The winter blahs have been taking their toll for a few weeks now.  February and these weeks of March have been tough on my motivation and dedication.  But if we’re going to be in shape for summer, time is running out.  We must re-dedicate ourselves and stick to the diet and workouts.

Men’s health has a great article on staying motivated. You can read it here.

These two are my favorites:
7. Do a daily gut check
Place your fingers on your belly and inhale deeply so that it expands. As you exhale, contract your abdominal muscles and push your fingertips against your hard abdominal wall. Now pinch. “You’re holding pure fat between your fingers,” says Tom Seabourne, Ph.D., author of Athletic Abs. Do this every day, 30 minutes before your workout, and you’ll find that you’ll rarely decide to skip it.

20. Blackmail yourself
Take a picture of yourself shirtless, holding a sign that shows your e-mail address. Then e-mail it to a trusted but sadistic friend, with the following instructions: “If I don’t send you a new picture that shows serious improvement in 12 weeks, post this photo at hotornot.com and send the link to the addresses listed below….” (Include as many e-mail addresses — especially of female acquaintances — as possible.) “It’s nasty, but extremely effective,” says Alwyn Cosgrove.

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Once again, I’m leading the way in stumbling blocks. First the flu and now vacation.

Taking a break from exercise can be great for letting your body rest and recuperate. Taking a break from you diet can also help keep your metabolism from slowing too much. But this only applies if you’ve been locked in and dedicated to both your workouts and diet for 4 or more weeks.

I got enough of a break when I had the flu (although I still met my goals for the 7 pound Jan challenge). Now, however, I’m pushing to meet my Feb. 10-pound challenge goals but I have the rest of this week off on vacation with the wife.

Like all roadblocks, it helps if you have a plan. My plan for this vacation is to try and eat healthy (while still eating out most likely) and to get as much exercise as possible. The hotel has a nice indoor pool and gym, and I expect to do a bunch of walking sightseeing and such.

The end of the Feb challenge is in just 9 days and we’ll find out then how well my plan worked!

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Time for round 2!  We’ve each set a goal to lose 10 pounds by Feb 29th.

Each of us weighed in today Feb 11 with our starting weight. Here are the results.

• JC is currently at 262
• RC is currently at 228
• JB is currently at 226

This is a fairly aggressive goal of 3.3 pounds a week but with proper diet and exercise, its totally doable.

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The whole goal of this site is to create a community to support one another, motivate one another, and help each other through plateaus and roadblocks.

My first roadblock is hitting me even as I type. I’ve had a 102 degree fever for 3 days now. When I’m not throwing up or coughing up my lungs, I’m shivering so bad that its almost like I’m having a seizure. I pretty much haven’t been able to get out of bed for the last 3 days.

Obviously, none if this is good for my body transformation. I haven’t been eating much (can’t keep anything down) but I am certainly not able to exercise either. If I’m even awake I’m either standing in the shower trying to get warm or I’m lying in bed wishing I’d die.

The only reasonable thing I can think of to do is eat healthy and try to get in enough calories so my body has the energy it needs to fight off this flu. This calls into question my ability to meet the 7 pound challenge but if I don’t get better, I won’t even be in a shape to weigh in on Friday.

So I guess I’ll wind up being the first example of what to do when you hit a roadblock like getting sick: do whatever it takes to get better, then get right back to the diet and exercise.

I’ll keep you all updated on my progress. In the meantime, if anyone has already experienced this and has some advice to share, drop me a comment!

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Here are two important tips for sticking to your goals:

Have Social Support
A workout partner, a nutrition buddy at work, or support from your family can really improve your chances at success. If you’re trying to go it alone its easy to fall back into the everyday rut: lunch with your co-workers, evenings in front of the tv.  Social support can help keep you on track and provide motivation when you’re feeling weak.

Track Your Progress
Take pictures, measure your arms, hips, waist and any other body party you’re looking to improve (thighs, biceps). If possible, try and track your bodyfat as well. Bioimpedence devices can be found pretty much everywhere and while they’re not known for being accurate, they can be used to track your progress - as long as the numbers keep getting smaller you’re on the right track! If you aren’t measuring, you don’t know where you need to improve.

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