Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wilcard Week #2
Hey sorry I forgot to post this yesterday! The wildcard for this week is to eat a healthy breakfast every morning! Monday you got a free point, meaning whether you did that or not, you got the point. So starting this morning you only get the point if you ate a healthy breakfast! :)
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wildcard for Week #1
Wildcard #1
Eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies. Try to get as much color as possible in when it comes to choosing your fruits and veggies. Think colors of the rainbow. Basically when you eat your meals you want there to be as much color on your plate as possible when it comes to your fruits and veggies. :)
Introductory Post
Spring is here, and we are excited about taking the next 8 weeks and dedicating them to fitness and weight loss. C'mon, you know you're ready to do this!
If you choose to play, the next 8 weeks will involve some new challenges! Are we competing? Well, yes, but we’re also encouraging, helping, and cheering for each other.
Here’s the program for the BetterUFitnessChallenge.
THE GAME:
7 Daily Tasks, 4 Weekly Tasks, and the Bonus Points
7 Daily Tasks
Basically, there are 7 things to do every day. You can get one point for doing each thing, which you will record using the honor system and a private online spreadsheet every day. You will not be asked to report your actual weight or measurements -- only the changes.
Keep in mind that the idea is to challenge yourself, so earning all 7 points a day is not necessarily expected. Just do your best!
A maximum of 7 points can be earned each day for doing the following:
1) Electronic Food Journal. This time around we are using MyFitnessPal.com, which is both free and easy to use from your computer and smart phone (if you have one).
2) Burn more calories than you eat. MyFitnessPal will keep track of both your exercise and your food intake and compare them so you can see if you're eating more calories, or burning more calories.To get the point, you have to burn more than you eat for the day. (we call this a Positive Calorie Burn) (I don't know what the real name for this is.)
3) Drink 8 glasses of water minimum per day.
4) Eat a total of 5 fruits and/or vegetable servings a day.
5) Exercise to burn 300 extra calories per day minimum. One day a week, you will receive the exercise point for taking time to rest and relax, so to get the points every day you'll exercise six days per week and rest one day per week.
6) No snacking after 9pm. If it’s not possible for you to eat dinner before 9 (some of our players have late class/work schedules) then eat dinner when you get home, but no snacking!
7) Weekly WildCard. Just to mix things up a little and keep the game fresh, we’ll set a weekly fitness or weight loss related challenge. For example, one week the challenge might be to spend 5 extra minutes stretching after your workout every day. The next week it might be switching to skim milk for the week, or allowing yourself only one treat per day.
The WildCard Challenge for the upcoming week will be posted in a blog entry each Sunday.
1) Lose or maintain your weight. If you did either, you get one point. Gaining weight for the week = no point.
2) Lose inches (or centimeters). If you shrink enough to see it on a tape measure, you can award yourself a point for that.
3) *90 minutes cardio per week.
4) *60 minutes of muscle building per week.
** These two time requirements are to encourage cross-training, and they can definitely be included in your daily 300 exercise calories. In other words, you don't have to do an EXTRA 90 minutes of cardio and an extra 60 minutes of muscle building each week if you are already doing those activities for your daily exercise.
If you choose to play, the next 8 weeks will involve some new challenges! Are we competing? Well, yes, but we’re also encouraging, helping, and cheering for each other.
Here’s the program for the BetterUFitnessChallenge.
THE GAME:
7 Daily Tasks, 4 Weekly Tasks, and the Bonus Points
7 Daily Tasks
Basically, there are 7 things to do every day. You can get one point for doing each thing, which you will record using the honor system and a private online spreadsheet every day. You will not be asked to report your actual weight or measurements -- only the changes.
Keep in mind that the idea is to challenge yourself, so earning all 7 points a day is not necessarily expected. Just do your best!
A maximum of 7 points can be earned each day for doing the following:
1) Electronic Food Journal. This time around we are using MyFitnessPal.com, which is both free and easy to use from your computer and smart phone (if you have one).
