NEW Kays Soup Challenge - OCT to MAR

1A) Introduction - About The Soup Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome to The Soup Challenge !

This challenge is not just about having Soup all week, it is made up of several elements, which are designed to work together to give you a great loss.


This is a great challenge to start when you are back from holiday and want to kick start those losses again or when you feel you have reached a plateau and want to further boost your losses.


These challenges run for a whole week. The maximum you should do is 2 weeks in a row. After that it is important to take a break and resume back to your normal healthy eating plan before restarting again in the future, if you wish to do so. When you return back to normal eating, it is important to eat healthy and try and incorporate some of the elements from the challenge into your day to day lifestyle. If after the challenge finishes, you have a great loss and then return back to junk food, you will gain the weight back on. Therefore it is important to maintain healthy eating even after you complete the challenge to keep the weight off.

1B) When does the Challenge start ?

The Soup Challenge runs from October to March every year for 6 months .

If anyone is interesting in starting the Soup Challenge, they will run every week from Monday-Sunday for 7 days. The reason I cannot have people starting on individual weigh in days is because it will be a hard for me to monitor and as most of you know I have recently had an Op so need to find the balance between rest and being there for you guys. Also if I did allow for everyone to start on individual days, it would mean I would have to compromise on the quality of the thread, which I do not want to do. There are many benefits of starting together as those of you who are already doing the challenge will know. You will all share similar experiences and can all help and support one another because you are on the same cycle and day .

The other point to note is, at the start of the challenge you must all weigh yourself, first thing on Monday morning on your home scales as soon as you get up before eating or drinking anything. Make a note on a piece of paper of how much you weigh and keep it to yourself. Then in 7 days time you will weigh yourself again on your homescales in the morning to see how much you have lost on the challenge. I hope this is all making sense .

If you are interested in joining on a Monday, please make sure I have your details by Sunday because that's when I will be making the final list. It will be too late to join on a Monday for that week, you will then have to wait for the following Monday to join the challenge . If you have any questions to do with starting or any other questions to do with the challenge, please feel free to post them on here or pm me anytime .

1C) HOLIDAYS / DAYS OFF

Whilst on the challenge, I realise that some of you may need a `day off as hols ' for a birthday or anniversary or any other occasion. Please can you just send me a quick pm in the week to let me know what `planned day off ' you are having in the week from the challenge and I will adjust your results accordingly. The maximum days off allowed is 1 since this is a short weekly challenge and not a monthly one.

Falling off the wagon

If it so happens that you fall off the wagon, which we all do sometimes, then I will mark that as a `day off ' for you and then the next day just jump back on and give it your 100%. The only point I will make about days where you might have slipped is, after you've had a chocolate cake or whatever, don't think oh well I can have a day off so might as well go the whole hog and have a kfc bucket ! You will do more damage. Stop once you've had some naughties, but don't add to it, you will only feel worse in the morning .

2) Tweaking the Challenge or Falling off The Wagon


For me what is worse than falling off the challenge for a day, is trying to tweak the plan. It is better to follow a day 100% and then have a day off then start again and have a 100% day than to do the challenge everyday of the week at 60% accuracy. I cannot stress enough how important it is for all the key elements to be followed through the way the plan is designed.

For example trying to mix the two cycles together will not work. To give yourself a better chance of success, just simply follow the plan the way it is designed to work, there is no need to change anything. If you do have a day where you fall off plan or do not meet the requirements of the challenge, its perfectly ok, that does not mean you have FAILED ! Please do not give up. You must realise that for the 3 or 4 days you have stuck with it, all that goodness has gone inside your body and it is more ready to correct itself then go off the rails just because of one donut or a pizza ! Just dust yourself off and keep going and I guarantee you will still see a loss. I have had people who have done the challenge before and on one day did not meet it but kept going and at the end of the week they still had a fab loss, so the key is to keep going, don’t give up on yourself, I won’t let u !

5) THE GET FIT CYCLE - KEY ELEMENTS

(spreadsheet - click on image)


5a) THE PLAN

For those of you following SW –

It is important to follow the plans in the sequence set out, do not tweak it and change the days. Check the spreadsheet. They alternate between Red days and EE/Green. If you do not do Red days on SW and only do EE or Green, that is fine but make sure on the Red Days you are not eating any carbs, that is most important. Also the other key factor of Red days is protein which you get from meat. To substitute that on EE and Green you can get your protein from things like beans or pulses, eggs, tofu or quorn which you can add to your meals.

