Nia Peters

Nia Peters, December 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT: Trying to lose 50 lbs by September 2023 which puts me on the path to losing 1 lb/week. I did lose 5 lbs in November so I’m on track. I understand tracking weight isn’t the best metric (you can gain muscle, be blotted with excessive water, + and – 3 lbs, etc etc) so I’m not obsessing over weight, just monitoring it. I did lose 10 lbs and then gained back 5 lbs after a bout of pneumonia in November so things happen. I’m going to keep pressing on my journey.

Ok on to the challenge…

Challenge Description: No Sugar, No Alcohol and Only Home-Cooked Meals. During the holiday season you say? Yep! That’s why it’s a challenge! From November’s post you can see I have the exercising thing down, but with food, let me just put it here: I’m an addict. I need to get my eating under control and build better habits. Christmas Eve and all the traveling over the holidays will be there to temp me. On the bright side, I do have 2-weeks off during the December month giving me the opportunity to cook more at home.

I put no sugar, no alcohol, and no eating-out all in one challenge because 1) I couldn’t decide between them for the December challenge, 2). These are some my worst eating habits and I want to start the process in conquering them.

Motivation: The “why” is always clear to me in most of these challenges. I don’t just want to be fit and healthy, but also I want to exhibit good habits for my family and children. I believe in generational health. I grew up learning very unhealthy habits and I don’t want impose the same on my children. I’m here to break the generational curse of unhealthy living. Ok that previous statement was negative, better put: I’m here to set an example of generational health and longevity for generations to come.

Expectations: I actually don’t think this challenge will be too bad for me even with the holiday season. We’re actually moving soon so we won’t have a lot of time to engage in as many holiday festivities. Our biggest holiday party is my family’s gathering on Christmas Eve where my aunt makes this amazing banana pudding! I’ll probably lose points for eating that. I just want to set realistic expectations upfront. While we’re traveling I’m going to be pro-active about packing road snacks and meals so we can avoid eating out. I’ll work with my family to plan meals that they’ll be comfortable eating on the road. I think I can do this!

Grade: F

Outcome: I just didn’t do well on this challenge. I would blame the holidays, but no I keep eating sugar outside of the holidays. Sugar is in everything! I would eat a sweet and thing “Well I failed this challenge.” I did however cut down on alcohol. I only drank a few cocktails during Christmas Eve.

Next Steps: Just on to my next challenge, but I do want to see in January if I can minimize my sugar intake,