CENTER

That is my new word for the year. Someone at ScrapMatters suggested we pick a word, just one word, that describes what we want for our new year. I had thought of focus and then prioritize but by time I read the thread those words were already taken and I wanted to have my own word so I chose CENTER.
I chose this word hope it will help me remember to keep Christ and my family at the center of my life this year. I've gotten off the path of making the most important people in my life the most important thing in my life so my goal is to fix that.

Along with that I have started a new Get Healthy challenge with Pattie and Kathy. I love having friends that are supportive and these two gals are the best.

So here are the rules for the challenge

1 *50 oz of water daily
~simple as that. Water is water. Vitamin water, tea, juice are all great drinks, but are not water, therefore they do not count for the 50 oz.
-Something that works for me (when I remember!) is to try and drink 10oz of water first thing in the morning - right when I wake up!- I then shoot for drinking one of my 32oz water bottles during the day, then I finish off with a great drink of 8-10oz when I'm done brushing my teeth and taking my vitamins. Find something that will work for you!

2 *4 servings of fruits/veggies daily (at least one fruit or one veggie in this combo. 4 servings of fruit does not allow you this point for the day)
~ Look on line for serving sizes and for what counts as a fruit or veggie. You may count one of your servings from a liquid form daily. V8 juice, apple juice, etc. but you can only count one point for that.
-Find a way to get at least one serving in with each meal, then work on either two servings at a meal time or find a way to make a snack with one of the servings.

3 *30min of exercise daily
~Whatever counts as exercise to you. If walking to your mail box, around the block and then home gets your heartrate up, count it! If not, push yourself a little more. You may combine these points. So, if you get an hour aerobics class in, you can count that for two days. Sundays do not count for exercise, but you get the point anyway. So as long as you get 3 hours of workout in each week, you are good!

4 *7 hours of sleep nightly
~You choose when to start tracking this - either the night before or the night of since the hours cross over two different days. You may count a "nap" if you need to make up 30 min or an hour that you may have missed or you think you will miss.
- Now, this is on your "intent of sleep". If you go to lay down at 10 and your baby wakes you up, you can start the 10 for your sleep. You just need to make sure that you were really going to bed - no tv, computer, vaccum, etc :) Then, if you were to wake up early due to whatever, do your best to get the rest, but sometimes circumstances get in the way. Be your best judge

5 * No eating after 8 nightly
~ You need to stop eating at 8:00. You MAY have something to drink such as milk, but avoid heavy drinks such as smoothies since it is basically food blended down.
- I'm going to stop eating after 7 since it is recommended to stop eating 3 hrs before you go to bed and I've noticed in past competitions that when I stop eating earlier in the evening, my stomach feels much better in the morning and I'm hungrier for a good healthy breakfast in the morning to start my day right. But, I know that many of you may not get home until 7:30 or so, so I'm going to keep it at 8.

6 *No sweet treats :) daily
~TO YOUR DESCRETION! Your ultimate goal in participating in this challenges should first and foremost be for your own health! So, I say that sweet treats are cookies, cakes, candies, etc. Fruit salads with cool whip & yogurt are ok with me. If you want to try and cut out all sugars for your health please do! Do your best with what you know, but don't stress about what has sugar in it if it is healthy for you. If it has no nutritional purpose, don't eat it. Fruit snacks really don't offer you much and have lots of sugar - go for the nuts instead! But, you make that decision. Also remember, there are other people competing that are trying really hard to be disciplined, so try not to justify everything :)

7 *No soda or alcohol daily
~Because of doing these competitions so much and since I'm a runner, I really don't indulge in this category, but I know that many people do, so I keep it on. Do you need any more clarification on this?

8 *Personal point
~What do you wish you were doing better? Is it reading your scriptures? Writing in your journal? Reading a good book? This is the point for that. I know of one lady who had dinner ready every night by 6. Someone read to her daughter everynight (even woke her up once when she forgot!!!) I personally practiced the piano for my church calling and have also read a book.

Superstar is when you do not use your freebies during the week. You indicate this by putting a star by your name in the spreadsheet. There will only be a superstar race if we get people who WANT to and who can add to a superstar pot :)

Report your points on the spreadsheet link below by Monday night. Tuesday morning I will put names in a hat to draw for a gift card. If your points are not in by Tues morning, you will not be in for a drawing :) You should know by Sunday night what your points are, so that gives you Sunday through Monday night to report. I'll try to send out an email reminder, but sometimes I don't get around to it. So, save the link that I give you and report! The spreadsheet is a work in progress - so be patient as things change to work best. IF YOU DON'T SEE YOUR NAME OR YOUR FRIEND'S NAME IN THE SPREADSHEET PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!

Keep track of your points. By the end of the week you should have earned 56. By the nature of this competition (having freebies, competative people, etc) your goal should be to not lose one point during these 6 weeks. When we get to the end, all those who did not lose a point get to share in the pot of money. I could very well return $10 to each of you by the end, and I sincerely hope I do! That would mean that you all set goals that you acheived.

You may find that you lose weight in this competition. The purpose of this is not dramatic weight loss, but lifelong habits that will help you gradually lose. The benefits of gradually losing weight is so that you don't lose muscle, that you gain habits that are lifelong and are reteaching yourself what feels good. Find a happy balance. Be happy with who you are and what you've got and enjoy feeling good along the way with these goals....then keep setting them and keep working toward acheiving them!

Best of luck in these first 6 weeks of 2011!!

Last night I went to bed at 10:30. Pretty early for me so I had a hard time getting to sleep. I walked this morning in 10* weather so I'm pretty sure I won't have any trouble getting to sleep tonight. I guess that is the goal. Finding balance and creating a lifestyle that will wear you out enough by the end of the day you are ready for a good nights sleep.
Since ready scriptures is also a goal I decided the 15 "snooze" time I usually have between my first alarm and my second alarm is a good time to sit up, stay awake and read. I decided to study the New Testament this year because that is what I am teaching in Primary.

I'm not expecting miracles with this challenge or even my focus on my word but I'm hoping it will help me through out the year to remember why I am here and the really important things I should be doing for myself and for my family. I guess I'm just hoping it helps me find my CENTER.