Those following WW or CC or any other plan –

Where it says Red Day or EE/Green, you can ignore that and have your normal 7 days but make sure on the Red days you are not eating any carbs. The Red days should just be protein and fibre. Meat and vegetable Soups (no potatoes). Check the spreadsheet for sequence of days.


Vegetarians–

Where it says Red days you can ignore that but make sure on Red days you are eating no carbs and you get your protein from things like beans, pulses, eggs, tofu and quorn.

5b) CARBS

This is a low carb challenge. It is primarily based on protein and lots of fibre. Carbs are only allowed on the Green/EE days and they are limited to one meal only. (Check spreadsheet for the sequence) Your other meal of the day will be your Soup which will be carb free. On Red days no carbs are allowed. Your main carbs are, rice, pasta, noodles, potatoes, bread. You can only have these in small quantities on Green/EE days. If your last meal of the day contains carbs, try not to eat it very late in the evening. Eating carbs late in the evening will make them hard to digest, cause bloating and some water retention.


5c) WATER

Water is a key element of this challenge. Make sure you space your water intake out throughout the day, drinking too much at once is not good for you either. For The Get Fit Cycle, the minimum you need to drink each day is 2 litres. Unfortunately carbonated drinks are not part of the allowance. The only things you can include as part of your water intake is herbal teas, no added sugar squash, I would also prefer for you to have normal tea and coffee outside of your allowance, but if you really struggle to drink water then I suppose you can add that as part of your daily water intake.

One of the herbals teas that I would recommend for this challenge is GREEN TEA. It has so many health benefits and is great for boosting our metabolism . There are many different flavours out there in the market to chose from, I prefer the flavoured ones as find the plain green tea hard to drink. Here is a range from Twinnings.



Also I have made some FLAT TUMMY WATER in the past which is a great for weightloss, from a recipe I saw on the net. I usually make it in a jug the night before then drink it throughout the day, the next day. This drink will work like a miracle on this challenge. Here is the recipe –



Also if you are on iphone, another fun way of drinking water is download the Plant Nanny App . It’s a great tool to help remind you to drink water in the day. Each time you hit your daily target you grow a plant. Here is a pic of some of the plants I have grown using the app.



You have to keep them watered by drinking your daily water target or they wilt and die lol . (Credit due to Vonnie for introducing many of us to this wonderful app – thanks Vonnie )

5d) BODY MAGIC / EXERCISE

For The Get Fit Cycle, you will need to exercise for a minimum of 30 mins on the days set out on the spreadsheet. It doesn’t have to be gym or running, any activity counts, walking is fine and even housework counts lol. The exercise is designed to be done on the days you are eating carbs. There are rest days in between. 30 mins is a minimum requirement, if you wish to do more that is fine, but like with any plan it is good to check with your doctor before starting the challenge, if you are able to meet the exercise requirements.

5e) SALT

Salt is a key factor to weightloss and good health. Too much is never good . Salt also retains water in our body. When doing the challenge, try and make a conscious effort to reduce salt in your meals. You will find many brands do low sodium stock cubes will help when making your Soups. Here are a few examples :-



Also another alternative for seasoning your Soups with salt is LO SALT. All supermarkets stock this, I use this all the time with my meals, it contains 66% less sodium than normal salt, below is a pic. :-

(LO SALT contains both potassium and sodium chloride, if you suffer from any health condition where you may need to avoid both potassium and salt, check with your doctor first or visit the company website for more information :-http://www.losalt.com/uk/staying-healthy/health-diet/ )



5f) SOUPS

For The Get Fit Cycle, you are required to have x1 Large Bowl of Soup as one of your main meals for the day. It cannot be a small Appetiser to go with your meal, the Soup must be your maincourse. Here are some pictures below, to give you an idea. Your Soup should consist of protein and lots of fibre but no carbs so no croutons, breadsticks, pasta, rice, potatoes, noodles to go in it or with it. These are yummy but are complete STAY AWAY ITEMS !

I will be posting up some links later on in the thread for some Soup Recipes to help get you all inspired .

eg. Green Day Soup - Cabbage Soup



eg. Red Day Soup - SW Italian Chicken & Tomato Soup (from SW Website )




5g) SYNS / TREATS

For The Get Fit Cycle you are allowed a maximum of 10 syns per day, you must not go over. If you do not follow the SW plan and are on WW or CC or any other plan, then in SW syns are like treats. 1 syn = 20 cals. So your daily allowance on treats is 10 syns which is 200 cals. This will include any treats of your choice like biscuits, chocolates, crisps. On the carb free days I have taken into account that you can still have these syns/treats, it will be your meals that will be carb free.

