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January 2015 Challenge – Eat Clean for 31 Days and DietBet

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Eat Clean for 31 Days and Lose to Win with our DietBet Weight Loss Pool – January is the time when we commit to new years resolutions and get started with our 2015 goals.  One of the major goals that millions of people set for themselves is losing weight.  This month we are going to commit to eating clean because what you eat makes up 70 – 80% of the weight loss equation.  You can’t out exercise terrible eating habits because it’s not just about weight loss or building muscle…it’s about your long term health and building a lifestyle you can maintain for the long haul.  #BWLWJan

eat clean for 31 days blogClean Eating Goals for January!

  • Keep meals simple and ingredients to a minimum.  The more simple the meals, the easier it will be for you to stay on track.
  • Cook or prepare at least 1 meal at home each day.  The goal is to control what you eat.
  • Avoid foods that are highly processed, full of preservatives (to keep them fresh on a shelf), or colored with dyes.
  • Don’t buy junk! If you don’t buy it, you will be less likely to eat it.
  • Eat 4-5 meals per day – 3 meals and 2 snacks is a great way to split these meals up.  Your goal is to not go more than 3 hours between meals/snacks.
  • Stop eating at least 2 hours before bedtime, 3 hours if you can.
  • No fast food or candy.  If you have to eat in restaurants, read the menu and seek out whole food options like salads, lean meats and veggies that aren’t cooked in butter and covered in salt.
  • No sugary drinks or soda.  This includes artificial sugars in diet drinks like Crystal Light and Diet Coke.
  • You can eat ANY fresh fruits or veggies you like (fresh or frozen).  Don’t worry about carbs from these whole and healthy foods.

How do you join us? Sign Up by leaving a comment below. Let us know what your weight loss and wellness goals are for 2015.

Other ways to participate….

  • Join our January DietBet and weigh-in by January 5th
  • Photo Accountability – Post photos of your meals, meal prep photos, workout photos and inspirational quotes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #BWLWJan
  • Make sure that you are on our email list so that you receive this month’s tips and are eligible for any giveaways.  Click here to sign up for our list.

Bonus!! Join our DietBet Weight Loss Pool – Join us at www.dietbet.com/bwlw

What is DietBet? – DietBet is the social dieting game that lets you win money while losing weight together.

  • Bet $35
  • Lose 4% in 28 Days
  • Split The Pot
  • Weigh-in via photo January 3-4, 2014

You’ve got 4 weeks to lose 4% of your starting weight. To begin, everyone puts money into the pot and each person weighs-in via photos that include a secret word that you don’t have access to until 48 hours before the start of the contest (this keeps people from submitting old or altered photos). After four weeks, whoever’s hit their 4% goal is a winner and splits the pot with the winners.  More Information

dietbet

What is clean eating?

When you eat clean you will be eating unprocessed, whole foods that are prepared or cooked in ways that don’t add extra chemicals and toxins.  We are talking  about fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, lean meats, meat substitutes like tofu, soy, whole grains, lots of water, healthy dairy and fresh juice.  We will avoid fried food, fast food, junk food, bleached white flour, artificial ingredients, soda, commercial juice and sugary drinks, processed sugar (white sugar, corn syrup), and foods with preservatives, toxins, dyes, saturated fat, and trans fat.  You will likely be cooking at lot of food at home, making green smoothies, eating salads, looking for healthy snacks, and really realizing just how healthy you’ve really been eating.

What can you eat?

Have no fear! We’ve got a Clean Eating Foods List to guide you.

How do you know that you are eating enough food? – Visit My Fitness Pal and If It Fits Your Macros to get an idea of how many calories you need to eat per day.  If you are doing light to moderate exercise, you’ll likely eating 1300 to 1650 calories per day.  If you are doing a lot of exercise or have a substantial amount of weight to lose (60 pounds or more), you may start out at 1400 – 1900 calories.  Each person’s needs are different. YOU have to do the work to find a way of eating that works for you.

Clean Eating Resources for this Challenge

Clean Eating Guide E-bookYou can also incorporate our 14 Day Smoothie Cleanse into this challenge because all of the recipes are clean.  That is a great way to jumpstart your efforts for 2015.

Need more info?  I’ve created a downloadable e-book guide to help you navigate clean eating, “Clean Eating for Wellness and Weight Loss“.  Get your copy today for just $6.00.  It’s also available on Amazon.
Clean Eating Meal Plan Week 1 

Clean Eating Meal Plan Week 2

Clean Eating Meal Plan Week 3

Clean Eating Meal plan Week 4

10 Tips for Eating Clean on a Budget

2 Day Sample Clean Eating Menu

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #17: Consider Joining a DietBet

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dietbet articleIt’s time for Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #17: Consider Joining a DietBet.  So, what is DietBet?  It’s a online diet contest/weight loss betting pool site that gives you 28 days to lose 4% or more of your weight.  If you meet the goal you get a cut of the pot of everyone’s bets.  Bet amounts vary.

