The Official "200 Sit Up" Challenge Post

Alright y'all. I got a couple responses on my Facebook page about this, and a couple comments on my last post about it, but it was the weekend and I'm going to assume that instead of just deciding it was something you can't do, that you were all away and thus didn't comment. So consider this post your official sign up for joining me on The "200 Sit Up" Challenge.

Here's the dealio:
Sunday, May 22nd - Perform the initial test outlined on the 200 Sit Up site. Click HERE for the test link.
Once you have determined how many sit ups you are able to do, then decide on 3 days per week when you are going to do the program.
I have selected Monday, Wednesday and Friday - - just to make it easy.
Monday, May 23rd - This will be the official kick off date for the challenge but it doesn't mean you have to do anything this day...stick to your chosen days.

Some of us may feel like we have to repeat week 5 and/or week 6, just like it says on the site. This is better than forcing yourself to complete it in the 6 week time period, so if you need to take longer...please do!!
Six weeks will take us to Sunday, July 3rd .
I will post regularly on my Facebook page to see how y'all are doing, and I hope you'll fill us in.
I am hereby calling out all you lurkers and hoping that you will join us. Please leave a comment with your blog link (if you have one) so that we can all see how you're doing.....often the best support we have is each other!
So far we have:
MeNikkiRach from Sweet As NZ Girl
WHO ELSE WILL JOIN US??? GET THOSE CORE MUSCLES GOING!

On the road again.....(sing it with me!)

POP QUIZ!!!

Q1) What do you get when you combine one overweight woman, a week of absolute complacency and non motivation, a week with an injured arm, another week of being sick, and absolutely no tracking of food?

A) A gain of 2.1kgs (4.62 lbs) in the space of 3 weeks.


Q2) What do you get when you take that same overweight woman, flip a magical switch in her head to restore motivation and remove complacency, and send her back to Weight Watchers meetings?

A) ME....back on track, with a vengeance!



Yes folks, that's right. I had a massive gain over 3 weeks. But I'm over it. I'm done. I'm not happy to go back there again. I've come so far that I am just NOT willing to gain it all back. I am currently sitting exactly where I was a year ago and that's just not ok. I know, I know...been there, said that. But if you could feel the pain in my thighs that I am feeling right now, you'd know what I'm talking about.

So what have I been up to? Well, other than my eye opening weigh in on Wednesday, I've been busy. I have been tracking every single morsel of food that goes into my mouth. I can't believe that a year and a half in, I am still struggling to perfect this. You might think it should be easy. Prepare food, write it in the book with the correct points, eat food. Thing is, I still have moments when I don't think to write it in the book til much later and then I find myself guesstimating the portion size and corresponding points. I'm getting better though..and at least I'm still remember to write it down. I really need to start taking it to show Tex....keep myself accountable.

Thursday evening I went to the gym with my friend KitKat. Y'know...the one who is often mistaken for being my daughter? Well, she's easily 50kgs (110 lbs) lighter than me but we did HER gym program. I modified it a little bit because there was a couple exercises that I just cannot do....yet. But in the end, I essentially did her program. Also? After watching Kazz from Kazz's Journey talking about her rapidly decreasing time doing 1km on the rower, I thought I'd have a go. So I did. I managed 1km in 5 minutes and 10 seconds. Now I'll concentrate on cutting down that time and catching up with Kazz.

Friday morning my thighs were screaming at me. I'm sure y'all know the kind of scream I'm talking about. "Oh my freaking gawd, how could you do that to me?! Are you insane?!!" I decided that it might be possible to alleviate some of the discomfort by going for a walk. A fast walk. So I did! I walked 6.1kms...in 45 minutes. I KNOW! I wouldn't have thought it was that far but I came home and plotted it out on Google Maps and turns out it really was that far! Now, when I started this journey, that distance would have been seriously uncomfortable. That speed? It would have killed me. Now it's just something I can do. NSV!!!

Today is Saturday and I took the day off exercise wise because I had a netball game to go and coach and housework to do, but tomorrow I'm planning a very long walk and possibly a swim.

I'm down to one and a half glasses of Coke Zero per day...and about 8 bottles of water in my fancy new Bobble bottle.

As Randy Jackson would say: "Maggie is in it to win it!!!"

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In other news, I wanted to share a couple fantastic blog posts with you, by some very wise people:

Kimberly over at A Spicy Boy, A Cat, and My Fat Ass had this great post about artificial sweeteners. Well worth a read.

Jack Sh*t has another round of his W.I.D.T.H (Why I Do This Here) submissions up. They're inspirational, thought provoking and hey, you might even find a new blogger in there that has something in common with you.

