Family Fitness Challenge – Week 1 Recap

I know I promised this yesterday, but yesterday got away from me.  I still wanted to share our successful first week of our Family Fitness Challenge.

I felt like I started the challenge off great.  I easily increased my fruits and vegetables to the 5-7 servings a day and a few days even reaching 8 and 9 servings.  Salads at least three times in the week got me several points.  I have become quite fond of the Hunger Runner Girl method of roasting broccoli which we had with dinner at least two nights.

   
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I also found that dried fruit is delicious especially apricots!  Love them!  They taste just like candy.

As far as the exercise points I had two days in the week where I did two workouts – am and pm.  I made it to the gym three times and did lots of different weight/strength sets.  I like the Jamie Easton’s Live Fit daily exercise plans.  She does a great job of breaking it down into two areas to focus on each day and gives great videos demonstrating the movement.  I also got in two great runs last week and some Pilates and yoga.

My family had a great week as well.  Everyone participated and had anywhere from 250 – 450 points.  All of our teams were really close overall.  My sister and I were first of our four teams by just 50 points.  My little niece (2 years old) was a baby-exercising queen and fruit/veggie monster!

A great start to our five week Fitness Challenge!  Looking forward to another great week although I’ve been slacking a little bit in the exercise department.  Time to step it up!

Final Week of Fitness Challenge

It has been six weeks since we started the Fitness Challenge.  I can't believe how fast six weeks go.  I have increased my points each week and have already started to notice a difference in my body.  I am planning on keeping it going so that I can continue to improve my core and upper body. 

Since it was the last week I spent extra time this weekend focused on my workouts.  My workouts during the week were minimal.  The Fitness Challenge is between three teams in our school district and currently my team is in second place by just 13 points.  Hopefully everyone on the team put in some extra time this week and we can zip into first place.  If we win, the charity organization we are playing for will receive a donation.  Here's the breakdown of my week:

Monday - 2 points               40 min walk and stretch
Tuesday - 2.5 points            20 min walk, 30 min JM Ripped
Wednesday - 2.5 points       35 min 3.7 mile run, 15 min walk
Thursday - 2.5 points           20 min walk, 35 min JM Ripped
Friday - 3 points                   35 min 3.3 mile run, 25 min JM Yoga
Saturday - 9 points               120 min walk/hike and another 60 min walk
Sunday - 9.5 points               40 min yard work and walk, 60 min spin class and 90 min Yoga class

Total for the week is 31 points!!!  Woo-hoo!!!  I finally made it to the Y for the spin and Yoga class.  Spin is crazy - but it felt really good and I don't hurt yet but I am sure that is to come.  Yoga was good and more meditative that I am use to. (I was struggling with Thinking instead of Feeling - I couldn't shut off my brain -until we did the balance poses but right after that I was back to thinking.  Too much going on in my head)  I think I like the Power Yoga better.  I like doing the yoga poses' but like the way the Jillian Michaels makes it more aerobic and has you do the poses' in reps.

This week I plan on moving on to Level 2 of Six Pack Abs, two more workouts at Level 1 of Ripped and going to try to get some Pilates back in the workout list oh and runs.....yep need to do those too.  The first race of the season is this Saturday.  Hoping to get a run in tomorrow, Wednesday, and an easy one on Friday.  That should get me ready.

Rain, rain, go away....

It has been raining here ALL day.  The temperature has dropped from 47 degrees this morning to 32 degrees so far and it is going to continue to drop and then turn over to messy stuff and snow.  What fun!

It's been a busy day already.  Up early with the dogs, doing schoolwork by 7:30, out the door at 8:45 to go to the gun show and sell tickets for the Beagle Club till 1, then I did two quick stops at the mall before I came home to work out.  I was planning on going to Spin and Yoga at the Y today, but because I ended up working the gun show I decided to skip the Y and come home to spend some quality time wtih Jillian Michaels.  I just got finished doing both level 1 and 2.  I am tuckered out.

