New Belt

Well this Carter Family Challenge has been, how do you say, challenging. And the competition seems to be heating up!!! Regardless of who the winner is (I, Russ, am currently in the lead, woohoo!!!!!!), I am so happy about the progress and energy I now have. It's been a while since I've felt this good!!! I started the competition at 245 and I weighed in this morning at 228!!!!! I'm gonna need a new belt when this is done and over with. My end goal is 200 lbs.

In addition to the challenge of eating healthy and exercising, there have been other challenges that are included. Things like reading a book. I have to read everyday. If you know me, you know I can't sit still long enough to read a book. I've been able to listen to books on cd or the iPod. I've "read" more books this year (3) than I have ever read in any one year of my entire life. I just simply don't read. People talk to me about getting addicted to it and loving to read. I can't say that I love it that much, but I've been entertained. I find myself wanting to continue on with the rest of the book and being interested in "what's next". The book I am reading now is so so, which is kind of frustrating, but I told myself I'd finish it regardless.

Another piece of the challenge is that you have to get 8 hours of sleep every night. Now sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night, but that doesn't matter. As long as you go to bed (not lay in bed and watch a movie, literally go to bed) and wake up 8 hours later, you get points. This has probably been my hardest challenge. I have so many things going on that I have to simply not accomplish things as fast as I would like. But I do find myself having more energy, so that keeps me driven to keep going.

The last thing that I've had to pay attention to on this challenge is eating breakfast. I typically didn't eat breakfast as I felt I was already overweight and adding to my eating would only make it worse. In addition, I typically am in a rush to get to work in the morning, so I run out of time. When the competition started, I began eating breakfast EVERY morning. Most of the time, I eat two packets of Quaker Oatmeal. I sell product to them, so I may as well buy from them right???? I feel good and I know that Oatmeal is also good for maintaining lower cholesterol. High cholesterol runs in my genes, so this is definitely an added bonus. I also don't get hungry mid-morning like I used to.

All in all, I feel SOOO good about my progress. My energy level is good, I'm starting to get some abs and calves, and I have improved my life in ways I never figured I would. Thank you Mom and Dad Carter for this opportunity to challenge myself and better take care of my family.