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30 Day Challenge in Review

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (8)· September 15th, 2009

So, today is Day 30 of my challenge with Nancy and our friend Amy, as well as Day 30 of my first go around of the EA Sports 30 Day Challenge. All in all, a good month!

For the personal stats, I’m down 5.5 pounds. Not too shabby. Probably enough to win our three-person challenge. And, you know, better down than up. But I can’t lie, I wish it was more. I wish it would be easier, or at least faster. I know that slow and steady is the way to go and all of that, but 5 measly pounds seems like such a drop in the bucket when I’ve got soo much more to go. But, alas, it’s a start. My approach this month was to count my Weight Watchers points as best as I could, and complete the 30-Day Challenge on the EA Sports Active game for the Wii.

The EA Sports 30-Day Challenge was definitely worth doing. I managed 19 of the intended 20 workouts (I’ll do #20 tomorrow, on day 31), and they really are workouts. Real squats, real effort, real sweat. And I have to say that I noticed a difference from the first day to the last. Now that the 30 days is up, the workouts feel easier and I’d definitely be ready to move up to the medium level (I did this month on “easy”). Jump lunges still suck in a major way, but most of the other exercises feel easier than they did a month ago.

Nothing’s perfect, and there were times that the game seemed to not quite pick up on what I was doing. It took a while for me to figure out the right way to do the fast kick-ups and have them recognized in-game, and as Nancy pointed out, it means that you look like Phoebe Bouffet going for a run. Sometimes the tempo is a little weird. But overall, I love that the workouts are programmed so you don’t have to choose individual exercises, and the interface is pretty darn nice. I’m a little done with it for the moment, but I could definitely see going back to it after trying something else for a little while.

So, anyways, month 1 is up, but the Biggest Loser challenge on Loser Moms is still going strong. The competition and desire to win actual money help keep up the motivation, I cannot lie. Going to try to be good over the weekend while we spend time with M’s family for Rosh Hashanah, and I think that I’m going to start taking my licks from Jillian when I get back. I hear it’s rough, so think strong thoughts for me.

Comments (8)

Categories : Just me

Tags : 30-Day Challenge, EA Sports Active, exercise, weight loss

Exercisin’

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (7)· September 10th, 2009

So, I’m working my way through the 30-Day Challenge on EA Sports Active. I was in a pretty good habit of setting my alarm and getting up to do the workout before the kids woke up. Working out first thing in the morning is about the only reliable way for me to do it, since I can come up with a lot more excuses as the day wears on. But between a head cold and my kids deciding they no longer were happy to sleep in, I had a few unscheduled missed days. Deciding I needed to get back on track, I figured the kids could handle hanging out while I do my 20 minutes or so of exercise. I figured they might even be entertained. Not only do they like TV as much as the next 2-year-old, but they also got a huge kick out of some exercise video my mom and her sisters did when we were in Wisconsin.

And, not surprisingly, it turns out they get a total kick out of watching me do it. M has taught them to say “go, Mommy, go!” They chit-chat about the “lady” (my on-screen avatar) running, they want to see her skate (an in-line skating jumping drill), and they mimic the trainer’s instructions. Heck, all you have to do is give Daniel some empty spools of thread and he’s off to the races (his attempt at an unassisted forward “roll” and self-congratulatory “you did it!” is a bonus).

Exercisin’ from Goddess in Progress on Vimeo.

Definitely means I’m out of excuses for not getting my exercise. The kids love it, too!

Comments (7)

Categories : Just me, Toddlers, Video

Tags : 30-Day Challenge, EA Sports Active, exercise

When in doubt, motivate with money

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (6)· August 26th, 2009

So, I’ve completed my first week of our little weight loss challenge, and it’s a bit mixed. I’m enjoying the EA Sports Active game and its built-in 30-day challenge quite a bit. It most definitely gets me working hard and sweating, though I do wish it had at least an option for some guided stretching. The down side of the week is that my plan of “just try to eat better” was not super effective. Shocking, I know! That someone with life-long struggles with food and weight would have difficulty in simply “eating better!” Heh. So, I’m back to counting my points with Weight Watchers, which is kind of a drag but really works.

But I decided I needed just a touch more motivation, and I found it over at Loser Moms with Sarah and Devra. They’re running their own Biggest Loser contest, and they’ve put their money (well, all of our money) where their mouths are. Everyone who wants to play along chips in $10, and the person who loses the most weight (percentage-wise) between September 1 and October 15 gets the cash (I think some goes to the runner-up, too). I think they’re still open to new participants, so jump on in with me, would ya?

Comments (6)

Categories : Just me

Tags : 30-Day Challenge, weight loss, weight watchers

Confessional

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (23)· August 17th, 2009

I gained 65 pounds when I was pregnant.

Not obscene, especially in the realm of twin pregnancies, but not a great thing when I started out too heavy to begin with. Postpartum, when I was breastfeeding at least part-time, I dropped about 40 of that by my 6-week checkup. Then I stopped breastfeeding and continued to eat as though I was.

Nine months on, nine months off, that’s what they say about “baby weight.”

Or, I think it was my beloved Stacy London who said that, once your baby is a year old, you can’t call it baby weight anymore.

Does two babies qualify me for an extension? Either way, it doesn’t matter. It’s been two years and I’m still hovering within 5 pounds of my 6-week checkup weight, 25 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant and (*grumble mumble too many*) pounds way above where I was when I got married. And even that wasn’t anything approaching slender.

Regardless, I’m never going to be a particularly thin person, and that’s fine. But here? Where I am today? This sucks.

I’m officially a size 18. There. I said it. Do you know how crappy that feels? Do you know how crappy it feels to have to go to a “special” store just to get a pair of jeans? Blech. Blech blech blech. Shitty, that’s how it feels.

But I can either bitch and moan about it, or I can try (once again) to do something about it. This morning, I set my alarm and got up before the kids to do Day 1 of the EA Sports Active 30-day Challenge. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of this game a few months ago, but it arrived more than a week later than it was supposed to and the timing didn’t work out for me to be able to jump in on the challenge in June. But now I’m home, and here I go.

And seriously? It was an honest-to-god workout! I’ve managed to get a bit of exercise using the Wii Fit games before, but this one is no fricking joke. It goes right from one exercise to the next, and my heart was pumping and I was sweating bullets. My legs are sore from the squats I haven’t done in ages. And this was the low-impact version. Gah!

Just for a little extra kick in the pants, I’m doing a weight loss challenge along with blog- and real-life-friend Nancy at the Zimmer Zoo. She and I (and another MOT friend of ours) will work our tails off for the next 30 days. Whoever wins (Biggest Loser-style, percentage-wise) will get treated to a girls’ night out by the other two. And to hold myself accountable, I did the full-on “before” business this morning. Got on the scale (gah). Took measurements of my legs, bust, waist, etc. (double-gah). And stood in front of the one full-length mirror we have, which had been buried in a closet, and took a picture of myself (*eep! ack! faint!*). I’m not inclined to share any of those right now, but I have them. I know.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another quart of water to drink.

Comments (23)

Categories : Just me

Tags : 30-Day Challenge, EA Sports Active, exercise, weight loss, Wii