the weight watchers challenge

Hehe, I know. It sounds pretty funny to me too. But hey - whatever will motivate me to stick to my fitness plan.

So as you know, I've actively joined Weight Watchers. So far most of my interaction has been online; I'm still evaluating whether or not I want to go to the meetings. But I like the online community boards - they are surprisingly supportive. One of the things that I'm trying out is the "AP Challenge", where a group of people enter a challenge to score a certain number of Activity Points (what you get for working out that deducts from your food points). Points are posted weekly, and it keeps us going.

This AP Challenge is 65 points for the month of February. Just to give you an idea of how much activity equates to a point:

• 30 mins of moderate intensity on the Elliptical or free weight training = 1 point
• 60 mins of Kickboxing or Spinning = 6 points (approx. 1 point/10 mins of high intensity)
• 90 mins of Yoga = 3 points (approx. 1 point/30 min of low intensity)

For those of you who can't do the math, that means 16.25 points per week.

To meet that, I am aiming to follow this plan:

• 30 mins Kickboxing: 3 points
• 30 mins Spinning: 3 points
• 30 mins Elliptical + 30 mins weight training: 2 points
• 75 mins Bikram Yoga: 6 points
• 60 mins Pilates: 3 points
• Total: 17 points per week

Its cheesy, but actually fairly motivational. At least, more so than "Oh shit, I need to work out today or I'll become a fat slob." I'm liking this whole support group thing. I can see why its the most effective way to lose weight in a healthy manner and keep it off - second only to amputation, of course.

Wish me luck... I start tonight with Kickboxing.