Progress Report #13: March 26-31 FINISH LINE!!

A BIG CONGRATS on finishing the challenge! Even if you didn't get to 100, give yourself a huge pat on the back for sticking it through to the end.

If you have a wrap-up post, leave us the link in the comments form so we can come give you a pat on the back!

Did you have any triumphs throughout the challenge? Any hurdles to overcome?

What goals did you set and did you meet your goals? What would you do differently/the same next time?

Finally, I want to say a big THANK YOU for participating in the challenge. If you've seen the signups, you'll know that I'm passing the hostessing torch on to Allie and Jill. Seeing your comments every week has been such an inspiration to me and has continually helped me get off my butt and get moving even when I didn't want to. It has been a great six months and I hope that through Allie and Jill the challenge continues to grow. I'll still be around but I'm really looking forward to being a participant this time around.

Best wishes,



ROUND 2 PARTICIPANTS:

Abi - 113
Ali - 90
Alisonwonderland - 88
Amanda D - 117
Amanda G - 100
Brooke - 100
Carin - 123
Catherine Ensley - 15
Chris - 111
Collettakay - 62
Dahlia Jinn - 61
Enriched Mom - 181
Gloria - 24
Gnoegnoe - 101
Heather - 174
HeathMochaFrost - 60
Irene - 28
Juliann - 151
Kate (Mom) - 205
Kate S. - 134
Kim Frazier - 325
Kimberly - 125
Kristi - 20
Kristy - 100
Ladydi - 344
Lesly - 36
m3kp - 265
Melinda - 92
Molly - 57
Nanscorner - 72
Nise' - 239
Raych - 151
Rebecca :) - 80
Rhinoa - 13
Sandy - 249
Shanda - 88
Shore Debris - 187
Softdrink - 203
Stacy - 22
Sue - 30
Teddy Rose - 21
TommyGirl - 55
Toni - 36
Trish - 100
Trisha - 35
Vicki - 139
Zia - 117

*Totals only as accurate as reported throughout the challenge. Early participants are not shown.

Progress Report #12: March 19-25

Please report your "miles" for March 19-25 (Friday through Thursday). Please take a minute to make sure I have your correct total from last week.

Progress Report #12

Did you have any triumphs this week? Any hurdles to overcome?

What goals do you have for the upcoming week?

If you have an update on your own blog leave your link in the comments below. (Be sure to also leave your miles in the comments so I don't have to track them down!) Take a minute to visit the other participants and cheer them on!

Last progress report will be March 31st!!! Only 6 days left!

Hope everyone has a great week,

Progress Report #11: March 11-18

Please report your "miles" for March 12-18 (Friday through Thursday). Please take a minute to make sure I have your correct total from last week.

Progress Report #11

Did you have any triumphs this week? Any hurdles to overcome?

What goals do you have for the upcoming week?

If you have an update on your own blog leave your link in the comments below. (Be sure to also leave your miles in the comments so I don't have to track them down!) Take a minute to visit the other participants and cheer them on!

Guest Posts:
Learning to Love Yoga (written by my mom!! An awesome post to check out)

Winner of Words to Sweat By Giveaway: Abi!! Congrats Abi.

Update on Round 3: I have one participant who is interested in co-hosting the next round. If you're interested in helping host Round 3, please email me at trishsreadingnook at gmail dot com

Hope everyone has a great week,

Learning to Love Yoga

I'd like to think I'm as open to advice as the next person, or at least certainly willing to consider advice that comes my way. When it comes to my fitness goals, my daughter, who happens to be Trish, has offered me bits of advice from time to time. One was to get rid of the scale (or at least quit weighing myself 10 times a day), and the other was to mix up my exercise routine with something different; something like......yoga.

Yoga? So what's up with Yoga, anyway? People seem to really love it, but I always envisioned people laying on mats chanting their way to enlightenment. Is that really going to get rid of my fat? I was slow to venture off my treadmill onto the mat, but I finally called Trish one day and told her I was going to try yoga. "I'm scared!!" I whined. "What if I fall over? What if I get into a pose that I can't get out of and they have to pry my legs into a normal position again???" She encouraged me, and I took the next step forward. I talked her into joining me where they offered a special introductory trial: 10 days of yoga for $10. I could certainly test the mat for 10 days with her as my yoga buddy.

After becoming a jogging addict, I questioned how standing in a position named after an animal could really get my heart rate up and provide the same fitness benefits that running 5 miles on a treadmill could. I entered the room feeling skeptical and scared. It was dark and HOT! A room heated to 96 degrees with humidity? Are you kidding me? Yes, this was hot yoga. But I gave it my all. My body twisted this way and that, my legs quivering while trying to maintain balance and alignment. I was a half moon! I was a downward facing dog. I was a camel, and a rabbit, and a tibetan table! Yikes! This was more strenuous than I thought! My trusty Polar watch validated that my heart rate was up, and the calories were burning off my body faster than I would have thought.