2) Burn more calories than you eat. MyFitnessPal will keep track of both your exercise and your food intake and compare them so you can see if you're eating more calories, or burning more calories.To get the point, you have to burn more than you eat for the day. (we call this a Positive Calorie Burn) (I don't know what the real name for this is.)
3) Drink 8 glasses of water minimum per day.
4) Eat a total of 5 fruits and/or vegetable servings a day.
5) Exercise to burn 300 extra calories per day minimum. One day a week, you will receive the exercise point for taking time to rest and relax, so to get the points every day you'll exercise six days per week and rest one day per week.
6) No snacking after 9pm. If it’s not possible for you to eat dinner before 9 (some of our players have late class/work schedules) then eat dinner when you get home, but no snacking!
7) Weekly WildCard. Just to mix things up a little and keep the game fresh, we’ll set a weekly fitness or weight loss related challenge. For example, one week the challenge might be to spend 5 extra minutes stretching after your workout every day. The next week it might be switching to skim milk for the week, or allowing yourself only one treat per day.
The WildCard Challenge for the upcoming week will be posted in a blog entry each Sunday.
4 Weekly Tasks:
Each Monday, there are 4 points available for reporting in on your progress during the prior week in 4 different categories:1) Lose or maintain your weight. If you did either, you get one point. Gaining weight for the week = no point.
2) Lose inches (or centimeters). If you shrink enough to see it on a tape measure, you can award yourself a point for that.
3) *90 minutes cardio per week.
4) *60 minutes of muscle building per week.
** These two time requirements are to encourage cross-training, and they can definitely be included in your daily 300 exercise calories. In other words, you don't have to do an EXTRA 90 minutes of cardio and an extra 60 minutes of muscle building each week if you are already doing those activities for your daily exercise.
Our Better U Challenge -Housekeeping Post
All right,
You've read all about the Challenge in the Introductory Post. This Housekeeping post is about more of the specific details you will need to know.
It's a lot to read, but please go through it before you start the game.
1) Entering Points
When entering your points, you should fill in each box with either a 1 or a 0.
- 1= YAY!! you completed the challenge and got the point
- 0= :( you didn't do that challenge and you didn't get the point. (You should enter your own zeros. For instance, if it's 9:30pm and I just snacked on a kitkat, I know that I don't get the point for "no snacking after 9pm." When I log on to enter my points, I SHOULD enter the 0 rather than just leaving it blank.)
2) 24 Hours
The rules of the game give you 24 hours to log in your points. If you're going to be gone, or have a reason why this won't work for you for a short period of time, one option is totext or call another player with your points and they can log them for you.
We start the 24 hours at midnight (MDT) when the day ends; for instance, I have until midnight on Tuesday to enter Monday's points. If I don't do it by then, I forfeit the points.
Changing any points (1's, or 0's) after 24 hours is considered cheating.
3) Spreadsheet issues
From time to time (usually during google's updates) there have been issues with some players not being able to enter their points, or their points are not tallying correctly, etc. Sometimes closing and then re-opening your browser fixes the problem. If that doesn't work, email Cambria as soon as you know about the problem, and you can "freeze" your day, and not lose the points. If you wait 2-3+ days to let her know there's an issue, we can't go back and save your points. You have to do it THAT DAY. - Please just be honest with your points! No need to email me, just enter them when the spreadsheet is up and working correctly, within a decent amount of time.
On The Blog
1) Check the Blog Frequently
We post updates and changes on the blog, and we try to give everything a window of at least 2 days. If you want to have the information, you have to check it. If there was an update, and you missed it because you didn't check the blog - we're so sorry, but you missed it.
Prizes
????? - I think we are all still trying to decide what to do for the prizes? I like the idea of the losers take the winner's to dinner or dessert???
Here's to looking great in our summer swim suits! :)
***Please now comment on this post to let everyone know you've read this and understand what is going on! Just want to make sure we are all on the same page! :) ***
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