Let's Get Healthy! Weight Loss Support Group - Begins Tomorrow

LET'S GET HEALTHY! - 2013: PHASE 2
March 31st to June 15th
(12 weeks)

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS: 

1. If you're interested in participating, please fill out the sign up form posted below in full.
2. If you wish to sign up for the Monetary Motives (MM) portion of the phase (which is NOT mandatory), please send your $10 MM participation entry fee to me via PayPal to crystal@crysrochelle.com. Please make sure this entry fee is marked as Personal/Gift so that no fees are taken out. Your participation fee is due no later than March 31st at 11:59 pm CDT. (If you do not have a PayPal account, please contact me at the email address listed above and we can work something out.)
3. If you are participating in the MM portion, I will also need a picture of your feet on a scale taken no earlier than March 23rd and no later than March 31st. Please write "LGH Starting Weight" and the date on a piece of paper in view of your scale while taking the photo. This photo will not be shared. I will be the only one who sees it.
4. An email will be sent on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings to all participants. This email will include the challenges for the week along with a request for a weigh in. No pictures are needed for these weigh ins.
5. An email will be sent out to all participants on June 15th which will give one week for a response. This email will request your final weight for the phase. If you are participating in the MM portion, it will also request a picture of your feet on a scale taken no earlier than June 8th and no later than June 15th. This photo will not be shared. I will be the only one who sees it.
6. Winners will be announced on my blog on June 22nd.

MONETARY MOTIVES: 
For some people, the option of winning some money motivates them. I know money always motivates me. This phase of Let's Get Healthy!, we're going to have monetary prizes. If you decide to participate, you must send in a $10 participation entry fee. The size of the overall "pot" depends on the number of people participating. There will be six prizes and they will be awarded like this:

1. The participant with the highest percentage of weight loss will win 30% of the pot. 
2. Each weekly challenge that a participant completes and has documented proof (blog entry or photo, if needed) will give him/her one entry in a drawing to win 15% of the pot. 
3. Every participant that weighs in each week of the phase without missing any weeks will be entered in a drawing to win 15% of the pot.
4. Each participant whose final weight is lower than their beginning weight for the phase will be entered in a drawing to win 15% of the pot.
5. Everyone who submits a personal phase challenge at the beginning of the phase and completes his/her personal challenge by the end of the phase will be entered in a drawing to win 15% of the pot.
6. For every new participant to the challenge, one entry will be given to the participant who referred the new person. This drawing will be for 10% of the pot.

PHASE BUDDIES: 
For the first phase of 2013, I introduced Phase Buddies. When you sign up, you have the option of requesting a buddy. During the twelve week phase, you will be assigned two buddies: one for the first six weeks and one for the last six weeks. If you are so inclined, you can continue communicating with your first phase buddy throughout the entire phase.

PHASE 2 CHALLENGES:
For each week in the phase, there are two challenges – one for mental health and one for physical health. At the beginning of each week, I will send out an email with the challenges for that week. You don’t have to complete the challenge, but if you’re participating in MM each completed challenge is worth one point towards the final drawing. There will be a link to a web form where you can provide proof that the challenge has been completed. Examples of types of proof can be a blog entry written about the challenge, or a photo of you completing the challenge, or even just typing out a description of your completion of the challenge. Each challenge is worth one point towards the final challenge drawing.

Week One (March 31st to April 6th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Get enough rest. Most people need at least seven or eight hours of sleep per night for optimal functionality. Getting enough sleep also aids in weight loss. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Drink enough water. Most people don’t drink enough water. Water is very important to your physical self. Use this calculator to determine how much water you should drink each day. 

Week Two (April 7th to April 13th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Do a good deed. Whether this be paying for the coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks or just opening doors for people. Do something kind for someone else.
• Physical/Nutrition: Count your calories. Use a paper and pen. Use MyFitnessPal.com or SparkPeople.com. Count your calories all week and decide where you could cut some (if necessary). 

