Wow, time sure does fly by. This week completes the EmpowHER BodyMedia FITness Challenge. It's been a great experience and I am more than pleased with my results! First I'd like to share my overall personal bests from the challenge. The one I am most proud of is doing over 20,000 steps on February 29th.
To see more of my personal bests, before and after photos, calorie consumption charts and the week 6 progress chart click on over to befitwithkristen.com.
In my week 1 post I mentioned that I was happy with the way I looked. I didn't want to lose any weight. My challenge was 13,000 steps a day.
Over the past couple of weeks I've received some flattering compliments from some of you. Most have noticed that I look leaner. And you know what? I've noticed it too; particularly the fact that I can now breathe when I put on my skinny jeans!
I know what you are thinking; I said that I didn't want to lose any weight. So what gives?
Well first things first, I am proud to say that maintained an average of just over 14,000 steps a day throughout the challenge. I am thrilled to have exceeded my goal.
But what I am even more thrilled about is what having this armband has done for my body.
I have lost a total of:
Essentially, with the help of the Core Armband, I changed my body composition. An unexpected BONUS! I can see the difference is my waist as well as my thighs. I also see more muscle tone in my and stomach.
I barely lost any weight, but remember that was never my goal. I haven't dropped a pants size or anything, my clothes just fit better. And honestly, things were getting a little tight there for a while after the holidays.
So now here I am now 6 weeks later and just a bit thinner! :) I felt great back then and now I feel amazing!
I used 2 key strategies to prevent myself from losing too much weight and possibly some muscle tone. First, I made sure that I was eating enough calories to offset my extra activity. Second, I made sure that the extra calories came from healthy sources of protein. By increasing my protein intake I was able to keep up my muscle tone and shed some fat. I no longer have to flex to show you my muscles. :)
The Core Armband helped me to stay on top of this. Through the Activity Manager I was able track my calorie intake and see my breakdown of protein vs carbs vs fat. Again, if you click on the chart you can get a better view of the data.
This pretty much represents a typical week for me. I religiously kept track of my food intake during the week. I wasn't so good about it on the weekends. The grey you see on February 11th represents a calorie estimate that I entered for that day. I went out to dinner with friends that evening and there was no way I was going to track every calorie I consumed. I will also fess up to the fact that I, [Ahem...] had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. I know I was way over my 2,300 calorie target.
But there was no stressing about it over it here. You can't be perfect all the time, even if you are a personal trainer. Everyone deserves to sit back, relax and celebrate their success. The key is to do it in moderation and get back on track the next day...
I must say that the Core Armband is a great tool to help determine one's strengths and weaknesses. So far I've only talked about my strengths. Now it's time I let you know what still needs work. That would be my sleep. I failed miserably at getting the recommended 8 hours in a night. During any given week I only averaged between 5.5 and 6.5 hours of sleep a night. If you remember from my week 4 post, that just isn't enough. And that is something I need to work a lot harder at. I don't want to burn out.
Many of you have asked about buying the armband. You can buy it directly from BodyMedia's web site. I used the Core, but I've heard great things about the Link Armband as well. The Link Armband downloads your data directly to your smart phone via blue tooth. If you have a smart phone, this would be the way to go. I certainly would have had a lot of fun with it!
I will finish by saying that this has been a great experience. I want to thank EmpowHER and Bodymedia for inviting me to take part in the challenge. I also want to thank all you for the many emails, notes, and kind words letting me know how inspired you where by reading my status updates and posts. Your encouragement is what kept me going!
What motivates you to stick with your fitness goals?
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Here is some more detail about the BodyMedia FIT armband, taken straight from the source.
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)
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.