Fitness Sistas update and the 30 Day Water Challenge

Thank you to all of you gorgeous Sparklers for the support on my last blog. We are two weeks into the health and wellness group (Fitness Sistas!) and we are KILLING it! I bought a new scale, one that measures body fat, body hydration, muscle mass, bone density, and BMR. It is really nice and seems to be pretty accurate. On day 1 of our group meeting we learned that we were all over 50% body fat, low on muscle, and dehydrated. These were all things we suspected but we actually had the proof. From those results we have been focusing on increasing protein, staying active, and H2O - I will say more about the water thing later.

Our very first meeting, I shared with them an article from Spark and supporting documentation from The Mayo Clinic. We focused on adding flax seed to reduce triglycerides and cholesterol. Myself and Tricia both brought in samples of flax seeds for the ladies to try. Our 2nd meeting we focused on Vision Boards and being intentional about our success. That was led by our girl Sarah and she was so inspiring! Here is a pic of my office-size vision board.



I love that Sarah had us create a smaller version that we can keep at our desk. I am usually losing the weight loss battle by mindlessly snacking out of boredom when at work. I love the saying, "Get Sad, Get mad, Get Ahead." It often frustrates me that I allowed myself to gain back nearly all of the weight that I loss with Spark in 2012 and 2013. Now I have to use that as fuel to get ahead, to go even further than I went two years ago. The smaller blue square says, "Dear Stomach, you are bored, not hungry. So Shut UP!" I love it.

Now to the good stuff. The weigh-in. When we were meeting with the former "Health Coach", she had implemented a Penalty Pot where a person had to pay $1 for every pound of weight gained. We decided to continue with that trend. I came to the meeting, pulled out the Penalty Pot, fully prepared to accept money but knowing that as a unit, we had supported each other throughout the week via email, chats, and impromptu meetings. I am SO HAPPY to say that of 6 people, only ONE of us gained weight, and she only gained .4 ounces! With that gain considered, we lost a total of 12 lbs in our first week of tracking! We have set a goal to lose 100 lbs in 12 weeks (11 weeks of tracking). It would require each of us to lose 1.5 lbs a week and I think we can do it!

Let's move on to the water. My future SIL found this 30 day Water Challenge on Pinterest and since we were all dehydrated, she felt it would be beneficial to us. We are supposed to drink one gallon of water a day for 30 days and take before and after pics. This is day 2 and suddenly the water challenge has morphed into the squat challenge! I have never dropped trow this much in my life! I am peeing like I am trying to put out a fire! As I type this, I have completed my 128 ounces of water but this is hard! Here is what I am learning:

*Start early. I began drinking water at dawn while feeding my son. By the time I took my shower for work, I was already 12 oz in.
*Go to the restroom before every meeting and before picking up the phone to call someone because otherwise, your bladder will betray you.
*When you are drinking this much water, the thought of drinking a sugary coffee makes your stomach feel like it is going to burst. I skipped the mocha today.
*In one day of drinking the gallon, I dropped a half a pound. Of course, I won't count it as a true loss until my Wednesday weigh-in but it was nice to see my body responding.
*Did I mention chafing???

As I leave you all, I challenge you to increase your water intake. I also wish you a great weekend. Here is a picture of my two loves to brighten your day: