5 Week New Year New You Challenge - Who's In?

OK - this is a self-created, self-regulated challenge beginning tomorrow, ending January 23rd.

Why? Well for me, its my Cayman's bikini final push. But its just as good for not gaining weight over Christmas and New Year's, and for starting the new year off with a bang.

Here's what it looks like - a next-level kind of push - working out regularly is great, and we've all been doing that. Eating well is super - and we've all been working towards that as well. But now its time to shake out of that rut and (if you've been relaxing since the race) get back into a fitness health goal and buck it up for 5 weeks. Or, if you really want to do it in 4, that's cool too.

So who's in? Here are some preliminary guidelines for gameplay.

Rules -

• You set your own goals - if you need help planning we can help, but your goals are totally self-defined.
• Accountability - you put your goals out here on the board and then update weekly
• Proof - take before and after photos - you don't have to post/share, just take so you can see the raw data. Also take measurements (weight, inches, BF, dress size - whatever is really pertinent to you) weekly and post. The proof is for you - no one is going to call you out, but its both motivating and helpful to track your progress. :-)
  
• Reward - You have to set a reward for yourself that you really want. Something that is really going to motivate you. For me, new bikini in Caymans.
  
• Any other rules? Add them here
• Other People Too - I'm going to open this up to whoever wants to do this thing - I think its the perfect time for it, and if you have a friend who wants to do it, please invite them!

Here's what my next-level training commitments look like:

Exercise -
5 days at the gym (3 weight days, 2 HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, ie BFL type cardio)
6 evening workouts at home (3 low intensity cardio workouts, 3 Superset training workouts using compound moves and bodyweight)
1 long run (5 - 8 miles preferably outside)
1 Yoga workout per week

Food -
5 meals totalling 1500-1700 calories per day - no whole "days off" - 3 cheat meals per week
No caffeine/stimulants
No alcohol (possible exception of a glass of wine socially at christmas and new years)
No fried foods
No crazy sugar bombs
Fiber! And how - 30 grams per day as per recommended daily allowance
Water! You betcha - 3 liters per day minimum
Veggies - 5 servings per day

Goals -
Weekly - achieve daily fitness and food goals, lose 2.5 lbs per week
Overall - Get to ideal weight of 133 - 12 lbs fat lost
Strengthen and tone butt and legs and abdominals
Eliminate back pain due to weak abs and tight/weak hamstrings
Lower BF to below 30%

Rewards -
Weekly - massage, beauty treatment, bikini or clothes for trip
Final - hmmm.... all new hair including color? A little makeover from Cam... That sounds awesome.

OK, who wants in? I want you all with me for company!!! heh heh, but seriously. Are you ready to boot-camp yourself?!?!

Love and Light,
AMY

Quote of the Day

Well, they're really lyrics, but Dolly Parton is such a wise woman I had to share. She's another inspiration of mine.

DOLLY PARTON - Better Get To Livin'

People always comin' up to me and askin' "Dolly, what's your secret? With all you do, your attitude Just seems to be so good How do you keep it?" Well, I'm not the Dalai Lama, but I'll try To offer up a few words of advice. Chorus: You better get to livin', givin' Don't forget to throw in a little forgivin' And lovin' on the way You better get to knowin', showin' A little bit more concerned about where you're goin' Just a word unto the wise You better get to livin'. A girlfriend came to my house Started cryin' on my shoulder Sunday evening She was spinnin' such a sad tale I could not believe the yarn that she was weavin' So negative the words she had to say I said if I had a violin I'd play. I said you'd better get to livin', givin' Be willing and forgivin' Cause all healing has to start with you You better stop whining, pining Get your dreams in line And then just shine, design, refine Until they come true And you better get to livin'. Your life's a wreck, your house is mess And your wardrobe way outdated All your plans just keep on falling through Overweight and under paid, under appreciated I'm no guru, but I'll tell you This I know is true. You better get to livin', givin' A little more thought about bein' A little more willin' to make a better way Don't sweat the small stuff Keep your chin up Just hang tough And if it gets too rough Fall on your knees and pray And do that everyday Then you'll get to livin'. The day we're born we start to die Don't waste one minute of this life Get to livin' Share your dreams and share your laughter Make some points for the great hereafter. Better start carin' Better start sharin' Better start tryin' Better start smiling And you better get to livin'...

Costumes and Training

As promised, I have some Halloween pictures to show. They aren't as raunchy and fun as the one's Amy posted, but what can you do? San Diego just doesn't party as hard as you guys do!

