A new challenge is upon you.
I have done a bunch of challenges and each time I get more insight into how people perform in these challenges and why. How long is too long for a challenge? How much should you tell people to do? How rigid should the requirements be? It brings me to an interesting psychological test.
The Candle Problem
This interesting psychology test has received a lot of attention recently due to a couple popular book releases. The test was created in 1945 by Karl Duncker, a Gestalt psychologist. It is a cognitive behavior performance test that looks at functional fixeness. Duncker gave the participants a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches, and asked them to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip onto the table below.
Can you solve the problem?
The solution to the problem, as it is in most of this cases, is simple. You use the thumbtacks to attach the box to the wall and use it as a candle holder. You use the matches to light the candle.
What I find to be most interesting is not the test itself, but people’s reaction to the test under different circumstances. This test has been done a hundred times over in different ways. They have tried timing it, giving rewards, or underline certain words in the problem. They also manipulate the arrangement of the items. Each time the reactions are different and provide an insight into the person who performed the task.
What does the candle problem have to do with this new challenge?
One of the most interesting results of these tests were when participants were offered a reward for completing it in a fast manner. They rated the average times of completion for the test and those who were offered rewards did worse.
Why?
This wasn’t a technical problem. Meaning, the candle problem isn’t the same thing as changing a tire. Ask people to change a tire as fast as possible for money, and you will see money change their performance for the better. Ask people to solve a creative or long term problem for money, and pressure of the challenge and the reward can potentially cause problems.
Due to this type of assessment of human behavior, I thought I would see how the lack of pressure would apply to this challenge. I want to see how people react if they are given lax requirements and unknown reasons for reward.
The rules
Rule #1 – You have to fill out your goals for the next 30 days.
Rule #2 – You have to check-in 30 days from now in the check-in post.
Rule #3 – Anyone can play. Members will have support and be eligible for special prizes. See more information below.
How to enter
All you have to do is fill out these questions in the comment form of this post. That is it.
1. Name – Real name is not needed, but you must leave a valid email to be notified of your prize if you receive it.
2. Goals for the next 30 days
3. Reason for entering challenge
Entry Deadline is April 21st 2010
Prizes
Non-Members – 3 Non-Members will receive
- 3-month free membership to LeighPeele.com
- 3 cookbooks from the Body By Eats collection
($75 value for each person)
Members – 2 Members will receive
1 – Freestyle Suspension Trainer System
1 – Fat Loss Troubleshoot Full Package
1 – Body By Eats Package + Extra Cookbooks
1 – 90-Day Workout/Nutrition Journal
1 – Women’s Health/Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises
($300 value for each person)
Members will also have a support thread for their goals, the ability to do weekly check-ins, and of course be able to use the forums in general along with bonus site materiel as always.
How to win
All you have to do to win is check in on May 21st 2010, and answer the following questions in the comment section.
1. Name – Real name is not needed, but you must leave a valid email to be notified of your prize if you receive it.
2. Goal for the challenge
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
That’s it. That is all you have to do to win a prize.
How do I choose the winners
That will be told at the end of the challenge. Boy, aren’t I a stinker.
So, get to posting. If you want to become a member, you can find out more information for joining here.
Related posts:
Thanks for the challenge Leigh and opening it to everyone!
1. Name
Nick
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Lose 10 pounds
b. Increase my bench
c. Cut out red meat (I am moving towards vegitarianism)
3. Reason for entering challenge
Win membership and have something to check back in to in a month.
Great challenge, how long can 30 days be?
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. exercise for 1 hour every day, doesnt matter what it is as long as its movement
b. eat 5 fruits and vegetables every day
c. hug my kids every day, even if it does embarass my sixteen year old son and tell my husband he’s looking fine
3. reason for entering challenge
a kick up the ass to do the things I should be doing anyway, and see if these things become a habit
I forgot one of the rules!
number 1. My name is Claire
1. Name: Sally
2. Goal for the challenge: Reduce Body Fat!;Increase strength;Figure out best look for my body type
3. Reason for entering challenge: Motivation more than anything
1. Name: Sally
2. Goal for the challenge: Reduce Body Fat!;Increase strength;Figure out best look for my body type
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: I lost 2 pounds, which is pretty good;My strength is a little better;I decided that since I don’t really have the breast for the look I like that I would maybe go for a more athletic look because it looks good for my frame
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days: I would have liked to check in weekly, maybe I should have joined the membership site;I did enjoy it though! Thanks
Keri
Prepare myself for first Figure Comp.
Be more social with out drinking.
Date more.
I would love to win something, and I enjoy Leigh’s blog and visit everyday so I am sure that it would be an easy reminder to stay focused on my goals.
Keri
Prepare myself for first Figure Comp.
Be more social with out drinking.
Date more.
I decided not to enter the figure comp, I didn’t realize how damn hard it would be and I just don’t think it is for me.
I cut back my drinking some, so I am happy about that.
I went on 2 dates, they were both horrible but at least I did it.
I really enjoyed trying to do something different in my life.
I don’t know how successful I was but I am still proud of myself.
1. Name – Gráinne
2. Goals for the next 30 days-
-Get back on track with compliance and motivation….have slipped recently and more junk is finding its way into my diet with more excuses being used!
-Eat WELL. I know I feel better when I eat proper food but I think I need to be reminded
-See a 6lb scale drop
-Drop 1.5% body fat (based on calipers used by a trainer)
-Be consistent
-Learn how to eat when I go away for the weekend or on a short holiday (both of which will be happening) and not blow it all
-Keep up the NEAT
3. Reason for entering challenge
I got tired of being “good” and slipped a bit. Took an intentional break from journalling my food over the last 10 days because I felt I needed it. It’s easy to remain focused for 30 days because it’s barely any time really…but hopefully it will be just long enough to make a real difference! I also like not having to weigh every week or anything. Sometimes changes are slow with me so kind of keeping my eyes closed until the big “surprise!” at the end suits me better!
It’s excellent timing as well. Knew I needed to tighten up on the diet because I was eating too much junk. Also was weighed and had BF done by calipers on Saturday. Had already decided that I was eating all the crap I wanted for the weekend and that today was D-day. It’s like Leigh read my mind!
So…how did I do?
Not so great!
I did make an effort with NEAT. Went on almost pointless walks to the shop, fidgeted and cleaned more than I felt like I wanted to!
I didn’t drop fat-I just about stayed the same.
I confirmed for myself that I’m an emotional eater. I was enormously hideously stressed about my upcoming move to Canada and fed the constant knot in my stomach with sugar and grazing in general. Damage somewhat limited by fidgeting and lots of walking on the worst week-I was off work and clocked up 25000 steps per day plus.
What did I learn?
-I really really have to work on the emotional relationship with food and remember that it doesn’t actually make me feel better
-I cannot buy myself a cake and say I’ll have a piece and keep the rest. It never happens. I pick at frosting and after a while realise what I’m eating and have to dump it. The garbage area in the basement is my junk food graveyard.
-BIGGEST difference overall-remembering that screwing up does not mean giving up. Every time I make a mess now I restart. My progress may be a bit slower but I’m edging there I think. I haven’t given up. And that’s huge for me….
I am so in.
1. Name: Robin
2. Goals for the next 30 days
I’m going to weigh and measure myself and take photos but I’m going to hold off on setting a pounds loss goal because that isn’t something I can control. What I can control is what I DO. Here is what I am going to do.
a) weigh/record every bite sip etc. aiming for 1400 Cals a day but the goal here is to record, I might drop the number or even increase it or vary it if I feel it will help but I wil always know what I’m taking in
b) four weight/resistance training sessions a week
c) focus on increasing NEAT I don’t have a way to record this (i.e. no body bugg etc) but every day I’m going to do something “extra” and I’ll journal it to keep track
d) minimum two solid, focused cardio sessions a week that ARE NOT walking. I might do more sessions but at least two will be good solid challenging sessions
3. Reason for entering the challenge
Challenges help me focus. During the last 12 week challenge I lost but I chose to make my main focus the diet. I increased exercise but if something had to give, it was the exercise. Now I’m ready to push myself over another hurdle of making it to those work outs even when the deficit has me tired. Even when I want to give in an give myself an excuse. My focus here will be to push the exercise without letting the food get sloppy. I REALLY like the prizes but prize or no prize, the prize will be the outcome. I don’t know how much I will lose in the 30 days but I like to think I could do 10 pounds. That excites the hell out of me!
1. Name – little robin
2. Goal was to track food intake and exercise more following a specific plan and try to increase NEAT. I had been hoping to lose 10 pounds
3. I did not achieve the goal I set but I did learn some invaluable lessons. In short I think I learned about the importance of picking the RIGHT goals. For me, it was not the right time to dive back in to a deficit again. I tried it and found that my 12 week deficit that I had just come off had left me feeling somewhat deprived and I my relationship with food had gotten a little wonky. I stressed out about it but then I shifted focus and decided that rather than try to maintain a deficit and to FEEL like I was dieting hard and spinning my wheels that I would let it go. I kept tracking food most of the time and have a much better idea of where all the Cals come from when I do blow out and eat a lot. Maintenance doesn’t need to be hard and I learned that I can love food on and off a deficit a bit more than I was letting myself do in the past. So Yeah I didn’t achieve the original goal but that would have been a mistake. Instead I switched to doing some mental work and work on future goal setting and also on stress reduction and on putting food into perspective for me both on and off a deficit. I’ve learned some new techniques for getting to sleep at night (I have trouble with insomnia) and now I know that I can get to sleep when I need to and I’m not afraid of sleep deprivation affecting my eating any more. Now I’m actually ready to commit to another dieting down phase and I’m going into it mentally and emotionally stronger with clearer goals and an ease of mind and confidence that wasn’t there before. When I started this 30 day challenge I felt like I was clinging back on to dieting by my finger nails and just going to grit my teeth and try to let will power force me through. I know now that that is not realistic for me and nor is it necessary.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
It was a great learning experience. I used the people on the boards to find a way to support my future work on the dieting down (I learned that the extra external pressure is really really nice to have) and so I’m so grateful for the BBE forums for that and I’m happy about what I’ve learned. I don’t feel like I gave up. I think I grew and while at first I think that I thought that a “harsher” challenge with more rules would have been good, now I realize it might have made me push on when I was better off following my gut.
Al
Goals for the challenge
1) Take 15 out each day to meditate/stretch work on mobility
2) Drink 3L water each day
3) Sleep at least 6 hours per night
4) drink no more then 2 caffeine drinks per day
5) no sugar until I leave
6) focus on balance
3)I am going on holiday soon so this is good to keep on track until then. Life has been really stressful lately so my challenge is the opposite. To de-stress and focus on flexibility and relaxation and some me time
Asktolearn
7.2
Al
Goals for the challenge
1) Take 15 out each day to meditate/stretch work on mobility
2) Drink 3L water each day
3) Sleep at least 6 hours per night
4) drink no more then 2 caffeine drinks per day
5) no sugar until I leave
6) focus on balance
How did I do?
My goal was different – rest and relaxation and a break from over training and pushing myself way too hard.
I did 30 whole days and out of it 3 weeks I did no intense training. I did yoga, pilates, walking, swimming and trying to relax. I don’t remember the last time I have done this. It was very very hard for me. I felt very guilty, edgy and gross feeling. I did realise how tired I was though and how my body was run down. I don’t think I put on any weight, I was proud of myself not to weigh myself on holiday either. Yesterday I broke down and had a cry at how guilty I felt but tried to remind myself that it is for good. I have one more week of holiday and will try to enjoy each moment of it. Walking and swimming and yoga have been my only training.
ery day. At least 2 which is good. I have only 2 max 3 caffeine drinks per day but most days it was only one or two.
I have slept 6 hours or more each night.
I didn’t eat much sugar – on holiday i have had a couple treats. I still feel guilty and have to work on enjoying these more and not stressing. Life is too short to not enjoy good banana bread. I will try to have at least two more treats before I leave and feel ok about it,
This hasn’t been any easy month for me at all but I am learning to be a bit more self serving and I should be proud of what I have done.
Now im going to sit in the sun with a good book
al
1. Name: Aaron
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
-Drop 8 lbs of body weight
-Win the challenge (the prizes are great, better than money!)
Method:
-Track all calories on fitday.com
-Exercise everyday (3+ days of lifting, and some form of cardio or a long walk with my dog on the off days)
3. Reason for entering challenge: Since the Change my Life Challenge I’ve been on a diet break, and basically on the fence about continuing to diet. I really enjoyed the CML Challenge, and so when I read about this 30 day challenge I was not going to miss it! I wouldn’t have entered another 12 week challenge, but 30 days is just right!
Goals for the challenge
1) Do my hip mobility exercises daily
2) Stick to my training schedule (but actually REST when I know I need it!)
3) Look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I love myself exactly as I am, until I believe it
4) Ask myself before every meal or snack, “does this make me healthier”?
5) Pour my heart into my academic and professional work they way I do my training
6) Tell someone I love. why, everyday
I am entering for two reasons, 1) sheer curiosity about what Leigh has planned and to continually support her, and 2) it is a priority to me to continually become a better person, and at the end of the day, success only comes from being accountable to ourselves.
Krista
Goals for the challenge
1) Do my hip mobility exercises daily
2) Stick to my training schedule (but actually REST when I know I need it!)
3) Look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I love myself exactly as I am, until I believe it
4) Ask myself before every meal or snack, “does this make me healthier”?
5) Pour my heart into my academic and professional work they way I do my training
6) Tell someone I love. why, everyday
I am entering for two reasons, 1) sheer curiosity about what Leigh has planned and to continually support her, and 2) it is a priority to me to continually become a better person, and at the end of the day, success only comes from being accountable to ourselves.
REPLY:
Due to this challenge, my hip flexor injury has almost entirely healed (due to hip exercises and rest!). I really made changes to the way I think about food, with a greater emphasis on protein and fat, which was sorely lacking in my diet. I have more energy and am getting stronger with each workout. As far as my work goes, i have a headache from giving it my all everyday at my new job, and I’m grateful for it. The strangest result of this challenge has been in my last point – to tell someone I love, everyday, why. I actually stuck to this, and its amazing what its done for MY mood and ability to handle any of the day to day curveballs that life throws. Thank you for this challenge Leigh, it only takes 30 days to make a habit and I hope these stick!
Krista
1. Name – Kate
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. keep calories to a max of 1500
b. no fast food – and keep an emergency protein bar with me for when I get really hungry
c. add two activities during the week to my normal 4 mile walk per day
d. drink 3L of water per day
3. Reason for entering challenge
Two reasons really.
1. To prove to myself that I CAN do it.
2. I’ve reached a point where I can’t go it alone. Some accountability and support is hopefully what I need to get back into the game. This week was my “tell by” date, if you will.
1. Kate
2. keep calories to a max of 1500. no fast food – and keep an emergency protein bar with me for when I get really hungry. add two activities during the week to my normal 4 mile walk per day. drink 3L of water per day
3. First one…not so much. I didn’t go crazy or anything, but I started off well and then got progressively worse as time went on. I didn’t do much fast food at all – maybe once or twice. I don’t think I ever added more activities, but I did walk every day. And I mostly got enough water.
4. I started off with good intentions and while I didn’t completely go off track, I could have done better. I HAVE, however, learned quite a bit about myself. I’m learning to pay attention to what I need and give in when necessary…and give myself a break. I’m looking forward to the next challenge!
My first challenge….
1) Name: Kaylynn40
2) Goals for the next 30 days
a) Drink at least 2 L of water daily
b) Pack lunch 9 out of 10 work days.
c) Eliminate bread at dinner
d) Post or Blog 4 times per week
3) Reason…..I need some motivation, so this is perfect! I hope the accountability makes me stick with these 4 goals and push me toward my ultimate goal.
Name: krista or kaylynn40
Goals: drink 2L water, pack lunch at work, stop eating bread at dinner, blog more.
Outcomes: I was doing well with packing lunch and drinking water. Still haven’t been able to totally eliminate bread. I did do some blogging, but during the challenge, my city was flooded and I didn’t do anything for 2 weeks but focus on that. I have packed my lunch 4/5 days per week, and was probably about 50% compliant on the water consumption.
MY GOALS:
*Try atleast 3 new foods a week
*Lose 5 pounds
*Be able to do 3 regular push-ups in a row
*Stretch everyday
JOINING FOR:
*Fun
*Help
*Curiousity
MY GOALS:
*Try atleast 3 new foods a week
*Lose 5 pounds
*Be able to do 3 regular push-ups in a row
*Stretch everyday
MY RESULTS:
*I didn’t lose any weight.
*I tried a couble of new foods
*Still can’t do a push-up
*I did stretch 4 times a week!
MY THOUGHTS:
*I am not too happy with my results
*I am happy about stretching
*I feel a little better
Goals”
1 – Be able to do an unassisted pull-up
2 – Stretch 5-6 nights a week
3 – Try yoga once a week
Joining for:
1- motivation
2- accountability
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Weigh 152lbs or less
b. Fit back into my pants
c. Walk 45-60 mins a day now that I won’t be walking to/from work
d. Stick with my intermittent fasting program.
3. Reason for entering challenge
a. I need to stay on track as I continue to work on losing the 15lbs I gained during the most momentous binge I’ve had in recent history: the entire month of March. I’ve been yo-yoing ever since burning out completely last summer due to a well meaning coach with a terrible low-carb low-cal diet and a high intensity training program (no menstrual cycle for 10 months type burn out). My ultimate goal is to compete in a local figure show, but I need to get my focus back and at least return to my previous level of leanness (that I maintained for several years until this past year, when I started sliding backwards).
b. I need to remind myself to focus on the process versus the end result; I know one day I will compete, but I need to forget setting a date until I’m walking around much leaner, and for more than a week or two.
2. Of my 4 goals (a) Weigh 152lbs or less b) Fit back into my pants c) Walk 45-60 mins a day now that I won’t be walking to/from work d) Stick with my intermittent fasting program)
3. I only managed to succeed at c, walk at least 45-60 mins daily. As for the others, I gained 5 lbs and now weigh 172, and my fat pants are getting tight, nevermind my regular wardrobe. For the last 8 days I didn’t stick to my diet at all and binge ate almost every day. But hey, at least I walked over an hour every day to/from work. The walking goal was actually the one I didn’t think I’d succeed at.
4. I wish that a challenge like this, or any other superficial reason, could persuade me from binge eating when I’m right there in that moment, about to take the first bite. I almost seem to do worse when I enter challenges like this, as if my evil self now has a specific goal to sabotage my well-meaning self and see just how bad I can lose. It’s been many years since I weighed this much, and many old feelings and habits have returned. Summer is no longer my favourite season again and I’ve started hiding in my clothes, which will be a problem a month or two from now.
1. Name: dfs7g
2. Goals for the challenge:
a. Keep following my strength program (5/3/1)
b. Get back to regular conditioning work as well.
c. Come up with a calorie cycling plan and start following it.
3. Reason for entering challenge: I don’t “get” challenges. I don’t understand why people do them, I don’t understand what I would get from it. So I’ll call a few of things I was planning to do anyways a “challenge” and see what happens.
1. Name: dfs7g
2. Goals for the challenge:
a. Keep following my strength program (5/3/1)
b. Get back to regular conditioning work as well.
c. Come up with a calorie cycling plan and start following it.
3. My results:
a. Did keep following my planned strength program.
b. Did add a short conditioning session after each workout, in spite of having to work out later in the evening than usual, plus added two short runs each week.
c. Based on what I learned from FLTS, I did come up with a calorie cycling plan for overall fat loss (monthly average deficit of 15%, daily deficits vary from 0% to 40%). I started the challenge at about 10% BF (lepel hill scan), and I’ve lost 10 lbs over 30 days, while still making progress on my strength program.
4. Final words, thoughts (maybe too many, sorry):
I don’t think my goals for the past month were a “challenge” for me. Following my program was just maintaining an existing habit (although now with a reduction in calories), and developing a calorie cycling program and following it is something I’ve been mulling over for a while.
Adding conditioning was perhaps a bit of a challenge. Our family’s routine has changed over in the past couple of months, and I’ve only been able to start my evening workouts at 9pm instead of around 8pm, so making the workouts a bit longer was not ideal, but I kept the conditioning short, and it was okay. On one day that was scheduled to be a short run, I couldn’t get to it until about 11pm. I thought about skipping it, but, because I had “challenged” myself to do it, I did a nominal jog of about 5 min (2.5 min down the street, then back). This is a trivial example, but it does raise the question of whether absolutely sticking to promises you make to yourself is the best thing to do, or whether accepting pragmatic flexibility is better (the answer is: it depends).
Spending the past month thinking about challenges and reading the forums, I do have a better appreciation for them. I can see that some people need or want what challenges provide (external motivation, competition, camaraderie, avoiding failure and the resulting guilt or shame, pleasure from encouragement or praise, elements of a supportive or sympathetic environment) to give their desire for a change enough of an importance or focus in busy, hectic lives. Needing “accountability” is what people often say. Before I would have said “if you need accountability, are they *really* *your* goals?”. Now I’ll accept that challenges and accountability can be a valid change technique for some people, at least some of the time.
