So you've joined the Challenge. What now?

Tips, tricks and benefits of being healthy and in shape in your fifties

I recently attended a get together of former classmates. We’ve been getting together prior to the holidays for the last few years. A former classmate of mine and I were talking and wondering, “who are these old people?” Quite honestly I think we were both looking round at the crowd noticing just how many of our former classmates looked so much older they are. Most all of us graduated between 1980 and 1983, so we are all in our early 50s. What’s really disturbing is the frightening number of classmates (class of 1981) who have died since our graduation, many due to health related issues.

Why is this? 

from ACE Pro Source

Good news for all you picky eaters (and, especially, parents of picky eaters): A new study suggests it may be possible to train the brain to prefer healthy low-calorie foods over unhealthy higher-calorie foods.

According to new research by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and at Massachusetts General Hospital, a brain scan study in adult men and women suggests that it is possible to reverse the addictive power of unhealthy food while also increasing the preference for healthy foods.

“We don't start out in life loving French fries and hating, for example, whole-wheat pasta,”

Now that the 2014 Chippewa Valley Challenge is in the books, we would like to take a moment to reflect on how amazing this year was for us and for many of our Participants.

We are almost three months in to 2014...so...how’s that New Year’s Resolution coming along?

For many of us who want to lose weight in the new year, this is the time we start falling off the wagon and lose interest in our goals we set back in December. It’s at this time most health clubs start seeing a decline in people coming to the gyms. This is why many clubs will run another sale in March.

So why do we give up so quickly on something we wanted so badly at one point in time? Why can’t we see past these first few months as being just the beginning of the healthier lifestyle we were trying to get live?

March weigh-ins are scheduled for Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7. Please note that some locations require appointments. Visit the The Sponsors page to view the specifics for your location. Also, if you have a conflict with the designated weigh-in dates, you will need to contact your Location to find out if you can arrange for an early weigh-in. Please be aware that the Locations are not required by the Challenge to accept early weigh-ins.

REMINDER -- You do not have to lose a certain amount of weight by this weigh-in in order to continue, but you MUST weigh in. Those who do not weigh in by the time their Location closes on Friday, March 7 will be immediately disqualified. Not sure if you should be weighing in? Check the list!

Use Your Resources
Remember to use the resources available to you as you journey to a healthier lifestyle.

• Contact Us
  • We are happy to answer your questions, offer any suggestions we may have or simply just listen to your struggles. Visit our website and click on the Contact Us tab.
• Facebook
  • Use the Chippewa Valley Challenge Facebook page for inspiration and to communicate with others in the Challenge.
• MaryAnne Erickson
  • MaryAnne has generously offered up her services to the Participants of the Challenge. She even created a website just for you! Visit her website byclicking here.

See you next week!

"I AM AN OVER EATER!!" and the Chippewa Valley Challenge have proudly joined the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce!

A BIG "thank you" to everyone who attended last week's Health Seminar! We had just over 60 people attend. Our guest speakers were excellent and really hit home their messages. Thank you to our speakers -- Craig Monson (Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin, MaryAnne Erickson, Certified Intrinsic® Health and Wellness Coach, Jennifer Joswiak and last but not least Lisa Rambo (The Biggest LoserSeason 14 Contestant and founder of Losing it with Lisa). Also, a shout out to the night's sponsors -- Gordy's County Market, GNC Live Well, Subway, Eau Claire Children's Theater and I AM AN OVER EATER!! Blog.

Click on "Read More" to view notes from the seminar.

This is an exciting day for me. I’m going to The Biggest Loser Finale in Los Angeles! Who would have ever believed that my life would have changed this much over these last few years.

It wasn't that long ago that I remember filling out the application and sending it in and going to a casting call to try and get on the show. At the time I was a very large 326 pounds; however, it wasn't big enough for my height to meet the qualifications. But after doing my own personal weight loss challenge losing over 100 pounds, I’m on my way to watch the Season 15 finale tonight.

According to the USDA, people who are most successful at losing weight and keeping it off track their intake regularly.

Cleanse your body, soothe your soul and boost your mood with these 3 FREEBIES--water, music and sunshine!

If not, what are you doing about it? 

Are you accomplishing your goals? 

Are you keeping up with your kids? Are you carrying around an extra 40, 50 or even 100 pounds of extra weight? 

Once again what are you going to do about it?

It's a new year; it's a new beginning to your life. Why not do something about it. Now the time to take control and start living a healthier lifestyle. Is it easy? Is it something that's going to come naturally? The answer to both is no!

