Wow, I can’t believe this is the final week for my Summer Breakfast Swap challenge with Uncle Sam cereal & Attune Foods! The nine weeks of this challenge just FLEW by it seems. You can check out my final video which includes this week’s weigh in as well as my total loss for the challenge over on the Attune Foods blog or my clicking on the image below.
Oh, and it’s also the final week of the Burst Into Summer challenge over at the Sisterhood, too! I’m not sure how it worked out that both challenges ended the same week, but it did!
The team I’m on has been in second place the past 3 or 4 weeks, but we’ve been breathing hard down the necks of the first place team. In fact, last week we pulled to within 0.07% of them, so this is CLOSE! *Fingers crossed* that we can hopefully pull ahead of them in this final week! Mama needs a new pair of shoes! 
(Big thanks go out to New Balance for sponsoring the challenge!)
Now, on to a more serious note. I wanted to take a moment to point out a new addition over in the right-hand side bar over there –>. I’ve signed up to participate in this year’s Hunger Challenge that will be taking place the week of September 11-17. Participants are challenged to eat for one week on the equivalent dollar amount of being on food stamps. Since I’m in California, that comes out to approximately $33 for the week, or just $4.72 per day. As a bit of perspective, when I stop at Starbucks for a Venti iced latte, that varies from $4.50 to $4.75 depending on the store (even more if I’m in an airport!).
The purpose of this challenge is to help raise awareness about hunger in our own communities. I really want to challenge my readers to take part in this program. Even if you don’t feel you can do it for the whole week, or even if you just don’t want to, at least consider doing it for just one day. Even that will likely be very eye opening. (Note: If you have any medical issues/concerns, please don’t participate without first checking with your doctor.)
Hunger issues are very near and dear to my heart. One of my best friends and I sponsor two little girls in India through Children International. I also volunteer from time to time at a local food bank and have a very dear friend in Indiana who is part of an amazing program which I also contribute to from time to time that assists families in crisis in their community and helps move them out of poverty.
I’m not sharing all of these things to try and make myself sound or look good. I’m sharing it only so you will truly understand my passion for helping those living in poverty and hunger. Even just writing this post has been a great reminder to me that I need to think about this when I find myself eating beyond full. There’s just no reason for me to pig out and stuff myself when there are so many who don’t have enough to even reach satiety.
If you would prefer to do something less radical, this week also kicked off the launch of the 4th annual Lose for Good campaign with Weight Watchers. Between now and October 15, 2011, Weight Watchers will donate up to $1 million for the pounds lost by their members. There will even be another big Lose-A-Palooza social media blitz coming up on September 19, 2011 to raise money, too! The donations will go to Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger to help fight hunger. You can lose some extra weight and someone who is hungry can get some extra help. I call that a win-win!
Until next time …