I present Keg and non-alcohol St. Pauli Girl:


The hostess, Mrs. Claus served jell-0 and test tube shots in addition to the 4 kegs (5 including Kevin). And yes, that's a French maid with saw through her middle!


And lastly, non-alcoholic St. Pauli Girl touching the San Onofre Powerplant:


To go along with Teresa's post, we had an amazing 8 mile run (9 miles if you include our warm up and cool down). We both kept the spirits up and felt really good afterwards. I am totally psyched up for Vegas now. I know that 8 miles isn't 13, but I feel so much stronger and confident that I'll finish after doing the 8.

Eating is going well. I've been having a salad everyday. It's really adding the fiber that I needed in my diet. I haven't started the Weight Watcher's thing yet. I'm procrastinating and I know it.

This is my last week at work. I start my new Scotts Valley job on Monday. I am super nervous and excited. Tom & Amy, I am counting on a 12 miler the weekend before Thanksgiving!

my longest (and hardest) run ever

yay- i did 6.5 miles today! the best motivator for me now is saying that i will do something and then i do it - or do more! i did the treadmill at the gym at the hotel on friday - i told myself i was going to run saturday morning, but i found time in between the meeting and dinner out on friday. after sitting so long on the plane and in the meeting it felt good. my goal was 2 miles, but i felt so good that i did 3.5. the other factor is continuing to stretch myself - especially since that 13 mi goal is looming. today my goal was 5 mi - although when i got in my groove on mi 2 i thought i might be able to do 7, but after mi 3.5 - holy crap did it get hard!! - but it really helped to walk a minute every mile like hal higgens said. i did this by time, since my usual pace is 16 min. At mile 4 I found i had some new time/distance related issues including: my left arm got incredible tired, i got chafey under my right arm, and i got pretty snotty as my head was draining. At around mile 5 i bonked and stopped running nonvolitionally - it was weird that i stopped even though i didn't tell myself to stop. i let myself walk for 1.5 min then got back to running - slowly (oh also the sun was BLAZING). after that i walked a little after every half mile. i thought i had hit 6, so i was surprised that when i mapped it - 6.5 - whew. the trouble with out and back is that i wanted to leave room to do more, so i went out 4. when i got back - i still had to walk about a mile and a half. i'm so glad to be HOME! - i feel good for the accomplishment. tomorrow i rest, but i think i should start a light weight routine to assist my training. might help with the arm thing.
we can do it!!

Weekend Survival Guide

I have been struggling with weekend eating. I get regular emails fro Spark People and thought that it really hit home for me.

Please read the article. I even printed out the little Weekend Survival Guide to stick in my purse.

Also, I am starting to go to Weight Watchers meetings. I've reached a lifetime goal with Weight Watchers before and I really feel like I need something to push me along.

Checkin' in and Re-Evaluating

Hi Everyone,

First off, some really good news: Kevin and I will definitely be moving up to your neck of the woods by year's end. Both of us have officially been offered amazing jobs and are really excited to be heading out of San Diego. I will be up in Scotts Valley in mid-November for a week-long training and looking for housing and then working from San Diego until we move in December. Kevin is going to be working in Moss Landing at the Marine Laboratory/Station starting the first of 2008! I know that several of you have been keeping your fingers crossed for us, so I wanted to thank you for your support over the last month or so.

Amy's last post really motivated me to re-evaluate my health and fitness goals. So I'm going to put it out there for ya'll to read.

Lisa's Number Goals:

• Lose 12-15 pounds
• Achieve and maintain 15% body fat

Lisa's Eating Goals:

• Drink more water
• Add more fiber to my diet
• Eat less beef
• Limit my frozen yogurt treats to once a week
  
• Eat more veggies
• Eat consistently
• Track calories consistently
  

Lisa's Fitness Goals:

• Strength train 2 times a week
• Two 30-40 minute runs a week
• One long run/hike a week
• Cross train 2 times a week
• Ideally I would like to move my body 30-40 minutes everyday.
• Sign up for another half-marathon

Overall, I just want to be happy in my own skin and push my body, within reason, to do the things that I know I am capable of doing. I don't want the way my body feels to hinder me from doing the things that my mind wants to do. I want to build a strong foundation so that I can continue to achieve my health and fitness goals throughout my life. I want to keep evolving!

Question for you all: Why is it that exercise and eating healthy are the first two things that we choose to let go of during times of high stress/travel/when we're tired, {insert any feeling here}? For me personally, I know that even though I know how good exercise makes me feel, I still won't go to the gym when I've got a busy schedule. I'll push everything else in front of exercise without thinking twice about it. I know what it feels like to accomplish my eating and fitness goals and I've been proud of every single one I've accomplished, but that alone isn't enough to keep me motivated to commit to making regular exercise and healthy eating a lifestyle. Do you guys have any thoughts about this? How do I make these two things a priority with myself?

