Up to the Challenge

I'd been contemplating a diet/exercise/food type change for awhile now. Since I'm finally feeling settled in my new place and work is busy but manageable, I thought this was a good time to really buckle down and get back into a routine of working out and eating right. I have so many resources for both at my finger tips now, I really don't have an excuse. Which is why I was ecstatic to find this Fitness Challenge over on Vespa Tales. It's a balance of both exercise and diet (which was lacking from the juice fast I was considering) but also isn't extreme in what it eliminates (like the no-dairy, no-sugar diet that was also on the list of possibilities). This I feel is completely do-able and the eight week length requires commitment but almost completely ensures results. 

Eight Week Fitness Challenge

No desserts (6 points + 1 bonus point = 7 points)

No soda (6 points + 1 bonus point = 7 points)

No eating after 8pm (6 points + 1 bonus point = 7 points)

Cross one thing off my To Do list (6 points + 1 bonus point = 7 points)

Exercise 5 times a week for 30 minutes at a time (5 points + 1 bonus point = 6 points)

Weekly Challenge (6 points + 1 bonus point = 7 points)

You will receive one free day a week.  So everything is based on 6 days, except for exercise which is only 5.

(*I will definitely be using this free day, as it is October and I LOVE candy corn)

Total points possible per week: 41

Weekly Challenges

Week 1:  Keep a food journal every day

Week 2:  Get 7 hours a sleep every night

Week 3:  Drink 64 fluid ounces of water every day

Week 4: 5 servings of veggies every day

 Week 5:  Do 100 sit ups and 50 push ups every day.  Does not have to be one sitting

Week 6:  Eat 4 servings of fruit every day

Week 7:  Eat 5 small meals every day

Week 8:  Run/walk at least a half marathon (on top of the 5 days of exercise).  Does not have to be completed in one day, but needs to total 13.1 miles)

I modified it a little bit, replacing the Scripture ready with "Cross One Thing Off My To Do List". While I like the Scripture reading aspect, the devotional I ordered won't be here for a few days and I didn't want to just give myself zeros, I wouldn't be able to stand it. So I think I'll incorporate that later, maybe as a Weekly Challenge for the 9th week. I also had to switch up some of the Weekly Challenges to fit with my upcoming travel schedule; it would've been way too hard to eat 5 servings of veggies daily while traveling/staying at a hotel.

But so far, after Day 1, I have five points out of a total of six (I didn't get anything crossed off my To Do list today, but I still have a little time...). I know it's not particularly exciting to read about my exercise and diet habits, but I definitely need the blog to keep me accountable/motivated. 

I promise to try to blog about more fun/interesting things along the way!!

Wish me luck!