A New Challenge

Asheville, North Carolina, a little over an hour east of us, has always been our quick getaway location.  This is the back deck of a cabin we rent frequently on those weekend trips.  You are looking at the French Broad River.  The picture was taken this past April.  

Mr. B's summer class ends Thursday afternoon.   Although he has some meetings and other on-campus activities, he does not officially have to report back to campus until August 18.  Several weeks ago, I asked if anyone had any suggestions for somewhere we could spend a week in August and be guaranteed cool weather.  A couple of you mentioned Bar Harbor, Maine and I don't think I ever said thanks.  Ironically, Bar Harbor is a place we were considering.  I love the Vacation Finder feature on Weatherbase. You plug in a temperature range for the month you are considering and it tells you what locations in the world match that range.  Bar Harbor was certainly in the narrow range I specified, but in the end, we choose a spot closer to home that we've visited, but never spent much time exploring.  I'll post more details later and then of course, you'll all go with me on that trip in August.  

With the Freedom Challenge ending this coming Monday and my realization that I really am motivated by being part of a challenge, I've decided to join the already in progress, Summer Diet Buddies.  It began on July 12 and ends on September 7.  

Check-in day is Monday, so I'm already a day late posting my goals for this week.  If I'm understanding the guidelines of this challenge correctly, our goals are weekly, not for the duration of the challenge.  My overriding goal is to push myself over this plateau I seem to have found, so my goals at least for the next couple of weeks will be pretty stringent.  I'm also hoping to make more new friends.  That will always be a reason for participating in a challenge!  I love being part of the community.   So here they are:

1)  As close to 1200 calories per day as I can get.  More than that is too many to jumpstart my body into loss mode again - less is not enough to keep metabolsim moving correctly. 

2)  No white sugar or white flour.  

3)  No food or drink after 6 p.m.

4)  Lose at least one pound per week during challenge.

5)  Send a card or note of encouragement to at least one friend or relative who I know is struggling to lose weight.

So far, so good this week with at least the first three.  However, I see that it is 5:52 p.m!  Better head to the kitchen right now or I'll not be able to report 100% compliance on #3!