JULY SLIMMING MINIS OPEN, but we're moving it to a new thread soon.

This challenge was originally started to be for folks under 5'4", but it evolved to be an all-comers challenge. So welcome, and I hope you enjoy participating!

Here are the guidelines:

• Email me your starting weight.
• 2 points each for every 8 ounces of water. Plain or bottle (No flavors)
• 3 points for each 15 minutes of workout time. This is structured workouts - as in you went for a walk with the intention of it being exercise - and there are no points for anything other than 15 minute intervals.
• 1 point if you complete a physical challenge.
• 1 point if you complete a personal challenge.
• Send your weight at the end of the month.
• Person with the most points wins.

Note: 1 point bonus if you suggest a challenge! You can suggest a challenge by posting it in the thread or by messaging me and I'll post it. Challenges can be completed at any time during the month - just tell me which one you did after you do it. Just give your challenge a title and give a brief description of how to complete it, and you're good to go (and you get an extra point!) For example: "I would like to challenge everyone to do 10 pushups today." would be a physical challenge. "I would like everyone to do 5 minutes of quiet reflection/meditation" would be a personal challenge."

Please send your information to me via private message daily or every other day in the following format:
3x 8 oz of water
45 minutes of treadmill
completed side bend challenge

If you go out of town please let me know ahead of time, and then when you get back please send me your points broken down by dates.

I usually update points every day in the morning, but sometimes I take the weekend off - I'll let you know if I do.

Post or message me if you have any questions.

Good luck everyone!

The Contenders - JUNE - FINAL POINTS

augette - 775

findingmeagain2009 - 1633 - congrats!

kyashiis - 707

moonduster - 1278

nev2179 - 154

solemnleaf - 412

spacedreamer01 - 361

Physical Challenges - we'll keep the same from April if y'all want...

Change It Up! - Try a workout you've never done before (1 point per new activity tried)

Strength Training - One point for at least 15 minutes of strength training - this will also get you 3 regular exercise points!

Crunches - As many sets of 25 as you can (max 1 point per day)

Pushups - As many sets of 25 as you can (max 1 point per day)

Plank - Hold the plank position for 20-30 seconds (1 point per day)

squats - with your weight centered over the middles of your feet, squat down and stand back up again. Keep your knees centered over your toes and your back straight. Repeat as many times as you can - try it in sets of 10-25 (max 1 point per day)

jumping jacks - one, two! one, two! try a few sets of jumping jacks (max 1 point per day)

zany workout! - one point per day for the most odd, creative workout you can think of

Positive Challenges

5-a-day - eat the recommended 5 fruits/veg a day (recurring)

Go Outside - enjoy the great outdoor

Litter Busters - Pick up a piece of trash when you go outside

Eat Breakfast - The most important meal of the day!

Reading - get one point per day for picking up the book you've been meaning to read (p.s. I'd love to hear what it is, as I work for a Library =)

Finish a Book - back by popular demand - one point for every book you finish

8 a Day H2O - You will receive one extra point per day if your water totals 8 x 8 oz or more.

Straight A Students - log in your food and get an A for the day, and you get a point

Set a Goal - one point for setting a total points goal for the month

Meet Your Goal

Get Some Sleep - get at least 7.5 hours of sleep a night

Stay Under Your Personal Maintenance Calorie Level

Log Your Food By Midnight

Zany Workouts

This is where I'll be posting your creative/crazy workouts, if you'd like

Kneading Bread

Car Racing (I'm not going to count this in my exercise total, but it was a nice isometric core stabilization workout!)

wrestling my tiller!

trimming sheep feet (awesome)

making balloon animals

Yay - welcome Michelle!

We have our first Physical Challenge thanks to a suggestion by augette

Strength training - do some form of strenght training - ie weights, resistance bands, pushups

You will receive one point each time you tell me you've completed this (one per day)

Hi everyone!

So sorry I've been MIA this weekend - I've been up skiing / down with a cold.

How are you all? Having nice weekends??

