Hey Challengers-
Welcome to week 3. How's everyone doing? Are you sticking to the schedule? This week things start to get a bit more challenging. We are doing 6 days of push ups with only 1 rest day. Next week we'll have a bit of a break with only 3 days on and 4 days of rest.
If you are currently not commited to a regular exercise program, I'm hoping this will spark some interest and get you to add a few things to your day. With the weather turning warmer, walks outside are wonderful. Get that bike tuned up and take it out on the road. Pick yourself up a jump rope and set up a circuit for yourself. When I am lifting weights I like to grab my jump rope and do 50 jumps instead of resting. This will spike up your heart rate and help you burn more fat and calories. Many of you have told me that you have added sit ups to your routine, which is a great option.
For those of you that have been doing push ups for a while and are looking for more of challenge you can add weight to your push up. I have a friend whose son likes to sit on his back when he does his push ups. If you are at the gym or have access to weight plates you can have someone place one on your upper middle back for extra resistance. Please be sure this is done safely and supervised. Another great option is to do them on a BOSU ball. If you can do more push ups than the schedule says, by all means do what you can. This will only make you stronger and give you an advantage once we get into the higher rep numbers.
Happy Pushing!
Tennille
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Juice Cleanse Day #2
Day 2 was super tough. I only made it until 4:00 and then had to get something to eat. I snacked on some celery and then had a salad for dinner.
I woke up feeling really good and started my morning with 32 oz. of lemon water. I followed that with a detox tea and then a green juice. I really liked this juice and was totally happy how it made me feel. About 10:00 the kids and I walked to the library and back home. I was pretty tired and hungry when I got home. I had another detox tea and then more juice for lunch. By 1:00 I was so tired that I actually napped for over an hour. I followed that with 20 minutes of reading my book. I don't ever sit down on the weekends, let alone napping and reading. I have to say it was kind of nice.
By early afternoon I could think of nothing but food and how tired and weak I was feeling. I was never shaky or nauseous so I felt good about that part. I decided that for my first cleanse 1 1/2 days were plenty. I was hoping for 3 days but I think I'll try that again at a later date. 1 day felt so great and is totally manageable. I definitely recommend just one day for your first cleanse. While I had done months of research on just about every kind of cleanse and felt that I had prepared my body as much as I possibly could, what I did not do was taste test the different kinds of juices that I wanted to make. I found that I really only liked 2 or 3 of the juices, 2 of them I could barely choke down.
I did lose 3.2 lbs in 2 days which was a nice bonus. I may try this again next weekend but we'll see. I'm excited to get back to eating solid food and also cooked food. I had planned to continue my raw diet through this next week but I think I am going to plan at least 1 cooked meal a day. I can't wait for the veggie kabobs I have marinating for dinner tonight!
I honestly do not miss grains, dairy and meat all that much. I do plan to keep dairy out of my diet and will try and limit my grain consumption to the gluten free types. I will likely incorporate meat back into my diet but still on a limited basis. After all my research the last few months and the last 3 weeks of diet experimentation, I truly believe a plant based diet is the healthiest of all. Go Green!!!
I woke up feeling really good and started my morning with 32 oz. of lemon water. I followed that with a detox tea and then a green juice. I really liked this juice and was totally happy how it made me feel. About 10:00 the kids and I walked to the library and back home. I was pretty tired and hungry when I got home. I had another detox tea and then more juice for lunch. By 1:00 I was so tired that I actually napped for over an hour. I followed that with 20 minutes of reading my book. I don't ever sit down on the weekends, let alone napping and reading. I have to say it was kind of nice.
By early afternoon I could think of nothing but food and how tired and weak I was feeling. I was never shaky or nauseous so I felt good about that part. I decided that for my first cleanse 1 1/2 days were plenty. I was hoping for 3 days but I think I'll try that again at a later date. 1 day felt so great and is totally manageable. I definitely recommend just one day for your first cleanse. While I had done months of research on just about every kind of cleanse and felt that I had prepared my body as much as I possibly could, what I did not do was taste test the different kinds of juices that I wanted to make. I found that I really only liked 2 or 3 of the juices, 2 of them I could barely choke down.
