Motivation To Move | Community

Becs 100 Day Challenge

2008-06-13T10:10:52-05:00

I’m 29 going on 30, or 40 or 50 it seems sometimes. I have been feeling bad about where I am in my life for a while now. Mostly Post-Katrina (and yes I use to live in New Orleans).

Yesterday I read an article online. I swear I don;t even get the paper any more except for the coupons. WOW I sound like a grandmother. Oh well. I read all my news online. And yesterday there was an article about a couple who took a 100 day sex challenge. It was an interesting read, and after it was over they required a month off. Gotta love that!!

Anyway, as I read it something struck me, what about a 100 day excercise challenge. FOr me it would be like saying, “I haven’t smoked in 32 days, or had a drink for an alcohalic”. For me I am addicted to NOT exercising. I’m overweight, but not huge, though I feel it sometimes. I HATE going to the gym, but I am sure I should. I hate feeling unattractive and a hate loathing myself. (well aren’t hate and loath the same thing, yes they are.... and FYI it is not a good place).

So I GOT ON THE INTERNET, and googled the words “100 day excercise challenge” and voila. Here I am. I am not going to lie, I need this site. I need the accountability. I need the support. WHen it comes to this part of my life, I am a complete and total wuss. It isn’t pretty let me tell you.

WHAT DO I WANT OUT OF THIS!

1. I want to be happy about myself for the first time in about 25 years.

2. I turn 30 (OMG) at the end of the year, and frankly, no lying or skating my the truth, I want to be SMOKING HOT. I have never been hot in my life. I have bee cute, I;ve dated some nice guys. But I have never felt comfortable with myself. And I think if I don’t feel comforable with myself I am never going to be truly happy. And I definitely want to be happy.

3. I want to be healthy. I would like to be able to run 5 miles without stopping (EVENTUALLY). I would like to be able to put on a bathingsuit and not freak out. I would like to go to the gym and not feel like the ugly step sister next to the gym chicks. Gyms are a very strange animal and they scare the hell out of me.

WHERE I AM TODAY.

29 years old
170 lbs
size 10-12

WHERE I WANT TO BE

Well i guess I can’t stay 29 so I am going to have to give up that notion.
120 -125 lbs
size 6

I WANT TO DO THIS, I NEED TO DO THIS, I HAVE TO DO IT. TODAY HAS TO BE THE FIRST DAY OF A NEW BEGINNING.

BECS

PS: I really hope I post this in the right spot. If not I am terribly sorry!

Beach or Bust 100 day Exercise Challenge

2008-04-21T21:07:57-05:00

Well thought I’d give this a shot. This summer I am taking the family on our annual summer trip to the Florida beaches and figured this year why not look my best. Just signed up as a premium member and am enjoying the shows. I just begun listening to the start moving, stay moving podcasts. Always looking for additional motivation to reach my fitness goals. Here we go.

Day 1

30 minutes rowing on my Concept 2 rower. ( I use a heart rate moniter and like to keep my heart pumping between 145-150 bpm)

100 Days in Istanbul

2008-07-17T14:23:12-05:00

Merhaba (that’s hello in Turkish).

I’m Delpha and I am an American living and teaching in Istanbul Turkey.

LONG STORY SHORT:
This is my 2nd and a half year of living in Istanbul. I’m now 29 years old and I made a promise to myself!
“I will be my best and sexiest ever by the time I’m thirty!”
****(Okay, this is going to be a challenge because I used to be a semi-professional belly dancer and fire dancer a few years back (that’s pretty sexy, right!) I was feeling great then and I looked good...well good enough for someone who had never danced before. I gave up fire dancing about three years ago. I am not sure why...maybe it was the toxic fuels getting all over my body and the vapors I breathed...maybe it was just that I didn’t like the people I found myself spending time with....or lost of interest in getting better and learning new “tricks”. I also gave up belly dancing (stereotypes and cultural realities made me give up this one). I still dance, but I am more interested in folk and traditional dances. I don’t want to make money doing it anyway. )

Well, in Spring last year I herniated two of my lower lumbar discs. I just woke up with a backache one day. I tried to stretch it out. Then I went to a dance class, was still sore, so did more stretching. After all that, I had a long walk at night (carrying a heavy dance bag) and when I woke up in the morning to nature’s call I fell down and couldn’t walk. I couldn’t walk for days. I got better and then it happened all over again about 4 months ago. This time I took two weeks and lots more “therapy” to get better. Doctors warn of surgery/chronic back pain. I hate them! I can’t understand why a girl who has never weighed over 145 pounds, has always been active with dancing, bicycle riding, yoga etc., could have this problem. But, between both hernias I became depressed, gave up physical exercise, became a workaholic and ate a lot of delicious Turkish pastries! I was feeling AWFUL. The worst I have ever felt physically and emotionally. My clothes didn’t fit, my students commented that I was gaining weight and I couldn’t take it anymore.

