Daily Challenges

Week 5 quickly passed and I just completed week 6 back on Jenny Craig. Since I restarted, I've lost 18 pounds. It's been helpful having my cousin living with us as we push each other to either stay on track, to work a little harder, to drink more water, or to go be active when we feel like lounging around the house.

I was worried about being able to find the time to go to hip hop but with help from my parents and my husband, I have been able to go 3-4 times weekly. They have a new studio which is closer to my house and my favorite instructor, Jacque, is working her way back to instructing more classes again.

I have a great group of ladies (and some gents) who have consistently been there to push my along in this journey but no one can possibly be there with me all day long. So, with the help of my Up band I have been setting daily challenges for myself. Each day brings a different difficulty... rare is there a day for me that is completely easy.

Some days I am so tired, other days I want to go eat out and indulge a craving, some days I want to go work out but can't figure out the coordination of the other aspects of my life and other days I can be a victim of laziness.

Two weeks ago we had a birthday lunch at a mexican restaurant. My goal for the day was to eat absolutely no tortilla chips and to not order queso. I really want it but I knew it would through off my week. I made it through.

The Up band challenged me this week to get a certain amount of sleep and a certain amount of steps in. I bought a jug of water that hold 8 cups (the daily recommended amount) and I made it through 3 of them... the amount I need according to my body weight. To meet the step challenge I went out on my lunch hour and walked for 45 minutes. Then I went to hip hop later that night and ended up logging more than 14,000 steps.

In terms of food the Up band rates your daily food and gives you a score based on nutrition (it syncs with myfitnesspal). I have been trying to up my score and learn to cook more recipes without relying so much on frozen meals. One thing I am pondering is my calorie burn and caloric intake and how they relate to how much I lose each week. I have been consistently losing 1-2 pounds which is normal. But I used to lose 3-4 when I was previously this weight.

My Up band tells me to eat more to keep just a 500 calorie deficit daily. On hip hop days those require me to eat back about 1200 calories. In two weeks I will experiment by eating back what it tells me but with fruits, veggies and protein (no junk). I can't wait to see what next week will bring and how I will have to challenge myself to push through.