Changing the Focus (this is a long one, but I hope you read it)

Hello all,

First a check-in - where's everyone at? I didn't work out Monday or Tuesday morning but then Tom poked me into getting on the treadmill last night while we watched The Biggest Loser, so I ended up walking for 51 minutes, which was great. This morning we went to the gym (its been really hard to motivate myself to wake up in the morning recently - but I made myself turn on the light when the alarm went off which helped) and I did a super-hard, super-fast upper body workout BodyForLife style and walked 15 minutes on the treadmill. It felt really good to push myself and reminded me of why I started this whole process in the first place - to feel better!

My goal for this week is to lose 4 lbs. That sounds like a lot, but when I weighed in Sunday at 153.5 I hadn't been drinking enough water for 2 days, so I was retaining a lot. So I'm positive that with accountability, eating well and exercising I can achieve my goal of 149(.5?) by next Monday.

Which brings me to my next item of business - it sounds like we have ALL been struggling with our motivation and bodies recently. I know Michelle has been feeling like she has to completely get out of the process, and I know Teresa has been battling several colds, Tom and I have been feeling poopy and stressed and Lisa has been traveling.... so........ I want to put out a clarification on what I would like this blog to be.

I don't see this blog as only for the Las Vegas Half Marathon training. The whole reason I decided I needed an event-specific goal at all was for motivation to get off my ass and lose weight and get active again. That to me is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS!!! For me, having you all to hash out some of this stuff with (my frustrations with myself and my lack of motivation/ability to wake up in the morning or desire to proceed or body limitations/injuries) is really helpful. I'm wondering if maybe some of you think that you shouldn't post if you aren't training (Tom and me last week) or like Michelle, feel like you can't participate in the LV 1/2 marathon. I think the idea of doing this resonated with all of us because we were all feeling like we wanted to get healthy and in shape and lose extra weight and feel better in our bodies. So... I would like to open up the blog to expand the posts to include WHEREVER we are in our own personal journey of health and wellness. And yes, I want to know about your training. And I also want to know if you realize you can't run but that you CAN do weight workouts and yoga. What is your process like? I also want to encourage all of us to re-examine and share our personal fitness and health goals. Its really helpful to get BACK in touch with WHY we want to do any of this in order to keep up the momentum. I know for me its imperative.

If this is just annoying to you and I'm really pissing you off with all this, you could put that up too. Well, I hope everyone knows I'm not trying to piss them off, but if you are having a strong reaction to this maybe there's something to look at. Personally, I'm noticing that I have been building up this resistance to change the closer it comes - the more I train, the more effect my choices have on my abilities to do the training and the more resistant I've become. For example - not going to bed early, drinking etc., not eating enough food during the day, eating the wrong kind of foods, not drinking water, etc. ad nauseum... Tom was mentioning this feeling that comes up for him whenever he starts to lose belly fat - a deep desire to overstuff himself with food, liquor, drugs, whatever. Its these boundaries that we hold that keep us where we are all at - and changing our actions and bodies brings all of these things to the forefront. And it can be UNCOMFORTABLE when these emotions come up - obviously, I didn't want to address these feelings before, that's why I freaking swallowed them, hello! So I'm trying to be really soft and compassionate with myself on this emotionally by acknowledging that I don't suck because I don't want to get up and work out, that its a part of my emotional process that I can look at and move through if I realize that I really DO want to change. All the while persevering through my internal kicking and screaming to make myself get out there and do SOMETHING even when I don't want to. Maybe its not a fast run or even a run, but its doing SOMETHING to shift my energy, to move my physical body and therefore to move myself forward emotionally.

I hope you find this helpful and that it encourages you to connect with yourself and your community here. I love you all and I really want ALL of us to be successful with EVERYTHING we want to achieve. And I definitely know that this physical energy is one manifestation of our whole lives - one that we actually do have some concrete control over. That can be hugely empowering - and by remembering that, maybe it can help with other areas of your life that you don't feel so empowered by. Ok?

Hi Everyone

This is way overdue. Life has been tough lately. I went to the doc a few weeks ago about my leg. Nothing too informative. Prescribed some physical therapy that I can't afford, so trying to figure that out. It doesn't look like I'll be running with you in Vegas, which really bums me out more than I can say. I'm still anxious to get back out there and running, but I can't yet :(. Besides that, the rest of my life is all upside down and changing and scary and hard and it freaks me out so I haven't written about it or checked in for a while. I hope everyone is doing great and avoiding injuries and having fun. I've been nursing an injured heart (emotionally, not physically) the last few weeks and I hate to admit that that's interrupted my exercise schedule more than my physical injury. I've been walking and done a lot of garden work and managed to stay physical, but I finally managed to get 30 min on the stairmaster yesterday. That felt good. I want to know how all of you are doing too. Teresa, did you do the 5k? How'd it go? How is everything going for everyone?

