Anatomy of a Perfect Score

I’ve mentioned here before, specifically in my post on {integrity}, that I am a worrier. I worry about each one of you. I worry about the Feel Great in 8 Challenge being overwhelming and about you feeling like you have to be perfect. I worry about those of you that are working so incredibly hard to be perfect and I worry about making sure the results are absolutely and positively fair.

The good news is that I’ve recently discovered something super awesome! I’ve discovered that when I share my thought with you here, I am able to relax and feel peace again. To remind myself that all I can do is send lots of positive thoughts and prayers your way, be here for you, and trust you.

So, first of all I want you to know that you don’t have to be perfect to participate. A healthy lifestyle isn’t about being perfect over night, it’s about getting on the right path and working to make healthy choices every day. It’s about not letting a few, or even more than a few, unhealthy choices keep you from working toward your goals.

The next thing I feel like I need to do is make sure I am completely clear about what it takes to get a perfect score. I do trust all of you to be honest in reporting, but I’ve also realized that unless I am more careful to be extremely clear about requirements, I am leaving things up to interpretation and creating an unfair situation.

First of all, I know the challenge isn’t easy. I know that it is a LOT to keep track of and do. I also feel like it needs to be hard. You are trusting me with your money and the more the challenge grows, the more of it I will be giving away. If it doesn’t push and stretch and challenge those that win, then I don’t feel good about giving them a whole bunch of money.

So, here is it. Exactly what you’ll need to do to earn every single point during the challenge. So I can sleep tonight. 🙂

Healthy Food Servings: Only count points in each area if you ate {full servings}. Remember, you can’t make up missed servings by eating more the following day.

Unhealthy Foods: Subtract points for even a small taste or an unintentionally eaten unhealthy food. Also remember to subtract 5 points for each serving – 3 cookies means you need to subtract 15 points.

Water: Make sure you drink the full 64oz or more. The easiest way I’ve found to track this is to get a water bottle and make sure I drain and refill it at certain times of day. My water bottle is 20oz, so I make sure to fill and drink it 4 times a day.

Exercise: The exercise each of you chose will vary based on your preferences and current fitness level. Just make sure the exercise you count is challenging for you.

Caloric Range: You caloric range can be altered occasionally if you feel like you are eating too few or too many, but those changes need to be made on Monday and tested for a week. You can’t decide to increase your caloric goal on Wednesday because you ate too much or have a event where you would like to eat more. Sorry. 🙂

Addiction Avoidance: Make sure the addiction you have chosen fits the guidelines outlines in {this} post. If your addiction becomes too easy for you, please choose a new one that is more challenging.

Prayer/Meditation: There isn’t a time of day requirement for when to complete these, but they can’t be back-to-back. Praying or meditating for twice as long is not the same as praying twice during the day.

Uplifting Reading: This is another one that is open to personal interpretation and that’s fine. Just make sure the book you choose is uplifting (i.e. morally or spiritually elevating; inspiring happiness or hope} for you. 

Family Time: Make sure this time is significant {i.e. normal daily family activities don’t count}. 

Service: This should require thought, effort and some sacrifice on your part.

Daily Gratitude Journal: These entries don’t have to be long, but they must be done every day. Writing two entries does not make up for a missed entry.

Sleep: These hours only count if you are in bed trying to sleep {not reading or watching tv}.

Daily Bonus Points: Remember these tasks must be done on the day assigned unless otherwise specified.

Personal Goal: If you haven’t already, make sure you read {this} post to make sure your goal fits the guidelines. 

Whew! Sorry that was a lot to read! It feels good knowing we are on the same page. Keep up the great work and remember you don’t have to be perfect to be making progress.