Fall Back Into Fitness Challenge Starts Sept. 10!

Fall is here. I am looking forward to it because:

1. I love the cooler weather
2. The kids are going back to school (that sounds terrible, but it has to happen so we all might as well soldier on and make the best of it)
3. I can reduce the amount of trigger foods in the house that the kids like to have as treats but derail me personally
4. I can ramp up my workouts without anyone asking when I'm going to be finsihed
5. The kids are going back to school

I may or may not have repeated some of the items I'm more excited about.

The other day I read a statistic that the average person gains 8 pounds on vacation. 8 pounds! Eeek!

We have our work cut out for us. Because I did go on vacation this summer. True, it was to Ohio. It's not like I spent three weeks traveling around Europe, drinking beer and eating cheese (flashback to summer '93 when I came home not being able to get my jeans over my knees). But Ohio definitely had its temptations (Donato's pizza, Graeter's ice cream, Grandpa's homemade ice cream, Marie's candy...).

Anyway, I've decided that when the kids go back to school, it's a great time for parents to band together in celebration and fitness.

This challenge will be similar to one a group of us did last winter. So if you already know the drill, you can stop reading now. If you need the scoop, here it is:

Fall Back Into Fitness Challenge
Just like last winter's post-holiday challenge, this challenge will be run via Facebook. I'll set up a private Facebook group for all paticipants so we can communicate without the world seeing what we're saying.

This challenge will also be Beachbody program specific. Why am I making you buy something to take part? In short, because their programs work when you follow them. And they offer a 30-day money back guarantee. So I guarantee that if you follow them, you will see results, but if you're not happy, Beachbody will give you your money back. This is a win-win situation. Yes, I sell their products. Yes, I use their products. I think they are that good. And trust me, I have tried so many different fitness/weightloss products, I am a walking infomercial.

But, the point is, we're going to work together, and you are going to see the results you want. Period.

What you need to do:
1. Confirm to me that you're in so I can set up the Facebook group.

2. Go to my Beachbody website and choose a Challenge Pack, which bundles the fitness program of your choice and a 30-day supply of their protein shake together at a discount. I can help you if you want advice on what program to choose (you'll recognize some of them, like P90X). I own and have done many of them.

3. We'll start Sept. 10. Each program comes with a schedule and an eating plan. I can help you determine how many calories you should be eating if you need help with that.

4. Post at least once a day in our Facebook group for accountability. Post how your workouts are going, how your eating is going, any questions, etc. The support from the group is huge part of our success. It will keep you motivated and accountible.

5. Follow the program of your choice and drink Shakeology, the protein shake, once a day for the 30 days (Important Note: Shakeology isn't a "diet" shake designed like Slim Fast. This is a full on nutrient-rich shake to boost your nutrition, not starve you to death.).

I will be taking part in the challenge right along with you. I'm planning a combination of workouts for the challenge. The Beachbody program I'm currently following is ChaLEAN Extreme (to me, it's like P90X for women). I'm also training for a triathlon, so I'm doing some running and swimming, too.

We'll officially run the challenge for 30 days, but I'll leave the Facebook group open for at least 120 days (or for as long as the group would like it to be open) for those of you who choose longer programs. You'll have support the whole way through!

Let me know if you have any questions. And if you’re weirded out about the whole thing, no big deal. I just want everyone to reach their goals, and this is what works for me.

This isn't just as a short-term fix. I am a big, big believer in Beachbody and their products. I would never sell you guys crap. It works. And if you decide it doesn't work for you, you'll get your money back. Period.

What have you got to lose? It will be fun, I promise!

I Have Been Running. Don't Fall Down in Shock.

I know. I KNOW. I swore I'd never run. And really, I think that what I've been doing can only loosely be called running. I'm not sure I'd even call it jogging. I'm probably doing some sort of fast shuffle like the old people at the mall. But I have managed to finish the second week of a Couch to 5K program (the one I'm using is 5K101).

It's really nothing short of a miracle.

A bit of advice: if you pig out on SmashBurger and frozen yogurt, the next day's run might be a bit compromised. Take my word for it. Don't try this at home. Ick.

News update: I've decided that a year from tomorrow, I'm going to participate in a local triathlon. Eeeek. There. I said it. It's out there.

So I figured if I want to do a triathlon, I'd better figure out how to run, and I'd better do it sooner rather than later. I also figure there's going to be a lot of pain involved.

I randomly chose a free podcast program off iTunes to help me run. When I've tried running before, I've made the clssic mistakes: running too fast at the beginning. The podcast helps. It eases you into it gradually with alternating walks and runs. I did a few test runs just listening to the free podcast, and it was OK, but the music is so boring. For $2.99 I could download a program you could set to your own playlist. Truly, it's the best $2.99 I even spent. My first two weeks of "running" have actually gone pretty well. Other than the whole post-Smashburger debacle.

