The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

Well, this challenge was a success for me. I met all my goals, including achieving a weight loss of thirteen pounds (versus a 5% challenge goal of 11 pounds!) It feels great, and now I am getting right into a new position with a new company on Monday, just as the challenge ends.

I do have a few thoughts on each goal:

Clean eating - 80/104 goal, 83/104 actual - I definitely made some changes to my diet and chose cleaner options at several meals, and this contributed greatly to achieving some of the other goals. I think that, with a little effort, I could have achieved 90 or more, but it is tough with social expectations (barbeques and dinner parties) and a family that is not really bought into the same type of clean eating that I try to accomplish. I picked up a lot of knowledge I'll take with me as the challenge ends.

Resistance training - 20 goal, 20 actual - having taken a week off due to sickness, this needed a big push at the end to complete. I am fairly happy with my progress in this area, but it's probably time for me to commit to a full program (such as the Hard-Body Plan) with a little more structure.

Cardio training - 25 goal, 26 actual - I am REALLY happy with the results here. I have seen an increase in my cardio capacity, and even a drop in blood pressure over the course of this challenge. I've noticed that a good cardio workout is pretty much an average half-pound drop for me as long as I eat reasonably in the day or two around it.

5% challenge - dropped from 221lbs to 208lbs. Very noticeable drop in stomach size as well - pretty close to three inches.

Spin classes - 20 goal, 21 actual - This has proven to be the best workout for me at my current level of fitness. I've gone from not being able to do standing climbs on the bike, to feeling like I am keeping up with the class and increasing my leg speed with every session. Having the encouragement (in all its forms) from the instructor has really let me get more from my cardio workouts than I otherwise might.

Crunches - 800 goal, 857 actual - This was a good goal to have because it encouraged me to do some ab exercises at times I might have not planned to. Looking back, I think the goal was a little low - I should have tried for 1000. I exceeded the target even with some lack of diligence during the middle part of the challenge.

I haven't posted in a few days, since I've finally had some activity on the job search front and it's crunch time with the classes I'm taking. A few quick thoughts...

1) Thanks to strepthroat, I've achieved my 5% weight loss challenge goal! My weight's been holding steady for a week or so, here's hoping that this weight loss is "real" and won't come back now that I'm eating more than arrowroot cookies and soup.

2) Timing issues (spin class schedule) is really jeopardizing my new-and-improved, bumped-up goal of 20 spin classes! I might need to find clubs elsewhere within driving distance who offer mid-day or Tues/Thurs classes to get up to 20 for the challenge.

3) I'm not sure if it's part of my pec or my anterior shoulder, but there is some weird muscle that is really developing on both sides. Never knew it was there until this challenge!

I'm down to the wire on all the exercise goals, so I need to really prioritize them to get them done. The way the numbers are, I'm in real danger of missing all of them by one or two, and getting a big "0-fer" at the end of the challenge. Can't let that happen!

I have strep throat, which has gotten in the way of my workouts for the past couple of days. On the other hand, not being able to swallow certainly has helped on the 5% weight loss challenge - I've dropped five pounds in two days and am now at my target weight, three weeks early! I'm not going to chalk that up yet; I'm sure that once I start eating and drinking real food again I'll gain back most of that mass. (Likely all water loss anyways...)

Last week, I posted about my trunk full of donuts, the metaphorical symbol of my challenge. I ended up with an estimated 15 pounds of donuts in the trunk of my car, leftovers from a soccer tourney I helped out with. I can now provide some photographic evidence of it... I had no idea they had donut boxes this big! For reference, the box took up fully half of the trunk of my car (where the photo was taken).

I'm on pace for all my goals. I've actually upped the "spin class" one - the Goodlife RPM classes are really kicking my ass, and I like it! The Question of the Day asked what celeb you'd like to resemble, and I said Matt Dunigan, ex-quarterback, Hall of Famer, and current commentator for the CBC. Matt looks great in a suit, and when he takes the jacket off the upper body pops...

I thought it might be appropriate to post a progress update (similar to the daily updates on the 52DC forum). Halfway through, all my goals are well within reach if I keep at it.

Clean Eating -pretty good results, with 38 CE's to date (out of a total of 46 possible). Some of the blown opportunities were minor (an extra glass of wine one night) and some were pretty major (hitting the dessert table at a buffet restaurant with the family). Overall, I'm thinking that 85 is possible, a few above my overall goal of 80.

Cardio - Ahead of the game here, with fourteen sessions under my belt out of a target of 25. I can feel a difference in my workouts over the last three weeks as well - the intensity level has been raised. My thought process - no ue spending all this time in the gym if I'm not going to give it everything I've got while there!

Resistance training - 8 sessions out of a goal of 20; still within reach though I'm one or two behind pace to date. Still not looking forward to lower body sessions; not sure if its the hard work, or intimidation from using the heavier weights (though not as heavy as most!). I'm really feeling that my flexibility is not where it should be; keeping form during squats is a bit tough and my lunges are still a bit wobbly.

On the personal goals, I'm down officially six pounds out a target of 11, and have blown away the spin class objective of 8 (1/week) over the challenge. My "crunches" are on track too; I'm almost half way to my goal of 800 crunches over the 52-day period.

Overall, I'm going to give myself a "B" with the need to get more RT's in before I get up to "A" level. Pretty satisfied overall though.

It's Wednesday, and I feel like I'm hitting a bit of a rut after a great start to the challenge. I missed out on CE's two evenings in a row, after dragging the family to a buffet restaurant on Monday and having a couple pints of beer after class last night. Still ahead of my CE target, but trying to tell myself that isn't helping.

My legs were absolutely leaden during cardio this morning - I almost bailed even before class started since I could feel the inertia. I did power through the 45 minutes, though, and hopefully I'll get a little more spring in my step for tomorrow.

I added a link today to Alex Hutchinson's blog, Sweat Science. It has some great discussion of the scientific research behind fitness and exercise. I'm not all that familiar with the site yet, but will definitely be spending some time digging through it.

Less than three weeks into the challenge, and I'm down 6 pounds as of today! Whoo-hooo!