I started walking 28 days ago, but today will be my day one because it was today that I felt the need to make this official. TODAY is the day when it “clicked”. TODAY feels like a big change in my feeling and motivation.

TOOLS:
A new pair of walking shoes.
My Ipod and various tempos of Podrunner loaded onto it.
A long stretch of concrete along the side of the Marmara Sea.
Free “machines” in the park that use your body weight for resistance.
YouTube for fitness vids.
Website to log my food + estimate my calories burned in exercise
Thinking of the gym (must overcome a fear of sweaty arrogant Turkish men)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TODAY:

60 minutes walking at 3.5 miles per hour with 2 light jogging spurts (each about 5 minutes)+ Upper body machine at the park and one 75 second sitting squat against the light pole when I was waiting for the walk signal.
I felt so good after my walk today that I did 2 sets of 10 reps:
upper ab crunch
middle ab crunch
lower ab crunch
(no obliques - trying to get some shape back after over training them and becoming a brick!)
lower back - reverse crunch

and some stretching!

Caloric intake 1,800 (150 cals over my limit today!)
BMR - 1,388

Pitzigirl’s 100 Day Challenge 2008

2008-01-01T12:58:12-05:00

Hi everyone - Happy New Year. I’m back after a long break. Fell and broke my 5th metatarsal on my right foot in early October while in Switzerland. I wound up needing surgery and not being allowed to put any weight on the right foot for 6 weeks. I got out of my cast 3 weeks ago and have been gradually getting back to walking with shoes. I was really wobbly at first, but am regaining my balance and ability to walk and get around. Gets better each day. I have my last physical therapy session tomorrow and see the doctor in the afternoon. Just started driving last week.

Needless to say, I’m anxious to regain my previous level of fitness. Starting a new 100 Day Challenge seems like the way to go. I’ll post here what I do to get moving each day and what I am doing to achieve my fitness goals in 2008.

Day 1 Tuesday - Walking 30 minutes

Catherine is officially starting the 100 Day Challenge

2008-02-19T21:22:07-05:00

I am getting back on the horse so to speak. I am new to the site and have listed to a few podcasts though iTunes.

I actually started really working out again seriously about 6 weeks ago and have already lost 10lbs. I was given a very generous Christmas gift of 6 sessions with a personal trainer who is terrific. He understands that I can’t change everything at once and designed a weight lifting program that I did for the first six weeks (3-4 times/week + cardio on my off days and a day of rest). Even though the scale hasn’t moved as much as I would have liked it to, I have definitely noticed a change in the way my clothes fit. I am getting back into things that were in the back of my closet. I have been good about planning out when I’m going to do my workouts and really enjoyed my “Program 1”.

This past weekend I started “Program 2” where I have 2 different days of weights (front and back body). I was all keen to get started on the new program and met my trainer on Sunday (whom I am now paying for on my own) and worked though the new exercises he has included. Unfortunately I have been sidelined by a cold/flu and forced to take today off. I didn’t want to admit I was sick and still worked out on Monday (but only cardio and abs), but really felt awful in the evening. I was double whammied! Not only was I sore from doing new exercises on Sunday but I was achy all over too. I still want to do a bit of yoga tonight, but may take another day before I hit the weights again.

Now that I have the exercise thing going, I have to get serious about my diet. Hopefully listening to some more casts will give some guidence there.

I have yet to look at other posts, but I hope this will help keep my motivation high in the long run. I have several life changes to make in the coming months (lifestyle and career and hopefully a move) and a support system would be much appreciated.

