🥇 Challenge Week #8: Saturday - March 1st through Friday, March 7th, 2025 🥇

hicim705

🥇 Challenge Week #8: Saturday - March 1st through Friday, March 7th, 2025 🥇
Healthy Habit: Visions of 💃 🕺 DANCE 🕺 💃 and 🏆 🎉 Non-Scale Victories (NSV) 🎉 🏆
UPDATED MEASUREMENTS for Week #8 (IF you took your measurements in Week #1)
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The challenge begins on Saturday morning, March 1st. This marks our final week of the 2025 Winter 5% Challenge! Exercise, Dance, and Non-Scale Victories (NSV), and Healthy Habit Focus, Update your Measurements (from Week #1) done before Saturday, DO NOT COUNT!!!

RECAP: 2025 Winter: Race To A “Bright, Shiny New YOU!

🏁 Race 🏁

Once again, it's a foot race! Dust off your boots, skis, snowshoes, and any other shoes you use to move and participate in fun winter activities that you enjoy. Get ready to help your team reach the Winter Finish Line! The winter ribbon is made of snow, so be sure to dress warm! Each team has a goal of 6,000 minutes and a " Ribbon to Break."

Exercise to ‘break the ribbon’ before the end of the week as your team crosses the finish line. One minute of exercise = one minute closer to the goal. 120 minutes maximum per challenger per day will be counted toward your team's goal)

Healthy Habit 1: Visions of D*A*N*C*E!!

As we continue our New Year **2025** journey to bring you ‘Visions of a Bright, Shiny New YOU.,’ we explored many aspects of a healthy lifestyle from exercise to self care and many things in between. For our final week, we are going to explore a ‘different’ way to exercise ~ by DANCING!!

The Overall Leadership Team worked hard to highlight the changes/adjustments that you can make in your daily life to help you BECOME THE BEST YOU that you can be. Not all of our 2025 Winter 5% Challengers are in the same place: some are interested in leading a healthier lifestyle; others are focused on losing (at least) 5% of their starting weight; others still have an eagle eye on ‘starting over’ because they have stumbled along the way. Finally, there are our friends who are in a ‘good place’ and need these challenges to be a constant reminder of where they came from and how grateful they are to be where they are today. Whatever level of success or struggles you have faced ~ we hope that you will find your way as you travel along your road to your successful, healthy lifestyle!

We hope that part of YOU finding YOUR way as you travel along the road to YOUR successful, healthy lifestyle incorporates some FUN even as you work hard to achieve your goals.

FULL DISCLOSURE: When ‘DANCE’ came up on the list of items that we would research and write about for our weekly challenges, I thought to myself: ‘I really hope that I’m NOT the one that gets to research and write about this subject!.’ As luck would have it, I’M the one that drew the ‘short straw’ and it became my job to write about it.

For me, this falls in line with choosing your ‘Healthy Habit Focus’ that you have to ‘work on’ one that doesn’t come easy. Don’t get me wrong, music and dancing are my passion ~ heck, I’m one of the Musical Theatre buffs in the group, yet - I really never think of this type of movement as ‘exercise’. I do understand that if I ‘dance’ and/or ‘move’ as I’m rehearsing for a show, for instance - the repetition and getting my heart rate up can (& do) count as exercise, but ~ I guess that the reason that I don’t think of it is that I will crank up the music and sing and dance around the house but as I’m cleaning and/or tidying up, I don’t feel as if I really get my heart rate up as it should be because I tend not to ‘dance’ nonstop. I always associated this ‘dancy-type’ of exercise with an exercise CLASS in a gym and didn’t necessarily associate it with something that could be accomplished at home. In hindsight, I’m grateful to have been assigned this week’s writing as I did learn some things along the way.

Of course, most of the research that we do for these Challenges is web-based, so I proceed to consult with my friend ‘Google’.


First I decided to get a definition for DANCE so that I really knew what I was dealing with. This is what Merriam Webster says:

Here is the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dance#:~:text=: to move one's body rhythmically,a quick or lively manner
**PLEASE NOTE: to any and all of our friends with physician limitations, the above definition is so important and I want you to remember as you read on: TO MOVE ONE’S BODY RHYTHMICALLY


I then began to ask questions and do research about dance as exercise.
Q - Query for Google: Does dancing burn calories and how can it be incorporated into your healthy lifestyle journey as exercise?
A - Google’s first answer: Yes, dancing can burn calories and be an effective way to exercise:
Calorie burn
The number of calories burned depends on the style of dance and your body weight, but you can burn between 90 and 252 calories in 30 minutes. Ballroom dancing burns about 260 calories per hour, while more intense dances like salsa or aerobic dancing are similar to jogging or swimming laps.


Other health benefits - Dancing can also:
**Strengthen bones
**Build endurance
**Improve heart health
**Improve mood and reduce stress
**Improve cognitive function
**Strengthen your pelvic floor
**Increase muscle strength and tone
**Increase flexibility, agility, and coordination
**Improve your posture

To get started with dancing, you can: Find a dance style you enjoy and
~ Start slowly
~ Warm up and cool down
~ Consider dancing at home or joining a community

To me, the above all made perfect sense (so far), so I continued with my queries:
Q - Query for Google: Can dancing around the house be counted as exercise?
A - Google’s first answer: Yes, dancing around the house can definitely be counted as exercise, as it elevates your heart rate, engages multiple muscle groups, and is considered a form of cardio activity, especially if you're dancing with enough energy and movement to break a sweat; essentially, any movement that gets your body moving can be considered exercise.