I still think that, at least for me, “big effort” goals are not typically going work in the long term, and that some of the things that some experts promote as being necessary elements of change (such as “passion”, “motivation”, “commitment”, “specific, numerical goals”, and even “accountability”) are often overblown, and may even, in some cases, be counterproductive. But that’s no reason not to try using them.
Name: Jen
Goals:
~Continue with OPT – I am starting week 6 this week so this will take me through weeks 6-10. I want to continue to see changes in the mirror and hopefully have some progress on weight and measurements (a lb a week would be nice)
~Track my food intake and hit my targets
~Not miss any of the resistance and cardio workouts
~Try one new recipe a week
~Take time each day to do mobility and stretching – my left piriformis muscle has been bothering me for a while now and I am getting really sick of it. I notice a significant improvement when I can do this work each day.
~Log all of the above in my journal on the forum.
I am entering because:
1) I have never done a challenge and want to see how this will motivate me even more.
2) Now that I am halfway through OPT and am starting to feel really good and see results, I don’t want to get complacent and slack off. I need to see this through to the end. This challenge will help me get there.
1. Name – Jen
2. Goal for the challenge: My goal was to finish OPT, not miss any workouts, track food and try new recipes
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: Well, to keep it real, I pretty much didn’t do any of these things. I got sick right at the beginning of the challenge and that lasted for 2.5 weeks. We also got a puppy and my whole routine has been altered and everything is about the puppy right now!
I did lose weight though, I lost 4lbs – I guess being sick and distracted has its advantages in the caloric intake area.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days: Life got in the way, and I am ok with that. I had the best intentions but the timing just was not right for me for these 30 days. Normally I do not have a problem sticking with something if I put my mind to it. I hope to try again in the next challenge and keep setting goals to push myself.
1. Jen F.
2. Goals:
1. No eating after dinner
Name: Jen F
Goals: 1. No eating after dinner; 2. No white sugar/white flour; 3. Lose 13 lbs; 4. Listen to my children.
Reason: I have been too lazy to do it on my own. I thought entering the challenge would help me hold myself accountable.
Aside: I had been hoping for another cash/12 week challenge thinking that the length of that challenge would give me enough time to reach my actual goal (lose 23 lbs), but thirty days is enough to make a dent and change some habits. Thanks for doing this!
Name: Linda
Goals:
1. Follow new fitness program designed to de-condition my muscles. It is mentally challenging to break out of my box every day.
2. Improve nutrition by not skipping lunch with the goal to eliminate disordered eating habits.
3. Continue to whack away at eliminating stress related insomnia.
Why the challenge? Leigh, I am enjoying the latest series of posts that are focusing more on our brains role in fitness – so this challenge has me intrigued to see what you have up your sleeve? Maybe I have drawn the wrong conclusion that this is related and you are the ultimate trickster. But if I am right, I might be a good study participant to add to your pool of challengees.
Name: Lori
30 day goals
1. Break my diet pop bad habit
2. Reduce the amount of time I spend on Facebook
3. Lose 8 pounds of body weight
4. Commit 100% to each workout
5. Surprise myself by doing something I never thought I could do
Why I joined this:
I love a good challenge, and I am motivated by meeting a goal. It’s been fun getting to know some of the good people on the forum, and I look forward to challenging myself and being challenged by others.
UPDATE:
1. Done. Not right off the bat, but I haven’t had any kind of pop in 2.5 weeks.
2. Still working on it. Yes, I would say I spent less time, but I didn’t cut back as much as I had hoped to.
3. Lost 5.2 pounds.
4. I have to admit, I DID commit 100 percent to every workout!
5. Hmm… surprise myself … Well, a trainer friend challenged me to hold a 2-minute plank (full, not on elbows), and I did that. I think the way I was most surprised wasn’t in the best way. I thought a 30-day open challenge would be enough to keep me motivated. I realized more so now than ever that I am more driven by having an external challenge rather than an internal challenge. I’d rather have an event, a team, a contest with rules, etc. to stick to. I made a deal with my trainer for 35 days (ending before her vacation), and I’ve been better about sticking to that. I gave up all white sugar. It’s been tough, but I’d rather do that than hand her $50 and admit that I caved in front of our Combat class (she gave up stuff too, and she feels the same way). I need to work on setting my own goals and having that be enough. I look at my kids and know that they are my motivation, and it’s not like I’m making horrible decisions, I’m just making fewer of the “best” decisions than I should. I don’t expect to be perfect – that’s unachievable. But I’m pleased with the way I’ve changed my life so far, having dropped 88 pounds and extended my life by many years. Even better, I’m serving as a good example to my kids.
Final thoughts: I’m glad I participated. I like being part of a group and contributing in some way to the betterment of others. If my words helped someone in anyway, then I win. And that’s a great thing.
Thanks for the challenge, Leigh. I look forward to others in the future.
1. Name – PJBisbee
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
- No more chips, crackers or salty foods after dinner (this is a terrible habit and I ALWAYS snack at night.)
- More consistent with my training (as soon as my back allows — I’m off work and on my back right now… no clue what I did to it. Argggh.) When I’m better: 3x week “back” workout (from a back book) and 2x a week walking/cycling, etc.
- No crappy dinners. My daily diet is fine, but then I blow it when I get home.
- Lose 5 lbs. This will be harder since I can’t work out for a week or two (depending on my back. But, I’m still making it my goal.
3. Reason for entering challenge – to help keep me on track/accountable, to reach my goals, the challenge gives me a deadline – I like that, to create better habits, and of course to win the prize
LEIGH — here’s something interesting… we do a monthly “big loser” contest at work and the top 3 winners get a cash prize (we put in $10 bucks at the start and then it’s divided amongst the top 3 at the end of 4 weeks.) But for a couple months we decided to not give cash prizes and just have the BOTTOM three pay – everyone else didn’t have to pay. People lost more weight because no one wanted to be at the bottom! The stigma of being in the bottom 3 made them work harder to lose weight. Thought it was funny – and interesting.
1. Name – PJBisbee _EDIT OUT EMAIL_
2. Goal for the challenge
No more chips, crackers or salty foods after dinner (this is a terrible habit and I ALWAYS snack at night.)
- More consistent with my training (as soon as my back allows — I’m off work and on my back right now… no clue what I did to it. Argggh.) When I’m better: 3x week “back” workout (from a back book) and 2x a week walking/cycling, etc.
- No crappy dinners. My daily diet is fine, but then I blow it when I get home.
- Lose 5 lbs. This will be harder since I can’t work out for a week or two (depending on my back. But, I’m still making it my goal.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: I have reached all my goals, although they are still a work in progress. I haven’t eaten chips/crackers after dinner – or any other food for that matter, just cut it out. I started my back rehab workouts – fitting them in on my lunch hour and also doing some cardio at night, recently added yoga again too. The “no crappy dinners” has been good but not perfect. But there’s been a lot of improvement there. As of the his morning I have lost 5.5 pounds — but my scale fluctuates up & down a pound each morning = this morning it’s being nice to me.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days – I’m harder on myself than anyone else can be. Since I was responsible for setting my goals and figuring out how to get there, it forced me to take charge. Because of my recent back injury it’s also made me review things and want to really, really dig in and do something to change what I’ve been doing. So my back is feeling great now, I’ve lost some weight and I’m MOTIVATED to keep going. I’ve added a log to keep me motivated and accountable. The log/people are also very supportive – and that helps too. I’ve (finally) set goals, accomplished small ones, working towards larger ones, and feel on track. So, even after this challenge I’ll continue to work towards my goals because I FINALLY have some! I know where I’m headed.
1. Name – Jamie
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) Lose 10 pounds scale weight
b) Complete all prescribed workouts/mobility exercises (courtesy of L.P)
c) log food intake daily
3. Reason for entering challenge
Why not? I’ve entered all the others and the prizes are awesome. Plus, I want to test out this new custom made program Leigh’s giving me
1. Name – Jamie Francis
2. Goal for the challenge- lose ten pounds and complete all my mobility and circuit training workouts
3. Your results based on your challenge goal- I lost 2 pounds over all(hav gone up and down and all around during the month though), completed about 90% of the workouts, but not all.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days-
Essentially learned that I am sick to death of spinning my wheels. Not checking in was not effective for me, but honestly I don’t think my head was right quite yet anyways. I am now almost a week into my own self-directed, self-motivated challenge which is proving to be the most successful of all. It’s really all about me after all
I had to get ME excited and motivated again, and Leigh helped by calling me out and encouraging me to CHOOSE a course of action.
Thanks for that Leigh, and thanks to all the people who encourage me every day on the forums.
1. Name – Jim
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) 30 days–no beer (REALLY big for me)
b) Stretch 3x’s per week
c) Lift weights 4 x’s per week
d) Cardio 3x’s per week
e) Increase NEAT. This desk job is killing me.
3. Reason for entering challenge
I’m disappointed in myself for not finishing the last two challenges. I know I can stay focused for 30 days. No vacations or travel is planned for the next 30 days. For the last year, I’ve been yo-yoing between 230 and 250lbs. Lately, I’ve been staying closer to 250. I do not like how I look at 250.
1. Name – Jim –At least my name stayed the same..
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) 30 days–no beer (REALLY big for me) — Twice over the 30 days I had beer.
b) Stretch 3x’s per week–My flexibility program did not meet expectations
c) Lift weights 4 x’s per week–First two weeks, I made my goal, last two weeks, not so much.
d) Cardio 3x’s per week–See c.
e) Increase NEAT. This desk job is killing me.–I did improve my NEAT through gardening and yard work and other miscellaneous home work.
3. Reason for entering challenge– Still stuck at 250.
I’m disappointed in myself for not finishing the last two challenges. I know I can stay focused for 30 days. No vacations or travel is planned for the next 30 days. For the last year, I’ve been yo-yoing between 230 and 250lbs. Lately, I’ve been staying closer to 250. I do not like how I look at 250.
1. Name – Leah
2. Goal – Lose 5 lbs, learn more about nutrition for fat loss (am a new member!)
3. Joining b/c I just happen to have a little over 30 days until my 10 year wedding anniversary trip and would love to go on that trip looking & feeling good. I am really excited about becoming healthier than ever and seeing my body change.
1. Name – Amy
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Lose 10 pounds
b. 45 min. – an hour of exercise / 4-5 days per week
c. Eliminate white processed carbs.
d. Keep a daily food and exercise log.
e. Stretch every morning and every evening.
3. Reason for entering challenge:
I am considered obese and fear all of the health risks associated with that including:
a. recently told by physician that my blood work predicts I am VERY close to becoming a diabetic.
b. high family incidence of type II diabetes and heart disease.
This contest could not have come at a better time.
Name: Madell
Goals for next 30 days:
a) Continue logging food intake daily – up protein to target levels & maintain calorie deficit (brought & read -did not skim- FLTS)
b) Drink 2 gal. water daily (a challenge)
c) Take vitamins daily (notoriously forgetful)
d) Take Zeplin, Sasha or Cisco for a 3 mile walk daily (Best dogs ever: Lab, Rottie & Boxer)
e) Hit the home gym 2-3 days weekly (Husband will be happy as we spent all that money to set it up)
Reason:
a) It’s nice to have motivation especially when just two weeks into a program that doesn’t just happen easily.
b) I want to get in, get it done and show others (family members and co-workers) that although it’s tough it is doable. My greatest joy would be – being a good example.
Thanks, Leigh for the oppurtunity.
Correction should be 1 1/2 gal of water per day (which is still a huge challenge for me) 2 gals would be too much I think
Name: Madell
Goals for Challenge: Continue logging food intake
Drink 1 1/2 gal water daily
Take vitamins daily
Take 3 mile walk daily with dogs
Hit the home gym 2-3 days weekly
Results based on challenge goal: Fairly good although had a ten day vacation break at end of challenge (helping out the in-laws with tasks too heavy or labor intensive for them to handle) Went on a four day motorcycle trip so did not drink 1 1/2 gal water on those days due to too many bathroom breaks
Final Words/Thoughts about last 30 days: You know you shoot for the stars with goals and although you don’t achieve them all you do hit the moon in the since you are better off to have attempted and gained some new habits – I do drink lots more water, take more walks, chew those children vitamins (4) per day – because they do not make me queasy as adult ones do- , and hit the home gym lots more than before the challenge. So all in all, while I did not do perfectly, I kept up and did not let myself get derailed. Hope this makes sense. I will keep on keeping on.
1. Name – Joanne
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) respond with positive cues every time my brain tells me something negative
b) plan and perform scheduled workouts 6 days per week
c) focus on how good I feel when I work out hard
d) Journal my food intake daily
e) Eat at least 6 servings’ of veggies & fruits daily
3. Reason for entering challenge
Sounds like fun. I really want to win the Body by Eats package.
1. Name – Joanne
2. Goal for the challenge – be more positive, maintain my planned workout schedule, enjoy my workouts, daily journalling, eating my fruits & veggies
3. Your results based on your challenge goal – I was able to achieve the majority of my goals. Not listening to the negative stuff from my brain was hard, but I persevered. Some days I had less than 6 servings of F&V but I was more aware of making an effort. Journalling my food intake also gave structure to planning my workouts. I plan to add more details to my journal in future to record how I feel working out, or eating specific foods, as I think this would be informative data.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days – This challenge was weird. I had an awareness in the back of my mind that I was supposed to be working towards my goals in so far as the challenge was concerned, but the lack of pressure/structure plus vague rewards felt very confusing. I had deliberately chosen goals that were habit steps, things I could repeatedly do daily, not outcome based goals. I think if I’d chosen a more outcome based goal, such as losing 10lbs in 30 days, I would’ve spent more time trying to figure out what Leigh was looking for, and missed the big picture.
Now this is the challenge for me! 30 days is easy.
Name: Jill
Goals:
Lose 5 pounds
Finish planting my garden this year
Become a Big Sister (http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.diJKKYPLJvH/b.1539751/k.BDB6/Home.htm)
Reason for Joining: Why wouldn’t I join a Leigh Peele Challenge
Name: Jill
Goals:
Lose 5 pounds
Finish planting my garden this year
Become a Big Sister (http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.diJKKYPLJvH/b.1539751/k.BDB6/Home.htm)
Results:
I lost 5-1/2 pounds and I joined up to become a Big Sister last week, I am still going through the process. Sadly I didn’t plant my garden.
Final Thoughts:
Overall I am pretty proud of myself but I could have done better. I enjoyed the challenge because it was shorter.
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) lose as much fat off my ass as possible!
b) stick to a schedule
c) Always know everything I am eating
3. Reason for entering challenge
I need help in any form I can get it. Thanks Leigh.
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) lose as much fat off my ass as possible!
b) stick to a schedule
c) Always know everything I am eating
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
a) well my ass is a little less fat, but not much.
b) nope
c) ehhh nope
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
I really thought I would be able to keep myself accountable….Man was I wrong. I completely forgot after a week. I need much more accountability.
1. Name: Jen
2. Goals for the next 30 days: I am so tired of not doing what I say I am going to do. My only real goal is to to stick to doing all the things I am going to say I am going to do for diet and training. Do I need to write that down in detail?
3. Reason for entering challenge
No other than to have a place to verbal keep myself in line.
Thanks
1. Name: Jen
2. Goals for the next 30 days: I am so tired of not doing what I say I am going to do. My only real goal is to to stick to doing all the things I am going to say I am going to do for diet and training. Do I need to write that down in detail?
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: I had a really hard time make and plan and sticking to it. I just always feel like I am not doing anything right.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days: I am feeling kind of pestimic about everything and don’t really thing I did a good job at all.
1. Name : sharodin
2. Goals for the next 30 days :
a.) lose 5 kg
b.) stick to my gym-exercise-schedule
3. Reason for entering challenge :
On 19th May I’ll be 35, the past years every year I’ve been telling myself I want to lose weight by the time it’s my birthday and of course it never happens, so this time I want it to be different. Another reason for entering is because I also entered the previous challenge but I dropped out before it ended and it made me feel bad about myself. I want to stick with the entire challenge, even thought it’s “only” 30 days this time.
1. Name – sharodin
2. Goal for the challenge
a.) lose 5 kg
b.) stick to my gym-exercise-schedule
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
a.) lost 1,5 kg
b.) I did my gym-exercise-schedule for about 90 % of the time
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
At the beginning of these 30 days I thought to myself, it’s “only” 30 days, but as it turned out, those 30 days were even 2 long for me and I didn’t reach my first goal. For me personally, the fact that there were no weekly check-ins, isn’t good for me. On the other hand, even weekly check-ins can’t motivate me all the time …
1. Name- Chris
2. Goals for the next 30 days- Weigh in at 180 lbs or less on May 21st
3. Reason for entering challenge- The accountability found in the challenges has made a big difference in my ability to maintain focus in my goals. This will be another 4 week step to the long term goal I laid out back in the Hot For The Holidays challenge.
1. Name- Chris
2. Goal for the challenge- Weigh 180 lbs or less on 5/21
3. Your results based on your challenge goal- fail (184.4)
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days- I need to find a balance between weekend social life and eating for my goals. This was my first real attempt at dedicated fat loss while in a relationship so I’m taking it as a learning experience and now know what areas I need to work on.
1. Name: Hazel
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
- Prefer green tea, milk, and water over soda, Starbucks, and other calorie dense drinks.
- Prepare more meals at home instead of relying and finding comfort in fast food.
- Get back into exercising by devoting at least 20 minutes a day to a workout, even if it’s walking. Of course, I would take one or two days off a week as needed.
3. Reason for entering challenge:
I prefer these smaller challenges as they seem more manageable. I’m also a little over 60 days from my milestone 30th birthday and I’d like to be a little lighter and healthier by then. Challenge poses a good opportunity to get started off on the right foot with that and be accountable at the same time.
1. Name – Jess
2. Goals-
– Lift weights 3 days per week and do cardio intervals at least 3 days per week
– Write down all food eaten
– Learn to control my eating during the weekends and while traveling
– Tell myself how wonderful I am everyday regardless of my weight.
– Ultimate goal is to see some progress – scale, measurements or photos
3. Reason for entering challenge-
FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF, feel better in general. I need to stop self sabotaging my weight loss efforts and realize consistency and patience are the keys to my weight loss. I feel like an emotional wreck and I am sick and tired of not believing in myself enough to see something through.
1. Name: Emily
2. Goal for the next 30 days: Losing the 10 pounds that I have been trying to lose for the past 2 months.
3. Reason for entering the challenge: I’ve been at this for 2 months, but instead of reaching a very attainable goal, I have slipped up. I realize that I need some accountability that a challenge offers. Also, I will be spending a week at the beach in a little more than 30 days.
Thanks
1. Name: Victoria
2. Goals:
-Go from my current weight of 153 to my goal weight of 145 by the end of the challenge.
-Increase my number of pullups from 3 sets of 3-4 to 3 sets of 6-8.
3. I entered because it’s an extra push and the prize is amazing! Extra accountability is a great thing and forces me to further articulate my goals! I want to win!
Well, I didn’t lose all the weight, I got from 153 to 150. Which is pretty good, but best of all I upped my pullups a ton. I got a pullup bar, and I can do a set of 10, a set of 7 and a set of 5-6. I can do wide grip pullups. I also went from a size 6 to a size 4. Woo hoo! Started a job and went through final exams, so I’m going to still push for 145.
Hi Leigh –
I’ll bite!
1. Name – Jeff S.
2. Goals for the next 30 days: lose 10 lbs of scale weight while improving my performance on bodyweight-oriented exercises (handstand pushups, weighted dips and weighted chins). Make my abs more defined.
3. Reason for entering challenge: I have been following your site for a while and I am looking for an opportunity to participate in your community. I also find I reach my goals better/faster when I have external motivation along with my personal motivation.
Hi Leigh!
I must admit that I changed up my goal shortly after I posted on your blog, but I kept the essence of your challenge. at 5’10″ and 170#, I was lacking in strength, and I realized that I had more athletic/performance “upside” by trying to add bodyweight and strength, rather than trying to continue cutting. BUT, I still kept with improving on my bodyweight exercises:
1) Bodyweight – Initial: 170# / Current 178#
2) Bodyweight movements – Initial:
- Chinups – 5 sets underhanded: 6-5-5-5-6
- Bar Dips: 5 sets: 8-8-7-7-7
Bodyweight movements – Current:
- Chinups – 7 sets underhanded: 9-8-7-7-6-6-6
- Bar Dips – 7 sets: 10-10-10-10-10-10-10 (this was a week ago, so number may be better now)
Bench Press has gone from 5 sets @ 140# to 5 sets at 155# and squat from 5 sets @ 190# to 5 sets at 205#
Abs look about the same – top rows somewhat visible, which I am happy with since my bodyweight has been going up about 1.5-2.0 pounds a week on about 3500 calories a day and 200-230g of protein. Thanks Leigh!
I need to be better at following instructions!
1) Name: Jeff S.
