Thoughts on week one

I'm sitting at my in-laws house tallying points and posting them. It's been a crazy and awesome first week and I wanted to share a few thoughts on it.

First off, I'm going to be a bit lax today since I do not receive text messages up here and we all may need a bit of a break in remembering to turn our points in. Thank you to all of you who remembered to turn them in. You've got a big head start on the rest of us.

Second, I've realized that this is a very honest-based competition. It really is up to the challenger to decide what is a healthy portioned meal. Since we've been up here, in Denver on vacation, we really are at the mercy of what we are fed. What I have done, instead of freak out about there being not a ton of salads etc..., is figure that I need to learn how to live healthy in every situation in my life. So portion control and eating the good parts of a meal are extremely important.

For example, I love pizza {not so great for you if it's loaded with pepperoni and cheese which is my favorite}. They had it for lunch one day. Instead of eating several pieces, which I would have loved to do, I ate one. I enjoyed it and was fine not eating more. It really is all about moderation. Now understand, I'm not saying that pizza for every meal is a healthy choice, but there will definitely be circumstances where healthy food choices are incredibly limited. That does not mean give up, over-eat, or freak out. It means have some self-control.

Really, in all reality, this challenge is about empowering us to make healthy choices for our lives. We won't be counting points for the rest of our lives so it's a good way to teach ourselves how to say no to ourselves. Have you really ever had to do that before? Tell yourself no? I'll bet not. I'll bet, if you're like me, that if there were cookies for dessert and you wanted one, well then by golly you'd eat it. If there were unlimited pancakes for breakfast and you wanted a dozen, well then by golly you'd eat them!

This challenge is about saying 'I'm okay not eating cookies and pancakes. I will not die, nor starve, nor be deprived. I want to be healthy and live long. I will enjoy the occasional treat but it will not control my life. I do NOT want to be controlled by food. I am the boss of my body! NOT FOOD!!!'

And I've discovered that saying NO isn't easy at first but it gets easier. Of course we may have sugar withdrawl headaches - we will survive! We may pee a hundred times a day - we will survive! We may really want an extra something that we know we shouldn't - we will survive! Our minds might be screaming at us that no one will know if we cheat just a little - we will survive!

You will get out of the challenge only what you put into it. I've decided that I want a healthy lifestyle. And by golly I'm going to try!!!