CHALLENGE!

Ok guys, I’m down 20 lbs. from last summer, but I need some motivation to keep going, so I am soliciting some family support in the form of a challenge – I am kicking off the official:

Arnesen Family Fitness Challenge

Timeframe: Sunday, January 22, 2006-Sunday, March 19, 2006 (8 weeks)

Fitness challenge:

This is for everyone! Get fit, have fun, and win a chance for a great reward for your efforts.

Entry fee:
A donation to be raffled off at the end of the 8 weeks (could be a service, an item, etc.) Be creative and have fun coming up with something that people would enjoy!

Rules for fitness challenge:
This is strictly optional - you can join us, or not.
For every day that you exercise during the 8 weeks, you will be given a raffle ticket to put into the bin to win the donated items.
You must keep track of your own exercise days
This is on the honor system, so be honest!
No Sunday exercising allowed to be tallied

Now, for the SERIOUS competitors in the family, I am issuing a weight loss challenge too, so we can all look great in our swimsuits at the family reunion this summer!

Rules for the weight loss challenge:
Participation is strictly optional
Winner will be the person who has lost the greatest percentage of body weight in 8 weeks #of pounds lost divided by starting weight (for example: 150 lb. person who loses 8 lbs. in 8 weeks 8/150=5.3%.), so even those of you who only have a few pounds to lose can participate too.
Weigh in must be at same time of day for starting and ending weight.
Weight loss is rounded to the nearest ½ pound.
This is on the honor system, so you don’t have to divulge your starting/ending weight to anyone.
This is NOT a New Year’s Resolution. It is a lifestyle change – I am not a believer in New Year’s Resolution weight loss.
You can use whatever weight loss method you want, as long as it is healthy.

Prize: Person who loses the greatest percentage of weight will receive… (drum roll please…) 40,000 Italian lire or the US equivalent. You can use it to buy your new wardrobe!

One more challenge:
I am officially inviting all of you to train and participate in “My First Triathlon” with me in June. It is a sprint length triathlon (1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3 mile run), so anyone can finish it easily, if you are in shape. The great thing about this triathlon is that it is specifically geared for first-timers. Everyone is out there just trying it out and having fun. You can take as much time as you want to finish it, so there is no pressure. I think it would be fun if a bunch of us did it together. Here is the link: http://www.tri101.com/ I am doing the Moses Lake one on June 10. If you are interested, I have found some easy beginner training programs that I am going to follow, and I can send those to you if you want.

Other stuff:
Since we get together most Sundays for dinner, I was thinking it would be fun to try out some healthy recipes together to complement our exercise goals. I have two healthy recipe ideas that I really want to try out, so if it is ok with mom, I would like to volunteer to bring the main dish to the first two Sundays of the challenge. If anyone else has one that they want to share, I would love it! I always like to try new things!

Here are a few links to get you started:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Ok, so that’s the skinny on my challenge to the Arnesen fam. Any takers? Let’s get healthy!