21 Day Challenge

I may end up regretting this, and I feel a little silly talking about it here, but I'm just letting y'all know here that I'm starting the 21 day challenge tomorrow (and if you hear Jason laughing it is not your imagination because I start these new 'challenges' almost monthly)!  The reason for making this 'big announcement', is in the hopes that doing so will hold me accountable!  


And what is the 21 Day Challenge, you ask?   Well, it's something I've kind of expanded on from this book:

This book we bought several years ago and it has some really good workout routines that you can do with just a few free weights or if you go to a gym, they have workouts for nautilus machines.  But the part I end up using the most is the 21-day kickstart routine.  For 21 days straight you do either a free weight or cardio routine for 21 minutes.  Each week, the reps and sets increase a bit as do the weights.  It's intended to jump start a new workout routine that will stick and I've found that if I do get through the 21 days, I'm much more likely to continue the workout for months!  And then I fall off the bandwagon due to illness or vacation or laziness but still, this is the one I keep coming back to. In conjunction with the workout, I really like the Livestrong Calorie Counter App for the iPhone: 

This app has almost every food item imaginable out there - from restaurants to brands you find in the grocery store.  You can customize it so that it will calculate how many calories you should eat per day in order to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.  I was never into counting calories but this is so easy because I usually have my phone handy, and it does all the adding and calculating, so it's easy to stay on track!  And here's the best part: it works!  If I stick to the calorie guide and do my 20 minutes of working out, it's very easy to start shedding those stubborn pounds!  While my goal is not to lose a lot of weight (just about 10 pounds) I do want to start eating healthier and get a good workout habit going.

But wait, there's more!  Not only will I keep up with my exercise and good eating habits, but in the next 21 days I will...

1.  Catch up on my 6 months of overdue paperwork!   

2.  Ride Tommy & Midnight 4 times a week

3.  Work with the other ponies on the ground to establish a good foundation and in particular, get Ginger over her needle shyness!

I could go into more detail about those three items but I'm afraid any readers I have might drop off dramatically ;-)

I feel like I've been in a rut the last several months and I'm really craving some discipline.   There are a few things that can throw me off - like rain!  Which we definitely need but if my arena is flooded out, it will make working with the horses more difficult!  The forecast for this week is calling for rain at least 3 days of the week so we'll see how far I get!  Or if one of the girls is sick (which has been the case the last 10 days).  

So if you see me, ask me how I'm doing!  Or leave me a comment here or shoot me an email -  I need the accountability!!! 

Until next time...