Challenge Rules: How to Accumulate Points

To Earn Daily Points:

1. Keep a food journal. The journal does not have to include calorie counts (but you can if you want, see Discretionary Calories) but does have to include portions, ie: ½ cup skim milk, 1 small white bun, 3 oz deli ham, 6 oz merlot, 2 cups greens with 2 tbsp reduced fat ranch dressing, etc… . Journal may be on paper or online. Point is earned daily by keep an accurate journal.

2. Eat 1 cup fruit and 2 cups vegetables minimum every day. Starchy veggies are corn, potatoes (regular and sweet), peas, and squash. These can be eaten as 3 cups total as veggies per week (as in you can have a potato every day, but only 3 cups can be logged as veggies in this challenge.) The rest needs to be non-starchy veggies. Vegetables can be fresh, frozen, or canned; fruit can be fresh, frozen, canned, or dried. 100% fruit juice allowed as 1 cup per week. One point daily.

3. Bible Study: 15 minutes per day spent on: reading the Bible or a Bible-based study, prayer journaling, or in prayer. One point daily.

4. Exercise: 3 days cardio, 2 days strength training, 2 days of rest. You choose the day to do each activity. Must be at least 30 minutes of actual activity, not including warm up or cool down. Cardio: biking, running, Zumba, elliptical, walking, etc. Strength: weights, pilates, resistance bands, exercises using your body (push-up, pull-ups, lunges, etc.) Gardening, cleaning your home, etc does not count as exercise. Exercise may be broken into 2 – 15 minute periods, etc. One point daily. Rest days are free points days.

5. Discretionary calories: Budget for discretionary calories is 150 calories per day, or 1050 a week. Keep track of these. Can not be banked beyond the week. You do not need these calories, but earn points by not going over. If you go over, you do not get the weekly points. Worth 7 points per week. See separate post on Discretionary Calories.

6. Extra credit: Points may be earned by memorizing Bible verses throughout the challenge. One point per verse, up to 5 verses/points total (about one every two weeks.) This is up and beyond the 15 minutes of Bible Study/Prayer daily. See separate post on Bible Memorization.