Veggie Challenge Update

My work’s nutrition challenge is over. It ended on March 24th and I was ready for it to end. Not because I was tired of eating so many servings of fruits and vegetables, because I was super over tracking them daily for 8-weeks.  I was already tracking all of my foods in My Fitness Pal, then the fruits and veggies were tracked separately in the Mix it Up app… I felt like it was overkill x1000. I started to not enjoy eating… kind of the same way I got after years and years of doing Weight Watchers.

My team ended up placing 12th. I placed 18th out of nearly 600 employees that participated in the challenge. I am very happy about both things, but more proud of my placement as an individual.

We were able to see our final numbers/blender results for the entire 8-week challenge. Like mentioned in my previous challenge update posts, I clearly favored fruits and vegetables from the green and red categories. I continued to make a conscious effort to get in the other 3 colors, but a daily red apple, lots of mixed greens, spinach, brussels sprouts, asparagus, kale and other high point value items really bumped up the green and red categories. My veggie rainbow was definitely not even.

My average servings worked out to be 8/day. I aimed for 9, but ended up with quite a few 7 serving days. I didn’t get crazy with top choice points like some participants did, but I tried to hit a few of those each day – since they did increase point values.

All in all, it was a great way to learn about fruits and vegetables, which ones contained more nutrients, how to eat more balanced on the color wheel and daily check-ins with some of my team members was the encouragement I needed to make it through the entire 8 weeks.

The second fitness challenge started the day after the nutrition challenge ended. My previous team is going strong! Each team member is working out 60+ minutes a day – most are working out 120+. I had to sit this one out due to an injury. I’m on my 4th week of dealing with it. Rest, ice, heat, Advil… I finally was able to start back up with treadmill walking 2 weeks ago. I’m going to increase my workout time and start the exercise bike and elliptical next week. I’m super bummed that I had to sit this fitness challenge out, but there was no way I could commit to 60+ minutes a day… when I could barely put on a pair of pants. 🙂 8 weeks without a single rest day – that’s hardcore. I did it in the Fall, but I’ll leave it to the ironman triathlete, marathon runner and other fitness gurus this time around. Less pressure is good right now, at least until I’m 100%.

It’s time to get back in the kitchen. I’ve been a little crazy on Pinterest lately – pinning a million different recipes to try. Pinning is my new diet… I just pin everything that looks delicious, then I make up a bunch of excuses as to why I don’t have time to cook, bake or make anything – that way the calories stay within my computer. While it seems to be helping my waist line, it’s not so awesome for creating new food blog content.