I've come to find out through research that there are more benefits to yoga than I knew. Aside from flexibility, did you know that yoga is effective in increasing lubrication of the joints, ligaments, and tendons? Yoga also massages the internal glands and organs of the body, contributing to overall wellness. And best of all... improved muscle tone!!

So now it's been about a month, and something unexpected has happened to me. I have fallen in love with yoga. I can tell that my body is responding with improved flexibility and better MUSCLE TONE!!! But I also notice that when I leave the yoga center, I can't even fathom putting anything bad into my body (such as my beloved Diet Coke), at least for a little while! I guess it's true what they say about yoga... that it harmonizes the mind with the body. If we believe that the will of the mind can enable people to achieve extraordinary results, then yoga will be a double win for me.

There was a lot of wisdom in my daughter's advice to shake up the workout routine and try something news. Now.... I just need to work on weening my dependency on that darn scale. But isn't this fitness thing all about progress in the right direction anyway? One step at a time.

Progress Report #10: March 5 - 11

Please report your "miles" for March 5-11 (Friday through Thursday). Please take a minute to make sure I have your correct total from last week.

Progress Report #10

Did you have any triumphs this week? Any hurdles to overcome?

What goals do you have for the upcoming week?

If you have an update on your own blog leave your link in the comments below. (Be sure to also leave your miles in the comments so I don't have to track them down!) Take a minute to visit the other participants and cheer them on!

Giveaway Post: Think the towel in the picture above is cute? Win two of them! Click here for giveaway details (deadline is 17th). Big thanks to Dana from Words to Sweat By for donating the towels.

So, we only have two weeks left (and a little) until the end of the challenge. Some of you guys are, like, total overacheivers (I say with love) and some of us are right on the brink of getting our 100 miles. As someone who still has 36 miles to go, instead of looking at individual miles I find it helpful to look at it in time. Basically I have 9 more hours to go until I read 100 miles--much more manageable than 36 miles! Maybe that helps you, maybe not. But we can do this! Push harder these last couple of weeks!

Another note of business. As much a I have loved hosting this challenge for the past six months, after much much deliberation I have decided this will be my last go. It saddens me to see the challenge go away as I know I'd love to continue, but I just can't commit at this time and you guys deserve a hostess who can give it her all. I am hoping that one of you will step up and take the hostessing reigns from me. If you are interested, please email me. I would be happy to pass on this blog to someone else so there will hopefully be a smooth transition. Since I started this challenge, other challenges have popped up on the blogosphere, so if no one steps in I'm sure there will be alternatives somewhere. But I'd love to see this go on!! I'd like to make a decision in the next week or two so that if there is a new hostess she can post sign ups for Round 3.

Hope everyone has a great week,

Motivational Giveaway!

Need a little motivation to get you through the last few weeks of the challenge? I was approached by Dana who has an Etsy shop, Words to Sweat By, devoted to motivational towels. Dana has offered up two towels to a lucky winner--one towel to keep and one towel to pass on to someone else who might need a little extra motivation.

How to Win:

*Head over to Dana's Etsy shop and report back here in the comments which towel strikes your motivation (or exercise funny bone)

*Tell us in the comments what motivates your exercising and how you can help motivate others. If you'd like to write up a short post on your own blog, I'd love that too--just leave us the link.

I'll draw a winner at random on March 17th so you have until then to complete your mission.

You must be an active participant in the challenge in order to contend for the drawing--I want to support you guys who have taken the time to report your miles throughout the challenge.

(I'll need a way of getting ahold of you if you're the winner, so if you don't have an email listed on your blog or profile, please leave your email below).

Progress Report #9: Feb 26 - March 4

(Picture from participant Chris from BookaRama--her cat on her wii fit) :)

Please report your "miles" for February 26 - March 4 (Friday through Thursday). Please take a minute to make sure I have your correct total from last week.

Progress Report #9

Did you have any triumphs this week? Any hurdles to overcome?

What goals do you have for the upcoming week?

If you have an update on your own blog leave your link in the comments below. (Be sure to also leave your miles in the comments so I don't have to track them down!) Take a minute to visit the other participants and cheer them on!

Guest Posts:

If you would like to guest post (recipes, exercise tips, motivation, etc), please let me know via email at trishsreadingnook[at]gmail[dot]com!

Have an awesome week!