Category Archives: Health

Ending My Scale Hiatus (or That Will Be A One-Time Experiment)

Posted on December 19, 2014 | Comments Off on Ending My Scale Hiatus (or That Will Be A One-Time Experiment)

When I set the goal to not step on my scale during the Nike ID Challenge at Orangetheory, I knew it was going to be tough. I had no idea it would be as bad as it was.

At first, it wasn’t that horrible. Because weighing myself first thing in the morning is a habit, it did seem weird the first few mornings not getting on the scale. It felt like I was forgetting to do something while getting ready for my day.

It helped that part of this challenge happened over Thanksgiving. I’m used to not weighing myself when I’m out-of-town (although I have traveled with my scale in the past). While I was in San Diego, I didn’t miss weighing myself.

But as soon as I got home from Thanksgiving, it got really bad. I wanted to weigh myself to see how “good” I was over Thanksgiving. I use the scale as a reality check when in my head I feel like I gained 10 pounds from one meal. I don’t know when or if I’ll ever stop having that fear. But the scale is a good way to look at the numbers in black and white and take the emotion out of it.

But I wasn’t able to get that fear out of my head. I thought about ending my no-scale challenge, but I really wanted to prove to myself that I was able to do it.

After Thanksgiving, not weighing myself in the mornings was causing me to have some mini panic attacks. They weren’t as bad as they can get, but I was feeling anxious and uneasy for a while in the mornings.

Then, this past weekend when my challenge was almost over, I had a massive panic attack. I have no idea if the no-scale challenge caused it, but it’s possible. It was one of the panic attacks where I sweat like crazy, my vision is blurry and blacks out a little, and I ended up passing out (fortunately, I know that sometimes I pass out so I was waiting out the panic attack on my bed so I didn’t get hurt). I passed out for a few minutes and when I came to, I was feeling a bit better. I was able to breathe normally again and I continued on with my day.

Finally, yesterday my challenge ended. I did lose a little weight over the past month, but it wasn’t more than I usually lose in a month. Not stepping on the scale didn’t help me lose weight nor did it make me happy. So this is the end of that challenge, and I have no plan on ever doing it again.

I’m not sure if I will weigh myself every day like I used to. But if I do, I’m totally ok with that. If stepping on the scale every day helps me stay calm and not have to deal with panic attacks, it’s worth it. And while many people might disagree with my decision because you really should only weigh yourself once a week, I’m finding out what works for me. And I’m finally ok with the fact that sometimes things that don’t work for anyone else really do work for me and don’t harm me in any way.

But I am proud of myself that I was able to stick with this challenge and prove to myself that while it wasn’t fun, it can be done.

 

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Posted in Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Getting Through It Because Of My Workout Friends (or 3 Days In A Row)

Posted on December 15, 2014 | 1 comment

This past week of workouts were intense! First of all, I was putting a lot of focus into my nutrition and I learned how my body reacts with different foods during different times of the day. I never worried too much about what I ate for lunch, but this past week I discovered that my workouts are much better when I pretty much eat only protein for lunch with a banana as a pre-workout snack (this might shift a little, but for now this is working for me).

The second reason this week was crazy was it was not only a 4 workout week, I had 3 days of workouts in a row! I’ve never done more than 2 in a row, but in order for me to have enough workouts for the Nike ID Challenge I had to do 4 workouts this week. And there was not a chance for me to go on the weekend. So I did Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Monday was an unusual day. First, I had another guest come with me to class (now I have all 3 I need for the challenge!). She is a new friend of mine through Tone It Up. It was awesome getting to meet someone new, but as we were chatting before class, our coach Bruce told us that it was going to be an interesting workout.

It ended up being a partner workout. This was the first time I had experienced this at Orangetheory. Basically, you partner up with another person and one of you does the cardio portion while the other does the strength portion. The person on cardio keeps going until the strength person is done and tags you. Then you switch.

This was pretty awesome. It motivated me to keep doing my reps because the longer I took on my strength workout the longer my partner had to do the cardio. I think my friend enjoyed it too, but she was a bit overwhelmed with it all (a common feeling for first-timers).

Also on Monday, I did my last photo for the Nike ID Challenge. I’ve been having fun with my photos, but the last one had stumped me as to what I should do. I had to take a photo with a Orangetheory pen or water bottle. That didn’t seem too exciting, so I kept putting it off until I thought of the perfect idea.

