If You're Not Happy About This, You Can Always Kvetch to Greg: Phase 4 of the 30 x 5

Option A: You won't like this phase of the 30 x 5.

Response: Please direct all negative comments to my buddy Greg at Greg's General Store because this was all his idea.

Option B: You'll be up for the challenge and think you might actually like it.

Response: Please direct all flattering comments to Lidna Crow, the genius behind this idea.

The Concept (w/apologies to Robert Frost):

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
A stroke of 30 x 5 brilliance.

Or:

I took the one less traveled by,
And to my muffin top said, "good riddance."

OK, so here are the clues: "The Old Switcheroo" and taking the road less traveled.

It's time to change it up, people.

For the next two weeks, you're going to change a little sumthin sumthin in your routine.

For instance, since I do quite a bit of my aerobic exercise on my elliptical, I am now going to do 5 minutes forward followed by 5 minutes backward, SWITCHING the routine from my normal forward-only motion.

2nd for instance: I've been eating Cheerios for breakfast for a week. I'm going to therefore incorporate different foods at breakfast: yogurt, fruit, eggs, veggie omelet, etc.

Do you get the picture?

Thus the clever inverted image you see in the button for Phase 4. I know. I kill myself, too.

I know what you're thinking: "Why, Lid, why."

Well, why are you so philosophical, asking "why" all the time? Haven't you ever heard the saying, "Ours is not to question why; ours is but to do or die?" Because I think that fits this situation perfectly. You don't want to die, do you?

I didn't think so.

There is a good reason for switching things up, so I will send you to an article called Change Your Workout Routine: Avoiding the Plateau by Jason Johnson, which spells it out clearly.

But in my lingo: Your muscles have gotten smart, and they're working the system. Now you have to counter their smugness with a sucker punch.

So let's review. Because if you've been keeping up with all of the 30 x 5 phases, here's what your life would look like now:




Phase 1: You pledged to move around, any way you pleased, for 30 minutes per day, for 5 days per week. Thirty all at once or in intervals. Any kind of movement counted. The point was to get started moving.




Phase 2: You subtracted, by approximation, 100 calories per day for two weeks, understanding that if you did so, you could lose one pound of fat per month just by doing this alone. So coupling Phase and 1 and 2, you began to get some discipline back into your physical life and make positive changes.



Phase 3: You pledged to drink more water. The goal for most is 8 6-8 oz glasses per day, with the understanding that a more accurate guideline is to halve your weight and drink that number in ounces.





So how has it been going for you? I'm happy to report that the water in this picture is indeed in my refrigerator, and I am slugging it down all day long, which is even more of a lifestyle change than moving around is for me.

And I have done an overhaul on my food consumption AND joined a gym.


I'm serious about this, people. Because June is knocking on our doors. No, not that June. You know what I mean: June. Pools. Swimsuits. Sleeveless tops. shudder

You can grab the code for the button in the right sidebar, if you please. Please leave a comment so that we can come visit you and see how you're doing and what you're thinking about all of this. I'm thinking of going through Phase 6 and then ending this endeavor on the blog (not in my life). What do you think? And do you have any suggestions for Phase 5?