Reporting Inches Point

Reporting Inches Point

It's time to take measurements!  Hopefully even if you haven't seen much of a difference on the scale you will see a difference when you measure yourselves this week.  The way you figure your points with inches, is you will get points for every 1/2 inch or every full inch.  For every inch you lose you get 10 points, or 5 points for 1/2 inch.  For example, if I lose 2 inches off my waist and 1/2 inch off my hips I will report 25 points on the section that says "inches points" when I report tomorrow.   I shouldn't see any reports except for 5 point increments, no 1/4 inch points, sorry.  I hope you are all pleased with your results!

You made it through week one!!!

Well, how is everyone feeling after your first week of the challenge???  I've found my two biggest challenges this week were 7 hours of sleep and drinking my water.  I really enjoyed the results of more sleep, and also feel like I'm eating a little less because I'm drinking more water.    Hopefully establishing these habits for eight weeks will help them become permanent.

I hope everyone was able to think of some goals that will stretch them and yet be attainable.  I know I tend to be a bit unrealistic, but really tried to set goals that I could reach.  I also hope that even if you were put on teams with people you don't know you are getting to know them and have felt comfortable sharing your goals and potential rewards with them.  I truly have found the key to success in these challenges is working together as a team and encouraging each member to do their best.  That's why you are doing this as a team instead of individually, to be a strength and encouragement to each other. 

I have also found the key to winning in this challenge is not necessarily in weight loss points but in getting all your points!!!!! Yes, if a team member loses 5 pounds one week they will get 55 points for weight loss, but honestly "slow and steady" wins the race.  I hope you are not rationalizing not getting your points.  Every point counts. 

However, just having said that, it's also important not to beat yourself up if you do miss a point that's legitimate!  You need to work at jumping right back on the wagon when you fall off rather than letting it get you down.  A quick example....2 challenges ago I set the goal of getting perfect points, and I reached it!  Even though it was during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years I DID IT!  Well, with the last challenge I did I again set that as my goal.  The very FIRST day of the challenge I accidentally missed eating all my veggies and didn't even realize what time it was until 9:30! Aaaarrrrggghh!  That was so frustrating!  Unfortunately, I didn't do very well with my disappointment and allowed that to really affect the whole rest of the challenge for me.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't just give up, but I didn't give it my "all" in every situation like I had in the challenge before when I was going for perfect points.  So please be kind to yourself and to your teammates and offer encouragement rather than criticism.  Everyone give it your best effort!!!

I know some of you took this as your "free" week.  If you did, you still need to report your points.  You will simply put in the maximum amount of points possible in each area.  However, in order to get your bonus points this week you actually needed to do all the different parts of the bonus.  You don't need to let me know it was your free week, it's on your honor and I trust everyone not to take more than one free week.  We are supposed to report our points by tomorrow night at 10:00.

One quick note on counting your 7 hours of sleep.....some of you may suffer from different degrees of insomnia and cannot control when you fall asleep.  I will count your sleep time if you are laying in bed, in the dark, not watching a movie, or reading or listening to a book on tape, but truly just laying there trying to get to sleep.  If you have further questions or comments please let me know.

Good luck on week two!!!

Bonus Challenge for Week #1

Week 1

PREPARE FOR SUCCESS!

This week's bonus challenge has four parts:

1) Take a "before" picture--5 points
You don't have to show anyone, so put on something that shows your body. Take a couple shots from different angles, and you may be surprised when you look back at how far you've come.

2) Make goal(s) and determine reward(s)--10 points
Decide what you want to achieve in the short or long term: run a race, lose "x" pounds, fit into those pants you bought six years ago, dunk a basketball, etc. Then decide on your NON-FOOD reward when you reach your goal: tickets to a game or show, new jeans, a manicure, a trip, etc.

3) Get ready for your healthy lifestyle--10 points
Think of at least two things you need to do to successfully live a sensible lifestyle: throw away your stash of junk food, stock the kitchen with healthy snacks, put the treadmill where you can use it, dig the exercise videos out of the box in the basement, get some shoes that support your feet, schedule a time with your exercise buddy or babysitter, etc. Then put into action the things that come to mind.

