I'm posting our challenge for next week to help out Misty. She has her in-laws here and didn't want her to worry about this as she's busy with them...and of course staying focused on our "mission". :)

This week’s bonus challenge is to drink ONLY water and non-flavored milk. You must eliminate all other beverages!! This includes, soda (regular or diet), lemonades, juices (even 100% fruit juice), hot cocoas, alcoholic beverages, Crystal light, V8 fusions, etc.

We all know that soda (while so delicious) has absolutely no nutritional value and is high in sugar and calories (we’ll get to diet soda in a minute). Drinking soda can lead to weight gain, diabetes, digestive issues, excessive yeast buildup in the body and certain kinds of cancer. I know, you’re getting up right now to throw out all of your pop aren’t you?

Think of it like this, “drinking just one soda a day can add up to over 91,000 calories a year. That’s like eating over 300 Big Mac’s or 182 large fries. That’s a LOT of empty calories, sodium and sugary corn syrup goo running through your veins.” (http://blog.timesunion.com) Which
translates to A LOT of extra time in the gym.

If, like me, DIET SODA is your vice…you are no better off. Our bodies are designed to process certain substances in certain ways. However, they don’t know how to process sugar substitutes. (This includes things like Crystal light). When we get that sweet taste of diet soda, our bodies
immediately think it needs to process sugar. So, the body releases extra insulin that ends up floating around in our bloodstream with nothing to do (because there was no actual sugar to process) but STOP FAT LOSS and CAUSE WEIGHT GAIN! Which is exactly what we are trying to avoid by drinking it in the first place. Oh, the irony…

You are probably wondering why we are also eliminating things like 100% fruit juice and the V8 Fusion that you may use to boost your fruits and veggies intake. There are a few reasons…
While drinking juice IS better for you than drinking soda or artificially sweetened beverages, it does not even compare to the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Whole fruit contains fewer calories and has more fiber (which keeps you regular and makes you feel fuller for longer). Food from the source is always better for our bodies than that which is processed.
We also think it’s important to NOT rely on things like the V8 Fusions to get your 5 servings every day. Your fruits and veggies this week will have to come from the SOURCE!! So plan accordingly!!!

Every day that you drink only water and non-flavored milk, you earn 5 points.
(5 pt x 7 days = 35 bonus points)

-Valerie