After my first four days of Lisa Hall’s Weight Loss Challenge (because I met the 26-mile walking challenge and earned 78 of a possible 84 points on the food challenge), I expected when I stepped on the scale Friday, March 1 that I would weigh less than I did at my initial weigh-in on Monday, Feb. 24. 

To my disappointment, I was actually up six tenths of a pound. I wondered how that could be. Trainers Kristina Phillips and Maureen Craney were encouraging; they told me to make sure I ate my 1,200 calories per day to allow my body to do its work. I definitely had not been consuming 1,200 calories a day. I will improve on that this week by using the online calorie counter at www.myfitnesspal.com/. 

This week I clearly related to the motto, “no pain, no gain.” I pushed my muscles way beyond what they are use to and received an achy body as a result. But with advice from former Challenge participants, I managed to keep going.

Todd Souza, director of the Wiscasset Community Center and former participant, told me to, “Keep moving and drink a lot of water.” 

Hall also responded to my request for tips on how to work through this by sending me this helpful article.

Because most of my soreness was in my upper legs, it hurt to do just about everything, but I managed to walk each day, did kickboxing on Wednesday, cross training on Friday and Zumba Sunday night. 

I thought of the week as a success, even though the scales didn’t show it.

And even though I didn’t lose any weight during week 1, the rest of my teammates did. Patti Averill, Cindy Carter and Mary Stead lost over six pounds combined for the first four days of the challenge. The Pink Ladies did very well in the weekly challenges; we walked a total of 109 miles and earned 300 of 336 possible points for the nutrition challenge. 

Week 2 began Monday, March 4 and the nutrition challenge is to limit the amount of carbohydrates in our diet. Hall has challenged us to keep it under 80 grams per day. We will need to read labels and measure food and do research. 

I was surprised to learn that a medium banana (7-8 inches long) contains 27 carbs and that an apple contains 25 carbs. That means I have to watch fruits and veggies, too!  

“A common problem for the low carb week is that many people remove the carbs but do not replace the calories, therefore not consuming enough,” Hall said. She recommends tracking everything we eat in order to stay within our range.

Our fitness challenge points for this week will add up as follows: 1 point for every mile we walk; 1 point for every mile we run; 1 point for every 3 miles biked; 1 point for every 5 laps we swim; 2 points for every mile we row; 6 points for every 1 hour cardio class we attend; 1 point for every 5 minutes of jump rope; 1 point for every 10 minutes on the elliptical machine; and 1 point for every 10 minutes on the stair master.