Are you Ready?

Alright guys,  I hope you are ready and excited to start this challenge.  I've had a few questions so I'll answer those here.

Exercise:  Exercise is the only challenge item that can be used on a different day than your free day.
Several people expressed that they do not want to work out on Sunday.  That is fine.  So it would work like this.  If you would like your free day to be Saturday you could eat sugar, not write in your journal, etc. but you would still need to exercise.  Then on Sunday you would not have to exercise, but you would still complete all the other challenge items you would like to receive points for.

Sugar:  Going completely off sugar is a difficult things and takes some practice getting used to.  Know that the first few days are going to be rough and you may have headaches and cravings.  It does get better, I promise.  Generally within a few days your body adjusts and you start feeling so much better.  As far know what it 'legal' to eat my general rule of thumb is to just look at the ingredients.  If it has sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup, etc then don't eat it.  Natural sweeteners such as honey and agave are 'legal'.
      As mentioned in "the challenge" tab, we recommend not eating any white flour, since it turns into sugar in your body. Eating white flour however will not make you lose a point. Aim for eating whole wheat.  And when selecting a whole wheat bread, choose one with less than 2 g of sugar.  This also goes for other things flour based foods, such as crackers, pretzels, etc.  Just make sure they have less than 2 g of sugar in them.

Journal Writing:  You can write in any type a journal.  This can include blogging, scrap booking, typing a journal, gratitude journal, etc.  Just record your life!

Personal Goal:  This should be the same goal throughout the entire challenge.  It should be something that you have to accomplish every day to get the point.  Please choose something that you are not already doing.

No Junk Food:  This challenge item can be interpreted many ways.  We each categorize junk food differently.  Please use your best judgement when deciding if something is junk food or not.  For example, I would consider a greasy pizza junk food.  But a pizza made at home with whole wheat crust and veggies I think would be a good choice.
     I also had several questions about fast food restaurants.  No fast food doesn't mean you can't go to any restaurant.  It means that when you go to a restaurant make good food choices.  Rather than eating a hamburger, which is definitely "fast food", order a salad.

        Please be honest in reporting your points.  It's only fair to everyone else that you only report points for the challenge items that you actually accomplish each day.  Throughout the challenge we may randomly give tasks that you can complete for an extra free point.  You will get an email about it though when that happens.  To report your points each week, please enter them in the spread sheet which can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsR_PGBN9V9kdHVRbGVsc095OTJNUWFVTDQyUXlLVGc&usp=sharing

        I didn't go over everything, but mainly covered what I had received questions about.  If you have questions please feel free to post them to the facebook page or send me an email.  I will try to update the blog as frequently as I can with helpful tips and encouragement.  If you have anything you would like to share with everyone please send me an email and I can put it in the blog.

     Thanks so much for joining our challenge.  I know it's going to be a great 8 weeks.

8 Week Challenge Starting Soon!

     Grab your friends and family and tell them to come join our Happy and Healthy Life Challenge.  It is an 8 week challenge where we change our daily habits to improve our lives.  It's not going to be easy, but believe me it is worth it and you will feel great by the end of the 8 weeks!
     The challenge will run from September 1-October 26.  Go ahead and sign up now and start preparing for a happy, healthier you!

       Each day there are 10 things to do.  Each one will earn you one point.  At the end of the week we tally up the points and keep a running total.  The person(s) with the highest points at the end will win the grand prize and bragging rights! Check the "Challenge" Tab at the top of the page to see the details!

     Worried about getting all the points in?  Don't be.  Each week you are allowed one free day, so if you miss something you won't have to dock points that day.  It's that easy.   Check out the web page and feel free to send me questions if you have them!

     The challenge is $15 to join and the money is put into a pot for the winners.  Check out the "Rewards" tab for more details.