This week I lost a total of 6 pounds or 2.72 kg.  This puts me 3lbs or 1.36kg away from the massive goal of 200lbs.  It’s almost unreal that that I’m so close that I don’t know what to think about it.  I’m looking at my body and I’m seeing definition and muscle where there wasn’t before; or maybe there was and it was just covered up.  It also leaves me at a bit of a quandary as I’m not sure what my final goal should be before I enter “maintenance”.  Do I keep going down until my body fat is at 15%?  To me that seems to be the most rational decision since that would put me into the “athlete” section of body fat.  Currently I’m at 27.8 so it’s a ways to go.  My main concern is remaining healthy without getting so obsessed with dropping pounds that I go too far down on the scale.  In trying to find this goal I’ve emailed some of the people who are fitness podcasters that have medical and nutrition degrees to see what they might recommend.  It’s also an issue I will be bringing up with my Doctor.

The weight loss challenge I was running came to an end and it was a lot of fun.  I can’t stress enough how the main point of having a challenge that has a “meeting” is that it creates a place of support for people.  In fact, once one of the participants is done with school in a couple of weeks we will be starting up a new challenge.  I was surprised to discover I didn’t bore the pants off of people and that they were interested in continuing.  I myself signed up for a new challenge this week in order to keep myself going and on-track as well. I highly recommend that if you’re looking to keep yourself motivated to start your own challenge.  You really only need several components which include:

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• An amount of money that everyone puts to start
  
• Deciding how that money will be distributed at the end of the challenge
  
• Someone who is willing to lead the challenge and discuss a nutrition topic each week.
  

I also personally found it good to make sure that everyone discusses how they felt about their week, congratulate themselves on a victory, and make a goal on what to improve the following week.  We all need encouragement and so much of weight loss is mental.  I feel that sometimes that gets left behind.

When a friend and I recently went to check out a local gym, we came out of it with different opinions.  I was disappointed with their free weight selection, while she said she felt intimidated by the amount and size of exercise machines that were right at the entrance.  She said this could have been because the gym was a smaller one and they had to cram them all together, but she brought up a good point.  Gyms are intimidating.  As someone who goes to the gym 6 days out of the week, I still find the gym somewhat intimidating at times.  So let’s take a look at some of the typical reasons why we may feel gym intimidation and what we can do about it.

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• We’re overweight
  
• We’re out of shape or weak
  
• Male or female-dominant decorations
  
• Mirrors
  
• Too large or too small
  
• Lack of instruction
  

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• The website is located at http://www.shakeitoffcast.com
  
• Leave a Voicemail on the Site
  
• Send me a review in iTunes
  
• I’m on Twitter as @tdhowell
  
• Email me at podcast@shakeitoffcast.com
  
• And on Facebook
  

Please note that all content here is strictly for informational purposes only. This content isn’t a substitute for any medical advice and does not replace any medical judgment or reasoning by your own personal health provider. Please always seek a licensed physician in your area regarding all related health care related questions and issues.

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