I’m participating in Faith’s Minimize Yo Butt 6 week Fitness Challenge. I’ll be updating my weekly progress here and you can read about my goals here. If you’d like to join in head on over to Faith’s Facebook page and join in.
I’m never going to be in the best shape of my life again.
Sometimes that’s a bit depressing.
Other times it’s liberating.
I’ll never do 18 workouts in a week again. Now I have all those hours to go out and live.
In my post-athlete reality I’ve struggled to reconcile hours for fitness and hours for the rest of my life. Before having a baby I went through bouts of marathon training and spent four hours on a Saturday morning running and then three days recovering. Sometimes I enjoyed it. Other times it was a slog.
Now that I don’t have as much leisure time I’m less inclined to give away child-free hours for long workouts. Finding Crossfit and enjoying shorter more intense workouts has been an eye opener. I don’t have to spend 13 hours a week sweating to feel in shape.
It’s been a long road of trying different classes, sports and varying hours and intensity of workouts. What I recently realized: your fitness routine will always change.
It has to. You have to be adaptable to age, injury, life upheaval and whatever else crosses your path. Recognize when you’re bored of a workout, class or activity or when it’s not working with your schedule. And change. Find something new, workout at a different time or get a workout partner involved. A change can be as good as a rest.
Week 1
Monday was a banner day. No chocolate and Henry and I pulled off a 60 minute run in the afternoon. Well, I did the running and pushing of the jogging stroller. Henry had a nap. Tuesday I woke up and felt a bit strange. My balance was off and I felt unwell. I did a lot of walking that day and put in my 150 squats while watching Henry and two of his friends (started a sitting swap – it’s going great!). That night I had intense vertigo while lying down. The room kept spinning while I was trying to nod off. I awoke the next morning and it was even worse. I spent all of Wednesday in my pajamas. No run. No exercise. Not a lot of eating.
Sometimes you have to roll with the punches. It was frustrating to be excited and motivated and then get sick. I’m still not feeling great but managed to get a few workouts in later in the week.
Workouts
Running:
- Monday: 6 x 9 minute run/1 minute walk
- Friday: 4 x 9 minute run/1 minute walk
Body Weight Workouts:
- Tuesday: 150 air squats
- Sunday: 100 jumping squats, 30 from toes full push-ups, 50 v-sit sit ups
Nutrition
Giving myself a B this week. No sweets during the week and I otherwise did okay on my nutrition. Still working on portion control and have been eating off a side plate instead of a huge dinner plate to help with that.
Yes, I indulged on the weekend. Chocolate! I also had a fantastic dessert when we were out with friends for dinner. Eaton mess with rhubarb. Really good.
Weight
Scale says: – 2 lbs
Feeling: no huge difference. Yet. Jeans still a bit snug at the waist. But, I haven’t drastically cut calories or started working out at huge volumes. I was expecting slow change over the 6 weeks so, no surprise, it’s slow.
Anyone joining in on the Fitness Challenge? How was week 1 for you?
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Cheering you on Rachel! Love to hear that you’re running, which really motivates me to run as well. Hope the vertigo is gone now.
Any half marathons you have your eye on for this yr?
Hi Jenn!
Thinking about Birmingham in October. Jo from SimpleBeingMum.com is running it. I’ll make the decision at the end of this challenge. It’s on a weekend that is between 2 away weekends for us already so it might be it a bit of stretch to go, even if I do the training.
Hope you are all well!
Saw this blog post and thought it had a very similar tone to your post. http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/07/jillian-michaels-30-day-shred-day-24-no-excuses/
Thanks, Sarah. Great post and great blog/magazine. Thanks for introducing me to Persephone Magazine. I’ve added it to my reader.
Glad you like it. I don’t remember how I stumbled onto this particular magazine, but I am happy I did! Come to think of it, that is the same way I feel about your blog! 😉
This sounds great but I’m not on facebook anymore so I think I’ll keep tabs with it through your posts 🙂 about the vertigo: I’ve been having bad bouts with it for over a week now… the first few days were terrible… now I get a few spins only at night… makes your head feel really weird though… I wrote a post about it on my blog… I thought it was due to my MS (multiple Sclerosis)… but beginning to wonder if its not a low-grade virus?? http://trytryagain-maryl.blogspot.com/2011/07/sudden-severe-vertigo-coping.html
Thanks for commenting and leaving the link to your post. I read it – sounds similar to what I was having. Now pretty sure it was a virus as I am symptom free.
Oh no Rachel. I hope the vertigo has subsided. Is this your first bout with it? My brother suffered from vertigo for a bit a few years back.
Congratulations on the 2 lb weight loss! That seems like a great loss for such a tough week.
Vertigo has, knock on wood, gone away. I think it was a virus. Hopefully never to return!
And congrats to you on your progress!!
I haven’t been blogging about it, but I have been following this challenge–hurray! I like the limited time frame and the support. Although as Faith says the goal is to make long-term changes, sometimes that’s initially easier to embrace with a short term goal.
So, first week, NO pounds or inches lost–phooey. However, I had a very salty burrito the night before and I’m hoping some of that was water weight. At any rate, I’ve started jogging again (LOVE IT!) 3-4x weekly (so slowly) and I’m trying to take more healthy food to work so I don’t gravitate toward the unhealthy snacks. ALso to eat a lighter, mostly vegetable-based dinner (extra important since I work late and eat dinner fairly close to bedtime).
Anyway, I’m hopeful for the second week and feeling good about the process. A good friend’s wedding is right at the end and I’d like to fit comfortably into a certain dress, so this is great timing!
Those are great changes. I’m feeling the same about getting back into jogging/running. It makes me so happy and gives me energy for the rest of the day. Why did I ever stop?
Hey, I’m going to a wedding in early September at the end of the challenge too. Also a motivator. Will see all my very fit friends there.
Keep up the good work!
Great blog!, but 2lbs is nothing to be ashamed about. You consumed 7,000 less calories this week. Also if you loose too much in a short amount of time, it could just be dehydration and nothing sustainable.
Good luck
Thanks, Lauren.
Oh that vertigo sounds miserable. I hope you’re feeling better.
I’ve never been much of a dieter or followed much of an exercise routine. I was always tiny and active and did cheerleading and gymnastics growing up. Since having kids and my metabolism abandoning me, the pounds have slowly been stacking up.
What I like about this challenge is that I feel like I’m making real life-long changes in the right direction. I tried doing Atkins a couple different times but never got more than a month in both times because it wasn’t realistic for my life. I’m doing well with going Paleo and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on so much.
Finding the time to exercise is still the hardest part for me. Building new habits is just as hard as breaking old habits. I’m not seeing fast drastic change but I feel better overall.
Congrats on the 2 pounds down! There is still a lot of challenge time left!
Excited to hear more about your Paleo progress. I have actually tried to convert to it a few times but never lasted. The longest was a 10 day cleanse I did in January. Felt great but just couldn’t stay away from the grains after it.
Congrats on the 3.2 pounds lost, Faith!!