Fitness Challenges

It’s Time for a New Challenge Folks!!!

I decided to step it up a notch (once again), summer is approaching and I’m pretty sure you all want to feel and look your best for bikini season as well!

I have to admit that I’ve been quite lazy these past few weeks. I’ve been somewhat consistent with my workouts but I feel like I was just “getting them done” so I wouldn’t have to post a blank weekly workout log and feel ashamed of myself afterwards. As always, I love my whole food diet and at this point, I have no trouble eating  4-6 clean and healthy meals a day (most of the time) … but I’ve been getting a little too comfortable with the regular treats and cheat foods. I am a true gourmand Taurus and I love my food, once I start with the sweet treats I easily get addicted and my portions keep growing bigger and bigger. It’s time to clean things up and get off my lazy ass! Are you with me?

Let’s get started, shall we?

A few things you should do before you start your challenge…

• Body Stats & Measurements: When starting your 4-week challenge make sure you take your body stats and measurements so that you can track your progress as you go. I like to weigh myself and measure my body fat percentage since the scale won’t tell you what percentage of your weight is muscle/fat/bone/food, etc. Some like to get more specific, taking their full body measurements, it’s up to you really. You might also want to calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) to find out in which category you belong to depending on your height and weight.
• Goal Setting: Next step is to set specific and realistic goals. You can accomplish a lot in a 4 week period by following a clean diet, giving your 100% while training and enjoying the occasional treat. No need to go overboard by depriving yourself too much, being super strict with your diet or working out hours and hours a day will only exhaust you, discourage you, and set you up for failure, trust me, I’ve been there! Here is an example of a totally doable goal: Lose 6-8 pounds of fat, tone up your arms and abs, be able to perform 5 pushups by the end of your challenge. Remember to set daily, weekly and overall goals to keep you motivated and dedicated!
• Action Plan: How are you going to achieve your goal? What are you planning to eat daily, are you going to prepare lunches in advance, what will your training be like, will you find yourself a fitness buddy to stay accountable? Write it all down, this might change along the way, depending on how your body will respond, so don’t be stubborn (like me), instead, stay open-minded & flexible. Once you have a solid plan, Just Do It!
• Obstacles & Solutions: We all have our obstacles and limitations; otherwise we would all be in a great shape all year-long… Try to pin point your weak spots and see how you can prepare for them to avoid falling off the wagon. And remember, if you do fall off the wagon, get right back up…what’s done is done, you can only try doing your best TODAY, NOW! If you have a hard time turning down your coworkers double fudge moist cookies, learn to say no, or take just one instead of a handful.
• Rewards: This is the easy part! Set yourself some weekly rewards and one final reward for reaching your goal. For example, you can get yourself a new haircut, a pair of dumbbells, or a
  Gymboss Interval Timer as a weekly reward. Once you complete your 4-week challenge, have a great reward you’ll be looking forward to during the whole challenge. Maybe a photo-shoot, a dancing class you have always wanted to try, a new sexy bikini?

• One last point before summing up: Get Your Mind Right! It all start in the mind, whether it’s pushing through an intense workout, or even just getting started… it’s all easy when you feel motivated and energized, but there will be days when you will feel totally out of it, and this is when the mind comes into play! Everytime we push ourselves out of our comfort zone, we become stronger mentally, and physically in this case. If you believe you can achieve your goal, it’s a done deal, go get it tiger!

There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. – John F. Kennedy

Check Out My Plan!

1. My Body Stats

• Height: 5 ft. 8
• Weight: 136lbs.
• BMI: 20.8 (Normal weight = 18.5–24.9)
• Body Fat Percentage: 23.5% (although this falls into the fitness category,  I went up about 5% in the past 2 years…unless my  new Body Fat analyzer is totally off, which I highly doubt since my hubby is rocking his 13,4%… straight into the “athlete” category, what a show-off).

2. Goal Setting

• Tone up my mid-section (my clothes should fit better & even be a little loose)
• Increase my upper body strength and be able to perform pushups (I tend to be pretty weak in my upper body if I don’t train those body parts regularly)
• Loose 5 pounds of fat (all accumulated in my mid-section, gotta love those muffin tops!) Note: I’m not going to set a weight goal since I might gain some muscle mass…

3. Action Plan

    Training:

• Workout 4-5 times a week
• Do 2: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions
• Do 2 lower body workouts
• Do 1 upper body workout
• Do 1 yoga session
• Do 1 cardio session (optional)

    Nutrition:

• Eat clean and whole food
• Eat 4-5 meals a day
• Get some protein in every meal (limiting animal sources: quinoa, nuts, eggs…)
• Have a cheat day every week (no, this does not mean “stuff your face with everything and anything you come across”)
• Reduce my salt intake. I’ve always had a sweet tooth, but lately I’ve been starting to add more salt while preparing my meals & I’ve noticed some changes in my body that might have to do with my salt intake (more fat, water retention and bloating)

4. Rewards

• Week 1) Vega Vanilla Sport Protein Powder
• Week 2) Hair do
• Week 3) New training crops
• Week 4) Little shopping spree/ I need summer clothes!

5. Getting My MIND Right!

Mind over matter folks… you can do anything you set your mind up to, don’t forget this, you can reach your goal in 4 weeks from now! Visualize it, feel it, be it, and you will become it!

If you’re doing the 4-week fitness challenge with me, share this post with your friends by clicking on the buttons below, and inspire them to take the challenge as well!

Last but not least, don’t forget to subscribe (on the right sidebar) to receive regular updates for this challenge, healthy recipes, printable workouts, motivational tools, and much more…

Let the Fun Begin, and the Abs Resurface!!!

Start Anytime!

More Tools to Help You Reach Your Goals

Find Healthy Recipes HERE

Find Free Printable Workouts HERE

Get Inspired & Motivated HERE

Get Your Mind Fit HERE

Check Out My Workout Logs HERE