GAG 2009 Final Weigh In

I'm happy to report, that I did meet my goal of reaching my goal weight again...but sad to report, I didn't reach my fitness goals I set for myself. I was up and down during the whole challenge as far as my fitness goes. I was pretty motivated the first couple months...then I lost it. Even joined the gym and I've been maybe once in the last two or three months. Thinking I will drop the membership to the Y if I'm not going to go...I'll still have free access to the base gym which is only a half mile from my house...

I've been going through a lot of emotional feelings right now...and hopefully things will change after the first part of the new year. I think that all my emotional thinking has ALOT to do with my lack of motivation on the fitness part. I'm just glad that I kept my head in the game and didn't let the stress and emotions cause me to eat mindlessly and gain back my weight...

Anyway... today is the Final Weigh In for the GAG 2009 Give a Gift to Yourself Challenge. My weight...

138.2 lbs That is 1.8 lbs BELOW my goal weight. I'm HAPPY with that even if I'm not as "fit" as I would have liked to have ended up being by the end of the challenge.

I'll post my pictures as soon as I can... as I'm having a few issues trying to figure out the self timer on my new camera. I may have to just pull out my old one which I know how to use...LOL. What the heck... I'll post what I got. I look like I'm falling over, but that's because I couldn't get in front of camera with a two second delay! LOL. Set it for 10, but won't give me that much time...

Congrats to everyone who took this challenge. I hope each and every one of you learned something new about yourself and have learned to face the demons within us that keep us from reaching our goals. Lets not just disappear into the woodwork though now that the challenge is over. We need to keep the support going for each other..

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Quiz Time... Let's see how much I really know...LOL

1. Women who lift weights will get bulky muscles. NO... women are not built like men, we will only tone muscles. Those that "look like men" are usually taking steroids!

2. "Spot reducing" (focusing on one area with exercises to see faster results in that one area) is possible. No such thing... Cardio burns fat all over... some areas just seem to loose faster than others. For me...and most, the hardest place to loose is the waist/stomach and thighs. Just keep burning calories on the treadmill, eliptical, or your favorite aerobic workout and you will see your problem areas go bye bye...

3. Exercise boosts brain power. TRUE!

4. No pain, no gain. FALSE every bit of movement improves our health... even if it's just a walk to the mailbox, cleaning house, etc...

5. Movement melts away stress. TRUE! Exercis will make ya just feel way better about yourself and life in general...

6. Exercise requires a hefty time commitment. Nope, put a little bit extra pep in your walk, speed up your housecleaning chores, dance around the room between commercials during your favorite tv shows... short bursts of energy is good for ya! And every little bit equal up to a big difference in our health so get out there and MOVE!

7. If you exercise, you can eat whatever you want. TRUE... and FALSE. You can eat whatever you want in moderation! You just have to make sure you are burning more calories than you are consuming to loose the weight... or burn/consume equal amounts to maintain! It's always best to choose healthy foods though more than the sugary, high fat foods... the "bad" stuff will slowly catch up to you though and cause other health problems. It's OK to have the bad stuff every now and then...but eat those veggies!

8. There’s a magic bullet (quick fix) out there somewhere. NOPE... loosing weight and maintaining it is NOT EASY. It MUST be a lifestyle change. Something you are willing to do for yourself or no diet or amount of exercise is going to help! You can't reach a goal weight and go back to your old habits. The weight will creep up on you again before you know it. The so called quick fixes out there just cause other problems with your health...stay away from them!

9. Exercise gives you energy TRUE! it gets the heart pumping, gets your body ready to conquer the world!

10. All excuses aside, it's actually not that hard to find some amount of time for fitness daily.: TRUE! We all have the same amount of time in our lives. If Jane Doe can squeeze in 20 minutes of exercise in her 24 hour day after a 12 hour work shift... there is NO REASON WHY we can't too!

11. You need a gym membership if you want your exercise routine to be most effective.: FALSE...go grab a can of soup... a rope from the garage, a steady chair, whatever you find around the house... you can "lift weights" with cans of food... jump rope with the rope in the garage... do dips on the chair... run the streets, swim in the local lake or river, jog in place, do whatever it takes to just get moving!

12. People who have exercise partners stay with their programs and reach their goals more often than those who try to go it alone. TRUE! Who wants to let their workout partner down by saying "I don't feel like going today"... Having a partner encourages us along... make it a fun competition and see who can do the most reps.... run the fastest. Push yourself to better your performance... HAving a partner also gives us that encouragement from someone else...they can give you praise on a job well done!

13. Exercise helps ward off disease.: TRUE! Gets the blood flowing, the heart pumping. Makes all our muscles and organs work stronger and healthier...

14. Exercise is good for the heart.: TRUE! Think I've covered that a few times already...LOL

15. Pound for pound, muscle burns more calories at rest than body fat -- so you can eat more calories and still lose weight if you exercise regularly. TRUE: a pound of muscle burns about 6 calories a day... A pound of fat burns 2 calories in a day. That's 4 calories more per pound of lean muscle! Let's get out the weights and tone tone tone... the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn at rest!