Fit Family Challenge

Although I have a blog on the Charlotte Parent website to talk about the Fit Family Challenge, that's also what I'm talking about here, today. Chris and I applied to be one of the families to be followed in the Charlotte Parent Fit Family Challenge. We were super excited when we were chosen!!! As part of this challenge, we get to work with a trainer and a nutritionist to learn to live a healthier lifestyle. My goals are to make exercise a more consistent part of my life, to lose weight and to become healthier overall. We already have pretty good eating habits, though I'm sure our portions are too big, and I have a sweet tooth (thank you Mama Gurley). But we eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, a lot of fish, very little red meat or pork, and I really don't keep junk food in the house. We drink very little soda, quite a bit of water, but also sweet tea. So, we still have some work to do. And, I am trying to cook more, eat out less.

Part of my motivation for this began with learning more about clean eating. Removing as much processed food from our diets as possible, and to become more aware of the ingredients in the food we eat. I will tell you that this is absolutely possible. Even when you work full time, even when you are a single parent with more to do than just work and come home. It takes dedication, planning, desire and more planning. I am learning to cook several things on the weekend that can be used throughout the week, or heated up for dinner on a night when we return home from baseball at 8:30 pm. Luckily baseball season is almost over, and we'll have a couple months to get really good at this before football season starts. But what I want you to take away from this, is that no matter how busy you think you are, if you want to make healthier choices, it can be done. It just takes PLANNING.

And this should be fairly easy for this Type A, Virgo, multi-tasking planner! Although I like to do some things spontaneously, I am a planner. There, I said it. And as much as I love technology...I am still a paper planner. Yes, I use Outlook and the calendar on my phone, but I still carry a day planner. Actually I now carry 2 day planners. Yes, I said 2. One for work, and another for food/fitness. I have found that I'm much more accountable if I write down everything I eat. EVERYTHING...even the 2 cookies after dinner, even the milkshake last weekend. Even the Blue Moon beer last night. If you don't write down everything, why are you writing down anything?! I also use it to track the physical activity that I do. I plan what I'm going to do...so I know when I get to the gym that I'm going to walk 15 minutes on the treadmill and then do legs and abs. And I write down how many sets, reps and the weight. Ido this so I can later see the progression. Because if I'm not able to do more, lift more, walk further or faster...then I'm doing something wrong.

So, there it is. The beginning of our challenge. We've met with the trainer, participated in the first fun run (which was a walk/run for me) and are planning to meet with the nutritionist in the next week or so.

I write this for you to follow my journey. I need your motivation, your push, your understanding when I screw something up, and your concern. And if I can motivate someone else who is making poor choices, to make healthier choices, then that's a good thing.