Healthy Mondays - Round 1 of Game On complete!

So yesterday was the end of the 1 month long "Game On" challenge and I couldn't possibly be happier with the way that it went!  What exactly IS "Game On"?  Well - read back to here to get the complete rundown.  In a nutshell - it has been a one month healthy living challenge.

I am a little bit in love with the whole thing.  Why?  'Cause it's NOT a diet.  It IS a diet...but it's so much more than that!  I spent the month counting Weight Watchers points but I also cut out alcohol, increased my water consumption by roughly 100 oz per day, cut out soda, increased my exercise, maintained my sleep patterns (I was gonna say "increased" but in reality, I love my sleep and this hasn't really been an issue for me in the past).  I feel great both physically AND mentally.

I'm better at Weight Watchers this time than I have been in the past because I am so focused at not losing this challenge...in the past when I've done WW, I've always saved myself some points for treats at the end of the day or a beer.  This time, because I am sneakily competitive (and 'cause I can't HAVE the beer) I have been focusing on things like making sure I have a protein at each meal and dramatically increasing the amount of vegetables I'm eating.

I'm shocked to report that I am perfectly capable of consuming 100+ oz of water per day.  AND - when I DO?  I do, in fact, feel better!  I can't put my finger on "how" I feel better...but I definitely feel different.

I love the camaraderie of both supporting a team and competing against others (though our group was very bad at trash talking and actually just really supportive of each other regardless of the competition).

My final results?  Well - I started 4 weeks ago at 145.8 pounds and *drumroll* ended yesterday morning at 135.4.  I lost 10.4 pounds in 4 weeks...am back to running 3.5 miles at a 10 minute mile pace...have learned to incorporate drinking massive amounts of water into my daily routine...have gone 6 weeks without a soda...and I feel GREAT!

And - I just got the email...my fantastic team came in 2nd place.  I am VERY proud of my teammates.  We did awesome!  And - bonus for me - since I had a perfect score for the 4 weeks and the winning team only had 2 members...I win part of the pot too!  New running sneakers for me!  WOOT!

We are going to do a "Game On - Round 2" beginning this coming Sunday. If you are interested in putting together a team to join us this time around - I highly encourage you to join us!  It's not a diet - it's a healthy way of life and it feels GREAT!

"Before" - 4 weeks ago

"After" - taken this morning