New Challenge & New Goals
Brand new challenge! Yes, bring it on. No squats! I'm so with it.
After last month I'm a little hesitant to list goals. I didn't hit my weight goal last month. I feel like I'm on a downward spiral which is not good. I need to figure out why I'm feeling that way and pull myself out. I'm not really sure how or what I'm going to do to hold myself accountable for my health. I have some ideas that bouncing around in my head.
Goals. They do need to be set so I'm working towards something and not just rolling threw the days with no purpose so here we go.
1. Weight: My weight is something that irks my nerves! It fluctuates so badly. Okay, so what is my goal regarding my weight. I want to be at 190 pounds by the end of this month. I wanted that last month and didn't make it by 5 pounds. So that's something I need to work on with focus.
2. Get my three workout spaces in a usable order. I'm using it now but it's not overly comfortable. I have a very small third bedroom that I use for a gym. That needs to be rearranged and made more user friendly. My carport is being used for floor work and some machines. Hopefully, I'll find a weight bench and will have that set up. I don't have that yet. So that's a far in the future thing. I also want to get my living room set up in a way that I can do workout videos in it or create a media cart that I can roll out to the carport to do that. So yeah, that's a goal.
3. I need to track my calories and carb intake. That NEEDS to be done really bad. I have to get that on track.
4. Figure out my schedule. I need to get back to the gym for my sanity if nothing else. I felt better when I was going to the gym on a regular basis. While yes, I do work out at home it doesn't feel the same. Making it to the gym feels like an accomplishment to me. Yes, I can get a good workout at home. If I make the appointment and keep it I feel productive towards my goals. If that makes any sense. I have to work it out for myself.
5. Personal challenge. From week one to week four want to increase my steps per day by a 1,000. For example: Week one would be 10,000 a day step goal. Week two would be 11,000 and so on and forth. This is going to be hard because I'm not consistent on the steps per day. I need to get consistent. Therefore, goals.
January Challenge - 2019 - Week 1
Going into this challenge I wanted to be more organized. I've started to think of my health and workout goals as a second job. A requirement to life and not something that can be pushed to the side as a hobby. This is a life change and therefore it must be thought about as something vital to live. Preparing for this challenge was a bit like setting up an office.
The first thing I did was printed out the tracking sheet Ki created. They are so useful to keep you on track. Absolutely a key element in any of these challenges is to have that sheet that will show you exactly what you need done and a check off every day. Useful tool, thanks Ki.
Next I got a white board calendar sticker thing that fits directly on my refrigerator. I keep my work schedule, my kid's school schedule, appointments for myself, the kid, the dogs and my mom on it. It's an at a glance reminder that I have stuff to do.
I also got a regular planner, the paper book kind that I can keep in my car or bag if I'm going somewhere to note things as they pop up. So far I'm actually using it. That's great.
In the planner I have notes like what days I'm doing my mom's meds, or doing odd jobs for extra cash flow, eventually it'll house a tracking for days I worked out at the gym and what I worked on, my home workouts and what I worked on, and of course my stats. Keeping track of those is important. Steps as well.
While the Fitbit is amazing at doing that for me. I can't just glance at it and figure out why I had so little or so many. If I can see what I did that day with the steps taken I have a better understanding of what's happening in my life. I'm not a very organized or motivated person. The sloth game is strong in me. We will see how this tracking works.
Baseline Measurements
I was not feeling measuring. Happily I had already done it at the end of the last challenge. YAY ME!
- Bicep: 13.5 Inches
- Chest: 45 Inches
- Upper Abs: 42 Inches
- Lower Abs: 43 Inches
- Thigh: 21 Inches
- Hips: 43 Inches
- Weight 194.6
Day 1 - Tuesday
Oh it was super duper EASY to do this challenge compared to last months. I get up in the morning around 4:30. I do my work out and then walk the dogs. Off to work by 6am. After work I did a core workout and then didn't do another thing. This week I have a goal of 10,000 steps per day.
Steps: 18,356
Day 2 - Wednesday
Again this was a very easy day on the challenge compared to last month. I'm super excited that I'm not hurting myself every single day. So I got up at 4:30 am, did the work out and then walked the dogs. Went to work. After work I did a core workout and 25 jumping jacks. I need to get back to the gym.
