I joined the 5% Winter Challenge and commit to at least 380 minutes of cardio exercise weekly, along with additional strength training. I will stay within 1370-1700 calories daily and will be eating a Mediterranean style diet. I will support the Awesome A Team by logging my fitness minutes and LTGL points daily, weigh-in on Saturday’s, and check in with my teammates daily through group posts and their blogs, offering encouragement where I can. I look forward to a successful 8 week ...

I joined the 5% Winter Challenge and commit to at least 380 minutes of cardio exercise weekly, along with additional strength training. I will stay within 1370-1700 calories daily and will be eating a Mediterranean style diet. I will support the Awesome A Team by logging my fitness minutes and LTGL points daily, weigh-in on Saturday’s, and check in with my teammates daily through group posts and their blogs, offering encouragement where I can. I look forward to a successful 8 week challenge!!!

I don't always make positive choices for my well being when it comes to food and exercise, but I have come so far since I joined SparkPeople. I am still challenged daily to get in the right amount of nutrients, and not go over my max in calorie range. Exercise is still a four letter word...work, but I am more consistent than I thought I would be when I first joined SparkPeople. I haven't moved to Stage 4 yet, because I don't feel like eating choices and exercise are as instinctual as they need to be to make this a forever lifestyle change.

I hit my original goal weight in early 2011, and then revised it to the middle of my normal BMI. I was within 9 pounds of the revised goal, had started HIIT training for a 12k, when I tore the meniscus in my knee. I have been stumbling along with a half-hearted commitment to get to my revised goal weight since then. After I damaged my knee in July, I slowly sank into a pity party of one. I continued to track my food (most items) daily, but never lowered my calorie range to compensate for the lowered activity level. Needless to say, I have seen a weight gain in the past 6 months. I have seen a pound here, a pound there, my pants are tighter, and I feel sluggish.

I spent the first two weeks of December in denial. Finally, I went back and looked at my food tracker...yikes. I had managed to replace old unhealthy habits with new unhealthy habits. So now I am going back to basics. I started last week, by planning out my meals, and shopping accordingly. This week, I am concentrating on drinking 10 glasses of water. I have decided that I need to make this about one choice at a time. I will choose one glass of water instead of a diet soda, one lean protein instead of a handful of chocolate. Every choice equals one step towards a healthy BMI!

After my realization in December, I convinced a friend to start walking with me three days per week. As much as I dislike mornings, we are walking at 6:30 AM two mornings a week, and one afternoon. So far, we have kept the walks to 5k each. I need to work up my speed after the knee injury before we add any mileage. I am still going to Curves 3 days per week. I am not where I was before the injury, but I feel stronger after every workout. I hardly had to ice my knee in the last two weeks! So my new mantra is "One choice at a time." I can do this!!!

Read More About MISSY455 (Updated February 14)

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