Fall Fitness Challenge Week 1 : Back in Action!

This Summer has been a whirlwind of adventures, packed with exciting things every week, which has meant that I haven’t been as diligent about nutrition and fitness as I usually like to be. All this wonderful weather has led to late dinners on the patio, decadent desserts at picnics, cold pints at TFC games and junk food on road trips. I’ve enjoyed all the indulgence over the Summer, but I need to get back into eating more fruits and vegetables, lean meat and whole grains. Thankfully I love all those things, but its the other foods I love, the not-so-good-for-you processed ones that I need to give the old heave-ho. I believe in not depriving yourself of anything, but all the processed chips, cookies and candies isn’t doing me any favours. I’ll never give up on all the good stuff, but its all about moderation, right?

I haven’t been completely lazy over the summer, as I started the Couch-to-5km Running Plan back in June and for the most part I’ve kept up with it. The warm weather and humidity as wrecked havoc on my ability to get up and go some days. Combine that with the break I took from weekly pilates, biking and swimming and my strength just isn’t what it was four months ago.

Its time to kick it back in gear again! Heres the plan!

For the next 14 weeks and 99 days, I’m going to try to focus on five achievable goals:

1. Increase endurance and strength: Get back to biking and swimming. Keep up the running to improve my time and distance.

2. Healthier Food Choices: Lose the processed foods. Focus on fresh homemade meals and portion control.

3. Increase Flexibility: More pilates and yoga. Remember to stretch regularly.

4. Lower my BMI and Body Fat Percentage (more on that in a bit)

5. Consistent Dedication: Try new classes to keep motivation up. Keep track of progress right here on Small Home Big Start with weekly posts about the Fall Fitness Challenge.

Every week I’m going to have a new post about classes I’m trying, exercises and routines that I love, events to participate in, healthy recipes, my progress and some fun giveaways too. The focus isn’t on some crazy fad diets or spending all my time in a gym, but instead on incorporating better habits for a lifestyle change that I can maintain for the long haul.

The one new habit that I have taken on this Summer is running. I’ve never been the kind of person who could run. I swam, I biked, I could do lots of things, but running just wasn’t among them. After many friends encouraging me to give it a try, I finally did. At first I hated it (“Why do people do this? It isn’t fun?”), but I pushed myself and before I knew it, I was looking forward to my morning runs.

When I started the Couch-to-5km Running Plan back in June, I made cue cards up with each week’s routine. As I completed one day’s workout, I checked off a little box in the corner with the date. Its been great to go back and track how fast my progress has been. In only a few short months I went from being someone who could never run for more than a minute, to being able to go 5km in one go. If you’re looking for a way to get into running, this is the way to do it.

Although I didn’t have anything in mind to train for at the beginning of the plan, I recently came across the Oasis ZooRun and have decided to give it a shot! I’m only doing the 5km (the 10km was sold out!), so my focus in running has shifted from endurance to maintaining a good speed.

On a final note, I thought I’d talk a bit about the second goal I mentioned above: Lowering my BMI and Body Fat Percentage. Although I am in the healthy range for both of these calculations, I want to improve them slightly. My goal here isn’t about losing weight, but about increasing my tone, and calculating your stats is a good way to follow your progress.

To keep myself on track, I’m going to post the workouts that I did the week before, as well as my stats. To calculate my stats, I’m using a calculator at Scientific Physics, so feel free to go over, check out your own stats and join me on this adventure to get back into shape 🙂

Beginning Stats:
Body Mass Index: 24.0
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.45
Percent Body Fat: 28.2%
Lean Body Mass: 111.5 lb

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