SUGAR??????

Sugars are a tough one. There are a lot of natural sugars in a lot of things. I know everyone is trying to figure it out (myself included).

Candy and Cookies are obviously out, but what about everything else?

My personal feeling is the whole purpose of this challenge is to replace bad habits with good ones. So if it is something sweet you crave, you need to train your body to accept fruit in place of something artificial. So go out and get some apples or grapes, or blackberries (on sale @ Fry’s). And when you think you need something sweet, go for that! Because what are you going to do when the challenge is over? The point is to retrain your body to enjoy healthier alternatives.


Also, check the ingredients. If sugar comes up in the first few items, that's a red flag. Make conscious and wise decisions and check your labels when in doubt. Try to take the time to learn more about the things you are putting in your body.


It is nearly impossible to eleiminate all sugars, but you can try to aviod it as much as possible, so if something good for you has a few grams of natural sugar it is probably ok.


so some good substitutes would be FRUIT, FRUIT, FRUIT, honey (sparingly), agave, stevia (both very strong natual sweeteners-just a tiny bit will work), and it you must..... sugar free treats.




Sometimes you just need something. I have tried to cut out sugar before (and I could live on a diet of cake, ice cream and cookies). It was tough but sometimes some sugar-free jello (with a dollop of sugar free Cool Whip) every night for dessert kept me sane and SAFE.


And by the way, has anyone had the Extra Dessert Delights Sugar-Free gum? There are a few different flavors out there, and I recently tried Key Lime Pie. Not the same as the real thing, but yummy.

The Challenge

Okay ladies....and gentlemen. So here is the challenge. 6 weeks (modified from the 8 weeks), 6 days a week, 10 points a day. The consensus was that a "buy-in" challenge with a cash reward will keep many motivated. So $20 is the entry fee.

Here are the categories:

1. Get 8 hours of sleep (this can include naps if you don't get a complete 8 hours at night)
2. Don't eat sugar (candy, ice cream, etc....natural sugars in fruits and other things are ok)
3. Don't eat any white flour foods (white bread, white pasta, etc.)
4. Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity/exercise
5. Read some kind of uplifting material for 15 minutes (scriptures, magazines, articles, etc.)
6. Drink 8 glasses of water (8 oz glasses)
7. Eat 2 fruits and 2 veggies
8. No eating after 8:30pm
9. Give service to someone outside of your immediate family
10. Personal Challenge

Temple Attendance -2 points (2 extra points possible/week)

I added personal challenge after a suggestion that I include not drinking caffeinated soda. I am admittedly a serious addict, and can’t start my day without at least 1 can of diet mt. dew. I guess it would be silly to do a health challenge and not stop doing the worst thing I do for my heath. (Don’t get me wrong I love, love, love sweets, but a nice cold soda from QT- it doesn’t get much better) I know not everyone is addicted to soda, but everyone has something that they would like to work on, so I decided to add Personal Challenge as the #10 point. I am very reluctantly adding no soda to my list. If you are an addict, like myself, feel free to add soda to your list as well. If soda is no big deal, think of something that is. MAKE IT GOOD!!!

This challenge is 6 weeks long and consists of 6 days each week. You get ONE free day! Feel free to continue with these 10 challenges on your day off, but know that you won't get points for them. So on your day off, you can do whatever you want....but don't get carried away....be smart! Try to stay on task and remember the ultimate ending goal....to better yourself all around! So out of the 6 weeks, you can earn up to 10 points per day, which can come to a max total of 360 points, or a 372 if you also attend the temple each week. There will be a cash prize for the 1st place and a randomly draw 2nd place (through random.org) for all those who have at least 300 points. There is a $20 buy in to help make the grand prize more appealing and to keep you motivated! The 1st prize winner will receive 80% of the money, 2nd place 20%. So even If you are not able to maintain a perfect score, don’t give up you will still be in the running for 2nd place.

Please let me know ASAP if you are interested. If you want to join in on the cash prize, I need your money ASAP as well. If I don’t have your money by Friday, I will assume you are opting out of the cash prize.

I want to know how everyone is doing send me emails with your point updates, stories and encouragement. I will post it to 6weekstoabetteryou.blogspot.com