The 30-Day Challenge...

Um, okay.  First off, sorry for not posting this earlier.  Like so very, VERY many things in my life, I'm late.  To those of you who know me, this should not come as a surprise.  :)  In my defense though - we had three later dinners and a closet to clean out that prevented the posting of this bad boy until now.  So, enjoy.  PS - this is exactly as I had written it, so it still sounds like Anniversary day.

One of my FB friends has decided to get a grip on her life. Now, I don't really know her too well (I was friends with her sister in HS), but I know she really wants to make changes in her life. She's been struggling but has shown how much she wants to make a change by giving herself a 30-day challenge.

So, I though to myself, "on this, your one-year anniversary of blogging, why not do it too?" SO, I'm going to. I'm going to challenge myself to a throw-down of wills. Me vs. Other Me.

Here are my challenges (in no particular order):

• Blog daily about what happened that day. My successes, failures, and how I felt today. Pay attention to how certain foods make me feel and the rush of working out (or guilt of not...).

• MEAL PLAN, SUCKA! Seriously. Stop talking about doing it, and do it. Once a week.  Four times a month. It's not hard. I have 18,000 magazines. 99% of them have recipes therein. USE THEM!!!

• Remember that one bad decision does not a whole day ruin.  Yeah, it was dumb to have some chips (Why can't I quit you, Lays Classic?!), but that doesn't mean that I should also have a giant burger and some cookies because I already blew it.

• WORK OUT.  Like I mean it.  The five-per-week rule must stand.  I've done about 50-50 for the month of January.  I want to make it 100% for the month of February.  My health depends on it, man.  I'd like to make it so that exercise = at least 500 calories of burn.  This means that yoga nights need extra Kinect or DVD time.  The 200-ish calories I burn there are great, but more is always better.

• Practice calm time.  Really, really try hard to destress.  Take time to just breathe and remember that low stress = low cortisol and that low cortisol = weight loss.  Breathe, breathe, breathe.  Maybe consider meditation?  Or, just learn how to chill out.  :)

• Be more firm in my food choices.  Don't let my cravings or lack of menu knowledge ruin things for me.  Going to Wendy's for lunch?  Just get one of their great salads or a baked potato.  Don't eff up and get the damn deliciousness that is the W burger and some of those delish fries.  Just keep it simple and remember how much you want this!

• Which brings me to the last item.  Remember how much you want this!  Remember why you're losing weight. Make a list of reasons.  Revisit said list as often as you need to.  Make up new reasons.  Tell people your reasons.  Ask them to help you remember when you need it.  Keep the list with you everywhere you go.  Pull it out if you need to.  Just remember it!

So, there you go.  This is my 30 day challenge for myself.  It starts January 31.  Who's coming with me??