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I did my best to spell out OTFLA with them! My friend Sarah stood on a bench to take this photo while I laid on the ground with the pens and water bottles. I think all the staff at Orangetheory enjoyed watching me attempt this photo.

Wednesday’s workout was a normal one (as in not a partner workout), but I was starting to get hip pain from the weather. And since that was the start of my 3 days in a row, I was being careful with medicating myself.

Thursday was another partner workout and I think it was even tougher than the one we did on Monday! I had to do so much rowing that day (which I do enjoy more than the treadmill but is much tougher to do) and I was using some pretty heavy weights. After that class, I questioned how well I could do on Friday.

Friday morning I was actually pretty scared about how I would feel in the workout. My 4th workout in the week is always a tough one and my body never feels rested enough. But even if I couldn’t give what I can give every other day, I knew I was going to give as much as I possibly could.

It was a class with short blocks for the workout. Every block was only 5 minutes long and there were 8 blocks total. So we weren’t doing anything for more than 5 minutes (with the exception of the treadmill where we had 2 blocks back to back). I was definitely sore, but I wasn’t feeling that much worse than a typical 4th workout.

My calorie burn was much lower than usual, but some calorie burn is better than none. And the proof that the entire class worked hard was on the window.

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We fogged it up so much that it was easy for us to all sign our names as people who spent their Friday kicking butt!

This week brings the end of the Nike ID Challenge. I will have done everything asked of me (the last required workout for me will be today). I’m sure you all can guess that just because the challenge is ending doesn’t mean that I’ll be stopping at Orangetheory. I’m going to go back to 3 days a week for this week, but I’m toying with the idea of doing 4 days a week every other week until it’s not hurting me too much to have the 4th day.

But for now, I’m happy to focus on pushing myself a bit more each and every week.

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First Time Bulk Cooking (or Making My Kitchen Smell Yummy!)

Posted on December 11, 2014 | 3 comments

Inspired by my cooking confidence that I gained while making the salmon dish, I decided to try something else new.

Bulk cooking.

I looked up a lot of ideas on Pinterest and various websites to find some basic things that should be easy enough for me to do. I decided on one basic protein (chicken breasts) and a couple of vegetables. I hadn’t completely decided on the vegetables prior to going to Trader Joes because I wanted to see what I would find and if anything inspired me.

I ended up buying the chicken breasts as well as broccoli, green beans, red onions, red peppers, and sweet potatoes. I also got some baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and hummus to have as snacks.

It was one of my more expensive shopping trips, but I was buying food for the week. Plus I usually don’t buy meat (at least not meat I have to prepare) so that was a bit more expensive. But considering that this should be my only shopping trip for the week and that I’m not eating take out or delivery this week, it actually is less than I would usually spend.

Before I knew it, my kitchen was looking like this.

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I cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise and put a little olive oil and some Trader Joes seasoning on them. Then they baked until the insides weren’t pink anymore (about 35 minutes). The sweet potatoes went in the same time that the chicken went in, but they ended up taking a little over 2 hours to bake (starting at 400 and then ending at 450). The broccoli, onions, and green beans went in when the chicken was done. I did learn my lesson with the green beans that I overcrowded them and they steamed more than they baked, but they were still yummy. And the onions were perfectly caramelized!

Overall, I think my first try at bulk cooking went really well. My timing of things was a bit off, but that’s to be expected when you aren’t a big cooker.

All the food went into storage containers to cool before going into my fridge.

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With everything in the fridge, it looked more crowded than it usually is, but since it’s just me at my house, that’s fine.

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I made my first reheated bulk dinner the next day after a workout. I put everything on a plate and microwaved it (I’ve since learned that I need to smash up the sweet potato otherwise it doesn’t heat all the way through). My first plate looked beautiful and was very yummy.

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I’m not sure if I’m going to bulk cook every week. I’m going to see how this entire week plays out. In a typically week, I can cook on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays so I’m toying with the idea of doing some bulk cooking but then cooking a recipe on those days and having leftovers on the day between cooking days.

Either way, this is a major step for me. I don’t know why I’ve been holding back on cooking for so long. While it’s a bit tough considering how small my kitchen is, it’s not impossible. And now I’m eating much healthier (and much more food since everything is lower in calories than frozen dinners). Hopefully I can make this trend continue just like my workouts have been.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Saving, Shopping, Weight Loss

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Garlic Parmesan Salmon and Asparagus (or Getting Over My Fear Of Cooking)

Posted on December 9, 2014 | 2 comments

I’ve mentioned my fear of cooking before. If it’s something I’ve made a hundred times or is really easy, I’m totally down to cook it. But if it’s something new or using my oven (which is always tricky to use), I’m pretty hesitant.

