November Challenges!

Next month we have 2 challenges!


Move Your Body November

or

 Plank a day

Choose a fitness level or Free style.  Beg/Advanced: hold your (low or high) plank for a minimum of the time listed for the day.   Freestyle: Try to beat your time from the day before, for the entire month.  Post and let us know how long you held to keep you accountable!
You can  switch as you go about the month.  Only you know your fitness level. If you start as a beginner but it is too easy, switch to free style or advanced.  Push yourself  to do a little more each day and you should be shaking while you do these.. it means your muscles are working.


How to Plank:
-Start off  in the pushup position.
-You can either stay here for a high plank (which is a little easier) or Lower both your forearms to the ground so that both your elbows and fists are flat to the ground for a low plank.
-Your fists/hands should be directly underneath your shoulders.
-Curl your toes under and tighten your abs by tilting your pelvis and pulling your belly button toward your spine.
-Straighten your body but keep your neck and spine neutral. Imagine you have a cup of coffee on your back.
-Squeeze your abdominals and glutes.
-Hold this position. Keep your eyes on the floor in front of you. . Your body should make a straight line no lifting your booty. Tip: The tighter you are, the easier it actually is to stay in place. Also, place your favorite magazine or e-reader on the floor to distract you.

Do one or both, we don't care as long as you participate

If you want to participate privately, please join our private group

Find me on facebook: Fitness with Jamie

The day my scale broke

My sweet child started becoming fascinated with our weight scale. Then he became strong enough to pick it up and drop it.  Until one day, it told me I weighed 68 lbs.. which is far from the truth. The day my scale broke, I had a moment of panic. How was I supposed to make sure I was staying on track with my fitness?

Then days passed, weeks passed, and now it has been a couple of months. What I have learned since that fateful day my scale broke, is, I don't need a scale to judge my fitness level.  In fact, my clothes and how I feel, tell me my fitness level. They are a wayyy better way to tell me if I am gaining or losing. While before that fateful day, my scale was going up, I was ignoring the fact, my clothes were fitting looser and looser. I have found, without relying on the scale, I am dropping sizes pretty quickly. I could see  and actually feel, my muscles and am now paying attention to that fact.

See what was happening when I was looking at the scale, was I was looking too much. I also did not take into account the muscle I was gaining, while I was steadily loosing that pesky fat. Muscle weighs more, so of course my scale would go up. But as it went up, I was frustrated. I wasn't paying attention to my body or my clothes. Now, I am not frustrated, I am motivated. I am ecstatic that I am able to see clothes getting looser and feeling/seeing my muscles, and am more willing to try that smaller size to see if it fits and 9 times out of 10 it FITS!  Though I had hit my pre-pregnancy weight at 6 months, I was not able to fit in pre-pregnancy clothes... now I am. Not all, there are a few pairs of jeans that are just a little more snug than I would care for, (but they zip)  but others fit perfectly, and some fit really loose, which really makes me happy. I no longer dread putting on clothes and, well, that is an amazing feeling. If I was still relying on my scale, I would be working out wayy more than I am and be frustrated. Now I am happy!  Happy and motivated, and that is a fabulous spot to be in.

The day my scale broke, was a freeing day. Put up your scale, If you have to, tell yourself it broke. Go a month or even two without looking at it, and instead focusing on how you feel, how your clothes fit, feel the muscles from your work outs. If you don't see changes or muscles, change up your routine. Cannot do High Intensity, that is okay, do Pilates or Yoga, they build muscles, relieve stress and over all are amazing work outs for your body. Doesn't matter what you do, as long as you listen to your body and continue on your path to being a better version of you!

Have a very fit day!