6) THE TURBO CYCLE - KEY ELEMENTS

(spreadsheet - click on the image)


6a) THE PLAN

For those of you following SW –

In The Turbo Cycle you will only get 2 Green/EE days to have carbs, 5 days will be red with No Carbs. Check the spreadsheet for the sequence of the plans.

It is important to follow the plans in the sequence set out, do not tweak it and change the days. They alternate between 5 Red days and 2 EE/Green days. If you do not do Red days on SW and only do EE or Green, that is fine but make sure on the Red Days you are not eating any carbs, that is most important. Also the other key factor of Red days is protein which you get from meat. To substitute that on EE and Green you can get your protein from things like beans or pulses, eggs, tofu or quorn which you can add to your meals.

Those following WW or CC or any other plan –

Where it says Red Day or EE/Green, you can ignore that and have your normal 7 days but make sure on the Red days you are not eating any carbs. The Red days should just be protein and fibre. Meats and vegetables in your Soups (no potatoes).


Vegetarians–

Where it says Red days you can ignore that but make sure on Red days you are eating No Carbs and you get your protein from beans, pulses, eggs, tofu and quorn.


6b) CARBS

In The Turbo Cycle you will only be allowed 2 carb days. Check spreadsheet which days.

This is a low carb challenge. It is primarily based on protein and lots of fibre. Carbs are only allowed on the Green/EE days and they are limited to one meal only. Your other meal of the day will be your Soup which will be carb free. On Red days no carbs are allowed. Your main carbs are, rice, pasta, noodles, potatoes, bread. You can only have these in small quantities on Green/EE days. If your last meal of the day contains carbs, try not to eat it very late in the evening. Eating carbs late in the evening will make them hard to digest, cause bloating and some water retention.


6c) WATER

The minimum requirement each day on The Turbo Cycle is 2.5 litres.

Water is a key element of this challenge. Make sure you space your water intake out throughout the day, drinking too much at once is not good for you either. For The Turbo Cycle, the minimum you need to drink each day is 2.5 litres. Unfortunately carbonated drinks are not part of the allowance. The only things you can include as part of your water intake is herbal teas, no added sugar squash, I would also prefer for you to have normal tea and coffee outside of your allowance, but if you really struggle to drink water then I suppose you can add that as part of your water intake.

One of the herbals teas that I would recommend for this challenge is GREEN TEA. It has so many health benefits and is great for boosting our metabolism .There are many different flavours out there in the market to chose from, I prefer the flavoured ones as find the plain green tea hard to drink. Here is a range from twinnings.




Also I have made some FLAT TUMMY WATER in the past which is a great for weightloss, from a recipe I saw on the net. I usually make it in a jug the night before then drink it through out the day, the next day. This drink will work like a miracle on this challenge. Here is the recipe –




Also if you are on iphone, another fun way of drinking water is download the PLANT NANNY APP . It’s a great tool to help remind you to drink water in the day. Each time you hit your daily target you grow a plant. Here is a pic of some of the plants I have grown using the app.



You have to keep them watered by drinking your daily water target or they will wilt and die lol . (Credit due to Vonnie for introducing many of us to this wonderful app – thanks Vonnie )


6d) BODY MAGIC / EXERCISE

The minimum requirement for The Turbo Cycle is 1 hour a day for 5 days with 2 rest days in between. The sequence of planned exercise days must be followed. Check the spreadsheet. It doesn’t have to be gym or running, any activity counts, walking is fine and even housework counts lol. There are 2 rest days in between which must be taken. On the planned exercise days, 1 hour is a minimum requirement, if you wish to do more that is fine, but like with any plan it is good to check with your doctor before starting the challenge, if you are able to meet the exercise requirements.