Week Three (April 14th to April 20th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Make leisure time a priority. Take one day this week and make it be all about you. Do your favorite things. Read a book. Take a bath. Limit your duties and try your best to relax.
• Physical/Nutrition: Try a new healthy recipe. Find a new recipe online, in a cookbook, or from a friend. Make it. Did your family like it? Would you make it again? Could you alter it to make it even better or healthier? 

Week Four (April 21st to April 27th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Complete a puzzle. Whether it is Sudoku, a crossword, or an actual puzzle, working your mind helps improve mental health. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Try a new exercise. We usually find an exercise we like doing and stick with it. Once your body is used to doing the same exercises all the time, you may hit a plateau. Switch it up. Try something new. Never done yoga before? Try it. Never taken a Zumba class before? Do it.

Week Five (April 28th to May 4th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Meditate. Meditation has been proven to help your mental health. Sit in a quiet place and relax. Take a bath and get lost in deep calming thoughts. Lie in your bed and concentrate on your breathing. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Eat in. Do not eat out at all this week. Cook at home. Restaurants have been known to have “portion distortion” which means that serving sizes have gotten too large. Foods that are found in fast food joints or sit-down restaurants can be healthy, but eating at home is usually healthier. 

Week Six (May 5th to May 11th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Do something crafty. Being creative is good for your mind. Use your brain and make something. Whether this is a scrapbook page, a do-it-yourself project, something with your children, or taking photographs, just use your mind to create something awesome.
• Physical/Nutrition: Participate in a group sport. This doesn’t mean you have to join a team. Just do something that requires other people. Play a game of basketball with your friends or children. Get out a soccer ball and kick it around with some friends. Play a game of catch with someone. Do some type of sport-related exercise with someone else. 

Week Seven (May 12th to May 18th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Organize something. Organization can greatly help to reduce stress. Choose something in your home that needs organized and then organize it.
• Physical/Nutrition: Follow nutritional guidelines. Check out the most recent dietary guidelines and try to follow along with them. 

Week Eight (May 19th to May 25th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Love yourself. Having good self-esteem is great for your mind and your emotions. Think about yourself and choose your five favorite things about you. Try to have a positive self-esteem the entire week. Don’t put yourself down. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Dance. Dancing is good for both physical and mental health. Blare some music and dance around your house. Take a dance class or a dance lesson. Do something relating to dance this week. 

Week Nine (May 26th to June 1st): 

• Mental/Emotion: Go outside. Pick one day this week and go outside. Just spend some time outside. Garden. Relax in a hammock. Sit on your porch and watch people as they go by. Lie on a blanket in the grass and read a book. Play with your children.
• Physical/Nutrition: Cut unnecessary calories. Pick one thing in your diet that is causing you to consume unnecessary calories (soda, chocolate, condiments, etc) and cut it out of your diet this week. 

Week Ten (June 2nd to June 8th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Create a list. Make a detailed list for the following week. Choose what workouts you will do on what days. Lay out a meal plan for each of your meals. Give your brain a break next week, and think about these things a week early. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Try as many different workouts as you can. For each different workout you complete this week, you will get one point into the drawing. You have to complete at least 20 minutes of each workout. You cannot duplicate any workout. 

Week Eleven (June 9th to June 15th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Spend time with others. Being with loved ones helps improve both your mental and your emotional well-being. Spend some time with those you love. Go on a date night with your significant other. Take a child in your life to a children’s movie or event. Have a girl’s/guy’s night with your pals.
• Physical/Nutrition: Think outside the box. Try a type or ethnicity of food that you would normally never eat. Never eaten sushi? Try it. Thinking about eating Thai? Do it. Have a recipe for something you’ve never eaten? Make it. 

