Winner Winner!!!

Well I can't believe we are already finished with our challenge! I hope that you learned something and will continue on with the healthy habits that were established during the challenge. I appreciate the comments that you shared and what you will do to continue.

Winners:

60% to Mauri-You had an amazing perfect score for the entire challenge!!

And the winner of the 40% is:
winner

Thank you again for participating in this challenge! Stay tuned... I'm sure there will be another one coming soon! I love having the extra motivation to work on bettering myself! I always welcome any suggestions that you would change or what would help motivate you!

Week 8 Challenge

SORRY!! I am super late in getting this posted! I can't believe we are on the last week! The challenge this week will reflect on the goals you made in this first week. You will earn 1 point for each goal you reached. To earn the 3rd point I want you to share something on this post that you have learned this past eight weeks and will commit to continue to do after the challenge.

Week 7 Challenge

I can't believe we are already on the final stretch! I hope you are still pushing yourself! I know I have had my fair share of bumps along this challenge.
The challenge this week is to push yourself harder in your workouts. My suggestions would be to add in a strength training each day, or increase your speed, or workout 6 days instead of 5. You know where you can push, so this week DO IT! One of my favorite things to do is add a 10 minute routine at the end of my normal workout. I love finding them on youtube. I use fitnessblender and toneitup all the time. You will earn your 3 challenge points by pushing yourself each workout this week.

**BONUS**
I am going to add a bonus this week! You can earn an extra 5 points for getting a perfect score this week! Lets do it! Focus! Work Hard! Be Strong!

Week 6 Challenge

The challenge this week is to share your favorite healthy recipes. I know sometimes we get tired of eating the same things and need to spice up what we will eat. So please send me three of your favorite recipes. I have added a few new ones this week to the recipe blog (link on the right sidebar) and am excited to see what you enjoy! If you get your three recipes to me by Saturday you will earn your challenge points!

Week 5 Challenge

We are half way there! Great Job!! This week our challenge is going to be to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night!

In an article I found in Shape Magazine it says: Most of us are burning the candle at both ends. Between getting up early for a workout and staying up late to put the finishing touches on that project for work, many times our sleep takes the backseat. But sleep is so important for health — and weight-loss.

In fact, a 2010 study found that if you're trying to lose a few pounds, you may want to cut back on calories but you definitely don't want to skimp on sleep. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that getting enough sleep helps your body to regulate hunger and lose more weight from fat (instead of muscle).

In the study, when dieters got adequate sleep (about 7 to 8 hours), more than half of the weight they lost was fat. When dieters got less sleep (only about 5 to 6 hours), only one-fourth of their weight loss came from fat and they produced higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and reduces energy expenditure.

I know this can be difficult with small children, but make sure you are going to bed at a decent hour is helpful. Remember the adage, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man HEALTHY, wealthy and wise.

Week 4 Challenge

How are you doing? Are you feeling better?

The challenge this week comes from the website How Does She. On one post she lists 17 weigh loss"hacks". For the challenge read the post here.


Pick two of her suggestions to work on for at least 5 days this week.

Week 3 Challenge

I came across this short clip on my facebook feed and really liked the message that it sends.

UNSUNG HERO

The challenge for this week is to watch this clip and then everyday this week SMILE and take note of the things that make you happy and that you are grateful for! Every day write down 3 things that you are grateful for. You can a)post it on social media b) write it down in your journal c)post it on this blog post d)post it on your mirror/fridge somewhere to remind you daily to Smile and to be happy and recognize all that we have to be grateful for!

Week 2 Challenge

If you want to be successful and stick to your eating goals the key is in MEAL PREPARATION and PLANNING. The challenge this week is to take one day whether it be tomorrow or Monday and write down your meal plan for at least 5 days. Then on that day do some prep to keep you prepared. Some ideas that have worked for me is on Monday I boil a bunch of eggs, make brown rice, grill some chicken, wash and cut up fresh veggies/fruit and separate into single serving bags. I also like to make single serving bags of granola, or craisins and almonds for snacks. In my recipe file there are cookie dough bites and I make a batch of those and have them on hand for sugar cravings. Whatever works best for you prepare ahead for success. If you have a lot of tupperware put together meals so you can just grab your tupperware and be set! Good luck and if you have anything particular that works best for you please share!

Week 1 Challenge

I like to start each of my challenges by having you write down two goals that you want to accomplish as you participate in this 8 week challenge. Why are you doing this? What will help motivate you to stay on track and see results? We all may be doing this for different reasons. Some possible goals may be to lose 10 pounds, drop a pant size, run a 5k, read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, etc. Whatever your goals may be I hope that by participating you may reach those goals. So this week define your goals.

Make them SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely

Create your goals, Earnestly commit to them, and then POST 1 of your goals here on this post by Sunday, Aug 24th. Lets make it happen! If you do this, you will receive your challenge points for week 1!

Get Ready, Get Set

Are you ready? I am excited to get started. Just wanted to remind you of a couple things.
1st: make sure you have added your name to the weekly points spreadsheet so we know who all is participating.
2nd: make sure to get your money into me by tomorrow, Aug 18th. I know many of you are joining from a distance so please have your money mailed to me and POSTMARKED by tomorrow and you can still receive your extra points for your money.
3rd: take your starting weight and measurements first thing tomorrow morning. This will help you be accurate as you track your progress.

Good luck! Please let me know if you have any question!

Starting another 8 Week Challenge!

I am in need of getting back on track and so I am doing another challenge! This will be starting on August 18th. Right now I am keeping it similar to the other challenges I have done, if you have participated before and have any suggestions please let me know and we can make changes if needed! I hope you will join in!! If this is your first time doing a challenge with me, welcome. I set up the challenge to where you contribute $15 and there are two people who win the money. I have it so there are 8 ways to earn points each day. For more details check out the side bars on the right of this post! Make sure you add your name to the weekly points spreadsheet and get your money in so you don't start out behind!

Fast Sunday Guidelines

I know many of you participate in a monthly fast. It is really hard to get all your positive foods and water intake in a few hours. This challenge I am making a few modifications for those days of fasting.

Food: This round you can still receive full points for the day if you have at least one serving of fiber, protein, fruit, and vegetable by the end of that day.
Water: You can still receive full points for the day if you have at least 50 ounces of water by the end of the day.