Challenge Progression

Week one of the challenge was novel so it wasn't TOO hard to keep up with the ten tasks everyday. I will say though- that I was SO sore EVERYWHERE :-) But it was a great jump start to working out regularly again- something that I had been pretty bad about since bed-rest before the babies.

Week two was harder... I wanted sugar! To help cope I would eat 2- ...4 pieces of whole weat toast with butter and honey. I was SO glad honey was legal because it helped curb my sweet-tooth.

Week three was tough as far as getting my pacing down to an art with drinking water- there were some nights where I'd need to drink five (or once six) glasses of water in just a few hours right before bed to make it to my 64 oz. I was afraid I was going to wet the bed ;-)
Week three I also struggled with getting past sugar cravings. I had left over sweets from my free day and of what some people had brought us, and every time I'd look at them I just wanted to eat them! Whenever I got hungry I automatically just wanted something sweet. I was an addict :-) Hopefully the 8 weeks of 6 out of 7 no sugar days will help me be better about how much sugar I eat and stop me from getting diabetes down the road!

I also noticed during week three that whenever we would walk somewhere- my pace was much brisker- which was nice! Especially since that is the week our van died and I had to do A LOT more walking! Not to mention getting to places faster.

Week four it was definitely harder to stay motivated. My goal at the beginning was to do the first four weeks perfectly and this helped keep me going. It felt good to mark down another perfect week at the end too. And in addition to keeping that goal for myself, I was also one of week fours giveaway winners for having such a good average score. I won an asymmetrical apron from an etsy store. (I usually don't wear aprons when I cook, but with Thanksgiving coming up I actually wore it a few times and will probably wear it a few more times in the future. The apron pictured isn't the one I got, but it's the same pattern.)


Week five was the hardest yet! Everyday it seemed like there was something standing in my way from accomplishing all 10 challenges. But, somehow, I forced myself to drink the water, exercise when I REALLY REALLY didn't want to, and stayed away from junk food and sweets when that was all I felt like eating. :-) I started to have a lot of cravings for things like Chinese food and chocolate and sausage and eggs during weeks four and five (this is when I found out I was pregnant- so MAYBE it makes sense :-) I never was able to satisfy any of those cravings though even if some were legal! I told Keegan that after the challenge was over I was probably going to binge for a good week and then start into a good regular routine of the things I had been doing regularly for the last 2 months. Sometimes that's how I feel my free-days go. I drink hardly any water and I eat terribly. Thankfully I don't mind the writing in my journal or reading the scriptures so that's still alright to do.

Week six I found myself really losing motivation. I would get SO hungry at night and not eating after 8 o'clock was tough. And because I was so hungry I had little energy to complete other tasks still needed for the day. I also had the realization that this was the longest time I had ever been on such a strict "diet" and regiment of denying myself things that I really enjoyed...like chocolate and all things sugary really. I always thought my track friends were crazy for not eating any sugar at all--- not even a Jolly Rancher! I did have to admit to myself though that I did feel better in some ways. I wasn't eating enough throughout the day which is why I'd get so hungry at night.
I wasn't really tempted at 10pm when Keegan when toast a bagel and I could smell it or hear the cereal bowl clink... and in fact Keegan was the one who kept pushing me and reminding me that "Garrity's aren't quitters" and I had "made it this far!" The least motivating thing he said was "You can pay for all of the car repairs with the money you win!" I flatly told him if I did win I'd only win about $50... which was a few hundred short of paying for those repairs. :-) But in contrast the most motivating thing he said was, "If you're losing gusto think of everyone else out there that is too... so this is the time to be strong." That thought came back to me a few times and helped me to persevere. Still had a perfect score at the end!

Week seven wouldn't have been all that difficult if I hadn't gone out of town. I went to visit my sister, grandparents, and dad who flew in and it made it pretty tough. The day I drove down to Hannah's I didn't get enough sleep and I never took the time for a nap (really I just kind of forgot that I hadn't gotten enough sleep until it was too late...boo!) My perfect score for six weeks in a row was ruined!! It was pretty sad. The worst part of it was that it became MUCH harder to stay motivated to do everything I needed to do everyday after that. I would think, "My perfect score is ruined so what's the point?" But I had to remember that I was doing this for myself and to improve and to prove to myself that I could do something hard. But one night when it was 12:20am and I was SO tired I just couldn't bring myself to work out 20 more minutes that day.

So there was my second point lost. I had to keep fighting off the justification of "well my week is already ruined." I knew I would be ashamed to write in my points that week and to tell my friends I had ruined my perfect score. (All three of us from Logan had been perfect so far.) But I had read on FB that one of them had gotten sick so her score was ruined as well. I still felt lame that I didn't have that good of an excuse but it did make me feel a little better (even though I was really sad she had gotten pretty sick).

Week eight and beyond

Even with my perfect score ruined, I still wanted to end strong, but I succumbed a couple of times and ended with a score of 67/70 that week. With throwing up and not wanting to eat- that part of the challenge was hard. Then to add in the no eating past 8 when 10pm would roll around and I was starving I wondered if it was really worth it. I didn't want to go hungry knowing that it probably wasn't just me wanting/needing food. I still managed to miss only 3 points that week and I was pretty proud of that fact! I still held to the idea of rebelling for a whole week after the challenge was over... and I did :-) I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it (within a little reason) and I loved it! Then after getting a lot of that out of my system I tried to incorporate once again, those good things into my routine.

So, the big question in the end is, "Do you feel like in 8 weeks you became a better 'you'?" Psssh... yeah! I don't regret doing the challenge in the least. It taught me a lot of valuable lessons about myself and my habits. I am definitely more aware of all of the vegetables I eat, the water I drink, the good deeds I do, exercise I fit into my days/weeks, and the amount I read my scriptures. Sometimes these things are lacking- but I realize it more quickly than I used too.

My advice (for anyone thinking of doing this or a similar challenge) Plan ahead. Know what you are getting into with this challenge and be wise in your meal planning and grocery store trips! Plan a time of day for exercise, scripture study, intervals for water drinking, etc. I would even sketch out a few days of the week and what good deed I wanted to do that day. It helped a lot!! Also, the point of any challenge like this is to incorporate the healthy habits into your life forever! Not just 8 weeks or however long. I could have been better about thinking more towards the long term instead of just trying to get through those weeks!

Have a support network! The blog and Facebook page set up for this challenge were great, but if I didn't have the support at home to keep me accountable then this would have been a disaster :-) Good luck!