The Sac Parent Health Challenge

On Monday, May 9, 2011, we’re launching the first-ever Sac Parent Health Challenge! Continuing through June 6, it’s a 4-week experiment to see just how fast those little things we do every day add up to more energy and less stress. We’re confident, too, that the good habits we pick up this month will have a healthy influence on our families and friends! Ready? Let’s do this thing!

 Take the Challenge!

By Amy Crelly

It's simple, really. You’ll team up with a partner, print out your scorecards (you'll each need to print out two), and click over to Facebook.com/SacramentoParent to join our Health Challenge Facebook group. Using your scorecard as a guide, you’ll give yourself one point every day for each of the 12 healthy habits you follow. Here they are:

1.    Get 7 or more hours of sleep

2.    Eat a healthy breakfast

3.    Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water (64 oz.)

4.    Eat at least 5 servings of veggies and at least 1 fruit

5.    Exercise for 30 minutes or more

6.    Spend 15 minutes outside

7.    Skip soda; no alcohol either

8.    Jot down something you’re grateful for (no repeating)

9.    Show your love or appreciation for someone, or do a good deed

10.  Read for fun: 15+ minutes

11.  Don’t eat sweets, fast food or unhealthy snacks

12.  Don’t eat after 8 p.m.

Total your points at the end of the week (that’s 84 possible per person, up to 168 for each team), and check your progress. Remember: The score-keeping is not about achieving perfection. (And, yes, we are all on our honor for this.) Be sure to tell us how it’s going through the Facebook group, post any questions that come up, and check in often for tips, motivation and moral support.

The more friends and family you can involve, the better—especially if you have a competitive streak! You may even find a little competition between you and your teammate helps get things done.

“The teams and the points—the competition—it all just makes it more fun,” says Roz Goldenberg, Professor of Health Education at Sierra College in Rocklin and our inspiration for the Challenge. She’s created several similar challenges for faculty on campus, drawing on her background in sports psychology and years of coaching experience. With her own weight-loss success story, Roz really understands how the little things we do every day can make the biggest difference. So team up, have fun, and make this spring your healthiest and happiest! We’ll be with you every step.

To help you get started and keep going...

SacramentoParent.com will serve up everything you need! Log on for stories, recipes, blogs (a.k.a. #10, reading for fun), and expert tips and tricks. Sign up for our e-newsletter and link to our Facebook page, too, for bonus giveaways. 

Weekly Bonus Challenges! You’ll probably miss some points here and there. Relax! To help you make up some of those losses, we’ll roll out a bonus challenge each week. (We’re talking fun stuff, like “Get a Massage,” “Try a New Recipe,” and “Find Your Mojo!”) Complete a challenge (brief directions, and everything you need, will be available online and on our Facebook page) then share how it went with the Facebook group, and give yourself five points! It’s that easy.

Web Chats with Wellness Rockstars! Connect with other fitness-minded moms Thursday evenings (7-8pm) during the Challenge, at Sacramento.MomsLikeMe.com

Spare Time Clubs is giving Challenge participants a free Family Membership to help them reach their goals! To activate your free 30-day membership, just visit your nearest Spare Time Club (there are 10 area locations), and tell them you’re taking the Sac Parent Health Challenge.

Mama Bootcamp will offer a free trial class with our “Find Your Mojo!” Weekly Bonus Challenge. (Take advantage, and check off goals #5, #6 and #8!) Click here for more info.

One Very Cool Grand Prize pack! At the end of The Challenge, we'll ask readers to share their point totals with the Facebook group. One lucky team will be randomly selected from those scoring in the top tier of point ranges to receive our Grand Prize. Each member of the pair will get a three-month Family Membership to any Spare Time Club (a $519 value!), a six-week Mama Bootcamp membership (worth $375!), and a $50 gift card for Whole Foods in Roseville! 

Terms and conditions apply. Employees of Family Publishing Inc. and Current Spare Time members are not eligible (excluding 30-day Challenge memberships).