The Fittest Mama Challenge

So, last night I was a little too tired to post more about the challenge and this morning isn't that much different - but it's a new day!  The Fittest Mama Challenge is a competition to improve health and lifestyle. Not too dissimilar from the Biggest Loser, participants % age of weight loss will be calculated bi-weekly and participants will be counseled and coached in nutrition, exercise, and other areas for overall lifestyle improvement.  There are two teams - the green team and the purple team.  The green team is comprised of veteran mamas (with babies or children approximately one or older) and the purple team is made up of the newbie mamas.  I thought this was a great idea in that schedules might be slightly more similar with groupings like this and kids might be more likely to play together when mamas get together to work out.  At the same time, these groupings have their cons too.  Many participants on the Green Team have participated in the challenge before and know what to expect and know each other already, so there's a great support system over there.  I know that we'll get this kind of support together too, but it takes some time to create that kind of camaraderie.  There are different challenges along the way, like planks, push ups, sit ups, wall sits, stair running, etc.  And there are other workshops on nutrition counseling and...blow drying.  That's right - blow drying and styling hair.  And, to be totally honest, that might just be what I'm looking forward to most because I am TERRIBLE at doing my hair and smoothing it even though the hairdressers and my sister can always tame it pretty well.  So I'm looking forward to some instruction in that area.  Like I mentioned last night, participants need to use one of three options of calorie counters online and I've found one that I like quite a lot.  I like that it connects to Facebook and you can create a supportive community.  Perhaps our team can utilize this tool to feel more connected and help each other out.  We'll see.  I mentioned in a past post that I'm back to pre-baby weight, but not tone and that's part of my goal, to tone up.  Also, pre-baby I wasn't quite where I wanted to be BMI - wise, but, as an individual I was happy/complacent with how far I've come already.  As part of a team, with others depending on me, I'm hoping to meet my BMI goal by April.  Also, for each pound gained, you owe $1 towards a pampering gift certificate for the overall winner and, for those of you who don't know me I'm a bit...frugal (read cheap), so this is an excellent incentive for me to stay on track.  I've also already found that eating better saves me money.  I went to the movies yesterday (blog about that tomorrow) and instead of getting popcorn and a soda for my snack/lunch, I packed apple slices, a cheese stick, and water.  Not quite the same, but delicious nonetheless and a lot less expensive than movie theater popcorn.  The calorie count website is also helpful for me to understand the content of my foods better.  I try to eat whole foods as much as possible, but I'm not the best at balancing proteins, carbs, and fats, and this tool graphs that for you so I can see where my deficits are on a daily basis and strive to make recipes that make up for that in the future.  There's a recipe browser on the site and other suggestions for foods.  Tracking my activity is something I did before, but again, not to this extent.  Perhaps I'll dust off the pedometer again too.  Wish me luck!