Kick Holiday Weight Gain To The Curb This Year

 

Make this November about health, not extra servings of pie.

The average American gains 5 lbs during the holiday and most people never lose the extra lbs.  That’s right, it stays on year after year after year…

Scary, isn’t it?

 

Make this the year that you beat this scary statistic and make a commitment to your body that you can be proud of.

 

This November the inspirational, Sam Lambooy of Slambooy Fitness and Betsy Fry of Find Food Peace and 365 Days of Sweat are hosting a “November Workout Challenge.”  Instead of hibernating as the days get shorter and colder, choose to workout everyday in November and take charge of your health.

 

Here’s the rundown:

 

• Workout everyday in November.
• You choose the intensity, duration and type of workout.
• Post what you did in the Facebook group “My November Workout Challenge.”
• Take photos of your workout and post them on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #activenovember and find all the other people around the world participating (seriously, we already have an Aussie and a Brit!).
• Be an advocate for health and invite your friends/family to join you!
• A free conference call for all participants led by Sam Lambooy and Betsy Fry.  We will be giving tips, encouragement, inspiration and answering all questions.

 

Are any of these reasons why you don’t want to participate:

 

• November is the best month for eating and starting off my winter hibernation the right way!
• The holidays are the ultimate diversion from my health goals.
• I’ll start working out again after the family season ends.
• It’s too cold/dark/snowy outside and I hate being confined to the gym.
• I have been thinking about committing to a regular workout regimen, but it’s too hard to commit to anything during the holidays.
• I intend on being in a tryptophan coma all month.
• There will be too much traveling/family time/shopping/stress to try to include working out.

 

If any of these sound familiar to you, then take a risk and let go of your excuses.  We challenge you to leap out of your comfort zone for one month.

 

 

Now that you’ve read all about the challenge, it’s time to make a wholehearted commitment to yourself.  All you have to do is write “I’m so down to sweat!” in the comment section below.   Once you do this, we will add you to the Facebook support group and answer any questions or calm any fears you may have.

 

Welcome to the challenge!   We are so happy to have you!

 

With sweaty love,

 

Betsy Fry and Sam Lambooy

Days 209 & 210: Foam Rolling Enemy

Day 209:  Yesterday I went to checkout Powerhouse Gym to see if I could finally commit to a gym membership.  It’s exactly T minus 100 days until the wedding and my bridal guns could use a consistent weight lifting routine.  I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill and then did 15 minutes on a machine called the Summit Trainer.  Has anyone heard of this?  I thought it was an elliptical machine when I got on, but my strangely moving body did not want to quickly get off and embarrass my less than knowledgeable gym-rat self.  The machine was a hybrid between a stair-stepper, elliptical and the devil.  I sweat more during those 15 minutes than I have in a hot yoga class.  There was a pool underneath me and the elevated machine made me feel as though all the regular gym goers were laughing at my man-made lake.

After I collected my wits off the floor, I headed over to the free-weight area and lifted for thirty minutes (still sweating through everything I had on).  Finally, I finished up with some foam rolling and abdominal action in an empty workout room in the back of the gym.  The ab workout was nothing special.  The foam roller, was a different story.  If you do not know what a foam roller is, then I highly recommend asking a trainer at your gym to show you how to use it.  Here http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1303.cfm

It’s primary use is to use your body-weight to massage out any pain in tender/sore muscles.  My orthopedic surgeon brother recommended I start using one on a regular basis (again).  I have not used one in almost three years and OH.MY.GOSH did it hurt.  I winced in pain as I slowly rolled the foam down my IT band on the left leg and then the right leg.  Holy cow.  I don’t get why it helps just yet, but I’ll keep you updated on the progress of my IT band if I continue to use it.

Day 210:  Today Mike and I rode our bikes to REI to gawk at the expensive camping gear and then biked our happy selves back home.  The 45 minute ride was enough to make me sweat there and back while spending some much-needed time with my man.

Day 97: Pushing My Limits

On what is now setting the record for the most consecutive days that I have spent in the gym, I came to the conclusion that have been complacent with running.   Let me just rewind a bit to explain what that means to me.   In eighth grade gym class it was a requirement that everyone run a mile in under 12 minutes, I crossed the finish line some 20 seconds before the cut off.  In high school, I dabbled with shotput and discus; avoiding running entirely.  In college I ran a 5k in about 33 minutes.  After college I trained for my first duathlon and I ran my fastest 5k in 29 minutes.  Two years ago I ran my first half-marathon and averaged a 10.30 mile.  Are you seeing a pattern?  Over ten years of running and almost zero improvement in my times.

My only defense to this is that I have always told myself that I did not want to get faster.  I was ok with a 10-ish minute mile pace.  I was complacent with being a mediocre runner.  It was not until the last three days on a treadmill that I have watched my mile times tick down and down.  Today, my fastest mile at 8.15 felt stronger than my 9.30 mile.  I wanted to keep going, to continue testing myself and pushing for something that my body already knows is attainable.  I have been stuck in my head for so long and my body was ready to move on to something better.  It was ready to break through a barrier.

Today I am making a declaration that my half-marathon in May will boast less than a 9 minute mile pace.  Anything faster than that would take my breath away- literally and metaphorically.

Here are my questions to you:  What in your life have you become complacent with?  Are you being honest with yourself with what you truly want?  How are you going to set yourself in motion to make the changes that you need to move forward?   Be honest.  Make a declaration.  Watch your life change.

Day Nine: Old Fashioned Gym

After an overwhelming amount of different types of workouts in the last few weeks, I decided I just wanted a regular workout.   A “regular workout” differs for everyone, so I will describe what mine is.  It’s what I used to do at the gym before I was introduced to the world of yoga and outdoor running.

Today I used my visitor pass at the beautiful, Pura Vida, and spent 45 minutes on the elliptical watching a television show about sperm donation.  Although the story was fascinating, I realized that I do not really pay attention to my workout as closely as I’d like when I’m glued to the tube.  Side note:  I do not have a TV in my house, so this was particularly awesome to me.  After my stint on the elliptical I used some free weights and then finished up with a round of ab work in the stretching area.

It was really nice to go back to my old ways for a change, but I was reminded how happy I am with the introduction of a lot more challenging workouts.  My body is pretty grateful for that as well.