I promise I'll get the points updated this evening, so if you still need to PM me your stuff, now is the time =)

You've all been so quiet lately! I miss you guys!

Well, I think my weekend is going to end up being a bit of a wash--weight loss-wise at least.  I was good yesterday... or at least not bad.  Then today, we had a chili cook-off for 2 of my aunts' birthdays.  Though there wasn't an official vote, i think my vegetarian chili won---there was the least left over of mine, by far and i got many compliments/requests for the recipe!  Of course, one can't have chili with out mass amounts of cornbread, nor a birthday party without a couple different kinds of cake, right?  oh you can?  oh.. well, next time, right?  anyways, it was fun.  I'll just have to buckle down this week, especially since I have yet to complete my own challenge suggestion of eating the 5 fruit/veggies a day...

:)  Have a good week, friends!

Ok - we have a new Positive Challenge - Grateful Challenge

Grateful challenge: List one thing you're grateful for today

It's a recurring challenge, so you can do it every day!

Positive Challenge - Why I'm Here

Well first off Spacedreamer e-mailed me and said that the minis were back so I am back but really I have been wanting and needing something to motivate me to get back into the healthy drinking my water and exercing routine. I have gained some of that weight I worked so hard to get rid of and lost track of my goal. I was really hoping to be healthy when I start to try for kids. I am in much better shape than I was almost 2 years ago but not where I want to be. Well I am really hoping that I will be under 140 next month possibly TTC. We'll see!!

I didn't do well over the weekend but that actually isn't all that unusual. My husband & I went out to dinner on Saturday night. It was nice to have a quiet meal with no kids!  Although I didn't do well with my food choices over the weekend or my water consumption, I did make sure I got in 30 minutes on the bike each day.  I started to put it off on Saturday but then thought about my points for Slimming Mini's and decided that I at least needed to get some points (LOL)! So I committed to doing 15 minutes and then talked myself into 30. 

Now to get back on track for the week!

Edit: Grateful Challenge: I'm grateful that my husband and I both have secure jobs!  There have been many layoffs in our area and I count my blessings everyday that both of us are relatively secure in our current positions. I'm also thankful that we are both very responsible financially and tend to be savers rather than spenders.

Positive Challenge- Grateful Challenge

Well as for EVERYDAY, I'm the most grateful for my daughter.  She is my world...but at the moment...other than that...It would be simply having the Slimming Mini's back up and running.  I have NEVER gotten my 5 a day in, but have almost everyday with this challenge.  I don't know what it is about this group....I mean I am only doing the things I NEED to do and know already that I need to do them...but having the support system of the mini's to push me towards it makes a complete diffrence in my dieting!!!!!

I'm really grateful for my boyfriend today. I was stressing about finances and life in general last night and he was so supportive.

Hey everyone!

Here's a positive challenge to get a little communication going...

Post today about how you're doing, feeling, etc - anything you want - and you'll get a point! (one time only)

I'm having an ok day. Making some Easymac for lunch - yummm.

Things are going pretty good so far this week. I was up 4 lbs after the weekend but am already down 2 so only 2 more to go... I'm sure most of the gain had to do with poor eating habits over the weekend (loads of sodium) and dehydration. I didn't get near the fluids I normally have. I've upped the water this week and so far it's working.

I had a pretty good day--new purse and shoes for the festival of job interviews that should be starting... sometime... soon... I hope?

And on a related note [and for another point], I'm grateful for DSW--prices are pretty decent, and I can find shoes in my size relatively easily.  Women's size 11 shoes (that don't look like your grandmother either weards them now or back when she was busy riveting during the war) aren't exactly a dime a dozen, ya know?

