Lets Post our Daily Exercise

Ruth - great picture - it must have been nice to actually see some green grass!  KSB - woohoo on your Chemo Graduation Day!!  

I organized a fitness challenge at work - we're calling it the Rec Century Challenge (I work for our Rec Dept), and the idea is to exercise 20 minutes a day or walk a mile a day, for 100 days - each 20 minutes of exercise or mile will count as one RecPoint, and the challenge is to earn 100 RecPoints in 100 days.  They can even carryover RecPoints - if they miss a day, they can earn two RecPoints the next day to keep up the pace.  I've based it on a challenge a local jurisdiction was doing for its residents.  For $10 bucks, each participant gets a t-shirt, I'll send out weekly emails with fitness tips and inspiration, and we'll use the leftover money for a gift card to something like Sports Authority - all finishers will be entered into a drawing to win that card.  I've designed a log that participants can fill in each day, recording their daily points. I've designed it to be low-key, with participants reporting their own totals on the honor system - no public weigh ins or anything like that.  I've got 9 people entered so far, and a few others have said that they'll join.

I'm hoping for a few more - the Challenge starts Friday.  It should be fun, and hopefully will inspire a few people to get into a regular exercise program.  This is the logo we'll put on the t-shirts - our graphic artist did a great job designing it, didn't he?  This is an experiment for me, so we'll see how it goes.

Some Shop & Sculpt yesterday, and Pilates DVD this morning.  Like Odie and so many others in the East, I'm bracing for a bunch of snow tonight - they say it's going to be a heavy, hard-to-shovel snow, so I have a feeling I'm in for a lot of Shovel & Sculpt tomorrow!  Hmmmmm, still questioning the timing of DH's wrist issues - how convenient that he's laid up during snow shoveling season! 

KSB - Congrats - that is an awesome feeling!  Nat, I love your logo and tagline "I put in 100 ... and feel like 100%".

IamNancy - For me, I have found that the key to remaining consistent is holding yourself accountable and keeping a log.  Days just go by so quickly, that one day without exercise quickly turns into 2 or 3 days.  I started having success once I kept a list on the fridge on a little lined notepad (the kind you are supposed to write groceries on, lol). I write all 7 days on the pad, and then I can see what I have done, and how many days are left in the week to reach my goal.  This does two things.  It gives me acceptance on the days I miss a workout, because I can visually see that I can still get it in during the remainder of the week, and it also serves as a reminder how much I have missed.  Then, you can start to play with it a bit ... if I am having a busy day I can look at the pad and say "Ok, if I can at least do 30 minutes today, I can still do 1 hour tomorrow and only have to do 1 hour on Saturday" or something.  You can start to negotiate where to budget your time for the exercises.  It might seem like a lot of work, but for some reason just having the note on the fridge makes it actually less stressful - no longer trying to remember what I had done, and it shows me what I have accomplished.  Seeing writing on the pad will give you more motivation to get more stuff written on the pad.  Another thing that I have found helpful, is to do it first thing, before the day gets started ... because it is so hard to squeeze in a workout further into the day - and because there are always so much each of us has to take care of each day, it is a given that we will always have something to get in the way of the workout.  It also takes the pressure off knowing you got it done first thing in the AM, you can enjoy the rest of the day, instead of having to continue to worry about it.

During winter, I have a hard time going first thing, and I've been going late in the day - so I need to reprogram when I go. They also clean the gym first thing in the AM and the chemicals are strong and make me wheeze, so I've been trying to work around that lately. It throws the whole day off when I go late and then I curse all the way home that I won't go late again.  LOL

Hope you find some of the information helpful!  Try it and see if you like it. For me, exercise is not something I really look forward to at all. But I do like how it makes me feel. With this note pad system, I've been able to get in 30+ hours a month consistently - and this is from someone who really likes to drag her feet on going to the gym!