Key points about dancing as exercise:
Cardio benefits:
Dancing raises your heart rate and improves cardiovascular health, similar to other aerobic activities like running or swimming.
Muscle engagement:
Depending on the dance style, you can work various muscle groups in your legs, core, arms, and upper body.
Fun factor:
Dancing is often considered a fun and enjoyable way to exercise, making it more likely to be sustained over time.
Intensity matters:
The intensity of your dancing determines the calorie burn, so more vigorous movements will provide a more significant workout.


I decided to expand my research and dig a little deeper. After all, the 5% Challenge Community tries to include all levels of a healthy lifestyle journey: those that are looking to lose weight; those that are getting started in their healthy lifestyle journey; those that have been walking the path for quite some time and are looking to find their way ‘back’ to making better choices; those that are looking for support from like-minded individuals; those that have lost weight and are looking to maintain and yes, even inspire. I also thought about the fact that we try to be as inclusive as possible and realize that we have members with various physical challenges: those that have a chronic condition of some sort; those that perhaps had a recent surgery, those that are recovering from a devastating illness; those that are wheelchair bound, to name a few. I came across a wonderful, inspiring video about Tatiana. She is wheelchair bound and tells her story of dancing WITH her wheelchair. Please view this inspiring video ~ it is called:
Wheelchair Dancing with Tatiana Lee
Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFg-hdongX8

While I was on YouTube, I decided to query: Can someone in a wheelchair dance for exercise around the house? I was pleasantly surprised to find LOTS of videos that concentrated on exercise in a wheelchair and some of them were ‘dancy’ … like Zumba for Wheelchair Users! I do realize that some of the offerings give you a ‘taste’ of the actual content and then they want you to go to their website to pay for a ‘class’. Of course, that is always an option but for many of us especially in today’s economic climate, we are looking for free or VERY economical solutions. I do not have a paid YouTube subscription, but if you do ~ and you find yourself with physical limitations up to and including being in a wheelchair ~ you might want to try to dig a little deeper into some of the offerings.
If you are a Challenger that has physical limitations but loves to ‘dance’ and does so as exercise, why don’t you consider sharing with your fellow team mates on your team’s Chat Thread. I’m sure that they would be as grateful as I am to get more information about this alternative way to DANCE.
Once again, I don’t have a paid version of YouTube, but I use it frequently. If you are looking for a ‘dance-class’ type of workout at home, YouTube has many offerings. In the YouTube search bar type ‘Dancing Workouts’ and you will get quite a few suggestions. If it is easier, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dancing+workouts


NOTE: The 2025 Winter 5% Challenge is designed to focus on a healthy lifestyle that is a compliment to whatever exercise/movement program that you are doing. The challenge begins on Saturday morning. Dance & NSV (Non-Scale Victories) done before SATURDAY DOES NOT COUNT!!!!

🏁 Race 🏁

You must exercise to get to 6,000 minutes to help your team ‘Break The Ribbon.’
> > 1 minute of exercise = 1 minute toward the team’s 6,000-minute goal.
DAILY MAXIMUM 120 exercise minutes per team member < <

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Healthy Habit: Visions of 💃 🕺 DANCE 🕺 💃 and 🏆 🎉 Non-Scale Victories (NSV) 🎉 🏆

✔️To score points this week
1. Incorporate 💃 🕺 DANCE 🕺 💃 as exercise into your daily routine. Plan for a MINIMUM of 10 minutes of ‘dance’. For this exercise it is 10 points ~ you earn all or nothing. BONUS: Yes, this portion of your ‘exercise’ can be added to whatever other exercise you may do and all minutes may be counted.
2. NSV (Non-Scale Victories): Focus on positive accomplishments apart from the scale! Find your Non-Scale-Victory daily. 1 NSV = 10 points.

Exercise Summary: Each minute you exercise moves your team closer to “Break The Ribbon” and reaching your team’s goal of 6,000 minutes! Remember, it’s 120 minutes max to count. You may choose to do more exercise, but what is counted for the challenge is maxed at 120 minutes.

Healthy Habits Summary:
Your post should look something like this:
Saturday (Please always note the day/days you are posting for)
Exercise: 120
Dance: 10 (all or nothing)
NSV (Non-Scale Victory): 10 (all or nothing)
Healthy Habit Focus: 10 points all or nothing (Please note your focus).
Measurements: 15 (all or nothing ~ claim ONLY if you took your measurements in Week #1)

Important Notice: If your 8-week focus happens to be the same as a weekly habit, you get to claim points in both places!


Finally ~ MEASUREMENTS: 15 (all or nothing).
**If you took your measurements in Week #1 and posted them, please repeat these in Week #8 to find out how you did during the Challenge and to get your points in Week #8**
PLEASE REMEMBER: Measurements must be done during week 1 and week 8 to get the points in week 8)


NOTE: Do the best that you can. We are inclusive of all but realize that not everyone can participate fully in everything because of health/dietary restrictions and/or physical restrictions. If there is an exceptional circumstance, let your team leader know. They can reach out to the OAL team, and perhaps together, we can come up with **suggestions** for an alternative.

Heidi (hicim705)
2025 Winter 5% Challenge ~ Extra Leader 🔴🌡️RED HOTS🌡️🔴 Team
Overall Co-Leader, Seasonal 5% Challenges

Co-Leader, Seasonal 5% Challenges ~ ✍️🖊️📓💻Bloggers✍️🖊️📓💻!!

🥳🎊🎉🌟✨ CELEBRATING our 4th Year
of Seasonal 5% Challenges on MyFitnessPal ✨🌟🎉🎊🥳