Day 2 and Day 30

Day 2 of the healthy challenge: not so good. I ate horribly. But no sugar. I have to make extra sure I do all my other points so I only lose the one point. I am working hard at not giving up because I mess up. That is what The Beck Diet Solution talks about. I do not have to give up on my health because it is hard or I am not perfect at it right away. I am determined to keep going, no matter what! This is what the Atonement is about. I can do better every time I fail. BUT, I am doing well with Power 90! I am currently surfing the Crimson Wave and I was tired and grouchy and bloaty and achy this morning. Putting my workout clothes right next to the bed before I go to sleep has been extremely helpful. Some mornings it is all that keeps me going. That proved true this morning. This was the first day I seriously contemplated skipping my workout. Those clothes sitting right next to my bed were the encouragement I needed. I am even more convinced than I have ever been that it is necessary to prepare for success.

Day 1 of Healthy Challenge, Day 29 of Power 90

Day 1 of the Healthy Challenge is going well. I have already been able to mark off 3 points today! I have not been terribly tempted by sugar or sweets, which is something I was worried about. I have been busy today and that helps. I got up and did Power 90 (1/3 of the way through, YAY!), went to my moms' group at 9, got home at 11:30, and I have been trying to get things back to normal after our trip to Pueblo. That means LOTS of laundry and general picking up. I am not quite sure what else to write, but this is for a point so I feel like only writing this much would be cheating! I am still going strong with Power 90. No missed days for a month! I am glad I have stuck so faithfully to this because when I went to Pueblo my consistency re-inspired Megan to make time for exercise. I had a wonderful visit with everyone while I was there. I think that little boost is making this 10 week challenge a little easier! I hope everyone else is doing well and progressing in their goals. Ooh, that reminds me. My personal goal for this week is to read my Advantages Response Card before every meal. That is an index card with my reasons for wanting to lose weight written on it. It makes it harder to overeat with those reasons fresh in my mind at every meal!

10 Week Healthy Challenge

This is the message my friend sent me about the Challenge. Anyone who would like is welcome. to join. Just send me your totals every day. Thanks!


So here is the 10 week Healthy Challenge: The healthy challenge is a point based challenge. There are 10 things to do each day for a one point, for a total of 10 points a day and a total of 70 points a week. The items that are included exercising, eating 2 servings of fruits and vegetables, drinking 48 oz of water a day, eating healthy, no sweets, no eating after 10 pm, positive writing, say I love you, set a personal goal, 15 minutes of spiritual/uplifting reading. There is also 10 free points a week.The weekly 10 free points: Each week you start with 10 free points (1 per category) or you can take one whole day off....your choice. I usually saved my free points for the weekend. Use them Monday and you'll be so sorry! When I used a free point, instead of a '1' on my spreadsheet, I would write a 'F' so I could make sure I only used 1 per category each week! Sugary snacks include all candy, cookies, ice cream, sugar cereals, syrups, chocolate, etc. Don't worry about a cracker that you know has white sugar in it...we aren't being that strict! Watch the labels as several health bars, granola bars, diet drinks are loaded with sugar. You are allowed ONE sugar substitute snack a day (sugar free ice cream/candy, etc), Splenda type packets and crystal light are allowed, however the crystal light only counts as 1/2 of your water for the day.No soda pop includes diet pop too!! Chemicals=bad for us!Eating after 10:00 includes ALL eating after 10:00-yes even protein drinks! Water of course is allowed 24/7! Your personal goal needs to be the same goal for a week and something that you can work on/do each day. Change up each week or keep it the same for the 10 weeks, how many WEEKS you do it is up to you! If you choose to quit the challenge prior to the 10 weeks, you agree to still email in points. YES this is a pain but the whole purpose of this challenge is self improvement & reporting will help keep you GOING and NOT quit!!!PLEASE email your totals each Sunday night by 10:00 so I can post the totals Monday morning.

Ten Week Health Challenge

My friend on facebook is doing a ten week health challenge. It is based on points. There are categories that you earn points for every day like eating 2 servings of fruit or vegetables, no sugar, exercising, positive writing (can be in a journal, a blog or even a letter to someone), 15 minutes of spiritual reading, etc. You have ten free points every week, so if you eat sugar one day, or, like me, choose not to exercise on the Sabbath, you use one of your free points and mark it with an "F." There are a bunch of us starting it and I thought it would be good. I would have to e-mail in my points at the end of every day. Maybe this will help me be better about my eating. It starts August 30th so I have a week to prepare. I like that it is not JUST losing weight, but about improving yourself. Let me know if anyone would like to get more details. Maybe we could do a splinter group!

Day 19

As the end of week THREE draws to a close, I can proudly say I have exercised every planned day! Six days a week of exercising for three weeks! Well, when I exercise tomorrow it will be three weeks, but close enough! The workouts are actually getting harder because I no longer have to do the modified versions of some of the exercises. My push-ups are lookin' good! Even though I still have to do them from my knees. I still have to do the modified dips, but now I can do 12 instead of 10. I wonder how long it will take before I can actually move to the circuit 3-4 DVDs. I would like to go through Power 90 once, then do it again, adding Zumba in the afternoons. We have P90X, but I am thinking it may be a while before I can do that one! I am getting SO excited about all the exercise programs that look so fun I am planning to try. I never would have even thought myself capable of them before. And I am discovering I really love exercising. My eating could still use some work, but like Anbo encourages, I am taking baby steps and getting there. I signed up for the No Excuses Workout e-mails and he always says that a year from now you will wish you had started today. I am no longer in that category! I have started! I hope everyone else is doing well and discovering encouraging improvements. Thanks for all your comments and support. It makes this even more exciting!