Week Twelve (June 16th to June 22nd): 

• Mental/Emotion: Stay away from technology for 24 hours. Choose a day and unplug from technology for a full 24 hours; no Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, blogging, etc. Try to avoid television, movies, and music as well. Spend quality time with your family or friends. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Participate in the Let’s Get Healthy – 2013: Phase 2 Virtual 5K. This will be a 5K that can be ran or walked however and wherever you like. I am working on some possible prizes for those who participate. A sign up form will be available soon.

PLEASE ADD CRYSTAL@CRYSROCHELLE.COM TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS BOOK OTHERWISE IT'S HIGHLY LIKELY MY EMAILS WILL GO TO YOUR JUNK FOLDER. THANK YOU! 

ENTRY FORM

Unexpected Death

Growing up, I was very good friends with my mom's friend's sons. They lived close to us and my sister and I would walk down to visit them during the summer almost every day. Cory is a year older than me and we were the best of friends. We actually made a pact when we were little that if we weren't married by the time we were 30, we'd marry each other. Haha. He got married last year and he and his wife are expecting their first baby... 


Derek, his younger brother, is just 25... or was I should say. He passed away yesterday. I'm so saddened to hear this. He had been battling a form of lymphoma for years... It is such a sad, sad story. His bone marrow transplant worked and he was officially cancer free. What happened is... he got the flu. It's as simple and as sad as that... He died because of complications from the flu. He couldn't keep down his anti-rejection medications. Once the hospital got that under control, his body was rejecting the bone marrow. And once that happened, his organs started shutting down one by one until he died. His family didn't expect it. No one did. His death was such a shock.

God looked around His garden and found an empty place. He then looked down upon the earth and saw your tired face. He put His arms around you and lifted you to rest. God's garden must be beautiful, He always takes the best. He knew you were suffering, He knew you were in pain, He knew that you would never get well on earth again. He saw the road was getting rough and the hills were hard to climb, He closed your weary eyelids and whispered "Peace Be Thine." It broke our hearts to lose you but you didn't go alone. Part of us went with you the day God called you home.

Here is his obit (some information removed):

Corporal Derek Lee ---, age 25, of ---, IL, passed away at 4:36 a.m., on Monday, March 25, 2013, at his residence.

A memorial service in his honor will begin at 5:00 p.m., Friday, March 29, 2013, at --- Funeral Home, ---, ---, IL. Family and friends will officiate. Visitation will be held from 2:00 — 5:00 p.m., at the funeral home.

Born June 1, 1987, in --- IL, Derek was the son of Alan and Vicky ---. He is survived by his mother, Vicky --- of ---, IL; two brothers, Cory --- and wife Kristina of ---, IL, and Joel --- of ---, IL; grandparents, N. E. and Jean --- of ---, IL; and grandmother Jane --- of ---, AZ. He also leaves his loyal canine companion, Daisy.

Derek was preceded in death by his father, Alan ---; his grandfather, Jim ---; and his aunt, Tina ---.

Derek graduated from --- High School in 2006. He then joined the United States Marine Corps and proudly served our country with tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti. He earned the rank of corporal before his illness interfered with his service.

Spending time with family and friends, including Daisy, and hanging out at the lake, would no doubt be at the top of Derek’s list of favorite pastimes. He also had a fascination with reptiles and enjoyed collecting them.

Memorials in his honor may be made to the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org, 2509 S. Neil St., Champaign, IL 61820, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

R.I.P. Derek! You are a true hero and you will be greatly missed.

Reunion

I got a Facebook invite yesterday from a girl I went to school with. It was for my 10 year class reunion. That is coming up... but not until October. I have 6 months and 2 weeks until the big day. I don't want to be the only fat one there... I'm sure that a lot of other people that I went to school with have gained weight. Statistically, it has to happen. I've got nothing else going for me, so I'm not going to be fat too. I'm not married. I don't have any children. I don't have an amazing career. So, I'm not going to be fat to boot.

