Here is my comparison picture from Day 1 to today after completing the Mr. Shut Up and Train challenge. Strangely enough, the scale did not budge over these last 3 weeks, but as you can see some inches were lost.
Overall, what I did like about the challenge was that I received an email every day as a reminder and motivator to get up and be active. There were always alternatives for just about every exercise in the challenge for beginners, which ever thought I work out regularly I still consider myself a beginner as far as strength and endurance. The nutritional challenges also helped me get back in the habit of making clean and healthy food choices, and being prepared to do so.
What I think did not work for me with this challenge was the lack of cardio over a long period of time. The workouts were mostly high intensity interval training workouts, which are good for building strength and endurance, but for me don’t result in much weight loss. Why? Because its too hard! I finish the workout but find because it is hard I am often needing to stop and take breaks. I think I would need to incorporate some additional cardio that I can do for longer periods of time for optimal calorie burn. I’m not sure when the next challenge will start, but in the meantime I plan to go back to using the elliptical for cardio 5-6 days a week and strength training twice a week to help burn fat and prepare myself for the next challenge.
Jonna