2) Goal: improve strength-to-bodyweight ratio by improving performance on bodyweight exercises
3) Results: see above – significant increases in rep totals on chinups and dips
4) Thoughts: I have spent the majority of my earlier years overfat and weak and had been battling the diet aspect of my training to get down to a reasonable bodyweight. Recently I feel I have “gotten it” and now use my diet to fuel my training goals. I dropped from 220# to 170# and then needed a new goal right about the time Leigh posted this challenge. I always was “afraid” of “bulking” but realized I simply needed more muscle to move faster and lift more. So I embarked on the very first strength/bulking phase I have ever done with some trepidation since I didn’t want to get “fat” again. Lo and behold, by watching my calories and protein, training smartly, and eating the same healthy foods I had been eating before, (just in larger quantities), I have added muscle and improved my performance even while my weight has gone UP. Now I am going to continue working on my strength and size without the fear of getting “too fat”
Thanks Leigh – for helping to give me the tools to track calories and protein and for reminding me that fat loss and muscle gain is largely a numbers game first and foremost!
Name: Anna
Goals for the next 30 days:
~ lose 5-10lbs., using the amazing program leigh created (i’m back in town and am going to re-start the 4-week program)
~ drink way more water
~ do my new ‘how fi dance reggae – volume 1′ dvd at least twice a week, inspired by leigh’s suggestion to bring dance back into my life; thanks leigh;)
~ be super diligent and honest in my meal tracking
~ use my free time wisely to spring clean and re-organize in a major way
~ start a new book
Reasons:
~ I’ve never done a public challenge.
~ I like the accountability aspect.
~ I’m inspired by the collectivity of a group challenge.
thanks leigh:)
1. Name – Ashley
2. Goals for the next 30 days-Get more NEAT, stop binge/stress eating, try replacing meat with other protein options (trying to move into vegetarianism for ethical reasons), do my mobility work.
3. Reason for entering challenge- I keep wanting to join one and the timing is always off, the 30 days is perfect for me.
1. Name – Ashley
2. Goals for the next 30 days-Get more NEAT, stop binge/stress eating, try replacing meat with other protein options (trying to move into vegetarianism for ethical reasons), do my mobility work.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal-I bought a exercise ball to sit on at work, it reminds me to move more, also I finally read “Move a little Lose a lot” and am using some of the tips in there, I still had 2 binges, but usually it is 6-8 so that is better, I finally delved into the Body By Eats Vegetarian/Vegan book (you need to make a 2nd one Leigh) and have been getting in a good amount of protein that isn’t animal based (I feel really good about this), I did my mobility all but 3 days!
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days-I did a great job, I was actually surprised. I think the short amount of time was awesome and I liked that it wasn’t just about fat loss like most challenges.
Thanks so much for doing a challenge for everyone Leigh.
1). Name- Amber
2). Goals-
a. To stick through the entire 30 days without screwing up.
b. Make a plan that makes since
c. Drop my bf%
d. Buy a bikini
3). Reasons for entering-
a. I loved the OBM and was very successful on it so I think I will do well with this too.
b. I need accountability and structure.
c. I would love to get free months at the membership site.
1). Name- Amber
2). Goals-
a. To stick through the entire 30 days without screwing up.
b. Make a plan that makes since
c. Drop my bf%
d. Buy a bikini
3). Results-
a. I didn’t make a plan to stick to
b. Ugh!
c. My tantita says I am down 2% but I don’t know how right that is.
d. I did get a bikini from Target, hopefully it will look good soon.
4). Final Thoughts- I do better with reminders.
Well this is good timing! I was going to do a re-evaluation of my goals in my log this week anyway.
1. Name – Kyle
2. Goal for the challenge: To bulk up & get stronger
3. I’m sick of being a skinny boy!
1. Name – Kyle
2. Goal for the challenge: To bulk up & get stronger
3. Your results based on your challenge goal:
Well, as for bulking I gained about 5 lbs. Not exactly amazing, but at least I didn’t stand still!
I made some better progress for getting stronger. I dropped my reps for Deadlifts, Squat & Bench and ramped up the amount of weight I’m doing. Now I’m doing more than 225 for my Deadlift (before I was doing like 180), my squat is almost 2 plates, and my bench is almost at 1 plate. The bench is a good one for me, considering it’s always been my weakest lift.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days:
I still need to figure out my diet more I guess, if I’m going to get over being a skinny guy. But I am happy that my lifts are progressing, I’m proud of myself of pushing myself harder.
1. Name – Charlotte
2. Goal – drink a glass of water with each meal
3. Reason – I often forget to drink water (don’t enjoy it) but never forget to eat. I’m hoping that by trying to have a glass of water with each meal, I’ll increase my water consumption and improve my hydration and skin.
1. Name:
Alex
2. Goals:
I am going to go 30 days without whinging or complaining to my husband about my life.
3: Reason for entering challenge:
I have been able to achieve my health and physique goals, am good with my nutrition and workouts and still wasn’t happy. I let it take over my life and became an increasingly negative person as I kept feeling resentful, like I was missing out on other things. I want to use this challenge to remind myself that this is the way I have chosen to live and that I obviously get other benefits from living this way. Hopefully then it will become clearer to me whether I need to keep trying to take action/change things in my life or whether I need to accept things as they are and allow myself to be happy even though things aren’t perfect.
-”tone up” my body
-eat more fruits and veggies
-drink more water
-make more time for family
-ready to make a change
-”tone up” my body—-> I am looking better
-eat more fruits and veggies—-> I tried a kiwi for the first time, did get in at least 2 servings a day
-drink more water—-> no less than 1/2 gallon
-make more time for family—-> I either saw or talked to my mom and dad every day.
1. Cat
2. lose 10 pounds and eat vegan at least 80% of the time/vegetarian otherwise
3. being part of a group of people participating in a challenge really keeps me going! i didn’t do as well as i would have liked to in the CMLC, but I think I did better than I would have without it. I want to lose a few more pounds before summer so I can stop eating in a deficit and work on improving my running speed.
1. Cat
2. lose 10 pounds and eat vegan at least 80% of the time/vegetarian otherwise
3. results–I lost 5 pounds. I ate fish once (purposefully) and pork once (unknowingly), but otherwise, I was able to eat vegan 80% of the time and vegetarian otherwise. I feel so much better eating vegan than I thought I would, so it’s something I’m going to continue for the majority of my meals.
4. I need to work a lot harder at this if I want to reach my fat loss goals this year. Originally I was going to take a break from fat loss and work on my running, but I’ve decided to continue with it until I reach my goals.
1. Name
Tina
2. My Goals
~Make a training schedule that works with my job and school
~Eat 25% less food
~Stop eating microwave meals
~Lose 8-12 pounds
~Hire a trainer
3. My reason for joining the challenge
I have been in a rut for the past 3 years. I hate how I look but I still keep stuffing my face every damn day. I have been reading Leigh’s material for the past month and I have learned a lot about what I need to do, but I still don’t do it. I keep thinking “tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow” then something happens and I just fall back into old habits, and end up feeling even worse. I want to be really proud of myself for sticking with this and following through with something that I start. A part of me feels like it would be easier if I had support and accountability so I am sure that being a part of the challenge and hiring a trainer would help with that.
1. Name
Tina
2. My Goals
~Make a training schedule that works with my job and school
~Eat 25% less food
~Stop eating microwave meals
~Lose 8-12 pounds
~Hire a trainer
3. Results
~I hired a personal trainer, she is fantastic and has helped me so much!
~I only lost 5 pounds, but that is better than nothing
~I have had fast food and microwave meals a couple of times, but it was with in my calories.
4. Thoughts on the challenge
I feel like I have learned a lot, especially after reading BBE and FLT. While I don’t think my trainer should be giving advice on nutrition, she has taught me a lot about training and helped me with some of my pain issues in my body. I feel stronger, and I think I look better even though I lost so little weight. My trainer insists that I have put on 6 pounds of muscle (I didn’t want to argue with her) but I know that isn’t true.
I am really looking forward to the future. I didn’t do great every day…I still kept going though. I feel good
.
1. Kevin
2. Gain a little muscle/lose a little fat. I know it can be done!
3. Free stuff and cause I like Leigh.
Rather not give name
(2. Goals for the next 30 days)
1. Join a gym and actually go.
2. Play with my dogs more.
3. Cut out alcohol.
4. Stop complaining to my friends all the time about how fat I feel.
5. Quit Smoking
(3. Reason for entering challenge)
1. I have never done one before so I thought it could be helpful.
David
Bulk up, drop a little weight.
Be the best husband I can be to my preggo wife.
Interested in how I will perform in the challenge.
David
Bulk up, drop a little weight.
Be the best husband I can be to my preggo wife.
Things have been pretty crazy. I haven’t really had a lot of time to train, but I have been super good to my wife.
1. Name_Annabel
2. Goals for the next 30 days_Get ready for my next marathon coming up, beat my previous time!!
Get better with my recovery work and meal timing!!
3. Reason for entering challenge_I love doing challenges and my friend linked me to this one!!!
My Name is Jenny.
My Goals are to be able to do 2 unassisted pull ups, and to do that I think I need to lose 5 pounds, so I guess that too. That is all I can think of for now, but I may add more later.
My reasons for joining the challenge is because I would love guidance and assistance to help me do this. Thanks.
My Name is Jenny.
My Goals are to be able to do 2 unassisted pull ups, and to do that I think I need to lose 5 pounds, so I guess that too. That is all I can think of for now, but I may add more later.
My Results were great! http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/happy/happy-dancing.gif I can now do 2 unassisted pull ups and I lost 3.5 lbs!
My thoughts on the last 30 days are that lowin weight helps with being able to do pull ups and I feel like a bad ass. All these girls in my gym ask me how to train to do a pull up lol! Also thanks to Leigh for the article you wrote on it, I had already started it and it helped so much!
1. Annette Wright
2. Goals – continue to work on a having a happy and healthy lifestyle by following the program designed for me by Leigh (daily mobility, cardio, diet, and gym.) Also continue to improve on good habits such as vitamins and stress relief. I’d like to drop between 5-10 lbs of weight if possible. I will also read books and begin learning about maintenance as that’s a big scary thing.
3. Reasons – I’m not a competitive sort of person and every time I’ve started a challenge before I’ve dropped out, probably because I felt that I failed early on. I guess it’s sort of like when dieting and you blow one meal so you end up totally messing up the rest of the day, when all it was was really just one meal. I want to look at this challenge like that, I’m not competing against anyone, just myself to stay on track. It’s one month, I can focus on some hard things (diet) and on some monotonous things (mobility) and also on some fun things (a bike ride or nice long walk.)
1. Annette Wright @ mindspring dot com
2. Goal for the challenge – I chose to keep my goals simple and loose. They were to follow the plan you outlined for me (daily mobility, cardio, diet, gym) and to have a happy and healthy lifestyle. I wanted to work on good habits such as vitamins and stress relief, read books on maintenance, and drop 5-10 lbs.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal – I continued with the mobility work though I slacked for awhile in between, but I did get back on track. I did not make it to the gym but I continued to walk, dance, and do some exercise at home. Vitamins have been pretty good, though I slacked for a week. Stress relief in the form of massages continued on a weekly schedule. I did not lose any weight, I maintained.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days – I didn’t really set any grand goals (except for weight) so if I didn’t do as well as I’d hope I wouldn’t have to say that I failed. Maintaining isn’t failing, and slacking isn’t failing. Not getting back on track is failing, and though I slacked, I did get back on. Habits are hard to change, especially when there are other things to deal with, yet I never forget to brush/floss my teeth, that habit has been ingrained, so I know I can learn a new habit. I just need to keep plugging along.
1. Sarah
2. Goal- To lose 10 pounds
3. Reason- I would like to lose weight and I wouldn’t mind winning some free stuff too
1. Sarah
2. Goal- To lose 10 pounds
3. Result- I lost 1 freaking pound!
4. I still hope that I can win for being honest.
1. Name – Sam
2. Goal for the challenge – My goal for the next 30 days is to stick to the plan, lose 8 lbs, and to reduce my waist measurement by 1″.
3. My reason for entering this challenge is for the accountability and the competition. I do not like to lose so I know I’ll give my all for these 30 days.
Good luck everyone!!
Name: Jenny
Goals: Stick to my training schedule
Do 12 push ups on toes in good form
Lose 8 pounds
Drop my mile time by 30 seconds
Reason:
Deadlines mark a beginning, an end (Thank God) and are measurable.
To cement my goals so they won’t change or fall by the wayside.
For personal satisfaction.
**I must mention that to put this in perspective I thought about 30 days. I figure if I can stay married for 15 years, be pregnant for 9 months 3 times, endure long work projects, I can do anything for 30 days. I also have the encouragement of a good friend. How can I lose out?
Thanks Leigh!
Woohoo so excited at how many people are doing this!
Goals-
-Start packing lunch for work.
-Eat no more than 1500 calories a day.
-Cut down my TV time.
-Go outside more.
Reasons-
-I love being part of a challenge and feeling like there are other people in it with me. Also the challenge is so short I really don’t see how I couldn’t follow through with it.
Good luck to everyone!
Goals-
-Start packing lunch for work.
-Eat no more than 1500 calories a day.
-Cut down my TV time.
-Go outside more.
Results-
-Packed my lunch everyday.
-I mostly ate at maintenance.
-I cut down my TV watching to 2 hours at bed when I whind (sp?) down.
-I have been better with my walking and my dog is loving it!
Thoughts about the 30 days-
Wow I can’t believe how much money I saved from packing my lunch. I started watching “Til Debt Do Us Part” and feeling the need to start saving my money and stop spending it on useless crap. I never realized how much that $5 dollars added up because I saved $100 dollars! So I would love to win still but I already feel like I won. Even though I didn’t do great on my diet, atleast I didn’t gain any of the weight that I have lost this year. I think this Challenge has pros and cons. I would like them to stay short, but have a weekly reminder/check in.
Name: Tamar
Goals:
1) stay consistent with Leigh’s custom program by:
a) staying within specified caloric limit 7 days a week
b) doing mobility and stretch work 7 days a week
c) doing conditioning program 4 days a week
d) doing 60 minutes of cardio on non-training days and at least 30 minutes on training days.
I would like to lose 10 lbs of scale weight, but as Robin said above, I can’t control what the scale says, I can control what I do (theoretically, if I do all these things, it’s possible for me to lose 10 lbs of scale weight)
Reason: I’ve never done a challenge on this site before, so why not? Also I’m about to finish the first month of a custom-designed program, so this will be a way to keep me accountable.
1. Tamar
Goals were:
1) stay consistent with Leigh’s custom program by:
a) staying within specified caloric limit 7 days a week
b) doing mobility and stretch work 7 days a week
c) doing conditioning program 4 days a week
d) doing 60 minutes of cardio on non-training days and at least 30 minutes on training days.
I would like to lose 10 lbs of scale weight, but as Robin said above, I can’t control what the scale says, I can control what I do (theoretically, if I do all these things, it’s possible for me to lose 10 lbs of scale weight)
3. I am pretty excited about my results: I stayed within my caloric limit 29 out of 30 days (including today barring any disasters!); I did mobility and stretch work 29 out of 30 days; I did the conditioning program 4 days a week the entire 4 weeks and I did my cardio 29 out of 30 days.
My weight decreased from 125.5 on April 21st to 121 as of this morning.
4. I am really proud of myself for sticking with the caloric deficit part and dealing with some stressful situations during the 30 days without over-eating. I feel like I learned some good skills to stop myself from overeating and that will help me a lot moving forward. I am happy with my behavioral results and my scale results too!
Name> Perry
Goal> Put on mass, lose fat
Reason> To finish a challenge, and to win for myself.
Thanks for making this one shorter.
1. Heedie
2. To stop eating junk food for 30 days. I’ve become lazy and my crap consumption has gone through the roof. It’s a simple challenge but one that will have a multitude of positive spin off results: more meal prep, more thought about what I’m consuming, less pollution going into my body, all the other positive physical results of the above. Cascade! w00t!
3. Gestalt psychology fascinates me and that’s reason enough to do this. Also, I’m curious because rewards have never really motivated me, and this lack of reward potential might just do the trick.
Heedie
Results: well, that was interesting. My goal was specific, but not specific enough! Give up ‘junk food’. And I succeeded, but not in the way I expected to.
The first week it was a constant reminder in my head, everywhere I went “no junk!” Ok, so what’s junk food? Not eating sweets, chips, sodas, anything fried, that was easy. I started feeling better physically. Then the second week there came harder questions – is icecream junk? No, because I rarely eat it and don’t eat much when I do. Bread? Is bread junk food? Yes, because I can so easily binge on toast. Does a bunch of darl grapes and bowl of pistachios count as comfort eating? Yes, but it’s better than the alternatives!
By the third week it was all automatic. I even quit drinking coffee (my other comfort food besides toast) without meaning to, it just happened! Supermarkets, service stations (I’m a tradie, so we often have to forage on the road), none of the crap tempted me. Going without was more appealing than poisoning myself! I began spurning other more-processed foods and found myself making lunches again.
This last week, I never went hungry because I was back into the old routine of cooking ahead, planning my lunches and taking real, good food to work with me. I’m bright and sparkly in the mornings without coffee and don’t get the 2pm crash.
The challenge for me was about a commitment to eliminate ‘junk food’ and about finding out how my mind works. On the first point – I’d say we have an 80% success rate. I still ate a few jellybeans with my housemate on the weekend, icecream with my son, baked tea biscuits for my lunches (but somehow I don’t want more than two, the rest of the batch is safe in the cupboard – unheard of!!), had a few days where I climbed at work without lunch and got home and wolfed down toast. But the changes in my mind! AWESOME. I now know that ‘junk’ to my mind is defined by situation as much as substance. Not just what am I eating but how much and why. My brain points out to me when I want to eat for the wrong reasons and I can make the choice. And I learnt that I have about a 7-10 day window of intense interest in a new challenge before meh, I’m bored already.
I now have new mental tools that will help me keep working towards the body I want, and that’s the best reward of all
1. Name – Bry
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a) eat 5 servings of fruit/veg a day
b) eat breakfast within 60 mins of waking up for the next 30 days
c) workout 4x a week
d) trust the process and stay focused for 30 days
e) think before I eat..am I hungry or am I emotional?
3. Reason for entering challenge
I am going to take better care of myself and my health. Accountability is a strong motivatorQ
1. Katy
2. Goals:
a. follow OPT faithfully
b. log food daily
c. cut out Diet Coke
d. mobility/posture work 4x/week
3. I hope to create a habit of these 4 goals, so by the end of the challenge, I will be doing them without even thinking about it (I am doing none of them right now!) As a side effect, hopefully I’ll lose some fat and improve my posture. Reporting back will keep me accountable!
1. Name: Katy
2. Goals:
a. follow OPT faithfully
b. log food daily
c. cut out Diet Coke
d. mobility/posture work 4x/week
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: maintained
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days:
As I think this was more of a psychological experiment for Leigh than anything, she’ll be interested to hear that the lack of accountability did a mind trick on me, and more or less *dared* me not to follow through with the work, since I sensed that the prizes will not be granted based on compliance or results anyway. So, I took the dare and did the least possible, which was next to nothing! (Survived sans Diet Coke for a couple weeks, and then decided that was my only vice and something I look forward to every day, so why deprive myself? Need a little pleasure in life.) In the end, I complied way less than I would have if I weren’t in this challenge and had just made these goals for myself, and got corresponding results!
1. Name – Emily
2. Goals for the next 30 days – Increase endurance and performance
3. Reason for entering challenge – It will help me stay accountable
1. Name – Emily
2. Goals for the next 30 days – Increase endurance and performance
3. Your results based on your challenge goal – I completely forgot all about the challenge, I wouldn’t have checked in, but I wasn’t sure if know that would hlep.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days – N/A
1. Name: Ann
2. Goals next 30 days:
-lose 2#
-eat ~1300 cals day
-follow bbe guidelines for macros
-morning workouts (Mon-Fri)
-focus on neat in the evenings
-walk 5 days per week weather permitting
3. Reason for entering: I would like to see how many changes I can make in 30 days if I put in 100% effort.
1. Name: Chelle
2. Goals: 2 mins of Planks before bed, log my food, no eating little bites here and there and then not counting them, no binging/purging.
3. Reason: What can I say, I’m a joiner… plus, I think Leigh is awesome
Hey there!
So, I’ve done pretty good this last month. Pretty much right away I gave up on the two minutes of Planks before bed. My reasoning (excuse) is that I work out a lot (6 days a week) as it is and don’t need to do more Planks. Plus, I am plain worn out by bed time. I’ve done really well at not binging. I overate twice but didn’t binge and I have not purged at all. I only felt like purging once when I had overeaten but didn’t do it. I’ve also been very good at not taking nibbles here and there… that has actually gotten better over the course of the month. I caught myself doing it frequently in the beginning but now I catch myself trying only every once in a while (not daily, a couple times over the last 2 weeks). So overall I concider this month a big success!!!
Thanks Leigh!
Chelle
Thanks so much for making this contest open to non-members!
1. Mimi
2.
- Increase definition in arms and legs while keeping belly flat and thighs not rubby.
- Keep school and freelance balanced–continue to earn steady revenue while not sacrificing grades
- Not obsess over every meal being a pinnacle of health
3. Reason for entering challenge
- A solid kick in the butt to keep me pushing until summer!
“Name” Karen
“Goals next 30 days” I want to make my body hot! I am so excited after talking to Leigh and getting my program from her. I was planning on starting tomorrow so I will just have a head start.
