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I'm still pretty stoked to have finished the last challenge. My grades were A, C, C - not stellar, but getting all the way to the end without giving up is a pretty big deal for me. I can see the difference in my fitness, and I really feel like I'm working on building permanent habits rather than my usual 'crash diet and binge' cycle. So here I am amongst the Adventurers - challenge number two - COME ON! MAIN QUEST:- To be a good role model for my son in having a healthy relationship with food and being able to exercise with him (and keep up with him!) I'm working towards modelling the same behaviour around food and fitness that I want my son to have when he's an adult. My parenting mantra is 'Kids don't do what you say, they do what you do'. Well, I don't want him to be a serial dieter like me, and I'd like him to see exercise as part of a normal adult life. It's also important to me that he sees me working hard at a career that is meaningful to me - basically just leading a balanced life. So all of these goals feed in to that... Goal - Do some exercise that I enjoy at a moderate to high intensity for half an hour three times a week This is continued from last challenge. Once again, I'm only going to do things I enjoy because I think that's the best way to make this stick when I'm starting out. I've failed many times before by using willpower to bully myself into doing things and then giving up, whereas the exercise habit from last challenge seems to be sticking. I've decided not to 'extend' this goal i.e. I've kept it exactly the same as last challenge. It's still such a big change for me compared to before my first challenge and I want to really establish this habit before I push further with it. Also my food goal went badly last time, so I'm going to focus on improving my score there, while maintaining my exercise score. A - Three times a week B - Twice a week C - Once a week FAIL - No exercise beyond my usual long walks Goal - No eating apart from planned meals and snacks [edited from 'No eating between meals on weekdays' - changing goal after Week One] A - Stick to plan B - One small lapse during the week C - Two lapses or a major lapse during the week D - No change from current habits FAIL - I only grade it as a 'Fail' if I stop checking in and being accountable Goal - Life Challenge/Side Quest - Procrastination vs Taking A Break. I'm working from home and struggling with productivity. I have a bad habit of avoiding taking a 'proper' break away from the computer but then wasting a load of time on the internet. I know that if I take a 'proper' break like exercise, or practising guitar or going for a walk, doing some stretches or meditating - then after doing these things I work better, my mind is clearer - and it's better for my eyes too. I've figured out a simple scoring system for the working day to take positive breaks. I have a target score of +50 points per working day (I'm only keeping score during working hours). I can score +100 by just getting a reasonable amount of work done and taking two or three positive breaks during the day. Whereas a whole working day spent wasting time on the internet while eating junk food takes me into negative numbers... I have a spreadsheet for tracking but it this scoring system doesn't work for me over the course of the challenge then I'll adjust it as I go. A - score 50 points per day or over and record every day's score B - stay in positive numbers over the course of a week and record every day's score C - write down the score every day regardless of what the score is - measuring and being aware of what my habits are and staying accountable here is still a passing grade D - skipping a few days of writing down the score FAIL - consistently not recording my habits and not checking in with scores here

Okay, here goes. This is my six week challenge.. Goal - do a written exercise every day from 'The Emotional Eating Rescue Plan' It's a four week plan with a written exercise to do each day. My goal is to set aside time every day to do the written exercise in my notebook - if I stick to it I'll finish the plan before the end of the six week challenge, but I expect some resolutions to come out of doing it and I can then add those on for the final two weeks. A - Complete all written exercises in first four weeks of challenge and then follow it with two weeks of sticking to any resolutions that come from it B - Complete all written exercises by the end of the challenge C - Do most of the plan and take some insights from it into the next challenge D - Stop less than halfway through the plan Goal - Do some exercise that I enjoy at a moderate to high intensity for half an hour three times a week I'm not going to be too prescriptive about which exercise - it's all going to count. It will probably include swimming, dance classes, running, yoga, gym... lots of different things just trying to get in the habit of being more active regularly and enjoying it (that last part is really the crucial bit for me). A - Three times a week, half an hour, moderate-to-high intensity - total of 90 minutes B - Total of 60 minutes in a week moderate-to-high intensity C - Total of 30 minutes in a week moderate-to-high intensity D - less than 15 minutes (which is my current activity level) Goal - Cut out sugar (apart from fresh fruit and single square 70% cocoa chocolate every now and then) A - No sugar B - One lapse in a whole week C - One 'bad day' in a week D - No change from my current diet Life Quest I've written specific work tasks for each week of the challenge. The challenge for Week One is to take a week off from work, which I haven't done since July (I worked through the holiday season… including Christmas Day - taking a whole week off is a genuine challenge for me). I'll grade myself on whether I completed the task set for that week - each time it's something that is a personal challenge rather than just 'getting the day job done'. Starting Measurements Waist at narrowest point - 85cm Belly at widest point - 92cm Hips - 111.5cm Weight 154 lbs - Target Weight for end of 6 week challenge - 148 lbs Good luck everyone - see you out there!

