8 Week Challenge!

Okay, so a friend of mine posts an open invite to anyone who would like to join her for an 8 week weight loss challenge. She found an interesting points/reward system from a blog called the sixsisters. Their site even gives you free downloads of journals to keep track of your food choices and points. I decided to join her along with five other women and we start tomorrow.
This is basically how it goes:

"This is an 8-Week Challenge that starts on a Monday (you pick what Monday to start on)
-Decide an amount that each person pays to enter the challenge (we did $25 a person)
-There is a weekly point calendar for each of the 8 weeks. You earn points by eating healthy, exercising, drinking water, etc... It's not just for weight loss!
-Beginning on Week #2 there is a double point challenge (highlighted in yellow)
-You can exercise each day, but you will only receive points for exercising 5 days a week.
-You can choose to not each sugar/treats each day, but you will only receive points for not eating sugar on 6 days (everyone needs a free day!).
-There is a sample food journal that you can use or you can use your own kind of food journal to keep track of what you eat.
-Weight yourself anytime each Sunday and tally up all points by 9 PM. Make sure that you weight yourself under the same circumstances each week (for example: Morning/Night, Empty/Full stomach)
-Choose someone in your challenge who will be the one you send a weekly email/text to with your totally weekly points and totally weight loss points for the week. They will have to keep track of everyone’s points and then have them send out an email or text with everyone’s standings on Mondays. We said that all points had to be emailed/texted by midnight on Sunday. If you didn’t send an email/text by that time, you received no points for that week. So each week you will send in 3 numbers: Your weekly points, you weight lost for the week, and your total points for that week.
-Daily contact with teammate: It’s amazing the strength that comes from encouragement from your teammates! We decided as a team that you could email, call, or text someone on your team to encourage them to have a healthy day. It helps knowing that you are all in this together and makes you accountable for what you do or don’t do.
-Example of weight loss points: You will get 5 points for maintaining your lowest previous weight AND 10 points for each whole pound. For instance, if you gained weight, you will report 0 points AND you don’t get any weight loss OR maintenance points in future weeks until you return to the lowest weight you had already achieved. If you maintained your previous lowest weight, you report 5 points. If you lost 1 pound, you would get 5 points for maintaining plus 10 points for that pound, so you would report 15 points.
-Cash prize money will given to the person who has the most total weekly points.

So here goes everything!

Falling Off The Wagon

This is not the meal of champions! Buuut, lately it's all I'm craving. Yum,yum! Although, when one is training for their first little 5k, they should be eating better, I don't like to rock the boat too much, ha ha! Not a brownie specifically, just anything sweet and if it's chocolate it's better.  I had to add the picture of the chocolate brownie with caramel frosting I ate. It's was way to moist and fla-va-full! The caramel frosting was mmm, mmm, good! Are you wondering if I could ramble on about for another paragraph or so...well yes, quite frankly I could. But I won't.   I have a bunch of fall dessert recipes I want to try these upcoming weeks. I think the first will have to be some pumpkin butter biscuits that a friend of mine made, I tried them and they were gooood. The next one I 'm going to make is a pumpkin muffin using yellow cake mix and canned pumpkin. You don't even need to add the eggs and oil-we shall see.  I'll post those later.

It's Over Already!

Yesterday was a world wind. I can't even remember what had me so completely busy that I forgot to update my blog. I've been doing so well.

I teach a religion class at my church for young college students ages 18-30. Thursdays are my prep day. If I need to finish up any printing or make refreshments that I'll bring to class- I'll do that in the afternoon to have ready for class that night.

 I've loved teaching this class the past year. I have enjoyed the young people that I've become acquainted with. I've also loved the way the spirit has worked with me and helped my understanding of the word of God.

Today, I jogged, showered, took a friend out for a birthday lunch and some quick shopping for some tights =)

I love Fridays! Fridays is Date Night.  Yeah, Date Night. My husband and I are pretty religious about it and we both really look forward to the time together. We have no specific plans tonight so I have no idea what we're doing. We generally like to eat out, catch a movie or see a play. Occasionally we go to the Opera which we become fond of, and when weather permits we head outdoors.

Today the weather is a little wet and quite dreary. It's also looking like a double date could be in store.

Stay tuned.....

Getting Ready

Today we have guests coming for dinner. We are having my go to easy dish of lasagna with green salad and garlic bread. Dessert will be a surprise as our guests asked to bring some. Hope it's yum!

I just need to get the old lady(refer to yesterdays blog) to be quiet long enough to get the house picked up. I also need to find time this weekend to cut the boys hair, and gather all the clothes that don't fit anyone in my house and to give to goodwill. They've all been washed and mostly folded, they just aren't sorted from the everyday wear, ugh! It'll get done...sure it will, tomorrow.........yeah, tomorrow.