Points: Week 1

1. Kari 58
2. Mom 56
3. Ethan 47
4. Kim 44
5. Richy 38
6. Dave 35
7. Adrienne 31
8. Dennis 29
9. Heather 21

eta. Dave and Adrienne hadn't counted Saturday's points yet when they were sent to me.

Happy Birthday Heather!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my sista from another mista. Heather you've been my sister for such a long time it just feels like we're blood. Thanks for being so great. For always helping with my hair and make up for dances way back in the day. Showing me good times (and good pizza) at Utah State. For getting muddy with me on the soccer field. For setting an excellent example on how to enjoy Halloween (OK, and lots of other stuff too). For finishing your degree and showing me I could do it too. For letting me witness the miracle of life for the first time and helping me to realize what a beautiful miracle it is. Being honest with me and forgiving me for my failings. For so many other fun and random and wonderful things. But most of all for loving me.

You are such a fabulous sister! You are beautiful, funny, smart, talented... the list could go on and on. I love you! And I hope you have a spectacular birthday because you deserve it!

And by the way, the birthday idea is one to talk to Dennis, Richy and Kari about... they're the only others who will be affected. You could form an alliance. :)

You Decide 2009

So, I've decided that I'm not going to worry about the questions/concerns you've all presented. I will simply ask each of you to honestly consider what you think is the best way to handle your personal situation and decide from there. I will not be policing the points, I will be recording the points. Just send me your weekly totals and I will record them, no questions asked. Just please be honest, so its fair for everyone.

How much water should I drink?

Several questions and concerns have come up about the water points. I know we all need different amounts of water for optimal health. I said 48 oz because I figured we all probably need more than that, but can get the extra fluids from other sources such as milk and 100% fruit or vegetable juices.

I did a search online to see how much water I should be drinking a day and found this little "quiz" at about.com. According to this I should be drinking approximately 82 oz. of fluid a day, so the 48 oz. is a definite low ball number and the milk and/or juice that I drink can make up for some of the difference (though I probably drink 56-64 oz. of water most days).

Go check out how much you should be drinking. If it says less than 48 oz. let me know and we'll figure something out. You can also read this article about why we need water.

I hope this helps clarify things. Let me know if you have any more questions about water.

I'm still trying to figure out how to handle some of the other questions/concerns that have come up. The points are set up so that it is fair for everyone. When we start making exceptions for one person because of this and another person because of that, I'm afraid the point system loses its integrity. I'm hoping to get an outsider to help me figure out the best way to handle your questions. I'll be sure to have answers soon!

Additional Info

The MyPyramid.gov website has some great insights to helping us get healthier. At this link you can put in your information and it will give you specific pyramid for your needs. If you're not at a healthy weight it will give you suggestions for progressively getting to a healthy weight. It also has some great tips for adding these good things into our diets. So if you're concerned about getting all your fruit and veggie servings in, check out the tips on your pyramid. It's pretty cool, they even have a link for those of us who are pregnant or breastfeeding. And if you'd like to get the kiddos involved they have a pyramid for them too.

Dave was asking me how much of something is considered a serving of fruit. Inside the Pyramid lists several different common fruit and how much is considered a serving. There is a chart for each pyramid option as well. I didn't realize that beans were considered vegetables, but according to the vegetable link from the same page linked above, they can be protein or vegetable. That's awesome, I use beans in a lot of my cooking!

Dave also asked me to define "treat" for purposes of the challenge. I don't want to do that, I think that it needs to be a personal decision for each person. The basic idea is to exclude high sugar/fat/calorie foods. Some ideas you might try to exclude: candy, cake, cookies, soda... you know treats. :) Whatever you deem as OK for you will go since you'll be awarding your points each day. Just keep in mind we're trying to get healthy. :)

So, I was thinking about 30 minutes of exercise and sometimes its really hard to get it all in one shot. If you get 30 minutes in increments (three 10 minutes workouts, for example) you can award yourself 1 point rather than 2.

I will post weekly points on the blog as well as total points for everyone involved. At the end of the challenge the person with the most points wins.

OK, any other questions or concerns. Now is the time to figure it all out.

Healthy Family Challenge Info

Hello all you healthy challengers!

I am so excited that we are going to do this! I decided that this week will be a practice week to get us all used to keeping track of our points and making these healthy choices... or like Ethan said "you have a week to get rid of your treats!" So the official tally will begin starting next Monday. I'd like to do the prize money thing for incentive, let me know if you want to or not. If we're going to do it, I'd like to know who all will be contributing and how much the prize money will be by next week. So get back to me asap.

We will run the challenge through the end of February, I think it is 12 weeks exactly. This way its not such a far off goal that there is no end in sight, but its long enough that we can (hopefully!) see some benefits.

The daily points will be awarded for the following:

• 2 points for 30 minutes exercise
• 1 point for strength or flexibility training (at least 10 minutes)
• 1 point for 7-8 hours of sleep
• 1 point for 5 fruits and vegetables
• 1 point for at least 48 oz. water
• 1 point for no food after 8:00 pm
• 1 point for no treats
• 1 point for personal prayer
• 1 point for reading the Book of Mormon

As you can see, a total of 10 points is possible for each day. Remember Sundays are free days! No points will be awarded for Sundays. That means a weekly total of 60 possible points. As you can also see, we are totally going to be on the honor system. Adrienne suggested she might create a spreadsheet to keep tally of her points on, if you're interested in her system ask her for a copy, I'm sure she'd love to help. That's what this is all about, encouraging each other and doing it together!

Points will be reported to me each Sunday. I will try to send an email out each Saturday night or Sunday morning to remind you to get me your points. I will post the points on the family blog so we can all keep track of our progress. Feel free to post on the blog how you've been feeling, what things you're finding have a big impact on you, what you're struggling with, etc. That way we can use it as a support system of sorts. I will post on the blog each Sunday night... that means I really need your weekly points that day. A point will be deducted from your weekly score each day after Sunday that I don't have your points (I'm so mean, I know!).

So far, I have the participants as:

1. Mom
2. Dennis
3. Heather
4. Richy
5. Kari
6. Adrienne
7. Kim
8. Ethan

Dad doesn't want to participate. I haven't heard anything from Sean or Dave. There is still time for you two to join us! Just let me know one way or the other, please.

OK, if anyone has any questions or concerns about anything, let's get them sorted out before next week when the official tally starts. Thanks again everyone for doing this with me! I'm so excited!

Last one!

Finally, hats of to Coach Kreis. What a stud! He so much awesomer than Mr. Smuggy-pants. What an amazing job he has done for RSL. He's so little in real life! He's cute too!