Challenges

So the first challenge is about to draw to a close.  Please remember to submit your weights and measurements, or have them done in class, by the end of the first week in June.  We will announce our winner in the 2nd week. 

The next challenge is a 10 week challenge starting June 18th.  Its relatively easy, but requires commitment. Your instructors have joined MyFitnessPal, a free calorie counter.  There are apps for phones and a website.  It is an online calorie counter, not much different from WW other than it uses calories rather than points.  We all have decided to do the recommended "lose 1 lb per week" selection.

Before you participate in this challenge, especially if you have any reservations or concerns, please talk to your doctor.  There may be things regarding your health that you need to take into account before joining the challenge.

We're doing this challenge to try to help increase awareness regarding consumption. We have found that exercise alone does not get results. You have to eat healthy as much as possible, for multiple reasons that benefit your overall health.   Also, it will give you a few minutes for yourself.  We all are busy with our families, especially now that it is summer, but it is important for us to make time for ourselves.  Entering into your log can be your 5-10 minutes just for you.  It may be stressful at first, espcially, when you see how quickly unhealthy choices add up in the calories, but it will get better!  And you are doing it for yourself; therefore taking care of yourself, and in turn taking care of your family... but we've covered this topic in previous posts... so on to the challenge rules.

The challenge is to log your daily intake and activity for at least 6 days a week for 10 weeks.  The rules are as follows:

1. Log everything you eat, except for fresh or frozen fruits and veggies - as long as they are not in a sauce, syrup, or other kind of additional flavoring.  This follows the WW formula. We're including this for many reasons, for instance, want you to try to up your intake of healthy carbs (i.e. the natural sugars in fruit), rather than to unhealthy carbs, like a candy bar or something.   If you are not a fan of fruits, try making a protein shake with them.  Angela and I use a great protein shake called Nectar Sweet... it by far tastes the best and has the least amount of calories and fat of all the shakes I've tried.
2. Get at least 8 cups of water per day.  If you get at $4 sweatproof cup at Walmart, there's at least 4-5 of your glasses right there in one container.  If you work out, try to drink more than that.
3. Try to get at least 3-5 days of 30+ minutes of cardiovascular exercise where your heart rate is elevated for the 30 minutes.  Now the 30 mins does not include a warm up and cool down.  Try for at least 5 mins on each, including stretching.
4. Try to incorporate 2-3 days of some weight training/conditioning/yoga.  It doesn't have to be long and intensive, just do something to engage your target areas.  The calendars and supplemental exercises are still great tools.  If you have been following them, then create your own workout that will hit your target spots.  Remember to always warm up a little before doing any conditioning exercise to avoid injury.  Do not lift more than you feel you can. Your muscles should get tired by the end of three sets of 12.  If they do not, increase your resistance.  If they are tired before then, decrease or drop your resistance completely. 
5. Do not log exercise activity until the day after it is done.  Stick only to your calories for the day and try not to go over.  For example, if you have 1500 calories, then try to intake only those calories. Do not delve into your exercise calories. 

I may have forgotten something, so there may be additions.  Above all we ask you to be honest about your entries - because the only person you cheat by cheating on this challenge is yourself.

There is no "winner," per say, in this challenge, you win if you do it.  All participants who produce a printed log (it doesnt have to be with MyFitnessPal) at the end of the 10 weeks (through the last day of August) will receive a free ZumbaChicas sticker and possibly something else.  To up the ante, we may add a special prize for whomever has the most change in their start/stop measurements/weight. 

I will be providing these guidelines and your instructors usernames in class. You can also private message me through the blog or on Facebook.  We hope to build a small community on the website for our group so that we can support each other.  Jill and I have found that having a buddy makes doing all of this so much easier!

Contact me if you have any questions. I'll be announcing all of this in class. And I promise to be better about the updates to the blog... life has been busy for me the past month or so... so now its kinda resumings its normal pace...

>M<

Apologies

Ok... so I've been kinda lazy about the blog lately... I haven't updated the back pages like I promised... and I totally apologize... but it's been BANANAS lately... shirts, zumbathons, events... it has seemed neverending...

and if you know me... i'm a stickler for research.  I don't want to post something without doing the background work and that takes a while... so hopefully that will be forthcoming (uh coz my library books are due back soon) after this week's round of zumba events...

so don't give up on me... if you have found something that works for you, WONDERFUL! keep at it!

Summer is here in the South, even though it is only early May... when you are not at Zumba, go outside if you can stand it! Get the kids (and ourselves) away from the TV and game console and go to the park or playground! Just remember to be safe with sunscreen, water, etc...

Til next time.. don't forget to log your intake ZatNE-ers... I know I haven't talked about it in class but I will... promise

>M<