The only thing constant in life is change.

This year has been a year of being extremely busy, working through consistent changes as well as experiencing many firsts.

Are you getting ready for the new year? Start planning now!

The New Year is approaching quickly and many of you are thinking about your New Year's resolution to start losing weight, get in shape and change your life. With the New Year just around the corner, that can mean only one thing--it's Challenge time!

Chippewa Valley Challenge starts January 6 and now is the best time for you to plan your eating and figure out how you're going to start exercising. If you wait until after the first of the year you may already be too late.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! How many of us tend to eat so much on Thanksgiving that we are miserable? We know that we do! And how many of us tell ourselves, "It's just once a year," or "It's Thanksgiving; this is what we do on Thanksgiving!" So instead of feeling miserable this Thanksgiving, let's help each other to avoid over eating.

Here are some tips and tricks from me and Dan that may help you avoid overeating this year.

As over eaters, this time of year can prove to be quite challenging. With the time change, darkness falls upon us much earlier. The temperature is falling. And the holidays are just around the corner. Are these just excuses for us to over eat, or are these legitimate reasons we over eat?

Today is Veterans Day! This holiday recognizes and honors all of the military veterans who have served our country. There are over 20 million veterans living in the United States. Today, we honor all of those men and women for their patriotism, and their willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good of our country.

How do you maintain a healthy diet when you are constantly traveling?

This is a question I've been asked many times before. I was asked this question again this morning by a friend who is a truck driver and is needing help to lose weight. I also thought it would be a good time to talk about this considering I will be traveling much more this next year.

How my life has changed by reaching for my goals

These last two years, and especially these last few months, have been filled with change and great potential all because I decided to change my lifestyle and the direction my life was heading. A little over two years ago I was overweight, out of shape and very unhealthy. My personal and professional life was in shambles and neither was heading in a direction which I was happy about. So I made a decision to lose weight, get in shape and change the way I was living my life. I also promised myself that I would give back even more to my community as well as commit to improving the lives of as many people as I possibly can.

The real changes in my life started shortly after I began writing this blog. I had already lost over 75 pounds when I first started "I AM AN OVER EATER!!,"and it was only a few weeks later that I created The Chippewa Valley Challenge. My life really started making strides in a new direction.

Are you a weekend warrior who works out and eats healthy even throughout the weekend? Or are you that person who works out and eats healthy all week long, falls off the wagon over the weekend and goes back to the gym on Monday feeling like crap.

Here are some suggestions that have worked for us here at "I AM AN OVER EATER!!"

"HELP!" "I lost the weight I wanted to lose, but now I am gaining it all back!" Aahhhh!

Has this happened to you? You were on a diet, exercising regularly and the weight came off. After a few weeks, maybe even months, you finally hit your goal weight.

NOW WHAT?

OMG! Can they be any more annoying!? More tales from the gym.
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Honestly, do people need to make outrageous noises every time they workout? How many times have you been at the gym, you are on the treadmill and all of a sudden you hear...WHEW! (or whatever sound a high speed wind makes). It's as loud as a train whistle! And to make matters worse, in about 5 minutes the whistle goes off again and scares the crap out of you because its SO LOUD! Now, I know you need to breathe and a have a cleansing breath every so often while exercising, but really it doesn't have to be so loud that you can hear it over your headphones while in the tanning bed! We call this guy "the hurricane."

Another person at the gym, who has no filter, I affectionately call ''Tourette boy'' (and no he does not actually have Tourette Syndrome) because he will let out these incredibly loud and annoying clearing-of-the throat-cough-hack-up-a-lung sounds...quite honestly it is so loud and disgusting that if you are on the elliptical next to him you may want to go shower off afterward...it is so gross and so loud!

How about the person who has been running on the treadmill or working out on the Elliptical for an hour and is dripping...oops, I mean spraying sweat everywhere. So much, in fact, that there are actually puddles of sweat on the machine! They are dripping so much that when they breathe they are spitting sweat all over the council of the equipment! Now I applaud those people who are actually pushing themselves and really working hard....but then when they're done they just walk away and don't bother to wipe the machine off...REALLY!?!? Come on! Why don't you just pee all over it and then let the next guy clean it up! Can you be anymore disgusting? Please, wipe the machines off when you are done.