4) Report to a teammate--10 points
Report your goal(s), reward(s) and at least two preparations you made for your healthy lifestyle to one or more members of your team.

You get the points for each part of the bonus challenge you complete before midnight on Sunday, September 1 (end of week 1).

Teams

Are you ready to get started?  I highly recommend you have contact with all teammates, not just a spouse or good friend you joined with.  Get to know your teammates and be there to encourage them!  Here are the teams:

GREEN TEAM
Justin Anderson
Amy Anderson
Clint Francis
Melanie Francis
Cloe Wilson
Joi Orton
Jenni Orton

BLUE TEAM
Mary Ann Lyons
Morgan Lyons
Shay Lyons
Anita Slaugh
Michelle Johanson
Devon Whipple
Graham Whipple

PURPLE TEAM
Kara Kearsley
Christy Taylor
Tory Taylor
Angie Tamayo
Stephanie Hanson
Tony Potts
Nicole Potts

RED TEAM
Larry Wilson
Lynette Wilson
Chris Koehler
Kristi Albright
Marci Waite
Catryna Faux
Sunny Barrus

YELLOW TEAM
Heidi Christensen
Lakecia Christensen
Jamie Wilkinson
Michael Rigley
Kim Rigley
Natausha Medellin
Jeanette Jorgensen

ORANGE TEAM
Rob Tietjen
Susan Tietjen
Wayne Billman
Amanda Billman
Lindsay Wilson
Adrianne Elliott
Curtis Elliott

BROWN TEAM
Bob Schoonmaker
Nicki Schoonmaker
Tenielle Averette
Colby Averette
Katrina Averette
Craig Hurdman
Brooke Hurdman

FUSHIA TEAM
Megan Rigby
Chelsea Williams
Tonia Dattage
Josh Perry
Cristal Perry
Corindee Stoffers
Traci Taylor

Challenge Rules

overall wellness



Challenge Starting date: Monday, July 11, 2011

This is a competition to motivate participants to live a healthier lifestyle. It is open to anyone age 14 or older who sincerely wants to establish habits that promote overall wellness.
DATES:
This will be an 8-week challenge starting Monday, July 11, 2011 and ending on Sunday, September 5, 2011. You must commit to the full eight weeks.
COST:
Each participant will pay $15 upfront to do the challenge.
Although it costs $15, you may earn back more than half of your money by getting 95% of your "weekly points." For each week that you get at least 95% (198 or more of your weekly points), you will get back $1, for a possible refund of $8, even if your team doesn't win the competition or win that week. You must earn back at least $4 for me to go to the effort to cut you a refund check.
WHAT YOU NEED:
You will need a simple scale (no need for a scale that measures tenths of a pound). You will keep track of your weight loss in whole pounds for this competition. You will need a method to measure your waist and hips. That could be a tape measure or a string you wrap around yourself and measure with a ruler. And you will need an internet connection. I will do almost all of my communication with you through this blog. You will report your points for the previous week through the blog on Mondays, I will post the previous week's winner on Wednesdays, and I will post your next week's challenge on the blog on Fridays. Other questions or comments can be directed to me most easily by email. Other than that, Excel on your computer will be helpful because I will send you a spreadsheet just before the competition starts to easily track your points, weight, and inches. If you don't have Excel, you may need to ask more questions to make sure you're scoring properly.
POINTS:
There are a few ways you earn points, so read thoroughly:
WEEKLY POINTS--Each week you will report your points in ten categories totaling 208 possible points.
1. Exercise: You can earn up to 35 points each week for exercise. You earn 5 points for doing 30 minutes of exercise and 7 points for doing 45 minutes of exercise up to 5 days per week. If you do more than 45 minutes of exercise or more than 5 days per week, WAY TO GO! But you do not get any additional points, and you can't carry the points or minutes over to future days or weeks of exercise. 7 points x 5 days = 35 points possible each week
2. Sweets: You can earn up to 30 points each week for not eating sweets. Each day that you eat no sweets, you get 5 points. Each day that you eat one sweet, you get 2 points. If you eat two or more sweets in a day, you get 0 points. What constitutes a sweet? Brownies, cookies, cake, ice cream, candy, donuts, or anything sweet that's preventing you from being healthy. HOWEVER, EACH WEEK YOU GET ONE FREE SWEET DAY THAT DOES NOT COUNT AGAINST YOUR POINTS! Special occasions do not get extra free sweets, so use your free treat day accordingly. If you choose not to take your free sweet day that is fine, but you will not get the extra day's points. 5 points x 6 days = 30 points possible each week
3. Fruits/Vegetables: Each day that you eat at least 5 fruits or vegetables, you get 3 points. Each day that 3 or more or those are vegetables, you get 5 points. Generally speaking, one serving is approximately 1/2 cup, although leafy greens are approximately double that and dried fruits are about half that much. 5 points x 7 days = 35 points possible each week
4. Water: Each day that you drink at least 64 ounces of water, you get 2 points. 2 points x 7 days = 14 points possible each week
5. 9 p.m.: Each day that you stop eating before 9 p.m., you get 2 points. 2 points x 7 days = 14 points possible each week
6. 7 hrs. of sleep per night 5 days/week (naps count).  I've had several people express concern about being able to get this much sleep, but sleep is important enough to include in a wellness challenge, and may make the difference between your success in being able to lose weight. 2 points x 5 days = 10 points possible each week.
7. Scripture/inspirational reading daily 7 days/week, there is no time requirement, simply taking time daily to read something that uplifts your soul. possible 3 points  x 7 days = 21 points possible each week.
8. Prayer/meditaion daily 7 days/week, again no time requirement. Possible 3 points x 7 days = 21 possible points each week.
9. Journal writing daily 7 days/week. No minimum amount, just a few sentences is enough.  THIS MUST BE DONE DAILY, YOU MAY NOT BACK TRACK TO MAKE UP. Possible 3 points x 7 points possible each week.
10. Team: Each day that you are in contact with a team member by any method (email, phone, blog, text, voice mail, telegram, Facebook, U.S. Postal Service, etc.) you get 1 point. As we encourage, motivate, share experiences, and stay accountable, we are more successful as individuals and as teams. 1 point x 7 days = 7 points possible each week
WEIGHT LOSS POINTS--Each week you will report your weight loss points to me. Please do your initial and weekly weigh-ins at approximately the same time and under the same circumstances each week (empty/full stomach, before/after exercise, etc.) First you must decide which of the following two plans you want to do:
1. Weight Loss Plan: If you are trying to lose weight, you will choose the "Weight Loss Plan." Each week when you weigh in, you will get 5 points for maintaining your lowest previous weight and 10 points for each pound you have lost beyond your lowest previous weight. For instance, if you gained weight, you 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. And if you lost a pound, you would get 5 points for maintaining plus 10 points for that pound, so you would report 15 points.  You may also count increments if you have a scale that weighs in increments.  For example if you lose 1.7 pounds you will report 17 points weight loss plus 5 points maintenance making 22 points for the week.
2. Weight Maintenance Plan: If you are trying to maintain a healthy weight which you have already achieved OR if you are pregnant, you will choose the "Weight Maintenance Plan." This challenge is for EVERYONE trying to be healthy, not just those trying to lose weight. So if you are maintaining your weight, you must decide what weight you are maintaining, and for each week that you are at or below that weight, you get 15 points. If you go over that weight, you get 0. If you are pregnant, please don't worry about the scale, but you must get at least 187 weekly points (90%) to get your 15 weight points per week.
BONUS POINTS--There will be a bonus challenge to set specific goals the first week of the challenge, and a bonus to evaluate how you did on your goals on the last week of the challenge.  Each of these will have 35 possible points if you do all the areas.  I feel like there are enough areas to be focussed on in the challenge that for the middle six weeks you will get 5 bonus points daily for every day you get perfect points equalling 35 possible bonus points each week.
INCHES POINTS--At the start of the competition and again at the end of week 4 and week 8, you will measure your waist and your hips. For each 1/2 inch you have lost at weeks 4 & 8, you will get 5 points.
WEIGHT LOSS % POINTS--At the end of week 8, you will report your weight loss percentage points. You will get 1 point per 0.1% weight loss. For instance, if I lost 4.8% of my body weight during this competition, I would get 48 points. I will give instructions later on, but it is calculated by taking the total pounds lost divided by your starting weight times 100 to get your weight loss %.
POINT REPORTING:
You will report your points each Monday to me via the blog. Points must be reported by 10 p.m. on Monday night. I will deduct 15 points from your team's total for each person who reports late. If your points are not reported when I declare a weekly winner on Wednesday morning, your points from that week will not count at all.  If you are struggling reporting points the first week I will work with you.
When I declare the team that wins each week, I will NOT be posting the points each team reported. At the very end of the competition, you will get to see the point grand totals.
I want to add here that the way to win this competition is not by being on the team that loses the most weight. It is to get your entire team to commit to getting perfect or almost perfect weekly points. Everyone, please be honest in your point reporting. One team member not giving his or her very best can lead to the whole team losing because of that person's low points.
WINNERS:
Obviously, everyone wins when you implement these sensible lifestyle habits. But at the end of the competition, I will award money to the person who gets the highest point total (weekly points only), the person with the highest percentage of weight loss, and each member of the team with the highest point grand total.
ARE YOU READY TO PARTICIPATE?If you want to participate, please contact my by email as soon as possible and send your money to me right away. I am not limiting the number of participants, so get your friends and family involved. When you email me, I need some information from you:
1. Your first and last name
2. The email address you want to use throughout this competition
3. Your mailing address (to send your money at the end of the competition)
4. Which weight plan you are doing
5. If you are on the weight loss plan, I need to know how much weight you need to lose to get to your final goal weight--think of the weight you are in your dreams (so I can make fair teams)
6. One or two people you would like to be teamed up with (sorry, no guarantees)
MY CONTACT INFORMATION:
Lynette Wilson
474 I St.
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
quiltladylynette@yahoo.com
(208)604-3501
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 About Me
quiltladylynette
I joined my first health challenge in August of 2010 after a good friend had been successful at losing 35 pounds by consistently joining health challenges. I have loved the accountability I have by being part of a team in reaching my health goals! I have added some additional elements to my challenge from the ones I've been involved with in the past because I want a challenge that includes our overall wellness rather than just our health. I feel there are many things that contribute to us feeling healthy and have tried to include the ones I feel make the most difference in my life.
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LAST POINT REPORT!!!

