Healthy Living Challenge

I have a friend here who has organized what is called a "Healthy Living Challenge" - basically a contest where everyone pays $20 and embarks on a 12-week challenge of eating, sleeping, and exercising well. Here are the rules in case you want to start something like this where you are:

Daily Habits - 8 points/day or 56 points per week maximum

1. Drink 64 oz. water
2. 30 min. exercise (doesn't have to be consecutive)
3. 7 hours sleep minimum (doesn't have to be consecutive)
4. 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit (in general, 1 C. = 1 serving)
5. No sweets: no candy, cakes, donuts, etc.
6. No unhealthy snacks and no soda
7. Healthy food choices at meals (at home and dining out)
8. No eating after dinner/8:30 p.m. (no eating after you're finished)

*Each week we'll have 3 free points to use for any missed points. The total # of points though will never exceed 56 points/week.

*There are 3 sick days during the 12 weeks - so all points on the day are free (like on Fast Sunday).

*Sunday you get a free exercise point

Each week we'll email our points to the challenge host and she will post the spreadsheet of results on Google Docs. At the end of the contest, the top 8 winners win money. (the actual prize winnings are dependent on how many people sign up)

So it's Day 2 of the challenge. Yesterday went pretty well, but I think I'm in no-sugar detox at the moment... it's rough not eating sweets!! My goal is to lose the rest of my Eli weight, to strengthen my abs and get my cardio ability back to where it used to be (pre-Eli). The biggest food challenge will be avoiding candy and getting 3 cups of vegetables in each day.