Get ready, get set, GO!!!

Welcome friends to our second Spring into Summer Challenge. There are lots of things to love about a challenge like this, but the thing I love the best is that it's a great way to build friendships without requiring that we all be in the same room. There are so many of you I'd love to know better, but everyone is so busy it makes it tough to spend much time together. Others of you are friends I'd love to reconnect with or spend more time staying in touch, but we're all SO busy! I hope this is a great way for us to improve ourselves and our relationships with each other.

Here goes:

Spring into Summer Goal Challenge


The ground rules are:

1. Start date is Monday, April 16; we'll go for 8 weeks, and end on June 10th. (I'm hoping this end date will get us to the finish before we all get into the thick of family vacations/scout camp/girls camp/swimming lessons, etc.)

2. Contribute $15 into the Spring Into Summer Challenge fund by April 23, 2012. (Note: this is less about winning a cash prize and more about learning from the experience. The prizes are just an added fun element. Also please note that this is strictly a volunteer effort -- all money contributed will be used to reward participants.) I'm going low-tech this year, so just hand me the money the next time you see me or pop it in an envelope and put it in the mail.

3. A maximum of 5 points can be earned daily, 35 points weekly, 280 over 8 weeks.

4. Beginning April 16, record your points in an online spreadsheet to be circulated by April 15.

5. There are three categories of winners:

Most points: 60% of the cash in the Challenge Fund will be awarded to the top scorer. For example, if there is $500 in the kitty, the first place finisher wins $300. In the event of a tie or multiple top scorers, 60% of the fund will be divided amongst the top finishers.

Bi-Weekly winners: To keep us motivated and reward small victories along the way, 20% of the cash will be allocated for interim prizes.

Finishers: The Spring Into Summer Challenge is partly about getting the most points, but mostly about process. Each participant who gets an average of 60% points or better per week and finishes the entire 8 weeks, will have won, and will be eligible for giveaways funded by the remaining 20% in the Challenge Fund.


6. Points are earned for the following activities (you will automatically have one day when you receive a perfect score whether or not you earn it -- you may wish to save this day in case of illness or other out-of-the-ordinary happening like celebrating a birthday or special occasion):


a. Exercise a minimum of 20 minutes per day (one day a week, you will receive the exercise point for taking time to rest and relax, and one day per week you'll receive the exercise point if you post a comment on this blog,so if you do it every day you'll exercise five days per week, post one day per week and rest one day per week -- I always take Sunday off).

b. Eat 2 servings of fruit/4 servings of vegetables each day. This is a minimum -- you may have as many servings of fruits and veggies as you like.

c. Savor up to (1) small treat/per day. This challenge is done on the honor system, so it is up to you to define "small." Some people find it is easier to just cut out treats completely, while others (like me) are much less prone to total binge breakdown when a little bit is allowed each day. Either way is fine. Apparently, the first year of the New Year's Resolution challenge (which I did not participate in) no treats were allowed, but you got one "free" day each week to eat whatever you wanted. So many participants felt like that was a recipe for disaster that they hit on the one-treat-a- day plan. It's worked well for me.

d. Read the scriptures for 15 minutes per day. If you don't read scriptures, choose a book written about a spiritually uplifting topic and read that/those.


e. Wild Card : This will change from week to week, but will focus on topics in the following areas: financial fitness, spiritual development, home management, and relationships.


Please note: This is not a church-centered activity, but given that I am a Mormon, it is certain that church topics, quotes from church leaders, and ideas gleaned from church lessons will play some part in our discussions. We gladly welcome participants from other faiths (or no faith at all), but want them to be aware of who is doing this before they go in. :)