90 Day Challenge

The Jensen crew started a 90 day health/fitness challenge on March 1st.  Dan came up with the idea.  He is working on becoming a personal trainer through NASM.  He is studying to take the test, and trying out the things he is learning/reading about in real life.  Bridgette, Brent, Whitney, Chris, Sue, Dan and I are all doing the challenge together!  We all have different goals and reasons for why we are doing it.  Some want to lose weight, some want to build muscle, but we all want to be more fit and healthy!

We all got together March 1st and talked one on one with Dan about our fitness goals, and where we want to be in 90 days.  He came up with a plan for each person to help them meet their goals.  We had a starting weigh in that night; the final weigh in will be June 1st.

Diet is key, so Dan sat down with everyone and told them about myfitnesspal (we have been using it for a while now, and it was vital in our weight loss!)  Because we are all friends we can see each other's food diaries, and workout diaries.  It really makes you feel accountable and want to push yourself!

It is awesome to see his family be as committed as they are.  They have all been very diligent with myfitness pal, and have been working out each day, and many of them whose goal is to lose weight have started off strong, losing 6-7 lbs a week!

On top of individual workouts, each Saturday we have been meeting at Payson High football field and doing bleacher drills and different HIIT drills.  We start out with a warm up lap around the field.  We do multiple sets of lunges, hops, one legged hops, sprints, and other drills up the bleachers.  Then Dan switches it up each week with various high intensity cardio drills such as windsprints, jump-rope, ladders, gassers, burpees, etc.  nothing makes me feel like I have earned each calorie burnt like these drills.  I feel so accomplished when I am completely fatigued and spent at the end!

My personal goals are:

*I would like to lose about 7 more pounds. I am currently at 119 (I got down to 116 on our cruise).  My original goal weight was 115, but having been at 116 I still didn't quite look the way I want to, so my new goal weight is 112.  Most of that weight will come from my thighs.  This is definitely my stubborn area.  For some woman it's their abs, but for me it has always been my thighs.  I have built up a lot of muscle in my legs, and it's pretty solid, but it doesn't show as much as I would like because of the extra lbs still there.

*I would like to be able to see more definition with my muscles, specifically my legs and abs.  I am pretty impressed with my progress thus far.  I never thought I could get to where I am at now, but I know I can accomplish a lot more and look the way I want to. A way for me to measure this is by setting specific goals about the amount of weight I would like to lift come June 1st.  There are a couple of exercises I would specifically like to set goals for--bench and squats.

*Currently I bench 80 lbs about 6 times, 3 sets. By June 1st I would like to bench at least 95. Squatting I can do 155 now, so by June 1st I would like to be at 185. I would also like to be able to do pull-ups and dips with out assistance.  I am so close already!!!

Weightlifting for me has become a passion. I will admit, I love feeling like a badass.  I love when I get compliments on my correct form or the amount of weight I'm lifting. It's addicting. I love that I am helping (if in tiny, tiny way) to change the stereotype about girls and lifting. I love that it is something Dan and I can do together. Mostly, I love the way I feel about myself.

90 days is enough time to make some big changes if you really want to.  I encourage all of you to set some goals for yourself and work towards them! They may seem unreachable at first, but give it all you got and you will surprise yourself ;)

Pic taken today