Shopping on Black Friday

For those that don't live here in the States, there is a huge and seemingly growing tradition of going shopping basically starting at midnight on Thanksgiving Day.  This is commonly called Black Friday.  It is the official start of the Christmas buying season, so for retailers it is very important.  They try to lure shoppers in with their best discounts.  In years past, shoppers would gather outside the doors waiting for them to be opened so they can sprint in to get the limited supply of great deals.  Incredibly in the past this has actually resulted in injuries and even fatalities from being trampled!
Last year I ventured out to show my kids just the extent of this spectacle.  Every spot in the mall parking lot was filled.  Inside the store every isle was open, but the lines were enormous.  I scored a good deal on a blu-ray player and some other stuff.  I love a good deal as much as the next guy, but this year I decided to stay in.  I guess you have to be in the right frame of mind in order to enjoy Black Friday.  I have already heard news reports of someone pepper spraying twenty others-to improve her chances of getting a discounted Xbox!!  If you had enough courage to brave the crowds, I would like to hear about it.  What did you get?  Was it worth the lines, or is that just part of the fun.  Were the people nuts?  If you didn't go, why not??  For those that live outside the States, do they have a version of Black Friday there???

Weight Loss Update Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Friends!!!

Diet Plan - The Turkey Day Gameplan

Well for my readers not in the States, this Thursday is Thanksgiving.  In a nutshell, it is a day set aside for family, food, and giving thanks for all we have.  It stems from our history, of the colonist coming here and not being able to grow much in the way of food.  The colonist were starving and dying until the native American Indians taught the colonist the techniques of successful agriculture that led to a bountiful harvest and much to be thankful for.  So from the start the holiday seemed to have the sharing of abundant food as a cornerstone.  Of coarse this has evolved into having a reason for a feast that usually centers around a main coarse of turkey with stuffing and gravy.  Many families often add ham or roast beef along with any other delectable dish you can imagine.  In short Thanksgiving has become a great reason to splurge.

Many in the weight loss community have been formulating their strategy to get through the holiday without packing on many extra pounds.  I think it is wise to have a plan and I have given some thought to my plan as well.  First, I know what I don't want to do.  Since Thanksgiving is a social gathering, I do not want to play the martyr.  You know what I mean.  The one person with only one raw carrot and one stalk of celery on their plate.  The dieting martyr loves to have everyone take notice of how hard they must sacrifice.  If this is you, that's cool--it's just not me.  I plan to embrace moderation as my coarse of action.  I plan to have a LITTLE of everything.  Just one plate is my general rule.  I will keep my eye on my portions.  In other words, I am on my diet to live, but I do not live for my diet.  As always I would love your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree.  If you are outside the States, I would like to know if you have anything like our Thanksgiving (without the pilgrims and Indians of coarse).

A Few Links

I know some of my readers have never checked out my weight loss videos on YouTube.  Maybe some of you didn't even know I do a weight loss vlog.  So, I thought I would put together a list of links to some of them.  Hope you like them!!

My latest weigh in

I re-chipped a tooth the other day, and my son thought it was pretty funny.  We called it Weight Loss or Tooth Loss.  This is on his channel:

My poking fun at portions sizes put on containers here in the States

My five things I'm looking forward to when I'm thin-er

The Award Goes to...

The award goes to...me!!!  YAY!!  LOL!!  At the risk of sounding like I'm giving my acceptance speech at the Emmys, I really do want to thank Bluezy at Beyond My Looking Glass and Taryn at Fat Girl in A skinny World for bestowing the Versatile Blogger Award on me.  The Rules are to thank the blog that nominated you, reveal 7 thing about yourself and to pass it on to 15 bloggers.  So here goes:

1.  I like to play fiddle and guitar, but never have time to play anymore.  It has been years since I played much.  I never was very good, but I always enjoyed it.

2.  In twelfth grade, I used  to be thin.

3.  For twelve years, I was a stockbroker.

4.  Even though I know it is bad for me, I love to eat late at night right before going to bed.  I have done this forever and can't/don't want to stop.

5. I home school my two kids.

6. I had a teacher in second grade that would draw a big rat in red marker on your desk if it was messy.  I got the rat more than once.  The reciever of the rat had to scrub it off their desk with soap and paper towels.

