April FLOUNDERS Bring May MOTIVATION — Weight Off My Shoulders

I think we all figured out that my April was NOT up to par. I would be on plan for like 3 or 4 days then go off the wagon - so to speak - for three or four days. There was no rhyme or reason to what I was doing. I let my will power take a vacation to some warm tropical location, while I ran around like someone who has their issues with food under control. THANKFULLY you all kept me more on track than I would've been. I thank you for being there while I fought to get back on track ... and failed.

Overall in April, I had a BLAST. Lots of time with good friends, good beers and good food ... but, I ended up gaining just under 2 lbs.

NOT what I had planned.

But, this is the time to buckle down and figure out how to be on plan, while being social.

I am using the month of May as a time to get "BACK TO ME" - time to focus on my needs, my health and for now, the number on the scale.

I seem to work better when having a goal or challenge in mind - I think back to how I kicked BUTT in December because of my Dynamic December challenge.

So here is what I am looking to accomplish during #MarvelousMay:

1) #plankaday - This has been life changing for me. I am not one for crunches, especially with my back injury, so this is a great way to get some core work in without sitting and doing a bunch of crunches - I don't want to do - on the floor.

This program was started by Dr. Sherry Pagoto (@drsherrypagoto) and is open to interpretation. For me, I started with doing a 60 second forearm plank every day for a week. The next week I upped it by 5 seconds and did 65 second forearms planks every day for a week. I did 5 second increments until I could hold a forearm plank for 4 minutes - yes! I can hold a plank for 4 minutes. Ahhh, I never thought that was possible.

Once, I hit that goal I switched up my planks. Last week, I did one 2 minute forearm plank and a 1 minute side plank on both sides every day. I like to keep my core guessing each day what I will do. :)

I am going to continue to do my #plankaday every day. I am enjoying the versatility and loving the #plankaday community.

2) #back2basics - I think this is a great challenge and timely for me as I am trying to get back into the swing after flip flopping back and forth in April. I also like this challenge (started by Colleen - @tryn2bfit) because it again leaves the choice of what you focus on up to the individual. I think that is a great way to keep people's attention and driven when they are working on something extremely personal.

For me, I will be focusing on hitting all 6 of the Weight Watchers Healthy Guidelines. Every day of the month I will be sure to have my required amounts of liquids (water), fruits/veggies, vitamins, dairy, healthy oils & exercise. I am pumped.

3) #30daychip - I owe a lot of success to the man that created the #7daychip/#30daychip program: Brad Gansberg (@bradgansberg). He has been a great motivator and has gotten me back on track more times than I can count.

This is yet another great challenge that you set for yourself. I have done a few different #7daychip topics, which you can see here.

The basic premise is to do something healthy for seven consecutive days ... or if you are feeling like you want a real challenge you can go for 30 or 100 days.

For this, #30daychip (which would be my second) I am looking to track my food every day. That means: log it into Weight Watchers eTools, write it up as a food log post on my blog and Facebook/Tweet it out.

4) #100ozchallenge – This is actually the first challenge that I started on my own! I have had at times upwards of 50 people participating. Woo! I feel wicked cool. Okay, that wasn’t cool. Dammit!

Anyway, this is a pretty simple challenge: drink at least 100oz water a day. That’s it. Keep yourself hydrated during the winter months. I just saw on twitter today that “Dehydration can cause ageing & can slow down metabolism as much as 3%” – I am here to not let that happen! Stay hydrated!!

So today is Day One, I am refocusing and getting back to my Number One Priority: ME!

What will you be doing to make May the best month of 2012 thus far and rock your own #MarvelousMe challenge?