Detoxing the diet

With a new year beginning I wanted our family to refocus on healthy eating and exercise habits.  With obesity in America and Australia booming I didn't want our family to become part of these ever growing statistics.  We are going to take 2013 to kick start our family into a healthier lifestyle.  

I know there are a lot of detox diets out there and this is not one of them.  I probably shouldn't even use the term detox but for lack of a better phrase coming to mind it is what it is. 

Around the holidays, and if I'm totally honest it's more like for the last year or so, I have let some bad habits slip in.  I've started drinking sodas instead of water, having at least one dessert a day (some days a bit more), having carb/starch laden meals instead of veggie ones, and overall not living as healthy and active as I should be.  The hubby and I have both been feeling the effects.   You know what I'm talking about:  tire easily, don't feel motivated to get up and get moving, more sluggish, grumpier, a few more inches and jiggles where there didn't use to be, get sick more easily, and just overall don't feel as well. 

The hubby has also decided he needs a healthy lifestyle change so to support and encourage him (instead of nagging which is another thing I'm trying to work on this year)  we have come up with a little challenge that a few other wonderful people have joined us in.

We didn't want something that was just about eating a certain way, but a plan that encouraged a healthier lifestyle.  We worked out a plan that integrates exercise, cutting out sugars, and adding more healthy meals choices.  

It's a 3 point a day system.  

1 point of you have no dessert that day:  including things like muffins, chocolate, etc.

1 point if you participate in 30 minutes of exercise.  We did clarify this a bit, it has to be purposeful exercise, not just strolling around the shops of something along those lines.

1 point if you eat less than 50 grams of carbs a day.

There it is, simple, yet for me (especially in the dessert department) it will be a willpower challenge.  

At the end of the month we are going to celebrate together, haven't quite decided the how yet. 

Do you need a healthy habit change?  Want to join our little challenge/encouragement group? I tend to work better with a challenge, and others to help hold me accountable.  What motivations have worked for you?