Healthy Living Challenge

Merry Christmas-Happy New Year. I am such a slacker. I will get back to posting about our family soon. But for now I wanted to let you know of a new challenge I am starting. Its called the Healthy Living Challenge. Just in case you are in need of some motivation. I am starting tomorrow. But feel free to jump in with us. Here are the legistics of it.

So here are the details of the challenge.
Points - 12 points possible per day
1 Reporting/Accountability point just for reporting your points each day. You can do it here on the blog or to a friend.
1 Water - drink at least 8 - 8oz cups of water everyday, more if you can!
1 Supplements/Vitamins - take a good supplement, even a multivitamin is better than nothing.
1 No Skipping Meals- NO SKIPPING MEALS OR SNACKS!!! You should be eating every 2-3 hours! Plan ahead. Have some healthy snacks in your purse or in the car.
1 Whole Grains - No white flour, white pasta, white rice, etc. There are now tons of 100% Whole Grain products in the grocery stores
1 No sugar/junk food - No white refined sugar, cookies, cakes, candies, ice cream, chocolate, etc. (some things do have sugar in them like breads and whole grain cereals and those are fine - the grams of sugar per serving should be less than 5 grams unless it contains dried fruit like raisins)
1 3-hour rule - Don't eat for at least 3 hours before you go to bed.
1 Counting Calories - It is amazing how fast calories add up. Pick up a kitchen scale and monitor your portion size. Use myfitnesspal or some other way to track the calories you consume each day. The minimum calories you consume should be 1200 per day, the maximum varies depending on how much weight you need to lose, your current weight and the amount you exercise each day. Even if you go over your daily amount you can still get this point if you are tracking your calories.
Workout Points: up to 4 per day
Low intensity (walking) exercise 30 minutes = 1 point
Moderate intensity (jogging) exercise 20 minutes = 1 point
High intensity exercise (running) 15 minutes = 1 point
Give yourself up to 4 points per day based on how long you exercise and at what level your perceived level of exertion is.

Set a goal for 2009 and keep track of your points each day!
My friend Kathy has started a new blog just for this challenge. Its open to friends of friends. So check it out here
Also I have a weight loss blog that I will continue to add to-very little as of now, but maybe more as time goes on,
here.
anyone up for the challenge?!
Hope everyone is having a great new year so far.
I have lots to update. I promise I will do it soon. plus some great new family pictures!