CHALLENGE 1: P90X

I have decided to do fitness challenges in periods of 30 days. They say (I don't know who "they" are, but whatever) that it takes 21 days to make a habit. So I figure 30 days is enough to get a feel for a workout program and decide whether it's for me or not. Plus, shaking things up always helps keep your attention in a workout schedule.

Drum roll, please...

CHALLENGE NUMERO UNO: P90X

Famous fitness program through Beachbody fitness. It's an at-home program that about a billion people have talked about and loved. Using muscle confusion, I will confuse my body to super-sexydom. It requires six workouts per week with a change in nutrition (lots of protein, whole grains, vegetables, and other such roughage). I will be doing the LEAN track.

Check it:

http://www.teambeachbody.com/workout-routines/p90x-workout

With a schedule of 2-3 twelve-hour shifts per week at the hospital, four days of classes, all while planning a wedding, I know this may be rough. But it's important, so in the words of Tony Horton, I will BRING IT.

POST #5: The Pre-Skinny Bride

Ah, the most terrifying part of fitness change: the pre-workout/diet assessment. Don't know about you, but I hate stripping down to my underwear and staring at my thighs as I measure them with a thin strip of measuring tape. It's like stringing up a ham.

So, without further ado, here are my pre-diet/workout numbers:

Weight: 120.2

Height: 5'6"

Hips (the fattest part): 37.2"

Chest: 34.2"

Right arm: 9.2"

Left arm: 9.2"

Right thigh: 20.2"

Left thigh: 20.5" (ugh, my left thigh stores more fat?)

Body fat %: 25.97% (wtf?!)

Cholesterol (HDL/LDL): 64/68

Blood pressure: 120/75 (that is actually pretty high for me)

Now I just need to get some pictures, but I am having a tough time solo. More stuff to come once I can rope somebody into taking my pics.

What are your stats?

POST #4: GOAL POST

"You must have long-term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures."

-Charles C. Noble

I don't want to have any failures, short-term or otherwise, but we all know that life gets in the way of our plans sometimes.

But plans are the only way to succeed with fitness - especially prior to a big date (like your wedding date, ahem).

What are your goals? What's your timeline?

For me, I have until August 4th, 2012, to fit into the gown of my dreams (it's a Claire Pettibone, thereby making it the best kind of dress ever). That's exactly 267 days, or 9 months away from today.

Nine months??? you ask. Yes, I will spend nine months getting ready. Not two weeks or six weeks or two months. You have to start as early as possible, otherwise you will just be crash dieting, not changing your fitness habits.

Though, of course, there always things you can do in the last few weeks leading up to your wedding to give you that extra boost. But let's start back here, in "just engaged" land. We're not quite to "let's look like Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts" land. We'll get there later.

For now, let me share some of my goals:

Goal #1: Lose a total of 11 inches by August 4th, 2012.

*"Lose a few inches?! But you're already skinny!" Go read my "You're Already Skinny" post. I'm not trying to starve my muscle off here. I'm trying to slim down and tone up. Inch loss is a good indicator that you've succeeded in this endeavor - not weight loss.

Goal #2: Be able to lift 12 pound weights through a whole workout by August 4th, 2012.

*I am an utter weakling. I've always wanted to be able to heft around 12 pound weights during a workout. It would make me feel pretty bad ass.

Goal #3: Wear a bikini at the beach without a cover-up by next summer, 2012.

*Blah, blah, blah. Don't give me that hoopla about feeling good in a bikini now. Don't want to hear it. I know there are other beach cover-up types out there too! Let us unite and throw the beach covers into the ocean together next summer.

Pretty simple but well-defined goals. A good goal should include a definitive/quantitative intention with a deadline. That way you can measure your successes on the way to your end-goal.

Feel free to share your goals. I'd be interested in seeing what other brides/fitness types are trying to accomplish.