But for those 3 others of you out there who aren't my sisters or sister-in-laws, I have some exciting news for you!
I WON!
Yep, me! If anyone was surprised, it was me. I never went into this challenge with an "in it to win it" attitude! I merely wanted some motivation to lose a few pounds and get into shape after the holidays and wrestling season ended. But it definitely seemed like some of the other competitiors *cough* everyone but Jodee *cough* brought their A GAME from day 1--which was a big surprise to me! And from that first week on, it was a constant battle weekly, often with more than one person with a perfect score! WOW! That is big time, folks! Because let me tell you, working out 6 days a week? Getting at least 7 hours of sleep? Writing down everything you eat? Drinking at least 64 oz of water a day? And on top of all that, extra challenges like no sweets, not eating 3 hours before bed, no eating out, limiting media, and so on? Not easy tasks in my opinion! But we were all doing it, a lot! (yay for us!)
About 4 weeks in, I was doing pretty solid-- working out 4-5 days a week, eating way healthier, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and even rocking the bi-weekly "extra" challenges. But I was still in like 4th place! Some of those girls were really hard core! *cough* Megan and Andrea *cough cough* So I decided to really try to get a couple of perfect weeks in, just to not completely kick myself out of the race.
The biggest challenge for me was finding time to work out 6 days a week. But I started looking up some of those workouts you always see people pinning on Pinterest and trying them out, and also renting workout videos from the library! I would get up with Collin and do a workout like that before Ashlyn was even up. (which, if you know me, you know that getting up early to EXERCISE is like pretty much the ultimate sacrifice!) I also started incorporating a workout into some of the things I would do with Ashlyn in the mornings--like running to the park with her in the jogger, playing for a while, then running back home. So between those things and my usual actually going to the gym to do cardio or aerobics classes 3 days a week, I was able to get those 6 workouts in. I'm not saying I liked it--it was really tiring and I felt like I was overexerting myself! Probably not the healthiest thing to do every single day if you're not really training for something....but because it was such a challenge I was also really proud of myself.
So after those couple of perfect weeks I had, I was back in the running for the grand prize (which was--let's not forget--$100!)! And at that point, there were only a few weeks left, and I felt like I had sacrificed so much of my time and energy that at that point, it would be stupid not to try to win. (which I'm sure the other girls felt as well. I mean really, 10 weeks was a long time to do this!) So I gave it my all and ended up finishing just ONE POINT ahead of our family's #1 game winner--Megan! Megan was so rock solid the entire time, perfect almost every week it seemed! I never thought I'd be the one in the end to make it to the top. But by the last 2 weeks I had started dreaming about what I would spend that $100 on and then it really motivated me!
Just to tell you how hard the last week was--we ended up adjusting the final "extra" challenge from eating a certain amount of fiber to not any eating out. And that was the WORST! The weather here took a huge turn for the nice and it was in the 80's almost all week. I mention that because it means that I was out and about literally all the time! And it was soooo hard to not have the option to stop for a diet coke, or to just grab lunch at the zoo, or to just pick up a pizza for dinner because it we wanted to go for a walk after dinner...that one was rough! I know that sounds so stupid but I guess that shows what a wimp I am and how big of a deal that First World Problem was to me! So after that I really felt like I earned that grand prize, because it seemed like big sacrifices that final week.
I was really happy to see how much "forcing" myself to be healthy with this challenge really whipped me into shape! I had a goal to lose 10 pounds by the end and I lost 8, which I think is definitely good enough and really helped me feel a ton better. I was also so happy to see how easy it was to run by the end--even though I never really incorporated running into my workouts besides our weekly run-to-the-park, which really was only running in .75 and back out .75 of a mile, so not enough to train at all. But the last 3 Saturdays of the challenge we went down to the greenbelt and ran--and both the last 2 runs I completed 5K in 30 minutes, which is as fast as I have ever run one even with running 3-4 days a week. So that was really fun!
All you Whittier girls, I am SO proud of us all! Awesome job ladies! Especially Hayley... who it is worth mentioning GAVE BIRTH literally the day the fitness challenge was over!!!!! Love you girls. And yes, the $100 got spent the week I got it. Thanks for asking. ;)
3 comments:
Hey! I think I at least brought my A- game for a lot of those weeks! ;)
Hey thanks for the shout out!! I am really glad you won!! I hope you go buy some funs summer clothes or something! Also, I was in last place so I definitely did not bring my A game either! So proud of you!
I loved this post! I think we shared a lot of the same feelings about the challenge. I started off not really knowing what to expect of everyone else and not knowing what to expect of myself. I was just kind of doing it to "be healthier." I'm really glad we pushed each other though.
Also, changing the last weekly challenge was really hard but so much better I thought because it made me way more proud of myself than I would've been just eating fiber.
We should do this again maybe later this year... or next year, because we probably wouldn't want to do it during the holidays.
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