[katy trail]

this always happens. there's a challenge i want to join that doesn't start for a few days, or a few weeks. i'm all motivated and fired up!.....by the time it actually starts i'm all fizzled out, either off 'plan' or totally not motivated.

[Eliana]

Awe, Katy! LOL! What's the challenge? How can we help re-motivate you?

My spin class instructor just fired all of us up with an increased cardio challenge. We're collecting "units" in 15 minute increments. Since starting this just two weeks ago one guy has lost 7 pounds, one woman has lost 6 and I have lost 8. But I also decreased my calories and switched over to low carb at the exact same time, so my number is skewed! With my challenge the person with the most units wins a cash prize and Subway gift certificates.

Let me hear about yours!

[katy trail]

wow your post reads like sunshine lol.

last week and the week before, i was thinking about joining the 20's biggest loser challenge. the sign ups end tomorrow. the challenge doesn't start until later this week. anyway, this mon or tue i was thinking, i really am not that concerned with lowering my weight that much. if i just stayed here, i'd be happy with that. what i DO want to work on, is getting my muscle back. as i've posted before, i took a break from planned workouts. actually, that was my first break from the weightloss effort on purpose. every other time, i didn't exercise because i forgot, or just generally in consistent. this time i knew i was fine with maintaining, and doing it purposely. so any weight i lost was just a bonus.

anyway, so beginning of this week i started a thread about doing a muscles challege. several people posted they were interested. then as the days went on...i was the only one posting. i keep reminding myself they are just busy with work or lots of stuff going on. i'm not working right now, outside of being a mom, lately i haven't been that busy. then i posted a different thread about names for the challenge. also asked in the first thread for feedback about how we'll measure our progress and such. it just felt like i was talking to myself. that's fine, but that's why i was doing it as a group. be motivating each other.

on the upside yesterday was beautiful. me and the kids started raking and gathering sticks. it's a HUGE yard, so once we get more than one rake we'll be really busy ha ha.

well i've just been checking the threads. i just wanted to get started with the muscles challenge or whatever it will be. but if i'm the only one interested in it, i'll just do some other challenge.

ok long story short, somebody sign up. hopefully i haven't intimidated everyone away with my posts about 300 squats and other seemingly super human exercising. sometimes, it just takes a lot to work my legs. i'm not really trying to brag about it most of the time. ok ok. sigh. i can't ever just say it quickly. i noticed the same thing happened in the biggest loser christimas challenge. we get started, i'm already fizzled out, and the first 2 weeks i hardly lose anything because i wasn't exercising much.

that's what that test of seeing how many squats i could do was about. me trying to be excited and do the exercise anyway, even if the challenge hadn't started yet. had some great DOMS. i'm really weird look forward even want to get them in my legs, especially my thighs. then i know i challenged myself, stronger, and so on. so this time i was sore for my whole upper leg, which never happens lol. but it's mostly gone now.

[Eliana]

How do you get in the 300 squats? I'm curious. It's not unusual for me to do around 200, but I do them in sets. I might do 3 sets of squats with an overhead press, and then 3 sets of squats with a tricep move and then 3 sets of squats with a bicep curl. I also like to run up and down the stairs for 3:00 and then do 20 squats. I understand about needing to increase the intensity for legs. Those 20 squats with the stairs are nothing to me now.

Rather than aim for 300, I aim for different. Squat pulses are great and I feel 20 of those more than 20 regulars. I've started squatting with a bar bell and increasing the weight as I am less scared. LOL! I'll do squats on a bosu ball with dumb bells in hand. I also work on getting lower, improving my form.

It's hard to wait for a challenge, but the day will come. I've learned not to join too many. I've kind of stopped joining online challenges, maybe because my spin instructor offers them up every now and then and I get a real kick out of real life challenges. You're right about challenges fizzling here and it ends up being you talking to yourself. I know for me, I get frustrated when everyone's reporting what great losses they have and I tend to put in tons of effort for very little loss.

[katy trail]

well just for that day, i was testing myself. just to see how many i can do. just me, no weight. then in a month or so, i'll try again, see how many i can do. and some of them that day, i was kinda do air punches alternating legs slightly, just because just plain squats are boring. sets of mostly 10. walking in between. at the end, i had to stop after just 5. walk, try again. i was pretty wobbly after, lol.

as far as being strong enough to do that many, i wasn't aiming for that either. i would sometimes do squats w/o weight throughout the day, or the pulses you were talking about. lots of walking lunges, side lunges, hopping speed skaters. squats w/ 2 25# db. and deadlifts.

as far as an organized w/o. i like cathe friedrich's leg workouts. such as:legs and glutes (lots of floor work in that one),and butts and guts. i haven't done the w/o from her newest, lower body blast, but it will be great too, from the clips. all her leg workouts are challenging.

i started doing some of her workouts on fit tv. now we don't have that channel, but i took notes from dvd clips. then do the routine with fast music, or mix moves that i really like, or are really effective. haven't done that in a long time, but i want to again soon.

regarding the fizzling challenges, i understand lots of people get busy as the weeks go on, or they lose motivation. many things happen to derail us. i was just surprised, because we hadn't even started the challenge yet. we were just talking about it. i tend to not join very many either, unless it's very short. like the 5lb challenge. it's usually a week or less.