Week 5 Points

Almost there everyone!

1st: DAD! 700

2nd: Olivia 689

3rd: Em and Russ and Mom 685

6th: Matt 683

7th: Kristal 680

8th: Scott 502

And hey... we were all thinking over here that maybe once 'The Challenge' has ended, we simplify it and keep going! Just because we have all been doing so much better here, and having something to keep the competition up would be great!

My thoughts: We cut out everything except food points and exercise (and maybe the physical goal). Just to simplify, not because those things aren't important and we shouldn't keep doing them. But then I was thinking with the sweets, I like having something there that makes me think 'is that REALLY worth losing points?' but, I think that once we've 'cleansed' for 8 weeks, we can have a little break. So what I was thinking is that if you eat sweets one day, you only lost 1 point, as opposed to 5. We could also cut down the amount of points received for exercising and the goal, so that it's more proportionate.

What are your thoughts? I might just be changing the things that I want changed... not for the best interest of the group!

Baseball Throw Winners

Boys:

1st: Russell 556 (+50)

2nd: Matt 340 (+30)

3rd: Dad 324 (+20)

Girls:

1st: Kristal 235 (+50)

2nd: Emily 228 (+30)

3rd: Mom 224 (+20)

and we don't have anyone else's scores

Week 4 Points Totals

1st: Olivia 686

2nd: Russell 685

3rd: Emily 680

4th: Matt 675

5th: Kristal 670

6th: Marlena 630

7th: Jeff 562

8th: Mom 525

9th: Dad 525

10th: Scott 492

Hurray for everyone having scores this week! So, since we didn't announce a physical challenge early enough, we'll just wait until next week.

Points for Week 3

1st: Em and Russ 700

2nd: Olivia 690

3rd: Kristal 687

4th: Matt 677

5th: Marlena 595

6th: Jeff 593

7th: Mom and Dad 535

6th: Scott 525

Wall sit Challenge

Boys:

1st: Matt 3:33 (+50 points)

2nd: Russ 2:11 (+30 points)

Girls:

1st: Emily 11:00 (+50 points) (Matt wants evidence, he doesn't believe you... he thinks you should prove it by doing it again on Skype)

2nd: Kristal 2:30 (+30)

3rd: Olivia (+20)

*Don't forget the baseball throw this week. And next week I was thinking of suggesting to mom, for the physical mini challenge, who can hold the plank longest... and this time I think we should do it on skype, so we can be challenged by each other*

Points for Week 2

1st: Matt 700

2nd: Kristal 698

3rd: Olivia 695

4th: Russ 685

5th: Emily 675

6th: Scott 502

And hey, I have a question, does everyone have a public pool nearby that they could swim in for relatively cheap? (I'm not talking buying a season pass, but just a couple times) Matt and my problem with coming up with a challenge is that so many things are eliminated.... push-ups, pull-ups, running, biking, so we're just having a hard time coming up with something. (Plus, we want we want to do something physical so we can slay all of you). Let me know if you can get to a pool. (not if you want to, if you CAN)

Mini Challenges

Okay, new idea. Couples are going to be in charge of coming up with a mini challenge for an assigned week. In between, we'll (mom, dad, Matt and me) come up with some type of physical challenge. I think that if everyone is in charge of one, then everyone can come up with something that they think they can win... that way it's balanced!

Remember, Russ can't do push-ups or pull-ups, so don't include those in your challenge. Any volunteers to go first? If anyone chooses to opt out of assigning a week, then the challenge in it's place will be who can run the fastest 5k (I think that should be sufficient motivation:))

The challenge can be ANYTHING! I know Olivia suggested memorizing something (so no one else can take that if she wants it).

Oh, and mom doesn't know what her points are, but she said dads were 485.

Week 1 Points

1st: Emily 695

2nd: Russ 690

3rd: Olivia and Kristal 658

4th: Matt 611

5th: Scott 463

Jeff and Marlena are starting this week!

Fast Sunday Calorie Packets

Mom said that for Fast Sunday (if you are fasting) we need to just make sure that you eat a healthy meal, and get at least one serving of veggies, and one of fruit. Other than that, don't worry about anything in the calorie packet except still no sweets.

So basically, if you are fasting on Sunday, as long as you get a fruit and veggie, you get points.

Change to 'Beauty Points'

So, we decided to change the way 'beauty points' are scored. Instead of it being an all or nothing deal, you just subtract one point for each thing you don't do. For example, if Matt is being stubborn and refuses to wear sunscreen, then he only looses 1 point a day, as opposed to five (I have a feeling this scenario will be with all the men protesting sunscreen)

Good Luck!

Tips for lowering Cholesterol

1. Avoid trans fats like the plague. Even if something says that it has '0 grams trans fat', that just means per serving, and they can make serving sizes as big or small as they want. Check the ingredients to see if it contains partially hydrogenated oils, because that means that it contains trans fat. If you are going to use margarine instead of butter, make sure you check the label!

2. When you add eggs to a recipe, take out some of the yolks and use only the egg whites. Egg whites have no saturated fat or cholesterol, where the yolk has lots of both. If you are using three eggs, take one of the yolks out and it won't affect what you are making at all (besides lowering the cholesterol). Sometimes, I'll even take out 1 of every two yolks.

3. Eat foods that help lower LDL's (or bad cholesterol)

4. Boost your HDL's (good cholesterol)

Hey Everybody!

Welcome to the Challenge Blog. If anyone would like to be added as an author to this blog, either to trash talk or post about healthy stuff, let us know and we'll add you.

Hopefully, we can keep this blog up to date with weekly winners and mini challenges!

On the sidebar you can find all the information you need for the Challenge. I found a better calorie calculator, so use the link to the side to determine what calorie packet you need. I'm sorry I don't have 1800, I'm working on getting it. Until then, just use 1600 or 2000. Feel free to adjust what packet you use from week to week, once you are eating the right portions and kinds of food for your calorie count, it may end up being too much. I think the packets are pretty straight forward (you don't need to mark your exercise at the bottom), but if you have any questions, email me or leave a comment.

We did make some minor changes to the Points Explanation Page, so make sure you read through that.

Also, I *think* I shared the points tracker page with everyone, so you can keep track of points on google documents (just 'save as' for your own points), instead of having to print out a new sheet each week. If you can't access it, let me know.

Good Luck! We start TOMORROW!