I admit defeat

on keeping up with blogging about the 30 day challenge.  THings have gotten very hectic in my life so I haven't had a lot of time, when I get some more time I will blog more here about different changes happening!!

For now Happy Holidays everyone!!!

30 Day challenge Day 18

What are you favourite seasonal activities that change up your routine.

Spring: Walking along the river paths
Summer: Swimming or running or canoeing ( I don't do much canoeing but I would love to do more)
Fall: Hiking and walking along the river paths
Winter: Skiing or skating (but I don't do either of these very often because I HATE, LOATHE and DESPISE the cold)

30 Day Challenge Day 17

Challenge Day!!!!
Add 15 minutes of exercising to each day you work out.

This is what I call my commercial break exercising. For those of us with PVR choose one 60 minute show a week that you usually PVR and watch it during it's regular scheduled time. The challenge is to do 2 different exercises each commercial break.  It's not much but it will add 15 minutes of exercising to your day. 
I will be running the program like this.
first break : Cardio jogging in place
                  Strength: arms bicep curls
second break: Cardio: punching
                      Strength: arms tricep exercise
third break: Cardio: jump rope
                   Strength: squats
Fourth Break: cardio: cross country skiing
                     Strength lunges
Fifth break: Cardio: high knees
                  Strength: push ups
Sixth break: Cool Down Stretching
If all commercial breaks are 3 minutes in length that means you would spend a minute and a half on each exercise then switch.  It's not an exact science but it would make watching commercials more enjoyable :D

30 day challenge Day 16

What do you do for a warmup?

That really depends on the activity. But for the most part it is something the incorporates cardio and strength training for 7-10 minutes then it's onto the big part of the work out.

30 Day challenge Day 15

We are half way through, have you made any changes to your program if so what are they?  Do you want to make changes?

I have not made any changes. I would like to make some changes, more exercising, and more involvement from my family in these changes.  I am hoping to initiate an exercise schedule for our house for 7:30 to 8:30 each night.  Hopefully things will work out and we will keep this challenge going long after the 30 days.

30 Day Challenge Day 13

Name an exercise program you have heard of but have never tried that you would like to try and why.

This doesn't really fit into this category because I have tried this program but only once and at a stagette party so I wasn't really working out.  We did Chairtease dancing and I would love to do this as a program for a month. Not only would I be working out but I would be having fun and maybe learning a new skill ;). 

The other one I have heard of is a dance program as well it's called Zumba.  It sounds and looks like fun!!

30day challenge day 12

What areas of your body to you like the best?


 I <3 certain areas of my body.  I most certainly do, I know in my last post I jested that I did not like my body and that it was all a problem area but that's not actually true.  I do have at least three areas of my body that I <3. 
Number 1: I love my curvy shape.  I really do, and I think that that is a part of my body.  For a long time I did not like my shape as a whole package, but I do now.  I love all the curves it has to offer and now I just want to make those curves a little more compact. 

Number 2: I love my calves and ankles.  I throw them in together because really I think they are a package deal.  I love that I don't have cankles, I love the tapering of my calf into my ankles and I think that when I wear high heels I have great calves that I love to show off. ;)

Number 3: Ok here's where I sound like a man, I love my chest area.  I  do, I can't help it, I think it has something to do with having a curvy shape, you have to embrace what your momma gave you and I do.  So there I said it I love my breasts!!!

30 day challenge day 11

What are your problem areas that you feel need to be worked on the most?


When I think of my "problem areas" does my whole body count??  No ok well let's be specific, because I honestly don't hate all parts of my body and my body as a whole when in shape is very pleasing. 

So problem area number on would be my abs.  I always find them to be flabby, which may be why I am obsessed, and i do mean obsessed, with ab workouts.  I love doing them and I push myself hard on any ab exercise.  I don't know why, but I always seem to see great results when I do ab exercises and I see them quickly, I don't have to wait as long to see results in the ab area as my other problem areas.

Problem area number two are my thighs.  The thighs as a whole are too large and jiggly.  I would love for them to be more toned.  I would love to not have that tight thigh look in pants with every pair of pants I own even the straight leg and wide leg trousers.

Problem area number three would be my upper arms.  They aren't really a bad problem area I just feel like they are wider than they need to be.  I want to tone them and have them shrink a couple inches really.  Then life would be good. 

30 Day challenge day 10

Who do you count on when you are making lifestyle changes to support you and encourage you to continue?


