New gadget

My sister Andrea has been going on and on about this bad-boy. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Garmin Forerunner 305. And apparently it does everything but actually run for you. It calculates time, distance, calories burned (based on the very accurate info about yourself that you will honestly input into it), maps your course for you, and comes with computer software to analyze your runs, and plan future ones.

Andrea definitely highly recommended it and indicated that I would be a total doofus if I wanted to keep running and didn't get one. Ha ha, ok, maybe she didn't say doofus. But I know she loves hers!

So, Nathan picked one up for me el cheapo while he was down in the States this past weekend taking in his first live NFL game. Well, he didn't buy it at the game. You know what I mean! And el cheapo still isn't overly cheap, but I digress.

This bad-boy is currently being charged up as we speak (errr, as I type and you read), and I can't wait to try it out on my run tomorrow!

The streets I run on are still not listed on any maps (new development) and I often took paths between streets making it virtually impossible to figure out the distance I was running. No more!

Thanks to Andrea and the Garmin 305.

Exercise Routine

I LOVE strength training. In my humble opinion, it is simply the best bang for your buck.

Weight training, especially when it involves legwork, increases your heartrate, giving you a cardio effect even though you're not doing any traditional cardio (stair climber, treadmill, aerobics, etc).

Weight training results in increased muscle which, though it weighs more than fat, takes up less space than fat, so your body is slimmer.

Increasing your muscle mass also increases your metabolism. Cha ching!

Muscle burns calories, which means you get calorie burning accomplished after you're done working out!

Weight training improves your posture - which also makes you look slimmer.

Now, you are not supposed to weight train every day (especially if you do a full-body workout). Your muscles need a 48hr resting period to rebuild themselves.

So, I weight train 3 days per week. Right now, my favourite weight training DVD is Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones. It's about a 45 mins workout (not including warmup/cooldown) and it's split into 7 circuits each consisting of two sets of each exercise. This is perfect because it allows for all sorts of flexibility. You can....
1) do the entire killer workout.
2) do the first set of each circuit - working your entire body, but cutting the time in half. You can also increase the weights a bit if you're only doing one set.
3) do 3 or 4 circuits only - this works especially well if you do the first 3 or 4 circuits as you will still workout your entire body. If you do the last 3 or 4, there is not as much armwork.
Changing things up keeps your body guessing, which helps break through plateaus, or prevents them in the first place!

The last couple of days I've used my old Debbie Siebers DVD's - I'm not sure I actually have ever tried the ones I used, but I read through them and picked the one that sounded like it had only weight training in it - Shape It Up! was the one I did. It's super long, so I only did 30 mins which ends up being a perfect total body weight training workout. And it was pretty killer! It was a nice change.

I have also ordered some new DVD's (I get bored easily and like the variety!) - Core Fusion DVD's - I think I ordered all 5 of them, looking forward to trying them out!

So, on my "off" days, I've taken up running. Didn't think those words would ever come out of my mouth! I have now finished Week 6 of the Couch to 5K training program I've been doing and things are going well! I am now up to jogging for 25 mins straight - though I have no idea what the distance is I'm running. I'm actually really enjoying it, so I think my husband might pick up one of those fancy GPS running watches while he's down in the States this weekend.

I also like, and occasionally use, Jillian's other DVD's - Banish Fat Boost Metabolism, Yoga Meltdown and the 30 Day Shred (my previous fave before I found NMTZ). I've been debating taking up either the pushup or situp challenge again. We'll see!

C25K - Couch to 5K

I decided to try the Couch to 5K running program recently. I've been doing Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones workout 3 times a week, but you're not supposed to weight train consecutive days, so I wanted something else to do a few times a week - but I don't really like cardio videos. So, I figured I'd try C25K since my sister Andrea enjoyed it so much.

Like her, I am not a runner, I've never been a runner. I was a sprinter during track and field in high school and that's it! No distance running for me. We had to do a 5 mile run every year with school - but I walked virtually all of it. So, this was brand new to me.

