Friday, April 29, 2011
From the Leaders:
Our Spring 2011 5% Challenge will start Saturday, May 7th. Invitations to your teams are going out later this week. You will have time to get to know your leaders and team mates. On that Saturday, May 7th please weigh in and note your weight so you have it ready to record on your team page.
Make May the month you will remember as a turning point in your life, when you decided to put your good intentions into actions for a healthier lifestyle. Look for ways to improve your health and feel better about yourself, and get launched with a running start before Summer.
This week get ready for the Spring 5% Challenge. Dust off the scale, get your exercise clothes out where you can see them, pull out the runners, find the gym bag, wash out the water bottle, find the pedometer, the heart rate monitor, swim suit, dog leash if you have a dog, take the clothes off the treadmill, find your Biggest Loser workout DVDs, see what programs are at your gym, learn to use Map My Walk on Spark, and whatever else will help.
Next plan on what you will do for exercise. If you are just starting out aim for consistency; will you walk daily for 10 minutes? If you have been exercising for awhile can you challenge yourself to increase the intensity and time? Browse in Spark exercises for upper, core and lower body exercise. These are excellent and require little equipment and are the same as professional trainers assign. Look on freecycle.com for a free treadmill or exercise bike.
Decide on what diet you will stick to - Spark, South Beach, Weight Watchers, American Heart Association, Diabetes Diet, Dr. Oz, Mayo, Mediterranean Diet, USDA Diet or whatever else you choose. Browse on line or at the library for new recipes. Know what you will commit to for 8 weeks of the challenge and have your fridge and pantry stocked with what you need. Find the measuring cups and food scale and have them handy. Go through the kitchen and throw out the junk food. If it’s not in the house you won’t eat it.
Commit yourself to connecting with your team and taking on the challenge in a way that will make you proud of your contribution, which is doing YOUR best regardless of where you are starting out from. Interact with your team mates on the Discussion Board and ask for support when you feel your resolve wavering. Visit team members’ pages, read and comment on team members’ blogs, write blogs or do vlogs. To have a friend be a friend, and let your team mates know you care how they are doing.
On your Spark Page write up your Spring 5% Challenge Commitment. How much and how often will you exercise? What diet will you follow? How will you support your team?
Give yourself the gift of a slimmer healthier body. Make This May the Best Ever!
Assignment 1:
Have you got your gym clothes, runners, water bottle, etc. ready to go?
I bought new shorts and sports bras yesterday, my shoes are still ok and I got water bottles a couple weeks ago.
What is your exercise plan?
I plan to exercise at least five days per week for at least 45 minutes. More is better, less is not! I decide each day what I feel like doing; I have Walk Away The Pounds, Yoga, and Tae Bo DVD's to choose from indoors. And now it's nicer outside I will be walking outside lots and doing YARDWORK! Yay!
Do you know what diet you will follow? Found some recipes? Have you stocked up on the foods?
I will be following Sparkpeople's plan, and so that means LOGGING everything to track calories, which I hate cuz it's time consuming. But I know it WORKS for me so I'll do it.
Do you know how to connect with your team mates?
I am better at commenting on blogs and pages after comments on MY blogs than on interacting on team threads. I LOVE to read people's blogs!!
Did you put your Spring 5% Challenge Commitment on your page?
YES!
Assignment 2: Time to update your Spark Page. A 5% Challenger MNBRIDGE had a great idea to update your Spark Page before the next challenge. While we wait for the Spring Challenge to begin, take a look at your Spark Page, especially if you've been around Spark People for awhile. Time has a way of slipping by and goals, progress and even programs change. When's the last time you updated the information? Will new teammates and team leaders get an accurate picture of who you are and where you're at? Feeling stuck in a rut or in need of a fresh approach or look? Maybe change the background, colors, ticker, or even your Profile Picture to reflect your mood, the season, or your goals for the next 8 weeks.
