SPRING FITNESS CHALLENGE: Week 3 Wrap-Up & Week 4 Goals
Week 1: ACTION
Week 2: DETERMINATION
Week 3: INTENSITY
Week 4: PERSEVERANCE
Hello, my Spring Fitness Challengers! Thought I forgot about you, didn’t you? No way! Sorry to be a couple of days late with this update but life got in the way. 😉 But… I’m back. Here’s the low down.
Our theme this week is: PERSEVERANCE.
per·se·ver·ance
–noun. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
Week 4 is going to be all about remaining steady on our course of action—no matter what difficulties or obstacles get in our way. We are halfway through, guys. We have to push through this thing and succeed. Now is the time to step it up. No matter what happened in weeks 1 – 3—injuries, binges (see below), disappointment—we’re putting it all behind us. We are going to find a way to move forward, work around our challenges, and reach our goals. End of story!
Week 3 In Review
Week 3 was a great week for me. I hit all of my goals. I got up with the sun every morning and power-walked my ass off! I stuck to my Intermittent Daily Fasting (IDF) plan like a champion. I lost (almost) 2 pounds and noticed my clothes fitting even better than before. I felt incredible.
And then the weekend came…
I messed up, guys. There’s no other way to say it. I was doing so good, but then from Friday to Sunday, things slowly started to unravel. The real kicker came on Easter Sunday. I knew that I would be going off the path a little bit at family brunch, but the day turned into one enormous binge. I completely lost my self-control.
Am I disappointed with myself? Of course. But I am not going to beat myself up, feel sorry for myself, and mope. I’ve picked myself up and I’m back on the horse already. We all make mistakes. There is really no way around it. I can put this into perspective. It’s a setback but also a reason for me to try even harder now.
Week 4 Goals
Despite last week’s setback, I’ve started Week 4 off on the right foot. I’ve been power-walking and sticking with my IDF plan. However, this week presents another significant challenge for me as I am headed to Atlantic City today for a 3-day conference. Travel tends to lead to nasty habits and lots of cheating, but I am determined to persevere! Last week, Leo at Zen Habits shared a Simple Fitness Plan for Travelers. The advice was spot on and I am going to do my best to follow it.
His tips include:
- Lots of walking.
- Practicing bodyweight exercises like: pushups, squats, lunges, pullups, burpees, planks, jump squats, and shadow boxing.
- Eating vegetarian.
- Eating in moderation. (Remember this one, Dena!) 😉
Accountability Pictures
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve embarked on plenty of fitness challenges in the past. Many of my efforts failed because of my lack of accountability. This challenge is different because I am 100% accountable to the other challenge participants and to my entire Evolution You community!
Here are my Week 1 vs. Week 4 “Accountability Pictures”. Note: Yes, to be fair, these pictures were taken after the Easter Sunday binge! (I did take a bicep shot but I’m having trouble uploading, will try to add it in later.)
Overall, despite Sunday’s slip up, I am still happy with these photographs. My dedication in the first half of Week 3 obviously paid off. This motivates me to push harder! 🙂
Call to Action
I love the quote featured in the image at the top of this post: “If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again.” It is such a simple idea, but it’s also incredibly powerful. My mother used to say this to me when I was a young girl. It’s about not giving up. It’s about remembering that it’s alright to fall down so long as we get back up every. single. time.
Week 4 is all about PERSEVERANCE, friends. Whatever throws itself in your path, push on. Do what you have to do. Climb over it. Swim around it. Fight right through it if you have to. I’ll be right there beside you, rooting you on!
In love & light,
Dena
Amazing work Dena! I’ve been on a kick myself for about 2 months and am about 25 lbs down. Feeling great! I hope you’re feeling good too!
@ JR – Wow! 25 lbs. down? That’s amazing. I am so proud of you. Sounds like Colorado-life is treating you well. So happy to hear it. 🙂 Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to hear more about your progress. Make a post soon? 😉
And yes… I do feel great!
Never worry about an occasional fall off the food wagon, enjoy life and then get back at it as soon as posssible…which you have already done.
I look at the Easter Candy and all the other goodies as just a way to stay on my fitness plan and not worry too much about a day of too much food. In fact, I will have a bit of chocolate for dessert this week as a special treat, but, I’ll be back in the gym tomorrow at my usual 4 am torture chamber. 🙂
@ Lou – Thanks for the words of encouragement! You are precisely right, getting back ON the wagon is the important thing. 🙂
@ Kristin – Yes. I think it’s natural to give ourselves some “leniency” especially at holidays; but I went overboard and continued to slip up even after our holiday celebrations when I got home that night. But it’s all good. I’m back on the wagon.
And, yes, next time — of course! <3
@ Brad – Glad to hear I wasn't alone in Week 3… but even more glad to hear that we're ready to BRING IT in Week 4. Your Before & After pictures are 'freakin amazing. My jaw literally dropped. You are such an inspiration. Keep it up. 😀
@ Andrew – Thanks so much for the kind words & the suggestion! You're absolutely right – it's important that we seek healthy alternatives and not just any old alternatives (which could be just as bad — or worse).
Dena, I think that overeating on holidays is forgivable (or so I will keep telling myself.) Holy cow, woman, there is a major difference between the week 1 and 4 front pictures. Perseverance, indeed! Seeing you put your goals and progress and pictures on “paper” makes me realize that I had participated.
Next time, okay?!@
Week 3, not so great but not so bad either. I slacked a little last week on exercise and eating, but started Monday fresh. I started a new program called Rev Abs and am very confident I’ll see some great results.
Oh and I post before and after photos on Enemy of Fat. You can see my horrible day 1 photos and then approximately 60 days later. Excited about the results I am having!
Good luck with week 4 everyone! 🙂
Week 3 + Easter Weekend = too much chocolate!
Keep up the good work Dena & everyone else on the challenge.
I’d have one suggestion, that’s to switch up vegetarian to vegan, without meat the automatic response is to lean on dairy, cheese & eggs a bit too much.
Bring on week 4!