I found the first 3 weeks of this program very easy. Actually, if I had not found it easy I would've been pretty discouraged. I've exercised for years already so I'm in pretty good shape. I know that every time you try a new type of exercise your body needs to adjust, but I was still expecting decent results here and I was not disappointed. However, I did find that Week 4 and Week 5 were both quite a jump. I wish they started the program at Week 3, and then did the rest a bit more gradually.

I was pretty nervous about Week 5. This is the first week of the program that gets consecutively harder every training day (3 days per week).

Week 4 was jog 3 mins, walk 1.5 mins, jog 5 mins, walk 2.5 mins, jog 3 mins, walk 1.5 mins, jog 5 mins.

Week 5 Day 1 (which I did Saturday) was jog 5, walk 3, jog 5, walk 3, jog 5.
Week 5 Day 2 (which I did Tuesday) was jog 8, walk 5, jog 8 - a little scary.
Week 5 Day 3 was jog 20 minutes straight - say what?! Where did that come from all of a sudden!?

And that day was today. And I was rather nervous. But determined!

And I did it!

Next week starts a little easier and ends with 25 mins jogging. And after that it's steadily increases to 30 mins - which is supposed to be approximately 5km.

I can do it!

I did it!!!

Pssst - check it out!

Fasting - spiritual or physical?

Something I've been thinking about (and have been asked about) in regards to fasting for weight loss is how that practice would influence fasting for spiritual reasons. I'm not necessarily sure I have all the answers, but I'm going to think out loud here for a bit.

My biggest thought is that it comes down to the motivation behind the fast.

I am rather embarrassed to admit that, along with never having read the Bible all the way through before this year, I have also never fasted for spiritual reasons. I haven't heard much teaching on fasting before, and have never researched it myself and honestly haven't thought much about it at all, until now.

According to Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat, there are numerous physical benefits to fasting, including decreased body fat & body weight, decreased blood glucose levels, dereased insulin levels & increased insulin sensitivity, increased lipolysis & fat oxidation, increased growth hormone levels, decreased food related stress and more.

And, of course, there are spiritual "benefits" to fasting as well. The goal of fasting for spiritual reasons is to focus on God, to draw closer to Him, to gain wisdom or guidance before making a decision, to fellowship with God at a deeper level. Fasting does not change God, it changes us.

Here are a few articles I found about fasting.....
Christian Fasting
What does the Bible say?

So, this is why I think it comes down to motivation.....

You can fast without growing closer to God. Fasting for purely physical reasons (to lose weight) is simply not eating. You are not praying instead of eating, you are not focusing on God, you are not growing closer to Him - you are simply. not. eating. That's it. That is what I have been doing these past few weeks - all of my fasts have been purely from a weight loss motivation.

Now, here's the trickier part - can you fast for both physical and spiritual reasons at the same time?

My answer is ..... it depends.

Way to straddle the fence, eh? Stick with me here and I'll explain...

If you are trying to lose weight and gluttony has been an issue in your life, or you have been turning to food instead of to God for any reason, I think it is possible to fast for both spiritual and physical reasons. By doing this you are addressing the root of your weight problem and are drawing closer to God - losing weight (though still intentional) is a result/benefit of your spiritual fasting. I am not familiar with the exact teachings of the Lord's Table bible study and weight loss program - but I would think that this is an excellent example of benefiting from fasting both spiritually and physically.

However, if your desire to lose weight (even if it's a lot of weight) has nothing to do with your desire to grow closer to God, if you have not acknowledged the spiritual roots of your weight issues, then you are fasting for purely physical reasons and will not experience the spiritual benefits of fasting as there is no spiritual motivation/intention behind the fast.

Also - if your relationship with God has no correlation to your desire to lose weight (such as my goal of losing those last few pounds of babyweight), if your motivation for losing those last few pounds is purely physical, then you are also fasting with a physical motivation and not a spiritual motivation and will therefore not experience the spiritual benefits of fasting.

So the hard question is - knowing the physical benefits (weight loss in particular) of fasting, can you/I fast for spiritual reasons only, without having a hidden agenda of losing weight at the same time?

The answer to this question of course, is very personal. Only you (and God, of course!) know your heart and the true motivation behind your decision to fast. But yes, I believe it is possible. If I feel that God is wanting me to fast, or I feel that I need to fast in order to gain insight or to grow closer to God - I can absolutely make a conscious decision to fast for spiritual reasons. If I do so though, my day will look different than if I was fasting for physical reasons. If during this spiritual fast I'm not praying more than I normally would, or reading my Bible more than usual - then my motivation was not spiritual and I will not receive any spiritual benefit from the fast. But if my actions jive with my motivation then I am fasting for truly spiritual reasons and I will receive the spiritual blessings that come with it.

Another questions is - if you fast regularly for physical reasons (like I have been), will it make fasting for spiritual reasons too "easy", or too routine, so that you'll miss the point/benefits for fasting?

This could be a potential problem if the focus of a spiritual fast was on food and not eating it.

Not eating food is the focus of physical fasting.

Growing closer to God is the focus of spiritual fasting.

The truth is, spiritual fasting does not have to involve food at all! In fact, for some people and their health situation, that could be a very unwise decision. You can fast from many things - food, only certain types of food (such as meat), tv, Pepsi, computers, etc. The point of fasting is to give up something physical with the goal of growing closer to God. So, if routine physical fasting has made giving up food too easy - then simply choose another item to give up when you want to fast for spiritual reasons.

In other words, you can't use that as an excuse not to fast for physical reasons. :)

Should Christians be fasting? Yes, absolutely they should be and this is something I have not done, and need to start doing. Consider the following scripture passage (emphasis mine)...

Matthew 6:16-18 When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

The scripture says when, not if. It is not commanded, however it certainly appears to be expected. And with the benefit of growing closer to God, having our will line up with His instead of ours, receiving wisdom and guidance - why we would not?

So, those are some of my thoughts. Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I feel good - da na na na na na na!

Having recently felt convicted about doing a better job keeping my house in order consistently, I have to say that I had a very productive day today! Even though I slept in and only got up just before 9 o'clock!! Ahhh, summer holidays! I love me my beauty sleep.

So, what did I all accomplish today?

I obviously fed (and cleaned up after) all my MSC - Many Small Children (awesome acronym stolen from MckMama)

I exercised - as in dripping-with-sweat exercised.

I baked about 7 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (see recipe below) - 5 dozen of which are for this week's day camp at our church. I even let my kids help!

I got at least 1 and a 1/2 hrs of bookwork done while my MSC played outside or napped (Jacob).

I read my Bible reading plan for today (and only had to read today's as I was all caught up!)

I read devotions with the girls on the deck in the afternoon (more details on this to come next week!)

I played with the girls outside. Even though she finally learned how to pump, Olivia could still be pushed on the swing all day long I think.

I set up the sprinkler under the trampoline AND the slip n' slide for my MSC and their friends to play in.

I had 3 of my MSC's friends over for lunch - at the last minute!

I went for a walk with all my MSC, meeting my MIL to bring Nathan and his dad some cold drinks on this fairly hot day.

Made a delicious supper - bbq'd chicken breasts, whole wheat rice, potatoes (for Nathan and Emma - I do NOT eat potatoes), corn and garlic bread.

I made Sophia and Olivia banana splits (but did NOT have any myself - woohoo!) while Jacob was shopping with my wonderful husband, and Emma was at her first pyjama party(not sleepover!) with her friend. OK, I do admit to having at least 3 strawberries (we used strawberries instead of cherries) dipped in whipping cream. OK, ok, I also ate 3 (yes three!) of those delicious cookies fresh out of the oven - well, 2 right away, and then one later warmed up in the microwave. Just keeping it real. Cause I'm all about honesty. Even it when it works against me and my image. :)

I read Sophia & Olivia a Bible story and prayed with them before bedtime (while the other 2 were still gone - it's not like they were being grounded from Bible storytime or anything!).

And I blogged....twice today!

And then there was obviously the just normal, everyday stuff like changing diapers, sweeping floors (after every meal - due to our lovely dark hardwood floors - ok, our MSC have something to do with this as well), swiping bathrooms, washing feet, settling arguments - well, you know!

So - mission accomplished for today. And I feel grrrrrreat!

OK - here's the recipe as promised. This is the fake Neiman Marcus oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe. Neiman Marcus actually developed a chocolate chip cookie recipe in response to this hoax - but I'm actually using the hoax recipe itself cause it's really good!

