Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I was in two Wellness Challenges that my local YMCA held, beginning in the Spring of 2012. It's what kick started my weight loss. In addition, my friend and co-founder of this website, Scott, also had success by losing over 25 pounds in the eight week challenge he was in. I will be participating in their next challenge. But this upcoming challenge is vastly different from the ones we were part of.

The Northwest CT YMCA is offering the completely revamped fitness challenge, beginning April 7 and it will run for 8 weeks.

I've been using a pedometer for about a little under two years now. I've used it everyday consistently with the exception of one day, March 8 of last year, when I was sick with a bad cold. Every day since then, I've gotten at least 10,000 steps.

Now that I'm in my next phase of my workouts, I'm thinking of giving up the pedometer. I know I do a lot everyday and I do get the required steps in. I'm thinking maybe I should wear it on days that it's tough for me to get all the steps in, just for accountability on those days.

My personal trainer likes to mix up the work out every few weeks. This week, he has me using the free weights, which is more challenging than using the Cybex Smith Machine.

All the exercises are done on a weight bench. I'm doing exercises for all the muscle groups. The most challenging one for me was where I had to step up to the bench while holding onto weights. You have to make sure you have the proper balance for this exercise. I did this exercise before and it always had me confused. He taught me how to do it properly and I think I'll do better on this one than I did in the past.

A reminder of how far I've come...

Here's proof that the strength training is slowly working… My body fat percentage came down. It went from 22 percent down to 20! I think my abs are flattening out and maybe soon I'll see the muscles underneath.

Who doesn’t love bright, shiny bling things?  Whether its diamonds, an expensive watch or highly polished sports car, most of us are attracted to and want beautiful things.