35 Burpees and More!

Hello there! I'm sure all of you have seen these fitness challenges going around. Most of them are around 30 days long and involve a wide range of activities. There is even one for naps! :) So on February 1st, I decided to do the burpee challenge. Have you heard of it?

I think most of us remember the burpee from grade school gym class. When I was a kid, I didn't like burpees and lets be honest, they didn't like me either. So what prompted me to choose this one? Several reasons. In my Train 2 Mud program that I'm "trying" to do, burpees are included on certain workout days. After doing them a couple times, I realized they really are a good overall workout. Also, one of the races I hope to run eventually ,called the Spartan Race, makes you do 30 burpees if you can't complete an obstacle. Not to be pessimistic, but I think I'll be doing A LOT of burpees during that race. I figure if I can master the burpee, I can master the race!

Today is Day 8 of the burpee challenge. I only did half my burpees for Day 6 (Day 7 was a rest day), so today I had to do 15 for Day 6 and 35 for Day 8. Oy! Can I just say BURPEES SUCK! Yes, they do. But man they are oh so good for you. I did my 15 this morning, then went and did my Train 2 Mud workout. Later this evening, I managed to get my 35 burpees in for today AND did 25 mins of yoga. I know what you're thinking, "Wow Julie! You are a beast!" No. Other than the burpee challenge, I haven't worked out in a week. It's not good. Especially, when my BIG race is in less than three months. Not. Good. At. All. But doing something, is better than nothing. Slowly but surely I am getting there.

Before I go for tonight, I want to list some of my short and long term fitness goals. By putting them out there, I hope it will help keep me accountable to them.

Short Term Goals:
- Complete the 30 day Burpee Challenge
- Drink only water/unsweet tea. (This one has been sooooo hard for me. I looooove sweet tea and cherry limeades. Mmmm!)
- Stick with the Train 2 Mud program.
- Sign up for smaller mud runs leading up to the Tough Mudder (the BIG one). I did this one today!!!!

Long Term Goals:
- 25 full body weight pullups (Currently I can do ZERO, but I'm working on it!)
- 100 full body weight pushups (Right now I can do three!)
- 5K in under 30 minutes. A more ambitious goal is to do it in under 24 minutes so I can compete at the front of the pack in the Diva Dash! (Diva Dash is one of the smaller races I signed up for.)

So there it is. The good, the bad and the ugly. Are you doing any challenges right now? If you are, which one(s) are you doing and how's it going? :)

DietBet

Hola! How the heck are ya? It's been a while since I've written. I started back to work and that has kept me pretty busy the past couple of weeks, but now things are starting to settle down a bit. Including the extreme heat! We've had such nice days here lately. I love it! In fact I love Fall all together. It is my favorite season and I'm so glad it's finally here! A friend posted this on Facebook the other day and I couldn't agree more. Except for the football part. ;)

With this nice weather, you also get more people running/jogging/walking outside and this past week I have been insanely jealous of every one of them. I miss running so bad. On the up side, I don't think I'm too far away from running again. The doctor said I could, but I'm being VERY cautious with this foot. Probably too cautious, but that's okay! :) I gotta tell ya though, two months of not working out at all has made me a bit grumpy. I felt sooo good when I was running and now I feel sooo not good! No bueno!

In steps my great friend, Jillian Michaels. Yes, we are best buds. She may not know it, but we are. LOL. I follow her on facebook, and one day she posts about her DietBet that was starting soon. I had never heard of DietBet so I researched it. You bet a certain amount of money that you'll lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks. All the players that succeed split the pot. I needed some motivation, so I went for it, but not before pigging out on pizza, green tea frappucino's, cookies and of course chocolate. Here is a picture of my last piece of chocolate before my weigh in:

 Note: I was being good too, updating my IPod with new songs for my workouts. :)

The DietBet started this past Tuesday, but you can do your official weigh in up to 48 hours earlier. I did my weigh in on Sunday night, so I officially started my diet/exercise regimen on Monday. My goal is to eat clean (veggies, fruits, lean meats and water) and work out for at least one hour, four days a week. My focus is on calories in vs. calories out. Here is a summary of my first three days:

Day 1 - Awesome! Came in under my calories for food and went to kickboxing!!! I love kickboxing and I missed it very much! FYI: I have tried to do this healthy thing before and I always did well the first day. By the second day I was pretty much over it...

Day 2 - Actually wasn't half bad. :) Hubby and I walked for over 30 mins and I went to yoga. I love yoga and I missed it very much! LOL. Also, did well on the eating portion, which I am SUPER proud of. Food is my weak spot.

Day 3 - Sucked big time!!!!!! I had a bad day and I have found I'm an emotional eater. When I eat, the world is a better place. It was very, very, very hard not to just go on a binge. I have a horrible sweet tooth too. Sugar is heaven on earth. I am so very proud to say, I refrained and I came in under calories on the day! Woohoo!!!!!!!!! This was a HUGE success for me.

I know the next few weeks are going to be so hard, but they will also be so rewarding at the same time. I plan to share more throughout this journey and I might even be brave enough to post the before photo. It is NOT pretty! I know many of you are on your own journeys too, so feel free to share any helpful tips you have! Now, go out and enjoy this gorgeous weather! :)

SMART Planning

Hey guys! How are ya? Things here are improving. Since breaking my toe about two weeks ago, I am now able to walk again! I am slow and have a bit of a limp, but I am mobile! Can I tell you how stinkin' happy that makes me? It is true what they say, you really don't appreciate something until it's gone. Right now I appreciate the ability to walk WITHOUT crutches.

Anyway, enough about my toe. LOL. So the past few days I've been drawing a blank on what to write about next and I had to remember what is my main goal: to focus on reaching my dreams. The first step for me was writing them down, but if you write them down and then forget about them, they're pretty much as good as the paper they're written on. So what do I do next? Plan! Remember the saying "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

For me, I make plans all the time, but I struggle with sticking to them. Part of the issue is I don't write them down, so I usually end up forgetting the plan and even the goal I was striving towards. Another issue is I don't make SMART goals as I plan. Many of you, have probably heard of this before, but so few of us actually use it, especially me! I'm hoping by writing down my plans and using the SMART method, I will get closer to my dreams!

Specific- I use the 5 W's to help me get a specific goal: Who? What? When? Where? Why? 

Measurable- Your goal needs to be able to be measured. Can you answer the questions how much or how many?

Attainable- Is your goal realistic? Sometimes you may not have to change the goal, just how you will get there or how long it will take.

Relevant- Does this goal match up with the overall mission?

Time Bound- What is the time frame? What is your target date? What can you do today?

That last question is the one I think I forget about the most. I get so overwhelmed by everything that has to be done, that I don't do anything. So what can I do today? I'm going to make SMART goals towards reaching my dreams and actually write them down this time. Wish me luck!