Simply Stunning in Six!

So... It's been a few weeks since we ended. Heck, I think it's been almost a month. Sigh. My camping trip promptly "undid" all my hard work. I hope the rest of you fared better.   :)

I love BYU Education Week. I try to go every year, even if it's only for a few classes on one day. This year I was fortunate enough to go for M - Th and stay in the dorms {am I ever glad I'm not in college anymore. Not that I ever technically lived in the dorms, but still...}. It. Was. Glorious! I've always loved learning, and it's simply amazing to be surrounded by such wonderful teachers who have such great knowledge and insight. Several of the classes had similar themes woven into them; taking care of our bodies. They shared the analogy of - if we were given only one car for our entire lives, how would we treat it? Awesome, of course! But if my body equals that car, then how am I really faring?

I learned lots of wonderful things there, some of which I hope to share over the next weeks and months. But while sitting in one class, I had the prompting to stop lolly-gagging around and seriously commit to taking better care of me.

Drumroll . . .  I've decided to commit to 6 months of health competitions! I know that might sound overwhelming. And it kinda is. I've got birthdays coming up, a trip to San Diego to visit my dear friend, and Holidays galore - as I know all of you have busy, bustling lives. But, baby steps, my friends. Plus, you've gotta start somewhere. I'm not going to do 6 months straight; I'll break it down to 6 monthly competitions. Just imagine where you could be: Spiritually, emotionally and physically with that much discipline! The routines you'd have in place, the progress you'd achieve. Happy Sigh. It could be amazing! Plus, I just heard about a study they did where women who lost weight and maintained it for 6 months had a better memory. Bonus!

I realize everyone is not in the same place. And you have to WANT the change to make it happen. If you're ready to make any change, even a small one, I invite you to join me for one month, two, all six or whatever works for you. Evaluate where you are and where you'd like to be. Ready to close that gap? Then let's do it! Oh, and spread the word to anyone that would also benefit from being a little healthier. The more the merrier, 'eh?

Rules will stay pretty similar to the last few rounds and I'll get them posted ASAP. We'll still set goals and evaluate on a scale of 1-5. No points for pounds lost. Free Days for Holidays. There will be a few minor changes; all calendar tasks will be posted (no more emailed ones), guys can participate if they'd like, "Two-bites of Anything" rule (to be explained later) will be implemented and there will be a Grand Prize for anyone who completes all six rounds.

Simply Stunning in Six will start on the 5th of each month and end on the last calendar day of that same month (except December, when we'll end @ midnight on the 30th, as New Years Eve would be a Free day anyway). Running September 2013 - February 2014. It's going to be amazing!

Oh, ohh! And I know why we do better when we're counting points! Randal A. Wright spoke about this in one of his classes; people respond to challenges and not begging. When we are challenged, we rise to meet that, as opposed to when we try talking ourselves into something (that's us begging ourselves). We suspected it was psychological - and we were right!

Who's up for this challenge?!