“Reason for entering” Perfect timing for me with my new program and I think it will help me stay on track!
Sorry for checking in late.
“Name” Karen
“Goals next 30 days” I want to make my body hot! I am so excited after talking to Leigh and getting my program from her. I was planning on starting tomorrow so I will just have a head start.
“Your results based on your challenge goal” I bought a new bathing suit and I am preparing to wear it soon on a cruise with DH. I loved working with Leigh and am patiently waiting for my next program (hint hint Leigh lol)
“Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days” Feeling super excited for this summer and haven’t felt that way in years. I didn’t have a problem staying on track at all.
2. Goals next 30 days: Take my vitamins everyday. Drink 1-1/2-2 gallons of water a day. Cut out soda
3. Reason for entering: Getting ready for summer break.
Goals: I want to be able to fit in my clothes and like the way I look. I hate my posture so I would like to improve that. Finish reading all of the fitness books that I have bought (including FLT). Start OPT Remix.
Reasons: I figure who better than Leigh and her readers to help me get it done.
Goals: I want to be able to fit in my clothes and like the way I look. I hate my posture so I would like to improve that. Finish reading all of the fitness books that I have bought (including FLT). Start OPT Remix.
Results: I am at the beginning of Week 5 in OPT Remix and I am exhausted
. I lost 5 lbs and I finished reading FLT (nothing else thought).
Melissa
Goals – focus on the food, more protein, more vegies, lose 5-8 pounds
Reason – need extra motivation!
Name: Emma
2 – Goals: Lose 4 kgs (9 pounds); Stop binge eating for 30 full days
3 – Reason for entering – I work better when I have to be accountable for a goal, so hopefully having to report back will be good motivation. Plus site membership would be a nice bonus.
Love your work Leigh
1. Name – Real name is not needed, but you must leave a valid email to be notified of your prize if you receive it.
Andrea
2. Goals for the next 30 days
I am doing the Strength for Life workout plan on Daily Burn and loving it! My ultimate goal is to weigh 150 lean pounds with a sub 30 inch waist!
3. Reason for entering challenge
My 30 year High School Reunion is coming up on the Victoria Day Weekend and I can use all the extra motivation I can get!
1. Erin
2. a. Lose ten pounds.
b. Drink more water, at least 8 glasses a day.
c. Do pilates for 40 minutes, two days a week.
3. My reasons for joining are for the potential of a free membership, I really enjoy Leigh’s podcasts, as well as motivation and accountability.
1. Name – Hollie
2. Goals for the next 30 days
-Walk or bike at least 15 minutes every day
-Track everything I eat, even if that means guessing
-Lose 5 lbs
3. Reason for entering challenge
One more small push towards the long term goal of dropping 40 lbs
1. Hollie
2. Goal for the challenge
-Walk or bike at least 15 minutes every day
-Track everything I eat, even if that means guessing
-Lose 5 lbs
3. I think I gained a pound. Tracked for a solid two weeks. Was about 50% on the exercise.
4. Constant reminders are apparently a necessity for me. I went strong for about a week and then totally bombed.
1.Name- Allan Fleming
2.Goals for next 30 days- Stick to workout program and not program hop! Do intervals twice per week (as opposed to no cardio) Lose 5-7 pounds.
3.Reason for entering challenge- To achieve planned, measured results instead of winging it, and get Leigh Peele membership! Extra motivation to stick to plan.
1. Lillii.
2. To honour my 12-month gym membership that I renewed only 5 weeks ago, coupled with Vince’s program to do my resistance training 4-days, & 4 days Bikram Yoga.
I am also consuming more H20 as I have now introduced Bikram – shooting for around 3/4 litres daily. Not to stare myself on low-carbs as in the past this has screwed my metabolism big time & I have gained extra pounds, & eat, eat, eat …. of course clean nutrition.
3. Wanting to have that elusive 6 Pack.
1. Kay
2. I just want to lose weight, I don’t care if it is 2 pounds or 12 pounds I would be proud of myself. I only seem to be gaining weight for the past year after having my baby. Make better food decisions for me and my family.
3. I feel like I need something to remind me to take care of myself and be a little selfish. Right now I am so resentful towards everyone (especially dh) because I am not asking for help or giving myself me time, so that needs to stop.
1. Kay
2. I just want to lose weight, I don’t care if it is 2 pounds or 12 pounds I would be proud of myself. I only seem to be gaining weight for the past year after having my baby. Make better food decisions for me and my family.
3. I have switched to organic for me an my family. I lost a little weight.
4. I enjoyed the challenge.
1. Name: Selene
2. Goals: drink 48 oz. water each day, get a journal article ready to submit, dance every morning
3. Why enter the challenge? Accountability, fun, prizes
1. Name: Selene
2. Goals: drink 48 oz. water each day, get a journal article ready to submit, dance every morning
3A. The one I really focused on was the water, and did get in 48 oz. water each day.
However, I have realized that this is definitely not enough (even though my DietPro analysis tells me that with the water in foods, my daily water intake average is more like 96 oz.). I am planning to up it another 24 oz daily.
3B.I did get the journal article ready and submit it, but was told I need to edit it to match the updated APA style, so I’m working on that. I consider it a success though, because I did actually get it in several days ago and started the ball rolling.
3C. I did not dance every morning. However, I did dance at some point every day. I had hoped to use this challenge to reinstate my first-thing-in-the-morning movement practice, but instead what I think it did was point out to me clearly that I’m not responding as well to a regimented schedule for this. I’m letting go of the need to have this be a morning thing, as the point is more about the daily-ness of it, rather than it needing to be first thing.
4. I must admit that the disconnected nature of this challenge for me was interesting. My awareness that I was doing the challenge did stay with me, but it would have been helpful to have more contact with a community of people doing this together. It felt very much just my own challenge, out here alone. Definitely not as inspiring as challenges where I’ve had daily contact and checking in with others.
What up Leigh? (sorry, had to)
1 Heather
2 Lose 3 kg, leave my flat more, stop ordering take away, use the money that I save to buy something for me.
3 I never seem to be able to join or finish a challenge because of rule and what not, but this is pretty simple.
2. To be honest I really just want to track my food for an entire month and see were that gets me.
3. I want to be consistent.
1. Lynn
2. GOALS:
a. Lose 5 pounds
b. Cut out chocolate and coffee for fruit and water.
c. Make better snack choices at work.
d. Join a self defense class.
3. REASON FOR ENTERING IN CONTEST:
a. I hate failing, even if only I know.
b. I love winning stuff and succeeding at goals I make for myself.
1. Name – Chris
2. to lose 5 lbs that have been hanging on for a long time
3. feel better about myself and fit more comfortably into my clothes
4. this is great motivation to get me to do it.
Name – Karen
Goals -
1 – Be consistent with my nutrition – I can achieve 90% compliance here
2 – Get to the gym 6 times a week (this girl gets mighty cranky without her ME time)
3 – Give this challenge everything I have since I’m only cheating myself if I do any less
Reasons for entering –
1 – I’m curious!! =)
2 – I love a good challenge… it’s just my nature
Name – Karen
Goals -
1 – Be consistent with my nutrition – I can achieve 90% compliance here
2 – Get to the gym 6 times a week (this girl gets mighty cranky without her ME time)
3 – Give this challenge everything I have since I’m only cheating myself if I do any less
Reasons for entering –
1 – I’m curious!! =)
2 – I love a good challenge… it’s just my nature
Name – Karen
Goals –
1 – Be consistent with nutrition
2 – Get to the gym as prescribed by my trainer
3 – Give every goal I make 100% – I can only grow and change when I am true to myself
Results –
The scale says I lost 4 lbs. I feel good. I know I can take this challenge beyond the 30 days because the real reward is how I feel and what I can obtain.
I know that I can achieve what I put my mind to. I know that I feel good about myself when I can accomplish what I set out to do. Life is what you make of it and I am in control of my body.
1. My name is Sylar (because I’m the ultimate anti hero)
2. Goals:
To stop drinking Diet Coke (none for duration of challenge)
To lose 6 pounds
Reason for entering: Because I’m backing myself to make improvements to my health and my life.
Name: Sylar the anti hero
Result: 5.5 pounds lost, cut Diet Coke consumption by 80%
Thoughts on outcome; I decided that cutting Diet Coke was another “all or nothing” behaviour so I focused on moderating consumption rather than eliminating it completely. I had several days where I did not drink any artificially sweetened beverages at all.
I tracked my food consumption and focused on moderation in everything rather than all or nothing behaviour.
I’m pleased with the result!
1. Name – Sara
2. Goals for the next 30 days
(a) Walk an average of at least 10,000 steps per day.
(b) Do 10 push-ups every single day.
(c) Shed these last 5 lbs.
3. Reason for entering challenge — Accountability. Theoretically, this will motivate me to not be lazy!
1. Sarah
2. a. to follow my program with 100% compliance.
b. to kick my sugar addiction – can i go 30 days with zero candy?
c. to stop letting my social life determine my diet and weight loss
d. to conquer my mental mind game with myself – the end to self sabotage
3. to help keep myself accountable and to remember what it takes to get the bad ass body that I want
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
1. Sarah
2. a. to follow my program with 100% compliance.
b. to kick my sugar addiction – can i go 30 days with zero candy?
c. to stop letting my social life determine my diet and weight loss
d. to conquer my mental mind game with myself – the end to self sabotage
3. to help keep myself accountable and to remember what it takes to get the bad ass body that I want
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
a. Was not 100% compliant. I was sooo good until my bday on May 16th and after that I have not been as strict.
b. Ummm Sugar habit is still here. While I have MAJORLY reduced it, It does come out every once in awhile.
c. Social situations have been minimal…but on my B-day as well as at work, It is difficult when the food is their calling my name. I had a few drinks on my bday, then my husbands parents had me over for dinner AND cake the next night, then at work they had made me cake and sweets were on the counter-top at work ALL WEEK.
~ I realise it is not just about will power, it is about completely changing my thinking. I am getting their but is just as hard as I knew it would be.
d. Still working towards the same bad ass body that I set out to get. The same body that will take longer than 30 days to achieve. I am down 4 pounds which is 4 pounds more than when I was doing the other challenge.
Final thoughts…. To be honest, I was so focused on my end goal, that I completely forgot about the challenge.. I seriously only really remembered when I got the Email from Leigh. I don’t know if this is good or bad. It does make me feel like even though the challenge is over, it is okay because that is not what is driving me. The problem is, sometimes I still lose track of whatever it is that is driving me. It is a daily battle that I strive to overcome each day. Not necessarily just the eating, or cravings etc…the WHOLE thing. The lifestyle. It is like I am either in the game or out completely….The last 30 days has definitely been an improvement regardless of the challenge. I am proud!!! Thanks Leigh
Goal:
To get down to below 20% body fat. Currently 26.9%.
To drink 4 – 5 litre of water a day
To be happy within myself.
Reason for entering.
The extra push for meeting my goals
1. Blythe
2. Goals:
a. To write out a meal plan each day and do my best to stick to it
b. To record everything I eat on a monitoring sheet
c. To review once a week (on Wednesdays) and address the times that I don’t stick to it with an action plan for next time (ie list of alternatives)
3. Reasons: Specifically because of the lack of pressure, this is the one challenge that I might end up less fat than I started
Name:
Tammy
Goals:
1. Lose 8 lbs
2. Increase Yoga 2 days a week
3. Workout 1 hour day 6 days a week
4. Do speed training for running
5. Lift heavy 1 day week
6. Do Turblence training 2 days a week
Reason:
Motivation
Chance to win 3 month membership
Love this challenge! The power of goal setting is amazing; the power of actually writing those goals is even more powerful, even if you don’t realize it at the time.
Goal over the next 30: Eat clean, reduce caffeine consumption by 1/2 and wean myself off of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Reason for the aforementioned goal: To make significant progress toward dropping the last 15 pounds that have been hanging around for too many years, and hopefully also get some relief from my tendency toward low blood pressure and hypoglycemia. In short, to just plain feel better inside and out!
Name: Catherine Walsh (duh)
The start of my challenge was a bit delayed, due to an Epstein-Barr (mono) relapse. Feeling better now, so anyway, here goes:
I invested in P90x as a birthday present to myself and have been following the nutrition plan as well as workout plan.
Great results so far– just a little over one week in and down 1.5 lbs. and already feeling stronger, tighter and overall better!
As far as the caffeine/sugar go, I am down to one cup of half-caf coffee in the morning (from two full-caf cups in the am and sometimes another cup in the afternoon).
No sweets at all except fruit, stevia (with my coffee), and the little bit of fructose in my protein powder.
These positive early returns have motivated me to keep going forward, strong and steady, and re-evaluate after the next 30. Hopefully there will be another good report at that point!
1. Eric Komans
2. Goals: Drop 1.5% bodyfat (from 15.5% to13%), or about 2.5lbs. of fat.
3. Reasons: The whole purpose of this seems to me to achieve a simple goal, which is exactly what I have. I like that I don’t have to modify my already-existing goal just to qualify for the event, and I think that gives me a decent shot at winning. Competitive spirit can be a negative thing, if you push it too far and try too hard to force a change. I’m just interested in seeing if my tortoise-y plodding along is worth anything in a look-what-I-can-do context
1. yasmin
2. a. stay within my calorie goal by tracking and planning ahead
b. re-incorporate weight-training, but moderately and not at expense of fat loss
c. not procrastinate work but not let it totally stress me out.
3. Motivation, accountability, competitive spirit. I know will actually feel compelled to stay on track just because I promised somewhat anonymously on the internetz.
1. Name: NB
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
+ Lose 6 pounds
+ Get at least one active thing in a day (walk, bike ride, class at the gym, etc.)
+ Make it to the gym for more intense exercise at least 4 days a week.
+ Consistently keep track of everything I eat.
+ Write at least one journal/blog entry per day about something that has NOTHING to do with dieting or exercising.
3. Reason for entering challenge:
I am consistently inconsistent when it comes to weight loss. When I’ve lost weight in the past, it was fraught with extremes and stress. I’m trying to reach a place where it isn’t the primary focus of my life, but I still am accomplishing my goals. This challenge will give me a check-in place, and a reminder to keep going.
1. Name: NB
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
+ Lose 6 pounds
+ Get at least one active thing in a day (walk, bike ride, class at the gym, etc.)
+ Make it to the gym for more intense exercise at least 4 days a week.
+ Consistently keep track of everything I eat.
+ Write at least one journal/blog entry per day about something that has NOTHING to do with dieting or exercising.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal:
+ I lost 3 of the 6 pounds.
+ I have consistently done at least one active thing a day 3-4 days per week, but nowhere near the 7 days/week I originally wanted.
+ I’ve averaged more intense exercise at the gym consistently 2 days/week, but not 4.
+ Keeping track of all my food petered out half way through the month.
+ This didn’t happen. At all.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days:
I’m not sure what this proved. Maybe that I didn’t think enough about the fact that I had a goal. Or maybe it proved that I’ve continued to be “consistently inconsistent.” I tend toward beating myself up, so I’m going to avoid that here.
Instead, I can look at the last 30 days and see where I could have done better, without condemning myself into the realm of “YOU, lady, are a failure.” I have realized that I tend to hyper-focus on small things, and completely miss the larger picture things. If I hyper-focus on weighing every single gram of food, or on hitting a very specific number on my HRM, and end up revolving my life around that, it isn’t healthy. I need to begin to rise above and gain some perspective.
Life isn’t about dieting and exercising. Rather, eating things that are good for my body (peppered occasionally with things that aren’t) and being active is simply a part of a much larger, fuller, more meaningful life. If I start to look at things that way, I think I can start meeting my goals.
1. Name – Erin
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Lose 1-2 lbs a week
b. Build Strength by focusing on 3 lifting workouts a week
c. Drink 1.5L water a day
d. Limit diet pepsi as much as possible
3. Reason for entering challenge
Two reasons really.
1. Win a membership to leighpeele.com
2. Really keep myself accountable
Hi Leigh…I’m Mary Ann
1. Goals…exercise EVERYDAY! Drink for Water! “Be Present” when eating! and lose 2-4 lbs.
2. Reason for entering: be accountable to achieve goals! possibly win a prize!
Thanks for this opportunity!
1. Name: Natalie
2. Goal: Cut out dessert for the next 30 days
3. Reason for entering:
a. I like to enter contests
b. I am struggling to reduce the excess sugar from my diet. This is a short enough challenge that I think I can do it.
I hope I don’t accidentally double-post. My internet crapped out just as I posted the first time!!!
1. Name: Melanie
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a. stick to my workout schedule for the full month without freaking out and changing something mid-stream
b. stick to my calorie intake plan for the full month without freaking out and changing something mid-stream
c. with a & b in place, lose 3-4lbs in the next month
3. Reason for entering the challenge:
a. make me stick to my plan for long enough to see results
b. accountability
1. Name – Melanie
2. Goal for the challenge
a. stick to my workout schedule for the full month without freaking out and changing something mid-stream
b. stick to my calorie intake plan for the full month without freaking out and changing something mid-stream
c. with a & b in place, lose 3-4lbs in the next month
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
I did a & b really well. I’m still following the same workout plan and the same nutrition plan. I deviated from the nutrition a few times, but nothing too excessive!
Unfortunately, I got injured and had to cut my training way back and increase my calories slightly to help me recover (recovery in a calorie deficit is HARD and SLOW, so I’m giving my body a break), so I only lost 1lb, not 3-4 like I’d hoped. I still consider myself to have followed my rules, however, because I didn’t use my injury as an excuse to throw in the towel – I modified my workouts and nutrition to accomodate my injury, but didn’t give up completely.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
I think setting goals for a short period of time, like 30 days, is great. I liked the focus it gave me. I also found it was helpful that I made PROCESS goals (“stick to my plan!”) rather than outcome goals (“lose 10 punds!”). I think I respond better to those, as evidenced by how I stuck to my plan, even though I got injured!!
1. Name – Mike
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) Lose 15 pounds
b) Stop messing up on the weekends
c) No beer for the entire 30 days
3. Reason for entering challenge
I have been struggling lately, and I think this will give me the motivation that I need to get on track.
1. Lori
2. Lose 6 pounds
3. Would be cool to win one of the prizes. I am dieting anyway – why not participate?
1. Name – Maggie
2. Goals – lose 6 pounds, stop nighttime eating, do 20 minutes of yoga 5x/week
3. Reason – I’ve been trying to lose the 6 pounds for a while, I’ve been trying to stop nighttime eating for years, and I want to start doing yoga again. I’ll feel accomplished if I can do these 3 things.
Thanks Leigh!
Name: Maggie
Goals: lose 6 pounds, stop nighttime eating, do 20 minutes of yoga 5x/week
Results/final words and thoughts:
I did not lose 6 pounds, but I did lose 1-2. I didn’t do very well for the challenge for the first 2.5 weeks, actually. I think I messed up the very first night.
Then midway through last week I had a kind of breakthrough and I actually haven’t binged *at all* since last Thursday, and I have done yoga every day since then too. I kind of woke up and realized that it shouldn’t take a “challenge” or an event (my wedding in July) to make me do things right – I should do things right because that’s the way I want to live forever.
I want to feel good and be happy all the time. I think sometimes I treat healthy habits as a punishment… but honestly I feel so much *better* when I live healthfully. My IBS has improved a lot this last week too and I’ve been happy. Hope I can keep it up
1. Name – Etana Finkler, age 63 for another 5 weeks.
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. To reach 150 lbs. or under. (I am 154.8, 12.8 lbs. away from goal weight of 142). Started diet above 180#. To be active. A challenge of diet away from my kitchen and scale:
b. On 2 week vacation (Rochester, NY and Key West, Florida 4/22 – 5/3): not gain more than 4 pounds, relax, possibly live without my GWF for the vacation . It is time for my diet break, but I am not calling it a “diet break,” since I’m still weak on compliance in diet breaks. So I am on a light diet, being social, but paying more attention to friends and being active and haivng fun, than on food, or weighing, or measuring. Learn to make good restaurant choices of vegies & protein. I will be out of control away from my kitchen, and I would like to be relaxed and light about it, while with friends, rather than acting “uptight, on a diet”. … so by May 3 I don’t want to weigh more than 158.8 which will only be water-weight gain.
c. From May 3 to the end of challenge, diet hard, big deficit, 100% one hundred percent compliance so that I end the challenge down 3-5 pounds, at or under 150 one-five-OH !!
3. Reason for entering challenge:
I love playing a game where I make up the rules. It is motivating to have a beginning and ending and be answerable to others in public. To stay motivated and on track to reach goal weight as soon as my body will allow.
4. ACTIONS:
a. FOOD: Write/guestimate food EVERY DAY in paper journal
….FOOD: Log in fitday
….FOOD: good restaurant choices
b. ACTIVE: Try to hit 2000cal burn every day by 1-hour walk with iPod + daily activitiesc. e. c. EMOTIONS: when I want to eat unnecessarily, write down what emotion I am feeling
- Etana !!! here we go!!!
