One more picture...

Ok - the bottom picture is of me doing an uppercut. I was amazed when I zoomed in at the muscle ( upper picture). Granted, my muscles don't just sit around looking like that, but I was excited to see the definition! (Not so excited about the lack of definition in the chin, but hey... perfection is hard to come by;o)

The End of the Beginning

So Friday night wrapped up the 10 week Ultimate Body Challenge for me. I must admit, I had mixed feelings about it. A huge part of me really didn't want to go in for my final testing and measurements. I knew the numbers weeren't going to make me happy and I just didn't want to see them. Plus, I knew I was going to continue on and I didn't want to be discouraged when I'm just not done yet.

I said before that I wasn't supposed to weigh myself except at the 5 week and 10 week intervals. I did really good the 1st 5 weeks, but have weighed myself periodically the second five weeks so I knew that not only did I not lose any more weight, I gained a couple back. This is a far cry from the up to 30 pounds I was supposed to be able to lose. Now, I didn't need to lose 30, but if that much was the norm, then a good 10 or 15 would have been good. Going into my weigh in, I didn't want to be hung up on a number, but I felt like I failed. I was getting ready to go that night and was fighting back tears because I just felt like a failure. To look at it honestly, I did not excell in the nutrition part and that was my achilles heal. I haven't given up yet, I just haven't found that balance yet. I like yummy food and I am kinda anti-dieting anymore, but balance has never been my strong suit, so I'm still working at it. I'm taking a week off while I go to Jamaica this week, but when I get back I am going to do weight watchers for a bit because I know it works. It doesn't really do anything I don't already know how to do, but it will hopefully help me track things, and get me into some better habits. At times it has been frustrating because I knew I wasn't eating the greatest, but I was still doing so much better than before and in my mind that should have counted! Baby steps.

While the nutrition part was my weekness, I will admit that I am proud of myself in the fitness area. I didn't make it to all my classes because it is impossible to do that without putting life on hold. But if you average it out, I would say I made it to work out at least 5 times a week - even in frigid -20 degree weather! This is huge for me. The working out this much was the part that intimidated me in the beginning and made me a bit fearful of signing up for this program. I hate exercise and I wasn't totally convinced that it wouldn't kill me. But I quickly found that I actually enjoyed it. I enjoyed getting stronger, more flexible, and gaining stamina. I enjoyed working out with my new friends and got lots of energy from my partner on the bag - Tammie. And I enjoyed being given this time for me each day. There were a handful of times that I didn't want to go, but I always felt great after I went. And when it came down to whether or not I would go to the final testing at the end, I knew I had to because I had to cross that finish line to feel the full accomplishment of it all.

So the results... I'm going to give you my measurements from week 1 to week 10. I went backwards from week 5 on some of my measurements which is because a different person measured us at week 5 so they weren't accurate measurements.

Beginning 10 Weeks

Arms L 11.25 R 11.5 L 11.5 R 11.5

Chest 35.75 35

Waist (natural) 30.25 28.25

Belly Button 32 29.5

Between Hips 41.75 40

& Thighs

Calves L 15.25 R 15.25 L 14.75 R 14.75

Thighs L 24.75 R 25.75 L 23.75 R 24

Weight 156.0 153.6

Body Fat 29 27

Total inches lost 10.5

The 2 places I most notice a difference are in my abs and my arms. My abs have a ways to go, but have started to take a little nicer shape. My arms, actually showed zero change in size, but I can see a lot more muscle tone in them and actually have a little something to flex. These are by all means not drastic results, but I can say with honesty that I am more fit and energetic and I just feel good, so it has made a difference.

My fitness test went well. The results are...

Beginning 5 Weeks 10 Weeks

Push Ups - 24 (modified) 40 (modified) 30 regular - this is HUGE for me!

Sit Ups - 21 30 32 ( I could have done more but I ran out of time - I'm not that fast)

Sit and Reach 19.5 in 21. 75 in 23 in - I'm gaining my flexibility back!

So, I am pleased with these results and do feel a sense of accomplishment. They made me glad I crossed the finish line. And like I said, it isn't the end. It is all just beginning and I actually look forward to seeing what I can accomplish in the n ext 10 weeks. I will not be able to commit to going to my workouts to the extent I have as my wonderful husband has had to juggle a lot to make it possible for the duration of this challenge. However, I plan to go whenever it works into my schedule and hope to still achieve at least 3 times a week. As the weather is mercifully getting nicer, I also hope to add in more walking/jogging and bike riding. I hate running, but I still want to learn to love it, maybe that will be one of my next goals. I'll think about what my next goals will be and let you know soon.

Hmmm...

So, the weather is finally making me smile and with the beautiful spring like feel, I decided to get up this morning and go for a walk/jog before Dan had to leave for work. It was nice. I went about a mile and a half, jogging some and walking more, but trying to keep a good pace. (This is the advantage of going by myself in the morning, it can be a little faster than the leisurely to snail like pace we go with the kids.) There are lots of hills around, so even walking is getting a decent work out. Really, it was nice just to be out in the fresh sunshiney air. It is good for the soul after months of a very cold winter.

All is nice and well and this afternoon, Alyssa, Tess and I have a picnic outside and then go for a walk/baike ride together. I walked, pushing Tess in a stroller for the sake of speed and Alyssa rode her bike. Again, it was beautiful and we were all enjoying our time out and about when about half way through my knee starts hurting. At first, I ignored it figuring it just needed to work its way out. It felt a lot like my kneecap needed to pop or crack or adjust or whatever and just wouldn't. But after several minutes of continuing to walk on it (as we were on a walk), it hurt more and more and by the time I got home, I was seriously almost limping. I would have been limping but my pride kept me from it. So I decided to go inside and stretch - something I didn't do this morning but thought of later. The stretching felt great and just quitting walking seemed to help my knee immensely. It feels fine when I'm off it but the ache is still there (albeit not as strong) when I do walk (like to the other room).

So I'm not really sure what to think. While it has been several months since I have ran at all, I've been pretty active with regularl bouncing and kicking along with strength training. I could tell I was using different muscles today, but gosh, I just can't imagine that one little walk/jog would cause an issue. In fact, I think my pride will be really hurt if I injured myself in this small endeaver. But I know nothing about running or about knees or about injuries or anything fitness related, really. I have a kardio kickboxing class tonight and a bands and kickboxing class in the morning (with the focus on lower body - go figure) so I guess I'll take some Motrin and see how it all goes. If anyone has any input, it would be much appreciated!