The weather has been really cold so I have only walked maybe 3 times and worked out with weights 3 times. Tomorrow I will attempt a walk longer than 3.42 miles so I can reach my goal of 6.2 by the end of this challenge.

Extra Credit

Intrinsic: I feel good exercising and I want to go fishing.

Extrinsic: To lose enought weight to look good to females and my boss (so I can get a raise and promotion).

Check-in time -

I'm down 2 this week which gives me a total of 10 pounds gone. My reward for the 10# mark was that I could try on some jeans that I couldn't fit into before. Well, I was able to get them buttoned and zipped, but I had to lie on the bed to do it. I'm actually wearing them today even though they are really too small, but what the heck!

We had a Pre-SuperBowl party at the office today, and I was pretty good for the most part ... had the insides of a grinder(sub/hoagie), some chili without the beans, and 2 pieces of lo-carb French Silk Pie (5.5g per piece). I LOVE that French Silk Pie! Only 2 days til the SuperBowl ... GO Patriots!!!

OK, goals for last week: I met the exercise goals except for the riding which was a victim of the weather. I got in more walking yesterday than I planned so I was very happy about that. But it was so cold and the second walk was into the wind the whole way; plus the amount of slippery snow was really bad and each time I pushed off the ground with my foot, my foot would slip back a few inches. So I ended up having to take a lot more steps to get from point A to point B. My face was numb and I was completely exhausted by the time I got to the car. It probably didn't help that I was hungry, too.

Goals for this week: I just paused while writing this email to call up the Y and set up an appt to start their 12 week personal training program. I have an appt for Wed evening. So my goals will be in transition this week. However, I will at least walk to and from class (2 days a week) (unless it's raining), plus riding and the Y.

Extra Credit:
Intrinsic - Like pha1226, I feel like my luck is running out. I've abused this body for 40 years, and it's starting to catch up with me a little at a time. In addition, I want to be able to walk from the University commuter lot to class (includes a big, long hill) without being out of breath. I want to go on hikes and go geocaching in non-urban areas. I want to look like someone who BELONGS on a horse (one of those fit, lithe people).

Extrinsic - Probably the biggest extrinsic motivator for me is seeing my mother in her wheelchair and all the trouble she has and things she can't do. All this because she abused her body for too many years and didn't take care of the diabetes. Her father had Type II diabetes and was bed ridden for years after some strokes, my mother has had strokes, and all of us kids have her same body type. We're all on the same path she has taken.

And Monika is absolutely correct in that this type of motivation is not nearly as strong as internal motivators. It's simply too easy to say "I have time", or "I take better care of myself than she did (yeah, right)", or any number of other BS lines. In other words, do the same things my mother did her whole life until it truly became too late to fix it.

Gredeldog - What's geocaching??

Geocaching is kind of like high-tech treasure hunting. People have hidden stuff all over the world. The hider then uses a GPS (global positioning) to get the coordinates of their 'treasure' or 'cache' and they post those coordinates on the web. Then other people use their GPSs to track down the cache. Sounds simple, but the GPS will only get you within about 20 feet. You have to do the rest.

The caches will usually contain a log book where finders jot down their visit and any other info they think other cachers may be interested in. The caches will often contain little toys or knick knacks. Some may have books or foreign coins or whatever. You are welcome to take stuff from the cache when you find it, just leave the cache and the log book hidden for the next person. The polite thing to do is to 'trade' -- if you take something out, put something new into the cache.

The caches are placed all over the world (including Afganistan, Iraq, the Antarctic, etc). Some are in urban areas (there are 6 or 7 hidden in Central Park in New York City), some are in the wilds. Some are even under water or on islands that you have to use a boat to get to! Some are on easy terain, some require 2 days of hiking.

If you want more info, go to www.geocaching.com . On the home page, you can enter your zip code and it will find all the caches nearest you. (There are hundreds of them hidden in New Jersey.) It's a lot of fun, and it can be as cheap as you want (if you don't do any trading). The only expense is buying the GPS, but that's a one time cost ($100), and you can share it between friends if you go as a group.

Teresa ~ I am glad that your nephew is okay.. I am afraid that I'd have chewed some people out so bad they wouldn't sit for weeks lol

Grendeldog ~ never heard of geocaching before but I have bookmarked that site once I get mobile I will have to look into doing that it would be alot of fun!

