The forgiveness portion of this week's challenge is being rather difficult. It is so much easier to forgive someone who hurts you rather than someone who hurts your children.

Challeging week

This week has proven to be most complicated!  My parents are staying with me and they have brought my niece and nephew with them.  Neither of these children have a healthy diet, nor will they eat things outside their regular meal plan.  Needless to say, my mom had been fixing less than healthy meals.  There are donuts and ice cream every day... ugh!!  To make matters worse, it is that time of the month where will power is weak, and chocolate rules my world!  I'm worried that this week may end up being a bit of a set back.  So, I will have to work extra hard next week!

Verily!

I wanted to share a new women's publication that was started by a group of created and driven Catholic young women in NYC. It's called Verily magazine, and focuses on celebrating women instead of telling them who they "should" be. There have been two print editions out so far, and plenty of online content. It is artistically beautiful and the message is substantial and fun!

Check it out:

http://verilymag.com/

Week #2 Winner

Hello Friends,

I am sorry that I am posting this weeks winner so late, but I am so blessed right now to have my dear friend Amanda Anderson and her really good friend Tala Burnison (who is also doing this challenge) staying at my house this weekend!  (I am so happy!)

A lot of you know Amanda personally and know that last August she joined the Religious Sisters of Mercy in Alma, Michigan.  She has been gone all year,  including spending seven months at a convent in Germany, and I've barely been able to communicate with her.  So as you can imagine, the three of us have been sitting in my kitchen all night talking - and it's been wonderful!  Aaahhh, carefree timelessness at it's best and I'm cherishing ev-er-y minute of it!

However, it's now 1:51am and we need a winner this week!  So, here are the top five point earners this week (five because there was a tie).

Pat Thomas - 168

Linda Graefe - 168

Megan Beumeler - 164

Juliet Jones - 151

Artesia Stivison -151

So, I put each of the names in a bowl and gave Amanda the honor of drawing this weeks winner!

  

And the lucky winner of 

the book "Finding True Happiness", 

the Pedometer and 

the beautiful Rosary, 

is

Congratulations Juliet Jones!  

Okay everyone, check on the sidebar to see the newest group challenge for week #3!  

I'll post this weeks prize tomorrow - I've got to go to bed now!

Blessings to all of you beautiful women of God!!

Daughters

God has entrusted to me 4 precious children and I am continually in awe and humbled by my role as a mother.  Three of my children are girls.  I have struggled with my weight since I was a kid.  I remember being conscious of being heavy and wanting to be skinny since I was a little girl.  My hope is that my girls know how beautiful they are inside and out and that my struggles will not be theirs.  We celebrate every freckle, lost tooth, hair curl and what makes us unique and special.  Recently I am aware that I need to watch what I say and focus on being "healthy" and not thin.  Again, grateful for this challenge to change the whole person and not just about dropping a couple pounds.   

Feeling a bit accomplished...

I do believe I've figured out how to post to the blog!  :)

My real post is this...

For the spiritual component of our weekly challenge, I decided to try a novena to someone new.  Somewhere...I SWEAR...I read that St. Ambrose is the patron of public officials.  I am an elected official in our county and I am having some major challenges dealing with another elected official.  This person gets under my skin on so many levels.  I have prayed for an improvement in our relationship in the past, but it hasn't helped.  I've prayed that God will change my heart and my ability to deal with this person, because I know that the odds of HIM changing are slim...and maybe it's me who needs to change anyway!  What complicates this is that he is Catholic and I have two of his kids in Youth Group.

Anyway, there isn't a novena to St. Ambrose (and as it turns out, I don't see that he is the patron of public officials!), although there are a few of his prayers listed on the internet.  I printed them off and have been praying them and asking for his intercession since Sunday.  I wish I could say there has been a complete turn around in this situation or at least some small improvement, but that is not the case.  I'll continue to pray and hope that something I hear this weekend at Steubenville NW will help me cope.  In the meantime, I thought I would share this beautiful prayer of St. Ambrose.  Perhaps God wants to work on me through this...