Day 16

And the difficulty sets in. I am still doing Power 90 every day except Sunday. Buuuuuut my eating has not been fantastic. I am on my period and my hormones are still crazy from the pregnancy. My cravings have been insanely intense and I must admit I have given in to them on a preeeeety regular basis. I am in the wrapping up stage so I am hoping that these cravings recede. I have not been eating after 8 (except for Sunday night, blah) and I have still been exercising, but eating at the table has not been happening. I am snacking too much between meals and I have not been eating the best things (i.e. almost an entire pan of brownies in two days). I feel some of this is due to Jane not sleeping more than two hours at a time at night. I am exhausted and the effort of eating well seems to be beyond me at the moment. I am hoping some of my exhaustion is hormonal so it will get easier in a few days. Any tips for staying motivated when you just do not have the energy?

Day 13

Saturdays are always hard for me. I am usually feeling a little worn down and tired by Saturday, but I did Power 90 anyway. I went to the public pool with the girls yesterday. I put on my swimsuit I had worn just the weekend before I started Power 90. I cannot believe the difference! I still wore Tyler's swim trunks and a tank top over. There is a limit to what 2 weeks can do, but it was definitely encouraging!

Day 11

Today had a rough start. I did not get to bed until midnight and Jane woke up every two hours. I woke up exhausted and grouchy and we had to be at a moms' group at 9am. I am glad I have been establishing my Power 90 routine and had my workout clothes, shoes and a pair of socks right next to the bed. It would have been very easy to skip it, otherwise. AND the payoff- I put on a pair of capris I have been avoiding because they were skin tight and gave me the attractive front butt and they were a bit too BIG! Yay! Now I have another hot weather option instead of wearing full length pants and roasting. I am pretty excited by all these positive changes. It helps me stay motivated.

Day 9

Success!! According to my bathroom scale, I have lost FOUR pounds! And that was even after I had eaten breakfast! This is the encouragement I needed after watching that show about saggy skin. I feel SO much better. I never noticed how poor my balance had become, but I have noticed a huge improvement since starting Power 90. I have more strength. When I shave my legs in the shower, the leg I am standing on does not start to hurt or get tired. I can carry Jane up the stairs without leaning on the wall. My clothes are starting to fit better. I can fit into clothes I have not been able to wear for quite a while, so it is like having a new wardrobe! It is amazing how much difference nine days can make! This makes me excited to do my workouts!

Day 6 - Completion of first week of Power 90

I DID IT! I really did not want to do Power 90 this morning. I have not been getting much sleep lately and we have a Court of Honor at 10:30am for the bishop's sons who got their Eagle. But, by golly, I did it! It might have been a tad half-hearted, especially because I am feeling a little deflated today. Last night a show came on after Say Yes to the Dress. It was a show about people who have lost 100 pounds or more. All of them had trouble with huge flaps of saggy skin, especially on their abdomen. What I got out of that is that even if I lose weight, I am still going to be gross and unattractive because we cannot (and never will be able to) afford the $12,000-$20,000 it costs to have a "trunk lift" as they are called. I will stick with it anyway. I will just buy girdles to keep my saggy skin under control once I have lost the weight. *sigh*

Day 5

Five days of Power 90 down, 85 to go! I am starting to feel less sore, thank goodness. I can already feel my strength and balance improving. I can carry the baby up the stairs without having to lean against the wall for balance. My back does not hurt as much when I stand for long periods of time thanks to my strengthening core muscles. I was pretty tired after exercising the first few days, but now I feel energized by my workouts. I have 40 pounds to go until my pre-Sarah weight and 80 pounds to go until Tyler buys me a new couch for our living room. I really feel like this is the time I am going to go all the way! I cannot have any more children until I am in the best health I can be in so we do not have the complications we had with Jane and Sarah. That is pretty good motivation. Also, I am mucho excited to run a half marathon with my fabulous family and to be cheered from the sideline by Anbo. :)

Day 3

I ate horribly today. Too many snacks, and a Sonic Lemon-Berry real fruit slush that I found out contained 500 calories! I went on Calorieking.com to check on it and was really sad to find that Tyler's greasy, deep-fried onion rings had less calories than my real fruit slush. But other than that, I did Power 90, did not eat after 8pm, and made a concerted effort to sit down at the table and eat consciously. We have a lot of soda left from when everyone was here for the blessing, so I have definitely been consuming a lot more liquid calories trying to get rid of the soda. Most of the soda is caffeinated which saves me from having to drink it, too, at least. Overall I will consider today a win, because it makes me feel better to do so! :)

Day Two

On Monday I started implementing my plan for weight loss. I am still far from perfect, but I am giving myself credit for what I am doing and trying to be consistent in my efforts. So far, really the only things I have done is not eat after 8, try not to snack as much between meals, and exercise. I have done Power 90 two days in a row. I am preeeeeetty sore today, but I am not going to give up. I thought I would be more tired, but I have to say, I feel pretty good. I wanted to start with exercise because when I exercise I am less likely to eat poorly and undo all my hard work! I really want to go all 90 days with the Power 90 program. I have never gone all 90 days, but even for the amount of time I have done before, I definitely noticed a difference in my body. I am excited to start seeing results!