Sunday, January 1, 2012

Before you finish, you've got to start!

Well, here we are!

2012 is here, and with it, the chance to make a better version of ourselves. Each of us have in common the desire and need to improve our health. I, myself, have slacked off on my workouts while continuing to eat poorly. All of us haven't paid as much attention to our diets as we need to. With all the attention on school and career, our health and well-being have taken a position on the back burner. I have every belief that this family has an extremely bright future, but we need to ensure that ALL of us will be here for decades to come to enjoy that success. So, what are we gonna do about it? The answer I'm not sure of, but I know we can figure it out together. We have all pledged to take this challenge & a small wager has been made. The individual with the best overall change in health wins a free dinner at the Capital Grill, collectible during the family trip to Vegas in May.

The purpose of this blog is to have a central place to communicate, receive motivation, share what we learn, air out our frustrations, etc. We are all busy and can't always call each other everyday to receive support in reaching our goals. With this blog, you can sign in 24 hours a day, when ever your schedule permits, and read about what everyone is doing, post your progress, etc. Anyone can post to this blog, and if you want to comment on someone's post, you can do that too. You can add pictures, text, etc. It's easy to use and can be a diary of sorts to track our progress.

There are a few pieces of business to take care of before we can begin this competition. Most obvious is how a winner will be determined. Because all of us have separate needs in improving our health, we must decide how to judge the winner. I think the best way would be to focus on what each of us needs to do individually (quit smoking, improve diabetes, lose weight, build muscle, etc.), state our case for why we should be the winner when we get to Vegas, and then we'll vote on it and select a winner. While stating your case, you can use things like your change in weight, body fat percentage, etc, but those can't be the only things judged, because that isn't fair. Next, we have to decide if there is a need to add any additional rules. One thing I think would be a good idea, would be to make a rule that everyone has to post to this blog once a week, and describe what they did that week to reach their goals, whether it be their diet, workouts, etc. This is just an idea, so let me know what you think.

In closing, I hope that this proves to be an invaluable tool for us. I ask that everyone give it a shot. If it turns out to not be useful, it won't hurt my feelings. If anyone has any questions, suggestions, comments to what I've said above, please make a comment to this post. If everyone likes what they've read, then comment and let everyone know you're in!

As a topic for everyone's first post, I suggest that we lay out our original individual goals. I think it would work just fine to post as couples. Mom and dad can post together, me And Kelly, Chris and Kristen, and Cathy and Patrick! I've invited Joey and Laura to join us if thats ok with the family, since they have expressed a desire to improve their health, and they should be in Vegas in May.

3 comments:

  1. If you guys will have us, we are in!!! I got my shoes laced up and my ipods charged!!! I think being judged on overall appearance and the improvements of any ailments are great judging criteria. We should all upload pictures of what we currently look like and then take some fresh ones come judging time! Just a recommendation and fully clothed of course. Sorry Chris I know that upsets ya! Anyhow, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is ready to take that next step in healthy living! Happy New Year and Happy New You!!!

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  2. Ok, just a short post to make sure this will work. I am in to improve health because I think I have everything to gain. It starts out by walking at least 3 times a week. It is 2 miles around our block,thats 6 miles per week for the first 2 weeks and then we will see where it goes. I am really glad to have joe and the little lady to be with us. I will post again this week.

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  3. Sounds good to me! And yes Joey that is upseting, but then again i have all those great pictures of you from back on Greene street so i'll be ok :)........Me, Mom, Dad, and Kristin wrote down our body fat percentage last week so here's a idea, we could all take a picture or just write down our weight and body fat and use that to make our case as the winner in Vegas. Either or both i think would be a good idea!Anyways were in, let the game begin!!!

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