First Quarter Fitness

I have been wanting to write about my personal fitness aspirations for the "new year" since January. And then February came, and then March, and during this time I pushed the topic off and decided to write about other more fun and family-oriented events that were occurring at the moment. I was overloaded with work and family responsibilities and felt like I had limited time to write, so I chose to focus on family-related topics and posting photos of the kids. That was a good idea back then and I loved it, though I am feeling the need to be more cathartic right now. So on to a post about my thoughts about goals for healthy eating and exercising.

Coming out of the last holiday season I was feeling bloated and over-stuffed. During the months around Thanksgiving and Christmas I kept up a pretty usual exercise and eating regimen, though I never denied myself enjoyment from traditional holiday luxuries. I am sure I ate and drank way more calories than I would during non-holiday time periods, which was OK with me at the time. In general my philosophy is to enjoy life rather than feel limited by boundaries imposed by restrictions for "diet reasons". However, after realizing that my work pants felt a little too tight for my first day of teaching in January, and after feeling that several weeks after the end of the holidays I still felt puffy, I decided that I wanted to take some actions to change this. It was easy enough to get motivated for a change when it was the season of New Year's resolutions.

So I decided to enroll in "Best Body Bootcamp" (BBB), an online exercise regimen run by a healthy living blogger named Tina Reale. I thought it would be a fun way to shake up my regular routine. I had been reading Tina's blog for a long time before I enrolled in BBB. I love her approach to creating a healthy balance in life - from healthy eating to cultivating your faith, to balancing work and family and exercise, and getting enjoyment and finding the best in day to day life. In sum, her posts just resonated with me.

BBB works as an online fitness and healthy living training program. Each BBB session lasts 8 weeks and costs $25 to join. In exchange for the registration fee the participants receive unique exercise programs every two weeks (four in total over eight weeks), have weekly check-in posts with Tina, have access to a Facebook forum exclusively for BBB members, and upon meeting weekly goals are eligible for cash prizes. The exercise regimens are based on a five-day a week exercise routine and consist of three strength routines (with modest amounts of cardio on the strength training days) and two cardio-only workouts. Each participant is given significant flexibility in creating their own custom plan with modifications for those newer to exercising or those with more limited time.

After going through the eight week program, I can tell you many things that I loved about BBB. First, Tina's workouts are tough! I was regularly sore after each of the three strength routines each week, in that "good sore" sort of way. This was a little unexpected for me as I felt I had cross-trained with strength moves sufficiently in the past. I have always dappled regularly with my own version of strength training as a way to balance out running, but I rarely went into the gym with a concrete or well thought out plan. Occasionally I went to Body Pump classes as a way to be more well-rounded but I probably never really pushed my limits. Having Tina's outline telling me which exercises to perform on a given day, in the proper order to make them most effective, with the right number of reps and sets, made all the difference between creating an OK workout and creating a kick-butt workout. How awesome!

Related to the first, the second thing I loved was having a plan laid out for me each and every week so that I knew which exercises to do and on which days. Tina's plan is flexible in that you have three weights days and two cardio days, but you can complete the workouts whichever days you want and however you want. If you are not feeling up to intervals on the treadmill or stairmaster for cardio day, you can always take a group fitness class or go speed-walking through your neighborhood. But the strength training routines are laid out thoughtfully and I loved that.

The third thing I loved was the built-in support system. I really enjoyed the Facebook page as a means for support, which is something I didn't think I would take advantage of at first. But I liked the online collaboration with other women who were in the same situation, bemoaning certain challenging exercises and exchanging goals for the week. I rarely posted on the page but I enjoyed checking it daily to see what other members were sharing about their healthy living habits and thoughts on the week's workouts. It was a good motivational tool for me to read what others were thinking since I always exercise alone.

The fourth thing I enjoyed was the accountability of the program. In addition to meeting the five day a week workout goal, members are encouraged to set two additional "goals" for themselves every week, all revolving around healthy living. The goal could be anywhere from "get 8 hours of sleep a night" to "drink 64 ounces of water a day" to "floss daily" to "don't yell at my kids today for unnecessary reasons". My goals were often diet-oriented, from "each day's sugar treat should be less than 100 calories" to "do NOT eat off of kids' plates in the kitchen" ( a TERRIBLE habit of mine, which largely got broken during BBB), to other topics such as "read gratitude devotional for 15 minutes each day". Having individualized goals was really nice and made for a well-rounded program.

The fifth thing I loved about BBB was that I lost the extra puffiness and tight pants feeling that I had held on to since November. I didn't lose a lot of weight while working through BBB (I lost about 2.5 pounds according to the gym scale), but I am pretty sure I lost some fat and gained some muscle over the duration of the program. I really don't care about the number so long as I feel better and my clothing fits more comfortably. I modified my diet a little - trying to eat cleaner more of the time (less processed foods), trying (with modest success) to cut back on sweets - but I didn't go crazy and I definitely still indulged in my vices on weekends (alcohol and sweets). I did include eating a healthier breakfast each day - a habit that has been easy to continue to this day - and my afternoon snacks have been healthier as well (homemade granola bars and muffins are the best!), but the changes have been modest in most respects. I attribute more of my successes with the strength training coupled with small dietary changes. I have much more definition in my arms than when I started in January!

Coupled with BBB in January I decided to start keeping track of my mileage. I have never logged my exercise before and I have been surprised at the motivational aspects that have come out of tracking my running miles. Knowing how I am doing each month has motivated me to run just a little bit farther, likely resulting in a tad bit more exercise than I otherwise would have gotten. My constant mantra is "just 0.2 more", meaning that if I thought I was planning to run 5 miles on a given day then surely I could run just 0.2 more for a total of 5.2 miles. Over time the "just 0.2" has varied between "just 0.2" to "just one more mile, adding up over the course of 30 days in a given month to more miles than would have been possible without the extra push. Totals for the first quarter were:

January - 110.1 miles
February - 104.3 miles
March - 90 miles (lower month, largely due to many non-exercise days during Spring Break)
First Q Total - 304.4

While I am not a high mileage runner by any means, I am proud of these numbers, especially considering the significant number of hours put in strength training in addition to running. 300 miles is more than the distance from Dallas to Little Rock, Arkansas - that's a long way to run! I love the record-keeping component and plan to continue to integrate it during 2013 to see just how far I run this year.

I recently enrolled in the latest BBB plan which started on April 1 and am looking forward to seeing how far I can get this go-around. Currently my biceps and upper arms are killing me from yesterday's strength training workout. I need regular exercise for purposes of maintaining my sanity, and having the accountability of BBB and keeping track of workouts has resulted in easy extra motivation for me during 2013. I hope this good feeling lasts!