Here's the recap from week 5 of our Fitness Challenge:

• Monday - 2 points               40 min walk
• Tuesday - 3.5 points            30 min 3.6 mile run, 35 min BenderBall, Pilates Abs & Burn
• Wednesday - 4.5 points       60 min walk, 30 min JM YogaLevel2
• Thursday - 1 point                20 min walk
• Friday - 3 points                   30 min run and 30 min walking/shopping grocery store
• Saturday - 10.5 points          90 min hike, 90 min outside work, 30 min stretch, yoga and abs
• Sunday - 2.5 points              30 min JM YogaLevel1, 20 min Jm YogaLevel2

Great job with points this week with a total of 27 - my most so far.  Haven't been getting the runs in, but I have been doing really well with my cross training and abs.  You would think the JM workouts would get easier but I still end every time with lil-feel-good-muscle-quakes. 

Now it is time to go read some of my new book.  One of my students was reading Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote and it looked really good. 

I spent a few minutes in class walking around and reading it while the students worked on their project.  I went to Borders today and picked it up.  I thought Richie and I would both enjoy reading it since the doggies are a big part of our lives.  Here's a little excerpt from Amazon and Booklist:

"Merle showed up at the San Juan River at the same time Kerasote and his river-rafting friends arrived. Merle looked at Kerasote as if to say, "You need a dog, and I'm it." He accompanied the group down the river and then went home to Wyoming with Kerasote. A dog who was eager to please and almost trained himself, Merle learned the ways of bison, ground squirrels, and coyotes. Merle then taught Kerasote the fullness of the hunt, leading Kerasote to his favorite prey. But, after Kerasote installed a dog door, the main thing Merle taught him is that a dog develops to his full potential, becoming the dog he was meant to be, when allowed to make his own decisions. Merle developed a life of his own, patrolling the small settlement where they lived with his dog companions, and yet was always very aware of Kerasote and his schedule. "

President's Day

It was so nice to have a three day weekend, even if on the third day I was snowed in.  At least we had the day off and don't have to make it up.  We got about 8 inches here in the Northeast last night.  It was heavy, wet and great snowman building snow.  Which of course meant heavy and tough shoveling but a great workout for me and Cowboy. 

This weekend was really nice.  We didn't have much planned and it was great to take it easy.  I got lot of cleaning and laundry done on Saturday morning and then went to the Beagle club for the late afternoon to help with the Rabbit Hunt.  Sunday we did more cleaning and spent lots of time out in the sunshine enjoying the bare grass after three great days of warm sunny weather.  The puppies loved playing outside, wrestling, ripping out grass and chewing sticks.  They were a tad tuckered out for their vistors.  My good friends came by with their two little girls ages 4 and 2.  The girls loved playing with the puppies and boy were the puppies exhausted when they left.

On both Saturday and Sunday I got in a few points for the Fitness Challenge.  Here's my weekly recap:

Monday - 1.5 points       30 mins of JM Yoga
Tuesday - 3 points          30 min 3.6 mile run, 30 min total body workout
Wednesday - 1 point      20 min walk
Thursday - 3 points         20 min walk, 40 min JM Abs
Friday - 2 points             40 min 4 mile run
Saturday - 3 points         30 min Pilates (Abs, Butt, Arms), 30 min walk
Sunday - 4 points            30 min Pilates, 30 min JM Yoga, 20 min walk

A total of 17.5 points for Week 3.  Lower than last week but within my goal.  This week I am going to try to step it up again and get above 20 points.  I hope to get in at least three runs instead of just two.  I need to pick it up a bit with running since the 5k season will be starting here soon.  Along with the workouts, I've been trying to eat better, more balance to my meals, taking in more fiber and remembering my vitamins.  I feel pretty good but still have the winter blues - just don't feel like I'm doing enough or have the energy to do enough.  I can't wait for spring.

I had my camera out a few times this weekend but didn't take near as many pictures as I should have.  There were lots of great shots of the puppies that I missed.  I did get a few last night of the little girls.

Macy Dae.  Isn't she just adorable.



Macy likes to pose.

Charisma was tuckered out.