#1 - Diet: Grain-free 4 days per week My goals from the last challenge involved counting grams of protein and carbs. I did great with the protein goal – 140g protein 5 days/ week; however I struggled with the <100g of carbs 5 days/week. In reviewing my food diary & analyzing my behavior (i.e. stress eating), I found that the days I went grain free were easier for me than the days that I had an allotted amount of carbs. I will naturally stick with the higher protein levels b/c I will be eating less grains. Action Plan: Meal plan & stay away from my kids during snack time! Measure: Food diary – Lose-It App on my phone and accountability worksheet (in my signature) Grading: A+ = > 4 days grain freeA = 4 days grain freeB = 3 days grain freeC = 2 days grain freeD = 1 day grain freeF = 0 days grain free #2 – Fitness: 4 runs per week Last challenge I signed up for my first half-marathon. My training plan starts 6/3. I will follow my training guide to build mileage. By the end of the challenge I will be built up to 13 miles/week. Action Plan: Schedule my runs for the upcoming week over the weekend, but be flexible & don’t get stressed if my schedule changes last minute. This worked well last challenge. Most runs will be scheduled during the early morning (often referred to by Phoenix as the “unholy hourâ€) to avoid the heat and humidity.Stretch before and after every run to avoid injury.Measure: battle log and accountability worksheet (both in my signature) Grading: A = 4 runsB = 3 runsC = 2 runsD = 1 runF = 0 runs #3 - Fitness: 25 push-ups in one set Right now my PR is 11 pushups in one set. I want to work on the definition of my tricep muscles. Downloaded a push-up app that conveniently has a 6 week program. It claims I will be able to do 44 in one set by the end of 6 weeks. That seems like too lofty of a goal, so I went with a little over double what I am already able to do. I will incorporate push-ups into both strength training workouts and then have one day where I just do push-ups. Action Plan: Push-up AppSchedule strength training days, just like I do with the runs.Measure: Daily Battle Log and accountability worksheet (both in my signature) Grading: A+ = 25 push-upsA = 21-24 push-upsB = 17-20 push-upsC = 16-18 push-upsD = 12-15 push-upsF = 11 push-ups #4 - Level UP: Breaking the habit of emotional/stress eating. I have always known that I have been a bit of stress eater; however this past challenge shed some light on some very bad habits. I did not meet my <100g of carbs goal last challenge, 3 out of the 6 weeks. My goal was to consume < 100g of carbs 5 days a week. The 3 weeks that I failed I missed my goal by one day! Each of those weeks I had a day where I sought food to comfort some kind of emotional stress. It is embarrassing to admit, but it admitting it is the first step, right? Action Plan: Stay out of the kitchen when I am stressedPray when I am tempted.Apply concepts from Made to Crave (book I just finished on this topic)Facilitating Made to Crave study over the next 2 months with 12 other women who are striving to make healthier choices. Yay for support groups! Will have reading & homework on this topic 5 days a week.Find something to do with my hands when I get stressed. Not sure what this will be. Any suggestions?If I have an incident, make myself journal as to why I had said incident.Measure: accountability worksheet (in my signature), food diary (lose-it app) Weekly Grading: Pass (A) – 0 binges and/or emotional eating incidents per weekFail (F) – 1 or more binges and/or emotional eating incidents per weekFinal Grade: Will be a percentage grade -- # of weeks I passed (or rec'd an A) / # of weeks (6) I put a lot of thought into this. With this kind of issue there is no wiggle room. With my personality if I know I have a day that is not considered failing it will be tempting to cave. Secondly, once I have caved I am more likely to downward spiral. Also took in to consideration that my food diary indicated that the 3 weeks I didn't excel, I only emotional ate once per week. If I want to do better than last challenge, I have to have zero incidents. Bonus Goals: Increase plank PR time to 4 minutesSign up for a 5K for July or AugustComplete 3 of the following 6 projects that I have procrastinated on for months:Teach Sifty-A how to tie her shoes Complete DANIEL Exam Make chore chart for the kids Make labels for work room totes Organize laundry room closet FilingOther: Last challenge I really wish I had taken measurements every week. I only lost 2lbs, but lost lots of inches. While losing a specific amount of weight and/or inches is not a goal for this challenge, I want to make sure I am charting results. Weigh in once a week.Take abdomen, hip and arm measurements once a week