Yesterday I mentioned that I started a DietBet Challenge. It begins on Sunday the 31st with my Let's Get Healthy! Challenge. Regardless of whether people participate or not, I created an Excel file that I'm going to use to guide me through my weight loss. I like the idea of setting a goal percentage of weight loss. I had each four week set at four percent, but that would be a little tough so I tapered it down a little. I might adjust it some more and make an actual percentage lost column, but I don't know. I have this as a blank Excel file so let me know if you want a copy. I'll send it to you!

It's set up to automatically calculate your end weight and pounds to lose. The "Projected" side, you put your weight in from the 31st. Then it calculates how many pounds you COULD lose by the end of the year. The "Actual" weight side, at the beginning of each four week period, you put in your start weight and it calculates out your end weight and your pounds to lose goal. *shrugs* I'm a nerd at heart. LOL

I also need to get my butt into gear with working out. I have been SUCH a slacker. I haven't been to Curves in about three weeks now. I went on Monday the 4th, hurt my back and didn't go back that week. I felt fine the next week, but I had to skip Monday for Zumba and ended up not going back all week due to getting ready for my best friend's bachelorette party... THEN I just haven't been this week because I was recovering from her bachelorette party. Next week, I'm back at it. I may walk on my treadmill before then. I don't know though. I don't like when Matt watches me walk and he's home all this week for vacation. Bummer. Well, good that we get to spend time together, but bummer for working out. *shrugs*

So, I work for a small electrical company and we are a location for a renting moving trucks. I've griped and complained about working for the company, but lately it's been much better. Today our manager came in and informed us that they're closing us down. On one hand, YAY! less work for me, but on the other hand, BOO! things were just starting to get better. *shrugs* Oh well. My boss is going to look into a competitor's moving truck company and maybe get them in here. Eh..

Okay, I've gotta go. I got some work to do before the day is out. Don't forget that both of my weight loss challenges Let's Get Healthy! and my DietBet which both start on Sunday the 31st.

Bloggity blog... + DietBet

I've been blogging for... about 12 years now. It's been off and on, but I had my first online diary/blog when I was 16 or so. It's very crazy to think that I have been writing about my boring life that long. Haha... That being said, I have been reading (or have been read by) some bloggers for years and years now and we've never had the opportunity to meet. I finally figured out my webcam so I think I will be making a vlog very soon. Does anyone have anything in particular you'd like me to talk about???

I think I have a knack for becoming friends with "celebrities". Rick Worthy is one of my great friends. He is an actor, but he's not well known. Well, on Saturday I was in Milwaukee at my best friend's bachelorette party and we went to a comedy club. The headliner was this comedian named Dave Waite. I thought he was hilarious. I searched for him on Twitter and found his account and followed him. He followed me back. We had a bit of conversation in a Direct Message (DM) where he remembered us from meeting up with him after the show. He said, "That's right. The cute girls." Then he asked if I was the shy one and I said, "I shook your hand... I don't know if you're thinking of me or the one who didn't shake your hand who joined all of us after." And he said, "I'm thinking of you :p". Then he added me on Facebook and we've been chatting since. LOL Good times.

So, I started up a DietBet. I'm running it in conjunction with Let's Get Healthy!. If you don't know what DietBet is, it's a website where you sign up for a challenge. Mine is a $25 buy in. By buying in, you're saying you'll lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks. So, if you weigh 200 lbs, you're saying you'll lose eight pounds in four weeks. Everyone who successfully completes the challenge splits the pot. So, as long as you don't gain and you lose 4% of your body weight, you'll at least get back your buy in. Check it out and join. It starts on the 31st.

Random Thoughts

I can't think of the word that I'm looking for... It's when you do something that you know gives you an out... Like: I realized this weekend that having my weigh ins on Fridays gives me the "freedom" to eat like crap all weekend because I know I'll have all week to be good and lose that weight... but then I end up only losing fractions of pounds or even gaining weight because my eating was such crap! I think I'm moving my weigh ins. I can't decide which day though... What's your vote: Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday? I don't want to do it later in the week than that and I don't want to have it on the weekend either...