Thanks for the challenge Leigh
1. Name
caitlin
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. lose 10 pounds
b. fit into my skinny jeans
c. achieve my goal a & b
3. Reason for entering challenge
although I’ve boughten the book, I have never written my goal down or entered a challenge, i want to try and achieve both.
1. Cassondra
2. Goals:
a. Do the opt workbook for the next 30 days
b. Stick to my calorie intake
c. lose 5lbs
d. get into that damn dress for the wedding I have to go to, its snug
e. be a hottie at that wedding even though im 40! the dress is a sexy lil black number
f. eat required number of fruit and vegetables
h. increase my push ups (real pushups) from 3 to 5
i. whittle my waist a bit
3. Reason for entering challenge
i am a bit of a challenge phobic, they are intimidating but this one seems easy enough 30 days should be no problem!
I am also hoping this keeps my motivation up as it is a bit lonely going at it alone.
1. Name – Kimmy
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Lose 10 pounds
b. Lose 4 inches off my waist
c. Cut out sugary treats
3. Reason for entering challenge
I’m having double jaw surgery on June 1st. I won’t be able to eat food or exercise for 4 months (possibly longer). I need to get strong and fit to prepare for this surgery. Entering the challenge will help keep me motivated and I would also enjoy winning a prize.
1. Name – Rita
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) Lose 2.5 pounds each week.
b) Lift at least 2 days a week and interval cardio 2 days a week.
c) Eat a healthy snack instead of junk when I get home from work.
d) Overall eat several small healthy meals
3. Reason for entering challenge
a) Win a membership to leighpeele.com
b) Summer is coming & I need to get ready to wear shorts!
1. Jeremy
2.
a. keep daily log of food intake and exercise
b. maintain weight
c. increase strength
3. Using this as a motivational tool. EXCITING!
1. Jeremy
2-3.
a. Daily food log – Didn’t do a good job of this
b. Maintain Weight – Achieved – 165lbs
c. Increase Strength – Achieved – increased max bench 10 lbs, increased max squat 20 lbs
4. Great stuff. Motivated to continue!
1. Name –
Kayla
2. Goals for the next 30 days –
Lose 10 pounds.
Stay focused on the weekends with my goals <– That's important
Take my puppy for a walk EVERY day!
Stay positive at work.
Run my dreaded sprints at least 4 times a week.
Don't by food that I know I cant control myself around.
3. Reason for entering challenge –
I have been slacking for a few too many months on my health and my fitness. I know I
can achieve my goals I just need to get back in the zone. I need to be accountable for
my actions and I think this challenge is just what I need! Thanks Leigh!
ellen.
goal:
a)lost 5 lbs of fat by tracking my intake
b) track with my workouts 6 days a wk! eating
c)eating more raw veggies and fruit daily
d)limit sugar
e)drink more water!!!
f)take a break from everything once a wk
reason for joining challenge:motivation and accountability and wanting results!!!!
1. Name – Tina
2. Goals for the next 30 days
*More quality time with family
*Save some cash
*Eat cleaner, with the exception of one weekend night when I have my light beer or wine and cheat meal.
*Exercise 7 days a week. Even if it’s a casual walk in the neighborhood with a friend.
*Loss 5 pounds
*Stay away from the crappy junk food left in the lunch room at work.
3. Reason for entering challenge
I have recently gained rather quickly 5 pounds by increasing my junk food intake by at least one or two things daily. By just eating stupid stuff that is left in the lunch room by my co-workers has set me back. No more Philly soft pretzels, Tasty Cakes, Candy’s, and or chips and dips.
1. Name – Suzanne
2. Goal for the challenge: eat healthier, more frequent meals.
Be conscious of what I’m eating.
3: Reasons for entering: I had abdominal surgery in December. While I finally got my workouts started again (slowly), I haven’t given energy to what I put in my mouth! Writing the goal puts it into action.
Name: Macky
Goals for the next 30 days include, but aren’t limited to: Lose ~5-8 more pounds of FAT for my first bodybuilding show.
Learn the recipes and cooking specs for my job like the back of my hand.
Become more accepting of my mentally ill mother and be more patient through understanding.
Reasons for entering:
I’m all about self-improvement.
The more people to hold me accountable the more push I have to complete each task to the fullest…plus some.
And finally, I’m doing this for myself to prove that i can achieve whatever task I st forth on to finish.
1. RG
2. a. get through a major stressful exam
b. be happy regardless of how each day of studying goes
c. focus on healthy foods without counting calories
d. weigh myself daily
e. get sunshine when sunny
f. take a 5day happiness break post-exam
g. reset my goals after that break, not sooner or 3 weeks later
3. because I failed the candle test: i didn’t read about the box and thought you had to melt the candle’s base to get it to stick to the wall. so, focus on simplicity.
3. My results were good. I got through this enormously stressful time frame and I’m on the light at the end of the tunnel end of it. My focus is shifting onto the next challenges and the summer goals as of this week.
4. Patience and focussing on a small number of goals for the win. It’s easy to beat myself up for what I didn’t do when, if I do this much every month, it will be a great year.
1. Name – Sharon
2. Goal for the next 30 days
Lose 4 pounds
Weekly avg of 500-750 daily deficit
Wear Bodybugg and track food intake 100% every day
3. Reason for entering challenge
Weekly check-ins have proven to be a good tool to help maintain my focus on my weight loss goal.
1. Name: Sharon
2 . Goal: Lose 4 pounds; Weekly avg of 500-750 daily deficit; Wear Bodybugg and track food intake 100% every day
3. Results: I lost 5.2 pounds – I’m estatic about that. I met my weekly avg deficit (except I did flag on food logging in the past week)
4. What an interesting experiment. I’ve lost consistently each week for the past 4 weeks and it has been a long while since I could get into the zone. I’m under a lot of stress and my usual m.o. in the past has been to turn to food. I joked on of my last check-ins on the member site that I was going to pretend I was someone who lost their appetite when stressed. It really has seemed to work for me. I guess setting realistic goals and finding a way to be accountable to myself is a key learning for me.
1: Daisy Sunshine
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Stay committed to walking 3 miles a day every day for the next 30 days. [that extra mile is killer] and see if I can go up to four miles by May 21st.
b. Try to think positive about myself as a person, my weight loss and my goals.
c. eat wiser, not foolishly.
3. reason for entering challenge
].
I love challenges. it will be nice to see if I can keep this up for 30 days. I know I am worth this, and I will love to see if I can stick to my commitments (even with a lure of a fantastic prize
1: Daisy Sunshine
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Stay committed to walking 3 miles a day every day for the next 30 days. [that extra mile is killer] and see if I can go up to four miles by May 21st.
30 Days Later: This was so incredibly hard, just because it got so incredibly hot. I loathe summer, I truly do because it just makes me want to shut down. I wish i could jump up and down and say ‘yay!! I walked 4 miles a day every day!” but I can’t. I did do some miles some days, even walked outside when it was cool. What it told me was that I really need to exercise more in the winter time, so in the summer time, I can just really take it simple. So the “goal” of 3 miles a day for 30 days was a failure, but only a so so one because I was still active, I just needed to reduce the millage for health.
b. Try to think positive about myself as a person, my weight loss and my goals.
30 days later. This was actually easier than the walking. I am usually such a pessimistic person when it comes to myself. When it comes to everyone else: I can be optimistic as optimistic as can be, with myself, I always wait for the other shoe to drop. I really shelved that thinking away, and stopped “time-limiting” myself. [Which is ironic, because this was a 30 day challenge, and there was a time limit]. I am not going to be svelte over night, I won’t be a overall sensation over night, and it will take a while to achieve all my goals. Going slowly isn’t a bad thing. I feel that this was a major pass for me, It really made me a bit happier over all.
c. eat wiser, not foolishly.
30 Days Later: yah, I can say for the most part this was great. I didn’t really over indulge in anything, and I tried to keep hydrated, especially with the weather gettng hotter. It is very easy to put the sugar down, and just drink water. [Even though I will admit, I am still a sucker for Crystal Lite. It can be quite the thirst quencher]. I will say this was a wash as well. I was eating “wisely” before the challenge, and I think even with a few days where I did over indulged, it was more of a “treat” than total loss of control, and it will serve me better in the future.
3. reason for entering challenge
].
I love challenges. it will be nice to see if I can keep this up for 30 days. I know I am worth this, and I will love to see if I can stick to my commitments (even with a lure of a fantastic prize
30 days later: as I said – it was interesting to see if I could stick to my commitments, lure of a prize or not, and I’m glad for the most part that I did exactly that. It makes me wants to break up my “routine” with something special down the roude every few weeks to make me truly honest with myself, as well as getting the proverbial “cookie” because who doesn’t like that, eh? So win or lose, I am glad that I challenged myself, and for this contest. I learned a bit about myself, and I liked what I saw. [which was explained above].
1. Shayna
2. My goals are to:
a. finish an 8 mile run
b. reduce body fat
c. lose the last 5 pounds!
3. My reason for entering the challenge is to put a little fire under me to finish up these goals. I’ve been working so hard to lose the last few pounds, and I’m almost there. Hopefully this will give me a little more motivation to finish it! And of course, a prize doesn’t hurt. I’ve been pondering buying your material for some time, but I haven’t had any expendable cash to do so… I’d love to win it! Thanks for the opportunity.
1. Name: Tamara
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
- daily mobility/recovery, even if it’s just 1-2 moves. As much as I can fit in.
- daily meditation/breathing, even if it’s just 1-2 minutes. As much as I can fit in.
- 5 workouts per week: 2-3 yoga, 1-2 weight training and 1-2 cardio (or combo weight/cardio). Minimum 20 minutes each workout.
- Eat at a 20% deficit daily (1400 calories).
3. Reason for entering the challenge:
I love the support of fellow participants (and the gentle competition), as well as the added motivation of set goals for a specific time frame.
1. Name: Matt
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
- Increase SS cardio to 35 minutes (currently 25 minutes) 3x per week.
- Survive 5K in 3 weeks.
- Implement some HIIT (sprinting) 2x per week
- Start doing some body weight strength training 3x per week.
- Least important, but desirable: Lose 6 pounds.
3. Reason for entering challenge:
- Setting goals gives me something to shoot for. My long term goals are harder to reach for, procrastination gets the best of me.
1. Name: Matt
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
- Increase SS cardio to 35 minutes (currently 25 minutes) 3x per week.
>>> Well, not quite. I was up to 35 minute runs, but I bruised the bottom of my feet and ended up taking a week off before my 5k. Ran the 5k and was in pain the next couple days. Since then I’ve run a couple times and feel good!
- Survive 5K in 3 weeks.
>>> Survived! Had a blast, ran with someone for the first few minutes, but they wanted to walk and encouraged me to run it. It was so much fun to run with other people and I definitely felt like I picked up my pace and did a good clip on the last 2.5k.
- Implement some HIIT (sprinting) 2x per week
>>> Failed. Due to my foot injury, I didn’t get around to adding this. I really enjoyed the 5k and would like to improve my time, I think some HIIT might help, so I’m still planning on doing this!
- Start doing some body weight strength training 3x per week.
>>> Well, I’m doing it twice a week, better than nothing, but not as much as I would like. Going to participate in Tom Venuto’s summer contest, so I’ll have another chance to get this up to where I want it!
- Least important, but desirable: Lose 6 pounds.
>>> Down 4 pounds instead. I’ve actually started to reevaluate my weight goals. I’ve lost alot of flab over the last few months, but really haven’t muscled up to compensate. That’s now my summer goal, add muscle while still losing some fat.
3. Reason for entering challenge:
- Setting goals gives me something to shoot for. My long term goals are harder to reach for, procrastination gets the best of me.
>>> I got really lazy when my injury stopped me from running and getting started again was tough. Finally I saw a few people out running and told myself I’ve got to do this. I want to look like that. I did and that jumpstarted me again.
>>> I was I was more successful in the 30 day challenge, but I’m happy with some results and going to keep on working at it! Thanks, Leigh!
1. Candice
2. Goals:
a) In the next 30 days I’d like to lose 15 pounds. I know it sounds like a lot but I’m doing OPT for the first time and entering week 2. I’m also at 230lbs so I think it may be possible. I just want to shoot on the higher side so I work hard instead of low balling a number for the sake of easy.
b) Remember that I need to come back here and update. This may be more challenging than losing even a third of those 15 pounds.
3. a) Entering because I decided that the reason I never win anything, is because I never enter into competitions, drawings, etc. Need to enter to win, right?
b) I’m already doing OPT and feeling great about it.
1. Name – Hallie
2. my goals this month are: stick to the first month of my half marathon training, 75 oz of water a day, 7 hrs of sleep a night, 5 fruits/veggies a day, 2 servings minimum whole grains
3. I’m entering this challenge because I want to see what it’s all about! What better way, right?
Goals for next 30 days; Work on increasing hip mobility.
Reason for entering; I love listening to you guys on the Fit cast and want to support your efforts were ever I can.
1. Name: Amanda
2. Goals for the next 30 days
**Goals start after I move this Saturday**
-Eat 1200-1300 cals 5 days a week, 1800-2000 2 days a week. Follow BBE guidelines for protein and fat.
-Limit gluten consumption to once a week to see if that helps with wonky menstrual cycle (may eventually try entirely GF but I’m not there yet)
-Limit flour products, even if they’re “healthy” flours, to once a week
-Get back on a resistance training program 3 days/week. Work on finding something I actually like so I’m less tempted to slack off.
-Get back to cardio 3 days a week–biking and walking
-WRITE DOWN daily goals/affirmations
3. Reason for entering challenge
I think a 30-day focus will be good for me. It’s dual motivation in that it’s not long so it’s easier to stick to, but also more important to stick to because it’s not long.
And because Leigh rocks.
1. Name – Amanda
2. Goals for the next 30 days
**Goals start after I move this Saturday**
-Eat 1200-1300 cals 5 days a week, 1800-2000 2 days a week. Follow BBE guidelines for protein and fat.
-Limit gluten consumption to once a week to see if that helps with wonky menstrual cycle (may eventually try entirely GF but I’m not there yet)
-Limit flour products, even if they’re “healthy” flours, to once a week
-Get back on a resistance training program 3 days/week. Work on finding something I actually like so I’m less tempted to slack off.
-Get back to cardio 3 days a week–biking and walking
-WRITE DOWN daily goals/affirmations
3. Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Massive FAIL. Getting packed up to move into my first home derailed everything about the challenge, from packing away my journals (should’ve used post-its from work) to my food scale. Failed massively on the deficit.
I did marginally all right on limiting gluten but after a talk with Leigh on the phone I’m thinking my menstrual issues are/were related to lack of food in general and dietary fat in particular rather than one particular food group. I do feel in general that other forms of carbs such as rice are better than gluten-containing ones, and particularly bread products, but it’s not anything to freak out over.
Workouts also really suffered during the move. Bleh.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
Well, I don’t deal with change well. I like my routine, and I think I’m better able to focus on things like a challenge (which by definition is not part of the routine–otherwise it wouldn’t be a challenge) when I have my basic daily routines established. I started my program from Leigh on Wednesday and yes, I’m only two days in, but so far so good.
Leigh does still rock though.
1. Name – RedOne
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. actually wear my nightguard – every night.
b. Do my rehab exercises – minimum of 6x a week
c. 3 Strength Training sessions a week – programmed NOT just tossed together!
3. Reason for entering challenge
Because the first two things are actions I’ve never actually consistently done and the final item is something I haven’t done in far too long. All three frustrate me and it is about damn time I take action! Plus, I’ve never done a 30 day program (or any for that matter!) where I actually publicly commit to something. It’s time to step out of my box.
May 21, 2010 update
-Goal to wear new $$$ bite guard every night – 100%. This might sound like a wimpy goal, but I went through 2 sets of retainers simply because I didn’t wear them frequently and so it got to the point where they no longer fit. Wearing this guard has helped ease my neck and jaw pain.
-Goal to do rehab exercises 6x a week – 91.67% (I missed this twice, but that is because I am only counting 1x per day even though I actually exceeded that for the first time ever). It felt so good to be able to go to the PT and tell her I was doing the exercises. When it comes to taking care of my body I generally take the easy way out (massage therapist) rather than do the work. Plus, my mornings are busy, so this meant actually decreasing my cardio time in order to fit them in.
-3 Strength Training sessions a week – programmed NOT just tossed together!
100% Rock On! It had been over 6 months since I had consistently lifted more than 2 x a week and years since the last time I followed a highly structured program. I may know my stuff, but there has definitely existed a significant gap between knowing it and actually practicing it! You could actually say that I’ve never consistently followed a smart program. Sad, but true.
I’m disappointed in my 91% adherence for the rehab exercises, but I honestly don’t think I would have hit 50% without this challenge. My goals might have sounded weak, but I’m someone who tends to do better at taking on the major tasks and letting the little things just pile up until they overwhelm me. Either that, or I ignore them and later pay the price.
Name: Carol
Goals:
“Stop making excuses and being a self-liar”
My goals for the next 30 days:
Complete Health Risk Assessment (free through work)
Get Biometric Screenings (free through work)
Hook up with a Health Coach (also free through work)
Schedule screening colonoscopy
Schedule mammogram (the mobile van comes right to work)
Follow-up with doc (and get Pap), go over above results and work out any med decisions with her
Reason:
Having recently completed a 3 month challenge I wasn’t too keen on another challenge. I pushed myself for 3 months and my nutrition is fine, my training program is fine… and I’ll continue… what’s left to “challenge?”
But, damn that Leigh Peele
“Stop making excuses and being a self-liar”… (#6 from her previous post… it’s *haunting* me I tell ya!)
What are you talking about?! I scheduled and made time to train and do mobility work… I wrote out weeks’ menus/grocery lists and shopped on Sunday mornings! I logged my progress. I took my vitamins/meds/supplements nearly every day! I recruited friends to go walking at lunchtime! I joined a hiking club for cryin’ out loud! I’m doing great…
“Stop making excuses and being a self-liar”
*sigh*
What? No I don’t drink that much, besides they are MGD 64’s, and it’s way less than a couple of years ago… Hey, I go all *day* without a cigarette, I’m not hooked, I can quit anytime (I’ve done it a million times, right?), I’m too busy to take off work to get that mammogram, Pap, old lady screening colonoscopy… Well, yes, I know that my prescription is running out and I’ll need to see my doc to get it renewed… I probably don’t need it, I’m doing pretty good, mostly… maybe I’ll just stop taking it, yeah, no biggie….
“Stop making excuses and being a self-liar”
It’s sad that it takes a “challenge” for me to see what an excuse maker and self-liar I can be about some (very important) things and it’s embarrassing… but, there you go.
My goals were
Complete Health Risk Assessment
Get Biometric Screenings
Hook up with a Health Coach
Schedule screening colonoscopy
Schedule mammogram
Follow-up with doc (and get Pap), go over above results and work out any med decisions with her
and… “stop making excuses and being a self-liar”
Did I complete all my goals on my check list? No, not all. Did I “stop making excuses and being a self-liar?” I definitely took a few good steps! I’m satisfied with my progress!
These past 30 days I’ve had poison ivy, sciatica, bronchitis, and insane work issues. Wait! That wasn’t the direction I had planned for this challenge… but as my GPS would say when I miss my exit, “Recalculating.” Does the trip stop because I missed my exit?! Aw hell no… just a little side trip baby! While my body was insisting “honey, sit the eff down” I explored areas of my life often neglected… writing, drawing, reading, meditating (which kind of looked like napping), walking, stretching, focused breathing, eating when I was hungry (including an ice cream sundae), completing/scheduling almost all of my tests and appointments from said check-list, and connecting with my Inner Warrior (yes, that includes watching old episodes of Xena, the Princess Warrior… I’m totally practicing her battle cry… shhh…LOL). The biggest (unsuspected) result of these past 30 days is for the first time (in a long time) I feel a huge hunka whole-body-inside-and-out-lovin! I absolutely must value ALL aspects of my life to enjoy the ride (and the side trips), and to sometimes just sit the eff down!
Oh, and my name is Carol… I forgot to add that first on my update.
1. Name: Shannon
2. Goals
a. Eat whole natural foods
b. lose 3 pounds of fat
c. do my first pullup or chinup
e. get at least 20 minutes of exercise a day (strength, cardio or yoga)
f. meditate daily
3. Resons
It seems like a lot, but I have been working on those since the New Year. I have recently found myself slacking, so this challenge is a way to re-affirm my goals and take it to the next level. Thanks Leigh!
1. Name: Shannon
2. Goals
a. Eat whole natural foods
b. lose 3 pounds of fat
c. do my first pullup or chinup
e. get at least 20 minutes of exercise a day (strength, cardio or yoga)
f. meditate daily
3. Results
The only goal I met was eating whole natural foods. I am doing well with that one and have noticed that I no longer can stomach fast food.I even realized the whole wheat bread I was buying has a chemical taste so I am now only going to buy Ezekiel bread. I didn’t lose any fat and I didn’t make it to my first pullup. But I continue to work on them 3 times a week. I skipped about 4-5 days on the exercise over the last 30days and meditation compliance has waned, but I still try to get it in every day.
