Summer Sizzle Slim Down Challenge

I found a summer challenge! Thanks to my friend, Julie, at Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise, NOT...but learning.

Rochelle (thankyouthankyouthankyou) at Does My Butt Make This Blog Look Fat? is hosting the Summer Sizzle Slim Down and it starts TODAY!

I think this challenge will be a good one for me. I don't take it very well when people try to browbeat me into losing the weight- or anything else for that matter. It just ticks me off and I turn away from the challenge. Rochelle's challenge isn't like that at all!

Here are the guidelines:

1. Take a couple of pictures. A full body shot and a close up of your face. You don't have to post it on your blog but take them anyway so you can see the difference in September! (I'll do it but I won't post until AFTER the challenge)
2. Take measurements. Measure the basics- upper arms, calf, thighs, waist, hips, bust, neck...you can (but don't have to) post these updates once a month on: June 3, July 1, August, 5 and Sept. 2. (I will do this and keep track on myfitnesspal.com)
3. Weigh in weekly. You pick your own weigh in day but post all updates on Sundays. (I will go ahead and weigh in on Sundays and post it on MyFitnessPal.com. I will post a challenge update of the week on the blog)

Rochelle also has weekly challenges set up to help everyone develop some good habits that will surely lead to health and fitness! You can just try them for a week or keep them as part of your health and fitness routine. As Rochelle says: "And if you can do them for one week- why not two weeks? Why not three?"

Here are the WEEKLY CHALLENGES

Week 1 - (begin June 3) - "WRITE IT ALL DOWN" (and post pics/measurements if doing so)
I will be tracking EVERY MORSEL on MyFitnessPal.com. I used livestrong.com last challenge but MyFitnessPal.com has a few things that I like better. I'll post about this later. I took a break from challenges for a while because I got sick and tired of tracking the food. I'm back on it now. It DOES make a difference. As Rochelle says: "but I also know that when people DO track, they are more inclined to not eat crap because who wants to write 5 Snickers on their log?"

Week 2 - (begin June 10) - "SIX HOURS OF EXERCISE"
It doesn't matter what you're doing just MOVE IT for 6 hours throughout the week. Get those 6 hours in any way you can- break it into small segments or go for an hour every day. Whatever you do, just MOVE!

Week 3 - (begin June 17) - TRY A NEW FITNESS ACTIVITY OR PIECE OF EQUIPMENT 
I already have something planned for this week. We'll see how it goes!The purpose here is to get us to try something new. Step out of that comfort zone. It'll also keep us from getting bored!

Week 4 - (begin June 24) - 100 oz OF WATER AND SHARE A FAVORITE HEALTHY RECIPE
 I should be 3 weeks into a RAW diet for the summer and have some awesome recipes to share!

Week 5 - (begin July 1) - LOSE 2 lbs THIS WEEK (and post pics/measurements if doing so)
 Well, this one will be interesting. That's for sure. Rochelle hopes that this will help everyone realize that a holiday is not a license to take a break from our health and fitness goals.

Week 6 - (begin July 8) - VEGETARIAN WEEK
This will, hopefully, be an easy one. IF I stuck with the RAW diet all summer.  

Week 7 - (begin July 15) - COMMIT TO AND SIGN UP FOR A 5K
Ok this one will be easy on the commitment part and difficult on the sign up. I plan to run (maybe walk) a 5k on Thanksgiving Day in Charleston. We can't sign up until the fall. 

Week 8 - (begin July 22) - EMBRACE A FITNESS FEAR
Not sure what my fitness fear is. But if I have one, I'll find it and face it!  

Week 9 - (begin July 29) - NO SUGAR (unless it's all natural) AND NO SNACKING AFTER DINNER
This one should  be a cinch since we already eat only organic, natural, minimally processed sugar or honey and I don't snack after dinner. WooHoo! Already on top of this one! LOL

Week 10 - (begin August 5) - SET A FITNESS/WEIGHT LOSS GOAL FOR YOURSELF (and post pics/measurements if doing so)
This one will be a definite challenge. Maybe this is my fear? :)

Week 11 - (begin August 12) -  TELL US HOW ARE YOU FEELING AND SHOW YOUR WEIGHT LOSS IN FOOD
This will be a general update on things we've learned from the beginning of challenge to this point. Have we pushed our bodies? Have we learned anything about our eating habits? And take a picture of how much weight we've lost in food pounds. So a 10 pound loss could be a picture of a 10 lb bag of potatoes.

Week 12 - (begin August 19) - SURPASS YOUR FITNESS/WEIGHT GOALS FROM WEEK 10
This is where we post our week 10 goals and  beat them. Remind me to keep my week 10 goals low. LOL

Week 13 - (begin August 26) - LOW CARB WEEK & NO EATING OUT
We don't eat out and, IF I'm still following the RAW diet, this should not be a problem.

Sept 2 - Final Weigh-in, Measurements, Pictures and Thoughts....

Well alrighty then. It's ON! Wish me luck!

Week 1: Get back into tracking all food and exercise. I will also be keeping a journal to record my thoughts/difficulties/tips/etc. for each day.