Step 4~ Add Variety

Beginning day 10, having lost TEN pounds feels amazing!! I'm also relieved that the hardcore days are temporarily done. For step 4, I'm going back to my baseline of exercise & figuring out how to add variety to my diet, exercise plan & because I have so much extra energy...even my life!

I've decided to add a cleaning project and writing assignment to everyday as well as my exercises. I have a lot of work to do & now finally feel as though I have the energy to handle everything.

So, I hope that the next 3 days are full of creativity and I come up with some new exciting, delicious & energetic ideas to add to this already amazing challenge!

Wish me luck ;)

Step 3- Double up/Double down

The idea of this step is simple.. double up the good & reduce the bad. Yeah, that means whatever exercises you've been doing for the past 3 days, is now DOUBLED!

So, today... I ran 2 miles this morning, followed by 40 sit-up/crunch combos, 60 kickbacks, 20 squats, 40 jumping jacks & 20 minutes of yoga & that was just my morning routine (roughly 45 minutes total) that doesn't include my afternoon walk & the evening exercises that I do with Madi.

I, also, drank my coffee and tea without sugar & increased my intake of emergen-C & chia squeeze to 2 packs a day. I reduced smoking cigarettes by half my norm & even skipped my afternoon nap with Briley to double my walking time.

This step is hardcore! However, don't worry... like every step in this challenge, it only lasts 3 days! After these 3 hardcore days, we will return to our baseline, analyze our progress & work on adding variety to our diet & exercise plan.

If I have to be honest, in my sleepy haze of morning with no sugar in my coffee... I was not looking forward to 'double up/double down'... I accidentally bumped into the scale while making breakfast & decided to weigh myself early, out of curiosity. I was so excited to see the scale read 139.4!!! I didn't expect to lose any real weight until after step 3, so to see that I've already dropped 5lbs in 6 days was all the motivation I needed to get to work!!

I have to admit ... I feel wonderful today! All this exercise & eating healthy has left me with so much energy!!! The most important difference between this diet & most is that it's created by me, for me. I spent time analyzing my habits, patterns & routines. I created a baseline of exercise that I was comfortable with and slowly increased that baseline. Now, I'm pushing through my comfort zone & reducing the bad & increasing the good.

I'm so proud of myself! I know it's only 0.6 under140lbs .. but it's been way too long since I've seen a 3 after that 1 on the scale! Usually, it's between 145&150 & I know this is just the beginning!! I can't wait to see the final results of all this hard work at the end of the challenge.

Stay tuned... ;)

Day 6 & My Baseline Summary

Well, I'm going to enjoy the last day of my baseline and as predicted, it has actually become quite easy by this 3rd day. I'm a tab-bit nervous about the next Step, but also really excited because it is the Step where everything gets very serious!! Please remember this is MY baseline and I was already very active to begin with and still was not losing the extra pounds I wanted so my baseline will be different than yours. That's what's so unique about my challenge. You are the creator and you determine what you can handle and then I will help push us forward from there. So, please.. when you're creating your baseline... be easy on yourself & make it realistic b/c it's getting ready to really crank up over the next few days/steps & please be honest about your 'bad' habits as well or we can't do anything to change them. Don't worry, there are NO-NO's in my challenge because I don't believe in cutting anything out of your diet completely. However, if you know certain foods, drinks or habits are your downfall... then let's work on getting them decreased to a level of moderation and not a daily bad habit.

My baseline - My day 6

THE GOOD

Supplements
~1 vitamin C packet/drink mix
~ 1 Chia Seeds Squeeze,
~ B-12
~ H.S.N. Vitamin
~ Probiotic

Exercise
~Morning Run (1mile/10-12minutes)
~Morning (20 sit-ups, 10 crunches, 30 kick backs, 10 lunges, 20 jumping jacks)
~Afternoon Walk (3miles/60minutes)
~Evening (20 sit-ups, 10 crunches, 30 kick backs, 10 lunges, 20 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups)
~Before bed (10 minutes of relaxing yoga)

THE BAD

1 soda with dinner
Candy while I'm running or walking
Afternoon nap (1 hour)
Tea & Coffee w/ sugar

Step 2- Create Baseline

Over the course of days 4,5, &6 of the diet we're going to create a baseline of workout routine. Basically, on your own.. find out what exercises you'd like you complete everyday (walk, jog or run or better a small combo of all 3 throughout the day) How many sit-ups, push-ups, squats, etc are you willing to do every morning and every night? I urge you be careful with this baseline and make sure it is just that.. the base!! Because, the next step is going to be to double that baseline. So, after you have established your baseline.. make sure you are sticking to the routine every single one of those 3 days.

Along with the exercise baseline, we will also be eating better over these 3 days. Hopefully your fridge and cabinets are filled with the healthy choices from step 1. Make sure you are following the basic rules of the diet (eat w/i 30 minutes of waking and eat small meals every 2 hours to keep your metabolism going strong) If you have not seen that fast/quick weight loss as of yet.. worry not .. (diets that provide quick 5lb drops in the first few days usually have you gain back double as soon as the diet is complete). We will be weighing ourselves at the beginning of each step and from step 1 to step 2, I've lost 3 lbs. The real work & loss will be coming up in step 3.. the "double up/double down" challenge. So, enjoy the next three days of creating your comfort zone because I'm getting ready to bust right through it!!

3 Reasons I get up so early

So many of my friends think I'm crazy for getting up before the sun every morning. The reasoning, however, is quiet simple...

1) the energy you receive from actually watching the sunrise is incredible and stronger than any coffee I've tried (& trust me, I've tried them all)

2) I have children, like most of my friends. Two brilliant preteen girls with so many wonderful ideas and thoughts. These ideas and thoughts naturally fly from their mouths the second they wake up! Lucky for them, right? I, on the other hand, need an hour or so of coffee and silence before I can even begin to keep up with them! I got tired of hearing myself say, 'don't talk to me until my coffee kicks in!' And just decided to beat the curve and be ready whenever they woke up.

3) I love to run/walk and there is no better time, in the summer, than at dawn. Even in the winter, I've set my treadmill up facing the window that shows the sunrise. The only thing better than watching the sunrise?? Rising, or exercising, with it!

Simply put, every day has the potential for greatness & for me, personally, I only stand a chance to keep up with this greatness if I'm really ready & I'm only really ready if I spend at least an hour every morning in solitude getting my thoughts together. Whether that be, on my deck with a hot cup of coffee or, literally, running to dunkin donuts for an iced coffee, it's always with the sunrise and it's always worth it!

Never once have I said, I shouldn't have gotten up so early this morning. However, vice versa?? I'm sure we've all regretted those days the world is spinning before we are ready! So, to avoid those, I get up before the crack of dawn as often as physically possible!