Hello!

This thread is a new challenge that will start on December 1 and end on December 29. Anyone is welcome to join. Everybody on the challenge threads supports one another, and together we will succeed!

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THE DETAILS

Put simply, in this challenge you will set goals for yourself, and then reward yourself for meeting those goals. We'll use a point system to keep track of our progress, but... this challenge is not a competition among members! It's about personal accountability, not earning more points than another person.

Step One: Choose three rewards. Let one of the rewards be small, one medium, and one big.

Step Two: Set an overall major goal that you would like to accomplish at the end of the four weeks. Make the major goal something that really would be a challenge.

Step Three: At the beginning of each week, set three goals for that week.

Step Four: At the end of each week, award yourself one point for each goal that you met.

Step Five: At the end of the challenge, add up all your points.

Step Six: Reward yourself!

If you earn at least four points, you will earn your small reward.

If you earn at least eight points, you will earn both your small and medium rewards.

If you earn twelve points...
OR if you earn at least eight points AND meet your overall major goal that you set for yourself for the month...
you will earn all your rewards.

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If you join us after December 1, PM me and I'll do the math to see how many points you'll need to make your various goals.

I'll post an example. Anybody who has questions, PM me. It would be easier if each of you could keep track of your own points, but if you want, you can PM me at the end of each week and I'll keep track for you.

An example based on my goals...


Step One:

Small reward -- Pedicure
Medium reward -- A nice new suit
Big Reward -- A new bike


Step Two:

Overall major goal -- Lose six pounds. Extremely challenging for me!


Step Three:

Three goals for the week starting December 1:
1. Drink four glasses of water per day.
2. Exercise four times.
3. Eat twenty-four servings of fruits/vegetables.


On December 7, I would award myself a point for each goal that I met. On December 8, I would start over with another list of three goals. I would do the same for December 15 and 22. On December 29, I would add up my points and reward myself.

Wishing success to all of us!

Step One:

Small reward -- New Book
Medium reward -- Pair of good joggers
Big Reward -- Exersize equipment


Step Two:

Overall major goal -- Lose six pounds. If I do that I will be at a new record.


Step Three:

Three goals for the week starting December 1:
1. Do 10 pushups and 30 crunches every second day.
2. Exercise Daily 30 mins.
3. Eat vegetarian/fish 6 days a week. Meat one day or less per week.


There are my goals.

Count me in!

Step One:

Small reward -- Try out a new NIA/Belly Dancing Class
Medium reward --Mix CD from a friend/other low-cost, high value gift
Big Reward -- Take a day off of work JUST FOR ME!


Step Two:

Overall major goal -- Lose 10 pounds.


Step Three:

Three goals for the week starting December 1:
1. Get more sleep.
2. Exercise every day and weight train at least 3 times this week.
3. Eat enough calories (stop restricting so much) and focus on getting more protein!

This sounds fun!

My rewards:

Small= a new sewing pattern
Medium= one of those nifty banana hangers
Large= a new book

My overall goal:

Lose 5 lbs and firmly establish a new healthy habit

Week 1 goals:

1. Log all meals and snacks on paper
2. Include some protein with all meals and snacks
3. No snacks after 9pm, unless it's fruits and/or vegetables

Step One:
Small reward -- Hair Cut
Medium reward -- Step (for step aerobics)
Big Reward -- Sirius radio receiver (granted I don't get one for Xmas )


Step Two:
Overall major goal -- Lose around 5 pounds/make it to or below 210 (I'm around 214.? right now)

Step Three:
Three goals for the week starting December 1:
1. Eat ONLY 1500-1600 calories per day.
2. Exercise 45+ minutes per session, 5 times per week.
3. Eat 1 fruit and 2 vegetables each day.

Welcome, Yogini and Forestdawn!

Betani and Elisha, good to see youse here.

Step One:

Small reward -- New sports bra
Medium reward -- New workout DVDs (dancing, maybe?)
Big Reward -- New pair of pants for my new job


Step Two:

Overall major goal -- Start and **maintain** a regular workin-out routine.


Step Three:

Three goals for the week starting December 1:
1. Pilates 5 out of 7 days.
2. Research/begin a weight training at home regimen.
3. Journal all of my food for 6 of 7 days.

PhysDom, Yogini, Forestdawn...

PhysDom-- creating and maintaining an exercise routine was my goal last month. It can be done!! I still struggle with the weekends, but that's another habit

Elisha-- I'd love a step someday, but I'm afraid it would be uber-noisy in my upstairs apartment.

Yogini-- I'm with you at not being good at rewarding myself. Even if I stay on track, I feel like I was supposed to all along and don't deserve a reward for it. Money's tight for me too. $6 for a new paperback is a major reward for me!

Forestdawn-- A good pair of shoes can make all the difference. If I hadn't invested in a decent pair of cross-trainers, I wouldn't have been able to get myself to exercise at all!

TBJ-- Hey, are we allowed to repeat a goal multiple weeks? Since I want to make paper food logging my habit for the month, I'd like to make that goal a constant. I'll change the other two each week, though.

Yogini-
An idea: I happen to love mix CDs. So maybe one of your rewards would be getting someone to make and send you a CD? It means work for someone else, but I can't imagine that people would mind. If I still have computer CD/burner access when you reach your goals, remind me, and I'll make you one.
Emily.

I've definetly going to join. I need to think first. One thing at a time LOL

~Rosie~

Thanks for the welcome It's day one for me as I'm from Australia. I kept telling myself yesterday I wasn't going to splurge this time but after dinner I weakened and had some chocolate... oh well I'm fully motivated today! I've just been for a 10 min jog/walk So that's not a bad start to the day. With luck I'll have a perfect day today.

Good luck all

Dawn

Step One:

Small reward -- New Shoes
Medium reward -- New Pants and Shirt
Big Reward -- A new bike


Step Two:

Overall major goal -- Lose 10 pounds


Step Three:

Three goals for the week starting December 1:
1. Drink 8 glasses of water per day.
2. Exercise four times.
3. Check and post on this board for support when I am being tempted.

Those small goals may not seem like alot (the support) but, I really have a hard time accepting help and support from others. It is something I need to over come to do this.

Welcome, Mom2-Gillian-n-Alexan! Can we shorten your name when we respond to you? And your pictures are so cute! Congratulations on your weight loss so far.

All right Dawn, you're the first person up and running... Literally, since you've been jogging.

Emily, that was really nice of you to offer to make someone a mix CD. Welcome to the group.

Sure, Betani, you can repeat goals. You can repeat as many of them as often as you want. That would be a good way of forming a habit... and I've heard that it takes 28 days to form a habit, so this challenge would be perfect for that.

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OK, recently, my eating habits have been poor as far as fruits and veggies are concerned. One of my goals for the first week is to eat more produce. Four servings a day will beat my goal.

Here's to a good start tomorrow.

Thanks for the warm welcome! Yeah, my name is Cristi, I will add that to my siggy soon hehe