Hey ladies,

Since April has begun and the weather is getting gorgeous, lets turn over a new leaf by begining a new challenge!

Each day strive for some sort of cardiovascular exercise no matter if you do it for 10 minutes or 1 hour just get out there and get moving! Alter the challenge to fit your lifestyle, if you are a beginner strive for 3 or 4 days a week and work up etc.

We have to get moving because heart disease is one of the most common killers of women, so lets fight back!

Do some sort of exercise to get you moving because the most important thing to remember is we are changing our health, not just our dress sizes!

Good Luck and Join the challenge!

I'm in! I try to do this anyway, but this is even more incentive. Plus, with the weather being so nice, it's easier to get outside for walks or jogs, and my dog LOVES that.

This sounds great! I'm in too!

What do you suggest someone starting out should do?

Starting out I suggest doing some sort of cardiovascular exercise that gets you in your target heart rate and keeps you there for enough time that you can improve your overall health.

To figure out your target heart rate there is a simple formula,
first check what your resting heart rate is...do this by counting the number of beats with yout thumb either on your wrist or neck for one minute
then take your age and plug both into healthchecksystems.com/hearts.asp
That's the easiest way,

Do some sort of exercise liek jogging, running, elliptical, spinning, riding your bike, walking the dog, it doesn't have to be really intense to start just make sure it gets you movign and you enjoy it.

Ok so for today...
I have to make up tons of work, so after I do that I will do one Bigesst Loser Cardio workout, which I recommend to everyone, its great if you want the name of the DVD let me know!

Some exercises you may be interested in:

Kickboxing
Jogging
Aerobics
Step Aerobics
Dancing
Taebo
Swimming

Any of these are good, but cardio is not the only exercise out there, weight training is also fun and can be used to help tone muscle.

Hi Kristen!

Thank you so much for all of your help and suggestions.

I'm thinking about buying a treadmil - but will start before that arrives. (That part of me always looks for excuses to do it another day!) I'm getting better through!

I'll dive in with a brisk walk tonight and then a walk again in the AM. Maybe a 1/2 of a mile to start. I'm feeling better just thinking about it! I'm so excited!

Way to go sarahberry!
You're well on your way. You have the right idea about not waiting until your treadmill comes just start NOW! I usually make excuses to exercise but we can all help each other stay on track, I'm always here to help and to get help lol. Keep going ladies and tell some otehr girls on here to get involved if they would like!

Keep up the good work ladies!

I did 10 minutes of pilates earlier today (my first real try at it), and I will be goign to the gym for an hour tonight. I will probably walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes and spend the rest of the time with weight training.

I always feel so much better after I exercise! It's about the only way I can totally clear my mind and stop worrying about things. I'm a worrywart.

I am a worrywart too hellcatjill! lol

And Good Job with the exercise!
I recommend rewarding yourself at the end of the week by doing relaxation yoga or something, it's a great incentive for you to wrokout the whole week that does not include food.

You jsut put on relaxing music and breathe in and out through your nose for about 7 to 10 counts, and lie on your back, then roll to the side and then the other side. you can break up your lying position in time increments. It's very calming and 15 minutes of it done properly can feel like 5 hours of extra sleep!


GREAT JOB LADIES KEEP GOING!!

SaraBerry & Kristen: I'm new here. 1st time on this site. It's great!! I'm doing Weight Watchers since Jan. 5th. Down 21 pounds and feeling sooo much better. I started doing videos by Leslie Sansone called Walk Away The Pounds also in Jan. They are GREAT, low impact cardio walking videos. I have a bad back and neck, and I did a 5 mile walking video the other day! The great thing is, on the days I can't go outside to walk, I always have these videos to use. I use them at least 5 days a week now. They are soooo addicting. If you are interested in them, you can go to collagevideo.com and it shows you descriptions and rates them, a lot of info too. Leslie also has a site of her own you can order them from-lesliesansone.com. I wish you good health and good luck. Enjoy your new life!! I know I am :}} Keepin' the faith...Dawn

Thanks Dawn!

You are going to love this site it's the best motivational tool out there, I am finally motivated to lose weight thanks to the wonderful women here. On this thread we are trying to motivate each other to do some sort of cardio exercise to gain control of our health and beat heart disease since it is a major killer of women.

Anyway, you don't just have to o cardio that's why it's also called the fitness challenge.

Any of the workouts above could be done, it doesn't matter, the most important thing is that you keep moving.

And thanks for the advice with the Walk Away the Pounds videos, I have heard a lot about them, and I am thinking of purchasing them for myself, I also love Taebo, but that is stressful on my back so I try to be good.

I also like the Biggest Loser workouts with Bob the trainer from the show, they are pretty intense but they really give you results!

Keep s posted on what you are doing to los weight and when you exercise and enjoy the webiste becasue it's awesome!

Good Luck and Keep Going Ladies!

Welcome, Dawn! Good for you, dropping those 21 pounds. I've heard good things about the Walk Away the Pounds DVDs, but I haven't tried them yet.

Kristen and Hellcat, thanks for the welcome. I'm so glad I found this site! Sounds like a great one I started out with the WATP set of 1,2, and 3 Mile. I did the one mile for about a week, then the 2 mile and have been doing the 3 mile for about a month now. I went online and ordered some new ones I got last week. WATP for Abs 3 mile I did today. It was GREAT! I'm 49 with 3 grown kids and if you'd told me a year ago at almost 200 pounds I would be doing this I would have said you were out of your mind! I am sooo glad I bought the first ones. I also got her Walk & Kick. It has some very good kick boxing moves that even I can do. I'm kind of clumsy, but after doing it a second time, I've really got the hang of it and it isn't any where near as strenuous as other kick boxing and tai bo videos. I watched my daughter do Billy Blanks?-I think thats what it was and it was wayyy to much for me, but this one is just perfect for me. Kristen I'd been considering getting one of the Biggest Loser dvds. Which one is it you have? I've heard good things about that group of videos too. Guess I'd better wait a bit before spending anymore $ on videos. My DH just laughed when I opened my box of new ones the other day. I was like a little kid at Christmas Well, nice chatting again. take care and I'm looking forward to keeping in touch. Keep on MOVIN'

Dawn--Isn't it exciting how fast you can change your lifestyle? I mean, a year ago you didn't see yourself doing exercise videos, and now you get so excited to get a new one! That's the way I am, too. I could look at the exercise stuff at Wal-Mart for an hour, just for fun! That's almost scary. Hehehe!

Well, didn't get in too much exercise. I used my gazelle for 20 minutes and took my dog for a walk/jog. Not as much jogging as walking, but I tried.
I was pretty sore yesterday from the weights and pilates I did the day before, so I didn't do as much as I had originally planned.

Today I plan to do my few pilates moves again and then go to the gym this evening, probably for a 1/2 hour of cardio and 1/2 hour of weight training. My dh and I are going to Orlando (for a national business meeting for him, so nothing too exciting!) on the 23rd of this month, and I really want to do everything I can to hopefully whittle my stomach and thighs down a little bit, just in case I want to take a dip in the pool while I'm there! Less than three weeks left!