This is it! The Challenge is HERE!

OK, boys and girls. 2011 is upon us. No excuses. Step away from the Christmas cookies. This is where the rubber meets the road. It's time for our Healthy Habits Challenge! I, for one, need it. I had to let my belt out a notch yesterday. Ewwww.

Challenge Dates: Monday, January 3 – Saturday, January 29

By the way, remember how I said I was going to set up a Facebook page for us to use? Well, because I am apparently a technical ding dong, I have been working on that and it’s not actually working. I don’t know what the deal is. I’ll keep working on it and when I get it up and running, I’ll let you know. Until then, if you are taking part, post your accountability in the comments section for this blog…

The Details/Rules/Requirements--whatever:
-You will follow some sort of fitness plan. If you are doing a BeachBody program that has you on 5 or 6 workouts a week, you do that. You are welcome to design your own program to walk or run or whatever, but you have to do it for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week.

-To be eligible for prizes, you can post in the comments section here, or eventually on the Facebook page, your daily accountability--the workout you did, what you ate. It can be very simple and might look like this:

Workout: 30 minute walk

Breakfast: oatmeal, milk
Snack: banana and peanut butter
Lunch: tuna, greens, tomato, cucumber
Snack: apple, cashews
Dinner: Salmon, sweet potato, green beans

That’s it. So easy.

-You don't have to track your calories, but I highly recommend you do so. It's very enlightening! There are a zillion choices of sites to track your calories. My Fitness Pal is one such choice. It’s free. I used that one before I got a BodyBugg. I also suggest weighing and measuring your food to help with portion control. I still do it…

-You have a 3-day window in which to log your workouts and food. That way, if you’re out of town--say at a hockey tournament--and don’t have an Internet connection, you can remain eligible for the prizes. So, today’s Monday. You have until Thursday to report in on your food and workouts for today.

-We're on the honor system.

Prizes:
And now on to the good stuff. Those who fulfill the requirements of adhering to their exercise plan and posting their info each day for the next four weeks per the rules above will go into a drawing for:

1st prize (one winner)
Your choice of one of the following intro level BeachBody programs:
-Slim in 6
-TurboJam or TurboJam Fat Burning Elite
-Brazil Butt Lift
-Hip Hop Abs
-Yoga Booty Ballet
-Power 90 or Power 90 Masters Series

OR, if you’re already doing one of the more intense programs, like P90X, Turbo Fire or Insanity, I’ll offer up the “plus” DVDs to complete your set.

2nd prize (one winner)
Your choice of one of the following BeachBody fitness tools:
-A set of resistance bands
-A set of weighted gloves
-A set of ankle weights
-A balance ball
-A set of yoga blocks
-A set of sculpting bands
-A set of push up stands
-A yoga mat

3rd prize (two winners)
-One chocolate and one greenberry Shakeology sample and a Shakeology mixer cup. Yum!

Note: This all might be a little ambitious. I think there might only be two people doing it. Ah, well, good odds for you, yes?

Some important points (at least to me):
-This isn’t a weight loss challenge. This is about establishing some great new habits for the New Year. If you can make a change for six weeks, it becomes a habit (I swear, I didn’t make that up, I read it somewhere, which means it’s true).

-Even though it isn’t about weight loss, I think you will see changes. To that end, I encourage you to weigh yourself and take your measurements today or tomorrow so you have something to benchmark against. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

-I will make every attempt to post every day during the challenge, answer any questions or comments, and post my own daily accountability and weekly goals. I’m also doing another challenge with some local friends that involves cash—yikes! As in, if I don’t make my goals, I lose my money to the kitty. If I do make my goals, I share in the kitty. Motivation, to be sure. New shoes could be at stake here.

-I’ll be posting some tips and suggestions here, there and everywhere.

As for today, my accountability is:
I started a new program, TurboFire, with two workouts called Fire 30 and Stretch 10. I’m feelin’ it.

Food
Breakfast: two eggs, 1 piece gluten free bread, 1 orange = 331.9 calories
Snack: apple, 1/4 cup cashews = 229.5 calories
Lunch: salad that was made up of two cups greens, one Roma tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1 tbl. low fat feta cheese, 5 kalamata olives, 1 tbl. red onion, 1 tbl. olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, 1 tin anchovies (I know, gross, but I love them), 1/2 cup fake crabmeat (gross, but I love that, too) = 397.6 calories
Snack: Chocolate Shakeology, 1 cup almond milk = 200 calories
Dinner: 1 cup green beans (canned. Why do I love canned green beans? Beats me.), 1.5 cups homemade tuna casserole (I’m sort of guessing on the total since it’s homemade) = 550.6 calories.

Total calories for the day: 1709.6 (per BodyBugg’s calorie tracking)
Total calories burned as of 8:02pm MST: 1884 (I should hit my 500 calorie deficit goal)

Questions, comments, concerns? You can post in the comments section or e-mail me at nrooney@centurytel.net.

OK, let’s do this…no excuses.