Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge: Week 1

Well, week 1 of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge is in the books. How did it go? Well...mixed. There were several days where I rocked it! I was psyched and totally into it. Then there were days where things didn't go so well and I wondered if I wasted my money when I signed up. But, here we are, the end of week 1 and I'm talking about it as if there will be a week 2, so that's something.

I tried to focus most of the week on water in-take, freggies (fruit/vegetables), and exercise but, honestly more the first two. It's stuff that I struggle with and one of the reasons I signed up for the challenge to make these items forefront in my mind. Did it help? I got 4 out of 7 days of my full 64 oz. of water. That's not bad. Sadly, I only got 2 out of 7 days with freggies. They are just hard for me to do! But, it's called a challenge for a reason, right?

What is discouraging to me (me and NO ONE else) is seeing the number of people sharing their workouts. There was someone who took the day off to go for a run, yoga, and take two classes. Wha?!?! Who DOES that? My workouts seem pitiful next to that! Honestly, it is discouraging rather than encouraging to me to see people working out for hours a day. I try to work out, but not to that extent. That's one of the reasons the end of the week was worse than the beginning. I started to see these types of workouts and I started to think how out of my league I am. It's disheartening.

Then today, I plugged in my points for the week. I figured everyone would have these huge numbers and my 25.5 points would be laughable. What I saw was many people with similar numbers to mine, maybe a couple more or a couple fewer, but right in my general range. Sure, there were those off-the-charts people who must have been the ones posting about their multiple workout days, but they weren't as many of those as there were numbers like mine. I felt better. I realized that I'm not alone in what I can accomplish.

So where does that leave me? It leaves me wanting to do better than than 25.5 number this week. I want to earn more points than I did this week. I want to up the days I got all my freggies in. I want to earn a few more exercise points than last week. I want to improve my water in-take. And I think that's what this whole challenge is anyway. A chance to improve yourself. A chance to learn your weaknesses and change them around. Here's to next week and higher points earned!


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Motivational Monday

Becoming your best requires you 

to overcome your worst.

Happy Monday people! Yea...that's a bit painful to read (and trust me, write!). LOL! But, it's time again for Motivational Monday. Something that I have been iffy about posting each week. I commit to finishing the year strong with a Motivational Monday every Monday until the end of the year!

With that said, my commitment to Motivational Monday comes from today's motivational quote. If I want to be the best me I can be, I have to overcome my worst tendencies. What are they? Procrastinating, ignoring when I get off track, allowing myself to think my poor actions are a true reflection of my abilities. In order to meet my goals, I must overcome these. 

The first step is to acknowledge what you believe is to be your worst. In my case, I procrastinate, I ignore when I get off track, and when I fail I allow it to mold my opinion of my abilities. I signed on with the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge this holiday season to keep myself on track so that I can be happy with myself come the new year. It is a chance for me to focus on positive action, rather than hoping I can do it on my own. I also have the completion of the 13 in 2013 race challenge. I have run 11 races out of 13 and plan on running a Turkey Trot and hopefully the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler. I wanted a Jingle Bell run, but the dates aren't working out for me. :-( So, I know I will meet my 13 in 2013 goal and since I loved the idea, I signed up for the 14 in 2014!

So, think about it today, what are your "worsts?" What keeps you from your goals? What do you need to change in order to be your best? I'm taking the time now to figure that out so I can be successful in my goals and to run strong at The Love Run in March. Because that is a priority for me. A very high priority.

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2013 Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge

The holiday season is upon us - Thanksgiving, then Christmas, for me my wedding anniversary, then New Year's. My goodness it's a gluttony of holidays! For the past few holiday seasons I've not been all that into it. I used to LOVE the holidays, but I had a job that completely turned me off of them in 2005 and I still hadn't gotten back into it. But, this year I think I have gotten my head around it and am embracing the season again.

That being said, I know it's a tough one in terms of workouts/healthy eating. I do have a tendency to do the "it's the holidays and I won't have x for a whole 'nother year. Go for it!" So, knowing myself and knowing I desperately need to make a change, I signed up for Amanda's (Run To The Finish) Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge 2013. I signed up a couple years ago and did well for a week or two, but then slacked. I honestly was not happy with myself for slacking. I debated joining this year because since I participated last, it became a paid challenge. I'll be honest, I hesitated because I didn't want to spend the money. I didn't want to waste the money. I was afraid that if I spent the money on it, it would just be throwing the money away. Then I thought about it and decided to look at it from the flip-side, that the money will keep me on-track. The money expended will mean I follow-through with the challenge. I may not be perfect (as I know I won't be), but I believe it will help me stay closer to on-track during the holidays than in the past. I'm a tiny bit competitive, so I want to earn those points daily.

So, today is day one of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge. I'm reading through what gets me points and how I can work my food and exercise to earn the most. The fruits/veggies will be tough as I generally get 3-4 when I'm concentrating on my food, but to earn a point I need 5-7. I do have to hit the grocery store, which means I will be picking up more so I can be competitive. It also means I gotta get my workouts in and water. All the things that are the building blocks for healthy living and what I need to get into the habit of so I can run strong at The Love Run in March.

There's still time (I think) to sign up! Join me and help keep yourself in check this holiday season. No one says you have to gain weight and give up your healthy habits just because these next 6 weeks involve the holidays!


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Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge

This past year I worked hard to lose some weight and exercise more regularly (training for a half marathon will do that to ya!).  To date I have lost 21.4 pounds since May 1st.  I'm happy with that.  Wish it were a tad bit more, but hey 21.4 pounds is better than nothing.  I joke that I had a goal of losing 20 pounds before the Princess Half Marathon in February, didn't  lose it, and now before Philly when I had no weight loss goals, have lost 21.4.  Guess I don't do well under pressure?  LOL!

Well, the holiday season is upon us and for lucky me a Caribbean vacation also.  Christmas is in about 5 weeks and I want to end the year off on a high note, so I signed up for Run to the Finish (Amanda)'s Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge.  After the Half Marathon I'm afraid I'll just sit around waiting for training to start for the Yeungling Shamrock Half Marathon (December 10th in case your curious), so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get my butt moving since the challenge starts after Philly and will keep me moving until official Shamrock training starts.

I'm not hoping to win overall.  I don't care if I don't win any weekly or overall prizes.  My goal is to use this challenge to keep myself on track through the holidays.  I've worked sorta hard these past 6 months to lose 21.4 pounds, I don't want the holidays to mess it up!  Vacation will do that for me!  ;-)

Feel free to join in!  It would be great to have some friendly competition!!