LAST POINT REPORT!!!

Thank you to everyone for participating in this Sensible Lifestyle Challenge with me.  I have had a very motivated eight weeks, and I hope you've all had a good experience as well.

As you prepare to make your final point report, please remember that you will be reporting points in every category of the point reporting form, including inches and weight loss percentage.  When you measure inches, you get 5 points per half inch (10 points per whole inch) lost since you last reported inches at the four week mark.

Your weight loss percentage is cumulative for the whole competition.  To calculate it manually, take your total pounds lost during the competition divided by your starting weight times 1000.  For instance, if I started at 160 and now weigh 153, I would take 7 (which is what 160-153 equals, so it's my total pounds lost) times it by 1000 then divide by my starting weight (160) and get 43.75.  I would round up to 44 and report that for weight loss percentage points.  I hope all that is clear.  If you have a hard time figuring it out, send me an email or leave a comment when you report points.

3 Nightly routines that will set you up for success

Tomorrow's fitness and weight loss success starts tonight, so set yourself up for success by following these tips:

1) Schedule your workouts--actual days and times you have blocked out on the calendar
2) Get your drinks and food ready the night before--prepare healthy snacks (carrot/celery sticks, banana, granola bar, prezels, nuts, etc), and prepare a lunch.  Preparing your lunch ensures that you eat something healthy, have normal portion sizes, and saves you money.
3) Get your workout clothes and/or workout bag ready the night before.