Ruth, lovely photo of you and DH, NatsFan/Mary, what a super fitness challenge you created - well done!  Good going Warrior Woman, ksb - terrific news, Ann, oh great tricks in the bag and Inspired ditto on consistency!

Freestyle step, body attack and body balance at the gym this morning. 

Our lovely weather is back today - Hooray! Walked the dogs and went for a slow jog, then to the gym for strength training.

Warrior - I know what you mean - I no longer look at older women with perky breasts and assume they've had an augmentation or enhancement or lift for self-concerned cosmetic reasons.

Incline training on the treadmill done. Ready for some serious shovel and sculpt tomorrow. 

Oh yeah, I have an exercise notebook divided into 15 minute increments and 'have to' get them checked off by the end of the week. I go Monday through Sunday.....so if I miss to much during the week, I am' forced to' exercise all weekend long!!!

Cute slogan, Mary.

Just talked to my NC sister, and I can truly say that North Dakota is a better place to be right now, weather-wise, than the East Coast. Yikes!!!

Walked this morning & Zumba tonight. The Walking Women were bored from walking around and around in a circle, so we mixed it up a little.

hbcheryly- my hands were palms flat against the wall.  Should they have been in fists instead?

I can't believe exercise is so complicated and I am so clueless.

Bounce they should be fingertips pointing in and shoulder width apart and it depends on how far out from the wall you were as that makes a difference, not so much pressure if you are in close, if you are far back you are pushing your whole body weight, it's the same when you do a push up on the floor, there are many variations, to start, do it in what they call table top - essentially your knees are directly under your hips, then there's not so much pressure.

hbcheryl - thanks for technique pointers.  I did a few today and paid attention to where the pressure was on my hand and tried to avoid the sore spot.

I think it is a lesson to me that I have to learn to pay attention during exercise - to my body and where it is and what it is doing - instead of daydreaming.

I am happy to say that blaming not doing exercise on my daughter made me feel so bad I walked to work and home!

That's 70 minutes for me to log today instead of zero.

And I asked my daughter to help with the laundry so I wouldn't get behind or feel half dead and she did it without a complaint or even one nag from me.

We must both be growing up.

Good lord, this volunteer work is killing me. I have no idea how you ladies fit in a good workout while putting in full time hours! I really miss the flexibility of retirement!

90 minutes of Shovel & Sculpt - 13 inches of snow overnight!!!  It's in a sleet-y lull now, but they say we may pick up another couple of inches later this evening.    Work is closed today, so I have a snow day.  I have tons of laundry to do, but I'm afraid to do it - I'd hate if we lost power and there I was with a washer full of wet, soapy clothes. 

I came up with a good trick while shoveling. It was a heavy, wet snow and kept sticking to the snow shovel.  So I had the bright idea of spraying the shovel with cooking spray, and it worked like a charm - the snow just slid off when I dumped it.  You northern ladies probably already know that trick, but I thought it was pretty clever of me to come up with that.

Pitcher and catchers reported to Spring Training today!!!!!!   Woohoo!!! 

Belated happy birthday, Claire!  Welcome back, Ruth! You are doing great, Bounce!  Natsfan, fun idea with the exercise challenge. 

Didn't get to ski on our school break but hiked up some beautiful snowy mountain trails everyday. Walked/ran 3K and did some weight machines today at the gym.

Whew, bilateral mammogram & ultrasound today - and all was fine. It was hard with my frozen shoulder to hold my right arm up and back long enough for the ultrasound, but I managed and hopefully the shoulder will be healed before I have to do this again in six months. Now that this is behind me, I'm going to cancel the third cortisone injection and just keep working on stretching my shoulder. I worry about the long term effect of those cortisone injections.

It's another gorgeous day here and, happily, I'm off from work. Had lunch with my dad, walked the dogs, and went for a run. Planning a happy hour margarita or two with DH this evening.

Today is one year since I learned, or I should say decided, I needed chemo. Thankful to be doing so well.

Annie, glad your day went well. I hope you enjoy your evening with DH.