Day 1

Ok, so the challenge started today.  We will each have our own hurdles and we will each view this challenge a little differently.  This is what it means to me.  No dessert, no white bread, no white rice, potatoes.  Did I mention no dessert?  Ouch.  I LOVE my sweets.  

I started off pretty well this morning until I went into Whole Foods to grab some fruit, veggies and some soup.  I love Whole Foods.  I wish I didn't because it is so expensive but I do.  On any other day I would have tried every sample I walked by, because they are free and well quite frankly samples don't have calories, right?  They are just samples it isn't really a meal per se therefore, it doesn't count.  I will have you know that I ate NO samples.  NADA.  I walked out with a seafood chili and a whole grain roll that weighed about as much as the kettle bell that I swung that morning.  I felt great and the soup rocked!  

The past year I have also gotten into a bad habit of having something sweet after dinner.  It may just have been a popsicle or a Skinny Cow sandwich or fudge bar but nonetheless it is something that I don't need and for the next 10 days will count it out of my eating plan.  I finished my meal with an orange.  

Nice work on completing day one!!  

10 day Challenge

I have heard a lot of people talking about eliminating sugar/processed foods/dessert, etc... the last few days working out in the gym and my first question to them was 'Why now?" Why would you set yourself up for failure when the Holidays are right around the corner?  Why would you try to eliminate so many things at once and just make yourself angry about it?  Why would you make yourself feel like a failure when you go to Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy for a split second the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the pumpkin pie that you only see once a year and now after putting it into your mouth the satisfaction of eating it is taken over by guilt because you just 'cheated' on your commitment to your fellow 'eliminators'.  

So, I present a challenge.  A 10 day challenge that I feel is achievable.  The challenge will start on Monday November 17th and end Wednesday 26th (the day before Thanksgiving)  No simple sugars for 10 days.  What does that mean?  No candy, no cookies, no brownies, no white rice, no potatoes, no white bread.  If it doesn't have any nutritional value other then calories, we don't eat it.  So, instead we eat whole grains, fruits, lean proteins and lot's of vegetables until Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving we can eat whatever we want and not feel guilty about it.  Enjoy all the food that presents itself once  a year and enjoy!  We will be successful as a group, who's in?