Try to focus this week on preparing the night before to have success in your eating and exercising the next day.  Good luck!!!

Reporting Inches Points

It's time to take measurements again!  Hopefully even if you haven't seen much of a difference on the scale you will see a difference when you measure yourselves this week.  The way you figure your points with inches, is you will get points for every 1/2 inch or every full inch.  For every inch you lose you get 10 points, or 5 points for 1/2 inch.  For example, if I lose 2 inches off my waist and 1/2 inch off my hips I will report 25 points on the section that says "inches points" when I report tomorrow.  I hope you are all pleased with your results!

Results Week #3

We are getting close to the half-way point of our challenge!  It's gone quickly for me!  The results are again very close.  Many of you are very dedicated and are giving it your all, and it is showing!  We have many who are getting at least 95% of their points each week and several who are still at perfect points.  Congratulations!  The results for week #3:

1st Place: ORANGE TEAM
2nd Place: BLUE TEAM
3rd Place:  RED TEAM
4th Place:  GREEN TEAM
5th Place:  YELLOW TEAM
6th Place:  PURPLE TEAM

This week we have two big weight losers!  Congratulations to Cloe Wilson and Marci Waite for losing 3 or more pounds!  Many of you are maintaining or losing a little at a time.  I truly like the saying "Slow and steady wins the race" because it is by doing things slow and steady that you will be able to keep it off.  I hope more than anything you are feeling good about the changes you are seeing in yourselves.

One thing I'd like to challenge you with this week is to pick one thing you have been struggling with and really work on that one thing more than anything else this week.  If you are not seeing the results you are hoping for look at what could be a possible change you can make......perhaps counting calories, or moving up your cut-off time for eating, making a food journal each day, changing your exercise to something more vigorous, etc.  For me, I know I need to get back to portion control, and that simply equates to stopping before I take seconds.  You need to look at yourself and see where you can push yourselves a little bit more.  You can do it!!!  Good luck on an awesome week 4!

Reporting for Week #2

I apologize once again for how slow I was in getting the results out for week #1!  The good news is I was able to get everything set up to report points on the blog.  However, before week one is completely behind us I need you to do one more thing for me....I need to to report your points for week #1 on the blog.  It will be much simpler for me to keep a spreadsheet and keep track of total points if they are all recorded this way.  What you need to do: click on your team color in the top right hand side of the blog.  You will then fill out all the blanks except for the "inches points" and "weight loss %" boxes.  Those will remain blank until the end of week #4.   When you are done you can either press the "enter" key or click on "submit points" at the bottom.  If you accidentally hit the "enter" key midway through reporting your points just re-start and I'll ignore the partially filled out report.  If you wil please fill out Week #1 by Sunday night we will be on track for reports on Monday for Week #2.

As stated in the rules at the beginning of the challenge, all points need to be reported by 10:00 p.m. on Monday or you will lose 15 points.  I need all points reported by Wed morning when I post results for your team to get credit for them.  If you know you won't be near a computer by 10:00 p.m. on Monday's please contact a team member to report for you.  You can report anytime on Monday after you weigh.

You made it through week one! Good job!

Well, how is everyone feeling after your first week of the challenge???  I've had some feedback and it's all been positive, so that's exciting!  One person had lost 2 1/2 pounds after only 4 days, I'm excited to see the results from everyone this week!  Another person said one day she got little sleep but got up and first thing read her scriptures and said her prayers and exercised and had a super day, the next night she got much more sleep but skipped the scriptures and prayers and went right to exercising and found she didn't have nearly as good a day.  So her conclusion is that truly an overall lifestyle of good habits is more helpful than just health habits.  I hope that has been your experience as well. 

I've found my two biggest challenges this week were 7 hours of sleep and journal writing.  I really enjoyed the results of more sleep, and also the satisfaction of writing in my journal, those are just two areas that are not strengths of mine.  Hopefully establishing these habits for eight weeks will help them become permanent.

