(Drum Roll Please!)
Pingu and jclark22
Bantaman and patgirl
sarac and mcomp
The six of you (and one guest each) are off to Canyon Ranch Spa on an all-expenses paid vacation.
Each team’s winning essay is posted below.
There were a lot of terrific essays and it took us extra time to narrow it down to just these 3. To all Challenge participants, we hope you had a lot of fun and don’t forget to keep visiting Ignite and sharing ideas on any topic.
There’s much more to come on Ignite – stay tuned!
Submitted by: Pingu and Jclark22
Ode to Lumenos
Two women who lived two unhealthy lives
One, a smoker, the other, overweight by pounds thirty-five
Wanting to make changes, they happened to gaze
On an email from Lumenos, a challenge to Get Fit for the Holidays!
Their team was formed without further ado
Pingu was Becky and Julie jclark22
Their mission was clear and their goals were set
To get healthy, lose weight and give up cigarettes
They had motivation and started out strong
But as with diets before, it sure wasn’t long
That with diet, exercise, and no more tobacco
Their goals were about to make them go wacko
With the holidays coming, they’d surrender without a fight
If not for Lumenos, each other, and a message board named ignite
They encouraged each other and to ignite they logged in
In hopes that a trip to a spa they would win
Each day, a health and fitness survey was filled out
Keeping them on track, although they did pout
On the days on which they were not very wise
Checking “Not very healthy” and “No exercise”
On the channels of ignite, they submitted their posts
And shared ideas and setbacks and triumphs and boasts
With members of Lumenos from all over the place
The Picture of Health thread put names with a face
From recipes to yoga to vitamins to fish
The topics discussed were all they had wished
DocTalk and Dr. Mike taught them the ropes
Presentations on stress and nutrition raised their hopes
That lifelong bad habits could be put to rest
And in early February, they put themselves to the test
Twelve weeks later, Becky’s lost a total of twenty six
And Julie has finally given up cancer sticks
Their bodies are lean and their lungs are clear
Health and fitness is something they no longer fear
They’ve become better friends and made new ones too
When running a mile they no longer turn blue
Given praise and compliments, they smile and they boast
“We couldn’t have done it without Lumenos!
Submitted by: Bantaman and Patgirl
Living a sedentary, fast food filled life is like not living at all. Understanding the steps needed to become healthy was a huge part of the Lumenos Get Fit Through the Holidays Challenge. Motivation was the key to our success. Energy levels improved. Nutrition was an important topic of each day. Obesity took a back seat to weight loss and physical fitness. Success quickly became our motto. Intensity dominated our workouts. Great information was found on the website. New recipes and exercise ideas were shared. Informative talks were included. Teamwork expanded outside of our individual teams to include many other teams as well. Encouragement propelled us closer to our new healthy goals.
Thank you Lumenos for the Get Fit Through the Holidays Challenge. We have lost over 25 pounds, improved blood sugar levels, and lowered blood pressure. Our clothes fit better. We are now on the road to better health! We were successful because of the support we received. The accountability of tracking our exercise and eating habits made us think about what we were doing and how and what we were eating. Logging onto the Ignite website each day gave us motivation to keep going. It was fun to talk to others and to receive ideas and support from other teams as well as experts on the subject.
No matter what the outcome, we feel we are winners already. But… winning a trip to the Canyon Ranch Spa in Tucson, Arizona would be the ultimate prize to an already winning situation. We can’t wait to show off our new slimmer selves at the spa!!!!!!!
Submitted by: sarac and mcomp
To the untrained eye my husband and I appear to be fairly healthy. However, he is a long time Type 1 diabetic with fluctuating blood sugar levels while my BMI belies my sedentary lifestyle. The DocTalk sessions educated us about what changes needed to be made and how to do it. The support of other Lumenos members was invaluable in encouraging us that it could be done and patting us on the back for making improvements. We loved the platform to ask questions, get advice and be held accountable. For my husband it was a real eye-opener to track his daily activity and diet. Before that he thought his eating habits were fairly healthy. Keeping a food journal for twelve weeks made him see that he ate much more salt, sugar, carbs and protein than he realized or needed. It also was a forum for us to confront my anorexia which I had been hiding. Now we report to each other daily about our diet to make sure that we eat the correct balance of carbs, fat and protein and that I don’t skip meals. We cut almost all processed flour out of our diet by replacing pasta and white potatoes with yams and whole grains. We started filling half our plates with vegetables. Fish high in omega-3 has replaced red meat twice a week. Amazingly, we discovered that we don’t miss the high fat, high protein and sugar laden diet that we once had. At least three times a week we take walks after dinner to exercise and de-stress. In addition, we each try to walk during our lunch hour a few times a week. I started doing yoga and resistance training while my husband lifts weights. I am toning and gaining strength while my husband has already lost several pounds and inches. Since my husband has had diabetes for 42 years we worry about kidney and heart damage as well as his vision and extremities. This Challenge has motivated us to take better care of ourselves so we can be around for many years to come. Thanks Lumenos!