4. Final Thoughts
I noticed that when life gets really busy, I forget about the meditation and then realize its been several days since I meditated. That doesn’t happen with the exercise. I always remember to exercise and know when I haven’t done it. That seems a bit odd to me, but perhaps its because meditation is a newer goal, and exercise has been a priority for 2 years. I like having the goals, because they keep me on track. When faced with a food choice, I can eliminate anything that isn’t a whole natural food. Keeps dieting simple. The daily exercise is almost like a challenge to see where I can squeeze it in, making it fun. And I like that none of my goals are overwhelming.
1. Name: matrix2pyro
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
- Lose 6 lbs
- Purchase liability insurance.
3. Reason for entering challenge
- I like the concept of online challenges and this one being short term makes it even more attractive.
1. NAME: Stacey
2. OVERALL GOAL: 18% body fat by May 21
Subgoals:
a. Give a presentation on Fitness & Nutrition to the real estate agents that work for us. (Help others stay on track)
b. Give up wine for 30 days ( this is going to be tough!)
c. Eliminate processed foods from my diet by replacing bad snacks with healthy ones. (this is how 99% of processed foods enter my mouth)
3. REASONS FOR ENTERING
I am entering this contest because I need to identify and focus on the things that are keeping me from my goal of 18% body fat. During the last challenge I learned a lot about myself and my “weaknesses”. I need to focus on those weaknesses for the next 30 days. Working out and eating healthy meals are easy for me. I work out 6 days a week and for the most part, my meals are super healthy. It’s the snacks and the wine. Therefore I am going to give up wine for 30 days and stock my pantry and fridge with healthy snacks so that I am not tempted to eat crap when the afternoon munchies kick in.
1. Name – Brian
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a. Lose 4 lbs (it is getting tough to lose any more weight – I have been stuck.)
b. Workout Schedule – 2 power lifting sessions, minimum cardio strength sessions (trying to do 2), 2 basketball condition sessions, and minimum of 3 days of basketball drills or games (trying for 4 to 5).
3. Reason for entering challenge – it is my long term goal to get to 200 lbs this year and to get back to being a excellent basketball player.
2. Goals for the next 30 days
* Lose 5 pounds
* Drink lots more water – i.e. 10 glasses a day
* Eliminate mindless eating – i.e. emotional eating/snacking and taking small nibbles on sweets and snack foods over the course of the day
* Track all calories using Fitday or similar tool
3. Reason for entering challenge
In a word: accountability. I’m pretty sure I “cheat” more than I’d admit. I am having trouble getting as lean as I’d like – I am very active but can’t get past a certain level of leanness. I probably need to do a bit more weight training and rely more on diet for results, instead of having a mindset where I think working out more is the answer. It is easy to work out too much – which seems to stimulate more eating. Seems to keep me where I am instead of progressing.
1. Name – Angie
2. Goals for the next 30 days-
a. To stick to my diet at least 80%
b. To get in all of my workouts
c. To keep a positive attitude
3. Reason for entering challenge- I just had a baby 4 months ago and want to get back into my pre-baby shape and beyond! I also want to be able to be an inspiration to my friends and clients.
1. Ashley Smashley
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a. lose 1-2 lbs of fat each week while maintaining lean body mass
b. limit alcohol intake to 1 drink per weekday, 2 on weekend days, not exceeding 5 for the week. (this may sound like a lot, but I live in a household where a fine bottle of wine gets cracked open almost nightly. Hard for me to resist…)
c. increase weekly running mileage from 35 to 45 miles per week, building slowly and staying consistent. (training for NYC marathon 29 weeks away)
d. incorporating P90x program for strength and lean body mass (have been doing it, but not consistently)
e. Always having water and healthy snacks on hand to curb frequent cravings
f. limit pinkberry frozen yogurt trips to only 2x week, and only have a small size with no toppings (another one of my daily vices)
g. eat more slowly and mindfully, drink water when i feel cravings, then reassess hunger
h. take a trip to the department store to scout out new fashions for my hot new leaner body! (don’t buy anything until I reach my monthly goal)
3. Reasons for entering the challenge:
a. I am competitive with myself and know that a challenge will be the extra motivation and accountability I need to be on my way..
b. Leigh Peele, your sound knowledge and wisdom have helped me to simplify and understand the basics of weight and fat loss, and it’s time for me to put your information to good use and get results!
c. I just returned from a week in Cabo, life in paradise with a side of guacamole, crispy chips, melted cheese with shrimp or fish on deep fried homemade tortillas and too many margaritas to count. It’s time for a serious intervention!
1. Name: Kim, icando
2. Overall Goal: HEALTH…..Only 30 days but each day closer to the health I desire.
a: bike to work at least 3 days a week
b: 30 days into my re-thinking process(daily exercises)
c: eating clean
3. Reason for Entering: Motivation, motivation, motivation….no more excuses, just get it done!!
Name: Kim
Goals for challenge:
a: Bike to work 3 days a week, I was able to bike to work one week 2 days. The weather derailed this goal. Tornado alley has been very active the past few weeks!!
b: 30 days on my re-thinking process, still a work in progress I am on exercise 10 still working but did get alitte bogged down on this one.
c: eating clean…..yes, the past 2 weeks have been very good.
I have lost 8lbs so far and I feel much better mentally and physically. I will stay on this plan for the next 90 days and re-evaluate then, hoping to transition to a lesser deficit and continue with healthy habits and clean eating.
1.Name
Bob
2. Goals for the next 30 days
GoodGuys
a/ successful interview with cbc radio
b/ Help 2 more families
Health
a/Be consistent (diet,exercise)
b/lose 8 pounds of fat
c/ Start and be consistent with a running program to build endurance
General
Live life to the fullest with focus ,passion and drive
Reasons
a/ Leigh is a wealth of nutrition knowledge and she said so
b/ Light a fire under my ass with an accountability flame
Name: Wilbe Fitter
Goal: Lose 6-8 lbs. of body fat
Maintain muscle
Methods for achieving goal:
Plan and stick to daily menu
Maintain current workout schedule
No sugar (if bigmike can go without the beer, I can live without sugar)
No unplanned snack at night
Reasons: Accountability.
To get back into all those clothes that have been packed away for 2 years.
To kick the binge and sugar habit.
To live healthy, feel good and be happy.
1. Name – Bree
2. Goals for the next 30 days
a) yoga 2x a week, strength train 2x a week, finish a 10 mile run
b) lose 2-4 pounds
3. Reason for entering challenge
a) need further accountability and the timing is perfect!
1. Name – Bree
2. Goals for the next 30 days
- yoga 2x a week, NO (managed 7 times)
-strength train 2x a week, YES
-finish a 10 mile run, YES
b) lose 2-4 pounds, YES (about 2 lbs lost)
1. Debbie
2. lift heavy weights 3x week
500-600 Kbell swings/day
tighten up eating – as little processed as possible, no junk food
3. My 30th HS class reunion on the 28th and 29th of May!
1. Debbie
2. Stayed on goal with lifting heavy: stayed with a 5×5 rep scheme and focused on full body exercises like front squats (150#) and deadlifts(200#); also did massive amounts of pushups and pullups.
Didn’t get 500 kbell swings in every day – averaged about 350; still pretty good. Over this past month I’ve done at least 10,000+. Those alone have leaned me out like crazy!
The eating part has been my main focus. It has been spot on. And I cut out grains a week into it, also. Aside from the occasional beer and 1 scoop of ice cream, I have maintained a diet that has given me a new appreciation for clean-eating!
3. My 30th HS reunion is next Friday and Saturday and, if I do say so myself, I look AWESOME!!
1. Name – Julie
2. Goals for the next 30 days -
write EVERYTHING down in my food journal
take my vitamins every day
drink more water
no snacking after dinner
3. Reason for entering challenge -
I neded to do these things every day and I want to win something.
1. Jaycen
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a) I’ll buy no alcohol during the week and figure in the caloric difference for one day on the weekend to stay within my below daily intake goals.
b) Stay on track with my workouts and tracking my intake.
c) Write a physical letter, at least once a week and post it my family.
3. Reason for entering challenge
a) Accountability. Saying to yourself, in your head is one thing, but writing it down is quite another. This entry alone took me about 20 minutes… lol
1Jaycen
2Goals:
a) not purchase and consume liquor during the week
b)stay on track with workouts and tracking calories
c)write a physical letter to family a week
3Results
a) Alcohol: Well, as I set out not to purchase alcohol and limit my consumption of booze to the weekends, the universe seemed to be tempting me with social and work events that were heavily punctuated with liquor and wine. While I did not purchase any, I did still enjoy some adult beverages sporadically. I did meet my goals of technically not buying any liquor during the week, but I still feel like I cheated.
2b) Workouts and tracking calories: Well, I have been working in a major calorie deficit this past month, so my workouts have been fewer than normal. I didn’t physically log my daily caloric intake, but I did consciously plan my day and caloric intake every morning. I do feel like I did stay on track here, and I met my goals, and I thought this would have been the hardest one to keep.
2c) I didn’t write one damn letter. BUT I did fly my sister down from Vermont to visit. SO not the same thing… lol I totally flunked on this goal.
3) Results
Well, my physical overall goal to lose some fat was a huge success. I dropped about 10 (scale) pounds. And my clothes are fitting right and I feel like I’m on track for summer and shaking some of my winter gym-hibernation fat off.
I noticed that by being cognizant of my calories in alcohol and alcohol intake, I was really able to spearhead and pinpont how I gained a few more pounds than normal this past winter.
Also I realized that I must have some sort of mental block when it comes to writing letters. Although I didn’t really let anyone down, per se, because nobody knew that was a goal of mine… but I did feel bad about it.
4) Final thoughts:
After writing this all down, I’m a little disappointed that my goals to better my physical self were easier to attain than my my goals to reach out to family. It seems a little selfish. I’m not by any means a bad son,grandson or brother. I call and email my family weekly… but I did want to do something a little more personal for them.
1. Name – Vicky
2. Goal: Be a “normal eater” = eat when hungry, stop before full, eat what sounds good and get to the body composition I should be by eating this way
3. Reason for entering challenge – stop dieting/bingeing and enjoy life
1. Name – Amy N. (member)
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a) No more beating myself up when I mess up with my diet. I can feel regret and frustration with myself for 15 minutes only. After that, I will forgive myself and move on.
b) I won’t eat something that I didn’t plan to eat because someone is pressuring me to. (This includes situations like people bringing around food at my office, my dear grandma trying to stuff me, friends wanting to split a dessert at a restaurant, etc.)
c) When I have a negative experience with food, I will journal it. I’ll include what happened, why I think it happened, what I felt, and how I moved on to get back on track.
d) I will meditate for 15 minutes at least 4 times a week. I’ll try to schedule meditation for the time just after I get home from work, when I’m usually susceptible to hunger-related mood swings and unscheduled snacking.
3. Reason for entering challenge: I am about halfway done with my weight loss. As grueling as weight loss is sometimes, I think the hardest thing for me will not be weight loss–instead, it will be learning to maintain my weight once I reach my goal. I need to start now with examining and changing my behaviors and responses associated with food that made me overweight in the first place.
This challenge helped me greatly with examining patterns and responses related to food, and I think I’m well on the way to fixing the behavior that’s detrimental. Will I ever conquer my tendency to emotionally eat? Probably not completely, but it doesn’t mess with my progress so much when I can either eat something healthful/ low-cal during those times, or when I can stop the behavior before it’s hijacked my whole brain.
a) No more beating myself up when I mess up with my diet. I can feel regret and frustration with myself for 15 minutes only. After that, I will forgive myself and move on.
Results: Honestly, this worked about 50% of the time, but I think that’s a good start for a behavior I’ve had for years. When it didn’t work and negative thoughts crept in, I reminded myself of this goal and I think the negativity was less overall. Going to keep this goal beyond this challenge.
b) I won’t eat something that I didn’t plan to eat because someone is pressuring me to. (This includes situations like people bringing around food at my office, my dear grandma trying to stuff me, friends wanting to split a dessert at a restaurant, etc.)
Results: I can only think of one time when the power of suggestion overcame me. It seems like this isn’t such a big problem for me and I won’t keep it as an official goal beyond the challenge.
c) When I have a negative experience with food, I will journal it. I’ll include what happened, why I think it happened, what I felt, and how I moved on to get back on track.
Results: I did this about 1/3 of the time. I found that meditation was more useful for me for this behavior. Not going to keep it beyond this challenge.
d) I will meditate for 15 minutes at least 4 times a week. I’ll try to schedule meditation for the time just after I get home from work, when I’m usually susceptible to hunger-related mood swings and unscheduled snacking.
Results: I exceeded this goal. My meditation always started off by checking in with my body and trying to bring out any thoughts under the surface about my body, weight, food, etc. It was very helpful in keeping me on course with my diet and motivation. Definitely keeping this as a goal. Additionally, I felt more rested and rejuvenated after I meditated.
Overall, I loved having the chance to focus on something besides a caloric deficit and workouts in a structured challenge. I think body change always has to follow behaviorial change. In other words, if you’re an emotional eater and you think the way for you to lose weight is a large deficit and a round of OPT, you might be putting the cart before the horse.
1. Name – Rob
2. Goals for the next 30 days. Simple – to make a meal plan and stick to it, period. (obviously a meal plan of “eat whatever you want” would be cheating)…
3. Reason for entering – again, simple – I’ve done the last two challenges and not met my goals – the main culprit being the lack of a meal plan. So I’m going to try 30 days of meal planning.
Name – Rob
Goal – make meal plans and stick to them for 30 days.
Results – well, a couple of days after writing that, my wife and I decided to start a PSMF diet for a few weeks to see how we did. She managed to lose 9 pounds and has kept it off after returning to maintenance eating. I stuck to the diet (it allows for one free meal and one high-carb refeed per week) with the exception of one day where I couldn’t stay out of the peanuts…
So I consider this a HUGE SUCCESS for me. I stuck to meal plans for 29/30 days, something I was never able to do on the two previous challenges. I had to adjust my training – particularly the cardio, since I had much less energy, but otherwise it worked out very well. I lost about 4 more pounds, so I’m firmly in the range of 185 (bouncing 183-186 over the last week) which is 22 pounds lower than my highest weight (was around 189 when I started this challenge).
I feel like my weight change is more than four pounds – clothes are fitting much differently. My waist has definitly shrunk – pants and jeans are all requiring belts to avoid “pants on the ground” syndrome
My next problem, however, starts on Sunday – I go on a business trip for a month, so I have to seriously watch my diet and activity. I’ll be on my feet most of the time, and I’ll be in Sydney Australia so there will be lots of opportunity to walk around the downtown area.
So, Leigh – thanks a bunch for this challenge – it forced me to think through what my real issues were, rather than setting a target and then making it/not making it. I had to think about the last two challenges, and realize that making and meeting meal plans was my problem.
Awesome challenge!
Rob
1. Name: Debby
2. Goals for next 30 days: Lose 1″ in hip and waist measurements;
Stop pigging out everyday.
3. Reason for entering challenge: For motivation, accountability and because Leigh’s challenges are fun.
1. Name – Debby (DVL)
2. Goal for the challenge – Lose 1″ in hip and waist measurements;
Stop pigging out everyday.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal – I lost about 1/2 inch on my waist and hips; pants fit better. I did stick to “not pigging out everyday” (emphasis on “everyday” ha) Definitely did the “lose all deficit on the weekend” with my Refeeds. Those corn tortilla chips were delicious, but 5,000 calorie carb loading adds up fast. I only think I hit 5,000 on one day.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days – Even though this was an Un-Challenge without a lot of structure and I didn’t report in each week, I did keep a journal and tried to stick to a daily calorie goal. I realize that I need to cut down on the weekend refeeding calories and will honestly start that.
Part of my problem was still thinking that I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight – I had a rude awakening over the past few months – guess I should be glad that I only gained 6 pounds and not 100.
Thanks, Leigh!
1. Name: Mary Ann
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
-Eat w/in SP calorie range 6 days a week.
– Lost 10 pounds
– Elliptical 5 days a week
– Strength training 3 times a week
3. Reason for entering: Need some accountability!! I’ve been sloughing off for too long!!
1. Name: Maggie
2. Goals for next 30 days: Lose 5lbs. Stay consistent with workouts and deficit and treat meals. Add in stretching and mobility work 3x/week.
3. Reason for entering challenge: Motivation, accountability.
Interesting challenge Leigh.
1. Claire
2.1 To sort out my daily schedule and stick to it, and by this I mean getting the house, work, exercise, food and family in some semblence of order. AT the moment I seem to be letting work rule my life and I’m losing the balance.
2.2 Get my horse worked at least 3 times every week, she’s not getting enough of my time
2.3 Sail through my interview next week, rather than let my nerves get the better of me.
2.4 No alcohol for the month
2.5 Cut down on caffiene (currently 2L + Diet Coke per day)… replace reduced amount with water
3. This is an interesting social experiment really, with no set expectations other than the ones we set ourselves the only person I let down by failing to follow through is me. I’ve struggled with the challenges previously, and dropped out of the last one when I got injured (in hindsight that was a bad idea, the dropping out I mean). I need to be accountable to myself, where in the past I haven’t been. I’ll tell you in 30 days how it went.
1. Claire
2.1 To sort out my daily schedule and stick to it, and by this I mean getting the house, work, exercise, food and family in some semblence of order. AT the moment I seem to be letting work rule my life and I’m losing the balance.
2.2 Get my horse worked at least 3 times every week, she’s not getting enough of my time
2.3 Sail through my interview next week, rather than let my nerves get the better of me.
2.4 No alcohol for the month
2.5 Cut down on caffiene (currently 2L + Diet Coke per day)… replace reduced amount with water
3.1 I now have a schedule! It’s hectic and sometimes I don’t manage to adhere to it completely but I’m getting there and as a result the house is definately tidier and when it comes time to relax and wind down, I can actually do that! Instead of worrying about the things I still need to do. It needs some refinement I think but its certainly workable…. living proof getting organised in the chaos is possible. I’m training again too.
3.2 The horse is getting worked 2-3 times a week now, not always 3 times a week, but I can see the improvement in her and me, which makes the cold frosty starts worth it
3.3 I did get nervous, but I didn’t let it control my reactions, and I’m told I did well. Unfortunately I didn’t get the position, but made the final cut. Proud that I was able to get through it without feeling like I was going to vomit
3.4 No alcohol for the month… Yay me! Despite some down days I stayed away from the alco-ma-hol, and was the designated driver for the 2 nights we had out.
3.5 Did pretty well here, got down to 600mL per day without wanting to kill anyone (after the first few days anyway)… didn’t quite get there with the water replacement though managed to down about 1L per day in replacement, I think I’ll have to splice it with mint or lemon just to relieve the boredom
4. I liked this challenge, it didn’t feel like one. It was more like Ok I’ve made a decision too… and then just go and do it. I’ve made changes I can carry on without drama’s and it’s given me a chance to assess a lot of the things I’ve been doing and why I’ve done them that way. Its good because I’ve changed my mindset about certain aspects of my daily work which has made it easier to tolerate the things I can’t change and readier to change the things that I can. It’s put me in a great position to start a new challenge
1. Name – Mary
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
-To lose 10lbs by charting and planning exercise and meals.
-To stay consistant through out the challenge by documenting exercise done, and food consumption.
3. Reason for entering challenge:
-Accountability. I feel like I’m accountable to all of you who are doing this with me.
-Because I quit the last challenge due to mid life body changes. (Huge D deficiency, and a few other deficits). I never quit, or ‘had to’ quit anything athletic in my life. it was uber depressing.
-I look forward to seeing what other things Leigh has to say about everything…am I the only one who noticed that the candle in the picture above looks very phalic?!
Results:
1.I only lost 2 pounds. Came to the realization that I have been unrealistic about throwing “want to lose 10 pounds in 30days” every time I start a challenge. I will set a 5 lb goal the next challenge and if I hit or by pass it, good for me. Small victories!!
2.I kept track of my increased daily exercise , but for some weird reason, stopped logging my food intake. Not sure why exactly, because I was pretty good with most intake being clean. (?)
3. This challenge made me think a lot more about what I’m doing and why. I need to reread FLTS. I think I went through it so quickly that I missed some stuff. Plus now that I’m utilizing what I learned the first read thru, I can see what I need to improve on.
These challenges are good for me in that I’ve come to terms with not having to lose all 40lbs I’ve gained, in a month or 3. It took me a few years to gain this weight, what makes me think I’m going to drop it all in one month? The personal growth has been big this month.
I look forward to the next challenge!!
1) Name: Alisa
2) Goals:
a. Start exercising and stick to it but be flexible in my scheduling. When I’m rigid in my planning I start getting anxious if I don’t stick to it and then completely sabotage myself and end up not doing anything!
b. Stop being so critical of myself
c. Stop obsessing about my weight and exercise or lack thereof and concentrate on being healthy.
d. Write down everyday what I’m grateful for in my life. Diet is important but my health is everything so I need to be grateful and be healthy!
3) Reason: Mainly accountability. While I am not a member and won’t have the weekly check in, I have posted the goals here for others to see as well as myself. In the past I have roped my family and friends into helping me be accountable for my goals. However, family and friends are well meaning but they can also sabotaged the best intended goals. So, now my goals are here for all the world to see!
