I realize that since this is a healthy living competition we may all be focused on various personal goals. Perhaps you want to be able to run 30 minutes without stopping. Maybe you want to lose pounds or inches or both. Maybe you want to eliminate sugar from your daily diet (with just occasional treats), perhaps learning to drink more water is your focus.Our challenge for this week is to do something visual about it. I'd like you to make some kind of visual reminder to help you reach your personal healthier living goal.
A few ideas might be:
1. If you have inches or pounds to lose get 2 jars and some kind of tangible markers to put in it (quarters, buttons, stones, seashells). In the first jar put how many -- inches, pounds or whatever you hope to lose and you will move one marker into the second jar each time you lose one. Sad of course if you have to move any of the markers back!
2. Find a photo to post of your heaviest or most out of shape self and your thinnest or most in shape self. Tack it to your mirror or refrigerator or somewhere else your gaze often falls.
3. If drinking water is your goal get a large cup or bottle that holds ALL the water you want to drink daily so you can more easily see and track your progress.
4. If a certain level of fitness or exercise is your goal make some kind of chart to track your progress. I had one girlfriend that literally ran from North Carolina to Los Angeles. She found out how many miles that was and made herself a little chart where she colored in each of the many miles she ran until she met the total. She was there!
5. Make yourself a puzzle. Google an image of something you have been really wanting (manicure, new pair of shoes, movie tickets to a film you want to see etc.) and cut the puzzle up into a number of pieces. When you reach health living milestones you set for yourself, award yourself a piece until you have completed the puzzle and allow yourself the real reward.
6. There are a couple of really interesting websites. The first one is at
http://www.mybodygallery.com/index.html
This is an interesting site where various people have downloaded photos of themselves at various heights and weights and sizes. (not all modest- Sorry!) It is a tool to help you discover what size, shape and weight you truly desire to be at.
7. A second tool that is really fun and I'd love it if you'd all take the time to use this one is
http://makeovr.com/weightmirror/
This tool allows you to upload a full body photo of yourself and once you have, you can use a sliding tool to see what you will look like plus 20 pounds or minus 5 pounds etc. A great visual tool.
So for this next week to earn your 35 bonus points you must:
1. Make some type of visual to help you with your weight loss goals
2. Post on the blog and tell us what you've made. We'd love to see pictures too, if that's possible!
Good luck and let your vision of your healthier self guide you!
Sandee
Just got my 2 jars set up! And I lost 4 pounds the first week so of course I started out with all the dice (Yes I have that many dice from hosting games in a teenage class I taught) from when we began the competition in one jar so I could have the fun of moving those 4 dice to the empty jar. Woot- Woot! I can't figure out how to include a picture for you here!
ReplyDeleteI decided to use rice to measure my weight loss. For each pound I lose I'll move a pound of rice over. I've got it all measured and set up with labels. Here we go!
DeleteI put all my water for the day in a container in the fridge. I use that container to refill my water bottle throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteI love the rice idea. I used to have a Weight Watcher's leader that had a 10 pound bag of rice. She'd have you come up and heft it when you had lost 10 pounds. Cool way to see that 10 pounds really is substantial. Alicia where did you get the water bottle? I like that idea.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a 2 quart container that we already had. I let everyone in my family know that's my water and they can't drink it! :) I am using that to fill up my water bottle that I carry around with me everywhere.
DeleteI am going with the jars and moving glass gems, one for each half pound I lose. I am hoping this will help me in between challenges, as well. It would be really painful to put those pretty little pieces back into the jar they came from! I picked out some pretty gems at Michaels when they were just $1.00 per bag a couple days ago. I love the visual markers of accomplishment and success idea. Thank you, again, Sandee!
ReplyDeleteI'm using the jars with glass gems. I started with my pounds to lose in October--which is 55 pounds. I've lost 35 pounds so far. So my pounds to lose only has 20 glass gems in it. Yay me!!
ReplyDeleteShelli I hope you went ahead and piled the 35 glass gens in your already lost jar. What a wonderful visual of all you have accomplished. Hip Hip Hooray!
ReplyDeleteYes....I did! :)
DeleteMy husband and I are training for a Ragnar Relay. If you haven't heard of that, you are on a team of 12 runners. Each runner runs 3 legs of the relay. My legs come to a total of 18 miles! A bit intimidating, even though I don't have to run them all at once. My goal is to run at least 12 miles before the race in June. So, I have made a chart where I label my goals and track my progress. I ran 8 miles this last Saturday! It's hard to believe that I can run 9 miles next weekend. I look forward to those days though because I know I will have lots of calories for indulging in some treats.
ReplyDeleteI have a cute outfit that looked awful on me! I decided to not take it back, but to have that me a visual to me, as to where I want to be. I try it on at least once a week. It is starting to look much better, I will be able to wear it out in public soon! :)
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of pants that I have never been able to fit into, but have always kept because I like them and I hope to wear them one day! I have moved them to the front of the closet where I can see them. Hopefully, the day will come when they will go on!