I did lose 3.2 lbs in 2 days which was a nice bonus. I may try this again next weekend but we'll see. I'm excited to get back to eating solid food and also cooked food. I had planned to continue my raw diet through this next week but I think I am going to plan at least 1 cooked meal a day. I can't wait for the veggie kabobs I have marinating for dinner tonight!
I honestly do not miss grains, dairy and meat all that much. I do plan to keep dairy out of my diet and will try and limit my grain consumption to the gluten free types. I will likely incorporate meat back into my diet but still on a limited basis. After all my research the last few months and the last 3 weeks of diet experimentation, I truly believe a plant based diet is the healthiest of all. Go Green!!!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Juice Cleanse Day 1
I did it! 14 days on a raw diet. It went much better than expected and I plan to incorporate many more raw food items in my daily meals. Now on to bigger and much harder challenges...a 3 day juice cleanse. Today was day 1 and I have almost made it through. It took quite a while to make all my juices for the day to take to work with me but it was good to have 3 different options. My green juice called for a few too many limes and I can barely choke it down. That recipe, of course, made 32 oz. of juice. I think tonight I'll juice a few pears and see if that will cut down on the sourness of it.
I did not feel hungry this morning at all and it was a breeze through lunch. I made plans to go visit friends and their 2-week old, beautiful baby boy on my break. It was nice to not be sitting down drinking juice where I would normally be eating whole foods. I was hungry this afternoon but had a cup of Yogi Detox tea with almond milk and that helped a ton.
My energy was pretty good until about 5:30 tonight. I didn't get much sleep this week and had a few pretty intense workouts so I can't contribute all my sleepiness to the cleanse. After lots of research, I found that a lot of people doing cleanses will also drink a small amount of almond milk. I am absolutely in love with the stuff and just so happened to get a homemade milk recipe the other day. I busied myself making a huge pitcher and it is absolutely delicious. I will enjoy some later tonight in my tea.
I had some pretty bad ups and downs today but that's totally to be expected. I will see how I feel in the morning but right now I can see how they say to only do this for 1 day your first time trying a cleanse. It's not the easiest thing to do. Kudos to those who can stick with it!
Tennille
I did not feel hungry this morning at all and it was a breeze through lunch. I made plans to go visit friends and their 2-week old, beautiful baby boy on my break. It was nice to not be sitting down drinking juice where I would normally be eating whole foods. I was hungry this afternoon but had a cup of Yogi Detox tea with almond milk and that helped a ton.
My energy was pretty good until about 5:30 tonight. I didn't get much sleep this week and had a few pretty intense workouts so I can't contribute all my sleepiness to the cleanse. After lots of research, I found that a lot of people doing cleanses will also drink a small amount of almond milk. I am absolutely in love with the stuff and just so happened to get a homemade milk recipe the other day. I busied myself making a huge pitcher and it is absolutely delicious. I will enjoy some later tonight in my tea.
I had some pretty bad ups and downs today but that's totally to be expected. I will see how I feel in the morning but right now I can see how they say to only do this for 1 day your first time trying a cleanse. It's not the easiest thing to do. Kudos to those who can stick with it!
Tennille
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Easy Way
This morning I was teaching Boot Camp and we had just finished a very hard exercise when I mentioned how much effort it takes to build muscle. I followed that with how little effort it takes to gain fat. Is it hard to drive through McDonalds and eat a burger and fries at lunch? Is it hard to sit on the couch and crack open a Diet Coke and a bag of chips? Is it hard to circle the parking lot until you find the closest spot to the door?
Do you wish you had an Easy button to fix life's little problems? Way too often we find the path of least resistance so we can fit more into our day, get to where we need to be quicker and stay in that little area we call our comfort zone. But at the end of the day how do those choices make you feel?
I see the look on the faces of my Boot Campers when they leave class. It's the look of pride. It's the look that says they got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and came to class with a smile on their face and a body full of energy. They've given everything they have and their bodies are being rewarded. My Boot Camp co-workers could go get a burger instead of sweating it out with me on their lunch breaks, but their not taking the path of least resistance.