Lord, teach me to seek You, and reveal Yourself to me when I seek You.
For I cannot seek You unless You first teach me, nor find You, unless You
first reveal Yourself to me.

Let me seek You in longing, and long for You in seeking.
Let me find You in love, and love You in finding.
Amen.

Afternoon Workout

I was able to fit in a quick workout this afternoon at the YMCA.   As I started on the Stair-stepper (my least favorite machine in the world), I started to read through your FB and Blog posts and I was truly inspired by all of you and the time flew by!  Thanks for sharing your challenges and triumphs.  You are all so amazing.

Once I was finishing my stair-stepper workout, I glanced around the room to see what I should do next and noticed an elderly woman trying to get on to an exercise bike.   She had to have been at least 85 years old.  She had a brace on her leg and an oxygen tank next to her with tubes going into her nose.  When I say that it took her at least 2 minutes to get her feet on the pedals of the bike, I am not exaggerating.  But then she put bike to level 4 and began.  I was so inspired by her that I decided to do the bike next to her and when my 20 minutes were up, she was still going to town.  Amazing!

We all have our own challenges, some are certainly greater than others - but this woman today proved to me that I can either make excuses or I can get on the machine (however long it takes) and start pedaling. 

Peace in Christ!

WEEK #2 PRIZE

Hello Ladies!  Here is the prize for week #2!

An awesome New Balance STEP PEDOMETER that even lights up! Sweet!!

This beautiful Rosary (donated by the very awesome Nicole Stoker.  Her and her family are the owners of Totally Catholic Fundraising).  This rosary has the 5 luminous mysteries on it and comes with it's own leather case and booklet.  It retails for $43 and is absolutely beautiful!  

Thank you so much Nicole for donating this to our challenge!

Finding TRUE Happiness by the amazing Fulton Sheen.  

The winner this week takes all three!

New recipes

What new healthy recipes have you found for this week's challenge? The recipes my Facebook friends are sharing sound delicious but certainly not healthy (cheese stuffed meatballs, no bake peanut butter pie...) :-)

Starting NOW...

Hi Gals... My name is Artesia.  

I know some of you in this challenge and can not wait to meet the rest of you ladies. 

 I am the mom to 4 young kids... 7, 6, 3 and 7 months.  So for the past 8 years my weight has fluctuated from pregnancy, nursing, and bouts of weight watchers at least 75 lbs.  I just finished a similar weight loss challenge and was able to shed 15.8 of those pregnancy pounds in 10 weeks.  I won 3rd place, woot woot.  

However, we recently moved across the country from our home in Boise, Idaho to West Lafayette, Indiana.  To say that it has been stressful is an understatement.  I don't typically consider myself an emotional eater but my focus right now is not on making healthy food choices and exercising.  Fortunately, this challenge has another component.  Praying, reading, and even sleeping are things I have been doing a lot of.   Every morning I wake up and think today is the day I am going to START this challenge and then before lunch I have eaten 2 wild berry pop tarts and forgot to pack workout clothes.  So tonight I packed my clothes and shower stuff and am heading to the gym at 6am.  The gym has 2 things our new place doesn't have a hot shower and a cable!  Please hold me accountable.            

Zumba

I have been wanting to try Zumba for quite a while but didn't want to spend the money on classes or a DVD. This week's challenge is the perfect push! I have found some routines online and I'll try it out tonight!

WEEK #1 WINNER

I received almost everyone's points.  Here are the four highest scores.  

Megan Beumeler - 171
Monica Beumeler - 171
Pat Thomas -  162
Cindy Anderson - 155


I put all 4 names in a basket and had Johnny draw one. 



And the winner is......





Ooohhhhh, I wonder who it is going to be........







A BIG CONGRATULATIONS GOES TO: 

Drum roll please...................

CINDY ANDERSON!!!
Congratulations Cindy! The book, H2O Bottle and prayer box are headed your way!







If you haven't yet sent me your points for the week, please still do so ASAP, so that I can keep track of everyones for the final grand prize.  

