A few ground rules.

     A few people have been asking me exactly where I (we) can and cannot eat.  It is probably easier to go through what is acceptable instead of what is not.  If you are confused about whether a restaurant is fast-food or not just make sure you order something healthy once you get in. 

     Against some people's beliefs PIZZA is ACCEPTABLE.  (Although I will add Pizza to the cannot eat list for at least one month of the year)
Subway, Panera, Coffee Shops, Deli's, SubStation, etc.  are acceptable as well.  They could be considered fast food, but in my opinion, "fast food" is more of a type of food, not just food in a timely manner.  I think most people would agree.  Plus, many of these places have delicious, health-conscience items to choose from. 

     I'm torn between adding Chick-Fil-A to the list because they also have delicious, health-conscience items.  However, they are definitely a fast food restaurant and I will not be eating there.  If you choose to eat there, choose wisely, and if you make the wrong decision, may God have mercy on your soul.  (To be honest with you, I don't really care what restaurant you eat at, but if I catch you at McDonald's, you better be eating a salad with a water!)

     I realize people may think that I/We can just go to another restaurant to get our burger "fix" or whatever, but there are some rules to that too.  The challenge is to space out the food that isn't very good for you throughout each month.  I am talking about limiting the amount of pizza, burgers, Chinese, tacos, etc, that you would eat to twice a month.  So, if you order pizza on January 8th, you cannot have it again until January 22nd.  (For those of you who don't know me, I probably eat pizza 3-4 times a week.) 

     For the month of January, I will be neglecting chocolate, candy, and anything else that falls into the sweets category.  For the exercise part of January, I will start off nice and slow.  I am going to walk 7 miles a week and run 3 miles a week.

     My next blog entry I will include the calorie intake of a 30 year old, ~275 lb male, my current weight, a full list of who is challenging with me and the months they are doing it, and some "before" photos that should be rahter interesting.  Tara and I will be picking up a scale tomorrow at Wal-Mart if anyone who wants to do this challenge with me wants to come over and get an official weigh-in for 2011 feel free.  If you have any questions please email or call me.

Brian Palmer
540-588-3781
IshVT@yahoo.com