The Official Fitness Challenge Thread!

[MACGoddess]

You are more than welcome to join in hun! Glad to have you here!! :clap

 

[Becka]

Hi Claire, welcome! glad you're in, we need all the support we can get around here!

Kerry, you look spectacular. OMG, and looking great in a bathing suit too !!

ok gals, can't do a bathing suit shot, no WAY !! i'll do yoga pants though

so hows everyone doing? when's the next workout? i know we haven't hit feb 4 yet but i'm going to TRY to go tomorrow. i think i'll take my gym clothes to work tomorrow and stop on the way home, might make it a little easier. anyway "try" is the key word there LOL

 

[MACGoddess]

Awesome! I started out with 1 Yoga and Pilates combination class, and then it got so huge that I had three of them going a week, and I also did a spinning class and an urban rebounding class... I used to HATE the UR class bc I didn't think it did much, but I ended up loving that one and my Yoga/Pilates classes the best!

I would LOOOOOOVE the Advanced Abs class you taught! I am an abs FREAK!! Even though my other classes were overall body workouts, I would ALWAYS throw in abs and kill them... :icon_chee I was such a mean teacher... :icon_twis

 

[MACGoddess]

Kerri you look gorgeous already! :icon_love And no, we won't count the low waist measurement. Just the arm, chest, natural waist, hips, and upper thigh.

 

[eightthirty]

I'll post measurements/pics tonight.

 

[Little_Lisa]

Uhm, I haven't started yet. :icon_surp

 

[KittySkyfish]

Thanks everyone! *hugs!* :icon_redf Where I'm at right now is great, considering at the beginning of 2004 I was around 138lbs. That was when I started walking 3-4x per week and I dropped down to 130 and pretty much hovered around that weight until this January. But I know I could have lost more because I never really pushed myself, I was "okay" where I was at and I ate a LOT of junk food during those two years. Now I'm ramping up my exercise routine and saying no to daily bowls of real ice cream, and daily dips into the Cheez-It box...and those occasional pieces of chocolate... No wonder my weight wasn't dropping further!

Welcome Clairey! *waves!*

Tiffany - you are so pretty!! What do you think you'll do for exercise?

Becka, you'll look great in yoga pants!

VG and Leila - glad to have some authentic workout goddesses here! We'll need you both for support! :clap

Okay, ladies! Tips time! Here's mine...for those beginners who don't go to the gym yet or have machines at home, I really have to recommend Leslie Sansone and her walking videos. These are easy to follow, and will get your heart rate up and keep it up while not being so intense that you'll cough up blood. The videos work with upper body weights and a variety of leg movements so you get a nice core workout. She offers a series in one package that gives a 1-mile, 2-mile and 3-mile workout, plus sells the videos individually. They're available on Netflix too!

 

[VenusGoddess]

Ok...I'm going to committ myself to this, now...I'm posting my measurements and they're really shocking to me...I'll post what I am NOW and get some pics later...

Overall BF% - 30.2

Bust - 40"

Ribcage - 38"

Waist - 34"

Hips - 41"

Thigh - 24"

Arm - 14"

It was a REAL shock taking the measurements...I'm working towards this goal:

BF% - 21%

Bust - 36

Ribcage - 34

Waist - 28

Hips - 36

Thigh - 20

Arm - 12

Soooooo...away we go!!!

 

[VenusGoddess]

My tip is that you keep a daily journal of everything you put in your mouth. Quickly jot down the time, how you're feeling and what you ate/drank. It's amazing at how quickly you realize that you may be "sabotaging" your healthy eating. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

My other tip is that if you are going to weight lift (and if you want to lose fat/tone up, you're going to need to incorporate weights/resistance) that you do so in front of a mirror. Proper posture/form while doing resistance training/weight lifting is vital to muscle development. Always listen to your body and if something hurts or doesn't FEEL right, stop and check your alignment/posture/etc. If it STILL hurts or doesn't feel right, find another exercise. Don't try to "push" past the pain...it will never get better and you may injure yourself enough to not be able to work out at all for weeks or months.

If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to PM me or post a question!!!

 

[MACGoddess]

That was PERFECT advice! Exactly what I would say as well! Make sure you guys "listen" to your bodies! They will tell you when you can push yourself and when you can't!

And remember to STRETCH! Before and after exercises... If you don't know how to, or want some stretches to do, post up or PM me. :icon_chee

 

[Cirean]

Ok, I'm not going to win this but I'll join to up the pot.

Group 1

5'5" (barely)

125 lbs

25.5 %BF (I have a scale that measures)

Hip - 36"

Waist @ Belly Button - 29.5" (my problem area)

Thigh - 21"

Bust - 36"

Arm - 10"

I'd love to be 14% BF like I was when I was in my 20's but that's a real long term goal. So my short term goal will be to get my waist to 27" and BF at 21%.

I will only be posting my changes monthly, since I don't believe in weekly weighing for people trying to lose 20 pounds or less. I hope that is within the rules.

