Yesterday was the day! We ended our 4-week Game On lifestyle challenge. Here’s what I’m taking away from it:
- weight loss: I lost 6 pounds over the four weeks, which I’m pleased with. I didn’t own a scale before the challenge, so the next bullet point is more significant to me:
- clothes fit better! Last spring I was training for a sprint triathlon, and was in much better (tighter) physical shape than when I began Game On. Now the clothes I bought last spring and summer fit me comfortably again. I think I may go buy some summer fashions on sale to celebrate.
- water is my friend. I thought I drank a lot of water before, but the 3 liters a day requirement really amped up my intake. I’ve never been much of a soda drinker, but turned to ice tea (you know, mix it up, Crystal Light artificially-flavored peach ice tea) in warmer weather. It’s straight H2O for me now.
- exercise is a habit. I’ve been finding a way to fit exercise into my daily routine, and plan to continue to do so.
- keep an eye on portion size. The amount of food I had been putting on my plate at dinner is about twice the suggested serving size. I’ll tone down the portion sizes, but not halve them (the suggestion is based on five mini meals a day, and I don’t plan to continue that habit; I found it very limiting and would be hard to maintain over time with my kids’ schedules).
- there is no I in TEAM. It’s true! When one of us had a challenge, it was like all of us, competitors and teammates alike, worked together to try to solve it. When one of us had a victory, we all shared in the celebration.
Now, you’re probably wondering which of the snack cake teams won our friendly competition … a picture is worth a thousand words:
The third place winners, the HoHos, take home these lovely prizes:
- no-calorie celebratory cupcake candle
- noise-maker to celebrate that the challenge is complete
- two fun pencils to check off continued daily intake of 3 liters water
- handmade dried flower notecard
- assorted bookmarks promoting a few books and my local indie
- custom-made Game On! bookmark
Second place winners, the Twinkies, have these parting gifts:
- zero-calorie, no fat celebratory cupcake candle
- noise-maker to celebrate no more cheesesticks
- two hand-crafted notecards
- assorted bookmarks
- magnetic clasped notepad
- custom-made Game On! bookmark
And the grand prize goes to the DingDongs:
- no cal, no fat, no carb cupcake candle
- noise maker to celebrate no more Greek yogurt
- two hand-crafted notecards
- assorted bookmarks
- Sunflower Farmer’s Market re-usable bag to tote home veggies from farmer’s market (or Trader Joe’s!)
- bookworm pin
- hand-made journal with Nancy Drew postcard cover
- custom-made Game On! bookmark
Many thanks to Rhapsody in Books, Denise at M Denise C, Booking Mama, Fizzy Thoughts, and Aarons Books in Lititz, Pennsylvania for providing prizes. Our Game On Diet books were provided by the publisher via Book Club Girl. Homemade book journals were purchased from Iliana at Book Girl’s Nightstand, click over to her Etsy shop to see her selection. Homemade bookmarks were purchased from Jennifer at The Literate Housewife; Jennifer will work with you to design custom pieces.
One last picture … at one point when we were relatively quiet on Twitter, Rhapsody in Books, in one of many LOL emails, asked, “those Twinkies and Ho Hos are AWFULLY quiet! Is it because they’re out having a meeting at Cheesecake Factory or something? Is Dawn being crowned Ms. Dairy Queen?” My son made this pic of me at the coronation ceremony (he also made the trophy podium shown above):
The prizes look great! And I *knew* you were the Queen, I just knew it! Great job by your son in depicting you in your crown!
I love, love, love the trophy platform! Just too funny. And you as a banana split! I’m truly laughing!
I loved the team spirit and I loved how supportive everyone was. I think we are taking away very much the same messages and tips. And we all come away with new friends.
Super prizes! Thanks to all the contributors!
Despite the results: Twinkies are the greatest!!!!!!!
Way to go Dawn! I enjoyed reading Beth’s recap too. I am pretty sure I couldn’t do five meals a day either, but I like the idea of 3 L of water and I’m going to give it a try. It seems that when I “do” a diet, I get so burnt out and end up gaining back everything I’ve lost. The summer has been brutal on my weight, so I think I’m just going to pretend like I’m not doing anything special, just do my normal exercise, get that water into my routine, and eat less. We’ll see what happens.
Congratulations to the Ding-Dongs! I really think everyone had a lot of fun with the competition aspect of this diet! Congratulations on being crowned Ms. Dairy Queen! That picture really made me laugh!
LOL…LOVE the Dairy Queen picture! You are the queen, Dawn! You rock. I’m working on my wrap up post, it will go up on Friday. I’m very happy with my weight loss (ten pounds) and I’m going to keep up most of the Game On diet “rules”-portion control, drinking water (not three liters though!), and exercise. This challenge was a learning experience!
