W3 - Results Week Ending September 14, 2013

Remember it came on, one pound at a time and it will come off one pound at a time.  Patience and persistence they work.  Keep going strong.

Another week come and gone.  How'd you do?  As good as you hoped, did you work hard enough?  Did the results at the scale speak for the effort(s) you did?  Think about it.  Whatever you saw if you're not happy with it, try changing a few things, success is coming.

Congratulations to this week's winner of the water bottle:  Lydia

This week's Losers:

Jordan- 1.94%
Sheridan- 1.62%
Susan- 1.48%
Amanda- 1.18%
McCall- 1.09%
Lydia- 1.06%
Becky- 0.62%
Kristi- 0.56%
Ruth- 0.04%
Pat- 0.04%

This week's challenge:  Sit ups!  100 each day.  You don't have to do all of them at once, 2 @ 50, 4 @ 25, whatever.  Try it, you just may be surprised that you can do it.  Prize you're playing for:  A set of earphones to use when you exercise. 

Think exercise is all about toned abs and weight loss? It also makes you happier and smarter.

Maybe you exercise to tone your thighs, build your biceps, or flatten your belly. Or maybe you work out to ward off the big killers like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. But how about sweating to improve your mind? "Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning," . "Even 10 minutes of activity changes your brain." If you need a little extra incentive to lace up those sneakers, here are five ways that exercise can boost your brainpower.

It reverses the detrimental effects of stress.

Jumping on the treadmill or cross trainer for 30 minutes can blow off tension by increasing levels of "soothing" brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. What's fascinating, though, is that exercise may actually work on a cellular level to reverse stress's toll on our aging process, according to a 2010 study from the University of California—San Francisco. The researchers found that stressed-out women who exercised vigorously for an average of 45 minutes over a three-day period had cells that showed fewer signs of aging compared to women who were stressed and inactive. Working out also helps keep us from ruminating "by altering blood flow to those areas in the brain involved in triggering us to relive these stressful thoughts again and again," says study coauthor Elissa Epel, an associate professor of psychiatry at UCSF.

It leaves you feeling euphoric.

Yes, that "runner's high" really does exist if you're willing to shift into high-intensity mode. Ratey recommends sprint bursts through interval training. Run, bike, or swim as fast as you can for 30 to 40 seconds and then reduce your speed to a gentle pace for five minutes before sprinting again. Repeat four times for a total of five sprints. "You'll feel really sparkly for the rest of the day," he says.

And who wouldn't want to feel "sparkly", right???

So, maybe one of these reasons is enough to start moving.

Have a wonderful, healthy and awesome week.