Fitness Challenge - Week 4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

OK, it's week #4, we are almost 1/2 way through and only 5 weeks out from race day, just a over a month left.  

HOW ARE WE DOING???? 

It's report card time.  

I'll go first, and then I'll add some thoughts on a slice of last week's post.

1 - My eating has been better this week. I've been eating breakfast, taking my lunch, and controlling my dinner portions.  I think I'm over the Halloween candy rush, EXCEPT.....I am having the hardest time giving up chocolate again.  I know I don't have to give it up entirely for the long run, but I have got to get a drip on it now, right now.  Yesterday, Saturday, I didn't eat much at all in terms of real food, but I did have 4 fundraiser chocolate bars for about 1,000 points.  Needless to say, I was over my point limit for the day.  It was a real case of "WTF I'm hungry."  I just didn't know.  I know I should have, and I knew it wouldn't kill anyone, but I blew through my points in a real hurry.

2 - My running's been off and my times have been slow, and my shoulder's bugging me (again) so swimming has been short. My only calorie burning is through running, and I did OK the first three days of the week, but when I get off schedule I don't do much at the gym, I lift, I do a few abs (my stomach's sore, that's a good sign), but I don't burn a lot of calories.  It just seemed off.

3 - The good news is that I think I've topped out on my weight gain and I'm back down a couple.  Maybe I just need a new scale.  

I guess the point of this is to say that after Rebellion Week I think I'm back on track and I hope to finish strong and make these next 5 weeks really effective.  

My goals again:

1 – Get to the Gym 4 days during the week and run on Saturday.
2 – Take my lunch 3 of 5 working days (save $$ and calories) – 

3 – Stay under my calorie allotment as calculated onwww.loseit.com 5 days a week.
4 – Be in bed by 11:00 PM Sunday – Wednesday

5 - Lose 5 pounds (1 pound a week)

I'm adding this last one because that's supposed to the result of the first 4.

Last week I promised some thought on the 4 steps to improved fitness:

We need to follow the basic rules that are so hard to keep.

1 – Eat Less

• Most of us just eat too much.  Portion sizes are out of control at restaraunts, with single serving lunches topping 1,000 calories.  At home we have "seconds", desert, and then a snack.  We eat breakfast too little and lunch too much.  Look at all three of your meals in total for a week and we see that most of us have 2 big meals (multi-item, high fat/sugar/starch meals a day).  What if we cut it back to one?   A light breakfast with lot of fluids, a moderate lunch taken later in the day, and then a satisfying meal for dinner?
• Think of your schedule:  If you wake up at 6:00 am, and eat breakfast by 7:00 and have lunch at noon, You've have meal 2 only 5 hours after meal 1.  then we wait unil 7:00 or 8:00 to eat dinner, 8 hours!  Of course we are hungery, and, because we ate late then started watching TV, our bodies don't even realize we are full so we crave a snack, desert, a little something while watching and now we've added another meal to the day.
• Plan you eating day.  Spread out your big meals and supplement them with healthy, natural, snackes.  Fruit, low fat cheese with lean proteins, unsalted nuts, find something that is flavorful, low fat/low sodium, and just have enough to satisfy that need to snack, and don't remember, LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER.

2 – Move More

• We'll pick this up next week.

3 – Eat Smarter
4 – Move with intention

What are your goals for the week?

Please share them with us in the comments, and let us know you you are doing!

There is strength and support in working together!!!