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

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?

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!!!!

Quote of the Day

"How you do anything in your life is how you do everything in your life." - various people


What does this mean for me? As y'all know, I'm actively engaged in energy shifting - for my clients, for myself, for the world. And what I have noticed is that the same pervasive energy shows up in multiple areas of everyone's life. Now what "energy" or emotion shows up in your life may be different than mine, but pay attention to what kind of energy is showing up in YOUR life. None of us operate in a vacuum, and no one area of our lives is truly separate from the rest - every part of our lives, every action, every experience is joined by the common thread of the Self that is experiencing it. So, rather than focusing solely on the specifics of changing the immediate situation, if you find yourself in a rut, look deeper - what is the common thread that is showing up here that shows up elsewhere in your life?

And, to approach this from an affirming viewpoint, pay attention to the means by which you start changing the REST of your life when you change one area. One of the common themes of Body For Life participants that always inspired ME, is this realization that although they started the contest to win money and lose weight and get fit, the positive repercussions of setting and attaining goals spilled over to every area of their lives. The way they did one thing in their life became the way they did ALL things in their lives.

This is how we shift - one step at a time, one choice at a time, one day at a time, until we have become who we set out to be. Each mouthful is a choice, each workout is a choice, each stretch is a choice, each drug is a choice, everything we choose to focus our energy on is a choice we are making - every time. That can be overwhelming or it can be empowering. And that's also a choice! ;-)

Choosing health and salmon today. Love you all - AMY

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.