Another month

I am a little disappointed in the outcome of the challenge this past month.  Chris was the only one who completed it.
Everyone else owes an extra $5 to the pot.
To make this contest seem real and to kick you all in gear, I will be picking up your contest money next week.  Please have $40 ready by next week. (Chris only owes $35)

5 months left!!  How are you doing with your goal?  If you would like to weigh-in and see your chart just text me a picture of your scale.

With a new month, we are starting a new challenge.  This is designed to help you cut some easy calories.

You must only drink water for 4 days straight.  No other drinks, including fitness water is aloud.  Just good-old-fashion water.

Make sure to text me when you complete it.  Good Luck!

Kim and Aaron were brave enough to weigh-in this week! Looking good....

 Here are a few ideas for some sweet sugar-free snacks:
  Any type of nuts, including pumpkin and sunflower seeds
   Baby Carrots and Snap-Peas
   Any Fruit...including dried fruit
   Sugar-free Gum
   Salads can be suprisingly sweet and filling
   Sweet Peppers
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March's Challenge

No Sugar for 4 days straight!

Yikes...this might be the hardest goal of all (at least for me it would be).  Since SWEET is the taste that most people prefer from birth, it's natural to have sweet cravings often.  Research has shown that you can train your body to prefer the feeling of 'being full' (i.e. good carbs and proteins) over that sweet craving.  This is done over time as you put healthy foods into your body.  Researchers have found that those who go 'cold turkey'  for a couple of days, tend to have success on eliminating that sweet tooth.

You get to decide when you want to do this challenge.  It just has to be 4 consecutive days and has to be done by the end of the month.  Text me when you get this done.  If I don't get a text by March 31st, you owe $5 to the pot.  Spouses and family help each other stay on track and honest.  No cheating! Watch what you are drinking too.  Make sure to look at your labels.  Of course natural sugars...fruits etc...are completely fine.

                                      

Side note:  I don't think it necessary to have regular weigh-ins.  We will have them, but mostly when we all get together for dinner.  I will have charts for everyone so we can keep track of our goals.  If you would like to weigh yourself often, just text me a picture of the scale.  I will be sure to put your chart on the blog so you can see your progress.  This may help motivate some of you.

Here are the numbers:

I wanted to make these goals realistic but also challenging.  I did some research and found that a healthy and do-able amount of weight to lose is between 4 to 8 pounds per month.  Calculating 6 lbs a month for the girls and 8 lbs a month for the boys, these are the goals we all agreed on.

Dad:   48 lbs

Mom: 36 lbs

Chris: 48 lbs

Aaron: 48 lbs

Kim:   36lbs

Annie: 36lbs

Kaden: 10lbs    *I don't know yet if Kaden will be competing for money

The pot is starting off at $210. That will be buy you alot of bullets or a really nice foot massage!

I will make charts in order to keep track of your individual progress to these goals.  *Just for calculating purposes, I will not count percentages on the totals unless there is a tie. ( i.e.  your ending weight is 175.8=175 lbs)

Keep checking in because I will post your monthly goal/goals that you must complete.

Let the Game Begin...Again

The challenge is starting again!  We are going to do things a little differently this time.  I will not be joining the challenge, so I will do my best to be completely fair and reasonable.  This time we are focusing on goals.  That's what it is all about.  So here's the challenge:

1.  We will weigh in (some already have) and you will come up with a goal/target wieght for yourself.  I am here to make sure that the goals are fair and reasonable for everyone (we might have to do some adjusting to make it so).

2.  The person to meet and exceed their goal the most will win the challenge.

3.  Its $35 a person to enter--Winner takes all!

4.  We will go to October 6th.  This is a 6 month challenge designed not just to lose the wieght but to keep it off!  (if you meet your goal early on, you will have to keep it off in order to have a chance to win.  Remember you still want to exceed your goal.)

5.  In addition to the over-all goal challenge, I will also have one or two small challenges a month. (don't worry, they will be reasonable) If you don't get them done, it will be $5 towards the pot.  It will be on the honor-system.  I trust all of you.
 
6.  I'll post everyone's goals (not actual weight) so that we can keep track of where everyone is.  However, once your goal is met, we will keep everyone in the dark of where you are so everyone will be pushing hard the entire 6 months.  There will be no giving up.

Did I leave anything out?  Any questions, comments?
If you want to join, and haven't said so already, text me.  Those who have already joined, I'll be texting you to let you know what your ultimate goal is going to be.

Good Luck!

and the WINNER is.......

Congrats to Douglas Bean!  He won the weight-loss challenge, losing a total of 32.8 lbs and 12.3% of his total weight.  The silver medal goes to Christopher Whitney.  He lost a total of 29.8 lbs and 10.6% of his total weight.  The bronze medal goes to Valorie (Mom) Lystrup! She came from behind to lose a total of 16.6 lbs and 8.7% of her total weight.