I'm doing okay today.  Struggling to get over a kindney infection that is making my workouts a lot less fun!! :(  Plus keeping me from doing the full hour to hour and a half a day I'd like to get to.  My overall goal is going to be to excercise for 45 minutes in the morning and walk for 45 minutes each evening...BUT I'm still seeing the scales move down some so I'm actually VERY happy right now.  :D

And for the Grateful Challenge....today I have been very grateful for my little girl.  As some of you might remember I learned to incorporate HER into my workouts so she is my very special and FUN workout partner.  She's been off school do to weather for the last week (goes back tomorrow) and has REALLY REALLY kept me going with my work outs at a time when I have been hurting bad enough that I probably woulda skipped it without her begging to do them with me  LOL. 

Off to a pretty good start today.  After my usual (healthy) breakfast, I read the morning paper and tackled the crossword puzzle.  It was a breeze this morning, and it made me feel so smart!  I'm pleased with what I see in the mirror, too...a new haircut, very short, gives this elderly person a much-needed lift.

My Grateful Challenge is super ordinary.  I hate to iron, but yesterday I got to the bottom of the ironing basket...and that's a good thing.

Fantastic! It's so good to hear from everyone.

augette - yeah dehydration + sodium = water weight gain. that always happens to me on weekends when I'm up teaching skiing - I need to get myself an insulated camelbak!

rabi - break a leg in your interviews!!!

shellbysmomma - hope you feel better soon. good job on working out with your daughter still - it's so great that you're showing her the way to a healthy lifestyle and helping yourself at the same time.

mauntler - good job on the ironing! I kind of like ironing, and my boyfriend doesn't have time for it, so I feel the same way when I get to the bottom of his ironing pile.

Happy Thursday everybody!

Things are going pretty good today.  I had my usual healthy breakfast/lunch and already have dinner planned so that will help tonight.  I didn't have anything planned for yesterday and then ended up eating out.  I should know better by now!  As long as I'm planning ahead I do great when I don't well....

I've been trying to increase the water and decrease the diet sodas again.  It is so easy to fall back into those old patterns. 

I've got a challenge for everyone. With the cold that has gripped a lot of the country I know if you are like me most of us haven't been venturing outside so my challenge to everyone is to go outside and do something - go for a walk, shoot some hoops, go skiing, whatever.  After being cooped up inside I'm sure we are all in need of some exercise in the fresh air.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

My Grateful Challenge today is easy.  It has been extremely cold and a typical gray January lately but today the sun is shining and it is to warm up to the  mid 40s today. I don't have any plans after work so I'm hoping I can get out and enjoy the "warm" weather we are having.

Okay guys...I NEED HELP...LOL.  I went back to the dr (for my kidney infection) and she changed my meds.  She advised me NOT to diet while taking it because she said I need a really full stomach to take this medicine or it could cause me a number of side effects.  I didn't argue with the doctor, BUT I can NOT go off my diet for 10 days.  I may not be severely over weight at this point but I still have 19 lbs to go till goal weight and everyone knows how hard it is to get back up on that diet horse once you fall off.  :(  I am "in rythem" now with it and don't wanna get out.  So what I need help with is I need some foods that will have my stomach very full (volume wise) yet not be high in calorie so I can stay at my 1200 calorie a day intake.  I'm not huge on vegtables... :(...I like some but not a lot....at this point my best ideal is just a lot of salad....but that will get old if I do it everyday for 10 days....so any suggestions will help TONS.  Thanks girls!!!!

Shellbysmomma - Fiber will fill you up for little calories. Be sure to ask your doctor if a high fiber diet will effect the meds. There are alot of things that are high in fiber such as some cereals, whole grains, and fruit. Things wit 4 or more grams of fiber are great. Peanut butter might also work in filling you up but it can carry a lot of calories.

Grateful - I am grateful that it is Friday!!! and I have the weekend to relax. I am also grateful that the temperature was so nice today that I really wanted to get outside and walk.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.  I was all set to spend lots of time outside today.  Yesterday it was 57 degrees F, Sunny and beautiful and I was stuck at work so I had hoped to be outside working today. Unfortunately Today the high temperature was 33 degrees F! It was still sunny but not as warm as I had hoped for doing some yard work.  I did spend 15-20 min in the yard with the dogs but I guess the yard work will wait for another day...