Summer Survivor: Week 2

Well, Week 1 is over. Some of us lost, some of us gained, but regardless, I think we probably all have areas that could have been better, where we know we need to improve. I'd like to start Week 2 off by reflecting on week 1, and having each of us name one or two things we could have done better.

And now for the challenges for this week....

Food Challenge

Go to Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs to see what's the recommended calorie intake for your body and exercise habits. Is this close to what you've been getting? Or much higher or lower? Everyone's body is different, but sometimes we get better results by playing around with these numbers, so it's good to be aware of different possibilities and options.

I really like the calorie cycles that site provides. If you decide to try that, let me know, and post your progress. I think I might try that for the next couple of weeks and see how it goes. Doing that helped me get over a heck of a plateau a while back, when I couldn't get out of the 140's.

Also, keep journaling!

Exercise Challenge

Upper Body Strength: I think one of the most telling tests of true upper body strength, is how many push ups a person can do. Some people are awesome at them, some people (like me!) really suck at them. LOL The exercise challenge this week will involve counting and keeping track of points, but all you need to do is jot a number down on a scrap of paper and put it somewhere where you can keep up with it. I want to see who can make the most progress this week with push ups. Starting Monday, do 1 set of push ups, consisting of AS MANY as you can possibly do with proper form. If it's 5, 10, 20, or 100, just do as many as you can. Post your result. Do 1 set of as many as you can on Tuesday, etc... each day. Let's see on Saturday, who has made the most progress. If you only want to post your results Monday and Saturday, that's fine, we'll still be able to see your progress at the end of the week. It would be awesome for everyone to participate in this one, and then sometime later during the challenge, we can do it again and compare the differences. Hopefully, they'll be huge!

And for this particular challenge, since it's more of a test than anything, just this once, don't do the modified push ups. If you can't squeeze out even 1 regular push up, then just use 0 for your total for Monday, and practice this week! If on Saturday you can do 1 or 2, then you've made a major advancement! (I'm not saying not to do modified push ups as part of your workouts! By all means, they're great for beginners! They help strengthen your upper body until you are capable of doing regular push ups. But just for this challenge, we're only counting the regular push ups.)