Big challenge!

I don't know if any of you are like me, but I have tried just about every kid of exercise there is. So this week's new exercise challenge is going to be tough for me. I definitely want to try a new recipe though. Does anyone have a homemade granola bar recipe or healthy snack recipe to share?

HERE it is!  WEEK #2 GROUP CHALLENGE!  

I've also posted this on the sidebar of the blog.  

WEEK #2

 GROUP CHALLENGE 

Try Something New

Fit:

Part I:  Try one new form of exercise this week. (or form of exercise you haven’t done in at least the past 3 years)

Part II:  Make one new healthy recipe this week.  (hello Pinterest!)

Holy: 

Try a new form of prayer for at least one of your 20 min. prayer times this week.  

Here are a few prayer ideas.  When I have time later, I will post links to some of these.  Please share if you have additional suggestions. 

Rosary

Journaling

Lectio Divina

Divine Mercy Chaplet

A Novena to a new saint

Adoration

Liturgy of the Hours

Praying the scriptures

Stations of the cross

Prayer walk with a friend

I cannot wait to see your posts!  Please share your "new" ideas!  I especially need new recipe ideas!

Blessings, 

Lorissa

Challenges

Last Sunday was great...the eagerness and energy to get started with this challenge. I was able to get things checked off one after the other. During the week, with working, it was much harder but I expected Saturday would be easy. It wasn't. I got a lot done but not toward this. Then I got on the scale this morning and only had lost 1.5 pounds. Since I had gone from exercising .5-1 hour a week to 5 hours this week and had been watching what I eat much more closely I had expected better results. I know... 1.5 pounds is a good, healthy weight loss for 1 week but still... I know... weight can fluctuate up to 2 pounds in a single day. Oh well... we'll see what the total is after 8 weeks and what the total inches lost are.  Okay, I'm done whining. :-(

Week #1 complete!

Hello Ladies, 

Can you believe we've finished week #1!  Congratulations!  I don't know about you, but this week was way more challenging than I thought it would be - but in a good way.  For me, I did some things well, and others - well, not so well.  But more than anything, I am so excited to be spending these 8 weeks journeying with such amazing women, all of whom are challenging me to be better, both healthier and holier and I am so incredibly thankful! 

This week your posts and words have brought me to tears, made me laugh and helped me to breath a sigh of relief knowing that I am not alone in my struggles.  Some of you I've been blessed to know for years and others I've come to know just this week, but I consider you all friends and I know that God has placed us all in this community for these eight weeks for a reason.  I look forward to seeing how He will use all of us to inspire, challenge and lift each other up.  You are each such a gift!

With that said, I need all of your points.  Please email them to me at this address,ugotjesus@yahoo.com by 3pm today (Sunday).   I am planning to do the drawing this evening around 9pm. (Although, it is Johnny's Birthday and we may still be celebrating, so I will do the drawing as soon as possible and will post the winner on the bloggity blog!) I've attached the PDF of the log for keeping track of your points if you were unable to download it from the blog. 

Kristi Burton had a good question regarding sleep points.  For this week, you will only be able to count 6 days of sleeping points because we started last Sunday.  But from this point on, it will be 7.  Hope that makes sense. 

Finally, even if you feel like you didn't do well points wise, still send me you points (I need everyones).  I am pretty sure that none of you did worse than me anyways (I was on vacation half of this week and struggled to get my workouts in - amongst other things).  I am only going to post the names and points of the 4 highest earners each week so please, don't feel embarrassed about sending in your points.  

Also, if you feel like you had a bad week, DO NOT give up!  For me, this week wasn't so good, but I know I am going to ROCK it next week!  Let's stay strong together and fight on!  We can do this!  We must run the race and fight the fight! 

Blessings to all of you!

