Weeks 1&2--Jessica

The first week of the challenge was really successful for me!  I was going for 70 points and I got 69 of them.  :)  I focused on not eating between meals, but if I got really hungry I had fruits or veggies.  That helped keep me from eating a bunch of salted garbage all day, it also helped me get in my 2 servings of f & v's. I was surprised to find that after a couple of days without the sweets and carbohydrate packed snacks I didn't really feel like I was missing much. In fact, I felt a lot better.

The second week of the challenge I fell flat on my kisser.  I had a sick little baby and then a sick big baby--the hubby-- and whether I got any sleep or not, life still had to go on.  You see, I was feeling pretty stressed and my jaw likes to work those sort of things out for me...by going up and down and up and down and up and down, preferably on yummy things :). The cooking jar seemed to be particularly soothing. So I decided to cram that sweet therapy right down my throat... all week long. :P  I still need to count for sure, but I am thinking that I lost between 15 and 20 points this week. BLEH!

BUT...like Brooke said before, "Monday is to try again."  I am going to ROCK it in week 3!

I Stink!! -by Brooke

And it is a royal stench.  Is it all the working out I've done this week, you ask?  Why, no, it's not!  It's all the stuff I haven't done this week.  You know what I need?  Jess found elbow grease, and I'm sure that would help, but I need a big ol' serving of motivation.  :P  This is my whiny, pity-party post, as you can see.  


Let's see how I did, shall we?


1.  48 ounces of water -probably met this one almost every day.  I was a water-drinker before.


2.  45 minutes of exercise - all except Tuesday, I think.  I go walking with my SIL every day.


3.  2 servings of fruit & 2 servings of veggies - Fruit?  Maybe.  Veggies?  Not so much.


4.  No soda - Easy peasy.


5.  No sugar - Easter candy.  FAIL.


6.  No fast food or unhealthy snacks - Yesterday I had some food from Chuck n' Cluck.  One fail.


7.  No eating after 8:00 p.m. - I didn't keep track, but I'm guessing that's a big fat FAIL.


8.  15 minutes of spiritual nourishment - I probably scored about 60% on that one.  A "D-", perhaps?


9.  Write in journal/blog/scrapbook - EPIC FAIL.


10. Personal goal - spent most of the week trying to decide what this one even ought to be for me. So, FAIL.


Altogether, since I didn't even keep track on my chart, that's a big fat FAIL.  


Why post all this failure, you ask?  You ask a lot of questions.  But, okay, I'll tell you.  If you have seen this challenge and wanted to join in, but your first week was as bad as mine, maybe you'll join me at doing better for next week!  Start fresh Monday.  See?  Monday's aren't so bad.  Sundays to repent, Mondays to try again :D  Good thing God knows what He's doing. ;)

I found a bucket of elbow grease. :)--Jessica

And we're off!!!  I am so excited to be doing this challenge with everyone.  I have been trying to get motivated and back into shape since I had baby Jack eight and a half months ago.  Several attempts were made but none were backed up with any real elbow grease because I just never really had it in me.
First, I signed myself--and half of my family--up for a 10k race.  I didn't feel much like running but I knew this would force me into training because I was the instigator of the family event and HAD to bring my game on race-day.  Ultimately though, my training wasn't very consistent and my family had to cancel.  I saw an easy way out, and I took it.
Next, I joined Weight Watchers hoping that the weekly weigh-in in front of a pair of sharp-eyed old ladies would frighten me into a motivated pace.  Unfortunately, I only had to pay for one month at a time, and it's a heap more fun to buy an extra $40 a month of cookies than it is to pay someone to make me feel guilty. :)
I kept on grasping for a will that I knew had to be down inside me somewhere, but I kept coming up empty handed; I felt like total wimp.  I wanted to just set the whole issue down and stomp on it. Then, at last I heard about this "wellness challenge" and finally felt the spark of real desire that I had been looking for all along.
What really lit me up was well-roundedness of the challenge.  The plan calls for new habits that will strengthen me physical, mentally and spiritually, and for me, that's exciting! I also like the fact that at the end of the day I get to check off boxes for all of the good things that I did that day instead of kicking myself for eating too many points or calories.  It allows me to focus on the positive; plus, I get less bruises. :)
One of the new habits that I am challenged to grab a hold of is daily journaling or blogging.  I've decided  to blab on the blog about my journey through this 10 week challenge, so I hope that that old spark of will-power will just keep on growing so that I don't fall flat on my face on the world wide web.
Any blogs about my journey will be labeled "Jessica."

The Challenge--

Commit to 10 daily habits for 10 weeks!

Daily habits:

1.  48 ounces of water

2.  45 minutes of exercise

3.  2 servings of fruit & 2 servings of veggies

4.  No soda

5.  No sugar

6.  No fast food or unhealthy snacks

7.  No eating after 8:00 p.m.

8.  15 minutes of spiritual nourishment

9.  Write in journal/blog/scrapbook

10. Personal goal

-Each day 10 points can be earned--one per habit.  (70 per week)

-Each week you are allowed to skip all habits for one day, and still have the potential to receive all of the points for that week.  For example,  Monday I will skip the no sugar habit, but commit to it for the rest of the week, and I am still eligible to receive 10 points for Monday if I have kept the other nine habits.  If I choose to eat sugar on Monday and Tuesday, then I have to forfeit a point on Tuesday in the no sugar category, and so on.  If I choose to commit to all 10 habits for 6 days I could have a FREE day, committing to no habits for the 7th day and would still receive all of the available points for that week.   Get it? :)

The challenge will start on May 2nd and continue until July 10th.  The challenger who has the most points at the end of the challenge will get a fabulous pedicure purchased by contributions from the rest of the challengers.  

Good luck!