I can honestly say I have never seen that look of pride from someone who's just sat down to a greasy burger and fries. Do you choose the Easy button?
Tennille
Do you wish you had an Easy button to fix life's little problems? Way too often we find the path of least resistance so we can fit more into our day, get to where we need to be quicker and stay in that little area we call our comfort zone. But at the end of the day how do those choices make you feel?
I see the look on the faces of my Boot Campers when they leave class. It's the look of pride. It's the look that says they got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and came to class with a smile on their face and a body full of energy. They've given everything they have and their bodies are being rewarded. My Boot Camp co-workers could go get a burger instead of sweating it out with me on their lunch breaks, but their not taking the path of least resistance.
I can honestly say I have never seen that look of pride from someone who's just sat down to a greasy burger and fries. Do you choose the Easy button?
Tennille
Monday Weigh In Week #10
I can't believe we are at week 10 of the Biggest Loser already. I also can't believe that it has taken me 10 weeks to finally get it together and start seeing some serious results. I bought a scale this weekend and it's nice to have one at home where I can consistently weigh myself. Monday's magic number was 140.2!!! That means I am down 10.1 lbs. in 10 weeks. I'm proud of the 10 lbs. and am glad that I am losing about 1 lb. a week. This way I know that I will be able to maintain this weight loss. I was struggling for a few weeks with clothes not fitting as well as I had expected and seeing 6-7 lbs lost wasn't as motivating for me. Now that the 130's are just around the corner, I have a renewed sense of purpose for doing this contest. I'm excited for what the next few weeks will bring.
Tennille
Tennille
Sunday, March 18, 2012
100 Push Up Challenge Week 2
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and enjoyed this unusually warm weather. How did everyone do during week 1 of the challenge? I hope this is the start of a new, fitter and healthier you. A challenge like this is positive in so many ways. It helps us break out of that comfort zone and try something new. For many of you it's something you are able to do with your spouse, significant other, child or your entire family. For most of us, we didn't expect spring to come quite so quickly. Anyone out there think twice about putting on a tank top this weekend?
I'm challenging everyone to take a before picture flexing those pipes, or lack there of. Tape that picture right to your training schedule and put it somewhere you will see it everyday. When you have completed your push ups for that day, put an "X" through the day. You will be able to visualize how much closer you are getting to the end.
The biggest question that I have had so far is how much rest time should we take between sets. At this point everyone is going to be different. But I would say a 30 sec. rest between sets is adequate for these first few weeks. No one should be doing 1 push up in the morning, 1 at lunch, 1 at dinner, etc... You will not build muscle that way. Especially when we are only doing 5 push ups total. For the first 4 weeks you should try and complete all sets in about 5 minutes. As we increase the reps, things are going to get harder and you may need to increase your rest time up to 2 minutes.
I know that everyone immediately jumped to the end and saw the 2nd to last day has 3 sets of 98 push ups. I guarantee I will be doing 98 in the morning, 98 at noon, and 98 at night. If you are faithful to this program and continue with me for the full 12 weeks I don't care how you get through those 3 sets of 98.
Good luck this week. I have never met some of you so I would love to hear your story about why you chose to do this challenge. I would also love to see some of those before pics!
Oh, and we have 97 people doing this challenge. How awesome is that??!! I just need 3 more...spread the word for me.
Tennille
I'm challenging everyone to take a before picture flexing those pipes, or lack there of. Tape that picture right to your training schedule and put it somewhere you will see it everyday. When you have completed your push ups for that day, put an "X" through the day. You will be able to visualize how much closer you are getting to the end.
The biggest question that I have had so far is how much rest time should we take between sets. At this point everyone is going to be different. But I would say a 30 sec. rest between sets is adequate for these first few weeks. No one should be doing 1 push up in the morning, 1 at lunch, 1 at dinner, etc... You will not build muscle that way. Especially when we are only doing 5 push ups total. For the first 4 weeks you should try and complete all sets in about 5 minutes. As we increase the reps, things are going to get harder and you may need to increase your rest time up to 2 minutes.
