4 Weeks, 4% Challenge

It's February!  I love new starts.  They are a great time to evaluate your goals.  How have your health and fitness goals been going since January 1? 

Mine, not so well.  While I really had an itch to compete in a competition in March, I have not been mentally focused enough to go through with competition prep.  (Part of the reason is my future life UN-plans; my mind is just somewhere else.)

Recently, I have been following the FB page of The Anti-Jared. 

He has lost over 200 pounds, and I really like his posts.  Most are real-life inspirational (none of this "Aim to Fly High and You Will Soar" bullshit) and he puts priorities on non-scale victories (NSV), which are just as important (if not more) than seeing the number drop on the scale. 

He recently had a post about the Dietbet

It's a weight-loss challenge to lose 4% of body weight in 4 weeks. So, as he explains, if you weigh 200 lbs, by the end of February you should lose 8 lbs.  It's a pretty attainable goal.  You can participate in his challenge (a $50 entry fee, and if you attain the goal, you can split the pot with others who have also accomplished their 4%) if you want. 

I am going to do this challenge on a personal level.  One of my new year's goals was to stay within 5-7 pounds of my competition weight.  But I have failed.  So 4% would put me back into that range.   

I also have a NSV I would like to achieve.  After watching a video of IFBB Bikini Pro Brittany Tacy rock out a bazillion pull ups, my new goal is to do 1 UNASSISTED PULL UP!



I have NONE! NIL! ZIP! ZERO! upper body strength.



Don't let those muscles fool you; I can get lean and toned, but building muscle is hard for me. While I can hold on with death grip to the pull up handles, I can't really move more than an inch. 

I will post some workouts and recipes as I go through out the month.

If you so feel inclined, I ask that you follow with me, and if you don't need to lose weight, make a NSV for yourself; clean dinner 3x/week, bringing lunch to work everyday, healthy protein-fueled breakfast every morning, go for a run/walk 4x/week, attempt a new exercise or a new class, try to lift the dumbbell weight up from where you are, etc.)