The Challenge

Good Morning Everyone,

Every day in my job, I meet people just like me who are at the Y trying to lose weight. They come in and love it at the beginning but then the workout routine becomes boring, or their busy lives get in the way.

They stop coming to the Y and let their membership go. My whole goal for this session to retain our members. I have a plan on how to help that happen.

On a personal note, I have gained weight since joining the work force at the Y. Why? Mainly because I teach so many classes (or I used to) that the last thing I wanted to do was workout some more. This can't be very encouraging to our members (the weight gain). Who wants to take a fitness class when the instructor doesn't walk the walk?

So for me, I have to be more disciplined and in that I am challenging myself in a fitness challenge. It will take me 15 weeks long to get through. At home, I took my measurements: weight, waist, hips, thighs and arms. I will evaluate every 5 weeks.

There is a very good reason the program is 15 weeks long: it will take me through the holiday season, which is always the hardest time of the year. The stress of the season, plus the food make it difficult to keep the weight off. Also by the time I get there, I hope to be looking and feeling better.

For this to work, I need to keep my caloric intake the SAME. I can not reward myself for working out. An average swim workout burns about 500 calories in one hour. To loose 1 pound of fat, I need to do that workout 7 days a week.

To find how many calories burned during 1 hour, check out: http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm I have attached two sheets.

If you want to join me, let me know and we can do this together. Page 1 is the instructions. Page 2 is a log that you can print out and use. The Target heart rate zone equation on page 1 is for Aquatic workouts. To alter it for land, use .50 and .85 for the multiplier; low and high respectively.

Try it with me!

Mary