Update

So, I cheated...and weighed in 2 days early. :) I suppose to put it in perspective, I should give you my Highest Weight stats:
5'6'', 277lbs

Last Thursday's stats:
254.5

Tuesday's weigh in
251.5
-2.9lbs!!!

Progress!

I have also gotten to the gym for an hour 3 days in a row with Tes. The trips were full of personal victories for the both of us.
I shaved a full minute of the time it took me to do 1.5 miles on the treadmill last night, and the night before I ran (so did Tes!) for 3 minutes straight. That is the longest either of us has ever ran without stopping. And I really did it too! I was going 5.7, which is close to what Justin says he runs at (6) and I managed to do a quarter of a mile in that time! Success.

I want to try to get to the gym some more this week, but it is recruitment for my sorority and since I am 9-5 on Monday and Wednesdays and 9-7:30 Tuesday and Thursdays and have recruitment every evening, my time is limited. Yesterday we started at about 9:45pm...so at least I got 3 times in early, but I want to keep going!
Having a grown up life with no time is hard.

Anyway, Challenge update! It has almost been half a week since I started and so far so good! I have had 3/4 of my plate grow in the ground at almost every meal. (A few times it has been closer to half, but what can you do?)

More on Thursday when I do my Official weigh in! :D

Challenge 1

Hi! My name is Janet and I am trying to get healthy. 

This is me! 

This summer I counted calories, cut out most drinks except water, coffee, and tea. Lost 25ish pounds. 

After a while I got bored, so I came up with an idea. There are a lot of tips to change your eating habits, a lot of plans, ideas, etc., and I have found that trying to incorporate all of them is either impossible, impractical, or the fastest way to become overwhelmed and kill my motivation.

So here is my idea. I wrote down as many of these ideas as I could, put them in a bowl and every two weeks, I draw one out and that is my challenge for the week.

Granted, all of this is accompanied by counting calories, excersise, and making good choices, these are just ways to mix up the routine.

If I succeed in staying in my calories for the week, working out, and meet my challenge, I get to reward myself.

Best part is my support system: my two best friends Tes and Justin!

This is Tes (left) and ME! 

And this is Justin (left) and ME! 

Here is how they come in…Tes is taking on the challenges with me. We each get to interpret it in our own way, but once we set the rule, we have to stick with it. Justin is going to help me reward myself. If we both meet our goals for 2 weeks, we get to do something exciting, like go out or see a show, have dinner, etc.

I have come up with 17 challenges so far, which will cover about 8 months.

Here is what I have thus far and the rationale behind it:

• ·         Eat only with chopsticks for 2 weeks – This is intended to have me slow down eating, take smaller bites and really enjoy my food.
• ·         Only drink water…not coffee, milk, or tea, etc.
• ·         At least 30 minutes of exercise EVERY DAY – Right now I am doing 3 times a week give or take, this is to have me really get active every day for 2 weeks
• ·         Eat breakfast within one hour of waking EVERY DAY
• ·         Put utensils down between every bite of a meal
• ·         Bike/walk/run a total of 20 miles each week for 2 weeks – This will be adjusted if I find I am doing more, but it is to get me focused on a fitness goal and getting something from my workouts
• ·         Get out in the city to exercise. At least 4 times can be in the area, but 2 times have to be outside of my neighborhood. – just to mix up the workout, and build confidence about working out in public
• ·         No food that is not eaten sitting down at the table
• ·         NO BUYING FOOD THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS, meaning no takeout, vending machine snacks, etc.
• ·         Eat 6 small meals instead of 3 big ones
• ·         Walk everywhere you can, and always take the stairs or the hilliest way
• ·         Post your calorie counts publically, online, everyday Work out before 8am 3 times each week – mix up the workout routine and get me out of bed!
• ·         Eat vegetarian for 2 weeks, all desserts and snacks have to be vegan – this is to get me to eat more vegetables, and to cut down on unhealthy snacks and desserts.
• ·         Save all cravings for Saturday. Write them down throughout the week and see which you still want on Saturday
• ·         For every minute you are online, nor for school, you commit 1 minute to a workout

If you have suggestions, post them please! (Either on here or on my Sparkpeople)

And FINALLY, for these next two week’s challenge: at least ¾ of your plate must grow in the ground (including breakfast and snacks)

Justin and I plan to reward ourselves by going to a Murder Mystery dinner that we bought tickets for. If I do this, and he eats healthy and exercises, we get to book our show!

One last thing, I weigh in on Thursday mornings, so check back if you want to know the progress! 

If you want to join along, feel free to create your own challenges, or check back here for new challenges every 2 weeks!