Fun little artcile to share:
If you click on the picture, it should take you to the website with a full size page that is much easier to read...

Do you track your progress?

Well, do you? I have often touted my favorite little app, Loseit (also available online at http://www.loseit.com/). One of my favorite features is the graph it creates as I enter my daily weight. There are a lot of ups and downs; but more downs than ups! There were many times when I felt discouraged, like I wasn't making any progress. Looking at this graph would remind me that no matter the ups and downs, it was all a downward trend and the difference between day 1 and today is amazing (30 lbs!). Even if the difference between today and yesterday isn't that great. It's the BIG PICTURE. It's the LONG RUN. It's the LIFESTYLE CHANGE.


So, how are you tracking your progress? My husband kept a sheet of paper taped to the wall by our scale where he wrote in his weight each day. Some folks write it in their calendar, some keep a journal. Some focus on inches. We need something tangible that we can look at and remember, "Yes, I am doing something." Please share how you record your progress.

Monday

Only 5 more weeks to go!  The focused and motivated person could still lose 10 pounds, maybe even more.  The steady and slow person could easily lose 5 pounds.  The unmotivated could even easily-er (is that a word?) gain 5-10 pounds.  Which will YOU be?

I read a good article about self-speak.  The way we talk to ourselves has a huge impact on self-esteem.  (Are you thinking of Stuart Smalley? "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and - darn it! - people like me.") Anyway, next time you start berating yourself, stop!  Ask yourself if that is how you would speak to your friend who was feeling discouraged...ask yourself if that is how you try to motivate your child...treat yourself as well as you treat those around you.  You deserve it.

I'll be at the LIFE aerobics tonight at 6:30PM - Hope to see some of you there!

Lent Starts tomorrow

Just a quick post.  I'm assuming most of you have seen Cyndi's weekly email with a reflection on Endurance.  For me, a key to endurance is constantly reminding myself of the goal and keeping my plan a priority.  This is true for fitness and other long term projects such as paying off debt or training the dog.  It's so easy to lose sight of why we are doing this and to let other things start pushing our fitness goals lower on the priority list.

Well, Lent starts tomorrow and it's a great time to push those fitness goals back to the top of the list!  Commit to fasting from that food that keeps luring you to exceed your calorie limit...Commit to walking the neighborhood while praying the rosary 5 days a week...It's almost like a new beginning and renewed purpose. 

I leave you with a great quote shared by Julie Cash:

“Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet.”

And a funny:

Great Metabolism Article

Hello and happy Sunday.  One week to the next weigh-in...here's a great article that sums up all the little things I've heard about metabolism:

Metabolism article

Read to the last page to find out what NEAT is (here's a hint:  Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenises).  This could the NEAT difference between a happy weigh-in next week...

Leave a comment and let me know what you think about the article.  I'm off to pace the halls, to be NEAT.

What if it was YOUR Midterm conference?

Yesterday was conferences day for our children.  I am beyond thrilled to report that all 4 had great conferences and we even have honor roll students in the house!  It led me to wonder ... What if we had conferences with each of YOU at this midpoint of the Fitness challenge???

Who would be on honor roll?  Anyone close to making Principal's List?  How about some reports of great effort, just not really showing the results yet?  What about the dreaded comments such as "bad attitude" or "not reaching your potential"? 

I imagine there are some in this challenge that are partially motivated to get in shape to be a good example to their children; to model a healthier lifestyle.  If that's the case, (even if it's not) and you find yourself slacking off a little, or not doing your 'homework' (read that as Exercise), think about what you tell your children when they don't want to study or do their homework.  Do you need to tell yourself the same things? 

I like to tell my kids "You'll thank me later, when you get a good grade on that test" or "Wouldn't you rather get it done in 30 minutes of focused work instead of 2 hours of distraction and excuses?"  Well, you WILL thank me later when you look back on a few weeks and see that you've lost 5 - 10 - maybe even 20 pounds over the course of this challenge.  I hope you will admit that committing to your workout schedule, treating it as given and not an option is better than spending all day thinking about how you are going to excuse yourself out of it.  We know what we need to do, just as our children know what work they need to do to get good grades.  Let's do it!

If you're brave enough, leave a comment on this post with a Mid-Challenge review that you think accurately sums ups your efforts and results thus far.

Did you weigh-in?

Hi Team ORANGE.

Several of us missed the weigh-in on Sunday - Yikes!  What's going on?  What can I do?

Please contact Cyndi today to report your weight.  Even if it's not what you were hoping for, it is what it is.  There's no beating ourselves up or giving up.  It's all about seeing what worked and what didn't and what we can tweak as we hope for greater success for the next weigh-in.

I leave you with the task to reflect back on what motivated you to join this challenge in the first place.  Are those reasons still valid?  Than you still need to keep trying.  Failure is really not an option.  You know how to get where you are, you already got there.  It's time to figure out how to get where you want to be.  Doing nothing won't get you there.  Giving up won't get you there.  Sticking with it WILL.  Maybe not as fast as you want but it WILL. Science is on our side -I've said it before.  Eventually eating less and moving more will result in weight loss.  And moving less and eating more will result is weight gain.  Those are truths that cannot be justified or excused away.  So - go back to your reasons for starting this challenge to help you accept these truths and decide which one will rule your life.