Week 1 - Half way!

Well, it's Friday! TGIF!!! It's been CRAZY at work so I'm really looking forward to the downtime of the next couple weeks. I always look forward to those first couple weeks after we wrap up the BIG summer promotion. Downtime...who am I kidding?! There's never any downtime in radio. If there was downtime in radio, we wouldn't be doing our job!! Anyway...it's Friday!! Enough about work!

So! How am I doing now with the challenge? Well so far so good! Since I started on Tuesday, I have been at the gym every morning. My alarm goes off at 5:45 and I hit snooze...once twice...yesterday morning I think I hit off instead of snooze as I woke up at 6:36 and sprang out of bed with some expletives coming from my mouth! Nonethess, I have made it to the gym at 7 give or take 10 minutes. Who has a new love for going to the gym in the morning? THIS girl! I'm going to Body by Lori and I really enjoy it. Especially now that they have the new cardio area complete with a spin bike. Should you happen to pop into the gym at 7am Tues-Fri, that's where you'll find me...on the spin bike. Doing my own spin class for 1!

I absolutely love spin! I'd actually love to become an instructor. Right now I have my certain songs that are for certain sequences. I have a playlist on my Ipod that I've named "Killer Workout". So each morning, that playlist goes on shuffle and whatever song pops up, I have a sequence to go with it...

• 3oh3 featuring Katy Perry "Starstrukk"...jumps. Up-2-3-4, down-2-3-4, up-2-3-4, down-2-3-4...
• Lady Antebellum "Need You Now" remix...a progressive hill.
• Ian Longo & Wainwright featuring Craig Smart "One Life Stand"...Standing keep the beat.
• Natasha Bedingfield "Touch"...sprints.

You get the point. I'm totally loving it!

So that's how I start my morning workout...30 minute spin class for 1. Then I get started on my strength training. I also have 1 day that's just cardio and then 2 rest days. This is my workout schedule:

• Monday - rest
• Tuesday - 30 min cardio & lower body
• Wednesday - 30 min cardio & shoulders/abs
• Thursday - 30 min cardio & back/chest
• Friday - 45 minutes cardio
• Saturday - rest
• Sunday - 30 minutes cardio & bis/tris/abs

I'll keep this schedule going for at least 6 weeks. At that point, I'll take a look at it and see if I'm getting bored. See what needs to be switched up, added, etc.

As for my eating, it's been brilliant! This has been a typical food day for me the last four days:

• Pre-workout - yogurt cup
• Post-workout - protein shake (water & whey protein)
• 9-9:30am Breakfast - Blueberry Oatmeal: whole oats, vanilla protein powder, blueberries, agave nectar and about a tbsp walnuts (another fave breakfast is a toasted whole wheat english muffin with pb & banana)
• 11:45 Snack - protein & carb (apple & pb, cottage cheese & fruit, yogurt & fruit)
• 1:00pm Lunch - protein, carb & veggie (chickpea salad, tuna sandwich on sprouted grain bread with veggies & dip)
• 3:30-4:30pm Snack - protein & carb
• 6:30-7:00pm Dinner - Protein, carb & veggie
• If I get hungry...usually around 9:30, I'll have a protein shake (my new fave thing to do! - Didn't need one tonight though!)

So that, basically, has been how I've been eating since I began my challenge on Tuesday.

So far, fitness is in check! Food is in check! Water is in check! I'm doing great and I feel fabulous! Oh, and my feet aren't doing so shabby either! (Good news!)

I love being back!! Here's to a strong finish to an already strong start to the week!

Be strong, be active, and be all that you can be. Be empowered by who you are and what you can do!