But for the Orangetheory Nike ID Challenge, one of the required photos for the Instagram portion was me with a homemade meal. And while I could have made something I’ve made before or even taken a photo at Thanksgiving, I took advantage of this and decided to challenge myself.

I had pinned this recipe a while back because it seemed simple and would have an easy clean up. I was right on both counts. So here it is for all of you.

When I made this recipe, I doubled it so I would have leftovers for the next day. I highly recommend doing that.

Garlic Parmesan Salmon and Asparagus Foil Pack

What You Need:

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6 oz portion of salmon

7 asparagus stalks (tough ends cut off)

1 Tbsp whipped butter

1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic pressed

2 tsp lemon juice

Ground pepper to taste.

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Put all ingredients except for salmon and asparagus in a bowl and mix them to make a paste.

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Place a piece of foil on a baking sheet large enough for the salmon (I made my foil twice the size of the salmon to be able to fold it over).

Arrange your asparagus in a row on the foil.

Place the salmon on top of the asparagus.

Coat the salmon with the paste you made with the other ingredients.

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Cover your salmon tightly with the foil. I added a second piece of foil to make sure that all the seams were tight.

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Bake in the over for about 30 minutes. Unwrap, plate, and enjoy!

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Seriously, that’s it! So easy and since it’s wrapped in foil, the clean up is pretty much non-existent. When I reheated the second piece of salmon the next day, I did it under the broiler so the top would get nice and crispy. I would recommend doing that to everyone. It made it much better!

I’m slowing getting used to eating fish again. I was having sensitivity issues with it for years, but I’ve finally outgrown it. I’m discovering which fish I like and what I don’t. I’m not a huge salmon fan, so when I make this again, I will likely use something I like (I’m a fan of tilapia and cod). And you could use the paste mixture on chicken, but I don’t know how chicken does in a foil pack. But you could definitely bake it with the garlic and parmesan!

This was so easy and delicious that it inspired me to try to cook some more! But I’ll have more about that another day.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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4 Workout Week (or Getting Some Friends To Come Try Orangetheory)

Posted on December 8, 2014 | 2 comments

I’ve passed the halfway mark in the Orangetheory Nike ID Challenge. This challenge hasn’t been easy for me, but that’s the point of it.

Monday was an awesome day. My friend Teresa and her boyfriend Adam were able to come and work out with me. Teresa had been wanting to come with me for a while, but it just wasn’t working out for her. But once she realized that if she and her boyfriend came now they would be helping me win a challenge, it got them to the class!

I was hoping that they would be able to start on the treadmills with me, but because the class was so crowded, they started with the strength section. So I didn’t exactly get to work out with them, but we did chat afterwards and they seemed to have had a great time (although tired from the tough workout)!

The Monday Challenge was actually part of the workout on Monday. It was the fastest 1 mile run you could do. For power walkers, it was the fastest 1/2 mile at 10% incline without your hands ever touching the rails. Sadly, because I don’t walk evenly due to my hip issues, I have to hold on while I walk (I’ve fallen off before). So I wasn’t technically able to participate in the Monday Challenge, but I still did my fastest 1/2 mile I could do!

After class, I got a picture with Teresa because that is one of the pictures required for the Nike ID Challenge. We decided that we were going to pose in superhero poses, and our coach Bruce and the business manager Jonathan decided to join us.

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Wednesday’s class was tough because my body was just hurting so much. The weather here is making me feel more pain than usual, and I was hoping to not have to take more painkillers than I needed. I pushed through, but when I got home I ended up taking my painkillers on a schedule (which is something I try not to do too often because it means that I have 2 painkillers in my system at all times).

On Thursday, my body reacted to taking more painkillers than I had in a while and I got sick. I thought it might have been food poisoning at first, but I was having different symptoms. With food poisoning, I can’t keep food down. But I was eating toast and bananas and having no issues with them. So while I can’t be 100% sure that the painkillers caused the issue, they were the main variable in my day.

Friday, therefore, wasn’t so great for me. I was still feeling the effects of the day before so I tried cutting back on my painkillers again. And that lead me to feeling a lot of pain in the workout. It was so bad that the coach, Whitney, even noticed and kept checking in on me. It wasn’t my best workout (but probably not my worst either), but I just kept telling myself that even a crappy workout is better than no workout.

