Commit to be Fit

As part of book club this month, the girls and I decided to embark upon a little healthy living competition called "Commit to be Fit." Essentially it's a game with a point system, where you gain points for doing healthy things, and loose points for not. We haven't decided yet what the total point value to strive for will be, nor what the winner will get, but we've got rules all figured out, which I'm pretty excited about. The greatest part about this competition is that it rewards and punishes behavior, not results. It makes it that much easier to make these rules part of your permanent lifestyle, which is much more motivating day to day and healthier long term!

Daily Points:

• +1 point for every day that you do not eat any fast food (fast food = any establishment without a waitress)
• -1 point for every day that you eat any fast food
  
• +1 point for every day that you eat at least 5 servings* of fruit & vegetables
• +2 points if you eat >5 servings of fruits & vegetables
• -1 point for every day that you eat less than 5 servings of fruits & vegetables
  
• +1 point for every day that you drink at least 32 oz of plain water (pellegrino can count)
• -1 point for every day that you drink less than 32 oz of water
  
• +1 point for every day that you exercise for 30 to 59 minutes
• +2 points if you exercise for at least 60 minutes or more each day (If you go over 60 minutes you only receive +2 points and not the +1 for each 30 minute increment)
• -1 point for each day without exercise

*serving defined as one half cup; greens/spinach/lettuce, one full cup. Examples:
Fruits - one medium banana, six large strawberries, two plums, fifteen grapes, one apple, one peach, one half cup of orange or other juice.
Vegetables - five broccoli florets, ten baby carrots, one roma tomato, 3/4 cup tomato juice, half of a baked sweet potato, one ear of corn, four slices of an onion.

Weekly Bonus Points

• +5 for every 3 lbs lost from the initial weigh-in
• -5 for every 3 lbs gained from the initial weigh-in
• +3 for taking an entire week's worth of allotted supplements (tailored to your needs)
• +5 for eating at least 5 servings of fruits & vegetables in the week (week = Monday through Sunday)
• +5 for 5 days of exercise in the week
  
• +3 for going a whole week without drinking any coffee or soda (diet soda's included)
• +3 for getting at least 6 hours of consecutive sleep for 5 days out of a week
• +3 for not eating any HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) for 5 days out of a week.

So there you have it. There's a spreadsheet to track your daily progress, and at some point we'll stop the game and see who got the most points, but we'll wait until at least everyone reaches 500 points. Healthy living games rule!