Day 17

Right, so, making some changes. I stepped on the scale again today to see that it still read 166. I know that’s normal, and that I’m losing weight in a healthy way, so it’s going to be slow going. But I was hoping that the scale would read 165 this morning. More so because I want the exercise ball than anything else. I guess that’s a good sign, right? So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m only going to weigh myself every Monday. At that time I’ll also take my BFP reading. I think I’ll have more success this way. Though I did like posting my weight as each title; it gave me a certain accountability.

Now, as to the days. This whole life change started with a weight loss/wellness program through work. It officially starts May 3, though we were weighed in on April 8. There are two separate challenges (which I’ll touch on later), and two phases of each challenge. The first phase of each runs from May 3 to June 27. Then there is a second, extended phase that runs to December 12. The point of stretching things out is that studies show that it takes at least three months for things to become habit, and they want us to stay healthy for the rest of our lives. There are prizes for each challenge (last year I lost the most out of everyone in my store and won a $25 gift card. I was one person off from making the list of the top 50 in the entire program, which would have been an additional $50 gift card). The grand prize is a $2500 travel voucher, one given to the winner of each challenge.

The weight loss challenge (which they did last year) just stresses the importance of healthy weight. Anyone under a certain BMI wasn’t allowed to participate. They had everyone who wanted to participate come up to the break room, where we were weighed, our blood pressure taken, and our BFP analyzed. We were given sheets with information about where all our numbers should be, and where ours were. Throughout the program, we will have weigh ins to track our progress. Our initial weigh in (which we all thought was April 8, but turns out we’re being reweighed for the challenge next week), a weigh in at week four, and a final weigh in at week 8. Through the extended challenge, we won’t be weighed. We will just have our final weigh in sometime around December 12.

The wellness challenge (which is new this year) is a little different. Everyone was given a little booklet for us to track our daily points in. We get points if we lose or maintain our weight that week (2 pts for losing, 1pt for maintaining), points for moderate intensity exercise each day, points for how many cups of fruit and veggies we get a day, and points for either not smoking or attempting to quit. We tally our points throughout the week, then turn our slips in every two weeks.

In addition, we can earn one time bonus points. We get points for getting an average of 7-8 hours of sleep a night, for doing little online quizzes, for seeing the dentist in the last two years, bushing our teeth twice a day, and flossing once a day, for going to the eye doctor during the last three years, points for taking a stress management quiz, points for having a BMI below 30, and points for taking an online course on prevention. The person with the most points at the end of the program wins the travel voucher, but the overall purpose is to have us all leading healthy lives.

So from April 8 to December 12 is 247 days. 247 days to completely turn my life around. Today we’re 17 days in. Here we go.