30 Day Plank Challenge

Today at the end of kickboxing, I ended up having some one on one time with my instructor, Laura.  She was helping me work on having the right form for a modified plank.  While we were working on that, she recognized something that I've know for a while.  My core is not strong at all.  With having back issues since I was 11, I've pretty much trained my body to work other muscles and protect my back.  The biggest issue with that is that my back and abs don't get worked as hard as they should.  And now they are weak. 

So she gave me a challenge.  For the next 30 days I am going to do three planks every day.  The first one I just hold as long as I absolutely can.  Rest for a few seconds.  Then I hold the second one for the same amount of time, plus ten seconds.  And the last one I hold for an additional ten seconds. 

Each day I'll track how long I held them for, and we'll see how quickly I can improve throughout the 30 days!  If you want to see how I'm doing during the month, I'll post the numbers on the right side of my blog.

Wish me luck!

Why do I do this?

I really wish that I could somehow take a snapshot of exactly how I'm feeling right now.  Then the next time that I decide it's a good idea to eat a bunch of junk food/fast food, I could just pull out that picture and remind myself why I don't want to eat that!!! 

Since that's just not possible, I'm going to try to describe this feeling.  Hopefully that'll work as well for a reminder to myself!  I went to kickboxing this morning, and instead of having energy for a great workout, I felt horrible.  I had zero energy.  My stomach ached.  I felt like I was going to throw up.  My head felt fuzzy and unfocused.  And I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and give up.  That's what I get for eating processed junk!

When I eat healthy foods, I feel 100% better!  I have more energy and just all around feel great. 

So why do I still go back to that unhealthy junk on a regular basis?  Maybe it's selective amnesia.  I tend to forget just how this stuff makes me feel!  So here it is, in black and white, in my own words.  The next time I'm tempted by junk food, I need to pull up this post first. Hopefully that'll be enough of a reminder to myself to make a better choice.

This week

Yeah! I'm back at home, and can get back to the classes I love. So here's the plan for this week. I'll check in a few times to update if I've done everything as planned.

Monday - Kickboxing (1 hr)
Tuesday - Kickboxing (1 hr)
Functional fitness (1 hr)
Wednesday - Cardio Fusion (1 hr)
Work the Core (.5 hr)
Thursday - jog and/or bike ride
Friday - Zumba (1 hr)
Saturday - Power Flex / Cardio Blast (1.5 hrs)
Sunday - day off

Let the fun begin!

5/3

I ended up changing what my plan was for today. My back has been aching all day. So instead of jogging, I went for a good long walk around the neighborhood.

I think I picked the worst time possible to attempt jogging again. My back has ached all week, but I'm not sure if that is because of jogging. It could easily be because I'm sleeping in a different bed. We'll see. I'll be back home in a couple more days. Then we'll try it out again!

5/2

I've been away from home since Saturday (house/puppy sitting 45 minutes away from my house), and I've struggled with that.  I have exercise classes that I love to go to, but when I'm on my own to workout I just don't do as well.  I've been working on push ups, and doing core work every day, but that's about all that I've done for 4 days.

Today, I knew that I was going to need to find time to go by my house for a bit.  So I made sure and timed it so that I could go to a workout class at my gym.  The class was an hour and a half.  The first hour was 100% cardio.  And the type of cardio we did changed every 10 minutes.  The last half an hour was all core work.  I have never done this class before, and it was pretty crazy!  Fantastic workout though!  The instructor is one that I've gone to a few of her classes, but I've never worked with her on a regular basis.  I swear, I think that she's a robot!  I have never seen someone with so much energy!  She was doing crazy hard stuff and never seemed to even get tired! 

The classes that I am able to attend each week are sometimes determined by what days off I have at work.  I think that each week that I'm able to I will definitely be hitting this class.  I really think that it'll be a challenge for me, which is something that'll be good for me. 

Tomorrow I think I'm going to attempt jogging again.  We'll see how the back feels after that.

Also - Update on my weight loss goal.  I am currently down 3.5 lbs, 28.5 to go!