Those 5 lbs which took only a mere month to put on will take at least 3x that long to take off. So, instead of falling into that trap, I chose to join up with Amanda to take charge of that extra weight. I am saying, "back, vile extra pounds, back, I say!" Enter the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge.
What exactly is this HBBC, you ask? Well, you get points for any activities you do as well as extra points if you eat at least 7 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Here are the point breakdowns.
1 Point per mile (run/walk)
1 Point per 3 miles biked
1 Point per 20 minutes of weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, stretching or abs
1 Point per 15 minutes of low impact cardio (i.e. low impact aerobics, easy biking, skiing, skating, water aerobics, snow shoeing)
1 Point per 10 minutes of high impact cardio (i.e.spinning, kickboxing, lap swimming)
1 Per day where you reach a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and veggies (here are details on what is a serving)
It started November 20, but you can join up at any time. It ends January 7th. You can go to Amanda's page for more info, but there are prizes and everything! Or you can just do it to help keep those vile pounds where they belong! I think that keeping track of what you eat and what activities you do really helps to keep you accountable.
I keep track of my miles using Dailymile and RunningAHEAD, because each one gives me a little something different. Both are not only great for keeping track, but they also give you routes to try, race info and information about where your friends are running! And my favorite thing about dailymile is that it tells you how many donuts you have burned (earned) so far!
In order to keep track of my food, I use LoseIt. I know a lot of people have also had success with MyFitnessPal. You can use this app on your phone or the computer, so it's easy to do it every day. It really makes you realize how much better a correct portion size is as well as what you would rather put in your body, for instance a) a glass of wine b) a handful of cheeze-its or c) a cup of baby carrots, 2 tbsp hummus and an apple. I realized that the cream I was putting into my coffee was adding up to 200 calories a day (yes I drink a lot of coffee! Or maybe I should say a lot of cream with a little coffee!)
So, this week (Nov 19 - Nov 25) I ate 7 servings of veggies every day and I ran 25 miles, so I have 32 points so far. My goal for next week, since I am in the taper and will not have high running mileage, is to incorporate something else, whether it's yoga, or some crunches or a few push ups.
Don't forget to go to Jill's blog to check out the other Fitness Friday blogs! Also, it's only 9 DAYS until the marathon! Yikes! Eeek! Egad!
What are you doing to combat the vile pounds this holiday season? Do you have a plan? Are you going to do the HBBC?
