GAME ON

Here is a copy of an email that I sent out last night. If you want to join us, let me know. I seem to be missing emails.

Dear Family and Friends,

I have a challenge for you! Its a game I played last year with some co-workers, not only did I have fun, but I lost weight and have kept that particular weight off.

Now, this isn't exactly a weight loss game, but it can be used that way. Its called The GAME ON diet. Like...As in when you taunt another person and say YOU'RE ON or Get your game on... It comes from a book of the same name written by Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson. (I wouldn't recommend buying the book because its language is inappropriate--don't ask why--but if you can borrow it or check it out from the library, there's lots of good food nutrition info worth seeing). Here's a website instead. It gives the general idea...http://www.thegameondiet.com/.

The game typically goes for 4 weeks. You work in teams. And then you can do it again...maybe this time a different challenge against different teams. You get points for activities you do and bonus points for achieving certain fitness goals (ie 1% weight loss or running the mile 15 seconds faster, doing more situps in a minute, increasing flexibility in that week.) If you need to loose weight, 1% weight loss is the standard bonus. If you are training or already in shape, declare the goal to the scorekeeper and your team ahead of time (beginning of score week). You also get 10 points for reporting your score to your team scorekeeper on time.


Here are the categories: (Use attached spreadsheet for tracking)
5 Meals (6 points each): The goal is to eat more frequently and avoid binging. Our bodies need constant fueling. The guideline here is to eat each meal not more than 4 hours apart. The meals are around 400 calories each but that's approximate. Ideally the food should be a healthy balance of carbs, proteins, fruits, grains, dairy etc... If you are using weight watchers, jenny craig, or other weight loss programs, following those programs the way they are set up counts.

Exercise (20 points): 20 minutes a day, preferably in the morning to kick start metabolism, but not necessary. Just find 20 minutes and get the heart rate up. You don't even have to leave the house!

Sleep (15 points): Extremely important to get 7+ hours of sleep a night. If exceptions may need to be considered such as nursing mothers, or shift work, talk to the teams and the scorekeeper before the game begins.

WATER (10 points): Challenge to drink 3 liters of water daily. That's about 13 cups of water. You may find yourself going to the bathroom a lot at first but by week 3 the body gets used to it, you have better skin, and think about all the toxins you are flushing out of your body!

NEW HABIT (10 points): This isn't about just fitness, but lifestyle changes. Give yourself 10 points for each day you follow your new habit goal. This goal is established at the beginning of the game and told to all teams and the scorekeeper.

OLD HABIT (10 points): Give it up now! Find a habit you want to break for life and use this game to jump start the habit. Don't be a dork and quit cold turkey on something if it'll make you miserable and just go back to the habit after the game is over. Be careful, you lose 50 points if you decide to change this goal.

Communication (5 points): Whats more fun than doing this in teams and letting your teammates know how you're doing and drawing on each other for moral support? Tormenting the other by team about it! Five points for every day you contact at least one person on your team face to face, by phone call, by text message, email, etc and ALSO at least one person on another competitor's team. Yeah baby, bring on the Trash Talk.

There are also penalties in this game which you can see on the spreadsheet.

The game isn't so brutal. It levels the playing field for all: fit and fat, male and female, young and old Your team totals the points and takes the average, so pick a good team! I got stuck with a team that screwed up their points the first week and we were always in last place.

PICK A PRIZE: Pick a prize that everyone would want. Or a penalty that could hurt. I ponied up $10 to enter the competition and put $50 on the line for a charity. We lost and I kept my word and made lunches for the Tooele Relief Center. Other people give trophies, go to dinner, do side challenges... This prize is decided by everybody before we start.


DAY OFF: You can have a day off! What does that mean? It mean every category can have one miss during the week and still receive full points. These misses do not have to be all on the same day. This is a wonderful thing about the game. You may screw up the night before and not get 7 hours of sleep, but can still have an awesome day. You would use the free day (one miss) for the sleep requirement and keep going.

Or it means you can have a whole day where you throw everything out and screw up. But if it happens again, no more points.

Side note: For those using the 5 meal idea, I counted my meals as meals 1-5 and allowed one miss for every meal. So say I usually eat Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, but on Monday I didn't eat my brunch snack. I would count it as my free miss and award the points, but if I also didn't eat brunch on Tuesday, I would get no points etc.

MEAL OFF: This is the special meal that you've been waiting for. Its the big 2 hour social that you can't pass up. Its the mandatory business meeting, the wedding, the birthday party. Save this free meal for a social time. You have up to two hours to eat and enjoy whatever you'd like! But remember, just because you can doesn't mean you'll lose the weight or that its good for you.

So what else am I missing? OH YEAH.... TEAMS. If you are interested, please email me right away. I'd like to start this game next Tuesday, January 18--right after Martin Luther King Day.

Please send the following information:
Name
New Habit
Old Habit

I had lots of fun with this last year, but its super hard to compete against yourself or your spouse so I haven't done it again since last January. I know that I need the motivation of a social network and competition. I sent this email to family first, but feel free to organize into teams of close friends or family member not emailed. If you create your own team, please tell the team name, the names of the people and the goal information. Plus include email addresses and any other contact information. Teams should typically be 4 people and not more than 6.

Love to all and Let's get the Game ON!

Kimberly and John Leisek