Winnings are as follows:   Gold $170

                                                    Silver $61
                                                    Bronze $12

Here are the honorable mentions:

Aaron:           total of 25 lbs and 7.8%
Bob:                total of 19.6 lbs and 7.5%
Annie:            total of 16.2 lbs and 7.0%
Alison:           total of 9.8 lbs and 6.7%
Kim:               total of 11 lbs and 4.9%
Mindy:           total of 7.2 lbs and 3.7%
Kaden:           total of 2.2lbs and 2.1%
Kiel:              total of 1lb and .2%

*a few of us owe money:   Mindy you owe Doug $6

                                                     Kaden you owe Chris $1
                                                     Kiel you owe Doug $23

The total amount of weight loss for the group was an awesome: 171.8 lbs for a total of 6.7%

Great job everyone!! 

I know I really benefited from this challenge and it help me get a jump start on losing the extra pounds.  I definitely needed the motivation.  For those of you who want to continue to lose weight, I have another competition proposal for you.  The rules are a little different and ANYBODY can join and win!  Here are the rules (let me know how many of you want to do it):

1.  Everyone sets a goal weight (one that is worthwhile, but not impossible)

2.  Everyone votes on the fairness of the all the goal weights and adjust accordingly

3.  Everyone puts a certain amount of money into the pot (enough to make you really not want to lose it) (Think of it as a great way to save some Christmas spending money)

4.  For those who meet their goal weight and maintain it during the contest (Let's say until Thanksgiving day) they get their money back.  For those who don't:  they divide it among those who did. So basically you are competing against yourself for your own money, but you may end up with more.

5.  There will be a few surprise weigh-ins just to keep us on track.

6.  The first person to meet their goal gets to add some cushion weight to their final goal (so that they are more likely to get their money back)

It's just an idea...I know for me, this works better because I am working against myself but it is enough motivation for me to maintain my weight loss.  For those who want to join in, let me know and start thinking of a  weight goal and the amount of money we should put in. 

Once again....congrats to everyone!  Every single person lost weight!

Don't give up!

We only have a few more weeks left!  I hope that we use this challenge to jump start our healthy lifestyle change permanently.  I looked up some ideas on how to continue to be healthy and keep weight off.  I hope some of these will help us in next several months.

   1.) Plan, Plan Plan.  Whether it's planning out our meals or reviewing what food challenges you might encounter during the day, it will help us fight those extra calories. The prophets have told us time and time again to be prepared!
  2.) Measure yourself.  Keep tabs on your weight.  We need to periodically check  ourselves either by the scale or our favorite pair of jeans. Don't let your weight get away from you.  It's a lot more daunting to know that you have to lose 10 lbs instead just 3!
   3.)Get a Mini-Mantra.  Have a inspiring slogan that help you say no to unhealthy foods.  I have several times said to myself, "I WILL regret this." and it seems to help. 
  4.) Keep a picture of yourself.  Take a good picture at your current weight. Put it on the fridge or in your car.  Put it in places that you know you will see it when you have a craving for unhealthy foods.
   5.)Make it for good. Eating healthy foods only until you hit your target weight doesn't do much for your weight--or health--in the long run. Getting healthy is a lifestyle choice that has to last. As my dad puts it: "If you do what you have always done you will always be able to do it."  It may not be as fast or without aches.  This is why my dad, who is over 60, can run 6 miles without thinking about it.  If you exercise on a regular basis, you will be able to do so your entire life.
   6.) Take a Break. Don't take a break from eating healthy, just take a break from eating!  Have parts of your day where you immerse yourself in non-eating activities. The hormones that work to break down fat and glycogen need time to work, that means not eating for an hour or two.
    7.) Have a Love Affair with Exercise. It revs up your metabolism, making your body a fat-burning machine. This allows you to eat more and still have even better results than healthy eating alone.  The more we move, the more our bodies crave it! It becomes a "GET TO" instead of a" HAVE TO".
  8.) Find Support. Strength is all about numbers. Women, especially, have a chance to instantly create support groups (willing or not). If we buy, prepare, cook and eat healthy, our family will have no choice but to join in the fun.  This challenge has been the push that many of us needed.
   9.)Treat Yourself. Once a day, you can eat just to eat. What food lover doesn't love that? Don't  wreck your whole day, but make it tasty enough that you look forward to it. Also make sure that it's satisfying enough that you won't be craving more right away.
    10.) Enjoy life.  There is no reason that you can't enjoy being healthy.  If you can't find joy in your lifestyle change, it will never stick.  Find exercises and activities that you enjoy doing.  Set goals for yourself so that you can enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishing them.  Who's up for running the half-marathon (13.8 miles) in Vegas this year?  Wouldn't that be a huge accomplishment?  It's a great goal, and who knows, you might actually enjoy it!