Aaahhh! Oohhhaa! Uuuhhh! You know these sounds. They come from people who are trying to tell everyone in the gym that they're lifting weights. ''Hey, look at me! I'm so strong!'' Sometimes when you are at a gym and you hear these sounds, it means someone is deadlifting an F-150 truck! But most of the time they're curling a 25lb dumbbell or benching 50lbs. These people just kill me! I want to go up to them and say, ''If you make this much noise lifting this, go lighter and shut up!" We all see you are flexing your muscles; we don't need to hear you as well. Oh yeah...and we don't need to smell you either! OMG! Wash your gym clothes once in a while. And maybe try some deodorant. Wow!

Lastly, the people I just don't understand...the weight droppers! You're doing your own thing somewhere in the gym and all of a sudden you hear....BANG!!....CLANG!!....THUD!! And all you can think of is ''Holy crap, what was that?!?!'' Is the roof falling in on us?!? And once again in some gyms, a guy just lifted a VW Bug, but in the case I am talking about, these guys are dropping weights just because they saw it on a YouTube video and it looks cool. I just want to drop a 50lb dumbbell on their foot, and say, "Oops, saw that on Ridiculousness!" LOL

So in conclusion...clean up after yourself, take the headphones off and hear how ridiculous you sound. Use your internal filter. And lift weights that allow you to control the sounds that emanate from your mouth.

--Dan

It has been almost one year since I lost 100 pounds. You would think this would start getting easier...but it's NOT!

For those of you who have an addictive personality, you may understand that we can find ourselves falling back into old habits that can cause problems in our lives. Addictions can be with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and yes, even for some of us it's FOOD! 

The first thing no one wants to see when walking into a locker room is a naked, old man's butt!

The other morning when I walked into the locker room at the gym, the first thing I have to see was an older man standing at one of the sinks naked and shaving his face. OK...first of all, I don't even stand in my own bathroom naked in front of the mirror shaving my face, nonetheless in a gym locker room. COME ON! Wrap a towel about your butt! Not to mention when we men get older, one of the first things we lose is our butts! We develop "long back," that's where our backs start at our neck and end's at our knees, with only a crack in-between. Needless to say...it's not a pretty sight! I wouldn't be writing about this is if it was the first time or two it's happened...OHHH NOOOOO! It seems to be happening a lot more often, and not from just the same "old man." I'm not sure if they all had a meeting or what deal is, but what the hell! WHY?!?! What's wrong with a towel? Maybe put on your underwear or here's a novel idea, maybe shave while you're in the shower. And don't tell me you need a mirror to shave, you're 70+yrs old, I'm sure you can do it in the dark by now.
By the way...I have no problem with being naked. And if you know me at all, I'm not shy or bashful...I am in theater. :)
I have even been on stage in my underwear.  Ok, so it's long underwear...but it's still underwear! :) But why do older men (I'm talking mid- to late-60s to 80s) feel the need to walk around and do all sorts of excessive drying in a gym locker room? Another disturbing trend seems to be that they want to dry off their...mmm...well let's say..."junk" with the blow driers. WHY?!?! Once again that's what towels are used for.
 
What do you say to a naked Pastor?
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I can remember walking into a locker room and running into a very well known Pastor who I had known through a number of city events. I was just walking in as he was walking back to his locker after showering, and it was at this time he decides to carry on a political conversation with me...of course, he has nothing on and doesn't feel the need to cover himself up, attempt to put on any clothes, or wrap the towel around himself. Once again, not a prude, not that shy myself, but I will tell you it is a little uncomfortable talking politics with a naked Pastor.
 
Even this morning! As I walked into the locker room...UGH!

Twas the day after Christmas,
I went to the gym.
I walked into the locker room,
and look around on a whim.
And what to my wandering eyes appear,
but a old man's butt standing naked,
shaving in the mirror.
 
So, what does this have to do with losing weight and getting in shape?

NOTHING!! But, come on guys! Do we really need to scare off people with strange locker room habits?!?! Nothing says that you can't wear underwear, or try wrapping a towel around yourself. Just because it's a guys locker room doesn't mean you have to be shaving at the sink naked, using a blow dryer on your balls, or carrying on a conversation without the slightest interest in putting any clothes on! COME ON! Think about the other guy...where are you supposed to look when talking politics with a naked Pastor?!?! Sometimes having a sense of humor is a good way to try and relieve the stress of thinking about losing weight and all the holiday tensions. Are you getting ready for The Chippewa Valley Challenge?!?! You better be. Visit TheChippewaValleyChallenge.com for more details. Check out http://chippewavalleypost.com. There is an article about this Blog. The Chippewa Valley Challenge and me.  Once again Thank you Jamie. Have a great day everyone!!