Remember Assignment #1 - On your Spark Page write up your Spring 5% Challenge Commitment. How much and how often will you exercise? What diet will you follow? How will you support your team? Updating your Spark Page BEFORE the Spring 5% Challenge makes it easier for others to get to know you and it just might give you an extra motivational boost or sense of renewal as we start the next 8 weeks.
I admit I'm stuck on my background and color; won't change 'em!! BUT I did change my pictures on the side, and I changed my main info to reflect my challenge commitment.
Assignment 3: Today's assignment is to list all the reasons you want to lose weight. What do you want to change? How do you want to look? How do you want to feel? What things will you be able to do in the future with a slimmer healthier body? And list all the OTHER things that you want to change! The most important thing is to have a written record to remind yourself of your goals and motives. During the 56 days of this challenge it will keep you going when you remind yourself why you are doing this.
I want to be strong and healthy, a good wife and parent, and would like to work at least part time as a counselor or in a field where I am helping others be healthy. I can’t do that if I am not healthy myself. I want to have good self esteem, feel strong and capable, energetic and enthusiastic. Exercise is a big part of feeling good, and I can’t exercise well with all the weight I am carrying currently. As I continue to exercise and lose weight, my energy AND my mood will improve.
Assignment 4: Trigger Foods and Situations
For the purpose of this assignment a Trigger Food is defined as the one that gets you off course for the next hour and you are not eating because you are truly hungry. A Trigger Situation is where you are, who you are with and what you are doing when this happens. Example – you are home alone had a cookie, then another and next you are looting the kitchen for anything that looks good. Or you had good intentions about going out for dinner with a friend, but a high calorie appetizer and then a big dessert also landed in front of you. An hour later you regret that little binge and don’t even want to think how many calories you just consumed! You tell yourself, I know better, why did I do? I won’t do that again! That is what this assignment is about - how will you not do that again?
List ALL your trigger foods. Is it a snack food or part of a meal? Are they sweet or salty? Hot, cold or room temperature? Carbs, comfort foods?
ALL FOOD. I can overeat anything if not careful...
What are the sources of the Triggers Foods? Is it a fast food restaurant? Drive thru? Food you order in? Grocery store? Convenience store? Meals at family or friends? Co-workers birthday cake? Treats from others?
My trigger foods depend on my hormones! I love carbs of course, cookies, cake, muffins, that kind of thing. But lately I've noticed when I PMS I want pepperoni pizza!!!! No substitute will do, and once I have it I'm fine!
Describe the most common foods and or situations where you reach for the trigger foods or snacks. What room are you in, what time is it, what are you doing, who is with you, and how do you feel? Are you tired? Are you eating it to feel better? Are you rewarding yourself? Soothing yourself? Are you bored? By getting the food how does it make what you are doing better? What should you be doing at that time?
I do tend to reward myself with food--or I used to. I started changing that pattern already by rewarding myself with more facebook time or (BETTER) posting a new status crowing about what I just did on Sparkpeople! Boredom is another place I have to watch it, and again I tend to just head to SP if I have access to internet!
Do you see a pattern? What types of foods are you reaching for? Does convenient access make a difference? How can you better handle the situations to avoid the triggers and not binge or eat more than you should. Write out your strategy to avoid the Triggers. Maybe it’s baby steps to get you started or moderation. Don’t be a perfectionist. Consider most of the time you will get it right.
I am trying to keep apples on hand, and carrots, that sort of thing. They don't work for specific cravings. I won't eat anything at all if I am specifically craving one certain thing. But when I need a snack I can always use more freggies! Eating out someplace fancy is still a problem. I don't very often so it's a real treat, and I haven't worked up the nerve to say "box half before you bring it to me". I feel weird! And I'm usually over a hundred miles from home so the half would be wasted anyway...
What did you learn from doing this assignment? Anything else to add?
I still have a lot TO learn!! Looking forward to this challenge!
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