I wish I had a lot of support people in place.  But it seems that everyone is so busy and no one makes time for each other anymore. I don't have a gym buddy and Adrian doesn't seem interested in becoming my workout buddy.  Maybe I need to ask him again. I wish I lived closer to some of my friends who are in the same situation as I am, then we would be going to the gym together and signing up for the same workout classes. 
 
This is hard, but I do depend on myself and Adrian even though he won't workout with me.  That's not a really fair statement as I haven't really asked him and I do my exercising when he is not home, I guess to rectify this situation I should ask him to workout with me after the children have gone to bed. We both may have more energy at night if we do that.
 
So I guess I depend mostly on myself but I have realized that I need to broaden my circle of support in order to be really successful!!

30 day Challenge Day 9

Holidays can be very detrimental to exercising and dieting, what is your plan to get through the holidays without jeopardizing your routine?

I do have a plan... and its a good plan, but I lost it lol.  Just kidding.  I think I am going to use moderation as my key. I cannot just snack on food because it's the holidays and I have to continue being physically active.  I am going to do my exercising and my healthy eating every day.  I am going  to set mini goals for myself, one for each day.  They will be goals like, eat a veggie snack instead of chips.  Or have an apple instead of a chocolate snack.  Depending on my craving as well.  But then after the 6th day I will reward myself and allow myself to have 250 g of a salty or sweet snack.  Maybe a popcorn ball. 
 
As for the rest of the food, this year it should be easy to not gorge myself on food as we aren't really doing a big Christmas celebration because we are all trying to save for the Wedding.  And with walking down in Vegas I plan to shed a few pounds that way!!!

30 day Challenge Day 8

When do you exercise???

I usually exercise in the afternoon, after work or in the early evening after work. I would love to be exercising in the morning but then I would have to get up in the middle of the night in order to exercise.  Seriously, I get up at 5 or 5:30 to get ready for work so if I were to get up to exercise I would have to be up by 4 and that's just crazy talk. So I have been exercising in the afternoons and early evenings and I will continue to do this.  I will win my Biggest Loser Competitions!!!

30 Day challenger Update

I sit here stuck on how to write this entry.  I will be disclosing some rather personal facts here and that is hard to do.  I am not proud of the facts that I am going to share and because people read this blog I am hesitant to disclose all the figures I recorded today.  But if I can't be honest here then I can't be honest anywhere.  I am not sure who all reads my blog, but if they are not happy with what they see then they can just not read my blog.  I am not doing this because I am in the best shape of my life, so obviously my weight and measurements won't show me as a svelte fitness guru.

So without further ado, here goes.  My weight when I started this challenge 7 days ago was at 195. (gag me the fact that I am close to 200 is enough to make me want to just die of shame, but it is also a good motivator)  Today when I weighed myself I was at 192.  Now that might not seem like much but in 7 days that is 3 pounds lost.  THREE!!! I am excited about that, but I know weight fluctuates so I won't be put off if next time I take my measurements I am not as low in the weight scale as I wish I were.  For my measurements, I did from Bust to ankles.  Bust was 41, Chest was 34 Waist was 35 hips were 43.5 butt was 44, Thighs were 26, calves were 15.5 and my ankles were 10. So not too bad really.  I don't know what I was 7 days ago because I put off measuring myself but now I have a place to make more comparisons.

I also did Jillian Michaels DVD today.  It was a great workout, it was the Fat burning metabolism boost DVD.  I felt like I was going to die, but it is going to become my Bootcamp work out DVD for the evenings from now on.  So here we go, 23 days left what will the final results show??

30 Day challenge day 7

Seven days in what are your results right now. Is there a change in weight, energy or motivation?

So I have successfully blogged about weightloss and stuff for 7 days, but the actual event is not going as planned.  I had my last scheduled work out class last Friday and I am sad.  I now have a month to get things going on my own, to get my own intrinsic motivation built up to be more powerful then my extrinsic motivation.  That is hard in today's society when so many things are dependent on external factors "creating" happiness.  Who knew weight loss would bring about this type of reflection??
 
I can say that after ending my 6 classes on Fridays there has been a change in my cardio and my upper body strength, so I guess there are results but I have to keep going or else they will turn into jelly.  Ok I will post stats tomorrow or later today.... I need to see this chart thing so that I can see that it is real.  Wii Fit here I come again :P