another new month, another set of exercise challenges

i cannot believe april came and went! and with that i successfully finished my 30-day exercise challenge. okay, i will have to admit i did take off more days than i had intended to (maybe 3-4 more rest days than the scheduled). but for the most part, i did do almost everything i had set out to do. i successfully did 250 squats in a row, on both days 29 and 30. the most seconds i could hold an elbow plank for was 90 seconds and 60 seconds for the side planks (i never attempted beyond that – i'm sure on a good day if i wanted to try, i probably could?!). as far the pushups in a row and dips, oh man... those were tough. i only managed 50 (modified) pushups in a row and did 60 dips in a row until my arms gave out. yeah, you can say i had some pretty ambitious goals and i didn't quite meet them. but overall, it's not a disappointment either. i think i did pretty good. who knew i could do 250 squats in a row without resting? yeah, it was tough, but it felt good once i did it. i think it helped that i broke them up into mini increments of 10's or 20's, and adding those up bit by bit helps. i'm just so proud of myself for sticking to something for a whole 30 days! now, the next challenge is doing it longer! six weeks maybe?!

here are a few stats i'm throwing out there:

• miles ran this year as of today: 171 miles
• lifetime steps with fitbit as of this morning (member since feb 24, 2013): 1,30,696 steps
• weight lost since january 1 of this year: 5.6 lb (from 108.6 lb)
• today's weight: 103 lb (lost 4.6 lb since april 1 -- not bad?! i can't believe i was 107.6 at the start of april!!)

this is the new workout i plan to do this month. i need to do something about my mommy tummy. i figure i really should make an effort and try to do the best i can to see if i can at least get rid of some flab. for anyone who's a mommy, you should know what i'm talking about. tummy after baby (or babies in my case) isn't so great. for sure, not the same as pre-baby. and it's creeping up on 2 years after baby #1, so seriously... no more excuses here! the workout below says to do it for 12-weeks and combine it with some cardio, etc, but i'm taking baby steps here. i'm approaching it 4 weeks at a time and with my usual 4x a week running. we'll see where i am at the end of may. i'm excited to get started.

this month's goal: do the workout below 3x a week, for 4 straight week! good luck to me.

i also plan to add in a 6-week arm toning workout too to go with the mommy tummy makeover workout. i don't have the graphic for that workout at the moment, but when i do, i will be sure to update it. so stay tune! :)

*** UPDATE 5/3/13 ***

i saw this on pinterest and so i think i'm going to join in and do it too! 30-day plank exercise challenge? sure, why not?!! let's get those abs into shape! :)