Thanks for listening
C.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii from Priya, Hyderabad, India

2008-07-19T14:38:26-05:00

Hey Everyone.. My name’s Priya… a 22yr old(will be 23 yrs old the day after.. yeah..!! ) from Hyderabad, India. Decided to start working out and shed all the kilos or pounds in the next hundred days… will be happy if everyone guides me through the basics of exercising.. not quite sure what to start with.. will start with brisk walking though from tmrw…

Hope.. i will get all the motivation i am looking for!!!

A Big Hello from Mumbai, India!

2008-07-19T04:05:39-05:00

Hi there!

My name is Rajiv, a 40 year old from Mumbai, India. Despite my busy work-life and travel(i’m a CEO), i have managed to stay healthy and fit primarily through free-hand exercises, running and staying active.. I have been listening to MTM podcasts now for over a year and learnt several simple yet effective tips, techniques to get better, fitter. So Thank you!

I am reasonably healthy and fit - 5 9” and 75 Kg (162lb). But, I started measuring my body fat % through a simple hand-held device and noticed that i am at 26% body fat..in fact a few months back I was 78kg and 29% body fat%..

I run at least 2 half marathons a year - and that means running practice for almost 8 months of the year. I run to enjoy as well so i run easy not hard. And then it really gets hot in summer this part of the world so i ease off the exercise a bit.

I was never bothered about my diet and pretty much ate everything in moderation. But now i’ve got more conscious and try to follow Scott’s 400*4 daily plan..I know i can do better..Every once a while (constant travel is a challenge and i like my beer!)

I would like everyone in this forum to give me suggestions and encouragement to take my weight to maybe 72kg and body fat under 20%..as a milestone. When can i hope to get there?

Any ideas? Cheers, Rajiv

Derek’s Second 100 days

2008-07-08T16:27:48-05:00

OK, my second hundred days challenge starts right now. I took the last 3 days off anyways. What the heck, I’m lazy if I’m not committed.

I’m not doing the multicolored thing anymore. That got annoying, for me anyways.

This 100 days starting at 239. My next goal is 230 lbs. And to be much healthier.

I will post the workout when I’m done. So if you will excuse me, there is a bench and treadmill with my name on them.

Cheers!

‘Tri’ for Life - Multi-Sport fitness in 2008

2008-01-03T08:46:52-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

New years day.....still on my training plan....up for a short swim...then later a 50 minute run (about 6 miles according to my Garmin 305 GPS watch). I have been ‘downloading’ my workouts and see the results of each lap (mile) for heartrate, pace or speed etc.... it’s fun to see that my heartrate for the same exercise course is actually reducing, even though I’m running /biking a little quicker.

Wednesday....Spin Class....a hill day......tried to keep my heart rate at training zone, but its tough......touched 160 BPM a few times but mostly kept it in the 140’s - 150’s .....then hopped on the treadmill for a quick 5K

Thursday....off to the gym for a 1500 yard swim (500 warm up- 800 strong - 200 cool down).......then a 40 minute run....

The training program I’m on has my swims slowly getting longer, with longer non stop sessions.... for the half ironman, I’ll be doing 1.2 miles, so I still have a long way to go!

Have a great day everyone!

Breeze through 2008

2008-01-01T14:53:38-05:00

Happy New Year! Resolutions are meant to be broken, so I don’t make them. But I’ve had some goals for a while that I will share.

I will get to 22% body fat. I’m currently at 30%. My current weight is 145, I’m in a size 6. I have no idea what I’ll weigh, or what size I’ll be when I reach my body fat goal. It really doesn’t matter.

I will do this by running at least 4 times a week, 3 short runs, 1 long run. And I will eat like a person who is at the size I want to be. More fruits and veggies, less starches, only the best sweets when I really want them.

I will have muscle tone and flexibility unlike I’ve ever had before.

I will do this by doing yoga and calisthenics at least 4 times a week.

I will run a half marathon in October. I am currently running 3 mile long runs and am ready to increase my distance.

I will increase by .25 miles a week until I reach 6 miles, as long as my HR stays in the target zone the duration of the run. I will get to 6 miles by Mouse’s 6th birthday (in April). I will then evaluate the best way to proceed to reach the half marathon distance by October.

When I reach my goals, I will feel strong, capable, and proud. I will wear the clothes that make me feel and look good only. I will hold my head high knowing that I achieved my goals through hard work and determination.

Thank you all for coming with me, and this is going to be one awesome year!

Bree