Steps: 13,677
Day 3 - Thursday
Another 4:30 am day to do the challenge workout, walk the dogs and get to work by 6 am. It's every day really. Kind of a repetitive life I have. Anyway, I came home and did a core workout. That's it.
Steps: 18,355
Day 4 - Friday
Again 4:30 am did the challenge workout, walked the dogs and went to work by 6am. Friday I got off at 11 am. That was great. I went and cleaned my sister's house and then grocery shopping. Came home and did a core workout. By 4:30 pm I was so tired from the work that I went to bed. I slept until 11:30 pm. Got up, walked the dogs. Sat around for a bit and then went back to bed. Not an exciting Friday but it was my day.
Steps: 16,495
Day 5 - Saturday
Today I got up at 8am. I walked the dogs first because it was so late. Then I did the challenge workout and a core. I spent the rest of the day shopping at thrift stores for clothes to wear on my trip to Iceland. I'm not done with this week and ready to start the next.
Steps: 13,275
End of week measurements:
- Bicep: 13 Inches
- Chest: 44.5 Inches
- Upper Abs: 42.5 Inches
- Lower Abs: 44 Inches
- Thigh: 21 Inches
- Hips: 42 Inches
- Weight: 196.8
Wow! Okay, so that's an increase in the weight. Maybe I should have done my weight in the morning when the scale isn't as grumpy. That's very mean Mr. Scale. You could have been nicer. But it is what it is.
Progress on My Goals
Personal goals
Okay, so my personal goals aren't going so well. As you can see by my stats my weight looks like it's going up. Goals 2, 3 and 4... I haven't started. I'm totally in Sloth Mode. Goal number 5, aces! I hit more than 10,000 steps per day. YAY me! Happy Dance!
Challenge goals
Each challenge task is worth one point upon completion. The first week of tasks only included 15 tasks.
Measuring my bicep each week is worth 1 point.
Posting my stats on time (by 6pm Sunday) is also worth 1 point.
Therefore, this week there are 17 points available.
Points Earned: 17
I'm feeling pretty lazy this week. I'm not sure why I'm not more motivated to do more. I'm full on Sloth Mode. I have nobody else to blame for that. I need to push myself out of that. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet, but it will be done!
That's all I got for you this week. Hopefully I will have the best of news next week. This week it's just not there. I have found that doing the challenge workout before work and getting it out of the way is the best course of action for me. I'm very tired after work. Next week will be better than ever.
Be kind to yourself and others,
Beck
P.S. If you’d like Ki’s free weight loss progress chart to use for yourself, just submit your name and email in the box at the upper right hand side of this page and it’ll take you to your own free copy.
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This will really help me fulfil my fitness goal for the year. It is a must challenge for everyone who really wants to be fit. Thanks for sharing this information. This will reduce stress because you don’t have to go to the gym centre. I will strongly share this information with my friends to reduce them the cost of going to gym so they will join this challenge and we will achieve our fitness goal.
Hi Lok,
Fingers crossed for your journey! I hope you get on the path that is right for you and keep moving along it.
Beck
Hello Beck. You’re superb fabulous. Setting goals is one thing and doing everything humanly possible to meet up with those goals and achieve your targets is another thing and I must say you are doing well in achieving your goals you’ve layer down. Kudos! An please keep it up.
I’d like to follow your footsteps. I want to start doing walk outs when I resume School this week.
Hello Vwegba,
Thank you. I hope you do start taking walks everyday. A little bit goes a long way.
Beck
That’s really bringing your readers into your living room. I like how you are sharing your successes and short comings of your health objectives for everyone to see. It makes it OK to stumble on a diet or workout and to get right back at it. I have that same weight fluctuation thing going on and it seems to be on the high side about this same time every year. Have you tried the low carb or no carb route? I have had a fair amount of success with that diet.
Hey Paul,
Thanks. Anyone who tells you dieting is easy is either trying to sell some kind of diet aide or is lying. That’s what I’ve found in my research anyway. I’m human, I fall and I get back up. It’s just the nature of the beast. I am currently on a low carb diet. Super excited to see you’ve had success with it!
Beck