CHALLENGE NO 3

Well, I don't know about you, but every time I manage to lose a pound my brain immediately decides it's time to celebrate and ... HEY HO! It's binge time again!!!! And with it, at best the pound goes on again or, at worst, MORE than a pound!!!!

Anyway - I digress. Time for another challenge, isn't it? So ... we're drinking buckets of water daily AND making sure we get our five-a-day. So ... this week we're going to do a daily substitution challenge. This is the first step we're taking towards being 'aware' of what's going into our mouths. Nothing drastic, though. Not yet! hehe

So how does it work? Well - what you need to do is take a piece of paper and stick it on your fridge - or leave it on the dining table - wherever you're going to see it frequently throughout the week. On it, you need to write this:

Today, I had ___________________ instead of _______________________

Write that 7 times. Once for each day. I think it's fairly self-explanatory. Just ONCE (or more, if you can!) each day I want you to say 'no' to something and substitute it with something 'better'. What's the point, you say? Because it's the best feeling in the world to take control. Because it gives you a sense of power. Because it makes you feel proud.

So this week I want you to go to bed every night feeling proud that you took a small step that day towards taking control of your eating habits!

Example:

Today, I had a banana instead of biscuits
Today, I had TWO biscuits instead of my usual FOUR
Today, I had a baked potato instead of chips
Today, I had water instead of wine

Get the idea? It doesn't have to be the same thing every day - and what you do one day you don't have to do the next. Just make sure that you can write SOMETHING down each day.

Good luck. I've already done mine for today -

I had a fruit salad for breakfast instead of cereal (and that's 3 of my 5-a-day as well hehe)

Let me know how you get on.

CHALLENGE NO 2

Now – it’s been more than a week, but that’s not a bad thing. How are we all doing? Have you been drinking a minimum of 2 litres a day? I have! Actually, I’ve been drinking a lot more than 2 litres on most days. It seems like the more I drink the thirstier I am. Mornings are the worst. I am unbelievably thirsty in the mornings – having not drunk anything for 6 or 7 hours of whatever, but I’m really pleased with the result.

This week, it’s a different challenge. Again, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before but I’m constantly surprised by the number of people who just aren’t managing it. This week, it’s the 5-a-day challenge – and more whenever possible, but FIVE is the minimum. Of course, for those of us who eat lots of fruit, vedge and salads, it means we don’t have to change anything (just keep drinking that water) – but for those who find it difficult, make sure you take note! Print off a little table and stick it on your fridge if you have to, but MAKE SURE you eat five fruit or vedge per day. That’s it for this week. Not difficult. Once again, I’m not going take anything away from our diet. Keep doing everything you normally do. Don’t think about anything other than those five a day! No excuses! Let’s DO THIS! If it’s not habit, it should be!

WEEK 1 CHALLENGE

Here we go, then. And this week we're off to a liquid start. Yep! No cutting out anything. Like I said - baby steps. I want to succeed in this. I have weight to lose and energy to gain and I do not want to fail. That means setting achievable goals. That's the key, you know - setting achievable goals. I'm not going to think in kilos or pounds or weights of any other sort - merely in this week's challenge.

This week I'm going to eat exactly like I've been doing - including too many biscuits, chocolate, not enough salad, too much food over all, etc. etc. etc. In other words, I'm not going to change a thing. In fact, I'm going to add something. WATER! We all know about those 8 glasses of water a day, don't we? It's one of those 'boring' facts that we're sick of hearing about, I know, but in reality it's not talked about half enough. If they took away half the kids' toy adverts on telly and advertised water instead we'd all be a lot healthier. The importance of it just cannot be over-emphasised, so I challenge you (and I challenge me) this week to drink water, water, water.

Now, I can't be bothered counting glasses, can you? So I'm going to go out and buy just one large 2-litre bottle of water. By the end of today I need to have finished it. Then every day I'm simply going to refill it.

Are you going to do this with me? If you can't bear water, then by all means add a little squash to it - it's the liquid that's most important, but it must be 99% water - not juice, or fizzy drinks or tea or coffee ... you can drink those AS WELL this week, if that's what you normally do. Like I said, no other changes.

So let's go, then. And tell me how you get on. I'll bet that after 3 or 4 days you're going to start waking up in the morning and craving water first thing. Great! That's a sign that you're beginning to give your body the liquid it's been gasping for the last few months/years/decades.

And one more thing - even if you think you already drink loads? It's not enough. Go buy that bottle!

Good luck.

Today's the day! It all starts here!

Yes, I know the story - you've been meaning to do for ages but life got in the way. SNAP! Same here. Although I've done it before so I've no excuse whatsoever. I simply need to do it again. This is how it works ...

I'm going to start right from the beginning. No diving in at the deep end - too many people can't swim and we don't want anyone drowning, right? We're going to do this the right way - together! And I'm going to go so slowly that you're going to wonder what the hell's going on! Good! That can only mean that it's going well, because I don't want you noticing huge changes and throwing yourselves full-pelt into all sorts of things that are only going to last about as long as bar of Mint Aero in my hands (i.e. about 2 1/2 minutes). You know when you've been fighting something for ages and then suddenly realise it's not there any more? In reality, that doesn't make sense, does it? But I'll bet it's happened to everybody. Well, that's the way this is going to work, too. Stick with me and one day very soon you'll simply realise, mid-conversation, that "Oh, I haven't had a headache for weeks" or "Gosh! These trousers are quite loose around the waist now" or even "What d'you know? That's the first time in years I've walked so far and not been out of breath." Yep. That's what I'm aiming for and here's how it's going to work:

Every week I'm going to set a wee challenge. I'll give it a title you'll recognise - CHALLENGE! I'm going to do this, too, so I hope you'll stay with me and let me know how you're getting on. If I post mid-week I'll call my posts something else - this'll be a way for me to record how I'm doing and a way for you to see/compare how you're doing, too. I will be completely honest so in the weeks that I don't keep up, I hope that you'll be there celebrating your victory (and let me know, too!). Either way, keep scrolling until you find the following week's challenge. And remember - begin whenever you like. Just make sure you begin from Week 1.

Are you ready? No more procrastinating! Let's go!