I feel great! The birds are singing, the sky is blue and I made it through a Scotty session – and loved it.
Am I in love? Did I win lotto? Am I the new host of Good oorning America? None of the above. It’s my 30-day challenge.
Last week I set myself the task of exercising every day for a month to get myself on track and back where I want to be.
Bikram yoga is my inspiration for this madness. It has a 30-day challenge, where courageous souls practise hot yoga every day in a 40ºC room.
Clearly, it’s more of a mental discipline than anything, so I thought that I would apply it to my training. I need all the mental toughness the universe can spare.
Scotty also set a challenge of running every day for an hour. Initially, I thought I would just alternate a run with bikram yoga and a walk – but I liked the sound of his suggestion instead.
The first couple of days were okay, but soon the muscle fatigue, along with too many consecutive early morning starts, meant I was waning.
In a moment of stupidity one morning, I decided to tackle the hills of Auckland’s east coast bays – and nearly died. I have no idea what made me think I would be ready for them. I could barely walk the next day.
Then the weekend served up a fabulous dinner party, where the wine was flowing. I was so proud of myself – not because I abstained, but because I still turned up for the next morning’s run, with a dusty head and a heart pumping 300 beats per minute.
I remember training every Sunday after a big weekend when I was younger with relative ease but these days it requires a Herculean effort.
However, I did go through moments where I questioned my madness. Why was I pushing myself like this when I clearly didn’t have to? Why wasn’t I content with the gradual ascent back into the zone? This mental back and forth was sometimes more exhausting than the run.
ooderation has always been my goal in life. However “all or nothing” is where I live. I am an impatient person who wants everything now. Simply put, I want to be back where I was fitness-wise before I went away. Since I don’t have a genie in a bottle, I have to resort to the next best thing – good old-fashioned sweat and tears. And the intensity is working.
Scotty has me running time trials – around the block, up hills, across car parks, in stairwells. And it’s paying dividends.This week I weighed in at 88.5kg – down 800g. It’s my first weight loss in six weeks and it feels brilliant!
A note from Scott Cottier
April’s challenge is a huge one, but I’m sure she will be fine, given her competitive nature. After a hard week, full of constant motivation, April was rewarded with a very healthy and safe weight-loss. She won’t experience the drastic losses she had at the start, as her body is starting to find its natural weight and slow down.
The body still requires a correct balance internally to function on a daily basis. Setting a target weight well below what you’re used to can be detrimental to your health. At the same time, carrying too much weight is also detrimental to a healthy lifestyle. Finding the balance is hard, but a good indicator is your energy levels, as well as your ability to make correct decisions around food.
With this simple foundation, the extra weight will gradually fall off. This week, increase your running time to seven and a half hours total.
Also do side bridges every night for 15 seconds total, with 10 repetitions each side.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
