It's Back....The Game On! Diet

Summary: The Game On! Diet is not a diet. It's a bold new approach to fitness that turns the latest, smartest, most successful health science into a fun, fierce, and exhilarating game. Developed by Az Ferguson, to help Grey's Anatomy writer Krista Vernoff shed forty pounds of postpregnancy weight, it is the ideal program for busy people who should be working out but have a thousand good excuses not to.

Az keeps you motivated and Krista keeps you laughing as they show you how to organize opposing teams, set goals, and compete to earn points for daily exercise, healthy meal plans, and positive lifestyle changes. With The Game On! Diet, the process of losing weight, for the first time ever, is actually fun. After all, what's better than a bikini body . . . and bragging rights?

Get out there and lose . . . to win! Game on! -- Harper

Last summer, some fellow book bloggers and I participated in the Game On! Diet based on the book THE GAME ON! DIET: KICK YOUR FRIEND'S BUTT WHILE SHRINKING YOUR OWN by Az Ferguson and Krista Vernoff. As far as diets go, it was a pretty cool concept for losing weight; and I did enjoy the friendly (and not-so-friendly competition.) I had a fair amount of success last time and for the most part kept almost all of the pounds off, but I've noticed that the holidays have not been good to the old butt, tummy and hips! Now I know it wasn't the holidays that were the problem but my lack of willpower for desserts, wine and other goodies that have made me a little thicker around the middle.

Just in case you don't remember from last time, here's the premise in a nutshell:

Rather than focus on losing weight, you get to focus on winning points -- this idea definitely appeals to the competitive side of my personality. You can earn a maximum of 100 points a day for doing the following:

1) 30 Meal Points - 6 points per meal -no snacks
2) 20 Exercise Points - 20 minutes of exercise per day
3) 10 Water Points - 3 liters a day
4) 15 Sleep Points - at least 7 hours a night
5) 20 Transformation Points - 10 points for a healthy new habit and 10 points for dropping an old unhealthy one
6) 5 Communication Points - being in contact with your team members every day

You can also lose points if you:
1) 10 Points - snack between meals
2) 20 Points - if you collude with another player
3) 25 Points - alcohol penalty per portion

The diet does cut you some slack:
1) One day off a week when you don't have to follow any of the rules
2) One meal off a week when you can eat what you want and have one unit of alcohol
3) Each day you can have 100 calories of anything as a bonus treat

Since the snack cake teams had so much fun last time, many of the original players are back along with a few newbies! There are three teams; and we will compete against each other to see which team gets the most points. Of course, I am a returning Ding Dong -- the reigning champions!

Ding Dongs

Ti of Book Chatter
Amy of My Friend Amy
Jill of Rhapsody in Books
Molly of My Cozy Book Nook
Julie of Booking Mama

Twinkies

Dawn of She Is Too Fond of Books
Natasha/Vasilly of Classic Vasilly
Candace/Beth F of Beth Fish Reads
Jennifer of The Literate Housewife Review
Jenners of Find Your Next Book Here
Jenn of Jenn’s Bookshelves

Ho Hos

J.T. of BiblioFreakBlog
Jen of Devourer of Books
Pam of Bookalicio.us
Sandy of You’ve GOTTA Read This
Laurie (blogless at this time)

Our challenge begins tomorrow, January 4th and and runs for four weeks. Many of the participants will be blogging regularly and tweeting to keep everyone in the loop about our efforts.) You can follow our discussion on twitter by using the hashtag #gameondiet. We haven't worked out all the details, but there are going to be prizes!

I have to admit that I am really not in the mood to start dieting, but I know I need to. Once I get started, I will definitely be in 100% (hear that? Twinkies and Ho Hos.) There are a few things that I am dreading like giving up diet soda -- I am so addicted! At least, I can still have my coffee and iced tea. The exercise part is going to be a little more difficult for me this time because I haven't been working out or running regularly, and I have a hard time finding the time to go to the gym everyday. I'm thinking I might get up at 6:00 and just get it over with!

As far as the Transformation Points go, I am definitely not looking forward to this part. Since the habits didn't stick from last time, I am doing the same ones again. For my healthy habit, I am going to do five Sun Salutations each day. For my unhealthy habit that I need to kick, I'm going to stay off of my computer for two hours a day and spend more time with my family. I really didn't want to take on this part of the challenge again, but I figure if it "hurts" this much, it must be the right one to give up for four weeks!

Hey Twinkies and Ho Hos -- it's GAME ON!