#CHC

My family has done several diet challenges over the years because we all need some extra help and motivation to lose weight and stay healthy. This year, we decided to do it again with a bit of a twist. This time we wanted to encourage healthy habits instead of just weight loss. It became known as the Christensen Health Challenge (#CHC). Jonathon and I took the lead in setting it up, and we got 9 members of the family to join in.

The CHC was a point based competition that lasted from August until Thanksgiving. Each Monday, Jonathon sent out a google form to each person where they would record how many days they did cardio exercise (at least 30 minutes or 10,000 steps), strength training (at least 20 minutes), recorded all the food they ate in a food journal, and their current weight. Each percentage of weight loss was worth 10 points, so that was added to the points for the other healthy living activities. Jonathon created a computer program that he would then run all of the information through, and it would generate a report for each person. The reports were awesome. The reports had total points, graphs for each category, and the leaderboard. It was fun to be able to compare your week to everyone else's and see how you were doing.

Each person participating chipped in $25 to a pot. The winner would take home $100, 2nd place $60, and 3rd place $40. The prize money was awesome, but getting healthy was the best motivation. Jonathon and I hit the diet and exercising hard. Jonathon lost a lot of weight at the beginning, but I was really struggling. He was doing a low carb approach, and it seemed to be working really well. I finally jumped on the wagon, and we pushed hard. My weight never came off as fast as Jonathon's, but over the four months, it really added up.

Low carb dieting was tricky at first, but we ended up figuring it out and doing pretty well with it. A lot of people think that it is just eating a lot of meat and cheese, but after a lot of research (and help from Jonathon's co-worker who is a huge proponent of ketogenic diets), we learned that low carb diets are mostly about eating lots of vegetables, limiting high carb foods like white bread and white rice, and avoiding sugar. I was concerned about the health repercussions of living a low carb lifestyle, but there was so much research supporting it. I was actually pretty shocked about what the current research shows. People on low carb diets actually lose more weight and lower their cholesterol and triglycerides more than people on traditional low-fat diets.

We ended up eating a lot of salad, vegetables, nitrate-free deli meats, almonds, cheese, chicken, and low carb tortillas. We learned several new dishes that worked well with the diet. I have learned to really love cauliflower crust pizza, zucchini noodle lasagna, and chicken salads. Jonathon and I did well in the competition, but we always seemed to be trailing Joe and Kym, who were totally rocking the Atkin's diet. We really got into some great exercising habits and felt really good about all of our hard work.

Finally, the CHC came to an end. Over Thanksgiving when everyone was home, we had a big awards ceremony to celebrate everyone's hard work. I gave awards for everyone who participated, for the people who won each category, and of course, the grand prize money. I also created a slideshow of Before and After pictures showing weight loss. It turned out pretty great, and I hope it was motivating and fun for everyone involved. Before we revealed the winners, we went through some of the Tips and Tricks that people provided that helped them. I thought it was important that this be a learning experience and something that people can continue with.

Here are some of the awards and pictures from the competition:

Strength Training (96 pts. possible)
3. Claire (62)
2. Mom (63)
1. Daniel (81)

Cardio Exercise (96 pts. possible)
3. Sarah and Daniel (85)
2. Jonathon (87)
1. Joe (89)

Food Journaling (112 pts. possible)
3. Joe (109)
2. Hannah and Mom (110)
1. Sarah (111)

And the Grand Prizes:

1st Place

 2nd Place

3rd Place

 6th Place

 (but 3rd in percent of weight lost)

It feels so good to lose the weight and be healthier. We still would like to lose 10 more pounds each, but the holidays are tough. Our plan is to try to hold even through December and then hit it hard again in January. The CHC was such a good experience, and hopefully, we can continue with the process so we won't need another diet competition next year.