There was a robbery and homicide in my town last night. I live in a small town and this is only the third murder I ever remember in my entire life. A guy who moonlighted for a bar was robbed and killed as he left to go take a deposit to the bank. Sad. It was just before 8 pm so I'm thinking someone should have seen something. Hopefully they catch the perpitrator. Craziness.

I'm going grocery shopping tonight. I have a bunch of healthy stuff on my list. I'm going to attempt to stay away from my trigger foods. I haven't had a binge Since mid-October, but I still overeat when I have bad foods in the house. Those foods are sugary cereals, cheese, cookies, chips, etc... So, I'm going to try to not eat those. Good luck to me! LOL

I've had this up all day and haven't written anymore so I'm going to go for now. Adios!

Friend Makin' Monday: Pondering Personal Thoughts

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Pondering Personal Thoughts

1. How old would you feel if you didn’t know how old you are? Older than I am, that's for sure. I don't know though... I don't really feel like I'm 28. I don't feel old enough to have my own family or a great career, but at the same time, I'm more mature than a lot of people that I know and I am also in worse health than a lot of people my age. Hmmm... 
2. Are you the kind of friend you’d want to have as a friend? I would like to think so... I strive to be there for my friends whenever they need me. I feel like I'm easy to talk to and I'm a good sounding board. I'm not a huge fan of giving advice unless I know a lot about the topic. I would also help out a friend in any way necessary if I could... so those are all qualities that I'd like in a friend. 
3. Look back at the last year.  When did you feel most excited about something in your life? Hmmm... I think I was most excited when I saw that I got my credit score up high enough to be approved for a car loan and bought a car on my own, in only my name, with my own car insurance, etc...
4. Have you ever been with someone and not spoken a word, only to walk away thinking that was the best conversation ever?  My best friend and I can sit and watch TV for hours and when she leaves I feel happy to have seen her, but I don't feel we had the "best conversation ever". That's a little weird. LOL 
5. If you won 100 million dollars Monday, would you continue doing whatever you usually do on Tuesdays?  Uh... no. LOL I would be spending that money like it was going out of style. Pay off my car/get a new one, buy a new house, donate, give some to my family, etc... but I wouldn't come into work like usual. Sheesh. Haha. 
6. What would you do differently if you knew no one would judge you? I would wear what I wanted without feeling like a fat ass. I find so many cute things, but I'm always like, "Oh, everyone will be looking at my rolls in this." I have gotten a little more adventurous in my clothing, but I'm still really reserved!
   
7. Share something you do differently than most people. I guess walk... I mean, that's the first thing that comes to mind. LOL I have flat feet so I walk way differently than most people. It's hard for me to walk long distances because my ankles and knees really start to hurt from being flat footed.
8. What’s one thing that you really want to do that you’ve never done?  I would like to ride in a helicopter. I've been in a plane, finally, but I would love to ride in a helicopter... Oh! Or travel out of the U.S. I've only ever been in the United States.
9. If you had to move out of state right now, where would you move? I'm unsure where exactly, but I'd like to move somewhere that I could live in the mountains. My favorite vacation spot in the entire U.S. is Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Beautiful!!!
10.  What is the one thing that you’d like to change most about the world? I would make people more generous and less self-centered and greedy. I think it would solve a lot of the world's problems. Just sayin'.

Let's Get Healthy! - Weight Loss Support Group Info & Sign Ups

I have been running a weight loss group on another site since 2007. That site has some server issues and randomly goes down for days at a time so I would like to move my group elsewhere. Also, because of the nature of the site, it's hard to get a lot of participants and I'm hoping to expand the group greatly. This phase is my attempt to move the blog over to this site... I think I finally have all of the information figured out, so here you go... Let me know if you have any questions and I really hope you'll consider participating!!!

