No Sugar or Alcohol on Weekdays Challenge

Guys! The cover pic is of me a few years ago. I put it there to motivate myself to stick to this commitment I am making. Will you do this challenge with me for the next 2 months?

It’s simple. No refined sugar or alcohol during the week (or for every 5 out of 7 days, in case you have a party or plans where you want to enjoy a glass or two of wine). Also, drink at least 8 cups of water every day. And exercise 3-5x a week. Easy, right?

I don’t know about you, but I am not good with diets. Try and limit me on my intake and I’ll end up gaining weight. I don’t like to feel deprived. Do you do well with diets?

I’m good on the exercise part. I work out about 5 days a week. It’s a part of my lifestyle now, so I feel off balance if I don’t do it.

But did you know our diet accounts for 80% of weight loss and exercise accounts for only 20%? Read more about this on Women’s Health’s article here.

Considering I burn about 500-600 calories a day with exercise, yet still seem to gain lbs each year, I decided it’s time to take a closer look at my diet lifestyle.

I love sweets. I love pear martinis. I love carbs. And as you know, I believe in enjoying life and indulging – which includes food! There is a balance, though. And as our metabolisms slow down with age (I’ll be 44 in May!), we need to be more conscious of what our bodies are consuming.

So, I write this to hold myself accountable for the next 2 two months. With swimsuit season coming up, I thought you might do this challenge with me. Come on! What do you have to lose? A little weight, that’s what! And a healthier you.

Rules for No Sugar or Alcohol on Weekdays

1. No Refined Sugar on weekdays

You can swap out days if you have fun plans but should be every 5 of 7 days you stick to rules. Refined sugar means no sweets. So no candy, ice cream, dessert, drinks with sugar. Natural sugars are ok, in moderation. And if your dinner has a little refined sugar in the recipe (ex. teriyaki sauce), it’s ok. Just be honest with your judgement.

2. No Alcohol on weekdays

You can swap out days if you have fun plans but should be every 5 of 7 days you stick to rules.

3. Water – 8 cups a day

We all know we should be drinking lots of water every day but it’s hard to do it. Refresher from WebMD:

• Balances body fluids
• Controls calories
• Energizes muscles
• Skin looks better
• Kidney function
• Maintains normal bowels

4. Be active

Be active for at least 35 minutes 5x a week (or 60 minutes 3x a week)

Exercise is vital for a healthy mind as much as it is for a healthy body. We can’t get around NOT exercising, so if you aren’t currently doing it, YOU HAVE TO START.

For tips on starting to run or band workouts, see my posts on Start Running or Full Body Resistance Band Workout .

Let’s do this until the end of May! Just a few changes but it’s going to help us make better choices on other things too. Watch, you’ll see. We can do it, right?

I started Monday. And I am sharing my progress on Instagram via my Insta-Stories, if you want to follow along (If you are following me on Instagram-@ozofsalt, the top of your home page will show Insta-Stories in circles of people you follow. Just click on the circle to see my last 24 hours of 15 second video clips).

It will be us doing this together! Let’s support each other and meet this goal. Let’s get healthier. Let’s get leaner! You can see I am excited about this because it is only day 2. Haha, just kidding.

Flavor Your Life with an Ounce of Salt. A lifestyle blog by Jen Oliak.