Saturday was my 4th workout of the week. I’ve only done with once before, and I felt it in my body then. Going into the workout I thought that maybe it wouldn’t hurt as bad as the last 4th workout, but after about 15 minutes my body was feeling it.

I know that getting myself to the point where I can do 4 tough workouts in a week is something to work toward. My body is adjusting to 3 workouts in a week (although they are still tough workouts for me) and I’m noticing a difference in my heart rate in class. It’s tougher for me to make it into the orange zone than it used to be. And between workout blocks my heart rate drops down towards a normal rate so much quicker than it used to. These are great things and proof that I’m getting stronger and healthier. But it also means that I need to start pushing myself harder. This isn’t easy in the cardio portion of class because my hips limit what I can do on the treadmill. I can try using the bike or elliptical, but since I know I can do those, I’d rather push myself on something that I struggle with.

Overall, while these workouts weren’t record breakers for me, I’m proud of the work that I got done. I have another 4 workout week coming up this week, and I’m changing up the schedule of when I’m doing them a bit. I’m really nervous, but I’m going to try my best.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Finding A Community (or Online Motivation)

Posted on December 5, 2014 | Comments Off on Finding A Community (or Online Motivation)

For a long time, my weight issues were a solitary thing. Even though clearly people could see that I have an issue with food by looking at me, it wasn’t something that I openly shared.

When I did the RFO diet at UCLA, that changed a bit. I started attending group therapy (instead of solo therapy) and I found people who I could somewhat relate to. But even with my group at RFO, I never fully fit in. I was very much the youngest one there. And almost everyone else had a husband and family to worry about and have to cook for. I, on the other hand, was just me and didn’t have to focus on anyone else in my life eating food on a daily basis.

I’m still in touch with several of the women I met through RFO, but I haven’t been a part of that program for years.

Then, when I started my blog, I realized that sharing my issues was allowing me to be more open with the people I love and I found out how many other people were hiding their issues. It really helped me realize that I’m not alone.

And then this year, I found another community to share and be open with. My Orangetheory family. I never realized how connected I could be to workout friends. At SoulCycle, while I did have friends who came with me to the workout, I never made friends in class (except with a few of the instructors). But at Orangetheory, I’ve not only made friends with the staff and coaches, I have friends that I’ve made in the workout class as well!

It has been so helpful to have someone there to cheer me on on the next treadmill (and save my favorite treadmill for me when I’m not there first). Also, it’s nice to have someone there to chat with before class starts or to vent with when we are in the middle of a tough class.

I never knew how much I needed this support until I had it.

And then this past weekend, I’ve joined what will hopefully be another community to motivate me and support me. I signed up for the Tone It Up plan. I had heard about this plan before and was pretty intrigued. It’s a one-time fee for the plan (and all the updates that they do) plus being a part of their online community. I didn’t have the money for a while, but I got some money for Hanukkah and I spent some of it on this.

There are Facebook groups for this plan and I’ve joined the groups that are local to me. And I put out a message to the other group members that I work out at Orangetheory and would love some more workout friends.

Instantly, everyone in the group made me feel so welcome and many of them are going to work out with me in the coming weeks.

It’s so funny that for so long I thought that I needed (and wanted) to be alone while dealing with all my food issues. But now that I have people who are supporting me along the way, I can’t imagine not having my own personal cheering squad with me every step.

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Checking Things Off The List (or 4 Workouts In 1 Week)

Posted on November 24, 2014 | Comments Off on Checking Things Off The List (or 4 Workouts In 1 Week)

This past week was the first week of workouts for the Nike ID Challenge that my Orangetheory is doing. I have every intention of winning those shoes and I’ve been planning out how exactly I will accomplish each task (although I do still need to find 3 people who want to take a free class before 12/17).

Monday’s workout was a tough one (as always), but definitely doable. At the end of the workout, we had the Monday Challenge. One of the tasks for the Nike ID Challenge is to do 2 Monday Challenges. Since I do them every week, this is probably going to be the easiest thing to check off my list.

The Monday Challenge this past week was a 2 minute row. We have done this challenge before and because I push myself so hard in the first minute, the second minute is always a killer. But I tried to pace myself much better this time. The second minute was still tough, but it didn’t seem unbearable until the last 30 seconds. And I got 50 more meters this time than I did the last time we had a 2 minute row for the Monday Challenge!

