- No Fast Food
- No Fancy Coffees
- No Dessert
- No Alcohol M-Th
- 3+ Servings of Fruits and Veggies Per Day
- Drink an 8oz Glass of Water Before Every Meal
- 20 Push-ups/day
- 50 Sit-ups/day
- If you exercise 30 or more minutes, then you can add in one of the prohibited items on that day like say a bottle of wine (or perhaps just a glass, the quantity is a little fuzzy for me and I'm not rushing to clear it up).
- If you are successful with all of the above, then you get a star for the day.
- The person with the most stars at the end is the winner.
After a summer of food and wine, I thought taking on The Challenge would be a great way to reign myself in and get back to some basic healthy habits. I also thought it would be pretty easy for me cuz:
- I only eat fast food under duress on road trips when there is no other option. Check.
- I like my coffee black. Check.
- I likey my sweets, but should be able to forgo them and there's always the possibility of adding dessert back in with exercise. Check.
- It's time to cut back on the nearly nightly wine consumption Scott and I had going all summer, and it's only M-Th, plus there's the exercise add in option. Check.
- I am all about fruits and veggies. Check.
- I mostly drink water anyway. Check.
- I teach indoor cycling and am pretty fit so the exercise stuff shouldn't be a problem. Check. (You cannot add in more prohibited items by exercising more though, I asked :-(.)
Somehow I'm not racking up those stars like I thought I would. My biggest struggles have been with the wine and the water. I have actually not given myself a star for a day when I exercised and didn't even add in sweets or wine, but forgot to drink a fucking glass of water before dinner. If I'm not going to get a star, I would much rather go down in flames. Like the days where I haven't gotten the 30 minutes of exercise in, it's 4 o'clock, the kids are working my very last very frayed nerve and I decide to chill a bottle of wine and try to wait until Scott gets home to open it. At that point, when I know I'm not going out for a 30 minute jog, it's a Tuesday and the wine will be getting drunk, I can throw out the push-ups and sit-ups for the day and consider some dessert as that star is an all or nothing situation.
I don't actually know how my friends are doing on their star count, but I'm pretty sure they are kicking my ass. I am going to keep on keeping on though. I like the concept of The Challenge. I like that is about healthy habits rather than counting calories. Feel free to steal and use it for yourself. However, if you do decide to do the challenge, I have a cautionary tale for you:
One day, while in the shower, I realized that I had forgotten to do the sit-ups and push-ups while still in my workout gear. I decided to do them after I got out of the shower- naked. I highly do not recommend this. If you must do this because someone has a gun to your head, I implore you to keep your eyes fixed to the ground. Do not tilt your head down and check out what's doing. I may never recover from what was happening with my boobs and stomach. Maybe at age 20 before children this would have worked out alright for me?? Add 19 years and 2 kids to that equation and it's a sad sad state of affairs. I will never get in the push-up/plank position again without being clad in spandex. Probably best to play it safe and cut out all naked exercise.
I'm off to chug some water so I can have my breakfast. I'm getting a star today, I can feel it! Also, it's Friday aka "a drinking day" so just because I'm already plotting which bottle of wine to open tonight doesn't mean I'm doomed. TGIF baby!
Peace & Love :-)