Lorissa

I feel very good about this challenge thus far.  It has not been a perfect week, but I have made some positive changes that this 8 week challenge will hopefully help me to adopt as lifelong habits.  As Matthew Kelly says, when your habits change, your life changes!  I am really enjoying spending time reading.  I am reading the book Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious, and I am in the part about "beautiful"  The author makes wonderful points about beauty not being related to how we look on the inside, but being who God made us to be.  There are not "haves" and "have nots" when it comes to the beauty God gave all women.  Pat talks about the many amazing and special gifts that different women might have, but says that every woman has four universal gifts that characterize the beauty of womanhood:   receptivity (being open to love, the soft spots we have in our hearts for others) generosity (giving of oneself to others in response to that receptivity), sensitivity (the gift of being able to see with your heart), and maternity ( a call to heroic, selfless love for others).  This reading is helping me to see that my quest for holiness is not an attempt to gain only a healthier body, for purpose of "looking good" but instead an effort to be a better person, a healthier person, but changing habits and focusing upon the gifts God gave me.

As of today I've lost 3 lbs, but I'm not going to count it until tomorrow, just in case, I want to stay on the week to week thing. Yesterday was kind of a bust for prayer, reading, and exercise, but that's why we have the 5 out of 7 day goal and not EVERY day. My foot is finally feeling better so I'm hoping to go do some exercising tonight, even if it's just a 30 min walk. Water consumption and carefree timelessness are my most challenging, along with exercise. Prayer would be, if I didn't have the "praise & worship" option. =) I'm trying to come up with a routine for me and my boys that will work even after we start homeschooling in September. I just finished the chapter about 5th P "provider", from "A Mother's Rule" and I know I need to be a better steward of our money. Although we are recently debt free, including our house, I need to make sure I don't just waste our money on non-essentials just because I can. I need to make sure needs are provided for, both for our family and others in need. I plan to get better with a budget as we start to see where our new bills are at and what our new income is with me cutting back on my job. God has blessed us with our situation and I need to thank Him and not squander what He has given us. I am still trying to simplify and declutter, but it seems like for every box of stuff I fill to get rid of, there are items that I want to buy that I may not use or need. I'm trying to be careful of that. I'm so glad that I took the time to do this challenge. Although I wasn't sure I should add one more thing to my plate, this has made me make time to do things that I wouldn't before and on days that I can get most of my list checked off in the morning, I feel so good that I don't really have anything added to the rest of my day and yet, it's made me think about things I wouldn't have, if I hadn't done those things in the first place. I haven't really been focusing on healthy eating, just logging what I do eat. But I hope that as I get further into the challenge, I will start making better choices, as I continue to see results. I know it's probably not fair that I'm nursing, and a lot of my weight-loss could be from the calories being burned from that, but hopefully there will be a balance as I start to incorporate more exercise and healthy eating, that will allow me to continue losing weight even after this challenge is over and maintain my goal weight (when I get there) after nursing is over.

I posted pics below of Lucas. Spent some more quality time with him last night and this morning.  His parents went on an overnight for the first time since their anniversary New Year's Eve, which was a horrible experience for them (they got food poisoning).  So my gift this week has been lots of quality time with Lucas. This time Grandpa got in on the fun too, playing in the swing, playing horsie, reading books and singing silly songs.  I think being a Grandma is the best thing in the world, and when you talk about becoming a better version of yourself, I think about the little child, sweet, innocent, trusting, fascinated by the whole world, energetic, creative, exploring, playing.  I think if this challenge were to do something great for me, the best thing I could hope for would be to become more child-like in my relationship with Jesus, to trust, spend time with Him, sing to him, read, learn and explore what He wants me to be.  I want to be like a child and soak up everything He has to teach me.

Some of my unplugged quality time each week is with my grandson.  Thursday is my day off, and I spend the whole day with Lucas.  It is the highlight of my week.  While I might get on the computer when he sleeps, today he did not sleep hardly at all (he has a cold but was still in a great mood).  You will see in these pics what Lucas was doing while he was supposed to be sleeping :)

Living Order: Finances

Hello, lovelies!

As a part of my Summer Challenge, I'm also taking some time to organize my finances. I'm a mint.com user and completed Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover classes...the challenge now is to maintain order and make prudent financial decisions! I'm single and have a bit less responsibility in that way, but am working to learn and organize what I can.

