Last week Andrew and I began a month-long fitness challenge, with the goal of “spring cleaning” our habits and getting into better shape.  Here’s a recap of our goals:

–Start getting ready for bed by 10 PM
-Plan lunches and snacks for the week, and make sure we have all necessary ingredients
-After dinner, only snack if actually hungry
-Complete at least 4 cardiovascular workouts each week
-Complete at least 1 yoga + 2 weight-lifting workouts each week

Over all, we did really well!  Here’s what our week looked like in terms of these goals:

-We’ve been getting ready for bed by 10 PM on week nights, and sometimes earlier!  I can feel a noticeable difference in how I feel in the morning.  Check.

-When possible, we’ve planned lunches and snacks.  I was traveling Wednesday-Saturday of last week, which meant eating out a lot or having meals prepared by someone else.  I did the best I could with what was there (also, I may have ordered a slice of cheesecake after dinner on the company tab…).  Thankfully, many restaurants now have a list of healthy options, so it’s easier to make healthy choices! (Normally I don’t necessarily order off the “healthy” menu–I order what I’m in the mood for–but it’s a different story when we’re going out to eat every night, plus lunches while traveling.)  Andrew continues to pack his lunches most days like a champ.

-Andrew is the after dinner snacker, and he has been doing really well this week.  When he is hungry in the evenings, he’s been snacking on raw veggies and hummus.  Go, Andrew!

-Fitness.  Here’s what we did:
*Andrew: run/walk (1), yoga (2), gardening (3 & 4), body sculpt class (5), walk (6), elliptical (7)
*Catherine: walk (1), weight circuits (2), run/walk (3), weight circuit (4), walk (5), run (6), weight circuit (7), walk (8)

Total cardio workouts: 4 (Andrew), 5 (Catherine)
Total weight lifting/yoga workouts: 3 (Andrew), 3 (Catherine)

Fitness goals…Check.

For Andrew, gardening this week counts as cardio and weights, as he was working up a sweat doing some serious digging, tilling, and carrying heavy bags of dirt around.  You know, just another day at Two Storey Farms.

Also, the “run/walk” that’s listed for both us of has kind of a funny story.  On April 1, day one of this challenge, we finished dinner, and Andrew suggested we go for a walk.  While we were getting ready I said, “What if we walk to get ice cream/Italian ice?” So we started the two mile walk to our favorite dessert place.  A minute into the walk Andrew said, “Let’s run so we can get there faster!”  So we ran for ice cream and ate it on the walk home.  Four miles in the bank.  😀

The other funny exercise-related incident this week was related to the body sculpt class Andrew attended.  I was still out of town at that point, and he’d told me the night before that he was going, so I texted him Saturday afternoon to see how the class went.  He said, “It was like, ‘Which one of these things is not like the others?’  All women… mostly moms.” He saw a friend from church in the class who assured him that there’s usually at least one other guy!  I’m still so proud of him for sticking it out. 😀

For anyone who’s interested, this is the weight-lifting/body weight workout I’ve been doing this week:

If you move from one exercise to the next with no break, it takes about 10 minutes per series (30 to do it three times), and it’s a pretty good little workout!  You can always adjust the reps or weight you use as needed.  I plan to change it up next week so my muscles don’t get too used to one workout, but it’s been serving me well.

So far I don’t feel super different (except being more well-rested), but I think part of that is having been out of town for four days and getting off track food-wise.  I am confident that we are making healthy choices most of the time, and I am excited to see how the rest of the month goes!

-Have you ever literally run for ice cream or some other type of food?
–Have you ever been the only person of your gender in a group exercise class?