Challenge #1

Good morning Team “Terra Fit”,

Welcome to your first week of your fitness challenge. Before I begin explaining the first routine, I want to make it clear that I am available for any questions or concerns you may encounter over the next 4 months of your program. YES…4 months to stick with this together to inspire and motivate you to become a healthier you. We are going to start with this program and add some minor changes to it in 2 weeks…we want to keep you engaged and challenged, but not overwhelmed with trying to remember too much too soon!

I would like you to get a journal and label this your “Workout Journal”. On the front page, you are going to set a goal. This goal needs to be measurable and timely. Let’s put August 15th 2009 down as the date you would like to achieve this first goal. For example, if you would like to lose “x” number of pounds, write that down or if you want “x” clothing to fit better, write that down. Remember, 4 months isn’t a long time; so be realistic with your goal. Once we achieve that goal on August 15, we can set another goal and put a time line on that. We should feel good when we reach our goals, not feel bad or discouraged for not reaching them – especially if we set that goal too high from the start! (If you’re not sure if your goal is too zealous, you may e-mail me to ask for feedback jennakurylo@gmail.com).

This front page should also include your current weight and the circumference of your waist (let’s say navel level), biceps (even distance between elbow and shoulder), thigh (even distance between hip and knee), chest (nipple line).

The 2nd page of your journal should include the actual Terra Fit Challenge #1.

Click here for Challenge #1

As you can see, it is laid out in a 6 day rotation. This is up to you when you start or finish (trying to have only 1-2 days off in the week. You can decide if you take a break after day 2 or 3….or if you need a break after any of the other days, making sure you still do the next day of work in order.

Cardio is a MUST! Try and squeeze in at least 30 min each day. The format is up to you (just write down in your journal what you did on that day).

Writing in your journal is VERY important. There are 5 “MUST ANSWER” questions that you need to write in your journal EVERY Day and you can find these in Challenge #1. Writing down your answers with as much detail will be most beneficial to you and it will keep you honest with yourself. These answers will help me help you down your journey to success. If you don’t write down these answers, how will we know the progress made or the changes needed to help you with your challenges?

To clarify question 3: “How hard you worked?” Refers to what is called a “modified Borg Scale”. This is a scale that looks at how difficult you’re working. The Figure below will indicate the difficulty of work, related to your breathing. Again, as you become healthier, you’re going to be working harder to try achieve a higher number on the scale (a good thing).


Figure 1. Modified Borg scale.



Again, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail. jennakurylo@gmail.com

Remember, you are strong – MIND over Muscle…you can do it!!!!

Jenna - Terra Fit resident expert