6 Week Challenge {1 Week Update}

So as of yesterday it's been exactly a week since I've been on the 6 Week Challenge at the YMCA. I'm working out at least 4-5 times a week, counting calories, and cooking a heck of a lot more at home. I'm feeling amazing and looking forward to continuing to see progress on the scale and in my body. We haven't done measurements yet but will do so on Wednesday. However we did have our first weigh in and I am happy to announce that I lost 2lbs!

That's right. I met my first goal of a 2lb loss per week. And I am currently at pre-pregnancy weight. You don't know how ecstatic I was to see that number on the scale! I am hoping to be at least 10lbs closer to goal weight by the end of the year even with the holidays in the mix. That means hard work, determination, and sticking with my 6 week challenge. Then after the first of the year I'll need to step it up and continue to do well on my own.

I might even be looking for friends to join me and create a 6 week challenge of our own. It won't be with a personal trainer but I'll have some sort of structured weekly challenge. A few workouts or classes we can take either together or separately and a food plan. Because the biggest thing I've taken away from my struggle with losing weight is that I need a food plan. No mindless eating, no carelessly choosing items off the menu. I need to be thoughtful and careful when I put food in my mouth.

The fitness part of this week consisted of a cardio challenge to see how far we could run/jog/walk within a 30 minute timeframe. I was able to average about 5mph on the treadmill during that 30 minutes and ran about 2.4 miles. Now that was without any incline, too. I'm sure my speed would have been a bit lower had I been given an incline (or a double stroller!). After the cardio challenge we had a workout with our trainer with resistance bands. Boy those things suck! We then worked in pairs with the 10lb medicine ball. Our second work out with the trainer had us balancing on a bosu (I had NO idea what this thing was before the session). We did lunges, squats, threw the medicine ball to each other, etc. We worked our core and I felt it the next day!

Each week our trainer also gives us classes or activities to do outside of our 2 sessions. She also wants to see us exercising at least once a day for 30 minutes. This week she challenged us to take one of her classes on Friday. We had our choice of a Cardio Sculpt class or a Sports Drills class. I chose the Sports Drills since I was relatively familiar with them from high school. Oh boy... I HATED it! Running the drills was the hardest thing I had done all week (maybe all year?) physically. She had us leaping like frogs, on our backs walking like crabs, doing push ups (both triceps and biceps) and much more. I even had to excuse myself to use the restroom although later on I would find out that I was just sick. I'm really glad I tried the class but might be choosing another option next time.

Along with the challenge we go to weekly nutrition meetings every Monday night. A nutrition expert comes in and not only gives us a wonderful presentation about nutrition but she also prepares a meal for us each week to enjoy while we listen and watch. I'm hoping to start posting recaps of her nutritional information on here soon in case others are interested as well. And, of course, including the recipes to the yummy meals she's making!

I am very happy with this first week and hope to see continued success on the scale and in my eating choices. More to come next week!

Weight Loss Progress

Starting Weight: 224.6 1/30/2011

Size 16

Current Weight: 201.7 11/12/2011

Size 14/16

 

Total to go: 46.7lbs

Total lost: 22.9lbs

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!

Swim Lessons {Adventures in the Water}

Before we went on our vacation to Hawaii I wanted to prepare my son for the water. He is an avid water lover and enjoys baths and the beach so I thought he'd also love swim lessons in a pool. I looked around, did my research and decided to sign him up for beginning swim lessons at the local YMCA. The price was the best in town and I've always gotten the warm fuzzies about envisioning my kids in various activities at the Y.

So I headed out to sign him up (you can't do it over the phone or online unless you've been enrolled previously). And while I was there I decided to just suck it up and join the YMCA with a single parent membership. No, I'm not a single parent but my husband wouldn't set foot in a gym unless it was to watch his kid in a class. But more about my gym membership in another post.

We were set. Scheduled for swim lessons at 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My mother in law would come with us so Molly could join in as well and we would switch kids as needed throughout the lessons. When we went to our first class I saw how much my son enjoyed being in the water and trying new things. The only thing he couldn't quite get was closing his mouth under water. So we had many coughing episodes as water had gone down the wrong tube when he tried to breathe in.

I liked how the instructors went through the basics with the kids. There were three main concepts the children worked on for the 4 weeks of class, kicks, scoops and bubbles. Each lesson would use another tool or technique to practice the three main concepts. there were rubber duckies and frogs, kick boards and mini hula hoop type toys to help each kid practice. The one thing I didn't realize was that this was not a water survival class. The children would not be learning how to react in case they fell in the water on accident. But that was just my misunderstanding about swim lessons in general.

Now if I were to do it again I probably wouldn't have signed Molly up for this type of class. I would have probably invested a bit more money into a water survival class for infants. But she did thoroughly enjoy splashing and swimming with mommy and Grandma. And it did get her ready for a week of fun in the sun of Hawaii and more used to water in general so I still think it was a great experience for her.

After our initial 4 week session we decided to sign E up for the transitional two's class after we got back from vacation. This class was a smaller, more focused class where the instructor and kids were the only ones in the water. The parents just sat or stood on the edge of the pool watching. It was a class that focused again on the three main concepts of kicks, scoops and bubbles but also expanded and started showing the kids how to position their arms, how to safely climb up out of the pool and, again, to feel more comfortable in the water.

The first few classes were great. E was enjoying himself (and his newfound friends) and it seemed as though he was getting a bit more comfortable. Then the third week in he started acting a bit different. He wasn't as excited to go to class and would rather go to the gym child care to play instead. He even asked to go home after the first half of class (and I took him home). Then the last week of classes he told me he didn't want to go. He was getting over a stuffy nose and I thought he just didn't feel good but the next Thursday he clearly stated he didn't want to go to swim lessons. So we didn't go. I was sad but felt that leaving this up to him was the best way to go.

Looking back I think the biggest problem E had with the class was the student to instructor ratio and not feeling safe with going under water. The class we enrolled in had 4 kids in it. Four toddlers to one instructor is quite overwhelming. They don't quite listen as well and definitely don't sit still so a majority of the class wasn't spent with fun in the pool, it was spent being redirected and reprimanded for goofing off in the water. I've been told by another parent in the class that the previous classes she was in only had 2-3 students.

And while E does love the water, he did not feel as comfortable with his instructor and going under water. I think that if I practice with him a few times a week before enrolling him again it might be more beneficial. I think that he'd be more trusting if I were in the water with him while he practiced going under and swimming.

All in all we enjoyed the instructors and the techniques used to teach the basic swimming lessons. And we will definitely be taking classes in the future. I really do think that swimming is an important thing to learn when young especially since we live in Southern California. We are always around water whether it be at the beach or at a friends house that has a pool. And water safety is important with small children. And these lessons have made E more eager to go out and explore things on his own. He doesn't mind being away from me and enjoys his freedom a bit more when someone else takes the lead. I think this will help us when we transition to preschool next year.