Personal Development Community

Yep!  I’m jumping on board.  Actually, I jumped on board yesterday—just didn’t post here about it yet!  My 100 days of exercise challenge is being undertaken in conjunction with the 30-day SMSM challenge, which I also started yesterday. 

I’m toying with the best way to handle posting about both of these challenges—don’t want to duplicate posts everywhere, so what I’ll probably do is post for the next 30 days in the 30-day SMSM Challenge thread and then when my 30 days are over, I’ll move over here for the remaining 70 days.  There’s also my Journal, which I will probably use once a week or so just to do a generalized update. 

At any rate, here I am.  Game ON!

Friday, February 26, 2010

I’m back.  Has it REALLY been almost 30 days already?  It just feels like a short commercial break!  I guess really in relationship to how many days I’ve been on this planet, it WAS a short commercial break! 

So, my 30-day SMSM challenge is over, and I’m already 30 days into my 100-day challenge.  How cool is THAT?!  I made it!  YAY ME!  I am down almost 6 pounds from where I started, and I have a regular cardio routine going five days a week with some stretching at the end.  I have also been doing “double ups” of cardio at least one night a week and many times two nights a week with aquarobics.  I have worked out a little bit with weights here and there and have done some ab work.  I am eating pretty clean, and I am feeling pretty darn good!

So, now I kick it up a notch.  My goals are to get a routine going with weights/resistance and ab work.  Thirty days from now, I want to have this engrained into my overall workout routine just as cardio is now.  I also will be working on more counting of calories and logging/weighing my food, because I know it is vitally important.  Of course, it goes without saying that I will be working towards losing more weight, but mostly on becoming fitter and healthier each day. 

So, onward I go towards the new and improved me!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Good for you Judy B.  Sounds like you have some good habits already. 

I enjoy hearing about your journey.

Susan

I’m glad to read that you will be incorporating more resistance/weight work into your routine. Have you considered doing exercises specifically for balance? I know that “balance” is something I push a lot but it’s so important. Even Scott has teased me about it. . . . But he talks about his mother’s “shuffling” and a typical reason for shuffling is lack of balance. And most people don’t know that they can improve their balance. I know I didn’t realize my balance needed improvement and I didn’t know I could improve it. BTW, all of the exercises that you do for your core will help your balance. And there are exercises for balance that will also help your core.

Good luck in the next 70 days.

Monday, March 1, 2010

I started this day by oversleeping, so I was only able to get in 25 minutes on the rebounder, and it was very slow going.  There is no way that I got even remotely close to 75% of my target heart rate.  I learned something this morning, though.  It really is necessary for me to be able to wake up for about 20 minutes and take a few sips of coffee before I begin working out.  It just confirms to me that getting up at 4:15 to work out is what really works best for me.  It’s all a learning experience, and it’s all good. 

Onward to seize the day!

Sleeping is good, and so is coffee.

Good to hear your progress!  Keep up the good work on your rebounder.

Susan

Don’t worry too much about not hitting your target heart rate.  You still got out there and did it...every day is an oppurtunity to make the right choice - and you did.

Also, congrats on the smoke free status.  How great is that?

Judy, I can’t imagine getting up at 4:15 to exercise. . .  I can’t imagine getting up at 4:15 regularly for anything. Hats off to you. Of course, it doesn’t help that I’m more of a night owl.

I agree with Chad. Don’t worry too much about your heart rate. But you do want to feel as if you’re actually doing something. I watch people at the gym ride the bikes and read a magazine and it’s as if they’re taking a stroll on vacation. It’s no wonder they never get anywhere! (pun intended)

Thanks, all!  I really don’t worry about my target heart rate too much—my main concern with that is that I’m not getting it way too high, and that’s the main reason why I monitor it so closely! 

Monday, March 8, 2010

I have not been posting here like I have wanted to, but life gets in the way.  I am still working out regularly 4-5 days a week, and my scale has shown some changes again this morning (even after having a little too much fun this weekend with the sweets here and there).  On Friday, I weighed 157.6.  This morning, my scale showed 155.6, but I know it will go up a little in the next day or so before it normalizes around 155. 

While I have not been keeping up with some other numbers through this whole process, I do know roundabout where they were, and there are changes in these numbers as well, as follows:

Body fat:  33.4% (started at 36.8 in February)
Body water:  48.6% (previously 44.9% for weeks)
BMI:  28.6 (previously 29.7). 

I haven’t really worked a weight/resistance routine in yet, either, so some of the weights in aquarobics and the jogging in place on the Urban Rebounder must be doing something even without a specific weight/resistance routine. 

So, the numbers are going down, and I am feeling it.  Not seeing much yet, but I am feeling it. 

I have to really get serious with the consistency of weighing/measuring food and with the percentages of my food intake per day, as my energy levels are not where I think they should be still.  I do great, but the minute I get in the car to drive, I get very sleepy—morning and evening.  It’s beginning to get to me.  Part of me thinks that the 4:15 a.m. alarm to get up and work out may not be giving me enough sleep, but I did this last year, and my energy was better.  So, I think I have to look at my nutrition first. 

Movin’ and Shakin’ Still!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I can say one thing this morning:  While I have been doing cardio at 65-75% of my target heart rate, my heart rate has probably been at the lower end of the spectrum for the majority of my 45-minute morning cardio sessions.  Scott told me that I needed to be exercising consistently at 75%, so this morning, my cardio session was 100% between 75-80% of my target heart rate.  There was no 45-minute session this morning!  At 30 minutes, my little legs had run in place for as long as they could.  I was toast!  But, I felt goooooood! 

So, it’s all good.  Wow.  What a difference in my workout with staying consistently in that range.  New goal?  Be able to do that for 45 minutes.

Judy, is your car in the sun and therefore warm when you go to drive? Would a planned snack on your way home from work help?

Congrats on stepping up the cardio. You should be feeling something after your workout. Don’t forget that you burn calories with resistance training also.