I hope everyone was able to think of some goals that will stretch them and yet be attainable.  I know I tend to be a bit unrealistic, but really tried to set goals that I could reach.  I also hope that even if you were put on teams with people you don't know you are getting to know them and have felt comfortable sharing your goals and potential rewards with them.  I truly have found the key to success in these challenges is working together as a team and encouraging each member to do their best.  That's why you are doing this as a team instead of individually, to be a strength and encouragement to each other. 

I have also found the key to winning in this challenge is not necessarily in weight loss points but in getting all your points!!!!! Yes, if a team member loses 5 pounds one week they will get 55 points for weight loss, but honestly "slow and steady" wins the race.  I hope you are not rationalizing not getting your points.  Every point counts. 

However, just having said that, it's also important not to beat yourself up if you do miss a point that's legitimate!  You need to work at jumping right back on the wagon when you fall off rather than letting it get you down.  A quick example....2 challenges ago I set the goal of getting perfect points, and I reached it!  Even though it was during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years I DID IT!  Well, with the last challenge I did I again set that as my goal.  The very FIRST day of the challenge I accidentally missed eating all my veggies and didn't even realize what time it was until 9:30! Aaaarrrrggghh!  That was so frustrating!  Unfortunately, I didn't do very well with my disappointment and allowed that to really affect the whole rest of the challenge for me.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't just give up, but I didn't give it my "all" in every situation like I had in the challenge before when I was going for perfect points.  So please be kind to yourself and to your teammates and offer encouragement rather than criticism.  Everyone give it your best effort!!!

I know some of you took this as your "free" week.  If you did, you still need to report your points.  You will simply put in the maximum amount of points possible in each area.  However, in order to get your bonus points this week you actually needed to do all the different parts of the bonus.  You don't need to let me know it was your free week, it's on your honor and I trust everyone not to take more than one free week.  We are supposed to report our points by tomorrow night at 10:00, but unfortunately I haven't gotten the reporting system all set up yet.  I had to get public access to make the reporting possible and haven't been granted that yet so for this week only we are on hold for reporting points until Tues or Wed.  I will send out an email with an update when it is all ready.  Sorry about the delay.

One quick note on counting your 7 hours of sleep.....some of you may suffer from different degrees of insomnia and cannot control when you fall asleep.  I will count your sleep time if you are laying in bed, in the dark, not watching a movie, or reading or listening to a book on tape, but truly just laying there trying to get to sleep.  If you have further questions or comments please let me know.

Good luck on week two!!! 

Rules

This is a competition to motivate participants to live a healthier lifestyle. It is open to anyone age 14 or older who sincerely wants to establish habits that promote overall wellness.

DATES:
This will be an 8-week challenge starting April 11, 2011 and ending on June 5, 2011. You must commit to the full eight weeks.

COST:
Each participant will pay $15 upfront to do the challenge.

Although it costs $15, you may earn back more than half of your money by getting 95% of your "weekly points." For each week that you get at least 198 or more of your weekly points, you will get back $1, for a possible refund of $8, even if your team doesn't win the competition or win that week. You must earn back at least $4 for me to go to the effort to cut you a refund check.

WHAT YOU NEED:
You will need a simple scale (no need for a scale that measures tenths of a pound). You will keep track of your weight loss in whole pounds for this competition. You will need a method to measure your waist and hips. That could be a tape measure or a string you wrap around yourself and measure with a ruler. And you will need an internet connection. I will do almost all of my communication with you through this blog. You will report your points for the previous week through the blog on Mondays, I will post the previous week's winner on Wednesdays, and I will post your next week's challenge on the blog on Fridays. Other questions or comments can be directed to me most easily by email. Other than that, Excel on your computer will be helpful because I will send you a spreadsheet just before the competition starts to easily track your points, weight, and inches. If you don't have Excel, you may need to ask more questions to make sure you're scoring properly.