I know that everyone immediately jumped to the end and saw the 2nd to last day has 3 sets of 98 push ups. I guarantee I will be doing 98 in the morning, 98 at noon, and 98 at night. If you are faithful to this program and continue with me for the full 12 weeks I don't care how you get through those 3 sets of 98.
Good luck this week. I have never met some of you so I would love to hear your story about why you chose to do this challenge. I would also love to see some of those before pics!
Oh, and we have 97 people doing this challenge. How awesome is that??!! I just need 3 more...spread the word for me.
Tennille
Monday, March 12, 2012
Raw Diet Day 4
It's day 4 and I woke up this morning feeling really energized. I headed out for a fabulous run that didn't involve wearing 3 layers of clothing. I love running after it rains and hearing the birds chirp and actually coming home drenched in sweat instead of freezing cold. Can you tell I'm sick of winter?
I got my normal 7 1/2 hours of sleep last night but today I never had a time during the day that I felt tired. Most days I have a period after lunch where I want to lay my head down and close my eyes. I was so excited to feel normal and awake all day. I'm really hoping this diet is the contributing factor.
I have had one or two times during the day when I felt pretty hungry, but never famished, shaky or nervous. I have been very well prepared and always have fresh veggies cut up and ready to grab whenever hunger strikes. I think this will be key to a successful 14 days. I think I'm on to something here and I'm so excited to see some real changes in my physique, skin, hair, nails, energy level, etc....
Who knew vegetables could be so awesome!
T
I got my normal 7 1/2 hours of sleep last night but today I never had a time during the day that I felt tired. Most days I have a period after lunch where I want to lay my head down and close my eyes. I was so excited to feel normal and awake all day. I'm really hoping this diet is the contributing factor.
I have had one or two times during the day when I felt pretty hungry, but never famished, shaky or nervous. I have been very well prepared and always have fresh veggies cut up and ready to grab whenever hunger strikes. I think this will be key to a successful 14 days. I think I'm on to something here and I'm so excited to see some real changes in my physique, skin, hair, nails, energy level, etc....
Who knew vegetables could be so awesome!
T
Monday Weigh In Week #9
Wow, it is really frustrating not having a scale at home. Mine has been sitting in it's usual spot for the last week. I've been pulling it out, shaking it a bit and hoping to not see Err2 come up when I step on it. So far, no luck. What is a girl on a budget to do? What any sensible person would do, take money out of the grocery budget and get a scale, right? Well, we'll see when I go shopping this weekend what I can find. In the meantime, I will continue to use the scale at work.
This morning I weighed in at 143.1. This is my lowest weight so far. I'm down 7.2 lbs. I had great weight loss over the weekend so I'm hoping that continues throughout the week.
This morning I weighed in at 143.1. This is my lowest weight so far. I'm down 7.2 lbs. I had great weight loss over the weekend so I'm hoping that continues throughout the week.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Raw Diet Day 2
I have officially survived 2 days of my raw food diet challenge. So far it's going pretty good. I am only eating vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. I haven't noticed any huge changes as of yet but I'm sure they will come. I know that in about a week I'll need to cut down on my oils. I'm consuming a lot of nuts, nut butters, and avocados. I need to wean myself down before I start the juice cleanse.
All in all, this is going great and I'm thinking I will have a very successful 14 days.
All in all, this is going great and I'm thinking I will have a very successful 14 days.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
100 Push Up Challenge
Push ups have been one of those exercises that I haven't excelled at over the years. They are tough, they require lots of upper body strength, and frankly I don't think they are very fun to do. But, I never stop thinking about how awesome it would be to get down and crank out 50 of them. So, that was my exercise goal for the biggest loser challenge. By the end of the 12 weeks I want to be able to do 50 push ups in a row.
Then the other day I got an email from a health and fitness blog that I follow asking me to see how many push ups I could do. I skipped over the test, closed out the email and didn't think much of it. The next day I get another email telling me in 12 short weeks I can go from doing 1 push up to doing 100 push ups. Something clicked and I immediately printed off the training schedule, told my co-worker I was going to do it and asked if she wanted to do it with me. Then I took it to my lunchtime Boot Camp and handed out the training schedule. It was infectious. By the end of the day I had set out to find 100 people to do the challenge. After 1 day I have successfullly recruited 36 people to take on this incredible feat. If you want in on this, click the link below to get the training schedule. Let me know you are in and I will add you to the list. Call your friends, family or co-workers and get them in on this.