Do you have any favorite tools or tips for maintaining peace and order in financial matters?

-Tala

My favorite meal of the week!

Hello, Challenge-mates!

I drove to Omaha, NE to visit a dear friend and we ventured into an fire-baked pizza restaurant. The combination of conversation with a sweet soul, just enough pieces of mushroom pizza, and this salad made it my favorite meal of the week! I drove home with the ingredients for the salad and re-created it for my parents. :) Bon appetit!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/arugula-and-prosciutto-salad-with-pears-blue-cheese-and-pecans-recipe/index.html

P.S. I used goat cheese instead of blue, left out the salt and pepper, and tried my first basalmic reduction to glaze the salad. The chef at "Pitch" in Omaha made it look like a fancy, prosciutto-wrapped volcano, but I just shredded the meat and tossed it all together.:) It was fun!

Tala

This has been a great challenge so far! The exercising is still a challenge to fit in with 5 young children, but I've really been able to focus in on what I eat and my prayer time.   It's amazing how little changes can make such a big impact on your life! God Bless, ladies!

Here is something a friend posted on Facebook. I never would have thought to use cucumbers as bread for a sandwich!

Cucumber subs with turkey, green onions and Laughing Cow cheese! Yum!! All the goodness without all that bread!

My delicious Ginger Coconut Cod_Apple and Butternut Squash_Fresh tarragon Green Beans

This is my dinner I made tonight.  More and more I realize just cooking simple fresh delicious foods are quick, easy, and way better tasting than eating out or making some complicated recipe. SIMPLY DELICIOUS!

Challenge is challengeing!

Yesterday I felt like a total rock star, checking things off the list all day long!  But today is Monday, and reality has set in a little more...
Let's keep supporting each other through good days and not so good days!!
Have yet to exercise today, but I'm still hopeful I will be able to fit it in before the end of the day!
Good luck everyone!

I was 45 min shy of my 7 hour mark when my 2 week old decided she was hungry. =( I fed her and went back to bed and got another 2 hours - yay! Yesterday went well for the most part - Mass, logged food, weighed in and did my measurements, ate breakfast and drank 40oz of water. Does being with my 2 week old during a photo shoot count as carefree timelessness? ;-)  Exercise is going to be my hardest one - I need to reestablish my membership at Idaho Fitness Factory. My goal for the challenge is to lose 16 lbs, but overall I need to lose 45-50. If I lose 16lbs in the next 8 weeks, I will be at my lowest weight in a VERY long time. I've been pregnant or nursing most of the past 4 years, so have not had time to lose weight in between. Last summer I finally joined myfitnesspal and Idaho Fitness Factory and started to lose weight and then I got pregnant again. Excited for this challenge and to start adapting all of these things into my daily routine to keep them going past the 8 week challenge. If I win cash, I'm going to buy myself a FitBit! Good luck to everyone. =)

How do I figure my sleep hours when I wake up several times each night?

A question--Can the Carefree Timelessness be done with my puppy? Taking him to the dog park, etc?

day 1

My daughters and I are enjoying a girls day! we just finished up dancing in the living room to mozart and bach! Dancing with an almost 6 mo old is a workout in itself! Measuring out 64 oz of H20...kids said, "what are you doing that for?"Momma needs to get healthy and I need your help! They liked that idea...keeping Momma accountable. keeping track of the food is a challenge for me. I tried an app but that's a bit much for me right now. I like my paper and pen - good ol fashion paper and pen!  Let's go Ladies! :)

The Challenge Begins!

Okay Ladies, it has begun!

Here is the new updated list of participants (a total of 28 to kick this thing off)!  Yippee!

We are really going to have a blast over the next eight weeks as we all get more healthy and holy together!  

Please make sure you did your official weigh in today, and for consistency purposes please make sure you use the same scale throughout the competition. 

