Day 6 of a girl and guy's 365 day odyssey

We rocked the gym today.  After a day of rest, and after reading Greg's posted comment about his gym "triumphs" yesterday, we entered the gym with a renewed sense of what we were there to achieve.  Greg (one of the partners of Inperspire and also my brother-in-law, a fine one I might add) is a goal setter, but what I didn't know is that each time he goes to the gym he sets goals (his personal bests) for himself, e.g., yesterday he wanted to run a 10 minute mile on the treadmill, and he did it.  It helps me to read about how others achieve their fitness goals.  Please let me know if you have any tips for getting the most out of your gym time.

So we jogged on the treadmill (I started jogging after 6 minutes warm up, rather than my usual 10 minutes, which is a personal best for me), and we did weights, and sit ups (I also jumped rope).  It was a lot of fun and we felt great afterwards.  How did you do today?

Now, let's talk about the new year (note Robert Burns' image in this entry).  Did you know that Auld Lang Syne is attributed to Robert Burns, famed Scottish poet (late 18th century).  Byrnes was a collector of traditional folk songs, as well as a songwriter, and it is thought that Auld Lang Syne was adapted by Byrnes from his collections.  We will be singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight - we hope you'll join us.

Day 5 of a girl and guy's 365 day odyssey

We had to take today off.  We are sore and tired from the previous four days at the gym.  Are we discouraged?  Absolutely not.  One cannot complete a journey without resting along the way.  I think the key is how long you rest :)  We will be back in the gym tomorrow.  Weights and cardio.  Can you imagine we are actually looking forward to it?!  How was your journey today?

Day 4 of a girl and guy's 365 day odyssey (yes, like Odysseus' journey)

I am still finding it difficult to go to bed before midnight, which makes getting up at 7:30 am challenging.  We did make it to the gym by 9:20 today.  Treadmill 45 minutes.  I am trying to push myself so I did one song at 5.0, one at 5.5, and two at 6.0 (all at 1 incline).  I walk at 3.9 (speed)  between songs.  I also walked at 8 incline at 3.8 speed during "Hold on I'm Coming" (Sam and Dave).  Stair climber at Level 8 for 15 minutes (stopping to rest every 3 minutes).  I worked up a sweat!  When Jimmy put my star on the calendar today he said that it was the first time we had made it to the gym four days in a row since August.  Wow!  How did you do today?

Day 3. It was touch and go this morning when my alarm, a.k.a., Jimmy, said it was 7:15 a.m. - time to get out of bed and get to the gym. After a bit of waffling and arguing (with myself) about whether it would be better to stay in my nice, warm bed and get a little more sleep, or, go out into the cold, frigid air to drive to the gym and workout, I finally gave in and rolled out of bed. To win this argument with myself I used a tactic I read about in O Magazine. The question was not whether I wanted to get up (I knew that answer), the question was whether I needed to get up (I knew that answer too). Still, I struggled to actually make it out the door, but once we were in the car there was no turning back. We warmed up on the treadmill, then weights, jump rope, and sit ups. I felt good about myself until I got home and dressed for work, then the meltdown happened. My pants are too tight! While having my mini-meltdown (I will spare you the description), I tired to soothe myself with one of my favorite mantras "Haba na haba hujaza kibaba" (Kiswahili for "Little by little fills the cup"). I had brought the "Haba" towel to the gym with me this morning, but it appeared I would need to keep its message in mind all day long. I hope your Day 3 has been filled with triumphs (big and/or small). At the end of the day, I still get a star on my calendar for making it to the gym today. Yay! Let me know how you are doing.

Jimmy's Day 3: Up early, well early for me, and ready to go. Warmed up on the treadmill, did some weights, sit ups, and I can feel it now.

It is a brand new day!!!

3:00 A.M. drop at the airport yet still looking forward to the day at the gym. I will be concentrating on running off all the cherry chocolates I consumed over the last week or maybe two weeks!! It is a brand new day!!!

day 2 of a girl and a guy's 365 day odyssey

ZUMBA for me today! It was my fourth class at 24 Hour Fitness with Stacy. I get to dance, sweat, and burn calories all at the same time. Despite glimpsing my "slightly" larger stomach in the mirror I kept jumping, dancing, and shaking my booty in the hope that it (my booty) and my stomach will get smaller each week! After class I ran on the stair stepper for 2 minutes at Level 8 and then situps. -- Cardio equipment for Jimmy today. 60 minutes on the treadmill followed by 2 minutes at high intensity on the stair climber and sit ups! Still working on our weekly goals. We don't want to set them too low or too high. It's hard! What about you? What have you done for yourself today? P.S. I'm a little afraid...it's easier to get to the gym on the weekends, much harder during the week, but I will not fail on Day 3.

a girl and a guy's 365 day odyssey to find their way back home (to being fit and fabulous)

This is our first post. We find ourselves at the precipice of a new year carrying a "few" more pounds than last year. We are old pros at New Year resolutions. We renew our fitness goals each year, but what we want to do this year is figure out how to sustain our resolve to lose weight, get in shape, and stay fit. We have given this a lot of thought and we have come up with an answer...accountability. For the next 365 days we will account for ourselves and our actions in this blog. Good days and bad days. We will keep track of our journey - our odyssey to good health in 2010. If you have ever struggled to maintain your fitness goals, please join us. We would love to hear from you.

Day 1. We didn't dare weigh today (why start off on a bad note), but we did go to the gym. Yay! 20 minutes on the stairclimber, 10 minutes on the rower, 15 minutes on the treadmill, and sit ups. It was a good first effort. Jimmy said we need to set goals. I think big...a half-marathon...a stair climb challenge. Jimmy says, "Let's start by thinking about our goals in the gym. How many stairs do we want to climb each week, how many miles on the treadmill , what about weights?" We are thinking it over. What are your goals? Day 1 - done :)

Girl Get Strong and Inperspire Contest Winners

Let's here it for the Girl Get Strong / Inperspire Contest Winners! Yay! (Applause and wild fanfare here.) Girl Get Strong members voted and the winners are:

#1 - Jody - To Lift is to be. To be is to lift. #2 - Elizabeth - Endure the Struggle. Embrace the Strength. #3 - Krystal - Eat, Sleep, Sweat, Repeat. #4 - Yona - Silence the Critics. We sent an Inperspire towel of their choice to the three runner ups. The winner has to wait a bit to receive her prize because we are producing a specialty towel with her saying. It will be available in ~4-6 weeks.

We would like to thank Sian from Girl Get Strong for being so wonderful and an inspiration to us all. We also send a special shout out to all those who submitted their mantras.

Contest and giveaway news!

Contest and giveaway news!

Girl Get Strong!

The Girls at Girl Get Strong are just the kind of pick me up we all need. They provide information and help to all of us who are trying to make it (our lives) work and they do so with style, flair, and humor.

Girl Get Strong arranged a fantastic contest for their members - an Inperspire Contest and Giveaway. The GGS members were asked to design their own Inperspire towel with their personal saying or mantra. The top 9 entries were chosen and now the Girl Get Strong community is voting. If you are a member of Girl Get Strong, or would like to be (just join - it's easy - and free), you have one week to vote for your favorite mantra. Let your voice be heard! Vote Now.

Get Your Marathon On - We Did!

We had a great time at the Seattle Marathon Health and Fitness Expo (check out our pictures - coming soon). We have a few Seattle Marathon towels remaining. Made especially for the Seattle Marathon runners, the towels are imprinted with the Chinese Dragon - a symbol of confidence - strength - and power - and with your favorite number 26.2. Buy one for yourself or ask for a holiday gift with extra-meaning.