Sticking to a diet or a training plan isn't easy. As someone who has spent the past eleven and half years trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I know first hand that it takes an incredible amount of discipline and willpower. We all have our slip-ups every now and again. Let's face it you can't always say, "no" to that chocolate cupcake.
When I started on my healthy living journey in 2000, I was carrying around twenty extra pounds I gained while in college. Through diet and exercise, I managed to lose that weight, and in the process I fell in love with running which eventually led me to triathlons. Keeping the extra weight off is pretty easy when I'm in the middle of training for a half-marathon or triathlon, but when the off-season rolls around the pounds have tendency to creep back on.
Last July, I finished my first half-Ironman. I trained for six hard months to make sure I crossed that finish line. The day after that race, I weighed 131 pounds. Today, I weighed in at 140. (I can't believe I just admitted that publicly!) The holidays are over; tri training begins next month, and it's time to get serious about my diet and focus on getting rid of those extra off-season pounds. To help me get back on track, I'm excited to announce that I've been selected - along with five other bloggers - to take the EmpowHER BodyMedia FITness Challenge!
For the next six weeks, I'm going to use the BodyMedia FIT armband to track my calories, weight, activity level and sleep so I can hit my health and fitness goals. BodyMedia FIT automatically tracks the calories burned during your daily activities — from pumping iron to using an iron — and monitors the quality of your sleep, an important factor in weight loss. Add in the easy-to-use food log and you have the information you need to improve your weight loss. The 3 part system includes:
1. An Armband that automatically captures data.
2. An optional Display device or free downloadable mobile apps that give you up-to-the-minute readings throughout the day.
3. An online Activity Manager* that analyzes raw data, allows you to log food and presents info in an easy-to-understand way.
(*subscription required)
My goals for this six week challenge include:
Increasing my awareness of the amount of calories I'm consuming versus burning. When you train for an endurance event like a half-Ironman, you eat incredible amounts of food to be able to perform for five, six or seven hours at a time. Following the completion of the race, it can be difficult to scale back from those high caloric intakes when you're not training at the same level. I definitely lost sight of this last fall, and my weight gain is the result.
Increasing the amount of sleep I get each night. I am a complete failure when it comes to getting enough sleep. I usually get between five and seven hours of sleep per night - definitely not enough. My goal over the next six weeks will be to average eight hours every night. Might be easier said than done.
Lose 6 -8 pounds. While I would love to get back down to 131, I'm not going to kid myself into thinking I can lose all nine pounds in six weeks. Instead, I want to make significant progress towards the magic number of 131.
Hitting all of my scheduled training sessions in preparation for the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon on March 17. As I've been saying since the first of the year, I want to PR (again) at the half marathon distance. I finally broke two hours in Philly last November, and I want an even better performance next month. I'm hopeful that the BodyMedia FIT system will help me stay on track to nail those 13.1 miles!
I'll be updating my progress with the BodyMedia FIT armband each Tuesday on my blog (www.wholeironwoman.com) and here at EmpowHER, so I hope you'll stick with me during this six week challenge. I encourage you to check out the BodyMedia FIT system for yourself and take the challenge with me!
Disclosure: Device and accompanying online Activity Manager subscription was provided by BodyMedia via EmpowHER. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of BodyMedia or EmpowHER.