Here's the usual introductory paragraph from drbloodaxe:
The premise is simple. I'll post a weekly review diary around 10-11 EST Saturdays, wherein we all share our experiences over the last week in getting in better shape physically. Nutition and exercise are the most likely subjects of comment, but we want to know (if you're willing to share) your start weight and goals if you're trying to lose weight, or your BMI, or your starting exercise plan and goal, or however else you're measuring your progress. The more of us supporting each other there are, the more likely each of us is to meet our own individual goals, or so we hope ;)
More after the fold.
Okay, folks, I thought I'd share some thoughts on challenges. This is a perfect topic for the Get Fit Challenge, because this is a challenge, right? When I dove into this, I made some pretty specific goals (don't know if I shared them all here, but I have them). Yes, I want to lose 15 pounds by the end of the year, and I'm close to halfway through that. But I also wanted to be able to do 5 pull-ups; lose 2" off my waist, 2" off my hips, and 6" total elsewhere; run a sub 8 minute mile; and lose one size.
I guess everyone has their "thing" to motivate them--challenges must be mine. I like having a starting date, an ending date, and a discreet goal. It's so measurable... I make incremental progress that easily tracked, I meet a goal, and then I feel good about myself. Then I find another one.
I wouldn't be able to do the "big" things (the 15 lbs, the inches) without the other smaller goals and challenges. After all, my goal isn't to lose 15 pounds this month. It's a lot easier if I aim to lose 1 1/2 pounds this month. (And then try to do it again.)
There are some challenges specific to Spark People that I'm participating in ( think many of you know that I'm a big fan of Spark People, and it's an easy place to join and track challenges)--one that I'm really proud of that we share with dailykos.com is the Presiden'ts Fitness Challenge--I just earned the bronze award. :-)
I want to share a few other challenge/goal things that I've set... I've been keeping track of "fitness minutes" from the start of the year, and this week, I passed 10,000 minutes. Along the way, I've set running mileage goals (for the 1st half of the year, and now, I'm starting to set monthly goals). My goals there are pretty modest--200 miles in the first half of the year, and 50 miles for this month. (Making good progress on both!) For my pull-up goal--I'm pulling up from the floor (so not a true hanging pull-up; my arms start a little bent), but I can't believe how much progress I've made on these. I'm doing two sets of six of these about 3x/week. (I need to start working more on the straight arm pull-ups.)
And so on.
So... this week... share the challenges you're working on, how you're progressing, and what motivates you to keep moving.