---

LET'S GET HEALTHY! - 2013: PHASE 2
March 31st to June 15th
(12 weeks)

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS: 

1. If you're interested in participating, please fill out the sign up form posted below in full.
2. If you wish to sign up for the Monetary Motives (MM) portion of the phase (which is NOT mandatory), please send your $10 MM participation entry fee to me via PayPal to crystal@crysrochelle.com. Please make sure this entry fee is marked as Personal/Gift so that no fees are taken out. Your participation fee is due no later than March 30th at 11:59 pm CDT. (If you do not have a PayPal account, please contact me at the email address listed above and we can work something out.)
3. An email will be sent out to all participants on March 23rd which will give one week for a response. This email will request your starting weight for the phase. If you are participating in the MM portion, it will also request a picture of your feet on a scale taken no earlier than March 23rd and no later than March 30th. This photo will not be shared. I will be the only one who sees it.
4. An email will be sent on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings to all participants. This email will include the challenges for the week along with a request for a weigh in. No pictures are needed for these emails.
5. An email will be sent out to all participants on June 15th which will give one week for a response. This email will request your final weight for the phase. If you are participating in the MM portion, it will also request a picture of your feet on a scale taken no earlier than June 8th and no later than June 15th. This photo will not be shared. I will be the only one who sees it.
6. Winners will be announced on my blog on June 22nd.

MONETARY MOTIVES: 
For some people, the option of winning some money motivates them. I know money always motivates me. This phase of Let's Get Healthy!, we're going to have monetary prizes. If you decide to participate, you must send in a $10 participation entry fee. The size of the overall "pot" depends on the number of people participating. There will be six prizes and they will be awarded like this:

1. The participant with the highest percentage of weight loss will win 30% of the pot. 
2. Each weekly challenge that a participant completes and has documented proof (blog entry or photo, if needed) will give him/her one entry in a drawing to win 15% of the pot. 
3. Every participant that weighs in each week of the phase without missing any weeks will be entered in a drawing to win 15% of the pot.
4. Each participant whose final weight is lower than their beginning weight for the phase will be entered in a drawing to win 15% of the pot.
5. Everyone who submits a personal phase challenge at the beginning of the phase and completes his/her personal challenge by the end of the phase will be entered in a drawing to win 15% of the pot.
6. For every new participant to the challenge, one entry will be given to the participant who referred the new person. This drawing will be for 10% of the pot.

PHASE BUDDIES: 
For the first phase of 2013, I introduced Phase Buddies. When you sign up, you have the option of requesting a buddy. During the twelve week phase, you will be assigned two buddies: one for the first six weeks and one for the last six weeks. If you are so inclined, you can continue communicating with your first phase buddy throughout the entire phase.

PHASE 2 CHALLENGES:
For each week in the phase, there are two challenges – one for mental health and one for physical health. At the beginning of each week, I will send out an email with the challenges for that week. You don’t have to complete the challenge, but if you’re participating in MM each completed challenge is worth one point towards the final drawing. There will be a link to a web form where you can provide proof that the challenge has been completed. Examples of types of proof can be a blog entry written about the challenge, or a photo of you completing the challenge, or even just typing out a description of your completion of the challenge. Each challenge is worth one point towards the final challenge drawing.

Week One (March 31st to April 6th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Get enough rest. Most people need at least seven or eight hours of sleep per night for optimal functionality. Getting enough sleep also aids in weight loss. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Drink enough water. Most people don’t drink enough water. Water is very important to your physical self. Use this calculator to determine how much water you should drink each day. 

Week Two (April 7th to April 13th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Do a good deed. Whether this be paying for the coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks or just opening doors for people. Do something kind for someone else.
• Physical/Nutrition: Count your calories. Use a paper and pen. Use MyFitnessPal.com or SparkPeople.com. Count your calories all week and decide where you could cut some (if necessary). 