1) Name: Alisa
2) Goals:
a. Start exercising and stick to it but be flexible in my scheduling. When I’m rigid in my planning I start getting anxious if I don’t stick to it and then completely sabotage myself and end up not doing anything!
b. Stop being so critical of myself
c. Stop obsessing about my weight and exercise or lack thereof and concentrate on being healthy.
d. Write down everyday what I’m grateful for in my life. Diet is important but my health is everything so I need to be grateful and be healthy!
3) Reason: Mainly accountability. While I am not a member and won’t have the weekly check in, I have posted the goals here for others to see as well as myself. In the past I have roped my family and friends into helping me be accountable for my goals. However, family and friends are well meaning but they can also sabotaged the best intended goals. So, now my goals are here for all the world to see!
Results: These 30 days have been great! I went back over everything in the FLTS and really focused on being mindful of my eating, my exercising and my sabotage triggers. Once I took a good look at how critical and obsessive I was of myself and my weight, I recognized that I was feeding into society”s, friends, etc. beliefs of how I should look, feel and how I pleased them and not myself!!! Talk about triggers! Well, needless to say, that was a major eye opener. So, I started my gratitude journal, my healthy eating (not diet) and taking time for me and my exercise. Ultimately I gained a greater perspective of myself, more peace of mind and dropped 8lbs. Thanks Leigh for writing FLTS!
1. Name: Amanda
2. Goals for next 30 days: Ride my MTB each week in preparation for the Fat Tyre Festival. Make good food choices.
3. Reason: I have a festival to attend in June, I want to be confident on the bike, so I need to ride it more. Part of the confidence is being fit for it, which is both riding and eating well.
I have ridden each week – but not always on my MTB. I’ve had a few road rides too.
My food choices have been varied. I’ve allowed myself to get derailed by being over tired and stressed from my work and change of jobs. This is still a work in progress, but I am making steps forward
I will keep up these habits, as they are what I need to stay fit and healthy.
Name: Katya
Goals: Lose 5lb, cut down on chocolate (major weakness), become more flexible and limber, keep working out at least 5 times a week
Reason: keep my priorities in check, discipline myself, get motivated by other people’s success
1. Name: Wes
2. Goals for next 30 days: Lose at least 1 inch of waist measurement (at belly button) and exercise 4 days a week
3. Reason for entering challenge: I’ve been dieting and exercising pretty hardcore for the past 3 months or so and already lost 30 pounds. I’m getting to a plateau on weight loss and am hoping this helps keep me accountable.
Name:
Selina
Goals for next 30 days:
Run my first marathon (no, I’m not crazy, I’m doing it on Sunday anyway but thought I would stick it down as its quite a big ‘tick’!)
Don’t push too hard – I know I have been overdoing it but the last few days I have been being more ‘sensible’, I need to keep at this and not push myself too hard or run myself into the ground.
Go to that other gym in town and chat about figure athlete competitions and consider working out there too or booking a personal training session if I like the guy
Reasons?
Discovered Leigh through the fitcast and have a lot of time and respect for her. These are three things I would really like to do; interestingly I know number 2 and 3 are going to be harder for me than number 1!
x
Name; Kim
Goals for next thirty days; Strength train 3 times week. Finish Couch to 5k. Weigh, measure, log food
Reason for entering: Been sliding away from all of the above. 30 days to re-develop my good habits
Name: Allie
Goals I will meet in the next 30 days:
1. Lose 6 pounds; mostly fat and a tad bit of lean mass for Nationals
2. Become a non-smoker
3. Prep and study so well that I receive a final grade of ‘B’ in Biomechanics
4. Begin training at least one client regularly
5. Be enrolled in at least three continuing education courses
6. Develop the foundation for my fitness business
Reason: For fun and to create a template for vision by putting pen to paper. Also, to make a contribution so that Leigh can make her assessment.
goals.
1. overall goal, to loose 2-10 pounds.
2. to follow through with the OP training guide.
3. get in 3 full cardio/aerobic sessions a week (not counting my resistance training)
4. prepare my meals 1 week in advance to help me stick to my diet.
5 Be true to myself, learn to love myself
6 be a better mother/wife.
7. start to look into going back to school
reason for joining, I hope this keeps me in check, I want to be happy.
Name: Rog Law The Stupendous
Goals for the next 30 days: Achieve a bodyweight of 194 lbs.
Reason for entering challenge: To support Leigh’s fantastic community, and to promote my upcoming album with Mariah Carey: The Sexification of Rog Rog
Ha, Rog, I would be first in line for that!
1. Name – Diane
2. Goals – log my food everyday, exercise at least 22 of the 30 days, stay at my current job until I find a new one.
3. Reason for entering challenge – to get myself back on track and maybe win a prize in the process.
1. Diane
2. log my food everyday, exercise at least 22 of the 30 days, stay at my current job until I find a new one.
3. I met 2 of my 3 goals – I exercised 24 of the 30 days and I am still at my job. I have had one interview & have another scheduled. I didn’t log my food everyday.
4. The exercise, mainly rowing, has allowed me to keep my sanity at my job. I didn’t go crazy with my food, but would have done better if I logged everything. Overall, I am happy with the last 30 days. Thanks, Leigh, for the kick in the butt!
1. Doug
2. Goal: To lose 10 pounds (4 already gone) and avoid concentrated sweet sources per doctors orders to eliminate my pre-diabetes.
3. Reason: To not progress to diabetes and to motivate me to get back to my strength
training.
1. Name: Amy
2. Goals for the next 30 days: Stick to my nutrition and exercise goals for 30 days. That includes tracking in my food journal, meeting my weight/BF% goals, and meeting to my running and strength training targets. Weight/BF % goal is 116/20% because I’m happy there…
3. Reason for entering challenge: I have been uber-stressed at work, and using that as an excuse as to why I’m eating crap, drinking too much beer, and not getting to the gym. I need to turn that thinking around: I know I will be less-stressed if I eat healthy foods, run/walk/hike, and stick to my lifting plan. I will keep drinking too much beer, probably.
Thanks Leigh, for supplying us with another kick in the pants!
1. Name: kfit500
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a. To finish what I started 15 weeks ago—ride a bicycle century (100 miles) on 4/25/10 and then spend a few days letting my body recover.
b. To keep working toward my big picture goal of being lean, strong and healthy. I will concentrate on getting leaner. So, for the remainder of the 30 days I’ll be monitoring my calories and eating in a deficit to lose body fat.
c. I have some family celebrations in the next 30 days. I will concentrate on enjoying my wonderful family and at the same time keep to my goals regarding my eating and exercise. I know with planning I can do both.
3. Reason for entering challenge: A challenge keeps me focused on my goals and helps me move towards them. I also have a community here that I know can help me. And it would be great to win a prize!
End of 30 Day Challenge Check-In
1. Name: kfit500
2. Goal for the challenge:
a. To finish what I started 15 weeks ago—ride a bicycle century (100 miles) on 4/25/10 and then spend a few days letting my body recover.
b. To keep working toward my big picture goal of being lean, strong and healthy. I will concentrate on getting leaner. So, for the remainder of the 30 days I’ll be monitoring my calories and eating in a deficit to lose body fat.
c. I have some family celebrations in the next 30 days. I will concentrate on enjoying my wonderful family and at the same time keep to my goals regarding my eating and exercise. I know with planning I can do both.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal:
a. I finished my century-100 miles on my bike! This was a major accomplishment for me and I’m still really proud and thrilled about it. I thought I would only need a few days to recover, wrong. I really needed more like two weeks to recover, not physically but mentally. Physically I felt pretty good and spent most days the following week in the pool and got back on my bike after a few days. Mentally I needed a longer break. Suffered a bit from the post-century letdown and lack of knowing what could possibly follow a big goal like that.
b. I wanted to jump right back into deficit eating to lose weight, but I couldn’t do it right away. Now I see I needed more time to transition out of training for the century and shift gears to deficit eating. It took about two weeks. For the last week I have been back to monitoring my calories and working on losing fat. I feel like I’m where I want to be mentally and I’m following my eating plan.
c. Did great with the family celebrations–ate in moderation and enjoyed the time with family. Planned for them and that made a big difference.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
I learned a lot about myself in the last 30 days. I learned I can accomplish a big and challenging goal by working at it a bit at a time. I can buckle down and ride through 20 mph wind and rain from the 50 mile mark to the 100 mile mark (and kinda enjoy it!). I can ask for help and find the support I need to transition from one goal to another. I can switch gears if something isn’t working and find another way to get it done, instead of just giving up. The last thing I learned is I do better with more accountability on a weekly basis.
1. Name – Sara
2. Goals for the next 30 days:
a. Lose another inch from my hips, thighs, and arms
b. Strengthen lower body to improve agility for running
c. Incorporate more plyometrics back into my workouts
d. Keep food journaling — it’s working!
e. Feel great and enjoy the beautiful weather ahead!!
3. Reason for entering challenge
a. Win a membership — I’m a law student who can’t afford it!
b. Accountability/motivation
c. Fun — I like to see what others are doing!
Goals
-Improve balance
-Walk more
-Try new foods
Reasons for entering
-Just for me, I don’t really need any of the prizes.
I was curious if I won if I could donate my winnings?
Goals
-Improve balance/ I had a hard time with this. It was hard to figure out what to do.
-Walk more/ I made the effort to walk instead of sitting whenever I could.
-Try new foods/ Not only did I try new foods, I cooked new things too.
I was decently happy with myself.
1. Name: Karen
2. Goals:
- Get back to my January weight of 57kg (CW: 59.1)
- Change my focus from cardio to weight training
- Weight training 3-4 times per week
- Lose my fear of entering the free weights area at the gym (currently do at home)
3. Reason for entering:
- Last year I lost just over 30kg (SW: 90kg). I’ve been up and down since January with my maintenance so need to get it in control before I put on again! I also need to burn more fat and build a little muscle as although my weight is reduced I still have body fat and some excess skin.
- I recently found Leighs podcasts and have been listening to the old ones. I would love the opportunity to join the site and forum.
1. Name: Karen
2. Goals:
- Get back to my January weight of 57kg (CW: 59.1)
- Change my focus from cardio to weight training
- Weight training 3-4 times per week
- Lose my fear of entering the free weights area at the gym (currently do at home)
3. Results:
- I didn’t lose the weight, my weight this morning was 59.7 (yesterday 59.4 even though I had a 500 cal deficit) so have put on weight. My weight seems to fluctuate a lot. I have started tracking all my food through the Aussie Calorie King site and am aiming for a 30% protein intake so I feel that now I have a more achievable goal. I only started this a week ago when I realised I wasn’t achieving, so even though I didn’t meet the challenge it has kick started me into being more aware of what I’m eating.
- I have changed my focus from cardio to weight training. I started the New Rules of Lifting for Women program this week. Before starting NROLFW, and since the start of the challenge I have been focused on weight training using my own programs. I switched to NROLFW to give me a plan that appears successful, rather than relying on my own routines. I felt I needed a little direction.
- I have been doing my weight training around 3 times a week with the exception of one week where I was on a training course and it was difficult.
- YES! I have been in the free weights area at my gym, and owned my spot! Didn’t worry about using light weights compared to the men around me. It felt good!
4. Well, I was a little slow to start, but I feel I am more on track now. My main problem was with nutrition and I am currently very focussed with this. I feel that being part of the challenge in a forum would have been more successful, as there would be people to motivate each other and keep each other going.
Thanks Leigh!
Just adding as my weight is back to 59.3 today, so yesterdays weight was just a temporary higher weight, which just coincided with the challenge date (the day before it had been 59.4). Still a gain over 30 days but doesn’t seem as bad. On track now so will keep on track for the next 30 days.
Goals:
- Keep food diary at least 5 days/week
- work out at least 5 days/week
- Eat fruits and vegetables on the weekend (I already do during the week, but fall off during the w/e and eat lots of junk
Reason for Entering:
If I share it, perhaps this time I will be accountable and actually follow through on it.
NAME: Becc
GOALS:
1. Make it to the gym more days than not
2. Walk to work more days than not
3. Smile twices as often as not (smiles are contagious)
REASON: I never get anything done unless I write it down (Go the to-do-list)
Name: Bonnie
Goals:
1. Make it to the gym 4 days/week
2. Go hiking with my dogs at 4 new locations (once/week)
3. Eat more than 3 servings of fruits/vegetables each day (sounds lame, I know, but they are rarely my go-to carb choices)
4. Stay on track with fat loss goals.
Reasons:
I am only midway through a long journey, and things like this help me stay on track. I’m working on healthy habits this time instead of a scale weight loss – more of a “journey” than a “destination.”
First off -Sorry Becc for hijacking your reply – oops!
1. Bonnie
2. Goals were: Gym 4x/week, fruit/veg 3x/day, hiking in a new location once/week.
3. Results were good. I only missed one gym workout, and that was only because I got called in for an early emergency meeting at work and didn’t get home before the gym closed. I found the fruit/veg goal to be a bit challenging at first, but now it’s part of my habits, and I feel better because of it. For the hiking, I made 3 out of the 4. I was actually really disappointed to not make the 4th hike/location because of terrible weather (downpours).
4. The challenge was good – it was nice to have these little habit-style goals, rather than “results-based” goals to focus on. It was also easier to make long hikes a priority when it was part of a “challenge.”
1. Becc
2. Go to the gym more days than not
Walk to work more days than not
Smile twice as often as not
3. Achieved all goals because I made them general/easier to meet because I needed to acheive something for a good mood boost.
4. This challenge was brilliant because it just bounded along in the background without me having to do anything too hard.
-Jannis
-Stop binging and throwing up. Yes I am seeking help but they suck and I have got more help form Leigh’s information than them anyway.
- Just keeping it real with people.
-Stop binging and throwing up. Yes I am seeking help but they suck and I have got more help form Leigh’s information than them anyway.
-Just keeping it real with people.
-After talking with Leigh and getting a program I have been doing so much better, and Leigh I did talk to the person you suggested.
I don’t really think the challenge itself did that much for me firsthand but it did get me to get a program from Leigh and that set me in the right direction.
1. A G
2.- lose about 8 lbs of body fat by July 1st
- eat on plan for at least two weeks straight (i.e. no weekend binges)
-no negative self talk, positive affirmations daily
-review goals daily
-improve my posture
-gain confidence in training clients
3. I joined cause I think its a great way to keep track of my progress and get some feedback from others. I’ve had trouble in the past and accountability and emotions get in the way so this is a great way to get unbiased feedback and hopefully win the suspension trainer:) I’d love to use that for clients and myself!
Name: Alison
Goals: No eating out, follow running training schedule 3x/week, weights 2x/week, attend rugby practice on my week off, and lose 5lbs.
Reason: 30 days for a challenge is short enough I might be able to finish it!
Name: Alison
Goals: No eating out, follow running training schedule 3x/week, weights 2x/week, attend rugby practice on my week off, and lose 5lbs.
Reason: 30 days for a challenge is short enough I might be able to finish it!
So I managed to lose 6lbs, I think I missed 1 day of running, only managed weights twice, and made all of my rugby practices I when I wasn’t working. I ate out in a restaurant once when my husband took me out and had fast food once when I got stuck in town all day and hadn’t packed food with me. I know the challange helped me rethink a few times about stopping for fast food on my way through town.
Name: Shan
Goals:
1) Do one unassisted pull up
2) Maintain my weight of 50kilos (perhaps 51kilos, I really don’t know where my base “non diet” weight is yet).
Reasons:
I recently hit my goal weight for the CML challenge (110lbs). However, I randomly got shipped off to Sydney for two months for work. Not Timbuktu, but things are measured in kilos and kilojoules, I am missing all my kitchen gadgets, people eat out here ALL THE TIME, etc. So maintenance is going to be interesting. Also, it’s my first time actually attempting to maintain rather than diet down… ever. So serious learning curve and a lot of variables to deal with.
I have always, always wanted to be able to do pull ups, but I didn’t have a gym and I live in an apt, so it was hard to pursue. Here in Sydney, I can buy day passes to the local gym, so I’ve been going for lifting sessions 3x a week and using the pull up machine. Currently I need a lot of assistance (like 20kilos!) and I really don’t know how much strength I can gain in one month, but I’ll see what I can do!
1) Shan
2) Goals were: 1) to maintain my weight (+1kg or so for adjust to maintenance) from the end of the CML challenge and 2) do one unassisted pull-up
3) Golden on #1–weighing in at 51kilos this morning (started right around 50kilos). Number 2, didn’t make it. I made great progress–I initially needed 24kg of assistance on pull-ups, now I need 12kg. So, at least I cut it in half.
4) This challenge worked out great for me as I’m out of the country for work, and it makes keeping up with the site pretty tough, as well as any sort of regular lifestyle just being insanely difficult. It was good to have two simple goals to just aim at while I am so distracted by piles of work and exploring a new country. Considering the amount of eating at restaurants I do here, #1 was a major concern, and I’m glad I stuck it out.
Just going to fucus on loving myself more to achieve successes.
Name: Mickey
Goals:
1. Move my bodyweight down below 160 lbs. Measured on scale.
2. Reduce my bodyfat level by 3% which is approximately 5 lbs. Measured on scale.
3. Increase my mobility which will be measured by my ability to touch my toes.
4. Become more diligent in documenting my meals in the daily food journal. Measured by daily compliance.
I joined the challenge to help continue in my journey. I know I need to improve my mobility/flexibility and I want to see where I stand when I shed a few more pounds of fat. The final check in date coincides with the date of my flight to South Carolina for a long weekend. It should all workout well. Good luck to all of you.
Name: Mickey
Goals:
1. Move my bodyweight down below 160 lbs. Measured on scale. ACHIEVED! 159.6 lbs.
2. Reduce my bodyfat level by 3% which is approximately 5 lbs. Measured on scale. NOT ACHIEVED! Lost 5+ lbs but I’m still not satisfied with bodyfat levels…so I’m being constructively dissatisfied.
3. Increase my mobility which will be measured by my ability to touch my toes. ACHIEVED! Am able to touch my toes.
4. Become more diligent in documenting my meals in the daily food journal. Measured by daily compliance. NOT ACHIEVED! I did not journal daily…I did however do fairly respectable on my diet.
I joined the challenge to help continue in my journey. I know I need to improve my mobility/flexibility and I want to see where I stand when I shed a few more pounds of fat. The final check in date coincides with the date of my flight to South Carolina for a long weekend. It should all workout well. Good luck to all of you.
Overall review: The challenge was not as intense as I generally succeed with. But it was great to participate in. I attended my first bodybuilding show a few weeks ago and have contemplated with participating in the show next year. What I have learned throughout this challenge that in order for me to shred fat at a 35% deficit I MUST journal. Otherwise I wander and do not meet my macronutrient needs all the time.
I’ve learned about myself that I need to set a goal soooo far out there and outrageous to which I want to go full bore on. Hence the idea of competing. I cannot change who I am, I just need to continuously challenge myself and continue to work towards being a well rounded individual.
Thank you Leigh for the opportunities and information you provide.
1.Name: Lori
2. Goal: to stick to my deficit without ruining it by getting up to snack at night when I can’t sleep. I am happy with everything else I’m doing, and that one behavior is the only thing I’d really like to change right now. Eating, for example, an unplanned handful of nuts is enough to put a big dent in my moderate deficit and slow down my progress. At night when I’m very hungry and can’t sleep, it’s far too easy to rationalize about why I need and deserve that extra snack.
3. I’m making my goal public in this challenge because I’m hoping that the added element of public accountability (even if nobody knows who the “real me” is) will give me an extra incentive to counter the nighttime rationalizations. And I hope that 30 days will be enough to firmly establish a new, more useful pattern of behavior.
1. Name – Lori
2. Goal for the challenge
Break habit of getting up for a “needed” snack in the middle of the night, which was probably canceling out my moderate deficit.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
On two nights total during the first two weeks I caved in and had a small snack (approx 10-15g almonds). The second two weeks were perfect. The quantitative results are approx 1.5 kg of scale loss, 1cm off my waist and 1 cm off my thigh, and 1 cm off my hips, which I am satisfied with considering that I’m at the 4-pack working on a 6-pack stage, and that I’m going for the slower-steadier approach aimed at reaching my ultimate SUSTAINABLE level of leanness.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
The first couple of weeks were the hardest. Every time I woke up in the middle of the night, I felt very hungry and had to do some pretty fast talking to convince myself that the sky wouldn’t fall if I didn’t eat something RIGHT NOW. Even so, in the first two weeks I still snacked on 2 occasions, although the snacks were much smaller than they had been previously.
However, over time it got easier, which confirms my suspicion that it was more about changing a HABIT than anything else. I learned that the hungry feeling tends to go away after 5-10 minutes and that I was in fact able to fall asleep again even if I felt hungry. Now, at the end of the 30 days, it’s not a struggle anymore if I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. I just tell myself that the hunger is only temporary, “not an emergency,” and that it doesn’t mean my muscles will fall off. Also, I remind myself that the feeling of waking up in the morning feeling successful is WAY better than waking up feeling that I’ve blown it (again).
To be honest, I didn’t give too much thought to the public accountability aspects of this challenge, mainly because nobody I know in real life is likely to read this. However, I think it did help knowing that I would have to confront my own ability to keep promises to myself at the end of the 30 days by coming back to post my results here.
