25 Days Of A Slimmer Christmas!

The idea behind this is to get you more aware of what you are eating and how much you are being physically active. I know some people don't want to deprive themselves of a certain food but the idea behind this is figure out some alternatives so that you have variety in your diet. Give it a shot you never know what you might discover. So I figured what better time to really focus on staying on track than at the holidays?

Each day you will have something new that you need to follow whether it be a food restriction, adding more exercise, making healthy substitutions etc. 

I thought of this because I need a jump start to get me back on track and get me through the upcoming holiday season. Then I thought why not include my friends and family and make it a fun challenge with prizes and all! 

So here are the guidelines:

 Challenge will begin at 12am on December 1^st and end at 11:59pm on December 25^th (Christmas day).

 There will be three prizes awarded:

1^st – Most points earned

2^nd – Most weight lost

3^rd – Most creative

I am not telling you which prizes are for what that you'll just have to wait to find out. 

Here are the three prizes: 
- Picnic Gift Basket
- Rest and Relaxation Gift Basket 
(made especially to the winners likes) 
-A one year subscription to The Food Network Magazine. 

So hope those are incentive enough for you!

For the entire challenge you must complete these two things - this is the base and it grows from here.

• Must do at least 30 minutes of physical activity 4 times a week (physical activity could be anything. If you are currently not physically active start small)
• Make a restriction to one unhealthy food that you really like or find that you have been over indulging in daily. Meaning you cut back on the amount or you cut it out of your diet completely for the 25 days.

Here are the daily requirements, some of them continue from that day until the challenge ends so please read carefully:

December 1^st – Drink 6-8 glasses of water for the remainder of the challenge

December 2^nd – Eat a healthy breakfast

December 3^rd – Vegetarian day! Every meal must be vegetarian (get creative trying new proteins)

December 4^th – No fast food for the remainder of the challenge

December 5^th – Eat only 100% whole wheat (ie. Pasta, bread, rice, crackers, etc)

December 6^th – No snacking on things like chips, Doritos, pretzels, etc.

December 7^th – Do 15 Minutes of Guided Meditation

December 8^th – Plan and prepare all your meals for the following day

December 9^th – Add 15 minutes to your physical activity

December 10^th - No candy for the remainder of the challenge

December 11^th – Eat 5 servings of fruits or vegetables

December 12^th – No peanut butter for the remainder of the challenge

December 13^th - Limit your caffeine intake

December 14^th - No ice cream for the remainder of the challenge

December 15^th – Eat fruit with breakfast as well as 1 snack

December 16^th – Get a friend or family member to exercise with you that is not part of the challenge

December 17^th – No chocolate for the remainder of the challenge

December 18^th – Replace your dessert with a piece of fruit or yogurt

December 19^th – Complete one random act of kindness (The more creative the better)

December 20^th – No take out for the remainder of the challenge

December 21^st – Do 20 minutes of guided meditation

December 22^nd – Try a new exercise/class or do something that isn't part of your general routine.

December 23^rd – Eat fish (If you are vegetarian or vegan: Try a new protein or one you don’t eat as often)

December 24^th – Try a new vegetable

December 25^th – Use weights or resistance in your physical activity

Here is how you will earn points throughout the challenge:

-If you complete each of the individual daily requirements you will earn 1 point for each one you do .  

-For all the cumulative requirements you will earn an additional point for each day that you continue to follow that requirement.

-If you complete the required 4 times a week of at least 30 minutes of physical activity you will receive 1 point for each week. (week will be from Saturday to Friday).

-You will earn 2 points per week for your personal restriction.
.

-You will also earn 1 point for each additional day that you add in at least 30 minutes of physical activity above the required 4 times a week. 

Here is how to make sure I know about creativity:

I will be providing you with a log. When you complete each day be sure to add as much detail as possible about what you ate, what your physical activity was, something that helped you accomplish that days tasks. The more you give me and the more creative you are the better!

For weight loss:

This will be on your honor. If you would like to be in this part of the challenge be sure when you email me that you include your starting weight and then at the end you will resubmit with your ending weight.

Now let the fun begin!!