Week Three (April 14th to April 20th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Make leisure time a priority. Take one day this week and make it be all about you. Do your favorite things. Read a book. Take a bath. Limit your duties and try your best to relax.
• Physical/Nutrition: Try a new healthy recipe. Find a new recipe online, in a cookbook, or from a friend. Make it. Did your family like it? Would you make it again? Could you alter it to make it even better or healthier? 

Week Four (April 21st to April 27th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Complete a puzzle. Whether it is Sudoku, a crossword, or an actual puzzle, working your mind helps improve mental health. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Try a new exercise. We usually find an exercise we like doing and stick with it. Once your body is used to doing the same exercises all the time, you may hit a plateau. Switch it up. Try something new. Never done yoga before? Try it. Never taken a Zumba class before? Do it.

Week Five (April 28th to May 4th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Meditate. Meditation has been proven to help your mental health. Sit in a quiet place and relax. Take a bath and get lost in deep calming thoughts. Lie in your bed and concentrate on your breathing. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Eat in. Do not eat out at all this week. Cook at home. Restaurants have been known to have “portion distortion” which means that serving sizes have gotten too large. Foods that are found in fast food joints or sit-down restaurants can be healthy, but eating at home is usually healthier. 

Week Six (May 5th to May 11th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Do something crafty. Being creative is good for your mind. Use your brain and make something. Whether this is a scrapbook page, a do-it-yourself project, something with your children, or taking photographs, just use your mind to create something awesome.
• Physical/Nutrition: Participate in a group sport. This doesn’t mean you have to join a team. Just do something that requires other people. Play a game of basketball with your friends or children. Get out a soccer ball and kick it around with some friends. Play a game of catch with someone. Do some type of sport-related exercise with someone else. 

Week Seven (May 12th to May 18th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Organize something. Organization can greatly help to reduce stress. Choose something in your home that needs organized and then organize it.
• Physical/Nutrition: Follow nutritional guidelines. Check out the most recent dietary guidelines and try to follow along with them. 

Week Eight (May 19th to May 25th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Love yourself. Having good self-esteem is great for your mind and your emotions. Think about yourself and choose your five favorite things about you. Try to have a positive self-esteem the entire week. Don’t put yourself down. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Dance. Dancing is good for both physical and mental health. Blare some music and dance around your house. Take a dance class or a dance lesson. Do something relating to dance this week. 

Week Nine (May 26th to June 1st): 

• Mental/Emotion: Go outside. Pick one day this week and go outside. Just spend some time outside. Garden. Relax in a hammock. Sit on your porch and watch people as they go by. Lie on a blanket in the grass and read a book. Play with your children.
• Physical/Nutrition: Cut unnecessary calories. Pick one thing in your diet that is causing you to consume unnecessary calories (soda, chocolate, condiments, etc) and cut it out of your diet this week. 

Week Ten (June 2nd to June 8th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Create a list. Make a detailed list for the following week. Choose what workouts you will do on what days. Lay out a meal plan for each of your meals. Give your brain a break next week, and think about these things a week early. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Try as many different workouts as you can. For each different workout you complete this week, you will get one point into the drawing. You have to complete at least 20 minutes of each workout. You cannot duplicate any workout. 

Week Eleven (June 9th to June 15th): 

• Mental/Emotion: Spend time with others. Being with loved ones helps improve both your mental and your emotional well-being. Spend some time with those you love. Go on a date night with your significant other. Take a child in your life to a children’s movie or event. Have a girl’s/guy’s night with your pals.
• Physical/Nutrition: Think outside the box. Try a type or ethnicity of food that you would normally never eat. Never eaten sushi? Try it. Thinking about eating Thai? Do it. Have a recipe for something you’ve never eaten? Make it. 