Recommitting to the Goal

Hello all,
First off, I have been lurking and reading posts, but this last week I was going through a tough time with my motivation and progress. I was feeling a bit lost and disconnected and I had to do some soul searching and reminding myself of why I got started on this to begin with. Tom and I both realized we needed to get back on track with the training program and get more consistent with our running workouts and get started again! So we went on a 5 mile run on Saturday and then (despite being hungover Sunday morning) went for a very strenuous 6+ mile hike Sunday. It felt really good to loosen those muscles up again and as it turns out, it was the perfect cure for a hangover.

Which reminds me - after taking a month off of drinking, I got buzzed on Friday and drunk on Saturday night - it doesn't take much especially after not drinking for a while, but I completely overdid it Saturday night. I'm ready however to go back on a low to no-drinking habit again as I could see the effects in my skin, my mood and my weight. Oy. So in the interests of achieving my bikini body by January goal and my 1/2 marathon by December goal, I'm back off the sauce I think until Halloween. Occasional social sips notwithstanding... ;-)

My goals for this week are to run twice during the week, do weights 3 times, and do a long run next Saturday. I will not drink any alcohol during the week, and I will eat cleanly during the week. I would like to lose 2 lbs this week. And I will check in with my progress on this blog several times this week and read and respond as appropriate to your blogs.

Also, I wanted to put an idea out there for all of us - Lisa is going to be coming up for a visit on Sunday September 30th in the morning (her flight gets in at around 9am) and I thought it would be cool if we all got together for our long run and possibly lunch after. I think it would be a good opportunity for us all to connect as a group and talk about what we're going through. And we can do an out-and-back route to make it so that we can all go at our own pace while still doing it as a group. If this seems like something you would be interested in doing, we can meet at Tom's and my house maybe at 10 on Sunday the 30th and go to the beginning of the Los Gatos Creek Trail near our house. No pressure on time or pace, just go out and have fun and run. Let me know if this sounds like something you'd like to do and we can make a plan of it.

Love you all, I look forward to reconnecting with you and with my training in the week to come. AMY

3-day weekend

I'm happy that I get three days off and I hope you are happy as well. I know for me that three day weekends = food, lounging and being comfy cozy at home. I plan on doing that this weekend, but want to spice it up a bit and integrate some movement and healthy energy.

My ideas for breaking up the fatassness:

• Take a yoga class on Sunday and do some rowing.
  
• Coming up with 3 new healthy meal ideas for the following week
• Spend some time “cleaning house." This is intended to be both literal and figurative. My house has started to become a cluttered mess, it’s impossible to function well. Ditto for my work and school schedule too.
• Re-evaluate and stock up my healthy snack options at home, in the car and at work. I'm way more likely to eat healthy snacks when I don't have to choose healthy versus non-healthy.
  
• No sleeping in. I want to see how many hours my body actually needs so that I can go to bed and wake up at the same time, regardless of what day of the week it is.

I know that I don't want to overindulge in "bad" food, so to keep things balanced I will allow myself some goodies. I have been trying to not beat myself up over eating certain foods. This type of mentality isn't good for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I've been trying to be more in tune with how eating certain foods make my body feel (full, gassy, bloated, sluggish, energized, etc.). This has helped me over the last few weeks to train my mind to think about food differently, but to still enjoy it.

Happy three days, folks! I leave you with this image for the start of a wonderful weekend:

HEY?!?! WHO'S FIRED UP?!?!

C'mon people, how are we doing?!?! This blog is not just for the good things, but for the tough times too - what's going on people? Would you share your experiences? Please? I'll start. Oy, I'm crampy. But on the other hand, I haven't been drinking any liquor for several weeks now, so I think I'm probably LESS crampy than I would have been. My period seems to be lighter which is good. I crawled to the gym this morning, but did my second official training workout. Woohoo! I do need new shoes, but that may have to wait a little while until I get more money. I'm down 7 lbs since we started the blog, but still over my old set point of 150 by 5 lbs. Slowly but surely getting there. And I'm sweating disgusting amounts every day. I guess that's my metabolism kicking up, but its totally gross. But my skin looks great. So everything's good and bad and up and down. What is going on with y'all?