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups blended oatmeal (yup, put 5 cups of oatmeal in a blender and blend away!)
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
24oz chocolate chips
3 cups chopped nuts (optional)

The recipe also calls for 8oz Hershey bar grated - but I don't usually do this, normally because I don't stock that in my pantry! I have sometimes added some chocolate chips to the oatmeal while blending, but I didn't today. I needed to save some to make Mocha Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins (maybe tomorrow's project?) - I've got ripening bananas going on in a big way right now.

Beat together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add oatmeal, flour, bp, bs, salt and mix. Add chocolate chips and nuts (we don't do nuts). Love me my KitchenAid mixer!!

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen cookies using my medium Pampered Chef scoop.

30 Day Shred - Level 3!

Awhile back I reviewed Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Levels 1 & 2. I've progressed to Level 3 now so I thought I'd post a review.

I just finished the workout and I'm sitting here still sweating away! No point in showering till you're done sweating right?

This. Is. One. Tough. Workout!

The toughest thing about this workout is that so many of the moves qualify as both muscle conditioning AND cardio. Sometimes abs are also kicked in for a triple killer.

For example - one cardio circuit included doing butt kicks, jumping jacks and punches - WITH weights. Wow, talk about an arm workout while getting that heart pumping. Another cardio circuit had mountain climbers (tough move totally involving abs) and sumo squats (which obviously work the thighs - inner thighs specifically).

Other tough moves in this workout include travelling pushups, jumping lunges, jumping squats and rock stars. I'm exhausted just typing that out.

I found that Level 1 had quite easy ab moves. Level 2 was slightly harder, and Level 3 does kick it up a notch in this area as well. Pike situps, full situps, double leg raise with scissor kicks (add a LOT of inner thigh on that one!) and side lifts are a few of the delicacies you will experience in Level 3.\

Edited to add: My reviews seem to be scaring people away from this workout - and that is not my intention! This workout is awesome!! It is customizable to varying fitness levels. One of the girls always demonstrates an easier version of all the moves, so you can definitely follow her. You can also simply use lighter weights - or even no weights at all if necessary. You can customize it to your fitness level. Just do it!

The actually purpose of this workout is to workout 30 days in a row without fail. I have not done that, and I'm sure if you did you would see more impressive results. I have definitely noticed an increase in strength. I have not noticed any movement on the scale - however, I'm trying to keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat and I've definitely been gaining muscle and losing fat, so that's a good thing.

If I could be more disciplined with my eating (or should I say snacking!) that would probably help a lot. My plan with that is to avoid chips. I've recently developed this awful habit of having some chips with my sandwhich virtually every day for lunch during the week. Even though I am keeping the portion size under control, having it every day is definitely adding to my calorie intake! So, no chips at home. Chips and desserts are only allowed when we go to someone's house, or have people over, and even then I'm going to pick and choose. For ex - yesterday we had my family over for Mother's Day/Father's Day and I was able to pass on the ice cream sandwiches fairly easily. Though I like ice cream sandwiches, it's not a weakness and if I'm going to say no, that's an easier one for me. On Saturday we had Pam's family over for supper, and then we had ice cream sundaes - which I was able to at least limit to ice cream and strawberries (I CAN'T pass up ice cream and strawberries!). So, hopefully these decisions will help. Making a fairly specific plan like this helps me to make better food choices, much better than just generically saying I'm planning to eat better. What does that mean exactly anyway?

Why are those last 7 pounds so hard to lose?! Grrr.

Quick Update

OK, I know I've been MIA the last month, so I figured I better get a quick post in before the end of the month! :)

We've had a few birthday parties lately - I'll post some pictures soon. We're leaving tomorrow for a short trip so it'll have to wait till we get back.

