Tuesday, May 29, 2012

MFP Elimination Challenge - Week#7

I survived another week of our challenge. And the Wolverines were the safe team again...meaning we all met the basic requirements of the challenge and had the largest percent of weight-loss.    I had a pretty good week.  But the current week is already frustrating me enough to make me want to drop out.  The challenge is becoming more of a food thing and less of a physical challenge.  But really, even if I quit today, I'd take everything I've learned up to this point and keep working it.  But I digress...

In summary:
I was supposed to do 2 30-min, a 60-min, and a 120-min workout, with one of those 30-min workouts being a new workout for me.  I did that.  The team goal for calories was 18,200.  We hit that.  My portion of that goal was 1,400.  I actually burned 2,356.
I was supposed to do 800 reps...200 each of upper body (UB), lower body (LB), core, and cardio. I did 1,600... 300 UB, 400 LB, 400 core, and 500 cardio.
I was supposed to do 30 squats on at least 4 days. I did exactly that.
I was supposed to do 6 15-second planks on at least 4 days. I did exactly that.
And the team was supposed to get 350 Extra Movement (EM) points. My fair share of that was 27.  I did 65.
I was supposed to stay under 2,500mg of sodium all five days, which I did.  And I was supposed to stay under my allotted carbs all five days, which I did.
For the weekend challenge, I was supposed to workout each day...I did.  I was supposed to burn 500 calories during the weekend...I burned 957.  I was supposed to stay under my calories on at least one of the two days and stay under my sodium and carbs both days.  I did all of that.

In the end, I lost another 0.6 lbs!!! When Week #6 started, I weighed 219.2. When Week #6 ended, I weighed 218.6.  I was a little disappointed.  But hey, a loss is a loss.

Week #7 Challenge:
  1. WORKOUT - I have to burn at least 1,500 calories in workouts this week.  And our team goal is 23,400.  We lost one team member this week due to the food challenge (and they almost lost me too).  So we only have 12 team members now.  So my fair share of the team goal is 1,950.  If I don't hit at least 1,500 calories, , I will be eliminated.
  2. REPS - I have to do 1,000 reps this week.  And they can be any combination of upper body (UB), lower body (LB), core, or cardio reps. If I don't complete this, I will be eliminated. No Team Goal for this one this week.
  3. HARD REP - Our HR is optional this week.  WooHoo!!
  4. FAVORITE REP - Our FR is also optional this week.  WooHoo!
  5. EXTRA MOVEMENT - I have to get 15 EM points this week.
  6. FOOD - There are five parts to the food challenge for the week.  1) Drink 8 oz of water before each meal and another 8 oz during each meal, four out of five days.  2) NO CARBS after lunch unless they also have at least 4g of fiber, four out of five days.  Fruits and veggies don't count against me though.  3) Stay under 2,500mg of Sodium four out of five days.  4) Substitute one thing in my diet that isn't particularly good for me (salt, coffee, soda, chips, alcohol).  5) Stay under my Fat allowance, four out of five days.  ***see my rant about this one below***
  7. WEEKEND CHALLENGE - I don't think we have a weekend challenge this week.  But hey, it's just Tuesday; I guess that could change.
My issues with the food challenge...
  • The owner of the challenge (Sheri) says that the purpose of the drinking all the water at meal times is to make us feel full so that we don't over-eat.  My breakfast is either 2 boiled eggs and 2 pieces of whole wheat toast OR a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of fruit.  I only make as much as I should eat.  There's no way I'm going to EAT more than that because I'm not going to FIX more than that.  Book-ending 6 oz of oatmeal with 16 oz of water just seems a little overkill to me.  It also makes it difficult for me to actually finish the part of my breakfast that has any nutrients in it!
  • I have been enjoying pushing myself physically during the challenge...working out 120 minutes in a row, getting a ton of reps done in one day or one week, tracking my calories and miles...I've enjoyed ALL of that.  But telling me what I can and can't eat and even WHEN I can eat them is a little much, I think.
  • Personally, I've been struggling to consume enough calories every day.  She wants us to burn more calories and workout more often...and I'm doing that.  But my 'net calories' is regularly falling well short of what it should be.  'Net calories' being the number of calories I eat MINUS the number of calories I burn.  Did you know that you really shouldn't fall below 1,200 net calories in a day...even if you don't work out?  And you REALLY shouldn't make a habit of it.  Monday, my net calories was 297.  I ate three meals and snacked twice and still only finished the day with less than 300 calories...AND IT WAS A HOLIDAY!  Normally I'd finish my day with a peanut butter sandwich or cottage cheese or another bowl of oatmeal so I got a few more calories in.  But because those things have carbs and less than 4g fiber, I'm violating this challenge if I do that.  Ugh!
  • In the last three months, I've been enjoying a diet that's higher in protein and healthy fats and lower in carbs.  That worked out fairly well in this challenge until this week when I'm no longer allowed to go over my fat allowance.
  • Most importantly, I just don't think that a diet is something you muck with just to be doing it.  If you find something that's working for you, enjoy it.  Tweaking every once in awhile is a good thing, especially if you feel you need a change.  But making such drastic changes every week and building on them...it just seems to me like this non-nutritionist, non-personal trainer is taking the things that she thinks might be necessary for her own diet and forcing them on the rest of us.  This is actually the first week (#7 out of 11) that I've felt like instead of being challenged, we've been set up to fail.  And for me, it's working...because I'd just as soon quit.
So, I'm starting out this week at 218.6 lbs. This is my workout plan for the week...
Monday - morning run/walk (60), Rockin' Body (50), 300 reps, 4 EM
Tuesday - lunch 300 reps, evening Rockin' Body (50), 7 EM
Wednesday - morning run/walk (45), lunch 300 reps, evening Rockin' Body (50), 7 EM
Thursday -  morning run/walk (45), lunch 300 reps, evening Rockin' Body (50), 7 EM
Friday - morning run/walk (45), lunch 300 reps, evening Rockin' Body (50), 7 EM
Saturday - WEIGH-IN, TurboJam (45)
Sunday - morning run/walk (60)

Wish me luck!

No comments: