Super Summer Challenge SUCCESS!

Earlier this summer I wrote about the Super Summer Challenge that Heather shared with me.  As you can see from the lists above, I got to fill in a variety of activities that were assigned different point values from 10 to 500 points.  Each activity would earn mind, body or mind and body points.  The Super Summer challenge started on June 1st, with the goal being to reach 10,000 mind points and 10,000 body points by August 31st.  

I'm excited to say that I accumulated over 10,000 points for both mind and body!  I kept track of my points every day for 3 months (not including the 10 days we were in Germany) and I am feeling really proud of my Super Summer success!

The Super Summer Challenge helped me stay on track this summer.  I made an attempt to lose some weight last spring, but didn't accomplish much of my goal.  As I worked on the Super Summer Challenge, I managed to lose about 10 pounds, and I'm feeling much stronger too.  I have been doing planks like crazy, and have gone from being able to do a plank for about 30 seconds to a little over 90 seconds.  I also ran over 5.5 miles earlier this summer, which is probably the longest distance I've ever run.  E and I even took the kids to a nearby high school one afternoon to do a sprint workout, all because it was on my Super Summer Challenge list.  

Even though I technically had more mind points than body points, much of that was due to racking up wake up and run points for both body and mind.  I ran 3 to 4 days a week all summer, which was a big deal, especially after some of the warmer weeks we had.  I probably wouldn't have done that if it weren't for wanting to get those points early in the day.  

Needing to earn mind points also helped me make sure I was doing something with my summer.  I have the luxury of not working in the summer, and while I love spending my days with Little J and Miss A, it's not always the most stimulating conversation.  Reading for 10 minutes a day earned me 10 points, so I did a lot of reading.  I read 7 books this summer, and I'm started on an 8th.  I also listened to countless podcasts. While some are less serious, like Pop Culture Happy Hour, I also listened to many, many TED Talks.  It made me feel good when my principal played a TED Talk that I'd already listened to during opening week.  And I was able to cross a couple of big project items off of my summer to do list, like paint the living room, paint the trim and clean out a basement room (each earning me 500 points).

I hope to carry some of this success into the fall.  My fitness sometimes suffers when I go back to work, but I think I have set some things in place to keep me on track (like signing up for fall races).  Some things have also developed into habits, like taking some time to read as soon as the girls start their rest time.  I may also set up some rewards for myself if I finish some other big project items from my to do list (like clean out the rest of the basement). 

Did anyone else stick with the Super Summer Challenge all summer?  How did you do?  Any plans for how to continue on with healthy activities as the weather cools off?  I'd love to hear suggestions!