Getting Fit At The Y {6-Week Challenge}

At the beginning of the summer I joined the YMCA. I was looking for swim lessons for my son before we went to Hawaii and after doing the math figured out I could afford a single family membership. Not only would I get a place to workout, I'd get free babysitting as well. Win-win! No more stressing about where and when to schedule my workouts. I didn't have to wait till anyone got home nor did I have to stress about having to end my workout early because one of the kids woke up earlier than normal from their naps.

The first few times we went were pretty great and I learned what classes I loved, what classes I didn't love (not many). I'll be highlighting a few classes in the coming weeks. I also started to pick up on when the good times were to drop off the kids. They can only take so many kids so if you don't get there in time before a popular class you may have to wait a bit to get your kids in... then you risk the chance of being late to your class.

Just recently I found out about a 6-Week Challenge that the Y was hosting. It's basically a Biggest Loser challenge scaled back. And from what i read online it might motivate me a bit more than my twice weekly gym runs. I needed something to kick me in the butt and get me out of my complacency with my weight loss. I needed to get under my pre-pregnancy weight and wanted it off by my daughter's first birthday. And with 2 pounds to go I knew this program would do the trick.

The 6-Week Challenge is a team challenge. Each team has 3-6 people assigned together and they get together with a personal trainer twice a week. The program costs $215 for the 6 weeks. This is a total steal for personal training! The team with the highest percentage of weight lost at the end of the 6 weeks wins a $50 voucher to the YMCA. You can use the voucher to credit your account and use it towards another 6-week Challenge, your monthly membership, or any other thing you would pay for there.

We started on Monday (with our first weigh in last Friday night) and will continue until the week before Christmas. Each week we meet twice with our trainer but we also have to meet outside of the scheduled session at least once. We also keep a food diary and have the option to meet with a nutritionist once a week for a nutritional information meeting. So not only are the trainers focusing on the exercise portion of weight loss and toning but they're also trying to teach us how to eat right as well.

Now I've been learning all about eating right on Weight Watchers. I've had a pretty good grip on what I should and shouldn't be eating. I just find myself getting lax in tracking through my Weight Watchers online tracker. But one of my teammates told me about MyFitnessPal.com and was raving about how comprehensive the food list was and how easy it was to use on her android so I downloaded it and started to use it. And guess what? It's actually easier to use than my Weight Watchers app!

So for now I'm contemplating cancelling Weight Watchers until the beginning of the year to save money. I mean I'm already paying for the challenge and am under supervision so why not try something new for a bit? I'm thinking it might jump start the next leg of my weight loss journey! And so far it seems to be working. I'm motivated to track on my app and have been working out outside of my allotted training time. 

I will try to post an update each week with the number lost. This might just hold me more accountable and will hopefully keep me going. The 6 week challenges happen 3-4 times a year so after this first challenge I might just sign up for another to keep me going to goal. 50 pounds away. I can do it!