Clarification

H20: Just want to clarify that in order to get the points for drinking water each day - you must drink plain water.  It cannot be flavored water, sparkling water, etc.  Feel free to add ice :) 

POSTING POINTS: 

You can get your POSTING points by posting to the FB group or to the blog.  I would recommend if you have a question or want to create a conversation amongst the group then use FB.  But if you simply have something to share like a great new healthy recipe, a personal success or even a struggle, a motivational story, video, pictures of you spending carefree timelessness with loved ones, etc., that you post it to the blog.   We have a few members in our group that are not on FB, so it would be best to post to the blog as much as possible so that everyone is included.  The more everyone posts - the better!  

If you are not familiar with posting to a blog, I'd be happy to walk you through the steps or you are welcome to email me your story and I can post it for you. 

Everyone should have received an email invitation to become a contributor to the blog. 

OKAY LADIES - let's do this!  Let the competition begin!

__________________________________________

Another look WEEK #1 Group Challenge & Prize:  

WEEKLY GROUP CHALLENGE: 25 Points!

Week #1 Theme: Back-to-the-Basics
Fit/Health Component: Eat a healthy breakfast everyday 
We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so let's start this challenge off right by fueling our bodies for success from the very beginning of the day.  
Spiritual Component: (2 options - you must choose one)
Option #1: Do not listen to any music, talk radio, cd's, ipods, etc. when driving / or in the car this week  
Instead, give yourself time in silence to pray, to speak to God and to listen to His gentle voice speaking to your heart.  Also try to avoid being on the phone during this time.   If you have family members in the car with you that are disappointed by the music being turned off,  remind them that it's just for one week and use the opportunity to have meaningful conversation or prayer time together. 
Option #2: Spiritually Adopt a family this week that is attending Family Camp next weekend and pray for them daily. 
The very awesome Family Camp is taking place next weekend and prayer warriors are needed!  If you want to choose this as your spiritual component for the week, please contact Colleen Ware at colleenloveslife@hotmail.com and she will connect you with a family that will be so blessed and thankful to have you as their spiritual warrior! 

PRIZE: 

The Challenge is about to begin....

With one day to go, we officially have 22 ladies that are signed up for the challenge! There are also a few more that are considering joining (I hope they do!)  So if you know of anyone who might be interested, please invite/remind them today so that they can kick off with us tomorrow!

Here are some important details for you to know:

I updated the POINT LOG PDF located on the sidebar to include Sleep points, which I forgot on the original one (thanks Pat Thomas for noticing - you are awesome!)

I've also added the Measurements PDF to the sidebar as well.  Even if you don't want to take your measurements (which I strongly suggest) at least print it out so that you can put down your starting weight. 

WEEKLY GROUP CHALLENGE: 25 Points!

Week #1 Theme: Back-to-the-Basics
Fit/Health Component: Eat a healthy breakfast everyday 
We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so let's start this challenge off right by fueling our bodies for success from the very beginning of the day.  
Spiritual Component: (2 options - you must choose one)
Option #1: Do not listen to any music, talk radio, cd's, ipods, etc. when driving / or in the car this week  
Instead, give yourself time in silence to pray, to speak to God and to listen to His gentle voice speaking to your heart.  Also try to avoid being on the phone during this time.   If you have family members in the car with you that are disappointed by the music being turned off,  remind them that it's just for one week and use the opportunity to have meaningful conversation or prayer time together. 
Option #2: Spiritually Adopt a family this week that is attending Family Camp next weekend and pray for them daily. 
The very awesome Family Camp is taking place next weekend and prayer warriors are needed!  If you want to choose this as your spiritual component for the week, please contact Colleen Ware at colleenloveslife@hotmail.com and she will connect you with a family that will be so blessed and thankful to have you as their spiritual warrior! 


WEEK 1 Prize - Here is it!  Winner takes all three ~ I wonder who it's going to be!

This awesome 24 oz. water bottle by Sub Zero is not only seriously cute but very functional, easy to clean, easy to fill, and is made made from recyclable materials.  Think of how fun it will be to get your H2O points while drinking from this stylish bottle!

Book: Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Mission, by John Wood: What an amazing new book put out by the Dynamic Catholic Institute!  