POINTS:
There are a few ways you earn points, so read thoroughly:

WEEKLY POINTS--Each week you will report your points in ten categories totaling 208 possible points.

1. Exercise: You can earn up to 35 points each week for exercise. You earn 5 points for doing 30 minutes of exercise and 7 points for doing 45 minutes of exercise up to 5 days per week. If you do more than 45 minutes of exercise or more than 5 days per week, WAY TO GO! But you do not get any additional points, and you can't carry the points or minutes over to future days or weeks of exercise. 7 points x 5 days = 35 points possible each week

2. Sweets: You can earn up to 30 points each week for not eating sweets. Each day that you eat no sweets, you get 5 points. Each day that you eat one sweet, you get 2 points. If you eat two or more sweets in a day, you get 0 points. What constitutes a sweet? Brownies, cookies, cake, ice cream, candy, donuts, or anything sweet that's preventing you from being healthy. HOWEVER, EACH WEEK YOU GET ONE FREE SWEET DAY THAT DOES NOT COUNT AGAINST YOUR POINTS! Special occasions do not get extra free sweets, so use your free treat day accordingly. If you choose not to take your free sweet day that is fine, but you will not get the extra day's points. 5 points x 6 days = 30 points possible each week

3. Fruits/Vegetables: Each day that you eat at least 5 fruits or vegetables, you get 3 points. Each day that 3 or more or those are vegetables, you get 5 points. Generally speaking, one serving is approximately 1/2 cup, although leafy greens are approximately double that and dried fruits are about half that much. 5 points x 7 days = 35 points possible each week

4. Water: Each day that you drink at least 64 ounces of water, you get 2 points. 2 points x 7 days = 14 points possible each week

5. 9 p.m.: Each day that you stop eating before 9 p.m., you get 2 points. 2 points x 7 days = 14 points possible each week

6. 7 hrs. of sleep per night 5 days/week (naps count).  I've had several people express concern about being able to get this much sleep, but sleep is important enough to include in a wellness challenge, and may make the difference between your success in being able to lose weight. 2 points x 5 days = 10 points possible each week.

7. Scripture/inspirational reading daily 7 days/week, there is no time requirement, simply taking time daily to read something that uplifts your soul. possible 3 points  x 7 days = 21 points possible each week.

8. Prayer/meditaion daily 7 days/week, again no time requirement. Possible 3 points x 7 days = 21 possible points each week.

9. Journal writing daily 7 days/week. No minimum amount, just a few sentences is enough.  THIS MUST BE DONE DAILY, YOU MAY NOT BACK TRACK TO MAKE UP. Possible 3 points x 7 points possible each week.

10. Team: Each day that you are in contact with a team member by any method (email, phone, blog, text, voice mail, telegram, Facebook, U.S. Postal Service, etc.) you get 1 point. As we encourage, motivate, share experiences, and stay accountable, we are more successful as individuals and as teams. 1 point x 7 days = 7 points possible each week

WEIGHT LOSS POINTS--Each week you will report your weight loss points to me. Please do your initial and weekly weigh-ins at approximately the same time and under the same circumstances each week (empty/full stomach, before/after exercise, etc.) First you must decide which of the following two plans you want to do:

1. Weight Loss Plan: If you are trying to lose weight, you will choose the "Weight Loss Plan." Each week when you weigh in, you will get 5 points for maintaining your lowest previous weight and 10 points for each pound you have lost beyond your lowest previous weight. For instance, if you gained weight, you 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. And if you lost a pound, you would get 5 points for maintaining plus 10 points for that pound, so you would report 15 points.  You may also count increments if you have a scale that weighs in increments.  For example if you lose 1.7 pounds you will report 17 points weight loss plus 5 points maintenance making 22 points for the week.

2. Weight Maintenance Plan: If you are trying to maintain a healthy weight which you have already achieved OR if you are pregnant, you will choose the "Weight Maintenance Plan." This challenge is for EVERYONE trying to be healthy, not just those trying to lose weight. So if you are maintaining your weight, you must decide what weight you are maintaining, and for each week that you are at or below that weight, you get 15 points. If you go over that weight, you get 0. If you are pregnant, please don't worry about the scale, but you must get at least 187 weekly points (90%) to get your 15 weight points per week.