7. I can't spell to save my life.  I still don't think it is hugely important.  I would rather put time and effort  into improving my math and science skills.


So I have no idea who to tag.  I am such a lazy and bad blog follower(for which I am sorry), I wouldn't even know who has participated yet and who hasn't.  I think I will just pick one because I looked at many of the blogs I follow and they have already received it.  Please don't get mad at me!!  If you are not interested or have already done this or if you are too busy or just don't want to participate, just disregard.     I guess I will pick:



Maren at From cow to wow http://flabmountain.blogspot.com/  because she is such a loyal follower and blogger.



If you decide to play along, I look forward to your answers.

Is It That Time of Year?

 It was a week before Halloween and I was driving home from the store with my daughter.  We were taking turns switching through the radio channels and bam! Christmas music.  Really?!?  A week before Halloween?  One station had already gone full time Christmas music.  Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music-absolutely love it.  The words, the feelings conveyed, the whole nostalgia of days gone by- I just love it.  But before Halloween just seemed a wee bit early to me.  I just couldn't get into it. Yet.  But, by time Thanksgiving is over, I will be ready to hear all the holiday favorites.  So I ask, do you like Christmas music?  When do you think the stations should start playing it.  Finally, what is your favorite tune?  I love seeing what you all think!!!

That Four Letter Word

I hate that four letter word!  I hate seeing it!  I hate hearing it!  And I really, really hate saying it.  It seemed like yesterday, everywhere I went I keep hearing it or seeing it and couldn't get away from it.  Even from my own kids!!!  What's the world coming to??  And to top it off, here I am writing about it.  Well right now in these parts, the world seems to be coming to winter and fast.  We had our first SNOW of the season.  If yesterday is an indication of what is in store, we may be in for a doosey of a winter.   It was coming down hard and fast.  The flakes were huge like goose feathers.  At one point it was coming down so hard that I couldn't see the shore across the lake.  Usually the first snow of the season will simply be a few flurries.  Let's hope this is a fluke and not a warning.  Snow, do you love it or hate it?

Fat Head

Well it's a beautiful sunny fall day here in Michigan.  After last weeks goose egg for weight loss, I am feeling pretty good about this weeks weight report.  I still have several days to go until weigh in, but I'm already down a pound.  I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for more.
While I was exercising on the elliptical last night, I watched an interesting documentary about dieting that was called Fat Head.  If you have never seen it, you can watch it for free on Hulu at http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879/fat-head
If you get a chance to watch it, I would sure like to hear your thoughts on it.

Weight Loss Nuggets From the Newbie

Well it's true I'm a dieting newbie.  Just seven weeks in and still wet behind the ears as they say.  That being said, if you are an experienced dieter, you may want to tune out as I am sure you know all this stuff already.  This is just a post of a few simple truths I want to record.

• There are different types of eating.  There is emotional eating.  For example, sometimes I eat if I am frustrated.  Sometimes I eat if I am bored.  Being frustrated or bored is not a good reason to eat.  Try not to do it.  Remember how much work on the elliptical it will take to burn off that frustration snack!!!  Sometimes I eat for a social gathering like going to a restaurant with the family.  This to me is a gray area and a little tricky.  I think as long as I do good  the majority of my dieting time, I think this social aspect is OK.  The jury is still out on this for me.
• Do not be a diet snob.  Find a diet that is right for you and that you like so you will stick with it.  However understand that what is right for you may not be right for someone else.  If someone else's diet is to only eat pineapples while standing on their heads-that's OK.  (Actually that is the way some of these new diets sound to me).  Wish them success and mean it.  There is no need to try to convert people to your diet.
• Do not take yourself too seriously.  Even if you lose all the weight you want, hit and stay at your goal weight, we are all going to die.  Even skinny people.  A snack once in a while (maybe as a reward for doing well on your diet) is not going to kill you.  Maybe it will help you stay on your diet long term instead of being too strict and falling off the diet wagon for good.  
• Have fun.  Life is just too short not to enjoy it even if on a diet.  If you are not having fun; stop, re-evaluate, and make changes until it is fun again.  

Have you found any nuggets you would like to share????