14 Weeks Today

Hey Friends,

Today is the first day of the 14-week half marathon training. I know I've been getting my body moving and into the rhythm that is running, but I haven't really buckled down and committed myself fully to it.

Today I am committing. I have printed out the training schedule and am ready. I've started my day with a protein shake and am committed to mindfully fueling my body to the best of my ability. I've stocked up on an extra pair of running shoes and insoles. I AM READY!

How are you guys doing?

my new motivation to get up

i'm making a deal with myself that if i don't get up and exercise in the morning, then i must bring workout clothes to work and go at lunchtime. way more painful - its hot, for one thing, plus i'm not that keen on my coworkers seeing me all sweaty and in my stretch capri workout pants --- and --- it messes up my hair for the rest of the day! i was able to rinse off, since we have a shower.
i'm on day 4 of tracking food intake and exercise on sparkpeople!! there's something about this site that really drew me. i'm not really doing their plan, but there's all sorts of ways to make sure that my diet is balanced - it breaks out the fat/carb/protein and gives me a range to shoot for -- also a range of calories, which really helps.
i registered for the paloaltoweekly moonlight run - its only $20, and you get a T-shirt.
next step - conquer my fear of Gold's Gym!!!!

Past Week

So here are my stats:

• Monday: Overall my eating was pretty good.  I didn't get enough water or protein though.  It was a rest day, so I didn't do any training, except for a 20 minute walk in the park for the doggie.
• Tuesday: Eating was a little higher than my upper limit.  I did do a 2.25 mile run and then did an upper body weight session.
• Wednesday: I ate too many fats and not enough protein.  I went to the gym and did 30 minutes of cross training on the bike.
• Thursday: A little high on the calorie intake and again, not enough protein.  I did 2 miles of running and a lower body weight session.
• Friday: Way too many calories.  Kevin came home and surprised me with In-N-Out for dinner!  I should've just had the cheeseburger and I would've been fine, but no, I ate the fries!  I found out the burger and fries were almost 1000 calories. I ate too much and I felt bad, but was ready to go to the gym on Saturday.
• Saturday: Eating went well.  Kevin and I went to a BBQ and I didn't stuff my face!  Sometimes awkward social situations make me eat more, but I refrained and made myself talk to Kevin's labmates.  I started out the morning with a good workout.  I did 30 minutes of biking and 10 minutes of rowing and finished off my gym session with an upper body weight session.

Next week's goals:

1. Drink more water!
2. Eat more protein.
3. Don't eat In-N-Out

I also wanted to let you guys know of a really great site that I've been using: sparkpeople.com I have been using it to track my caloric intake and exercise session.  You can set a lot of nutrition goals and exercise goals and it's has a lot of valuable information.  I am using it to track my calorie intake, fat, carb, protein, fiber and water intake.  You can even get weekly meal plans and exercise plans based on what you like or don't like.  So if you're vegan, you can get a weeks meal plan made for you that is in your calorie intake range and the other ranges you've set your for yourself.  I really think you guys should check it out if you want to keep track of what your eating and in my case, not eating (damn protein).

How was your week?

Accountability Partnerships

Hello dears,
I was talking to both Teresa AND Tom about this yesterday, so I thought I'd bring the concept to the table. Have you heard of having an Accountability Partner? The idea behind this kind of relationship is that making specific commitments helps all of us to achieve our goals. These are YOUR goals, and you determine what they are. An accountability partner is someone with whom you have an agreement to follow up on your progress in achieving your goals. Together you and your accountability partner make an agreement of what kind of help you would like, and what you may need help on to achieve your goals and they agree to be a sounding board for your progress.

You may choose to make a list of your goals, some specific parameters that let you know if you've reached those goals, steps to take to achieve them, and timelines to be met to keep you on track. If you know that you operate well from a weekly confessional, or need someone to question you about your progress, this is the time to express that. What would help you to reach your goal?

Your accountability partner is not there to judge you or berate you. They are also not there to set the terms of your success - only YOU do that. But what an accountability partner CAN do is help you to give expression to your goals, and to give the extra accountability that you need to achieve those goals. Although you will set the terms by which you are supported, I would encourage you to commit to at least a trial time period to receive the support - maybe 6 weeks? That is enough time to see the results of your labor, and to not immediately quit based on your old patterns showing up.

So... does anybody need an accountability partner? If its me, let me know. If its everyone, this is a great forum for that kind of support! I'm looking forward to helping and being helped, people!

BTW, Lisa (in San Diego, you all know her) is going to be joining us here at 6 Months 13 Miles Unlimited Potential ASAP. Her signon is chinky_nutts.