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I am starting a challenge, to mix in with my other workouts. I found this great site called "200 Sit-Ups" and I'm going to take the challenge. I'm going to do my best to get to the end of the 6 week program and be able to do 200 sit ups. There's also, if you look down the side bar, "100 Push Ups", "200 Squats", "150 Dips" and coming soon will be "25 Pull Ups". I'm keen to do the push ups and squats but I think I'll leave the dips and pull ups for a while.

Anyone want to take the challenge with me?

**Edited to add: If you are interested in doing the challenge with me, I'll be starting on Monday, May 23rd

Tools For The Trip

"As I mentioned previously, the tools that allow for optimum health are diet and exercise"

~ Bill Toomey

Hi y'all! I think I'm channeling a bit of my WW leader, Tex, with that opening. She says "y'all" a lot...makes me giggle every time.

So how's everyone doing this week? There's been a lot of you out there who have been struggling in the same way I have. I'm curious to know how you've been managing lately.

Me? I'm still struggling....but I'm on my way. Let me introduce you to some of my Tools For The Trip:

This here is my planning board. I used a permanent marker to divide it into days and write the days on and then I use a whiteboard marker for the dates and the planning. At the top of each day I write any evening commitments that might affect what we have for dinner and then underneath I plan out our dinner meals at least. During the school holidays I try to plan out lunches too, but it doesn't always work.

Part of this tool is my ever growing collection of Weight Watchers cookbooks and any other cookbook that has the nutritional info listed so that I can work out the points. I don't always use my cookbooks in my planning. Sometimes we have a week where convenience is going to be key and that's where meals of spaghetti, sandwiches, eggs & toast and salad come into play.

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This is my latest haul from the most awesome fruit & veg shop here in town - and it's only part of it. I couldn't fit everything on the table.

I used to buy my fruit & veg from the supermarket, and still do occasionally, but this new shop is the bomb! This haul only cost me $30...which, in this country, is amazing.

The kids and I are back to our "try a new fruit or veg every fortnight" gig, and pumpkin & persimmon are it right now.

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Um. If you haven't tried these things yet, then I highly recommend you get off your ass and go to the store for some. Right now.

I'll wait.

Ok.

Are they not the best things ever? And only ONE ProPoint each! Yummy!

These have many benefits: they cure my craving for something sweet, they're cold and seem to curb any hunger pangs & they also keep my hands busy. Win, win, WIN! Try 'em!

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Ok. So I can't claim any great insight into any of the things I've listed so far or will continue to list...and this is just the same. Water. Duh. We all know that water is an essential thing in this journey towards a healthier us.

BUT!

The wonderful SuzieQ had one of these bottles at a meeting and I loved it, so I went searching. Finally found one yesterday.

It's called a "bobble". It's BPA free, recyclable, has replacement filters and the filters last for about 300 bottles worth of water. I love it. And I'm getting a TON of water into me right now.

My back teeth seem to be a bit confused right now, what with all the floating around, but I imagine they'll adjust eventually.

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Ahhh the evil pedometer. Have you got one of these?

I have a love/hate relationship with my pedometer. On the one hand, I can earn extra ProPoints to use and track how active I haven't been during the day. On the other hand, it seems to do its darndest to keep that step goal away from me.

A few weeks ago, I was all talk about winning this step challenge we were starting at WW and then, Murphy's Law being what it is, I hurt myself. And then I got sick. So, while I've been racking up some steps, it hasn't been nearly enough to even come CLOSE to winning the step challenge. Instead, I've challenged myself. Instead of 10,000 steps a day, I am aiming for 15,000 a day.

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Last, but not least, is my beloved Points Calculator. I take this thing everywhere.

I get some funny looks when I am standing in the aisles at the supermarket, busily calculating the points in cans of baked beans or bags of rice, but it is totally worth it. By taking this bad boy with me, I know there are less points in Basmati rice than in white rice. I know the budget beans are less than the pricey ones.

This way, I can buy something and be safe in the knowledge that I'm not going to get it home and find out it's going to use up a huge portion of my ProPoints allowance. I have one in my purse and one at home.

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So those are the basic tools that I find essential to my journey. Do I always make use of them? No. But I'm learning to. There's also my wonderful bike, Greta, and my feet for walking...not to mention my iPod and my friends.

But the most important tool that any of us has in this whole thing, as corny as it sounds, is our brain. If we can't wrap our brains around the way things should be, if we can't come to terms with the things we need to cut out, tone down, amp up or bring in....then we'll never succeed. This is exactly the problem I've had for so many months now. Aside from becoming complacent, I don't think I ever really FULLY invested in the process. I talked a big game, but I never played by the rules. That's all changing. Right NOW.

"I think the hard thing about all these tools is that it takes a fair amount of effort to become proficient."
~ Bill Joy

So....what are YOUR tools for success?