She was attempting to quietly snuggle with Copper without disturbing him..



Whew....

I'm exhausted and need a nap.  Its been a busy day here in our little Endless Jubilee world.  We did lots of little things around the house this morning and then went to a baby shower for friends before heading home to take care of the crew. 

I am also VERY sore today.  Jillian Michaels and 6 Week 6 Pack Ab workout kicked my butt yesterday.  WOW!  Those workouts are intense.  There is hardly any down time between each exercise and she just has you moving from one to another to another to another.  It felt really good but I didn't feel it till today and boy do I feel it. 

This week was really good for the workouts.  I got a lot more points that I thought I would. Here's the rundown:

Monday - 2.5 points        20 min walk, 20 min abs and 10 mins stretching
Tuesday - 3 points           30 min 3 mile run, 30 min walk, abs and stretching
Wednesday - 3.5 points      25 min walk, 45 min abs, buns and thighs
Thursday - 4 points          40 min 3.6 mile run, 20 min walk, 20 min abs and stretching
Friday - 2.5 points           20 min walk, 30 min 3.3 mile run
Saturday - 6 points          20 min Pilates Stretch, 40 min JM abs, 60 min hike
Sunday - 1 point              20 min walk

That's a total of 22.5 points for Week 2.  Last week I set a goal for 12-15 each week for the first three weeks and then 15-20 the second three weeks.  I guess I blew that goal out of the water.    I think having the three new videos plus the old ones i had, I can get in a good mix of workouts which will definitely increase my points for each week.

Tomorrow I will share some pictures of the newest puppy addition to our crew.  Charisma Jane arrived on Friday.  Here's a sneak peak

Mighty Monday

Whew...it's been a busy week here in our house.  A lot has been going on and I will try to get the blog world caught up this week.  Today, I wanted to focus on my workout recap for the first week of our Get Fit Challenge. 

The program that is being run by my school and our health insurance company is a little competition between three teams within our district.  The team is made up of a group of participants and we each earn 1 point for every 20 mins of exercise Monday - Sunday.  On Monday we report in our point totals.  Our submission is entered in a weekly drawing and the team that earns the most points at the end of the six weeks wins a monetary prize for a local organization.

For my first week I got in a few workouts, walks and of course some shoveling.  Here's my recap

• Monday - 20 min walk
• Tuesday - 20 min walk and shoveling, 40 min walk and shoveling and another 20 min walk
• Wednesday - 50 min walk
• Thursday - new puppy - no time
• Friday - 20 min walk
• Saturday - 40 mins abs, buns, and thighs; 20 mins Taebo and weights
• Sunday - 30 min walk

So I had a al of 13 points for the first week.  Hoping to get up to 15 points this week.  Definitely going to get in at least two runs in if weather allows.  I hope to make it to a least one group class at the Y too.    More news on the new puppy tomorrow hopefully.

Wait where did it go...

the weekend has come and gone  - already??  We just enjoyed a walk with the doggies around the yard and watched the beautiful sunset.  Cowboy and I didn't do much this weekend.  We just stayed here at home.  yesterday it snowed pretty much the whole day and we got about three inches.  Today of course I had to tackle school work and then we took a break and ran some errands in town.  That's about it.

I am really lacking in motivation to do much of anything.  I thought about going out for a run when it was sunny and "warm" but it didn't happen.  I really should do some stretches and work on the abs but again, just lacking that motivation.

This week starts our health fitness challenge at school so I need to make sure that I am getting in at least a 20 min workout each day to earn points.  That may help my motivation a bit and give me some opportunities to win a prize or two.  At the end of the six weeks I'll get a  nice $50.00 gift card for participating as well. I can't pass that up!

Yesterday Cowboy and I enjoyed a wonderful Red Lobster-like dinner at home.  I made homemade New England Clam Chowder, Tastefully Simple - Parmesean Cheddar biscuits and a side salad.    It was delicious and the soup and biscuits were even better for lunch today.  Tonight though we are stuck with good ol leftovers.  We Have to clean out that fridge before I can start cooking for the week.