"This book is a five step guide to choosing the saint within you.  The world doesn't need another John Paul II or Mother Teresa.  The world needs you.  Your ordinary life has an extraordinary purpose." 

Sweet little prayer box to keep next to your bed!

So here is the list of the 22 participants that have committed to me that they want to do the challenge.  If you don't see someone on the list that you think would like to be a part of the group, please invite them today!  It would be really awesome to get to 25 by kick-off! 

Q & A

Once you've read the details and point system on the right sidebar, check out these additional questions and answers below. 

Q: I really want to do this challenge, but I am going on vacation within the next 8 weeks and don't want to be "dieting" during that time?
A:  Sign-up for the challenge anyway!  Go on vacation and have fun!  Most likely all of us will be vacationing at some point during the next 8 weeks.  Just because you cannot completely commit for a short period of time, doesn't mean that you cannot commit for the majority of it.   

Q: This challenge looks awesome, but I really don't have any weight to lose, can I still participate? 
A:  YES! YES! YES!  Even if you don't have any weight to lose, chances are there are other things you need to work on to get fit and to grow in holiness!  Maybe you'd like to tone up certain muscle groups, eat better, exercise more or establish a daily prayer routine.   If you don't have any weight to lose you can still earn weekly points for maintaining your current weight in addition to all the other ways you can earn points.  Your chances of winning this challenge are just as good as anyone else's.

Q: What is the weekly group challenge?
A: At the beginning of each new week, a unique challenge will be presented to the group.   If you successfully accomplish the challenge you will get to add in those points.  Each weekly challenge will have two components, a fit component and a spiritual component.

Q:  When and how do I get signed up? 
A:  Just send me an email and I will add you to the list.  You will need to get me your $25 by July 21st.   email: ugotjesus@yahoo.com

Q: How are the weekly prizes determined.  
A:  At the end of each week (Saturday) the four women with the highest points for that week will have their names put into a drawing.  There will be one winner each week. 

Q: What are the weekly prizes? 
A:  The weekly prizes will vary.  They may be gift cards to Subway, movie passes, frozen yogurt, etc., plus some unique and meaningful prizes as well!    

Q:  Will I be asked to buy anything or spend any money on products (aside from my initial sign-up fee of $25) at any time during the 8 weeks. 
A: NO - this challenge is not to promote any weight loss product or program.  It's simply a fun opportunity for us to support, motivate and inspire each other.  

Q: How much money will the overall 1st and 2nd place winners receive at the end of the challenge?
A:  That depends on how many women sign up to participate.   If we have 20 participants, I am figuring that the the 1st place winner would win $225 and the 2nd place winner $155, leaving $120 to be divided amongst the eight weeks to cover the costs of the weekly prizes.

Q: Will I be expected to share my current weight or any before/after pictures with the group?
A: No, you will not be asked to post any pictures or post your actual weight.  However, if you want to, you can (you just won't be asked or expected to).   This entire challenge is based an honor system.  Don't be afraid of having to post yourself on a scale each week to prove the pounds you've lost.  

Q: What is the beginning and end of each week?
A:  Sunday begins each week and Saturday ends it.  Your weekly point totals will need to be emailed preferably on Saturday evening (Sunday afternoon at the latest).  Weekly drawings will take place on Sunday evenings.  

Q: The point system seems a bit daunting and I'm concerned that it will consume too much of my time trying to keep track of everything.  
A:  To make it as easy as possible, I've created a PDF blank log sheet located on the right sidebar, or you can click here.  It may take a day or two to get use to the point system, but after that, it shouldn't take you more than a few minutes each evening to log your points.  Easy peasey!

Q: This challenge starts this Sunday, doesn't it seems like that's really short notice?
A: Yes, it is short notice.  But deep down inside you know you've wanted to do something like this for a long time.    Stop waiting for the perfect time to start - it will never come.   So why not now?  Why not this Sunday?   Jump in and commit to getting fit...... and holy!  


Email me with any other questions you have at ugotjesus@yahoo.com