Here is the challenge for this week!

"Last night on the show the challenge was a temptation challenge; there were 100 pumpkins and each had either cash, candy, or one had an immunity card. The catch was that if they got a piece of candy they had to eat it. Im not sure if everyone ate, but I do know that everyone on the white (Jillians) team did and when they got back to the gym after that they basically started talking about how many extra calories they would need to burn to make up for what they ate. That is the basis of our challenge this week.

You should already be recording every bite you take, but its essential for this weeks challenge. Im a firm believer that if we want to be successful in the long term that we dont need to eliminate every single indulgence out of our lives. I think that in many cases can lead to binging and giving up. The key is moderation and making sure you have the right ratio of calories in vs calories out. Of course eating healthy is important and something we should all strive for and I'm sure you have already begun to make some healthier choices, but it doesnt hurt to have a reward every now and then.

This weeks challenge incorporates three things that are key to getting healthy and losing weight: accountability, moderation, and physical activity. I want you to pick a food vice that you have. It can be anything that you like, but know isnt the best for your health and losing weight - ice cream, candy, alcohol, fast food, soda, etc. I DON'T want you to necessarily eliminate this from your diet this week, but if you choose to go about it that way its fine too. What I do want you to do is burn off as many calories as you consumed eating whatever vice you chose. This is where accountability comes in - no one is responsible for your success but you, so you NEED to record every item you eat even if it doesnt look good in the diary or makes you go over for the day. Keep track of these indulgences throughout the day and see how many calories it adds up to and then get up and do something to burn that amount of calories off. You can help keep your teammates accountable by posting in your team threads and encouraging each other. In fact its going to be REQUIRED this week. There is no checking in with your coach monday night saying "yes I did the challenge", you should be posting as you go along throughout the week in your thread.You can do it all at once on monday night, sure but its easier to keep track of and stay motivated each day you do it.

You obviously can just avoid the vice for the whole week and thats fine too - you are resisting a temptation and thats an important thing to be able to do. Or you can chose to keep it in and work on finding a balance. The aim is to have the mentality that if you have something that may not be the best for your weight loss that its not the end of the world and you can do something to fix it right away. Either of these options results in the same thing - no net calories consumed, which is the goal

Im excited about this because I think it will help us all take a closer look at our diaries and what we are putting in our mouths. It might make you realize just how many calories you ingest of a particular item and cause you to start to reduce your consumption in the future. It will definitely get you up and moving though, and I know for me personally it will make me workout more.

So for example my vice is going to be candy and alcohol (im picking two but you only have to do one). My post in my thread for today would be something like this:

"peanut butter m&ms fun size - 95 cals
sweet cinnamon pretzel - 200 cals
1 glass red wine, 5 oz - 106 cals
total owed: 401

exercise:
30 day shred: 170 calories
Leslie Sansone 3 mile walk : 300 calories
Calories burned: 470

All calories burned off yay!"


I hope you guys enjoy this one and it provides something for you. I really think it could be a helpful challenge. Remember this has to be legitimate exercise. If you wear a pedometer all day at work and walked 2500 steps, dont count that as 100 calories burned. If you went walking at lunch and walked a mile intentionally then of course that would count but "accidental exercise" though a great thing, doesnt count

What did you guys think of the show last night. I had three things that really stuck out to me
1) how hard would that sand pit be? They had ruben running in that while they had rope around him pulling him back. That has to suck! I hate running in sand and then to have that resistance added. No thanks. Im sure its a killer workout though
2) Biingo looks so great! I am really glad that they are following up with the kid ambassadors from last season and its so great to see that not only has he stuck with the changes hes made, but that his family is following along too.
3) Real women lift weights - I like that Bob's group went to meet with some professional weight lifters. I dont know about you but I thought those girls looked amazing and I think a girl with muscle is alot sexier than one that doesnt really have definition. I think its important for women to incorporate strength training into their workouts, especially pulling exercises that strengthen the back. Many women say that they dont want to lift because they are worried about getting bulky, but our bodies just arent designed for that to happen. These girls were professionals and are trying to build alot of muscle and I only really noticed one that had larger shoulders/arms. Muscle burns more fat, so dont just focus on cardio and dont be afraid of lifting some weights every now and then - you wont look like a body builder unless you actually try to

So thats it! Lets keep up the good work guys and please as always let me know if you have any questions. Ill be out of town this weekend for a race so I wont be on here all that much but I'm going to do my best to try to stay active on here - the weeks we have alot of participation are the weeks we seem to lose more

*******challenge summary**********
1) Make sure you are recording everything you eat if you arent already
2) Chose a food item or group of food items that you may like but may not be healthy
3) keep track of each time you consume this and how many calories from it you ingested.
4) complete a physical activity equivalent to that amount of calories consumed (ie one can of beer has 105 calories so you run a little over a mile until youve burned 100 calories)
5) post in your team thread your items and activities broken down by day. While it would be most beneficial to do this each day to keep you on track, one final post with each day separated would be acceptable as well. You WILL NOT get credit for simply stating you completed the challenge this week - you need to show your teammates and coaches what you did."

For this weeks challenge my weakness is candy. So I have decided I'm going to try really hard to go cold turkey. So far so good. One night down 5/6 more to go!

How are you all doing with this weeks challenge!?