she creates. You get to pick colors that match your CDCC outfit, if you wish. Julie is one of the most wonderful souls I have met on the internet. Her good cheer, lovingkindness, optimism, and amiability are truly outstanding. So, I think whoever wins this prize will be delighted, not just cause it'll be purdy, but cause it will be made with love and grace and the most positive of vibes. :D

Because it is Julie's prize and she is very big on being supportive, that prize will go to whomever is selected by challengers as the most supportive challenger during this challenge. Excluding Julie, natch.  Hah! So, I'll be conducting a simple email vote OR maybe just allow a "thanks to my most supportive challenger ---insert name here--" comment in a blog entry. We'll see on that.

For now, think about who has supported you the most during this challenge--in comments, emails, both. It's a way to say "thank you" to someone who took a lot of time and care in helping others.

That's Prize One. Jewelry, custom, full of grace. A social person's gift. :D

~~~

Prize two comes from an INTJ (me) and is therefore cerebral and introverted.

I really value the information I've found in certain books, workbooks. I'm especially impressed by the compression of scientific information in a readable and visually-aided format that is THE SMARTER SCIENCE OF SLIM.

If nothing else, it gives you some lay-person friendly science about obesity/weight loss. It's accessible. So, I want to give away a copy of either the book itself or the workbook. It may be possible for the winner to access it in December and read it for inspiration not to go nuts during the holiday madness, but for sure, by its release in January.

Winner can select the book or the workbook. I pre-ordered the workbook already, and it's a 5 week program endorsed by UCLA, Harvard Medical School, and John Hopkins. Good credentials, there. . :)

Neither is cheap. Both are more than 20 bucks, and the workbook is, well, virtually $30...but I think it might be of use for those who have lost, or are losing, or have lost and want to find a way to work with their metabolic issues.

The winner of my prize has to live where Amazon will ship. Sorry, but I'm sending it from my Amazon Prime and it has to be eligible for that. If you are in an area not served with Amazon Prime, um, sorry. :(  

If the winner already has these books, then we can discuss an alternative INTJ-approved prize. Hah!

As Julie's prize is for the most supportive challenger, mine will be for the most enlightening challenger. I'll take votes on which challenger's blogs were most useful with tips, strategies, recipes, insights. The challenger that helped you have epiphanies or see the light or gain ground. The one that really hit on things that you needed to learn or work on. I and Angela, as challenge leaders, are excluded from this, but all the other challengers are in the running. Go for it.

Votes will be taken some time during next month, probably the last couple weeks of active challenging before the end on Dec. 18th. I'll give particulars in a post LATER. BUT...I want you to keep your eyes open and your memory active. Remember who was most supportive. Pay attention to who is most supportive. Look to who is most enlightening to you. Remember and vote for those two categories.

And if you want to win the prizes, then get cracking being supportive AND enlightening. Heart and brain. You need both to win the fat fight, right? So, prizes from heart and for the brain.

It is possible for one person to win both. One person may end up being the most inspiringly enlightening and the most encouragingly supportive. And I guess that person gets a shiny golden halo, too.  ; ) 

Do not give up. Do not lose heart. Keep learning. Keep going...NO QUITTING!!!!

Please Pray, Send Vibes, Think Postive, Support (whatver is your philosophical/metaphysical track) for Our Challenger's Family Member!

Read this post so you know what's going on.

In or Out of the Challenge--let me know. Down to 22 (maybe) out of 30 Initial Challengers...

Just to clarify one of the initial guidelines: If your puter/internet connection goes down, you get sick and rush to the hospital, etc, and can't update on time, simply do your update within the week ASAP and add the url of the update to the comments section of the pertinent linky update post on this blog. (Example: If you missed yesterday's eastern midnight deadline, then add your update posts url to the comments section of the PREVIOUS blog entry, the linky one.)

If you're going on vacation, just say so, no problem. Update when you return. Just let me know or I'll assume you're out.

If you want out, say so, and I'll remove you from the blogroll.

And if you have been late to update (missed the deadline) more than once, please consider updating on Saturdays to be safe. :)

Looks like we're down to 22 as of today (if World4Vamps still wants to stay in and updates.) Debbi updated late in the comments section, so check there for her url to see how she's doing. April is out, I'm guessing, but I had left her url in the blogroll so folks could check on her status and continue to pray for her safety. I will remove it soon, unless she wants back in. so bookmark that url for your own purposes or follow her blog.

I see one other blog that didn't update in the last week plus in the blogroll --One Chick's Journey on WW--so, I assume since there hasn't been a blog post since Nov 6, that she's out. (Contact me if you wish to stay in, but we need an update ASAP.)

Okay, that's it for now. Out of 30, we've got 22 left. Not bad, really, with only 5 weeks to go.

Do not quit. Do not lose faith. Keep going. Win the fight, right?

LINKY NOW OPEN FOR 9th CDCC UPDATE: Please update before end of Sunday, November 13!

~~~AS ALWAYS, if you miss the deadline (don't!), you can update your blog and add the URL to the comments section of THIS BLOG ENTRY for the other challengers to catch up with you. OK? All set. Off we go!

Angela Pea's Tip of the Week

Hey Chickies! Many of us - or our kids - have been sick during the past few weeks with the stomach virus going around or with our annual autumn colds. I thought I would offer this up as my tip of the week, you know, just to be helpful. I'm also avoiding my own workout as I sit here with a fever and feeling all achy and run over by a truck. Thank you, DirtBike, My Favorite Youngest Son, for sharing your germs with me.

Many of us are working our tails off trying to shed the body clutter and reclaim our health. So what should we do when illness and exercise collide? I wondered myself, so I did two things. Checked out info over at MayoClinic.com and called my Nurse Practitioner. They both said the same thing.

As a rule of thumb for exercise and illness:

• It's okay to work out if your symptoms are "above the neck" — such as runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing or sore throat. Be prepared to reduce the intensity of your workout if needed, however.
• Postpone your exercise if your symptoms are "below the neck" — such as chest congestion, hacking cough or upset stomach.
• Don't exercise at all if you have a fever, fatigue or widespread muscle aches. (Gentle stretching is okay to help relieve the muscle aches.)Mild to moderate physical activity is usually okay if you have a cold but no fever. Exercise may even help you feel better by temporarily relieving nasal congestion.

If you choose to exercise when you're sick, listen to your body. If your symptoms get worse with physical activity, stop and rest. Yes, rest. Your body is an amazing machine with self-healing super powers, but it needs rest to do its work. So if you feel like crud, don't go running! Resume your workout routine gradually as you begin to feel better.

Stay Healthy. Keep the Faith.