 

[MACGoddess]

That is just fine Tonya! Welcome and good luck hun! :clap

 

[SmartStyle437]

Awwwwwww! Thanks! I am not sure about what I plan to do, I have never worked out a day in my life really. Well I take that back my mom and I got a membership is a fitness club and went one day lol then we never went back. So I have no clue what I am doing or what to do. I have The Firm DVD at work and a belly dancing DVD I may just do that and cut down on the eating, cause I eat ALOT like 6-7 times a day (but it isn't junk food, it is real food, I am far from a person with a sweet tooth, I need real hot food, lol)

If you ladies have any suggestions on what I need to do, I would love to hear your feedback on it. I really want to learn how to get up early say around 5 or 6 in the morning to exercise but I have no motivation to do so, I just love to sleep, lol.

I guess I need a routine or something to get me started, I just have so much on my plate, I know I can do the exercise thing at work but as far as waking up in the morning early enough I don't know...

Motivation is needed here girls.....

 

[eightthirty]

SOB. I was posting my measurements, sans pics (until I can take them) and I hit the wrong button. So......one more day for me. Blech!

 

[KittySkyfish]

OMG! Ha, I've done that SO many times too! Last time it happened my husband was in earshot...and he heard A LOT of my frustration! $@%##%@ Write back when you can. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[KittySkyfish]

Tiffany, I've never found a love for rolling out of bed early. :icon_redf What I used to do was eat a healthy snack on the way home from work in order to curb any hunger and give me some energy. Then I'd work out when I got home. That way I got exercise done and out of the way before I got into my evening routine. Now that I'm a stay-at-home and my husband works half his days at home, too, we tend to exercise whenever the mood hits us. Seriously, it could be the middle of the day and we're working out together! Then he'll shower and go to the office for a few hours. So surreal.

I like VG's suggestion of writing down everything we eat. That way it can help us make elimination choices if we find our list is too full of calories, or if our diet is lopsided and there's not enough variety in what we're eating. Healthy food is great but too much of it will bring the excess of calories we don't need.

I'm also a member of the water challenge and I've noticed extra water takes the edge off of food cravings. Not a huge difference, but it does make me a bit less hungry throughout the day. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[VenusGoddess]

I just wanted to add that you should be paying more attention to fat and protein grams. You need higher amounts of protein if you want to tone up (or lose weight). Muscle growth (however minute) takes protein to accomplish. Basically, if you eat foods that have 1/2 the grams of fat than proteins, then you should be ok. The problem is that MOST "fast" foods have something like 5 grams of fat to 8 grams of protein.

There is one more thing. Don't go all "hard core" and start buying "diet" foods. Yes, they say that they are "fat-free" or "low fat", but all that they are talking about is that the product was made using "artificial fat". They used hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Using those types of oil in cooking creates trans fat. If you do not know what trans fats are, then do an internet search. Just make sure you are sitting down when you read about it. If you cook with soybean, corn, sunflower, or vegetable oils...you are essentially cooking with trans fatty oil. Ditch all of that oil and buy Extra Virigin Olive Oil. Olive oil is one of the only oils that does not convert to trans fat when heated to high temps (if the oil is cooked at high temps and then you let it cool to room temp...if it turns that white color...that's trans fat conversion).

Read you labels, re-read your labels and re-read them again. You may not think that stuff like trans fat is that big of a deal, however, when you learn that your body cannot process trans fat easily and stores it directly as fat...you'll thank your lucky stars that you cut trans fat completely from your diet...and you'll find that just by tightening up your diet you'll lose weight. Oh, and don't buy anything that says "0% trans fat" assuming that it's ok. The FDA had approved that companies who use less than .045% trans fats in their products could claim, "no trans fat". And while that amount won't hurt you much...if you eat enough of that product or products like it per day...it adds up...and the bulk will just settle into the nice pouch you want to get rid of on your belly...or in the thighs/butt/wherever you gain weight. If you read the ingredients and it was made with hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated anything...it's got trans fat.

Read those labels. And, I'll get off my soapbox now. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[KittySkyfish]

Good morning everyone! Well, I wasn't too stellar yesterday exercising...:icon_redf My period came and I started cramping pretty hard, so I only ended up doing 20 minutes of cardio and no weights. But fortunately I kept my diet healthy and pretty junk-free so I still felt alright by the evening.

Since it's a beautiful day today, I think today I'm going to go outside for a walk and put my cardio tape off for this evening!

 

[Becka]

20 min cardio at monthly curse time is awesome, Kerry !!! :clap

Thanks for all the tips here gals, some really helpful posts going on. I'm sort of cringing at the idea of keeping a food journal but i DO know that this is one thing that could really help me out. ok, or scare me half to death when I read it LOL. anyway that may really be a reality check for me.

Last night I checked out a new facility by our house that's just opened up. very tiny but they do have drop in yoga and badmington which i just looooove! I really like to have 3 or 4 facilities to go to for different things, it keeps my interest up to have different places to go to, as I get bored really easily. I brought my gym clothes to work, yep, I'll be going on the way home tonight and will try not to argue myself out of it all day LOL Its going to be a couple weeks yet before I consider getting on the weights at home, going to stick w/ cardio for the immediate. aaaah, baby steps " )

 

[KittySkyfish]

Way to go!! Yep, just take baby steps and don't feel you need to take on everything all at once. As long as you do something everyday to recognize your health, the transition towards a fitter body and better health will be easier to accomplish. :clap