The 49-day "Goblin to Gobbling" challenge

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Forty-nine days.  Seven weeks.  That's how long I have before I leave on my trip to the UK for Christmas.  For those of you not looking at a calendar, this also brings us to the last weekend before Christmas.

I've always said in the past that the holidays do not bother me (food-wise).  And this was true.  Until lately.  Since I stopped trick-or-treating myself (many, many years ago), my exposure to Halloween festivities has been somewhat limited - I have no children of my own and for many years now I have lived in an apartment building where here has never been trick-or-treating permitted.  For me, this was good for two reasons: a) I don't have to spend money on treats and b) I don't have to HAVE the treats in my house.  This year, however, I was tasked with two things at work - helping one of my bosses get ready for his Halloween open house (to which I was invited) and getting the Halloween candy for my office.  I loved this - got myself a cute Halloween head-band from the dollar store, filled a pumpkin bucket with great candy and "reverse" trick-or-treated in my office (gave out rather than collected)... but there were leftovers.  Those leftovers sat on my desk.  Not good.  I seem to be unable to resist the lure of the chocolate/candy this year for some reason!  This entire week has been so food-focused (starting with the Halloween open house...gumbo, cake, lobster dip, oh my!) that I had to go to a mid-week Weight Watchers meeting on Halloween night just to get myself back on track.  It did help.  But I also realized that I need to re-evaluate things.

Last week at WW I was free for the first time since the summer.  For those of you not familiar with the WW plan, once you reach your goal weight, so long as you are not more than 2 pounds over goal, you attend meetings for free.  Last week I was finally back in the safe zone.  My meeting on Wednesday night was free for me, but I fear (with justification) that this upcoming weigh in will NOT be free.  I know that this is my own fault.  I accept that and acknowledge that only I can change this train-wreck :)  The leader at the mid-week meeting said that we should take 5 minutes per day to reflect on our food.  While I did not exactly do that yesterday, I was more aware of what I was doing than I had been the day before.

So here is my 49-day plan...nothing outrageous or scary...just simple, yet (hopefully) effective!

For the next 49 days I will do a MINIMUM of 10 minutes of activity each day.  I know, I know, that doesn't sound like much.  BUT I will continue to do my bootcamp 2x per week and Zumba 2 x per week.  So that still works out to about 4 1/2 hours of activity per week.

For the next 7 weeks I will evaluate my upcoming week for "danger zones" (aka treat opps) and determine which (if any) are with it and I will plan accordingly.  The only major events I can foresee in the next 7 weeks are my nieces birthday and my Christmas party for work (which falls on DAY 49!).  Halloween is over...Thanksgiving is over... no other birthdays or anniversaries (that I'm aware of).

For the next 1,176 hours I will limit (not eliminate) my sugary-treat intake.  Currently the only "bad" treats in my house are the Girl Guide thin mint cookies in my freezer (yes, I love them frozen!).  These are a 10/10 treat for me and on the WW program are 4 cookies for 4 pts+ (bargain!).  I only have half a box left, so I must ration these.  Maybe just 2 per week... :)  I will avoid picking at silly things that I don't even care for (that spoonful of chocolate chips from the baking cupboard, the chocolate covered raisins...I HATE raisins...but will eat anything covered in chocolate!).  I used to say I would limit myself to treats that were worth a 10/10, but not everything in life is perfect, so I'll reduce that to a 9/10 rating.

For the next 70,560 minutes I will track 100% (been slipping to about 95% lately).  I will also plan my lunches and suppers better (doing more cooking on the weekends in preparation for the upcoming week).

What are your plans for the Goblin to Gobbling season? (aka Halloween to Christmas)  Will you join me in becoming more aware and intentional about healthy eating and physical fitness?

Oh...I also want to blog more than once every few weeks...that's been slipping too!!

Ready?  Set?  Go!!!!!!!!!!