5e) SALT

Salt is a key factor to weightloss and good health. Too much is never good . Salt also retains water in our body. When doing the challenge, try and make a conscious effort to reduce salt in your meals. You will find many brands do low sodium stock cubes will help when making your Soups. Here are a few examples :-



Also another alternative for seasoning your Soups with salt is LO SALT. All supermarkets stock this, I use this all the time with my meals, it contains 66% less sodium than normal salt, below is a pic. :-

(LO SALT contains both potassium and sodium chloride, if you suffer from any health condition where you may need to avoid both potassium and salt, check with your doctor first or visit the company website for more information :-http://www.losalt.com/uk/staying-healthy/health-diet/ )



5f) SOUPS

For The Turbo Cycle, you are required to have x2 Large Bowls of Soup. You can either have them as x2 meals at different times of the day, or you have have x2 servings at one time, that is up to you. However the Soup cannot be a small Appetiser to go with your meal, the Soup must be your maincourse. Here are some pictures below, to give you an idea. Your Soup should consist of protein and lots of fibre but no carbs so no croutons, breadsticks, pasta, rice, potatoes, noodles to go in it or with it. These are yummy but are complete STAY AWAY ITEMS !

I will be posting up some links later on in the thread for some Soup Recipes to help get you all inspired .

eg. Green Day Soup - Cabbage Soup



eg. Red Day Soup - SW Italian Chicken & Tomato Soup (from SW Website )



5g) SYNS / TREATS

For The Turbo Cycle you are allowed a maximum of 7 syns per day, with 2 days at 10 syns if you need them, however you must not go over your allowance. If you do not follow the SW plan and are on WW or CC or any other plan, then in SW syns are like treats. 1 syn = 20 cals. So your daily allowance on treats is 7 syns which is 140 cals and on the days you can have 10 syns that’s 200 cals. This will include any treats of your choice like biscuits, chocolates, crisps. On the carb free days I have taken into account that you can still have these syns/treats, it will be your meals that will be carb free.

8) THE SOUP CHALLENGE TEMPLATE

In order for me to know who is on the challenge, I have designed a template for everyone to follow once you start the challenge. It needs to be filled out at the end of each day or the following morning. Do not fill it out in the middle of the day because you will not know if you are going to be eating more. Using the template also means you will not need to post up your whole food diary on here, only the necessary parts for the challenge.

Please ensure you copy paste the below template and fill it out on a daily basis once you start the challenge and post it on this thread.

1.DATE:
2.CYCLE :
3. DAY OF CHALLENGE:
4. PLAN:
5. WATER INTAKE:
6. CARBS TODAY:
7. BODY MAGIC/ EXERCISE:
8. TOTAL SYNS/TREAT CALS:
9. SOUP:

So here is a worked example :

1.DATE: MON 30/06/2014
2.CYCLE: The Get Fit Cycle
3. DAY OF CHALLENGE: DAY 1
4. PLAN: RED DAY
5. WATER INTAKE: 2 Litres
6. CARBS TODAY: NONE
7. BODY MAGIC / EXERCISE: NONE
8. TOTAL SYNS/ TREAT CALS: 10 Syns / 200 cals
9. SOUP: Chicken Soup (list your ingredients here and post a pic of your Soup if you have one

9A) The Results Spreadsheet

At then end of each Challenge I will be posting up a Results Spreadsheet so everyone can see how well they have all done . We have run this challenge in the past and it was more similar to THE GET FIT CYCLE, The Turbo Cycle is a new addition.

Here is an example of the Results Spreadsheet from back then and how amazing everybody did ! arty0049:arty0049:arty0049:



9B) What To Expect From Your Results

Just a quick word from me about your weigh in results every Monday. Please be aware that although we are all doing the same challenge, our bodies work differently and results may vary. The last time we did this challenge we had losses varying from 1lb to 6.5lbs in one week. Please do not feel disheartened if you have not lost as much as the next person, remember we are all different. I cannot guarantee how much each person will lose, not even for myself but I do know if you stick with it you will see a loss. If your result is not as much as you were hoping for, please remember that the number on the scale is not the only thing that is important. There are other factors that can affect your losses like TOTM, all these things should also be taken into consideration. Also you may see good inch losses even if you don't achieve a big number on the scale. The other huge benefit of doing this challenge is the goodness you are giving your body with all the fibre, exercise and water, the health benefits are huge. Some people (like myself) take 2 weeks for the loss to show up, our body sometimes is playing catch up with us. I have had weeks in the past where I have been really good on plan but the scales have not moved but the following week it catches up and its a good number. There are some lucky people where the loss shows up in the same week, we are all different.

So moral of the story is, please don't use the number to measure your Success on the challenge, there are so many other positives that you will come away with, which you must applaud and celebrate for yourself :clap: . I want everyone to be happy on results day (which is Mondays on this challenge ), if I see any doom and gloom faces , you'll get a flying kick from the bunny ! You've all been warned !