“DietBet is a game where you’ve got 4 weeks to lose 4% of your starting weight. To begin, everyone puts money into the pot. After four weeks, whoever’s hit their 4% goal is a winner and splits the pot.” – dietbet.com

Kinda cool, right?  It’s a new school take on the old school practice of weight loss pots at the office, among friends, etc.  You can start your own dietbet and compete with friends, with family or you can find a contest on the DietBet website.

Is it legit?  They have a lot of controls to try to ensure fairness.  You can check out the details on their website.

“Players will submit official weigh-in photos at the start and end of a game. DietBet will verify each photo and certify the final winners.”

“Two days before your game begins, you’ll be prompted to submit your official starting weight.
Our standard weigh-in process involves you submitting two photos, one of you on a scale in airport security attire; another of the scale’s readout with your weigh-in word.”

The weigh-in word is a great idea.  You don’t find out what the word is until 2 days before the contest starts to put it in your before photos (on a piece of paper).  You get a new word at the end of the contest for your after photos.  That makes it very difficult to cheat. Here is the list of dietbet games that are currently going on.

Kionne lost 55 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story:  Kionne lost 55 pounds by developing her own plan for eating right and exercising.  She was motivated by an office weight loss pool.    She is a member of our online community and after she posted her photos, I asked her to submit her story.  Here is what she had to say about how she lost the weight:

“It all started with a “Biggest Loser” contest at work, 11 women ready to make a change with a $1,000 in the pot waiting for the one who made the biggest change. Little did we know, with any commitment to lose weight, we ALL were making the biggest change. Well for me, I had no clue how committed I would become. For starters, I am VERY competitive so I wanted to win just for the sake of winning. I have had made attempts in the past a far as weight lost, so I knew I had to do something different. I had to add a third party, a trainer to be specific, Troy Richardson, who corrected me on day one to not focus on “weight” loss but more so “fat” loss. I felt I needed that extra push to help me set goals and achieve them.

Yes the money was a great motivator, but the biggest motivator was for me to see a better me. I did one very extreme thing to destroy any possible excuse for not working out, I went natural. In the past, my hair was the number one thing that deterred me from working out. Now, I am not suggesting that everyone go natural, but find ways to defeat your excuses before they defeat you and your goal. When people see me now, they ask “What’s the big secret, what did you do?” When I simply reply, eating right and exercising, they look at me as if I was supposed to say I used some magic pill or had a particular surgery. Sad to say, it is really simple to lose weight, but the difficulty comes in the mind.

Kionne weight loss

Here was and is my simple formula, working out at least 30 minutes a workout for 3-5 times a week, and making better food choices.  I did the insanity workouts 1-2 times a week, worked out with my trainer 1-2 times a week, played (and still play) flag football, and jogged.  My trainer provided me with a meal plan to follow, and adjusted as my goals changed.  I ate all my carbs early in my day, and even had my cheat days.  That’s all I committed to throughout the competition and now, through the rest of my life. You don’t have to totally restrict yourself, like on an Atkins diet, just pay attention to your body. Food is just supposed to fuel your body, not slow it down. So number one thing to stop doing is OVER-EATING. Smaller portions and oddly enough more meals is what you should focus on. 5 meals a day, space out 2-3 hours apart with a meal cut off time of 7pm or 3-4hrs before you “LAY” in the bed to go to sleep. Most important….STAY OUT OF THE DRIVE THRU LINE and go to the market. Preparing your meals and keeping them on you will stop the reason for wanting to get that quick bite. Another thing, pick one day of the week that will be your actually day to record your weight. Looking at the scale every single day can be discouraging if you allow it to be. Our weigh in day was Tuesday (and this is still my day to record my weight), so on Mondays and Tuesday mornings I pushed myself harder in my workouts to “help” my weigh in results. Stop giving power to why you can’t do it and just do it, yes Nike it up and JUST DO IT! Trust me I know from experience, losing weight the “right” way and not the easy way, will have more rewards than just a better looking body.  It took me 7 months in 2011 to lose 55 lbs.  I started off at 244lbs on January 4th 2011, and today on February 20th, 2013 I am at 188lbs, with 18 more pounds to shake.  To be transparent, you won’t be perfect every single day of your lifestyle change, I once got down to 179lbs, but I let off the brakes a little, and found myself up to 192 at one point.  The great thing about a “LIFESTYLE CHANGE” is, I was about to bounce back and, at minimum, maintain my self between 185-189lbs.  BUT! I will get to my goal weight with the help of my trainer, watching my sugar intake, staying active!