I am happy to say that I am completely up to date with my Bible reading. As one of my New Year's resolutions, I determined to read the Bible through in one year. I started off with one plan, switched to another, and ended up switching back, though I forgot to update you on that one. I decided that the reason I felt the first one was too "jumpy" and hard to concentrate on (OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs every day) was that I was reading too fast. I am a fast reader - in fact sometimes I even tend to skim things. And I don't want to do that with the Bible! So, I switched back and I am really enjoying it. I admit having to re-read some passages, and I do admit to slightly skimming when it gets to the long list of names, especially when you have no idea if you're pronouncing them right - but I am caught up!! I also do admit to skipping days - which is really not a good idea because you have to read that much more to catch up. But caught up I am!

One thing I like about my reading plan is that is also has a blog! The writer has some great insights about each passage every day. And it also has links to read the day's passage online - which is great and really leaves me with no excuse for not reading it, since the Lord knows I spend too much time online!

The passage I read today was really quite amazing. Moses is reminding the people of their sin in worshipping the golden calf and how he intervened on their behalf.

Deut 9:18 & 19: Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord's sight and so provoking him to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.

On the One Year Bible Blog there is an amazing portrait of Moses lying prostrate before God, pleading with Him on behalf of the Israelites. Like the blog writer says "can you imagine doing this for 40 days and nights for someone? Particularly for someone who just sinned greatly against God? Moses is amazing... "

Would you be willing to do that? If I'm being honest, I really don't think I would. And that's not right. I need to be lifting unsaved family and friends to the Lord always! I need to be praying for my Christian brothers and sisters constantly - that God would protect their hearts, their relationships with their spouses and children, that He would guide them through their trials AND their good times, that He would give them a longing for Him, that He would surround them with His love and comfort them, that He would convict them of wrongdoing and give them the grace to turn back to Him. I need to get on my knees for those I love, and for my enemies as well! Though really, is there anyone out there that doesn't like me? Nah, I can't imagine it. :)

So, that's my Bible update.

On to the exercise update. I am still doing the 30 Day Shred and still loving it! I alternate between Levels 1 and 2. I can do all of Level 1 with 5 and 8 lbs weights. I can do almost all of Level 2 with them as well, though I admit to wimping out and using my 3 lbers on one exercise at the end. I do the workout 4 or 5 days per week. It's so hard, and every time I finish it I feel like I must be really skinny!

Menu updates - I am not always planning my meals an entire week at a time, but I am at least thinking about it before 5pm most nights :)

Well, that's it for now. Tune in later this week (hopefully!) for birthday updates and pictures.

30 Day Shred

I've been getting frustrated at my lack of progress with the Push Up Challenge (still can't move past week 4), so I've decided to shake things up a bit. I had heard good things about The 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser fitness guru) so I decided to give it a whirl.

People - I have exercised at least 4 days a week for the past 10 years - and I found this TOUGH! You can tone it down a bit (there are 2 girls showing beginner and advance versions of the exercises) - you're just not allowed to stop! Well, maybe if you pass out you can stop for a few seconds. This is a very short workout - not counting warmup and cool down it is 18 mins of pure torture! She does 3 minutes of strength, then 2 minutes of cardio and then 1 minute of abs - and then does that same circuit over again three times in total, changing up the moves each time. There are 3 different workouts on the dvd (3 different levels). I have tried both level 1 and 2 so far.

I will keep you updated on how things are going, but I have a feeling this is going to get some results. This has got to be one of the most time effective, tough workouts I have ever done.

She is tough, no nonsense and brutally honest. Here are a few of her phrases.....
"I want you to feel like you're gargalling your heart"
"I want you to feel like you are going to die"

And, yes..... you do!

Edited to add: Just thought I should add on a little more info about the types of exercises performed during the workouts.

Strength moves: these usually incorporate lower and upper body moves simultaneously - such as bicep curls while doing lunges, or shoulder presses and squats, or front lateral raise with side squat, etc - and pushups of course!

Cardio: not for those with knee problems as there's a lot of jumping going on. Jumping jacks, butt kicks, high knee runs, "fake" jumping rope, etc - yep, brutal I tell ya.

Abs: pretty traditional moves - crunches, reverse crunches, both together, bicycles, ab moves from the plank position, etc.

There ya have it!

PushUp Update

I'm still doing the Hundred Pushup Challenge. Unfortunately I seem to have hit a plateau. I've been doing Week 4 Day 1 for at least 6 days now - it's just so brutally difficult I haven't been able to move past it. I guess I'll just have to keep at it. It's 5 sets of pushups (yes, from the toes!) - 21, 25, 21, 21, 32. Yep, brutal.