I sorta made my goal for the week almost made it through the workout (so my plates tape sucks! back to the yoga one this week)
had some problems with the tv and stuff had to get my step dad to figure it out for me (so men do have a use! heheh) now its working I just have yet to clean up the mess he made in my office (where I have my tv)

goals for this week
yoga 2 x
4L water

I need to make a goal of eating better and maybe better sleep too!

"Where does your inspiration originate?"
the problem is I can't really think of any I can think of things I'd like to do but more then being that I am not fit enough is the fact that I have to bum a ride from someone to do anything and working overnights makes having a life near impossible to begin with ... I want to be thin because I have never been thin before but I am at the 70lb mark and stuck grr! need to get back to exercising more regular because I lost weight better then of course I ate better too so hey .. least I have not gained anything back

Hi all...

Goals for this week:
I'm setting my sights on getting to the gym 4 to 5 times. I'm looking to do 45 minutes of cardio each day and work either my upper and lower body on alternate days.

I guess my different health goal this week is to work on my stress levels and state of mind. I've been going through a lot with my mother, and I'd like to work on not letting the situation depress me so much or for so long. I need to keep reminding myself that there is really nothing that can be done, and that getting depressed and stressed doesn't change anything.

Extra Credit:
My inspiration originates inside of me. I no longer want to live my life the way I always have. I NEED to feel like I have control over what happens to me.

Intrinsic motivation:
1. I want to be healthy enough to avoid the diabetes and breast cancer that runs in my mother's family, and the heart disease that runs in my father's family.
2. I want to be able to hike and walk without becoming winded and tired.

Extrinsic motivation:
1. I want to lose enough weight so that when I fly to England, the tray table will go down all the way.
2. I want to be able to buy an entire new wardrobe of clothes that are fashionable and not matronly.

TTFN!!

My goals for the week

• Attend 4 aquafit classes
• Continue to keep on track for the walk 10k challenge (this is a steadily progressing program, so it's continually increasing in duration etc.)
• Look into what is involved in having a trainer work with me to set up a routine at the fitness centre (especially since access is included with my pass for my aquafit classes)

Extra credit

Intrinsic Motivation
I want to be healthy & slim enough to enjoy all of my life - to not let myself miss out on things because I feel self-concious or not able to participate due to my weight.
I want to reach my goal of being below 200, so that I can enjoy my reward of taking horseback riding lessons.
I want to complete my 10k challenge so that walking is never again a painful chore, and instead is a pleasure.
I want to go out and buy a hip, fashionable outfit in a small size and feel great wearing it.

Extrinsic Motivation
I'm not really sure I have any that qualify - I think I would count the fact that I believe life can be subtly easier for those who are not significantly overweight (unspoken prejudices from people you meet, employers, salespeople, neighbours etc) and I would like to not have to worry about that.

Have a great week everyone!
Wynter

Week Two …

Goals
I am increasing my walking time to meet the 13 week training for a 10k walk.
I am also going to start doing light weight workouts

Extra Credit

Intrinsic: I want to live past tomorrow.
Extrinsic: Be able to enjoy a physically active life.
To buy cloths in the “normal” size section of the store.

The aliens have agreed to keep their slimey green paws off me and my fitness committment this month, so here goes again:

1) Treadmill four days/week ~ 20-30 minutes
2) Work out videos 2 days/week
3) Walk rather than take escalators/elevators where possible.

My fitness goal in ten years is to have this routine become part of my daily lifestyle.

Good Morning everyone!

My goals for this week are to do my 2-mile WAP 3 times and to go to the library to check out some books about exercising. I really need to get some more of this weight off of my knees before I start to build muscles. I want to maintain muscle, so that's why I'm dropping back to 3 times per week. Plus I need the mental motivation of seeing the scales go down.

Intrinsic motivation - hard to say. Maybe it's just to prove to myself that I can get thin now that I have the right methods.

Extrinsic motivation - Get fit so that my daughter has a role model. Be able to wear some great clothes instead of the baggy ugly ones.

Have a great week everyone!

