Princess Training (aka Exercise) Whoa! My Muscles Are in Shock!

Part of that Fall Freedom Challenge is, yes, exercise. Because I've been sedentary for so long, I get to start slow and easy. Target Heart Rate for minimum of 10 minutes and increase at a reasonable rate.

Those 10 + 2 minutes had me huffing like mad.

But, hey, I got through it with the help of Santa Esmeralda's "Please, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" --to which I danced like a madwoman when I was seventeen, complete with Flamenco moves--and some other lovely classic Disco music. (What can I say? I am a gal who went through the teen years in the '70's. I used to be able to dance for hours at a time--IN HEELS! Now, I can't even walk in heels, much less dance.

This does put a lovely goal ahead of me--a bit of a motivator, let's say? To be able to dance with abandon for AN HOUR. Minimum.

It comes in handy at a Latino party to be able to salsa and merengue and rumba and cha-cha-cha and cumbia for extended periods. :)

I kept to my calorie goal Tuesday (This is still kinda my Tuesday, although it's really Wednesday morning, cause I am a nite owl. I woke up at 3 pm yesterday, so I'll be heading for bed soon.)

So far, so good. The first week of my New Start is almost done. I began last Thursday. Tomorrow, the second week starts. That means I've lost my water weight this week (ergo the consecutive days of loss), and now we get to the meat of it.

I've got Celia Cruz's riotous "Quimbara" and Gloria Estefan's "Mi Tierra" and "Rhythm is Gonna Get You," among other great dance tunes for tomorrow's session.

To all on the journey, God bless you today and help you and me out big time.

FALL FREEDOM CHALLENGE at eDiets

I decided that since I've done okay for four whole days now--heh--that I'd take advantage of my current state of solid motivation and add more energy into that motivation battery by participating in a structured challenge.

So, I signed up for the eight-week Fall Freedom Challenge over at eDiets.com.

Watch out, dragons! The Princess has got a new sword.

I'm in a team called FallN2Fitness. A cute name. (I didn't come up with it.)

There are guidelines about how many challenge points you can earn by eating on your plan (eDiets has various plans, such as for Diabetes, Heart Smart, South Beach, etc.), by exercising according to their suggestions for cardio and toning (how many times, how long, at what target heart rate), by doing the challenges (journaling, sorting through your closet, etc), even for posting so many times per week in threads with your teammates. If every member of the team meets their points level, the whole team gains bonus points.

I'm not a hugely competitive sort. Minimally competitive, actually. But I lost fifteen pounds the last time (years ago) that I did an eDiets challenge, and it got me exercising after mucho sendentariness. If I can do the same this time, well, I'll take it! Only, my goal is to continue to use the tools and not go off backsliding again. (Hope, hope, hope...my word!)

I see it as a behavioral modification tool. That's all. Some camaraderie. Some support. A system for developing habits.

Wish me well, would ya?