I've also just started doing the Two Hundred Sit Ups Challenge this past week. My abs are actually pretty strong from doing the pushup challenge - doing them normally I could do 72 which meant I could start on Week 5 of training. That seemed too easy, so I tried them on my Bender Ball instead. Can you say brutal?! So, yeah, definitely started with Week 1 training (still Level 3 though) using the Bender Ball - it is a challenge that's for sure!!

Unfortunately, the scale has actually inched up by 1 or 2 pounds. However, I know that muscle weighs more than fat, so that is likely the culprit.

Either way, hopefully I don't pack on too much over our cruise!

Push Up Update

So, after Week 2 of the PushUp training program you're supposed to do another exhaustion test to see where you're at. Basically you do as many consecutive pushups as you can without killing yourself. I had to do this before starting the program so see what level of training to follow.

Before starting the program I could do 11.

Now..... drum roll please..... I can do 28!

That's a pretty good improvement in 4 weeks of training I'd say (yes, it took me 4 weeks to do 2 weeks worth of training - I repeated one day for one week because it was so difficult, and took almost a week off when we went on our little trip). Unfortunately this also means I have to train at the highest level of training this week - and this week's training looks scary! Wish me luck.

Push Up Update

I have to admit that I did not do pushups during our little holiday - but I did swim every day and one day I even exercised on the hotel elliptical and treadmill for 30 mins (total, not each:)

But today I was back on the pushup attack and managed to do Week 2, Day 1 which was 5 sets of pushups - 14, 14, 10, 10, 15 with 60 seconds rest between each set. Which means I can do 63 pushups in less than 10 mins - not too shabby if I do say so myself!

PushUp Update

My abs are so sore. Seriously.

Pushups affect your abs much more than I thought they did. On Day 1 of my workout I had a really hard time doing the situps after the pushups. Today, for Day 2 - my abs hurt so bad I literally could not do the situps at all. So, I will wait till my abs have recovered a bit, and then I will do 1/2 the situps and see how that goes.

My armpits hurt too of course. Ugh - this is gonna be hard!

Each workout is 5 sets of pushups. Day 1 you rest 60 seconds, Day 2 you rest 90 seconds, Day 3 you rest 180 seconds (or more if needed), then it starts over again at 60 seconds. Today I did 10, 12, 8, 8 and then the max you can do - which was 14!!!! Go me!

New fitness goal

Since giving birth 10 months ago for the fourth time, I have managed to shed most of the baby weight I had leftover. I've lost about 20 lbs and have only about 6 more pounds to go to reach my goal weight. However, I've been at the point for about 2 months now already. Part of the problem? All my clothes fit again. Huh? How is that a problem you ask? Well, it's harder to be motivated when one of your big motivating factors was to be able to fit into your pre-baby clothes!

So, I'm making a new fitness goal - I found The Hundred Pushups Training Program. Now, I have to admit I'm rather out of shape at this point - something which is rather unusual for me actually. I have been committed to exercising about 5 days a week for about 10 years now. During the summer my exercise takes the form of hour to hour and a half long walks pushing a heavy double stoller with my best friend Candace. For some reason though, I just haven't managed to get myself back into exercising indoors after the weather made these outdoor walks rather unpleasant. And since I was only walking in the summer and not weight training - well, let's just say that I felt my pushup test was rather pathetic. I did the initial test which is basically just doing as many full body pushups as you can with proper form.

I did 11.

Now, I somewhat regretting pushing past 10 because that means my training program is starting off a lot harder than it would've been if I had done 10 cause I made it up into the next category! Argh! Anyway, today was my first training day and I am committing to going through the program and I'm making it public so I have some accountability!

I'm adding an extra challenge though - I'm also going for 100 situps (using the Bender Ball I purchased which makes them really hard!) . I'm using the same program to work up to this goal.

So, there you have it! Go me!

Edited to add: I am also doing aerobics every other day - and I'll likely do some lower body weight training the same days I do the pushups/situps training.