Following Fitness Challenges.
Fun fact: I am someone who THRIVES with structure. Rules and guidelines? Um, yes please!
Which is why I’m always looking for my next challenge. There’s one I’ve been attempting to complete for a loooong time, “numberadjective”. (Yeah, that one.) This challenge involves committing to a set of daily tasks for 75 consecutive days. If you fail to complete any of them, you must start over again at day 1. These tasks include:
- Following a Diet: Sticking to a specific diet with no cheat meals or alcohol.
- Completing Two Workouts per Day: Each workout must be at least 45 minutes, separated in your day by 3 hours, and one of them must be outdoors.
- Drinking One Gallon of Water: The water must be plain, unflavored, and non-carbonated.
- Reading 10 Pages of a Non-Fiction Book: Read and learn from a non-fiction book daily.
- Taking a Progress Picture: These daily progress pictures are to track physical changes.
I sadly admit that I have started this challenge SEVERAL times but have never made it past day 30, ever. And it’s never been for the “big hurdles.” My downfalls have always been more like: “Shoot, I didn’t take a progress picture yesterday” or I open my book and my bookmark is where I left it…2 days ago. But I’ve kept coming back to “numberadjective” because again, I love structure! Even though I’ve never finished, I feel like my days flow better, and I’m more productive when I’m attempting it.
It hasn’t always been good times for me with “numberadjective” though. There was one attempt where I went for a walk in the rain and got soaked…and then failed a few days later when I ate A SINGULAR POTATO CHIP that contained milk ingredients. At first I was disappointed with myself for not reading the label first, and then I was frustrated with myself because the walk I endured in the cold, pouring rain a few days earlier was for nothing. When I’ve failed, I’ve found myself falling into a “well, I’ve already failed so why bother” mentality where I do nothing for weeks at a time. And that’s happened A LOT.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope to one day complete “numberadjective”. In the meantime, I’ve created something for myself. For starters, I’ve made some task swaps. For example, I care more about learning Spanish than taking a picture of myself. I’ve also given myself a little breathing room by having minimums that I can meet or exceed. While I can and have consumed a gallon of water in a day, TTC is frustrating enough without having to deal with diluted OPKs. Most importantly, if I miss something, it’s not the end of the world. While I will more than likely do these tasks everyday (and more on some days), losing the all or nothing mentality helps me to just get back on the horse instead of wallowing in failure.
What about you? Do you enjoy following challenges?
