My focus for the next couple of months is going to be more on fitness and eating well, and to make sure I keep active I’ve joined a couple of challenges.
As you guys know, Scale Warfare has started an EA Sports Active More Workouts Challenge. The More Workouts Wii game has a 6-week challenge that has you working out 4 days a week. I’ve chosen Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, but you can select any four days that work best in your schedule. I did my first workout on it this morning before work, and those 30 minutes were enough to give me tons of energy throughout the day. I really enjoyed the variety of workouts it had me doing. It begins with a 5-minute warmup of many different stretches, then moves on to a thirty minute cardio/resistance session with many different workouts. Today’s included squats, “skipping” which is really more like jumping rope, lunges (both side and regular), running, and bicep curls. Then it ends with ab/core work. It really is a complete workout that you can do at home. I highly recommend it, especially for people who don’t belong to a gym. I’m sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow.
Once again The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans has another challenge going on:
which runs from Wednesday, May 26 through Wednesday, July 21 – 8 weeks to shrink a bit, move a lot, and feel great about your efforts. The challenge is set up in teams, although you can also participate as an individual, as I am. It asks that you report on your weight each Wednesday, but since I’m not going to focus on the scale right now, I’m just going to make sure I increase my activity for the next 8 weeks. This definitely won’t be difficult to do because once summer vacation starts (June 11), I will have all day to workout. Plus, once Lulu arrives on June 18 I’ll be taking her on walks twice a day, which automatically adds steps to my normal daily activity. For my version of this challenge, I’m going to commit to getting in 10,000 steps each day. I found this site, which gives the steps equivalent to non-walking activities like biking and swimming, which I plan to do a lot of this summer. Swimming laps at a leisurely pace = 182 steps/minute (moderate pace = 212 steps/min), which means in 30 minutes I can “earn” 5460 steps. Biking = 242 steps/minute, so in 30 minutes I can get 7260 steps. Which means, if I ride my bike to the pool at my parents’ townhouse complex and then swim for 30 minutes (and ride the bike back home), I can earn 12,720 steps! That’s so impressive! Talk about motivation!!! Bring it on, baby!
I hope you’ll join in on one or both of these challenges, because they offer a great opportunity to see what you’re made of.
Bella on the Beach 
I love all your healthy plans for the summer!!