Before Wednesday’s workout, I had a chance to do one of the Instagram tasks for the Nike ID Challenge. I got a picture of not one, but two of my favorite Orangetheory coaches!

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And yes, we deliberately posed like that so we could get the Orangetheory logo in behind us.

Friday’s workout was possibly the toughest one yet. There were a lot of hills and I had a lot of trouble catching my breath again when we were doing the walking breaks between the blocks of treadmill intervals. As soon as I got home, I started regulating my painkillers because I knew that the next day would be one of the most challenging yet.

In order for me to get 15 workouts in before the end of the challenge, I have to go 4 times a week most weeks. Part of the issue is also that next week I will only be at my Orangetheory location for 2 classes because I’ll be out-of-town most of the week.

So this past week, I also worked out on Saturday. I’ve done back to back workouts before, but this is the first time that I’ve had 4 workouts in a single week.

I was hurting pretty badly from Friday’s workout still, but I knew I had to try my best.

Before class, I checked off another Instagram picture for the Nike ID Challenge.

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These fabulous ladies that I’m with are Sarah and Brittany. They are my workout buddies. I used to get to work out with Brittany every class, but she switched class times. So I don’t get to see her unless I’m doing a class that isn’t a part of my usual schedule (like Saturdays). Sarah takes the same Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes that I do. She always saves my favorite treadmill for me and motivates me throughout the class to keep going. We had to take a picture for the Challenge of our Orangetheory family, and these ladies are a huge part of my family there.

The Saturday workout wasn’t necessarily a hard class, but my soreness made it seem that way. But I got through it and burned a ton of calories.

This week will be a 3 workout week. 2 at my usual location and 1 at the location in La Jolla (which doesn’t count for the Nike ID Challenge). It will be a nice break from my 4 workout week this past week!

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Attempting To Go Scale-Free (or A Personal Challenge)

Posted on November 18, 2014 | 2 comments

While I’m attempting Orangetheory’s latest challenge, I’ve decided to try a challenge of my own for the next 30 days.

I want to see if I can go the next 30 days without stepping on my scale.

I honestly don’t know if I can do this, and if I can’t make it all 30 days I’m not going to be too upset with myself. But I want to see if I can judge my weight goals without the scale telling me what I weigh.

Right now, I use the scale as a safety blanket in a way. When I eat too much, I weigh myself the next day to prove that I haven’t gained back everything I lost. I might have gained a few pounds, but I can lose them again. But without seeing the number on the scale, to me it feels like I might have gained 20 or 30 pounds overnight.

I’ve been forced to go scale-free before when my scale has broken, but I’ve never done it voluntarily. I might put my scale in my car or one the top of my closet so I’m not tempted to weigh myself (right now my scale lives in my bathroom).

For a good part of next week, I won’t be able to weigh myself at all because I will be out-of-town at Thanksgiving. So that will hopefully help me reach my goal of going scale-free until the end of the Orangetheory challenge.

My original plan was to weigh myself yesterday and then weigh myself at the end of the 30 days to see where I am, but I actually forgot to weigh myself yesterday morning before I ate breakfast. And I can’t weigh myself after eating because that makes the scale higher than it should be. I don’t necessarily weigh myself every day, so the last time I weighed myself was on Friday last week.

So I’ll use that as my start number and see what my end number ends up like.

I’m still going to be tracking calories and exercise, so I’ll know if I’m doing ok with my daily calories. But I won’t have the instant results by stepping on the scale the morning after a “good” day. I’m curious how that might affect my motivation to stay on track (I usually feel extra motivated when I see the results that I desire).

My only fear with this challenge/experiment is if this will cause me to have a panic attack. I can see how one can come on from this, and if I see or feel any signs that I am about to have an attack, I will have to make a decision then if I want to wait out the attack and try to continue going scale-free or if it isn’t worth it to me to continue.

The fear of having a panic attack is the main reason why if I can’t complete this challenge I won’t be too upset with myself. I know that the only way I won’t be able to do it is if something like that happens and I feel like my mental health is suffering because of this. I don’t want to have a bunch of panic attacks or have to take my meds more than I need to. So I will do what it takes not to have that result.

So far, 2 days down and 28 to go on this personal challenge. No matter how far into this challenge I go, I’m curious what the results will be.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Working Out Injured (or No Excuses)

Posted on November 17, 2014 | Comments Off on Working Out Injured (or No Excuses)

This past week was a week of injured workouts. I had hip pain due to the 5K and the weather and what I am considered one of the worst blisters I’ve ever had in my life.