If you would like to participate please email alysadventures@gmail.com with your name (include twitter and blog if applicable) as well as what unhealthy food you are making restrictions too and what the restrictions are. If you would like be part of the weight loss challenge please include your starting weight.

 I need to receive your email ASAP so I can send out the logs to everyone.

Once I receive your email I will be emailing you a confirmation that I received your entry and I will also attach an excel log for the challenge. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 24 hours then please resend your email.
I will also be creating a facebook group as a support system during our challenge so we can keep each other motivated!!
Please use the log each day as you will need to send it back to me when the challenge is over to be eligible for the prizes. Remember, be as creative as you can. See if you can come up with new workouts, try new recipes, etc.

Also it would great if you tweet and FB your daily sucess by using #25daysslimmer

End of challenge:

Between December 26^th until December 30^th please submit your log. Also include notes of things you liked, didn't like etc. If you are part of the weight loss challenge also include your ending weight. I will send out a reminder to submit your log so you don’t miss out as this is a very busy time of year!

I will announce the winners the beginning of January.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Challenge!

Thanking the Family! Day 2

So as promised here is my day 2 post thanking those who have helped me in the last three years. This particular one is dedicated to my extended family! All of you rock but make no mistake about it I always remember what you all did for me and continue to do for me!

Aunty Cindy & Uncle John you both have been so supportive through everything, sending cards, flowers and fruit while I was going through treatment. Cooking meals for us and delivering them. Helping to pay my health insurance while I was out of work! Uncle John thanks for letting my into the survivors club :) You both continue to support me even now, through my fundraising efforts as well as coming along to Light The Night with us! Thank you for everything!!

Lynda, Lewis and Nicole even though we are miles apart I just wanted to say thank you so much for helping as well with me being able to keep my health insurance while I was out of work! For sending me a care package of lots of different cancer care items, I still have the little hat you sent me and it was with me most of the time while I was going through treatment! You have all been so supportive with your words as well as your donations to all my fundraising efforts. Thank you for it all!

Taryn and Rob thank you so much for coming to visit me while I was in the hospital! It was always such a treat to have visitors even when you were nice enough to bring me some yummy treats too. Taryn you were also great at keeping me company through text and facebook too. That was great it helped me immensely! Also your continued support of all my fundraising efforts and everything I do now is just amazing. Thank you so much!

Derek, Dawn, Ryan and Cintia thank you all so much for you continued support of my fundraising efforts and just your general encouragement of everything I do it means a lot to me!

Marissa you have donated to my team FD and you walk with us for Light The Night that is something that really helps. Thanks for all the support, you rock!

Uncle Robbie, Aunty Sandi, Matt, Becky and Brit you guys are always so supportive! Uncle Robbie and Brit coming to visit me in the hospital when you had to come all the way from NH was amazing! It was so nice to see you guys and of course you got to come when I was in the cool room with a view of the helipad! All the cards you sent to cheer me up and give that little bit of encouragement is great. Also coming out to some of my races and cheering me on is so fantastic, who doesn't love to have a cheering section! Brit and Matt one of these days I will get you to do a race with me! Thank you all so much for everything!

Uncle David, Aunty Bev and Nathan thank you so much for always sending cards and helping in anyway you could while I was going through treatment. It was so nice to have that lift up just the right moment when your good thoughts would make it to me! Thank you so much for all your support!

Jennifer I will never forget when you told me you were running the disney marathon with Team In Training and I was your honored hero! That meant/means more than you will ever know! Thank you so much for everything, I know how much work goes into all the training for a marathon and the fact that you did it not only for me but every other person effected by blood cancer is amazing, Thank you so much!

Trisha thank you so much for all your support. You might not live next door but you always let me know how supportive you are! Thank you!

Last for today but certainly not least I would like to thank my Grandmother! You have always told me and showed me how much you love me. You came to visit me often, helped pay for my health insurance and always made sure we didn't need anything or that we had money for gas to get to the hospital/appointments or just for anything else we needed. You always tell me how proud of me you are and continue to show me support through everything I do!

I also can't thank every one of you for coming to or supporting the benefit that they held for me. It was great to see you all there, feel the love from all of you and know that you all believed in me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Stay tuned for tomorrow! :)

http://teamfd.firstdescents.org/2013/fd/AlysAllies/aachorn/