Shape up updates 5/23

`The Fit to Print team earned 711 points for an average 71.1 per team member. That score was better than our goal of 10 points per day.

Fit to Print points

Sam Blackwell 65

Andrea Buchanan 30

Spencer Cramer 67

Heidi Hall 71

Jamie Hall 67

Gabe Hartwig 84

Laura Johnston 93

Heather Kronmueller 93

Bob Miller 87

Joe Sullivan 54

Team average 10.15 a day

Andrea Buchanan

I spent last week trapped in a hotel room in Nevada, Mo., let out only to be confined in a small newsroom down the street. Still, I kept my Fit to Print team members in mind -- to some extent.

Monday, rainy weather (I don't share Joe's moral code) kept me indoors, but I brought my jump rope for just such emergencies, and a combination of nerves and bad TV prompted me to jump for 20 minutes (Hey, nobody said the cardiovascular equipment had to be complicated!).

Tuesday I spent a good part of the day mincing around on my toes due to the pain in my calves.

Wednesday and Thursday, I repeated Monday's performance, much to my cat's (who made the trip with me) distress.

I'm sure all the huffing and thumping led my hotel neighbors to believe that I had a much more interesting time in Nevada than I actually did. At least, I hope so.

Now that I'm back with the team, my resolve has also returned, especially since I earned a measly 30 points last week.Jamie Hall

This is your little voice talking, Hall. Put down those Doritos and listen to me.

Here's the deal: You had a so-so week. It happens. We can deal with this.

This week will be better. You can do this.

Come on. Do it. C'mon. C'MON!!

But let's face it, Hall. We both know that you shoulda' gotten off your butt Tuesday. Same goes for Thursday, too. Spinning yourself on a barstool at a downtown nightclub does not count as exercise, my friend.

Yeah, I know you've been doing the crunches and using the weight set at home. I was there, remember? But all the weightlifting in the world ain't gonna help if you're covering up that six-pack with a six-pack of Coronas.

So here's what we'll do this week, pal. Roll outta bed before noon, hit the weights, then go for a quick run. Or even a walk. We've gotta do something substantial this week, though.

Oh hey, by the way, stud, Laura, Heather and Heidi kicked your butt in the standings this week. Don't let it happen again or I'm outta here.

Heather Kronmueller

My interest in getting fit for Shape Up Cape took on a new meaning last week when my doctor told me I can either lose 40 pounds so I can be at the appropriate weight for my height or gain 10 pounds and be considered obese.

Since then I have given up soda, tried to eat more salads and less candy and enlisted myself in a daily regimen of kickboxing, aerobics and strength training.

So far, so good. I've already shed a couple pounds.

The way I look at it, if I can lose just one or two pounds a week for the remaining 18 weeks of Shape Up Cape, I'll be well on my way to becoming the sleek, 115-pound, 5-foot-tall girl I'm supposed to be.

Bob Miller

You want to know the worst thing about exercising? The laundry.

The best thing about exercising? Females on StairMasters.

Let me tell you, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Seriously, though, one can only truly appreciate the benefits of exercise if he or she has once been fat, like me.

After losing a bunch of weight, I had fallen into a workout rut, only running 15 minutes per day in conjunction with lifting weights.

With the way the point system is set up for Shape Up Cape, I knew I had to increase my cardio if I was going to help out the newsroom team. So last week, I did, running anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes per day except on Sunday. This is in addition to 45-minute weight-lifting sessions (which only counts for two lousy points) three days a week and daily abdominal workouts.

As a result of the cardio increase, I've dropped a couple more pounds, and my love handles are getting smaller.

Joe Sullivan

At 5 a.m., Cape Girardeau's streets are still and dark. That's when I jog three days a week. It's when I do a lot of serious thinking. It's when I get to wake up the mockingbirds, listen to the great horned owl in our neighborhood and converse with the deaf fox who takes anything I say half-seriously -- which is more respect than I get from a lot of hearing, talking humans.

The Shape Up Cape program hasn't changed my routine all that much. But it has placed a moral burden on me when I hear thunder and raindrops on those mornings I'm supposed to be jogging. How can I not jog? I'd be letting down all my Fit to Print teammates. How many points do we get for overcoming a guilty conscience?

Jogging. Actually, what I do is probably best called loping. It's certainly not running. But it's enough to make my heart pound, at least while I'm running up the Henderson Street hill. And it makes me do some huffing and puffing. That's good, isn't it? I've added some strength training three other days of the week. Like God, I reserve the seventh day for rest. Or for mowing the lawn -- which is an hour of walking behind a mulching mower. That's 14 points by my calculations. But if I counted lawn mowing as "Vigorous use of cardiovascular equipment," it would be 18 points.

Math. That's the only thing I can think of that's worse than jogging.