I am jumping on board with many of my fellow bloggers and coming up with some goals for December. For me, it isn't about doing something before 2011 is over - it is about how I totally rocked September (thanks in part to my personal challenge), but completely fell apart in October and November (the scale didn't show it, but I felt it).
But, now I am looking forward to a Dynamic December (I like alliteration so sue me :P). Originally, I was going to just redo my September challenge, but once I caught up on twitter last night the twitterverse created it for me. ;) So here are a few of the challenges/hashtags you will see me using in the upcoming month ... and beyond (some end before Christmas, at the New Year or February).
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1) #hlgFitGift - This challenge was designed by Jan (@HealthyLoserGal) and one of my favorite people in the world. :) She started this back in September, but it is set to end around Christmas. For this challenge, I have been trying to get in at least 30 min of exercise every day. I haven't succeeded up to this point, but I have been trying my hardest. Now, that December has rolled around and I don't really have any plans/travel, I am going to make sure to get some sort of moving in every day.
Jan is one of the best motivators, and people, around!!
2) #plankaday - This has been lifechanging for me. I am not one for crunches, especially with my back injury, so this is a great way to get some core work in without sitting and doing a bunch of crunches - I don't want to do - on the floor.
This program was started by Dr. Sherry Pagoto (@drsherrypagoto) and is open to interpretation. For me, I started with doing a 60 second forearm plank every day for a week. The next week I upped it by 5 seconds and did 65 second forearms planks every day for a week. I did 5 second increments until I could hold a forearm plank for 120 seconds - yes! I can hold a plank for 2 minutes. Ahhh, I never thought that was possible.
Once, I hit that goal I switched up my planks. Last week, I did one 60 second forearm plank and a 30 second side plank on both sides every day. So this week, I increased it to 2 60 second forearm plank and 2 30 second side planks on both sides every day. I am going to keep increasing this until I hit at least 5 of each.
I am going to continue to do my #plankaday every day. I am enjoying the versatility and loving the #plankaday community.
3) #30for60 - The #30for60 challenge was created by Samantha (@runcupcake) and Jim (@runbikesurf) and I found out about it yesterday. The jist is to keep people moving for a mininum 30 minutes every day for the next 60 days (so December 1-February 1). This will helpfully be an easier task for me since I will be using the same activity for both #hlgFitGift & #30for60. But, I will take as much motivation as I can.
This challenge does have a possible prize attached to it, but I don't usually get caught up in those since I don't usually win contests. :P (Don't you just want to send me a present? ;))
4) #back2basics - I think this is a great challenge and timely for me as I am trying to get back into the swing after taking 10 days off Weight Watchers, while on vacation with my wife. I also like this challenge (started by Colleen - @tryn2bfit) because it again leaves the choice of what you focus on up to the individual. I think that is a great way to keep people's attention and driven when they are working on something extremely personal.
For me, I will be focusing on hitting all 6 of the Weight Watchers Healthy Guidelines. Every day of the month I will be sure to have my required amounts of liquids (water), fruits/veggies, vitamins, dairy, healthy oils & exercise. I am pumped. I have been working on this for four days already so I think that will help me keep the train on the track - so to speak. :)
5) #FT100- This is an amazing challenge set up by a couple of my fellow #FFCheer peeps. For me, it was a no-brainer to join. The deal: run 100 miles by January 31, 2012 - roughly 62 days). This works out to about 1.6 miles a day or a little over 11 miles a week. Well, since I am training for the F^3 Lake Half Marathon on January 28, I think it is safe to say I will be running at least 11 miles a week.
It is kind of frustrating that I need to log the miles on Daily Mile since I use Runkeeper, which logs my runs automatically. But, I think this is worth the extra step. ;)
I kicked off the challenge today with a nice 6 mile run along the Lakefront. Woo! 6 down ... 94 to go!
6) #30daychip - I owe a lot of success to the man that created the #7daychip/#30daychip program: Brad Gansberg (@bradgansberg). He has been a great motivator and has gotten me back on track more times than I can count.
This is yet another great challenge that you set for yourself. I have done a few different #7daychip topics, which you can see here.
The basic premise is to do something healthy for seven consecutive days ... or if you are feeling like you want a real challenge you can go for 30 or 100 days.
For this, #30daychip (which would be my second) I am looking to track my food every day. That means: log it into Weight Watchers eTools, write it up as a food log post on my blog and Facebook/Tweet it out.
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Now, this may seem like I am shooting for the moon and overextending myself, but really alot of these challenges overlap and create sort of a domino effect. As long as I workout, I will hit my healthy guideline, which will help my #30daychip, etc.
I set these goals for myself because this is the person I want to be. The person I want to strive to be. The person I will work to be ... one day at a time.
And because of you - my family, friends, Facebook crew and twitterverse - that will hold me accountable, will support me and will keep me going.
The hashtags help to build a community. It opens the doors to new relationships, tips and most importantly more support.
So for me, this is what I will be striving for in December.
What will you be doing for you?