Week Twelve (June 16th to June 22nd): 

• Mental/Emotion: Stay away from technology for 24 hours. Choose a day and unplug from technology for a full 24 hours; no Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, blogging, etc. Try to avoid television, movies, and music as well. Spend quality time with your family or friends. 
• Physical/Nutrition: Participate in the Let’s Get Healthy – 2013: Phase 2 Virtual 5K. This will be a 5K that can be ran or walked however and wherever you like. I am working on some possible prizes for those who participate. A sign up form will be available soon.

PLEASE ADD CRYSTAL@CRYSROCHELLE.COM TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS BOOK OTHERWISE IT'S HIGHLY LIKELY MY EMAILS WILL GO TO YOUR JUNK FOLDER. THANK YOU!

Friend Makin' Monday: Almost Spring

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Almost Spring

1. What do you love most about Spring?  I love how the world seems to come alive... Everything is brown and dreary and dirty looking... Then Spring comes along and the trees get bright green leaves and the grass turns green and lush. The flowers start to bloom and the birds chirp and it just makes me happy! 
2. If you’re lucky enough to have a Spring Break, what will you do to enjoy it? I don't get to have a Spring break... Boo! I'm a big girl with a full-time job. I miss Spring Break though! I will be taking a trip up to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks for my best friend's bachelorette party. Should be good times!!! 
3. What is your favorite flower? My all-time favorite flower is a yellow rose. I really like all flowers though and love receiving them as a gift. I hope to plant some flowers in my yard this Spring. 
4. Do you have a garden?  If so, what do you grow? I don't have a garden. I live in town and there is virtually no place in my yard to have a full garden. I would love to have one! I might see about doing an herb garden in a flower pot, but that's about the extent of what I could grow! 
5. Share one thing that you hope to accomplish during Spring. I would love to fully Spring clean my house. We moved in about 4 years ago and we have a bunch of crap everywhere. My sister and I are planning to have a yard sale this Spring so it would be a great time to go through all of our junk everywhere and find things we (Matt and I) can sell! 
6. Do you do Spring cleaning?  Bahaha! I didn't read ahead, if you can tell. I don't ususally, but I really want to this year. This also includes cleaning all of our windows inside and out. I'm tired of living in a messy house! It definitely needs some work, but I think we can handle it! 
7. What is your weather *really* like right now? {Just because it’s almost Spring, doesn’t mean that it feels like it for some of you.}  It's cold and snowy here currently. Well, cold as in 33 with a feels like of 23. It flurried earlier. Luckily there is no snow on the ground right now. I'm so ready to be able to open up the windows and go outside without a jacket! 
8. Share one photo that you’ve taken during the month of March. Hmmm. Something I've taken in the past few days??? I guess this will have to do as I don't usually take a lot of pictures. This is some Chicken & Dumplings I made the other night for dinner. Yum yum!!!
   
   
   
   
   
9. What’s your favorite thing to do on a sunny afternoon? I love sitting outside in a comfy chair or hammock with a good book. I love reading and reading outdoors just makes my day!
10. If you could spend the day doing anything in your city, what would you do? Well, my city is small and there's really not much to do. I suppose I'd go out to my parents' house and go on a boat ride. I love boat rides even if it's too cold to swim!

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions!  Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!

Weigh In + Weekly Goals

Last Week:	225.8
This Week:	226.4
Change:	+ 0.6
Overall Change:	- 4.4

NON-SCALE VICTORY:

• I worked out on a day when I wanted nothing more than to go home. I had a bad headache and just wanted to go lay on the couch. I went anyway and felt so much better afterwards AND my headache was gone.

PAST WEEK GOALS:

1. Not applicable. First week of doing weekly goals.

THIS WEEK'S GOALS:

1. Work out at Curves at least three days.
2. Walk on the treadmill at least three times.
3. Log all calories eaten and burned the entire week.
4. Work on my challenge list for the Let's Get Healthy! phase that will be starting in a few weeks.
5. Clean and organize my bathroom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To my dad (51) and my cousin (26)!