SPRING FITNESS CHALLENGE: Week 1 Goals
Welcome to Week 1 of the 60-Day SPRING FITNESS CHALLENGE.
Our theme this week is: ACTION.
I knew that I wanted to kick the challenge off with Energy, Enthusiasm, Passion, and Hope. So I searched for the perfect word to embody all of those things and decided upon ACTION. We’ve taken the first step. We’ve begun the challenge. Now it is time to put our money where our mouths are and start taking action!
No action, no change. Limited action, limited change. Lots of action – Change occurs. —Catherine Pulsifer
Goals for the Week
The first step to getting what you want out of life is this: Decide what you want. So let’s start by declaring our desires loud and clear. We want to create positive change in our lives. We want to get healthy. We want to get happy. While these desires will tie all of us together, we will also have our own unique individual goals. Last week, I posted my goals at the forum. My main goal for the next 60 days is to lose 8 pounds. However, each week I will also share my weekly goals.
A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do, nothing else. —Mahatma Gandhi
Here are my goals for this week:
- Five minute meditation each morning before I do anything else
- Twenty minutes of non-stop movement each morning (stretching, light cardio, light weights)
- No fried food (except for stir fry)
- No eating out (I am joining my friend & fellow challenge participant, Brad, in his challenge to stop eating out so much in April)
Accountability Pictures
I’ve embarked on plenty of fitness challenges in the past. Some have been successful, but the majority have not. I know why many of my efforts have failed. It has been a lack of accountability. When I know that no one is watching, I tend to slip. I cheat a little bit and it turns into a slippery slope from there. Before I know it, I am discouraged and I give up entirely.
This challenge is going to be different. Why? Because I am 100% accountable to the other challenge participants and to my entire Evolution You community! To prove how committed I am, I will be posting “Accountability Pictures” here every other week. It’s terrifying because I am currently about twenty pounds heavier than I would like to be, but I know that this is a necessary element of my journey.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. —William James
Even though my body is not “exactly” where I would like it to be at the moment, I still love it for all of its beautiful imperfections. I just have some work to do. 😉 I hope that you feel the same way about your body. If you would like to share your own accountability pictures with me & the other challenge participants, head over to the forum and get to posting!
Call to Action
Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle… when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.
I have always loved this quote about the gazelle and the lion. At first, it sounds competitive, but for me this quote is not about competition. It’s about action. Even if we are not competing with another “to be the best” or “to win,” we are always competing with ourselves to be the best that we can be.
Remember that this week our theme is action. Write the word ACTION in big letters and put it somewhere that you will see it every day—the bathroom mirror, your dashboard, next to your computer. The more positive action that you take, the more positive change that will occur. This is the first week of our incredible journey together. We are destined for great things. Let’s start this challenge off with a bang! I can’t wait to hear about your progress!
In love & light,
Dena
Dena,
I’ll say it again… you are so brave for posting your pictures. And you are beautiful! I might have to get brave myself and post my pictures in the forums. Even though I’m more like 50 lbs from where I want to be, I know the support and seeing the change for myself in coming weeks will help keep me on track.
I love the idea of doing meditation, stretching, and light activity in the morning too. I have a hard time getting up, but it’s a much better way to start your day!
@ Stephanie – Thank you so much, love! You are so sweet. I was terrified this morning at 6:59 a.m. just a minute before the post went live. But then I remembered my purpose. If I can inspire just one person with this journey then I will have succeeded!
Hope to see your pictures in the forum! Be brave! Be fearless! Much love. XO
@ Brad – Another 3.4 pounds?! That’s awesome! I am so proud of you. Thank you so much for inspiring me to post these pictures. I never would have done it without you motivating me. 🙂
@ Lou – Woo hoo. Glad to hear that the challenge has moved you to push just a little bit harder. You are an inspiration for all of us. Thanks for the words of encouragement. It means a lot! 😉
Let’s do it Dena!! This is gonna rock!
I just weighed in and lost another 3.4 pounds since last week. Woo hoo!!
My goals this week are:
-Drink more water!
-Drink less diet soda.
-Add Kenpo X or some form of cardio to my P90X muscle workouts.
-Focus on sodium intake.
-Eat 5 small meals daily.
Great start and just wonderful incentives for all of is by posting your photos! Rooting for you and I went a little harder at the gym this morning thinking about the Challenge.
I forgot to post my mini-goals for this week. Here they are!
1) Do strength training and core work 3 times this week in addition to my running.
2) Eat at least 3 servings of fruits & veggies each day
3) Spend 15-30 minutes playing outside with my dogs each day after work. This will help me unwind and let go of my work stress so I can focus on other things.
I also forgot to say I love the Lion and the gazelle quote too. I’ve used it when referring to paying off debt. While in debt the person in debt is the gazelle and the creditor is the Lion. If you want to get away from the lion you better damn sure be running! LOL
This is such an amazing, amazing post, Dena!! I love that your goals are so specific and realistic (i.e. you’re not trying to lose 5 lbs. a week). I have seen a lot of my friends embark on fitness challenges with goals that are simply too lofty … and as you mentioned, why torture ourselves or set ourselves up for failure?
I am more than confident than your 8 lb. weight loss goal is realistic and perfectly attainable. Who knows, you might even surprise yourself and lose more! Of course as your body composition changes, that becomes so much more satisfying than the weight difference (this is what I find anyway; my weight rarely fluctuates very much, I experience more compositional changes.)
All my love. I will be rooting for you every step of the way!
(As someone who is 8 days “off” of her training schedule due to vomiting/coughing her brains out, I am very envious of you right now. I wish that I could move for longer than 2 minutes without sitting down and hacking up a glass of phlegm. :/ )
@ Kristin – Thank you so much! I was so nervous about making this post — my first set of accountability pictures. Yikes. 😉 But it’s been such a relief & I know that is inspiring positive change in others. I’ve received really positive response in comments & private messages.
I am so proud of myself & it’s just going to get better from here. I am so grateful for your support. I hope you get well soon, love! XO
This is fantastic! All helping each other with the support to achieve our goals 🙂
I am going to join in from the blog and not the forum if that is ok? (I don’t know how to use a forum) :S
Goodluck everyone!! 🙂
p.s Dena you look pretty great as it is so I’m more than confident in you!! 🙂
@ Mint – So glad that you are joining in the challenge. The forums are pretty easier to figure out once you log in. Click on any of the topic areas to join in the chat. If you need help with anything else, shoot me an email!
Thanks so much for your words of encouragement! I’m so excited. 🙂