I am still finishing out my “12 Weeks of Maintenance” and logging daily, but I decided that with winter around the corner, and my lack of strength training, that doing something different and exciting would be a good idea.  I’m not sure when we’ll get our weight machine from my in-laws (we have some things to move to make room for it) and I pondered classes at the Y, but don’t want to dump Bryson in “child watch” when M-W is our time together (and it’s winter – colds – yuck).  So I’ve been thinking about some new programs and videos and decided to just jump in and join Josey on her “Fit Through the Holidays” challenge.  My friend has the PiYo DVD’s she’s giving me and Josey was kind enough to still let me join her team, which is great because there’s a lot of motivation on the FB page for this challenge.

I’ll start a page for this challenge because it goes beyond my 12 Weeks of Maintenance which just gets me to Thanksgiving.  It was Thanksgiving last year when I was sitting at 144.6 pounds and 22.8% body fat.  Today, I’m at 141.2 pounds and 22.8% body fat, so I’ve had a stable year.  But I need to stay interested, I need to stay motivated.  The holidays are the worst and I need to stay on track.  I did a great job last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas (ended up at 140.2 pounds and 21.9% body fat), but I think that’s because I was riding the high of losing the weight.. but a year at essentially the same weight isn’t near as exciting as dropping 1-2 pounds a week, you know?

So, what am I doing?

Well, I’m doing the full PiYo program.  Hottie got all over me for getting DVD’s and not the streaming service (“you should have just bought VHS tapes!”  HA HA!), but I reminded him that we didn’t pay for the DVD’s and the streaming service doesn’t have the full PiYo program included.  I already think I’ll get the streaming beac.hbod.y service once our exercise room is up and running (which will credit my coach, I think!), but for now, I’m doing the full PiYo on DVD, 6 days a week.  I start once my friend returns from Europe (or Asia, I can’t remember) and can get the DVD’s to me – so later this week/weekend.  I’ll have to double up workouts the first week to get caught up to the group who all started today.  I’m going to keep running – a lot.  I honestly do not intend to decrease my mileage much/at all while doing this challenge (20-25 miles a week).  I will maybe lift some weights once the weight machine is in the house, but that may not be necessary.  Hottie is getting the kickboxing bag prepped for winter use in the garage (needed a good mat), but like weights, I expect to not do that too often.  We have committed ourselves to eating cleaner than we already eat (we cook ultra healthy at home, but we can always improve), and we need to cut the sweets – not entirely, but they need to be reduced.  AND… if all works out… Hottie and I are going on a fitness trip in early December together in Utah!  It’s our Christmas present to each other!  He’s ready to get in shape too, so these next few weeks will be great fun working together at getting healthy/healthier for Utah and beyond!

I’m pretty amped up to start, and hit it hard starting yesterday and today to not lose any time as I wait for my DVDs.  I run my current “12 Weeks of Maintenance” Wed – Tues and will likely continue that trend.  I really like weighing in on Wednesdays – it’s a more realistic weight than on Fridays before the “free” weekend.  🙂

I’m still thinking of specific, measureable goals.  But my “before” pics are done.

Here we go… AGAIN!