25 May 2009

Weight Loss Weekly

Weight Loss Weekly is a weekly collaboration between me and two other bloggers who are trying to lose weight.  Join us as we discuss tips and strategies, as well as our successes and failures on our weight loss journeys.

Last week, the girls and I decided to take Weight Loss Weekly in a slightly different direction by setting specific exercise goals for ourselves to achieve during the week.  

One of Sunny's goals amazed me, one minute of push-ups!  Let's see how she did!  "I guess I don't hate exercising as much as I thought I did. I did pretty darn well this week, for me..." more at www.ThatExtra20Pounds.blogspot.com

Bernie was trying a varied approach to exercise with both walking and elliptical training planned but got sidelined by inclement autumn weather in Australia.  Did she make her goal?  Find out at Yo-yo No More.


My goal for last week was to take four 20 minute walks during the week.  I had planned to walk in the mornings as my evenings often get busy and had planned to walk Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with a one day cushion of Sunday if plans got sidelined during the week.  Monday morning came bright and early last week.  Let me share with you my inner monologue.  "Six o'clock already?  No, no, no, no, NO!  Whhhhhhyyyyy????  Okay, you just made this goal YESTERDAY, you cannot bail already!  Oh, all right...."  After dragging myself our of bed, I actually had quite a pleasant walk.  The weather is getting warmer, the sun was shining brightly, birds were tweeting and there was hardly anyone out in the morning.  I thought to myself, "Hey, this isn't bad!  It's actually quite nice!"

Tuesday morning came and although I hadn't planned on walking, I decided to get out of bed and go anyway.  It's a good thing that Monday had been so nice because Tuesday was windy and cold!  If it had been this way on Monday, I definitely wouldn't have gotten out of bed on Tuesday to walk, but again, the walk was nice and now I was two down for the week.

Wednesday morning came too soon.  I didn't get out of bed this day but because choir practice was short on Wednesday evening, I decided to use the extra time to my advantage and went on a 20 minute walk.  3 down!  I can do it!

On Saturday, I did not walk, but used one of Sunny's ideas in vigorously cleaning the house to exercise.  I cleaned the bathrooms, cleaned under the bathroom sinks, swept and vacuumed the floors and ran about 5 loads of laundry.  Not walking, but I felt an accomplishment at the exercise and the clean house.

Sunday afternoon I did finish my goal although it wasn't formal exercise.  I need a new area rug for under my kitchen table and spent about 4-5 hours walking through furniture stores.  Although I didn't get my heart rate up, I was walking and count this as an achievement of my goal!

My goal this week is to again take four 20 minute walks throughout the week.  I will again try to walk in the mornings on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  This week however, I was inspired to add on a little bit of exercise by Sunny's push-up goal from last week.  Having two small boys, I actually have pretty strong arms from lifting them up.  However, when contemplating the push-up goal, I realized I can't do push-ups not because I lack the arm strength, but because after having kids, I lack the core strength to hold the plank position during a push-up.  This week, in addition to my four 20 minute walks, I am adding 10 crunches, 10 reverse crunches and 10 push-ups (against the bathroom counter.  Easier when you lack the core strength) on the days when I walk.  Oh boy, that does mean tomorrow doesn't it?  I'm a little panicked, but I can do it!

Would you like to join me in my goal?  Just e-mail me at joiecancook(at)gmail(dot)com and we can cheer each other on!  Also, if you have been inspired by Weight Loss weekly and would like to set your own exercise goal and post it on your blog, just link to this week's weight loss weekly post (all of ours) leave a comment with your post URL, and we will link back to you.  We can cheer each other on towards our goals!  Good luck this week!

19 comments:

Crazy Pants said...

Wooo hoooo (that's me cheering you on)
I love that you integrated exercise into your day, that makes it so much easier. Here's to another fantastic week :)

chow and chatter said...

you can do it, good job

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Just remember, it's one day and one step at a time. Don't punish yourself if you don't go one day because it's rainy. Let is be fun.
And your house is really clean too.
Sam

Sunny said...

You did great this week!! Congrats on reaching your goals! I'm going to add in crunches also this week!

Maris said...

It always helps me to get exercise out of the way in the morning! That way when something throws me for a loop later, I've already gotten the workout in!

Heather S-G said...

Awesome...if I could get my lazy butt in gear, I would join you...you are inspiring me to do just that, though :D

Angie's Recipes said...

You see....they are not as unreachable as you had thought.
wow...the goal next week seems quite challenging... but like Rebecca said: yes, you can.

Jenn said...

You can do it. There's another little alternative to do push ups. rather than doing the full plank, you can also go from the knees. It's kind of like the kneeling position with your ankles crossed. Helps build strength. I started out like that.

Reeni said...

You did awesome!! I bet the weather will be even nicer this week. Have a great one!

Heather said...

good luck with your goals! i know how you feel. i am happier and more energized on the mornings where i can work out - but it always seems that something else comes up. and re-prioritizing is hard. but i'm sure you can do it :)

Anonymous said...

Great job last week! I tried but was only half successful although I did have a good excuse (at least this is what I keep telling myself). I will try better this week!

Netts Nook said...

You can do it planing is the way to get it done. Some days I just climb my stairs up and down twenty times you would be surprised at the results.

Nurit said...

Great inspiration.
I also find that doing it first thing in the day and getting over with it workd better. When the weather is nice, I'll walk with my to school and then continue in a big detour to get back home. If weather sucks, I plan to stay at home and do something, like even stretching. Day one went well :)

Laura in Paris said...

Bravo! Keep us posted on your changes.

unconfidentialcook said...

You go, girl!

MaryBeth said...

You asked about the mango chutney, I did not make it but I bought it at Wal-Mart...

Tangled Noodle said...

I've been achieving my goal of walking every morning, too! And I feel so invigorated and refreshed. I thought at first that it would take time away from blogging but now my feeling is that it does so much for me physically and mentally, it must take priority over the computer! I'm right there with you! I also don't do push-ups: instead, I do 'presses'. Check out this site from MSN.com:

http://health.msn.com/fitness/fit-zone/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100168429&imageindex=1

Many apologies for being so absent from your site recently - I'm trying to catch up on all that I've missed!

Elyse said...

Such great exercise goals! And cleaning the house is always great exercise. Good for you!

Lori Lynn said...

Best wishes for continued success with your weight loss goals Amanda!
LL

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