Slim Down Saturdays are coming back!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays and break! I know we have been very busy and I can't pry my 3 year old away from all her new toys. But it is that time where people start thinking about getting healthier. Last year, I started Slim Down Saturdays, but then life got in the way and the link up got away from me. I have been thinking about bringing it back because I know a few people really enjoyed the accountability (myself included), and after receiving an email about it, decided I should just bring it back. Since moving, I have joined a gym and have one of my very best friends as a gym buddy, but life sometimes gets the better of us too and we don't make it as often as we would like. I am hoping that by bringing back this blog series (well, I guess it isn't a series... I am not sure what to call it) I will hold myself a little more accountable. I want to get back to what I weighed before I got pregnant... ideally I would like to look like I did at our wedding. That has always been my goal.

So here is how this is going to work. It is going to be pretty much identical to how it was done last year.

If you want to join, I am including a template that you can copy and paste to your post, or you can post whatever you want to share about your fitness/weight loss/healthy lifestyle journey. I am being very transparent and open about this. You, of course, can share as much or as little as you want. I just need to hold myself accountable.

Anyone that wants to join in on this fun, can copy the button above and the image below and insert their own information. I would appreciate you linking back to my blog but it is not mandatory. (To add your information to the template, copy the image, paste it into powerpoint, and add text boxes in the blank spaces to add your information. Save the entire image with your text boxes as a picture (I do a screen shot of mine but you could group all the text and the image and right click to save as a picture). Put the image into your own blog post and share as much or as little as you want. (I put the date underneath the title on the image below when I do my weekly posts as well.)

Explanation: I didn't include starting weight because I am guessing many of us don't want to share that number. If you feel inclined, you can add it to your blog post.
Ultimate goal: Here is where you can put your final goal. Do you want to lose x amount of lbs? Be a certain weight? Have more energy? Like the way you look? Wear size 'z'? Put that here.
Gain/Loss for the week: +/- and a number (easy enough right?)
Total since starting: here is where you will put your total loss (hopefully, though a pound of muscle IS different than a pound of fat!) since starting
Positives from the week: Share at least one thing that you are proud of yourself for from this week. (You can share if you met your goal from the last week-see below- here.)
Something to do better: Share one thing that you want to improve on- maybe cut out x, y, or z. Drink more water. Workout extra 10 min a day. Etc.
Goal for next week: This could be a weight loss goal or an eating goal. For example: eat fruit every day. Or- lose 2 lbs. Or- drink 8 glasses of water a day. Etc.
One word, song, or quote: Choose one word, song, or quote that is motivating you to keep going. Or maybe your workout song of the week (ya know, that one that really gets you pumped up). Or a quote you heard that made you keep going. Anything. No rules.

Other things you  might want to share: how you worked out, recipes that were good (or even bad), tricks and tips, things that worked for you. There are no rules about what you share, as long as it is about your new (or continuing) healthy lifestyle, I say go for it! The only thing I ask is that you leave some love on the 2 blogs linked up before you and the 1 that links up after you (Farley's rule of 3). People are putting a lot out there by sharing all of this and we could ALL use the encouragement every now and again!

If you plan on joining in, add your blog info to the linkup below so we can all make sure we are following each other in our journeys to a healthier 2015! The linkup will officially begin next week!