Healthy You Challenge

• Join the challenge
  
• Pick a button for your blog
• Blog about your journey
• Give support

What's the challenge?
The challenge is a support system to work on building a better you. No matter what your goals from losing weight, exercise or staying at goal, we all need the support of people who are going through the same things or have been there. It’s not about obsessing over a number on the scale; it’s not about exercising until you drop; it’s about challenging yourself and pushing yourself to stay focused on your goals as well as getting and giving support.

When does it begin and end? January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008

Can I join at anytime? ABSOLUTELY.

How much does it cost to join? It’s absolutely FREE.

Can I put a button on my blog promoting this challenge? Please do! Its a great way to spread the word about the challenge. The more people who join the challenge the better! I’ve created a variety of buttons to promote the challenge based on feedback I received when I was putting the challenge together. In the side bar under the header EVERYTHING YOU NEED you’ll find a category for Buttons and Badges, there you’ll find codes for the challenge, exercise, NSV (non scale victories), staying on plan and pounds lost from 5 pounds up to 450 pounds. If you don’t see the button you are looking for or if your weight is missing, just email me and I’d be happy to see what I can come up with.

What do I need to do to participate? Every week, blog about your losses, gains, successes, frustrations and victories. Talk about what is important to you in your quest to become a healthier version of you. Then come back to the Healthy You Challenge site and sign Mr. Linky, linking back to your weekly blog post. The check in post will go up on Tuesday but you can check in any day, post a link to you blog post talking about how you are doing.

My life is really busy during certain times of the year or sometimes I just don't feel like blogging, can I still join the challenge? Absolutely! I realize that weekly check in isn't always possible. I'd rather you get out and live your healthy life than feel you are tied to a blog. When you want to participate to give or receive support, make sure you check in and sign into Mister Linky that week, people who sign in are considered to be active that week. If you don't sign in, we will assume you are busy living your healthy life. We will miss you so check in once in a while if you can just to let us know you are doing ok.

What else do I need to do? Get out there and read the blogs of your fellow challengers and give them support. See who else has signed into Mister Linky this week and get out there and give them support! Leave a comment and give them a pat on the back when they’ve done a great job and give them support when they are struggling. Ask a friend to join the challenge with you and make new friends along the way!

I already belong to another challenge can I join this one too? Of Course!! This challenge is open to anyone who wants to give and receive support on the path to healthy weight loss and becoming in general becoming healthier. .

How do I get on your blog roll? Just e-mail your blog name and url to Diana at healthyyouchallenge at gmail.com replacing the at with @ and leave out the spaces


What if I have information I want to share? You can share anything, just email it to me and I’ll get it posted as soon as possible as long as it’s pertinent and not offensive to anyone.

Do you happen to have any advice for me for this challenge? In addition to tracking your weight, take your measurements and take a photo of yourself, you don’t have to share the it with anyone if you don’t want to but these are great tools that will help you see how well you are doing along the way.

Do I have to be on special diet to join this challenge? No! I’m not a dietitian, doctor or medical professional and I’m not qualified to give out advice. This challenge is about giving and receiving support. I encourage eating a healthy well balanced diet and exercising so you become a healthier version of who you are right now. However the diet you follow is something you'll need to discuss with your doctor.

What kind of exercise should I do? This is a very individual question and will vary from person to person. Of course you should check with your doctor when you are starting a new diet plan or exercise plan and ask them what your limitations are. I don’t want to push anyone beyond their limits. This is why I’m calling this the Healthy YOU Challenge. We are all at different fitness levels and if there is one thing I’ve learned in my life it’s that One Size does NOT fit all.

I’m in OA and I don’t like to focus so much on my weight, is this challenge for me? This challenge is about giving and receiving support. This challenge isn’t a race to lose pounds; it’s a challenge to do everything you can do to become a healthier version of you.

I can’t possibly reach my goal weight this year, is this challenge for me? I won’t reach my goal weight this year either but I don’t want to give up….ever. This is why I started this challenge to keep me and others like me accountable through the year. I’m hoping that enough people are interested in this challenge that they want to do it all over again next year because I will still be working towards my goals next year but in a year, I want to be a healthier version of who I am now.

I want to list my pounds lost, but I’ve already lost some weight, can I pick a button with my current weight lost or can I only count the pounds lost on the challenge? You’ve worked hard to lose those pounds, you’ve earned the badge/button that states your current weight lost, that’s why I’ve made the Pounds Lost buttons up to 450 pounds!

Who is Diana and what is Scale Junkie and why do the challenge buttons say blog.scalejunkie.com at the bottom? My name is Diana and I write the Scale Junkie blog. I wanted to start a challenge and I created the challenge buttons…a LOT of buttons. The more I got involved with creating the challenge the more work I realized it would be and I thought the challenge deserved a blog of its very own. Due to my limited time frame, I didn’t have time to go back and change the address at the bottom of the buttons. I will keep a button at the top of the Scale Junkie site to redirect anyone who wants to join the challenge to the challenge board. I will still be blogging as normal on the Scale Junkie site.

What else? I wan everyone to have FUN while participating in the challenge. I don’t want it to just be my challenge I want it to be OUR challenge. I want you to feel a part of it too so please feel free to give feed back at any time. If you have anything you want to share from jokes, inspirational and motivational stories as well as success stories, please let me know.

NEW!!!!

When will my name be added to the blog roll? Names are typically added over the weekend. Please keep in mind that I'm just one woman who leads a very busy life and has to find time to workout and walk the dogs!! Your name will be added as soon as possible. If you email Monday through Friday, your name will be added Saturday or Sunday

If you email on Saturday or Sunday and I've already added names for the week, your name will be added the following weekend.

Just remember, you can join at any time. Just start reading the challenge team members blogs and leaving comments, go ahead an sign into Mister Linky on Tuesday and start participating NOW!! Your name will be on the blog roll soon!!