40 FOR 40

So you know Monica on Friends? You know how she's like mega competitive? I'm like her - times a million. It's really proven to be mostly detrimental rather than helpful as a trait to possess. I can't just do things - I have to be the best at what I do. So I make almost everything in my life some sort of a challenge that can be won or lost. In other words, I have the need to make everything measurable for myself so that I tell myself how awesome I did at it. But mostly it's not like that, it's more like me telling myself I should have done better and that I failed. Like I said before, it's really not a positive attribute. 

BUT for the sake of making myself feel better when trying to lose weight - I make up challenges so I can feel like I'm succeeding on days (or months) that the scale doesn't move. So for this purpose I created the 40 for 40 challenge! It started after a friend and I had a conversation at the park. After disclosing to her how discouraged I was with my weight loss, she suggested incorporating an effort to increase my exercise routine. She said "Shan - just do 10 minutes. Even if it's just 10 minutes of yoga." 

I pondered what she said and I got real with myself. I KNEW I could do more, a lot more than 10 minutes, even though I didn't want to admit it. It was a legit moment in time to stop making excuses. I spent a few days mulling over numbers in my head and decided 30 minutes and 30 days seemed doable. Then I thought about bumping it up to 45 minutes so that the challenge so it could end on Thanksgiving. But 45 felt overwhelming. I sat on the idea of 45 for 45 for a few more days and it still felt like "I know I'll never do that...." So I settled on FORTY MINUTES OF EXERCISE FOR FORTY DAYS. A challenge with the perfect amount of "challenge" to it. 

I asked people to join me but it was really just a way for me to make a measurable goal that didn't relate to the scale. I'm taking steps to regaining my healthy lifestyle that I once fell in love with from 2008-2011. 

The rules were:

1: No "banking" or "making up" time. 40 continuous minutes of activity, each day. You miss a day - you start over. 

2: The 40 minutes has to be more than what you would normally do - so 40 minutes of mowing the lawn doesn't count. But 40 minutes of mowing the lawn with a push mower when you usually do it on the riding lawn mower counts. 

3: Have fun and get moving

It's simple and it has made a big difference in how I feel about myself when I go to bed at night. It has totally motivated me to do things out of my comfort zone like working out at a hotel gym while on vacation in Vegas! It has also started a habit of getting up before the family and walking our dog around the neighborhood each morning. I've been craving movement now instead of dreading it. I crave a treadmill work out now and I find myself looking for chances to be more physically engaged including adding a few weight routines to the end of my workouts. I can't say I've seen a change on the scale as the numbers are still very very slow to drop. But I can say I FEEL better, my body has been happier, my mind clearer, and I go to bed a night feeling proud of another day I refused to fail. Today is  day 20. Join my challenge and by the time I'm done you'll be where I am today - enjoying the benefits I'm telling you about. Get moving, thank your body for all it does for you on a daily basis and give it the gift of health. A tiny bit more health than you gave it yesterday - that's all it takes.