Fitness and Wellbeing Challenge

A friend here in NC emailed me and a few of her other friends this 8 week challenge.  I thought since I have been really bad about eating well and exercising this would be a great way to get back on track.  Also, for the mormons reading this, it has spiritual points to it as well.  This is great for me because I have been REALLY bad about doing church stuff so I am glad that this is part of it.

Here is the email and feel friend to start your own with your friends!

Hi All,

I've mentioned this to some of you, but for those of you who are hearing about this for the first time, feel free to join in! This admittedly has a Mormon focus (as I stole it from my Mormon cousin), but it can be altered to fit your lifestyle. Sorry for the lengthy email, but here it is:

For eight weeks, it's all about developing good habits or mastering the ones that we're already pros at.  It's going to be about finding balance and making time for the things that we want to fit in our lives, but don't always because of lack of motivation and discipline. This is not a 'diet', but rather a challenge to become better in our physical and spiritual lives. The challenge is based on points, not pounds, and whoever ends up with the most points in the end wins. This challenge starts next week on Monday, January 8th. 

Here's how the point system will work.  There is a maximum total of 43 points possible per week, with a total of 344 points possible for the entire 8 weeks.  You get one day off every week, and you're free to choose what that day is. You just need to decide beforehand.You can't earn points on this day.  Yes, you are free to eat desserts on that day or drink soda.  It's your day off!

DAILY POINTS:
Each of the following you will earn 1 point per day, plus 1 bonus
point per week if you don't miss a day:

NO DESSERTS -  (6 pts. possible + 1 bonus point = 7 possible per week)
NO SODA -  (6 pts. possible + 1 bonus point = 7 possible per week)
NO EATING AFTER 8PM - (6 pts. possible + 1 bonus point = 7 possible per week)
EXERCISE for at least 30 minutes, 5x during the week - (5 pts. possible + 1 bonus point = 6 possible per week)
READ SCRIPTURES - at least 1 chapter a day (6 pts. possible + 1 bonus point = 7 possible per week) NOTE: If you're not into reading scriptures, pick something else like writing in your journal, writing an email to a friend a day or something else that would challenge you.
WEEKLY CHALLENGE - (6 pts. possible + 1 bonus point = 7 possible per week)  The weekly challenges are outlined below.

WEEKLY POINTS:
There are 2 more points possible each week for the following:

ONE point per week for weight loss - if you've lost at least one pound, or maintained your ideal weight, you get a point. Yes, if you're already at your ideal weight, you can still participate and earn points for maintaining right where you're at.  You decide before the challenge starts what your ideal weight is.
ONE point per week for Family Home Evening OR Institute. NOTE: If you don't know what this means, you're probably not Mormon. Pick some other weekly activity you want to do, like go on one date a week or have dinner with a friend once a week. You decide.


WEEKLY CHALLENGES:
Week 1: Keep a food journal
Week 2: 7 hours of sleep per night
Week 3: 5 servings of vegetables per day
Week 4: No processed foods
Week 5: 100 sit-ups & 50 push-ups per day (doesn't necessarily have to be done in one sitting.  Try 5 sets of 20 sit-ups & 10 push-ups throughout the day)
Week 6: 4 servings of fruit per day
Week 7: Drink 64 fluid ounces of water per day 

Week 8: Run/Walk at least 1/2 marathon (this doesn't have to be completed at one time, but can be done in small increments throughout the week to add up to 13.1 miles)

Ok, so here's the clarifications:

• Free day: You pick your free day.  You only get one free day a week, you can't spread out the days you get to do things.  This way, you can plan if you have a special event and can pick that day to be your free day.
• Exercise: This must be a specified workout.  You can't count running errands as your 30 minutes of exercise.  This is a challenge, remember? It can be pilates, walking, etc but it must be time set aside as a workout.
• The dessert issue is up to you. If you want it to mean no sugar, then more power to you. The sugar line is gray, I mean jam has sugar in it.  So, use your best judgement, but I don't think you can be eating sugary snacks all day and just because you don't eat dessert after dinner, consider yourself good.  

If you want to join in, please send/give me $20. The first and second place winners will receive cash awards. I'm not gonna lie, money is a great motivator, even if you don't think you'll win, knowing you've invested $20 into something makes you want to take it seriously.  

Good luck ladies!  Feel free to invite others to join if they want.

Also, I'll be asking for points at the end of each week, so we can keep on track of where we all are.

Alright so there it is, make sure you have person to be the leader and to email everyone because it will keep it going and organized.  Good luck to anyone who tries and wish me luck!