BONUS POINTS--There will be a bonus challenge to set specific goals the first week of the challenge, and a bonus to evaluate how you did on your goals on the last week of the challenge.  Each of these will have 35 possible points if you do all the areas.  I feel like there are enough areas to be focussed on in the challenge that for the middle six weeks you will get 5 bonus points daily for every day you get perfect points equalling 35 possible bonus points each week.

INCHES POINTS--At the start of the competition and again at the end of week 4 and week 8, you will measure your waist and your hips. For each 1/2 inch you have lost at weeks 4 & 8, you will get 5 points.

WEIGHT LOSS % POINTS--At the end of week 8, you will report your weight loss percentage points. You will get 1 point per 0.1% weight loss. For instance, if I lost 4.8% of my body weight during this competition, I would get 48 points. I will give instructions later on, but it is calculated by taking the total pounds lost divided by your starting weight times 100 to get your weight loss %.

POINT REPORTING:
When I figure everything out on this blog, you will be able to report your points each Monday to me via the blog. Points must be reported by 10 p.m. on Monday night. I will deduct 15 points from your team's total for each person who reports late. If your points are not reported when I declare a weekly winner on Wednesday morning, your points from that week will not count at all.  If you are struggling reporting points the first week I will work with you.

When I declare the team that wins each week, I will NOT be posting the points each team reported. At the very end of the competition, you will get to see the point grand totals.

I want to add here that the way to win this competition is not by being on the team that loses the most weight. It is to get your entire team to commit to getting perfect or almost perfect weekly points. Everyone, please be honest in your point reporting. One team member not giving his or her very best can lead to the whole team losing because of that person's low points.

WINNERS:
Obviously, everyone wins when you implement these sensible lifestyle habits. But at the end of the competition, I will award money to the person who gets the highest point total (weekly points only), the person with the highest percentage of weight loss, and each member of the team with the highest point grand total.

ARE YOU READY TO PARTICIPATE?If you want to participate, please contact my by email as soon as possible and send your money to me right away. I am not limiting the number of participants, so get your friends and family involved. When you email me, I need some information from you:

1. Your first and last name
2. The email address you want to use throughout this competition
3. Your mailing address (to send your money at the end of the competition)
4. Which weight plan you are doing
5. If you are on the weight loss plan, I need to know how much weight you need to lose to get to your final goal weight--think of the weight you are in your dreams (so I can make fair teams)
6. One or two people you would like to be teamed up with (sorry, no guarantees)

MY CONTACT INFORMATION:
Lynette Wilson
474 I St.
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
quiltladylynette@yahoo.com
(208)535-1334

Week 1

PREPARE FOR SUCCESS!

This week's bonus challenge has four parts:

1) Take a "before" picture--5 points
You don't have to show anyone, so put on something that shows your body. Take a couple shots from different angles, and you may be surprised when you look back at how far you've come.

2) Make goal(s) and determine reward(s)--10 points
Decide what you want to achieve in the short or long term: run a race, lose "x" pounds, fit into those pants you bought six years ago, dunk a basketball, etc. Then decide on your NON-FOOD reward when you reach your goal: tickets to a game or show, new jeans, a manicure, a trip, etc.

3) Get ready for your healthy lifestyle--10 points
Think of at least two things you need to do to successfully live a sensible lifestyle: throw away your stash of junk food, stock the kitchen with healthy snacks, put the treadmill where you can use it, dig the exercise videos out of the box in the basement, get some shoes that support your feet, schedule a time with your exercise buddy or babysitter, etc. Then put into action the things that come to mind.

4) Report to a teammate--10 points
Report your goal(s), reward(s) and at least two preparations you made for your healthy lifestyle to one or more members of your team.

You get the points for each part of the bonus challenge you complete before midnight on Sunday, April 17 (end on week1).