Spring Into Summer Challenge - Week 4

Turning Up the Heat
Congratulations on sticking it out. The challenges we have set forth in the past three weeks have been intense. Hopefully you have tried new diet and exercise ideas and you have undoubtedly learned new things about yourself. As you complete your final four challenges this week it'll be time to reward yourself for a job well done!

Eating Smarter: This week we are turning up the heat on your by raising the intensity in all four challenge areas. With regard to your eating regime we are challenging you to track EVERYTHING! That means every single bite, taste, lick or sniff of food that you take you need to write down. Doing this simple act is a proven way to stay on track with a healthy weight and eating habit. Once you stop tracking your food intake your memory begins to fail and you forget the small bites taken here and there. You start to underestimate your portion sizes, you take "days off" from your program and your "guesstimating" of your food intake starts to meltdown. All of which results with you ending up back at square one....or worst yet..."two steps forward and three steps back." With the tools we have at our fingertips there are no excuses not to track everything all the time. Pick a strategy to use of a small notepad, a diary or journal, your blackberry - I'm sure there is an APP for that - or one of our on-line programs:

• Spark People
• Fit Day
• Tools 2 Live By
• Lifeline 4 Nutrition

Move More:
If you have stayed on track for the past three weeks of this challenge you have added exercise classes, resistance training and outdoor activities to your current exercise program. This week, keeping with the theme of turning up the heat, we challenge you to increase the intensity! Don't forget this challenge is NOT about comfort and ease. This challenge asks you to push your limits. How does this relate to what we have currently asked you to do?

• Walk/Run = Shave a minute off your time when you go the distance with your outdoor exercise
• Reach for a heavier sets of weights during your resistance classes
• Choose a new, more challenging exercise within our ACE exercise library link
• Pick up the pace (or your knees) during your cardiovascular training

Doing the little things helps you achieve big results.

Building Habits:
Intensity rules this weeks challenges. Now is the time to get serious about the time of day where we find ourselves the weakest. Each one of us has a curtain time during the day where we tend to get off track. Perhaps we snack when we are not hungry due to stress, boredom or habit. For some of us it is during the mid-afternoon energy slump, for others it might be late night when the television is on or the lights are low. Or perhaps its when your out having a drink. This week we are challenging you to examine the time of day or situation where you tend to continually fall off track. Then make that "heated" effort to remove the unnecessary snacking or the compromising situation and replace it with healthier habits. Get up and talk a walk around the block, call a friend, or simply order a tall glass of water "on the rocks." Initially it will feel intense and difficult, but eventually it will lead to the creation of better long-term habits. Is it getting hot in here?

Support:
Support comes in all shapes and sizes. Throughout this challenge we have repeatedly asked you to look to others for support. This week, and moving forward, we challenge you to look within yourself for support. Make a promise to push yourself to new levels of commitment on the road to health and fitness. In this final week we urge you to write yourself a motivation note or find a quote to support you through the hard times. Make that your mantra until you need another one, then repeat the process. Take a moment to outline "in writing" where you started three weeks ago and how far you've come. Just beneath the goals you've already attained outline a few immediate goals for the future. Learning to appreciate how far you've come and focusing on where you are going will always be important and hopefully even life altering, behaviors that you create. Take a moment and share your success story with others on our testimonial page. Who knows how many people your story of success will encourage or touch.

Like we mentioned earlier; Congratulations on sticking it out. Going forward, it is up to you to take the time to work these and other new and challenging behaviors into your life. Believe us when we say that for every pennies worth of effort you put in you will receive a pounds worth of success mentally, emotionally and physically.
Allow the more intense level that you have pushed for during this last phase of the challenge become your norm. Don't ever stop moving forward and you will continually see results.
Enough said....Time to reward yourself!

Spring Into Summer Challenge - Week 3

Go Green!We have entered our third week of this four week challenge. You should be well on your way to a new you. It's time to take an honest look at what you have done this far and ask yourself, "An I doing all that I can to reach my goals?" If by some chance you are not yet seeing results, tighten that belt buckle a little bit more and lets get to it! This week is all about going green - and what better time than spring to do that?

Eat Smarter: If we are going green what could that mean in the way of our eating? Green vegetables of course! All vegetables are considered complex carbohydrates (yes they are carbohydrates!) and are therefore very filling foods that will help you fight off hunger with fewer calories. Green vegetables, especially the dark green leafy kind, are very healthy. Most of us are familiar with broccoli and spinach, but this week we want you to step outside the box and incorporate as many other green veggies as you can into your diet. Try avocados, Brussels sprouts, kale or okra. If none of those sound appetizing to you get creative with your salads. Step away from iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomato salads and try steaming or stir frying some zucchini, broccoli and red peppers then serve them warm over a bed of dark green mixed lettuces with a fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yum! No time to cook? Check out small packages of mixed veggies in the frozen food section that can be tossed in the microwave while your un-bagging your lettuce and your done! So there are no excuses!

Move more: We are in week three which means you've either started exercising or added a new class to your current workout program and have also added resistance training. This week in keeping with the theme, we challenge you to go green! What does that mean in the way of exercise? Time to add a walk / run into your weekly exercise program! That's right, get outside, notice how green the world around us has become in the last few weeks. We are privileged to have Beebe Woods, the Shining Sea Bike path, Goodwill Park and a dozen beautiful beaches to choose from. So focus on taking a lunchtime or after dinner walk. If you have a real busy week ahead block off some time during the weekend to enjoy the great outdoors.

Build healthy habits: This week is all about going green. Many of the modern conveniences that have popped up in the last few decades truly lead us to a sedentary lifestyle, while spending energy. This week we challenge you to swear off one thing that removes movement from your life. Get off the escalator and use the stairs. Skip the drive thru at the bank or coffee shop, park your car (and not right in front of the door) and walk in. Put the remote control on top of the television so you have to get off the couch to change the channel. Do e-mail a co-worker, get up and walk to her office to ask her that question. Are you driving somewhere when you could walk? Examine places in your life to replace activity that has been zapped by technology.

Finding Support: Over the last two weeks we have encouraged you to ask for help and to find support in others. This week we are challenging you to give your support to someone who needs it. Find somewhere you can volunteer your help this week to assist someone in need. We at 241 Fitness volunteered to teach 45 fifth grades choreographed dance moves to a song for their Spring Follies. It doesn't matter "what" you choose to do, giving of yourself can only lead to feelings of happiness and self worth. Get outside of yourself this week to give in a way that will lead you to feel great about your actions. When we feel good about ourselves we don't need to turn to food for comfort.

The four challenge set forth this week are very do-able so make them happen and you'll be one step closer to your goal. Stay on track this week and you can start planning your reward for your Memorial Day Weekend!