ReplyDeleteThere is a visual at the gym of one pound of fat and one pound of muscle. There are days when I wish they weren't out on the counter, but it is always a good reminder!
ReplyDeleteI am using two mini transparent paint pails as my my jars. I put a stamped image in one of a little boy and made a paper life saver/inner tube around him, wrapped in blue and white baker's twine. The life saver has the message, "Save me from drowning!" written on it. He is surrounded by a lot of clear mini marbles that represent the pounds I have to lose. The other pail has a stamped image of a whale with the message, "Save me!" (He needs more marbles to swim in.) The whale and I will both be better off once he is covered in mini marbles.
ReplyDeleteI filled a glass jar with 20 marbles. Everyday I complete my goals I remove a marble. When the jar is empty I get a personal reward and then begin again.
ReplyDeleteThis Natalie B.
DeleteI marked a beverage pitcher at the 48 oz. level. I fill it with water every morning and drink it by the time I hit the sack at night. ruth blair
ReplyDeleteAlthough losing the weight is great (I mean, I'm not gonna lie, being able to wear smaller clothes is awesome!) it was not my main goal in doing this challenge. I want to be healthier, feel better, and set a better example for my kids with my habits. I've done really good at exercising to cover any food that I eat, and so I'm losing weight, but I haven't done the best job of not indulging more than I should in those salty, high fat foods that I love. (chips, french fries, etc).
ReplyDeleteSoooo... I put a timer on my fridge and one in my car. If I decide I want something that would be considered unhealthy to munch on, I have to set the timer to 30 minutes, and I can't have it until the 30 minutes is up. Then it's not an impulse, and the hope is that I will decide that I'd rather just eat something healthy and not be hungry. If I wait the 30 minutes and still want it, then I'll treat myself. But hopefully that won't happen very often. :)
I love visual aids so this was an great challenge for me. I have a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper with the images of 4 sticks of butter, 1 sack of potatoes and 3 gallons of milk. The butter=1 pound, potatoes=10 pounds and the 3 gallons of milk=25 pounds. This is on my refrigerator and it reminds me to make "healthy" choices and also how much extra body weight I'm carrying around.
ReplyDeleteI decided to mark a pitcher at the 48 oz. level and fill it with water in the morning so I can see how much I have left throughout the day. When I am on the go, I have a Camelbak water bottle that has the ounces marked on the side so I can keep track. Amy Averett
ReplyDeleteI chose to decorate and use 2 wine glasses filled w glass gems representing pounds to go...the empty (it now has 5 gems) represents pounds GONE!
ReplyDeleteIt is "displayed" in the kitchen window near the sink where I seemingly spend 48hrs a day!!!
Candy, also created the same visual.
I my visual goal this week was to write on my message board encouraging thoughts. I see it everyday when I wake up. It helps me keep my daily personal goals, as well as my fitness goals.
ReplyDeleteI know my partner (stephenie) decided to use a picture of herself of when she was a little thiner. I have really enjoyed this challenge. I may even take the jar & marble and add it to my personal visual.
DeleteTanya
I also LOVED the idea of the jars and the pebbles and made my own (cutesy) ones. ;) I like the idea of being able to reward myself by putting pebbles into the "lost" jar and pray I don't have to put any in the "other" jar! Jonell
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit it but money talks to me. I decided to use that as a motivation. I filled a round squatty (but beautiful) jar with 5 dollar bills scrunched and tied with a ribbon. For every 1/2 pound I lose, I will transfer one of these bills into a beautiful taller thin vase. I will use this money for a good pedicure or skinny clothes, both of which I need! Hopefully I can carry this on after this challenge ends, by filling the jar again. For every week I maintain, I will transfer money into the thin jar, and I know I won't want to put any more money back into the squatty jar!
ReplyDeleteI made a poster with a trash can on it and off to the side are small post-it notes, one for each pound I want to lose between now and August 1st. When I have kept the pounds off for an entire week then the post-it note goes in the trash! I do not know how to add a photo here but I can email the photo.
ReplyDeleteI did the challenge but cannot get it to post on the blog for some reason. I did the wine glasses and gems. I started with 61 pounds to lose in October. So now my Need to Lose cup has 34 gems in it and my Pounds Lost cup has 27 gems in it. Almost half way!! Deb1125 and lscornell67 are my daughters and candyschmoll is my daughter in law so we copied...LOL We are having fun doing it together.....Thanks to Sandee!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY me....I figured out how to post it. I just needed to set up a new Google account!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHung up my favorite pair of jeans from high school! I will fit in to them again.
ReplyDeleteI took two vases and labeled them To Lose and Lost and put the appropriate number of stones in each one. I also hung my race number from the mud crusade challenge I did last weekend on the fridge to remind me why I want to eat better and train harder.
ReplyDeleteI took a short fat glass cylinder and a tall thin glass cylinder and put shells in the short one to represent pounds. I put the shells in the tall one as I lose pounds. The shells are to remind me that this is swimsuit prep (I wish it was really for a beach trip!).
ReplyDelete