Congratulations to everyone! I hope you enjoy the bookmarks – and the good thing is that your banana splits will wipe right off.
What a fantastic wrap-up post!!!! Thanks for everything — supporting me on this diet, keeping things light, organizing the entire game, coordinating gifts, etc. You are the best! And isn’t it just a great bonus that our clothes fit better?
Love the picture!!!
rhapsody – I like when my kids get in on the fun
Beth F – snack cakes rock!
Sandy – I think you’ll find that little changes can make a big difference. The Game On Diet has a chapter on “going it alone”, but round up a few friends and play for a challenge …
Kathy – He took a “digital imagery” class at camp and created all kinds of fun morphed pictures.
Jenn – it was a learning experience, and I hope/plan to keep some of that learning with me, too.
Literate Housewife – yes, thanks for laminating them, they’ll stand up thru many, many books! I hope you can get more custom orders to put in your fund for BEA 2010!
Julie – we all pulled together with this, it was great fun. Yes, I love that I fit comfortably into my clothes again … apparently it was a long winter
All Hail the Queen! May she live forever!!!
And I just need to know, did you eat the snack cakes when the trophy photo shoot was over? I would have!!!!
Fantastic wrap-up post — and I honestly didn’t know everyone was getting prizes. That is totally cool. I truly think we all won anyway.
This was a great experience and I’m so glad you invited me to join in!
I will never look at Twinkies, Ho-Hos or DingDongs the same way again.
Congrats on the weight loss Dawn! Great prizes, as usual Jennifer’s bookmarks are gorgeous. Love the pic!!!
Thanks for organizing this an inviting me to join in the fun! I had a great time…and the healthier habits are pretty awesome, too. I LOVE that picture!
Congratulations to us all and kudos to the Dairy Queen!!
Way to go! I’m so glad it worked and that you lost weight – AND had fun!
Yay to everyone and what cute prizes!!
OMG… that dairy queen pic is one for the books!! I will always have that image in my mind now whenever I drive past one. Well, we don’t have Dairy Queens here but we have Foster’s Freeze which is pretty darn close.
I love the award platform pic too. Now who ate all of those snack cakes afterwards?? That’s what I want to know
Jenners and Ti – my kids are waiting until after lunch to devour the snack cakes we had in the photo. I put them in the fridge … like I thought they’d go stale on the counter! (Surprisingly, they do have expiration dates on the package)
Dar – Jennifer’s handcrafted bookmarks are gorgeous! She takes custom orders, and is putting her profits toward BEA 2010
softdrink and Amy – yay for Snack Cakes! I’m a loser in good company (yes, you two are losers, even though the Ding Dongs won … we all lost weight/inches/habits, right?)
Heather – It was fun, and a success for all, I think
Congrats on a game well played!
What a fun game!!! Great job everyone!
I think your son is hilarious!
Jessi – thanks! and congrats to you for a great first week playing The Game!
Nicole – we had a lot of fun; I wish I had taken your suggestion of before and after photos (not for the blog, just for me!)
Sheri – yeah, as they say, “he’s a keeper!” (they all are!)
Congratulations to all of you! The pictures are great, too.
Sounds like the Game On Diet challenge worked wonders for everyone and you all had fun. Congrats…and what lovely prizes.
Congrats on the weight loss and the new and healthy habits that you have picked up! I know it feels awesome to be able to fit into some of your old clothes, and I think that might be one of the best perks about getting in shape. I am really glad you did this. You have inspired me, and I have started exercising daily, so thanks for continuing to post on your progress!
Congratulations Dawn! I love the podiums, and the prize packages too! You organized an amazing event, kudos to you and I’m glad you had so much success!
Congratulations to all of you! You guys did so great. I’m sure it was hard but I think you guys found the perfect way to make a new change. Lots of team spirit and encouragement!
Great job! Glad you had fun with this challenge.
Carol – we did have fun, despite our occasional grumbling
Serena – a nice variety of prizes – everyone’s a winner (cuz we’re all losers!)
zibilee – I’m only a few days back to “normal” foods, and I know I feel better with the Game On foods … I’m working on a good compromise (with exercise and lots of water)
BCG – we all had fun! Thanks for your tweets of support.
Iliana – the team spirit (even between competitors) is key
Anna – you can tell by our goofy team names that we planned to make it fun
Great job on your progress. It is very impressive and a motivator for me. Keep up the great work.!!!!
Looks to me like you did great with this challenge, babe. I hope these changes that you’ve made stick around; I want my friend healthy and with me for a long time! (See how it’s all about ME???)
[...] book – containing not only fat and thin, but also obesity. I complained about the word diet in The Game On Diet book, “why can’t we use a word like lifestyle, so we don’t reinforce body image issues with the [...]