Good luck and I hope you'll join me.
http://www.yurielkaim.com/1258/how-to-do-more-pull-ups-and-push-ups/
Then the other day I got an email from a health and fitness blog that I follow asking me to see how many push ups I could do. I skipped over the test, closed out the email and didn't think much of it. The next day I get another email telling me in 12 short weeks I can go from doing 1 push up to doing 100 push ups. Something clicked and I immediately printed off the training schedule, told my co-worker I was going to do it and asked if she wanted to do it with me. Then I took it to my lunchtime Boot Camp and handed out the training schedule. It was infectious. By the end of the day I had set out to find 100 people to do the challenge. After 1 day I have successfullly recruited 36 people to take on this incredible feat. If you want in on this, click the link below to get the training schedule. Let me know you are in and I will add you to the list. Call your friends, family or co-workers and get them in on this.
Good luck and I hope you'll join me.
http://www.yurielkaim.com/1258/how-to-do-more-pull-ups-and-push-ups/
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday Weigh In #8
Wow, week 8 already. This is going much faster than I had thought it would. It makes me a little nervous that I am no where close to my goal weight. But yesterday I weighed in at 143.4 so I'm down 1/2 a lb. After deciding that I would do this 30 day raw food challenge, I glanced in my fridge and cupboard and realized that I had just went grocery shopping for the month and definitely don't have enough raw food to sustain me for 30 days. I also hate wasting food so for the next few days I plan to eat up a few things that I can't stand to throw out while still adding tons of fresh fruit and veggies through out the day. I also find that if I ease into things I am a bit more successful.
On Friday, the 9th, I am hoping to go 100% raw for 14 days. After that I want to do a 10 day juice cleanse. This would not be the crazy only drink water for 10 days and take laxatives kind of cleanse. This would be using my juicer and drinking lots and lots of fresh veggie and fruit juice.
Wish me luck...and my family!
On Friday, the 9th, I am hoping to go 100% raw for 14 days. After that I want to do a 10 day juice cleanse. This would not be the crazy only drink water for 10 days and take laxatives kind of cleanse. This would be using my juicer and drinking lots and lots of fresh veggie and fruit juice.
Wish me luck...and my family!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Raw Food 30 day Challenge
I've been researching the amazing health benefits of a raw food diet and have wanted to try it but haven't really known how or when to start. I realized today that I have 1 month until the end of the Biggest Loser contest. I'm not seeing the results that I have wanted and was contemplating what I could do to help get me there. I know that adding more raw foods to my diet will be just what I need to boost my energy and get my metabolism fired up. I'm also hoping to see some great results with the cleansing and detoxing that this type of diet can bring.
I will not be doing 100% raw as that is just plain crazy if you ask me. But I think 30 days is a very sustainable time to try and go as raw as possible. I will try and do daily updates but anyone that knows how busy I am, knows this is probably wishful thinking!
I started today at 143.9. Oh, and my scale at home broke. So, I'm relying on the scale at work. I don't know if this is a good thing or not but I'm sure by the time I get around to actually buying a new scale at home the contest will be over. Wish me luck in my new endeavor. I've never committed to a challenge like this before and I'm hoping to not only gain the physical success from it but also the mental.
Tennille
I will not be doing 100% raw as that is just plain crazy if you ask me. But I think 30 days is a very sustainable time to try and go as raw as possible. I will try and do daily updates but anyone that knows how busy I am, knows this is probably wishful thinking!
I started today at 143.9. Oh, and my scale at home broke. So, I'm relying on the scale at work. I don't know if this is a good thing or not but I'm sure by the time I get around to actually buying a new scale at home the contest will be over. Wish me luck in my new endeavor. I've never committed to a challenge like this before and I'm hoping to not only gain the physical success from it but also the mental.
Tennille
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