Week one challenges! Good luck everyone!

Alright everyone – here is week 1 of the challenge! It is slowly creeping into short-sleeve weather (except maybe for you Winnipeg residents….sorry!) and it’s important that we develop great habits BEFORE the summer hits so when the barbecues, vacations and patios filled with margaritas forge ahead and make us forget how hard we worked all winter to get into shape!

So much of what we do in life is because of habits – think about it – that bit of chocolate right after dinner…it isn’t NEEDED but it’s a habit. That creamer in your coffee every morning….a habit. That popcorn at the movie…a habit. Lounging on the couch all night after work…a habit. Anyone who’s tried to change one knows that habits are hard to break. I’ve read all over the place that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit (http://www.shapefit.com/habits.html – check out that article if you’re interested) – I’ve also read that you can’t cut a habit out of your life without replacing it with a new behaviour. Telling yourself you’re going to change your behaviour “forever” is daunting and making small steps to an ultimately healthier life is the way to make it last – no fad diets here – just lifestyle changes to make you a healthier and happier version of YOU! Let’s cut out some bad habits and create some good longstanding behaviours. This challenge let’s pick concrete individual goals and work towards them together.

OP: keep track of all of your OP days – 10pts/day (a max of 70pts/week)


MOIE: keep track of all of your minutes of intentional exercise (1pt/minute) + 10 bonus pts/day if you do at least 20minutes of strength training

Lifestyle:
1.) For 15pts: introduce yourself to your team and tell them a little something about you – some of you have already done this but if you haven’t, hop on your team’s daily thread and tell them a bit about who you are.
2.) Think about your daily life….what habits do you have that are infringing on your weight loss/fitness progress? My biggies are the nightly dessert after dinner – and that last little “treat” before bed every night that I don’t count. For others, it’s the creamer in their coffee during the morning break or the candy they pick up at the receptionist desk every morning. It might be retiring to the couch immediately after dinner only to stay there all night… For other people, they may not have bad habits to break – but they may need to initiate GOOD habits – like those of us who don’t hit the gym our goal 4 days a week (or whatever you aim to do), or some of us who intend to get SOME FORM of physical exercise daily but just skip it here and there – or maybe it’s that every time you work out you avoid the REALLY TOUGH exercises (push-ups…planks….ahem….)….For this part of the challenge I want you to pick two habits – one to do with your eating habits and one to do with your fitness habits – that you want to change over the next 6 weeks. They can be habits that you want to break – or habits that you want to form – either way, make it something worthwhile and something challenging. Tell your group about what you decide – and remember we’ll be using these for the next 6 weeks…make them good! We will start implementing the changes NEXT Thursday (April 9) so you have a few days to really think about the changes you’d like to make.

Nutrition:
Let’s start this one out nice and easy – so many of us miss out on a valuable part of our diet because we skimp out on protein. Because it’s not counted in WW we often miss it and it is SO important for fat burning and muscle building. This week, add protein into your diet – just try and substitute extra protein into breakfast or lunch or a snack everyday. For example if for breakfast you have a bagel, instead have a half bagel and 3 egg whites (only 1 pt for 3!!) – OR if you have a granola bar as your afternoon snack instead try a cheesestring and carrots OR if you have oatmeal for breakfast throw in a scoop of whey protein powder and a tbsp of PB instead of fruit/sweetener OR on your toast instead of butter use peanut butter OR on your salad take out the croutons and add tuna OR in the afternoon for a snack have ½ cup of ff cottage cheese w/ strawberries (2pts and my personal favourite) OR instead of OJ in the morning have a glass of milk….3pts for every day you do this – if you get all 7 days bonus 4 pts (for a max of 25pts) This should help you feel fuller longer and give you more energy! What are your favs?

Fitness Challenge:
Let’s get the ball rolling – this week spend 20 minutes a day doing some sort of physical activity – go for a walk, do squats and pushups in your living room – anything! 25pts if you do it every day

BONUS: Pick your level of intensity – challenge yourself! Let’s get some strength moves happening! What is an area you’d like to focus on? Pick ONE of the areas below and do the corresponding exercise every day – 25pts if you do it everyday

Upper body giving you grief? Push-ups - 3 sets of as many as you can a day (aim to improve each day)
Ab difficulties? Planks – hold one as long as you can, plus one on each side as long as you can. Try and increase the time you can hold it each day
Legs your area of concern? Lunges – aim for at least 10 on each side and do 3 sets on each side

Click on the link below for samples of how to do all of the exercises above in regular and modified versions.
(http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercise_demos.asp?exercise_type=upper)

Good luck everyone!! Let me know if you have any questions!