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.)

Well here are my results without exercise

RESULTS - GUIDELINE ONLY
Maintenance: 2172 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1738 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1303 Calories/day

I usually burn 400 calories will riding bike. I have only been eating 1500. So maybe thati s hwy I am having a hard time.

Originally Posted by 495346

Well here are my results without exercise

RESULTS - GUIDELINE ONLY
Maintenance: 2172 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1738 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1303 Calories/day

I usually burn 400 calories will riding bike. I have only been eating 1500. So maybe thati s hwy I am having a hard time.

I definitely think it's important to eat enough calories to support your body's daily functions AND your exercise. You could try eating closer to 1700 this week, and see how that goes. At least, that's *one* option open to you! lol (I am NOT going to tell people how many calories to eat! I'm not qualified to do that.... But I do think upping your daily limit some may be worth a try.)

RESULTS - GUIDELINE ONLY
Maintenance:
1874 Calories/day
Fat Loss:
1499 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss:
1124 Calories/day

Mine is actually lower than what I eat most days. Well, I intentionally fluctuate a little, to keep my body guessing. Some days I'll have 1300, some around 1500, throw in a couple of high days around 1800 and a low day around 1200. I think that's why I usually only lose 1/2 to 1 lb per week, and ONLY more when I work out intensely several days of the week. But I guess there's nothing wrong with that. I'd actually rather work out harder than eat less... LOL But I'm going to follow the zig-zag cycle they recommend for me this week, which is:

Monday: 1500
Tuesday: 1200
Wednesday: 1800
Thursday: 1500
Friday: 1350
Saturday: 1650
Sunday: 1500

That's really close to what I do anyway, it basically just tells me what to do on which day. So we'll see what kind of results I have this week....

As far as what I could have done better last week.... I definitely think I should make sure to do cardio EVERY day, even if it's just 30 minutes on the step in my living room. It's one of my personal goals this week to wake up early to run at least two days. I skipped two days of my core workouts too, so I'm going to try not to do that again this week. Other than that, I've been improving on my junk food intake, and hopefully I can just do better this week than I did last week, and continue to improve.

I LOVE this challenge, and I really think it's helping me be accountable for every single thing I do... that's why I like having the food *and* exercise challenges. When I started this challenge, the idea of having team captains really seemed good to me, but now I'm not so sure... I like how we all just talk together. But I still think that it would be a great motivator for each person to have a turn leading a challenge or something.... Would anyone like to volunteer to lead a challenge next week? Maybe we could start a weekly member-led challenge, so everyone will have that chance to take charge and get that extra motivation and accountability. (It just looks bad if you don't participate in your own challenge. LOL So it's a good way to make sure you do something that's important to you.) Let me know what you think about that....

My daily caloric goal for this week will be 1500. That's about what I was shooting for a couple weeks ago (when I was actually disciplined enough to keep track. It's going to be tough! I'll have to come up with a 300 calorie dinner for tonight and plan better tomorrow.

I did 27 push ups today. Tomorrow I'll try to get 30. On Mondays I go to kick boxing at my gym. We do pushups and core work there and my arms will get a really good workout.

Originally Posted by Hannah

I did 27 push ups today. Tomorrow I'll try to get 30. On Mondays I go to kick boxing at my gym. We do pushups and core work there and my arms will get a really good workout.

That makes you one tough chick, as far as I'm concerned!! I really do suck at push ups... I'm putting off testing myself til tomorrow. I usually do a few regular push ups at the start of my sets, then switch to modified (I'm still puny when it comes to upper body strength!) But I'm hoping to get much better this summer.

Maintenance: 1787 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1430 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1072 Calories/day

well, damn. i'm going to have to eat a lot less i think if i'm going to lose weight... and i like eating!! lol. more fruits and veggies, less grains, milk and fat. lol- i think i might just have to break down and start adding up calories if i'm ever going to get anywhere with this. guess that'll be a goal for the week

as for the pushups... 30! last few were killer though

Maintenance: 1922 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1538 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1480 Calories/day

Well I usually shoot for 1500-1600 per day but that doesn't always happen. I'll try hard for that this week. I calculated mine with no exercise since I have some other things going on this week and probably will be doing very little exercise.

However, pushups I can do this week. I did 18 full out today. I usually take 1-2 days off to rest between. I find I can do more the next time if I rest in between. I would love to get to 25 on Saturday!

Go Hannah and Kylie with your 30s!!

I made some progress with working out but tapered off at the end of the week. My biggest challenges to work on are:

* To remain consistent with workouts
* To cut back on soda
* To keep the food diary all week, not just one day and then forget it