Hello to All,
My goals this week are to maintain my current workout schedule and increase my weight reps. I also want to keep my water intake up and cut down on the sf/lc chocolate.

Intrinsic motivation - wanting to be truly healthy
Extrinsic motivation - being in great shape to take my son to Carrowinds this spring and have lots of energy to do fun stuff with him.

Hope everyone has a great week and succeeds with all goals
Marie

WOW...I've been reading all the past posts and it sure sounds as if there are alot of successes out there. I didn't meet my goals for the last week. This back has really laid me out more than I thought it would. Its still not 100%, but I'm hoping by Monday it will up to par. My goals this week are to get to the gym 2 times for weight training and do one cardio workout at home.

Intrinsic motivation- I want to get my blood sugar in control, to feel strong, healthy and energetic!

Extrinsic motivation- I am 44 years old and have a 3 year old daughter ( as well as a 15 and 16 yr old too). I want to be around to see ALL my kids grow up, get married, etc. Just one look at my little one is enough to keep me going somedays.

Hi everyone. Didn't quite meet my goal for the week but was really pleased with what I did do. Worked the jogging plan twice and 1 day worked other parts out. I was happy that the work outs were at least 40 mins each time and I found a muscle in my thigh! So my goal for this week is to continue the jogging program but do it 3 X's and do some sort of workout 2 more days for a total of 5 days this week.

Monika, I so appreciate these extra credit questions.

Intrinsic: I want to be able to feel better about myself and not enjoy sitting so much. When my kids ask me to play with them especially during the summer I will leap at the chance and really want to do it not just as part of my job description as a mom but because I have the energy and passion to run around with them.

Extrinsic: To feel like I blend in more with society. Not to always think "I'm the biggest person in the room"

Hi all, I am afraid I have been very Missing-In-Action this week. We moved our office to a new location, and trying to organise my adult software engineers to do this was harder than being a kindergarten teacher *sigh*.

I am afraid I am up 4 pounds at the end of this first week. Not good. I had a planned cheat on Friday, and my scales are suffering for it... no doubt it will settle down after TOM is done. I met MOST of my goals, with the exception of the 2 15 minute stretching sessions. I was more conscious of walking about, walking faster, being more active generally (the office move didn't give me much choice but to be more active).

Will be good this week :-)

I had a mixed fitness week ...

First I hurt my shoulder, so doing my upper body exercises is not advisable right now. I want to fully heal before stressing it again - risking injury is just not worth it. Also I saw my doctor and learned that I've got to tone down my cardio intensity further (my heart valves are not all that they could be). Since starting formal aerobics, I haven't gone above 70% max heart rate, now I've got to shoot for less than 60%.

The wonderful news is how much progress I've made towards improving my blood work profile ... both my HgA1C blood sugar and cholesterol results are passed 'okay' and now are 'great'! It's been getting better and better since starting Atkins, but it really started improving dramatically once I incorporated exercise into my life.

I also learned that I have a body fat percentage that reflects 'overweight', not 'obese' - so while I have a long way to go by BMI standards, I'm actually a lot closer to a healthy body composition than I thought. I may end up changing my goal weight to reflect that change - because I don't want to lose muscle just so I can see a certain number on the scale, you know?

THANK YOU Challengers! I truly feel like it's by participation in this group that I've made such excellent progress. Without the inspiration I get from reading your posts, motivation to not let the group down, the accountability that posting here gives me, the encouragement to get back up when I'm on my back ... all of it translates into small steps that have brought me closer to health.

So ... adjusting my goals to my present health needs:

40+ minutes low-level cardio everyday
---> 10 minutes longer, since intensity is lower and UB is out

Crunches - M W F
Wall Push Ups - T Th S

Extrinsic Motivation
* I want to be able to honestly tell my rheumatologist that I exercise daily.
* I want to amaze people who see me and assume I can't physically keep up.

Intrinsic Motivation
* I don't want it to be such a big deal when I do anything physical - I want to have strength and stamina to do any type of 'normal' activity I want (we're not talking climbing Mt. Everest, just many flights of stairs, for instance).
* My body feels so much better after I've moved my muscles and joints.
* I don't want my lack of fitness to be a factor in disabling me.
* I love that feeling of psychological satisfaction after I workout.