workouts – Page 2 – Sweat & Sparkle

Challenge Update

I got so caught up in my half marathon that I nearly forgot about the fitness challenge! How is everyone doing?

My total minutes so far is 562. That is including the half marathon, though, which I wasn’t thinking about when I set my goal of 1100 minutes. I only have to work out about 23 minutes per day the rest of the month to reach my goal, so I obviously need to bump up my goal.

My husband has been so cute about my half marathon. He keeps reminding me not to throw away my race number, as if I would! He wants to make a shadow box with my medal, my race number, and a picture.

Last night I went to a Spinning class, and the first time we stood on the pedals, I was pretty sure I could hear my legs groan and protest even over the loud music. After getting them warmed up, and then a good stretch afterward, I hardly have any soreness left today, so it was worth it.

Now that the half marathon is over, it’s time to focus hard on my next big goal: reaching goal weight! I skipped weigh-in the last two weeks. The first week was the week I struggled so hard because of the funeral, and the next one, I didn’t want to obsess over counting calories because I had the half marathon coming up.

I already know I have gained over the past two weeks, but I am not going to tear myself apart over it. I had a lot going on, and hot damn, I finished a half marathon! Hallelujah! Back at it now, with an extra swagger in my step and a medal on my wall.

Fitness Challenge: Let’s Go!

new-week-new-goals-spotebi-workout-motivation Our fitness challenge is officially underway! I kicked it off yesterday with a good weight training workout, and my arms, in particular, are feeling it today. I’m excited that several of you are joining me. Thank you! Let’s push each other and see just what we can accomplish over the next 30 days or so.

I am going to consider most of last week a break, and that break is now over. Back to work! I am about 18 pounds from my goal weight, and I am most definitely not going to screw up now and ruin this. I still worked out most days last week, but I took too many days off for no good reason, and my eating was terrible. I know better, and I can do better. Much better.

Over the weekend, I had to retire two more pairs of jeans. My husband and my stepson threatened to start calling me “homey” if I kept wearing them, because they sagged so much. I’ve also been informed that some of my workout pants are way too big, but I really like them, so I will wear them until they fall right off my body…hopefully that doesn’t happen at the gym, though!

My goal for this week: inspirational-quote-motivational-print-light-grey-wall-hanging-motivational-wall-decor-fitness-motivation-gym-decor-art.jpg_640x640

New Fitness Challenge!

Did you know that 80% of people fail at their New Year’s resolutions by the second week of February? Or that losing weight is the #1 resolution that people make?

I’m not sharing this with you to depress you on this fine Friday morning, or to wow you with my random facts and impressive statistics-spitting. Just trying to convince you to join me in a challenge to keep our momentum and motivation going well into this new year!

I have struggled this past week, between the funeral and then worrying about the kids. I sure could use an extra dose of motivation. I searched online for a weight loss challenge, but nothing stood out to me as particularly interesting, so I figured: why not start my own?

I don’t have the time (or patience) for a lot of tracking and logging on top of what I am already doing, and I already know that if I have to count points or do a bunch of math every night, I won’t do it very long. So I want to keep it simple and something that can work for all of us.

How’s this? Starting on Sunday, January 27, we will set a goal of how many exercise minutes we will accomplish over the next 30 days (until February 28…okay, that’s more than 30 days, but I didn’t want to end a few days before the end of the month!) So, for example, if you want to work out for 30 minutes a day, four days a week, your goal would be 480 minutes by February 28.

Let’s see…I want to aim for 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week. That would be about 1080 minutes by February 28.

This way, the challenge is personalized to what you can do, what you want to accomplish, how much you want to challenge yourself.

Anyone want to join me? A fellow blogger had the idea of joining the challenge by writing on her blog about it, but I also thought we might want a central place to virtually meet up, like a Facebook group. I can create the group if anyone is interested, and I will post a link for anyone who would like to meet up there for accountability, tracking, questions, motivation, griping, whatever you need over the next thirty-ish days!

Shrinking

This morning, a co-worker said to me, “You’re shrinking!” It was the first time someone at work has commented on my weight loss this time around. I assume it’s because I have lost weight before, then gained it back, so no one wanted to say anything, sort of like, “Here she goes again. Wonder how long it will last this time.” Either way, it felt good to start the day with a compliment about my weight loss.

The day after my long run, I gave my body a break and skipped a workout. Instead, I did a face mask, then got into comfy clothes, wrapped up in a blanket, and cuddled up on the couch with my husband. I look forward to that all day! Call me boring, call me tame, call me old, I don’t care: my favorite part of the day is finally getting to snuggle up next to him and relax. I don’t even care what we’re doing. I am not a big TV watcher, so much of the time, I read while he and my stepson have the TV on, or we all talk and make smartass jokes. I am just happy to be at home, cozied up with him.

Last night, my break was over. I did a plyo Insanity workout, then added on a weighted abs workout. My stepson teased me about being stinky. Well, that’s what happens when you get crazy sweaty!

Speaking of Insanity workouts, something funny happened. When I finished my first round of Insanity workouts last year, I sent in my before-and-after stats and pictures to get my t-shirt. It is one of my most beloved and cherished articles of clothing, because I most definitely earned it!

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When I gained weight back, I decided I wouldn’t let myself wear this shirt again until I got back down to the 150s, the weight I was when I got the shirt in the first place. When I finally hit the 150s again, I was so excited to yank this shirt out of my dresser…only to discover it is too big!

I don’t remember it being too big when I first got it. All I can think is, since I have been weight training more, I am smaller even at the same weight I was before, if that makes sense. All the more reason for me to use clothing size instead of weight to determine when I have reached my goal.

10,000 Little Moments

Well, 2018, where did you go? I can’t believe we are mere hours away from 2019. This year flew by disturbingly fast!

I signed up for a special New Year’s Eve Spinning class today, and I am glad I did. I not only got in a great, sweaty workout, I got a lot out of things the instructors said. There were two instructors, which I’ve never seen before, but it was fun.

One of the instructors read a quote (I wish I remember who said it, or where she got it from), and the gist of it was, change is rarely made in a single, dramatic moment. Change comes about in 10,000 little moments. Every time we make a choice, no matter how small it seems at the time, to work toward a better, healthier us, we are creating one of those 10,000 little moments that adds up to positive change in our lives.

I like thinking about it that way. And it’s true. I am ending this year much slimmer, much healthier, than I started it, but it didn’t happen with one decision or one moment. It happened each time I made a food choice based on how many calories I had consumed that day. It happened each time I sipped unsweet tea instead of soda. It happened each time I laced up my sneakers and chose to work out instead of flop on the couch.

Yesterday I met up with another running group, and I ran 11 miles. I expected to be so sore I could barely walk later, but I was pleasantly surprised. After stretching, my legs really weren’t all that sore. Guess my legs have gotten stronger.

My foot complained a bit, but I iced it, massaged it, and wore my fancy-schmancy compression socks for a while after my shower. I barely feel any tenderness at all in it today. I’m thrilled about that! Maybe, just maybe, I can get back to my distance running now.

Well, time to enjoy the last few hours of 2018 and ring in the new one. Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to creating 10,000 (or more) little moments in 2019 that lead us to our goals.

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