The rebel within me

I didn't know I had such a rebellious streak until I signed up to do a "wellness challenge". It was a 3 month challenge, and I lasted one month. It wasn't even really hard - just ten things to do daily. Meaning every day (you can have one off day in each category and call it a 7)
1.Drink 48 oz of water. - I struggle with this one, but I have kept on guzzling water.
2.Exercise 45 min. - the reason I signed up, I know I need the exercise, I have to force my self
3.Eat 2 servings fruits, 2 servings vegies daily - not a problem esp. when I have tomato juice in the am.
4. No soda or alcohol. - easy peasy for me, I rarely drink a soda anyway.
5. No sweets. - another reason I signed on, True confession: I was eating way too many m&m's or chocolate chips(like 1/2 a bag in an evening)
6. No unhealthy snacks or fast food- not much of an issue for me. I can leave chips alone and we cut out fast food meals when the budget got tight.
7.No eating after 8 o'clock - This was hard at first, but got easier as the days went on
8.Read Daily - I read every day ( I figure reading scriptures/ensign/primary lesson a bonus)
9.Write in journal daily - one of those things I know I ought to do, but have never made a habit.
10.Goal of personal choice - mine was/is to get up earlier in the morning. 8:30 at the latest. This was hard at first because of the transition from insomnia nights I was going through.

All of this is good for me. Easy right? What's to rebel about? Every day writing down my points and submitting them. Ok for the month of June, but July has birthday's (you do get your birthday off, what about every birthday we have in the month?) Family reunions (oh such good food- if dessert is served with the meal does it count as a sweet? YES - late food - etc.) AND I DIDN'T MAGICALLY LOOSE 25 POUNDS OR CHANGE SIZES OR FIRM UP. I guess just walking isn't going to work that magic. And I don't like docking myself points - although I knew I wouldn't get a full 70 points. So I quit. I rebel. I won't. (at least i quit counting and sending the points in) I fail.
Meanwhile, I know I need to keep at this- and in today's evaluation find that I am really not doing so bad. I am drinking the water, reading, writing - not so much, but still a sentence is better than nothing. I have eaten sweets but in smaller amounts. I haven't binged. When we make a birthday treat, I haven't felt the need to snarf down extra portions. I am eating more fruits and vegetables and eating Gil's nuts for snacks. It isn't getting any easier to exercise, but 3 or 4 times a week is 3 or 4 times more than I did before. So I am giving myself permission to not "score" myself, but to keep on and improve. After all, those 35 lbs took 28 years to acquire, why do I expect to loose them in a month? AND BONUS: I have been sleeping much much better at night. Sleeping at night is fantastically wonderful.