But I didn’t let that stop me from working out at Orangetheory 3 times this week!

Monday was definitely a struggle. I had my foot bandaged up, but that almost seemed to make the problem worse. Because of the bandage, my shoe didn’t fit properly. It was a run/row day, which I thought would make things easier. I assumed that the treadmill would be the toughest part for me. Turns out, the rower was extremely painful. I went very slowly with the rowing section and probably didn’t get as good of a workout as I could have, but something is better than nothing.

The Monday Challenge was holding a medicine ball over your head while you were in a deep squat. My arms were doing fine, but after about 30 seconds the bandage on my foot felt like it ripped in half. To make sure I didn’t hurt myself further, I quit after that. I didn’t make the top 5 for the challenge, but I’m ok with that.

On Wednesday before my workout, the new challenge was announced. It was a slower day at work, so between calls and chats from customers, I made myself a checklist to make sure I would win the free shoes!

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My OCD and hyper-organizational skills do come in handy from time to time.

For that workout, I decided to not wear a bandage on my foot but instead cover the blister in Bacitracin and blister block. While my foot did feel tender, it was much less painful that Monday’s workout. I still had to do modifications (like doing my squats on my toes instead of my heels), but since I’m used to doing modifications for my hip issues, this wasn’t a big deal.

Friday was another run/row day. The rowing is still tough, but it’s significantly better than it was on Monday. My blister is healing very nicely. I’ve been coating it in Bacitracin when I go to sleep and that does seem to be making a difference. I thought it would take 6 weeks for it to fully heal, but I think in a few more weeks it should be back to normal. But while the rowing was tough for me on Friday, since it was a strength day I decided to push myself. For the weights, I used 15 pound weight for everything except the Ultimate Burpees. I started working out at Orangetheory using the 10 pound weights. And lately I’ve been using 12 pounds and occasionally doing 15. But this time, I wanted to see what I could do. My arms are a little sore, but nothing drastic.

While this might not have been my best workout week and my highest calorie burns. This week was a major victory for me. There was a time where I felt like I had to take a week off from everything after a 5K. My feet would hurt so much and I would be exhausted. Even last year I would take a few days off after a race to recover. But now, I’m back to my usual workouts within 2 days. And not only that, I didn’t let being injured stop me either! I just found a way to work around it and keep going.

This is definitely a new me when it comes to working out. I can’t believe how much I’ve changed in the past few months. Just a year ago, I thought doing 3 tough workouts in a week would be too much for me. But now, that’s my regular routine. And I go out of my way to make sure I get my 3 workouts in a week. And soon, in order to win my free shoes, I’ll be doing 4 workouts in a week.

That should be interesting.

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A New Challenge (or Who Wants To Come Workout With Me?)

Posted on November 13, 2014 | 1 comment

A new challenge at Orangetheory was just announced! And again, I’m going to do it!

This one is to get a free pair of Nike IDs (and who doesn’t want to get some free workout shoes?)! There are a lot of rules to this challenge, but I’m going to make a checklist for myself so I make sure that I complete all the tasks.

The first part of the challenge is to go to 15 workouts between November 17th and December 17th. If I had all my regular workouts each week, that still wouldn’t be enough. Plus, one workout the week of Thanksgiving is going to be at a different location. So in order to complete this task, I know I’ll have to add a 4th workout a few times. I’m looking at maybe adding a few Saturdays in there, but again, I’m going to make a checklist so I can make sure that I get all 15 workouts in there.

Then I also have to post 7 photos on Instagram. That actually shouldn’t be a problem. When I was working out during my personal 8 week challenge, part of my deal with Orangetheory was to post a photo on Instagram after every class I attended. This time, there are rules and themes to each photo, but I’ve looked at the list and they shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, I think it will be pretty fun!

The 3rd rule of the challenge is to complete 2 Monday Challenges. This will be the easiest thing for me to do. With the exception of the first week of Monday Challenges (where the instructor forgot to mentioned the Challenge), I’ve done the challenges every week. And I have no intention of stopping!

The final rule is something that I need help with. I must have 3 friends come with me to class over the 30 day challenge. So far, I’ve had a bunch of friends say that they want to go, but it’s hard to get people to commit to a certain date. And even though not all 3 guests have to come to the same workout, I need those 3 guests to be there before December 17th.

So I’m putting it out there that I would love some blog readers to come work out with me between November 17th and December 17th. I would love the support and I need it in order to win free shoes!

So who’s with me?

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