FXB 10 Week Challenge --> Complete!!
I just read back over my post from orientation day. It’s hard to believe just how far I’ve come in 10 short weeks. Then I read over my Week 1 update. Wow.
On Day 3 of this challenge I was so sore I couldn’t get up out of a chair without crying out in pain (or random nonsense words). Stairs seemed like the equivalent of a modern day torture device.
Now I’m doing Sally push-ups, Sally lunges, Rings of Fire, Gauntlets, Iso-sets, Super-sets, Pump-sets, Density-sets, burpees, and so much more! Reading back over my progress each week, I can tell you that I didn’t need the testing from today to confirm that I conquered the 10 Week Challenge.
But the results are fun just the same, so here you go :-)
Note: all of these results are in comparison to my start, not the 5 week check-in.
Weight: down 9.2 lbs total.
That’s almost a pound a week. I know that I could possibly change a few things in my nutrition and lose at a faster rate (as I’ve done on other programs), but I’m supper happy with this. The eating is my biggest challenge in weight loss. Cravings hit me so hard, and once I start I can’t find an easy way to stop.
I haven’t had any cravings on this plan that weren’t manageable. I’ll take the one pound loss per week if only for this reason!
Measurement: down a total of 7.75 inches
Here’s the breakdown:
Chest - 1.25 in
Waist - 3 in
Arm - 1 in
Thigh +0.25
Hips - 2.75
I like seeing this. In other programs where I’ve lost inches, most of it came from my wrists, my ankles, my neck... while this is great, it doesn’t get me in a lower size! (although the wrist part is good to help my watch obsession I told you all about a couple weeks ago). We’re not measuring those other areas, but I know I’ve made progress there as well.
Push-ups: increase of 12 in 1 minute
I’ve always hated push-ups, and after doing them Sally style I hate them even more. But I will keep doing them because I know they’re good for me!
Sit-ups: increase of 14 in 1 minute
You know, I’ve noticed this improvement has helped me get out of our deep couch at night when the cat has pinned me down and gives me a look that tells me in no uncertain terms that I should not move her just because I want to go to bed.
Sit & Reach: increase of 1 in
As my big belly gets out of the way this can only get better!
Body Fat: Drum roll......
If you’ve been following along, then you know that the evil handheld gizmo and I do not get along. It does not register a reading if the body fat percentage is too high. It didn’t work at orientation, and it didn’t work at the 5 week check-in. I wanted that darn thing to work today...
And it did!! So, I can only assume my body fat percentage decreased by at least 0.3%!! Woo hoo, oh yeah!
Walk/Run: decreased time by exactly 2 minutes!
OK, so I was really setting myself up for an increase on this one, at least from the 5 week check-in. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a bad knee. It was cold outside today and my lungs don’t like that. And I still have the cold I’ve been battling for a couple weeks. Put it all together and I was prepared to take the hit.
But I refused to just accept that. In both previous miles, I did run some at the start and then again at the end. It wasn’t much, but at least I felt like I started and finished strong. Today I told myself, “Try to run to the first stop sign.” As I went along, it seemed so far away.
But I made it. And in the process I wasn’t the first one to start walking. Total mental boost right there.
Then I walked for a bit and at one point I thought about running again to another stop sign. My initial reaction was, “Save it for the end, so you can run in while everyone’s watching you.”
Then I just ignored myself and moved my feet, running to the stop sign.
And so it went for the rest of the mile. Each leg I’d give myself a target to start and end running, and then I’d back the starting point up a few feet to prove to myself that my mind was my biggest roadblock.
By the end I was tired. No excuse on cold weather or a cold in general. No excuse of the knee—I was just plain tired.
I could see the end and by this point I had quite a few of my wonderful new friends that were pushing me along. Here’s what I remember of the conversation (because I was concentrating on breathing, not exact words):
FIT member: Are we running in?
Me: Yep.
FIT member: How about from here?
Me: Nope. Need to breathe.
FIT member: OK. (waits a few steps) How about from this driveway?
Me: Not yet.
FIT member: Nope, no choice. We’re running.
And with a gentle push from another FIT member we were off. I made it all the way through to the end, covered in cheers from my fellow 10-weekers, FIT members and FXB staff.
That’s how awesome these people are.
So I had to look it up. The photo below is of me earlier today and of me exactly 13 years and 4 months ago. The form looks about right, now I just need to get the body to match! (in case you're curious, my average mile time for the 3 mile run in the Tri was 12.17 - I have a target!)
It’s been an absolutely amazing 10 weeks. I knew that I’d make it through the challenge, but I wasn’t really sure how much progress I was going to make. I’m so excited to see what will happen over the next year!
I said at the start I’d give you all updates every week for this 10 weeks. That makes this the last update. I will let you know periodically how I’m doing over the next year, but not every week. If you’ve enjoyed these posts, don’t worry—I’ll find something to blog about that I hope is equally entertaining :-)
Thanks to all of you for encouraging and supporting me on this journey. It has reminded me how blessed I am. I’ll leave you all with my response on the FXB survey on what I’ve gained the most from this 10 weeks:
The confirmation that I am enough.
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