I'm going to add some swimming into my workouts starting next week. Shape magazine (you know how I love it), printed a triathlon training schedule, and next week I'll start following that. In addition, I've been doing some weight training with ChaLEAN Extreme.

I am struggling with my eating somewhat. When I lift weights, it makes me crazy hungry, so I'm trying to balance sensible portions with what my body needs. Weighted workouts always challenge my eating.

Next week will be Week 3 of Couch to 5K. I cringe to think I'll bump up to more running, but I guess it has to happen!

Hey There and New Fitness Goals

I haven't felt like blogging lately. How obvious is that? I'm sorry. I left you hanging high and dry near the end of Ultimate Reset.

So here's a quick rundown of how that turned out, where I've been, how I'm eating now, and what's next for me in terms of fitness.

Ultimate Reset
I think Ultimate Reset might be my favorite detox program ever. Just like when I finally found Shakeology and said that I'd kissed a lot of whey protein frogs to get to the love of my life -- Shakeology -- I feel like I went through a lot of detox hells to get to the point of Ultimate Reset. The food was yummy. Yes, there was prep work and I had to think and plan ahead (not always my strong suit), but I felt amazing after it was over, and I think I look pretty darn good. When I was in Ohio, I had a lot of people ask me what I was doing to lose weight. When other people can see it, that tells me something is working.

I have stayed mostly vegan after Ultimate Reset. Mostly, not totally. I have found that how I feel best for now. I did eat ice cream in Ohio. I did eat some meat. I find I mostly crave meat (or eggs) when I have PMS (sorry if that's TMI), but other than that, right now I can take it or leave it, and I mostly want to leave it. I have, of course, eaten popcorn. And always will.

As for grains, I am really only eating rice and some quinoa. I'll probably never give up rice.

So, when people ask me to describe my diet, I tell them I call it the Crave Diet. Really, I eat what I crave (in moderation because when my body craves chocolate, I don't make a meal of it!) and that's fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and meat when I want it. I'm not bored with that. There's a huge variety of stuff you can eat in that realm. Huge.

I'm not kidding myself -- this an easy way to eat during summer. I figure things will change when cooler weather sets in, and my body craves different foods. It will be an experiment.

Overall, I lost 6 lbs. on Ultimate Reset, which at first, bummed me out because there were people out there losing 30+ pounds and talking about it on the support threads. But for me, that was a pretty good amount. It took me below 130 lbs. (I'm 5' 4 1/2"), which has been a goal for a long time, and I feel like I'm at a good, healthy, fit weight. I never did measure on the final day. We left for Ohio the day after Reset ended and I just flat out forgot to measure.

Fitness
Summer is always sort of a weird fitness time for me. The kids are home, of course, and we're sort of schedule-less, which never bodes well for me. I always do best when I have a strict schedule to follow.

During Ultimate Reset, you're not supposed to work out, but I couldn't stand that, and I didn't feel the greatest doing that. So I ended up alternating days of walking and doing TurboFire Stretch 40, which is 20 minutes of yoga and 20 minutes of deeper stretching. I felt really good with that plan.

In Ohio, I walked nearly every day. It makes me happy to walk around my old hometown and drink it all in. It was a nice break from structured routines and higher impact workouts.

So now, what do I do?

I did set up a month-long schedule in my WOWY calendar (Beachbody's online gym) for TurboJam. It's lower impact than TurboFire. I'm working my way back to working out harder at altitude -- I was amazed at how I could feel the difference from a cardio perspective after spending two weeks at sea level!

But I'm wanting to add stuff in to make my workouts more challenging.

So here's what I've decided to do. The TurboJam schedule will take me almost until the boys go back to school. I'll stick with it, but I'm adding some RUNNING. Yes, I said it. I'm adding RUNNING. Is hell freezing over?

I know, madness. But my long-term goal is -- get this -- to do a triathlon. And if I want to do a triathlon, I need to run. So I'm starting with a Couch to 5K program. Once I finish that, I plan to add in the triathlon training program (note: that's going to put me in the fall so I may be training and not have a race to run, but the point, to me, is the training part). For the remainder of the summer, I'm also going to do some Brazil Butt Lift and P90X Legs and Back. Might as well keep hammering away on that area. I feel like I had good results doing that in the spring.

I'm writing it out so it makes sense to me...

Remainder of summer:
-TurboJam + Couch to 5K + BBL and P90X Legs and Back

Late August (when school is starting):
-Contine with Couch to 5K (note, I originally wrote "Cough" to 5K. How appropriate.)
-TurboFire and ChaLEAN Extreme

Mid-October:
-Continue with TurboFire and ChaLEAN Extreme
-Begin triathlon training schedule although this could be a curious process because it would already be snowing in Colorado...

I'll see where that gets me!