It’s my view that long-term, sustainable results when it comes to fat loss and body re-composition depend largely on establishing beneficial HABITS and BEHAVIORS that you can reasonably live with for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. (Or for as long as you want to keep a certain level of leanness, anyway.) So I’m grateful for this challenge giving me the impetus to establish at least one positive habit that is making a difference in my fitness goals. Thanks Leigh!
Name: Steve
30 Day Goals:
1. Lose 10 lbs —starting wgt: 247lbs
2. workout 6x’s a week ( cardio x3, strength x3 )
3. Journal my food and caloric intake
Reason:
I am using this to spearhead my return to my quest of being below 200 lbs. I also don’t mind helping Leigh out with whatevever experiment she is conducting.
Name: Kamila
Goals for the next 30 days: Complete my employer’s walking challenge (Virgin HealthMiles) in the top tier.
Reason for entering challenge: Extra motivation
1. Name: Kamila
2. Goal for the challenge: Complete my employer’s walking challenge (Virgin HealthMiles) in the top tier.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: Finishing in the top tier = earning at least 2700 points for the duration of the challenge. I earned over 3000, so it was a success.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days: This was a ton of extra walking with plenty of “I don’t wanna” moments. But, now I know I can keep up with the activity level. It was a nice little push.
Name: Marina
Goals: 1) to finish remedial/MRM program by May 1st, 2)become more comfortable and flexible with adding carbs to my diet without freaking out and worrying about weight gain,3) restart weight training
Reasons:accountability and i do want the prizes..
Erin
Goals for April 21-May 21:
1. 90% compliance with healthy eating plan. I’ll use a compliance grid to track my good meals and splurges (<10% of weekly meals). This means 4 or less splurges per week since I eat 5 meals per day.
2. No alcohol.
3. Take bikini photos on Day 1 and Day 30 and be pleased by a noticeable difference.
Reason:
*Consistent clean eating has kept me from getting to the look I want since I started weight training a year ago. I will graduate from grad school on May 23 and have wanted for a very long time to wear a size 6 dress to graduation. I have never worn size 6. I wear size 8 now, and I'd like to meet this goal so that my graduation day is not only about my education but about pride in meeting my personal goals.
Name:Mike
Goals for the next 30 Days:
Get to the at least twice a week for weight training (5/3/1 program)
Go for at least two 6am workouts
Make it (cleanly) through the first 12 days of the Anabolic Diet
Floss 3 times a week
Do One Kind Thing every week
Reasons:
I am not accountable to anyone at the moment, so pseudo-accountability through blog comments are better than nothing! The chance of the free membership is very appealing. Plus, I am not great at recording/following through with goals – so this will make them a bit more real. They seem simple enough. . .
Name: Natalie
Goals: Stick to my clean diet plan at maintenance calories 6 days a week and allow the one cheat meal per week.
Continue to progress in my weight training split and adding lean muscle.
Drop 3-5% body fat, which would equal out to roughly 5 lbs of fat.
End result should be that my total body weight stays roughly the same but body composition continues to change. I will be taking before and after pictures for more comparison at the end of the challenge.
Reason for Entering:
I have had amazing results with gaining strength and muscle mass with the help of my trainer on a M/W/F split. I’m looking to use this challenge as a way to really dial in on my diet for 30 days and see loss of body fat. I’m hoping to see fat loss while eating at maintenance and training hard. Plus, I turn 30 at the end of May and that is an awesome deadline to work towards!!!
Good luck to everyone on here and even those on their own personal challenges!
1. Shari
2. Lose 4 pounds in 30 days, log all eats, mobility work everyday
3. mobility work to help with what the chiropractor is doing and help my back get better.
Lose 4 pounds bc i feel that is doable and still needing to reach my weight loss goal
1. Name – Eve
2. Goals for the next 30 days – Finally reach my goal weight of 130 lbs.
3. Reason for entering challenge – I have been in some phase of wanting or actively trying to lose bodyfat for the past 8 years. Enough is enough! May 21st is my 30th birthday and I made a pact with myself at the beginning of the year to reach my goal weight of 130 lbs. by that date. I’m hovering around 134 right now…I can and will do this! I’m ready for permanent change and ready for maintenance.
Name:
Matthew
Goal(s) for the challenge:
1. Workout @ least 60 minutes a day.
2. Do daily chores.
3. Recruit a buddy to help me achieve goal.
Reason for entering:
Received a new program from Leigh and need more incentive to stick to it. Plus I am interested to see how a semi-incentive based program will impact me.
1. Name – Matthew
2. Goal for the challenge
1. Workout @ least 60 minutes a day.
2. Do daily chores.
3. Recruit a buddy to help me achieve goal.
3. Your results based on your challenge goal
1. Workout @ least 60 minutes a day. – About 80% adherence. Didn’t log the entire time. Did start logging near the end.
2. Do daily chores. – About 90%
3. Recruit a buddy to help me achieve goal. 100% Achieved!!!
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days
I thought it was great motivation to keep me moving and DO the program I received from Leigh.
I also started eating better and have been much more aware of what I am doing and feeling.
I actually ‘forgot’ about the challenge at times and fell into ‘good habits’. i.e. I didn’t get to the gym, but I need to move for at least xx amount of time. And my buddy was tracking some of what I did which provided further motivation.
Overall a great experience. My mobility has improved a great deal, I am now logging activity and making realizations left and right, and have a great support buddy!
1. pat
2. move every day, plan every day, write every day, eat mindfully, lose 2 kilos
3. I’m curious, I need accountability, I trust Leigh
I put down five goals and totally completed one (eating mindfully/kept track on FitDay), three I did partially (lost 2 lbs, moved most days, planned more) and the fifth (writing every day) went by the wayside. Maybe one goal at a time is the answer.
I am so excited by how many people have entered into the contest! Keep it coming
.
1. Tori
2. Lose 5 pounds
Start a yoga class and go at least 3 times a week
Eat no more than 1200 calories a day
Cut out beer
3. I really want a free membership, money is tight.
1. Tori
2. Lose 5 pounds
Start a yoga class and go at least 3 times a week
Eat no more than 1200 calories a day
Cut out beer
3. LOL well I completely FAILED.
4. Doing it on my own didn’t really work.
I need to lose 8 pounds because I am going to a wedding in June! I am going to work out everyday for 30 minutes. I will cut out carbs and saturated/trans fat.
1) Andy Tran
2) Reach a bodyweight of 145lbs (ridiculously difficult for me to drop below 150 comfortably), PR in the three powerlifts (last 1RMs were at a bodyweight between 150 and 155.. 345 squat at 155, 225 bench at 150, and 405DL at 150)
3) I feel like I’ve gotten to a point where I’m comfortable with how I look (I used to be 190lbs and I’m only 5’6″), so it’s really difficult for me to adhere to anything that forces me to say, “You still have weight to lose.” For one, if it weren’t for performance (and a little vanity), I wouldn’t care about being below 150. I look pretty damned good at 150. But I believe I can be better AND look better at 140-145, but I don’t have the resolve on my own to do it. Especially not with my friends, clients, and coworkers all being bewildered at the idea that I want to DROP weight and not gain it. The PR goals are in there simply because I believe I can, even dropping weight, lift heavier than I last checked.
1. Syra
2. I am currently training for a triathlon, I would really like to significantly improve my time over the next month.
3. I really like pushing myself.
1. Syra
2. I am currently training for a triathlon, I would really like to significantly improve my time over the next month.
3. My time is getting better. My strength and energy has improved as well.
4. I liked being able to read other peoples goals and words of motivation and pushing myself.
2. Goals-
a. I want to be a better mom.
b. Get up every morning and cook breakfast for me and my family.
c. Do more active things with my family, instead of sitting and watching TV.
d. Eat more fruits and veggies.
3. Reasons-
a. I need a kick in the butt.
b. I would like something else to focus on, other than some issues I am having at work.
2. Goals-
a. I want to be a better mom.
b. Get up every morning and cook breakfast for me and my family.
c. Do more active things with my family, instead of sitting and watching TV.
d. Eat more fruits and veggies.
3. Results-
.
a. I am not sure if this is measurable.
b. I did cook every morning- Not a bowl of cereal in sight.
c. I can’t believe it still…I pryed my 13 yr old son from the video games to go outside with me- More than once
d. I did better with the fruits than the veggies, but I am still proud.
4. I forgot how important my role was to my family, this made me remember that the reason to have a family is to know them. I learned things about my kids this month that I never new and I plan to just be a better person everyday for me and my family.
-I want to lose weight
-I want put myself out there so I can start dating again
-I want to be more social
-I want to change my life because I am unhappy
-I want to lose weight
I lost weight, 4 lbs to be exact
-I want put myself out there so I can start dating again
I met a very nice man and he is “courting” me (that is what he calls it)
-I want to be more social
My daughter has taken me out to some “clubs” LOL that is now my “thing” but I have found a few place I like to go now.
This was fun.
1. Name: Duckie (member)
2. Goals for the next 30 days: I want to get certified as a Personal Trainer.
Learn more about health and nutrition.
Increase my bench numbers.
Start a blog.
3. Reason for entering challenge: I can do anything for 30 days.
I want to get certified as a Personal Trainer. (I did get my certifcation)
Learn more about health and nutrition. (I learned a lot from my cert)
Increase my bench numbers.
Start a blog.
1. Kate
2. Cook more meals, walk for 15 minutes a day, tan 3 days a week, drink more water.
3. Wanted a push and I trust Leigh.
Chris
Goal-Lose body fat and increase muscle mass
Friend sent me the link so I joined.
1. Name – Real name is not needed, but you must leave a valid email to be notified of your prize if you receive it.
Jennifer
2. Goals for the next 30 days
>Stop Fearing Food!
>Go Through MRM and FINISH!!
>Stop Training Too Aggressively!!
>Eat Carbs!
3. Reason for entering challenge
>I keep going through the SAME CYCLE over and over and OVER again!! I eat TOO LOW of calories then BINGE!!!!!! Iam SICK of feeling so damn CRAPPY ALL THE TIME!! I am planning on buying a phone call with Leigh and when I have the money saved. I think this is the ONLY option for me right now!!!!!
This is such a cool idea!
Name is Ally
Goals are to
-Count my calories
-Weigh my food
-Stop nibbling
Entering because it seems like fun.
V.V.
1. Eat an average of 1350 calories a day
2. Do 2 strength training sessions per week.
3. Walk for a minimum of 1 hour per day
4. Take a 60 minute spin class at least once a week.
5. Run for at least 20 minutes, 4 days a week.
I’ve never shared my fitness goals with an online community before, but I figured it would be interesting to give it a try. I’ve found that sharing my goals with people I know have made myself feel more accountable, so maybe this will work similarly!
I’m quite happy to report that I’ve increased my level of physical activity throughout the day and lowered my caloric intake according to my goals for the past 30 days. I’ve kept a meticulous food and exercise journal, which has helped a ton! Seeing exactly what I’ve eaten throughout the day makes me feel in control of food, and helps me rationalize through moments of occasional hunger. Like, you’ve already had this many calories, you can’t actually be hungry, is this emotional eating? is this boredom? am I thirsty? etc. I’ve been able to go from eating roughly 1500-1700 calories a day to feeling perfectly fine with an average of 1350. I’ve been calorie cycling, and have been finding I like the challenge of keeping to a lower calorie day (1200 for instance) when I know its just for one day and I can have 1500 the next, for example.
I’ve kept up with 2 one-hour long strength training sessions, one during the weekend, and one in the middle of the week. I’ve been walking for an hour during my lunch break and in the past week started adding a mile walk to a farther train stop in the morning. I’ve been running 3 days a week instead of my pre-set goal of 4, though I’ve been going to spin classes twice a week instead of my goal of once, so I think that balances out. Overall I’m very pleased with my progress and the results I’m seeing. Its hard for me to judge my progress weight-wise as my water retention levels fluctuate widely throughout the month according to my Birth control, but I’ve definitely felt better, and have lost half an inch from my waist, and an inch from my lower waist. I’ll definitely be keeping this up!
1. Jamie
2. a. weigh 130
b. remain in control and stop the all or nothing mentality.
c. get super creative about making new food and food I love lower in calories.
3. Because I am a mother of 4 and want to not hand down bad eating habits and obsessions. Because everyone I know, knows how hard I “try” tobe in great shape…yet they don’t see any results and it seems like I am spinning my own wheels and getting no where!
1. gabi
2. get back under 65kg and see BF% under 30.0 (on BIA scale)
3. i’m telling everyone this goal! I have family coming in and I want every reason in the book not to put off my goal for a ‘more convenient’ time that never comes.
1. Name: gabi.k
2. Goal for the challenge: get back under 65kg, bf under 30% (BIA)
3. Your results based on your challenge goal: weight 4/21 67.3, weight 5/21 66.7, low point 5/5 66.1. BF started at 31.5% on 4/21. I saw high 20s a few times with the best measurement on 5/13 at 28.5% but now I’m hovering around 30.4-30.5.
4. Final words/thoughts about the last 30 days: I almost saw 65. I am not that happy with my progress. I got sick — again. This seems to happen every 4-6 weeks so I need a better strategy to handle it. Better than ‘I’m sick I can eat what I want’. Between TOM and viruses it’s a non-stop excuse party. On the bright side there is lots of room for improvement
Name – Brit
Goals:
1. Weigh 139 pounds
(1.a) Attend the gym 3x/week
(1.b) Log every morsel of food every single day
(1.c) Weekly average of calories = 1400
(1.d) NO ALCOHOL UNTIL MAY 14 (vacation start)
2. Regain my old flexibility and improve my posture
(2.a) Mobility EVERY SINGLE DAY
(2.b) Yoga 2x/week
(2.c) Stop tucking my legs underneath me at work
I really enjoyed the challenge environment during the Change My Life Challenge, and I’m hoping that a closer deadline will help me jump start my fat-loss. I am ready to be in the 130′s for the summer and be more confident, happy, and healthy.
Also, the prizes are fabulous.
My goals for the next 30 days are:
1)Get under 200 lbs (currently 213)
2)Pass another section of the CPA exam
3)Read the entire New Testament
4)Fast once a week
I guess my reason for joining the contest is because I have been setting goals for myself for a while but whether I succeed or fail, I don’t really tell anyone about it. Also these last pounds I want to lose have been lingering too long. I lost 50 lbs last year and I find the last 10 or so the most difficult.
My goals for the past 30 days were:
1)Get under 200 lbs
2)Pass another section of the CPA exam
3)Read the entire New Testament
4)Fast once a week
Results: Just a few more days is all I would need. I am 3 pounds away from the elusive 200 mark. So I ended up losing 10 pounds total. I feel good about the REG portion of the CPA exam but I haven’t gotten my results yet. I think I should find out first part of next week. I did not finish reading the New Testament but I did fast at least once a week.
I am happy with 10 pounds but it was really just 2 weekends that kept me from the 13 pounds I wanted to lose. I plan on waking up the morning of my birthday (next Wednesday, May 26) under 200 pounds and having three sections of the test behind me. That would be a great birthday present.
Thanks Leigh
I know the contest is over and no one cares but I passed my third part of the CPA exam and I am so pumped. Thanks for the cook book Leigh.
Goal for next 30 days: To not drink diet pop.
Reason for entering challenge: So here is how it went down. I’m sitting at table for breakfast with my 6 year old son. He asks if he can have a Diet Pepsi and I said no that stuff is bad for you. He looks at me (innocently of course) and says but Mom you drink a Diet Pepsi every morning for breakfast and that just isn’t fair. Ok so I contemplate giving him the “Life ain’t fair” speech but I didn’t want to fight about it he is right. So I gave him some pop and took him to school. On the way home I cry because I gave my kid “CANCER” in a can and I am the reason. Since college over 20 years ago Diet Pepsi (and the occassional Diet Mt. Dew) has been my friend, my stress relief, my perceived energy source and my boredom buster. As I am looking at my email I finally decide to open Leigh Peele email that had been in my inbox a few days and have decided I can and will make a change not only for my children but for my health as well.
@Michele — that is hard core! What a great goal.
Goal: not to drink diet pop
Results: OMG I made it truely the longest 30 days of my life! So the first 3 days I had an unbelievable headache basically I have been through Diet Pepsi Rehab and it was NOT fun
Some things I did to help me make the 90 days were to drink carbonated water with no sweetners as I have found what I love most about diet pepsi is the bubbles. Now that I had to endure the 3 days of caffine withdrawl I have cut that out completely unless I have an occasional cup of green tea. Oh a bonus is I lost 5.6 pounds.
Final words/Thoughts: 30 days is a LONG time and it was HARD!!!
Name: Lyn
Goals: Finish my book
Eat at maintenance
Improve lifting form and increase power and speed
Reasons for entering: TRX!!!
Actually i came closer than I thought! I’m about a week or so away from finishing the book, I’ve eaten at maintenance, and I’ve started my winter lifting programme to get ready for throwing season which starts in October.
Also I had a kick-ass phone session with Leigh and am making big plans!
lyn
Name: Jodi
Goals: To finally get serious about fat loss. I plan to eat within a deficit of about 30%, walk, run or lift weights 5 days per week, and listen to my Leigh Peele podcasts while working in my office every day!
Why: I really respect everything Leigh does to help people who really want to get serious about fitness. She is the first person that I have come across which I have this much confidence in. Plus the online support is an added bonus.
Name: Scorpio1
Goals for the next 30 days: curremt weight is 220lb @ 5’6″….too heavy
1. to lose 15 pounds/ scale weight
2. to move from a size 16 kinda of snug already to a size 14 comfortable
3. to reignite the passion flame that once burned brightly that allowed for a much better body and soul
I’m at my wits end…kind of depressed cause I’m hiding out at home feeling sooo full of fat…but since I hurt my shoulder a few months ago; I have what is called a large partial tear , no insurance so I’ve been eating alot of pain, so to speak….and replenish with all the wrong comfort foods///at any rate I feel that maybe this challenge could help me…I became a member and I want to succeed and live where I can be half naked and not look it…cause I be so much fitter and not fatter……
Hello this is Brenda…Well I lost 13.5 pounds (220 to 206.5) although I reached for 15 pounds, I’ll gladly keep off this 13.5….and continue to lose…fitting into a size 14 although a bit snug….but I’m certainly proud of my accomplishments thus far and YES I’ve been ignited to continue on….Thank for this challenge…and I hope I’ve posted in the correct area…if not can someone gudie me please…..Brenda Torres
Name: Sonja
Goals: On May 8th, I’m running a half marathon for the second time. My goal is to finish in under 150 minutes (2 hrs, 30 min). I want to finish my training program strong even though I was derailed recently by work pressures. I also want to be smart leading up to the race, ensuring I don’t injure myself or gain weight. After the race (so from May 9 to May 21), I want to recover as necessary then immediately get to work losing the last 30 pounds I have to my goal weight. I’ll do this by continuing my 2x per week strength training and 3x per week running or spinning and tightening up my diet. I’ll consider this goal met if on May 21 I feel like I have my training and diet in control.
Why: I have learned so much from Leigh, and she has helped me immeasurably by just telling it like it is (“dieting sucks”). I am happy to help her with her experiment however I can. And of course, I think writing down my goals, even though they are changing a lot over the next 30 days, will keep me focused.
Name: Sonja Davis
Goal: On May 8th, I’m running a half marathon for the second time. My goal is to finish in under 150 minutes (2 hrs, 30 min). I want to finish my training program strong even though I was derailed recently by work pressures. I also want to be smart leading up to the race, ensuring I don’t injure myself or gain weight. After the race (so from May 9 to May 21), I want to recover as necessary then immediately get to work losing the last 30 pounds I have to my goal weight. I’ll do this by continuing my 2x per week strength training and 3x per week running or spinning and tightening up my diet. I’ll consider this goal met if on May 21 I feel like I have my training and diet in control.
Results: I did run the half marathon, but I did not meet my goal time. My time was 2hrs, 43 minutes. I missed my goal because it was unrealistic, based on faulty calibration of the timing system I used during training. [So miles were really about 15% longer than I though they were.] I also think my goal should no have been around time. The last time I ran a half marathon, I was so sore for two weeks afterward that I couldn’t walk, let alone think about getting right back on my program. This time, I wasn’t very sore, and it didn’t last long at all. By the Monday after, I was back to normal.
I did meet my goals of finishing my training smart. I was not in a deficit leading up to the race, but I also didn’t pack on a lot of weight either. Also, I didn’t injure myself or get sick. The week after the race, I was a little confused about whether I should be in a deficit or recovering, but it took me the whole week to get my eating back to where it needed to be. This week, I have done much better, and the slight increase in weight related to the refeed before the race is already gone.
So, for me, I am very pleased with the results.
Final thoughts: It think this challenge worked very well for me. Even though my goals were kind of complicated, being that specific week by week helped me stay on track throughout the 30 day period. It was like I had made a commitment to myself, and even though I didn’t re-read the goals until just before I started writing this, they were very clear in my mind and shaped my behavior. Without the challenge, I think I would have stayed too long in my refeed period, or thought it just didn’t matter.