Good evening blog world and DietBet Nation!
Day 1 is drawing to a close! Congratulations to everyone for making the commitment to live a healthier lifestyle! I raise my glass of coconut water to you ;)
I started Day 1 of the diet bet crazy excited to step on the scale and to see the progress I have made. I cartwheel-kicked myself out of bed when my alarm went off and stepped on the scale: 179.5. Two days after my initial weigh-in, and I’m still at my starting weight! To double check, I stepped off and back on. 179.0 was teased before switching back to 179.5 again.
The number on the scale is the easiest way to measure progress, but it isn’t the only number I should be focussed on for Day 1. I walked 11,713 steps today, and nailed 25 minutes of T25 Alpha Cardio! Not to mention the 3 minutes of active stretching afterwards with ShaunT that I usually skipped in the past, but not today! Not the new Kirsten!
This journey is not a sprint to 172.3! It is going to be a gradual process that will take the entire 4 weeks to complete. I have done the “get thin quick” methods through juice cleansing for 5-10 days in order to drop the pounds ASAP. Yes, I dropped at least a pound per day during the juice cleanse - BUT I was miserable! I was lightheaded, couldn’t focus, and starving! Plus, once I started eating solid foods again, the weight I had suffered to lose came back immediately. It was a fast solution to drop pounds, but not a lifestyle change that would keep the pounds off. The lifestyle change to lose weight needed to be gradual, sustainable, and something that I enjoyed doing. I hated working out at the gym and running was painful. Therefore, I figured out what worked for me: T25, walking, and replacing breakfast with Shakeology. In a month, I gradually lost 10 pounds and I have kept it off for 5 months :) One of my favorite quotes that summarizes this journey is: “Real supermen don't leap over buildings in a single bound. They take small, determined steps consistently over time.”
One of my first “pins” on Pinterest was a Jumping Jack Challenge. It explains the challenge in 4 simple steps/facts:
1. There are about 3,500 calories in one pound of fat
2. Every 2 jumping jacks = 1 Calorie Burned
3. 1,000 Jumping Jacks = 1 pound GONE!
4. 10 sets of 100 jumping jacks will burn 1 pound. On top of your current diet and exercise regime, you can add 10 sets of jumping jacks. One pound lighter is one pound lighter!
Adding 100 jumping jacks daily is nothing! However, 1,000 jumping jacks in one session to lose 1 pound is not possible for me! But dividing this challenge into 10 daily sets is achievable. Adding this to my current regime will add up to 3 pounds melted away be the end of this diet bet through jumping jacks. It will posibbly make the difference to being a winner at the end of this dietbet.
Day 1 is done! I am not any closer to losing the 4%, but this is not a sprint. This is a marathon to living a healthier lifestyle that will last my lifetime.