9C) Discussing uour results with other memebers

Weighing yourself at home or at group before Monday

Weightloss results must strictly not be discussed on the thread with other participants, during the middle of the challenge or any other time before Mondays results.

If any of you are curious to see how much you weigh just a few days into the challenge, my advice would be to keep them scales away as the figure might not be what your expecting, your body is still adjusting and making changes and like a lot of us it may dishearten you and lead you to a binge. Please try your best not to weigh before Monday. If you find you can't help yourself then please can you keep the figure to yourself and not share it with anyone here otherwise it will naturally cause everyone to guesstimate what they feel they should be achieving. As I've mentioned before, we are all different, so our losses will vary too. The best thing you can do for yourself is to stay away from those scales until Monday morning. Those of you that have a group weigh in before Monday, again can you please try and keep the figure to yourself until Monday. I hope you all agree, we all need to support each other on this .

10) Updates on the Challenge / ME / Your Questions Answered


I will always be updating the thread regularly, so its worth popping in now and again if your doing the challenge to see if there’s anything you’ve missed. I can always be contacted by pm too. I would prefer questions related to the challenge to be posted on here rather than on my diary so that others can benefit from your questions too . Also feel free to talk ideas and suggestions amongst yourselves, the more ideas comeout the better, we should all share our experiences and encourage one another to do well. I hope you all have a fun time doing the challenge and lose lots and lots of weight !

This challenge has been put together by me myself and I only. I have done many diets in the past and have taken different elements of what I think works and combined it together. All of the contents of this challenge is just my humble opinion of what I think works. I am just one individual. Please do not feel the need to copy paste my words to another part of the forum. I am no nutrition guru ! Trust me if I was, I would have put myself at target many many moons ago ! However I do have facts and figures to back myself up. This challenge has been run before with great results that I have posted in part 9) of this thread.

Best of luck everyone, I hope you all do super ! :superwoman:


Lots of love Kay xx

Kay!! You're SO late going to bed, you naughty Bunny!!
However I can't wait to start the soup challenge so I, for one, am very grateful for all your hard work.

Now be a good Bunny and have a good long sleep in your hutch!! Xx


Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins.com

You are amazing Kay! Thank you for all the work you have put into this. I adore soups so am really looking forward to this challenge. Really need the discipline of good eating, water intake and exercise. Salad challenge worked a treat so I am sure this will.

Lookng forward to sharing soup recipes with everyone. See you Monday

WOW Kay, this looks amazing. You've done an awesome amount of work! Good luck to everyone following the challenge x

anju100 said:

WOW Kay, this looks amazing. You've done an awesome amount of work! Good luck to everyone following the challenge x

Click to expand...

Are you joining us Anju? I'm looking forward to lots of lovely soups, can't wait!


Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins.com

Thanks for all your hard work Kay - you truly are a star :happy096:

So excited about the challenge. Am batch cooking some cajun chicken soup as I type & have a pea and ham one ready to go in slow cooker tomorrow!

The final list for The Soup Challenge starting Monday 29th September . If you are interested in joining this challenge, you will now have to wait until the following Monday to join .

Kay xx

NAMES OF PARICIPANTS :

THE GET FIT CYCLE

- Bethanie
- Clokeybear
- Cloudy6
- Coughdrops
- CRD
- DAISYBELL18

THE TURBO CYCLE

- Cavegirl13
- KAY003
- SJB

PLEASE CAN YOU MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS IF YOU ARE STARTING THE SOUP CHALLENGE TOMORROW


UPDATE - for MON 29/09/2014 - DAY 1 OF CHALLENGE

THE GET FIT CYCLE - DAY 1

Today is a RED day. Carbs are not allowed today. You should have one Soup as your Maincourse. Today is a Rest Day, so no exercise. 2 Litres of water to drink minimum. 10 syns allowed maximum.

THE TURBO CYCLE - DAY 1

Today is a RED day. Carbs are not allowed. You need to have x2 bowls of Soup in the day. You can either have them as 2 separate meals, or as 1 meal but x2 servings. Today is an exercise day, 1 hour minimum. 2.5 Litres of water to drink minimum. 7 syns maximum.

Thanks Kay, that's brill. I have big pot of veggie soup on the boil at the moment. Smells AMAZING. Will be adding some chicken to it for my Red day tomorrow.

Good luck everyone. Can't wait to get back into a Challenge.