Challenge Yourself!

For the month of October, I have gotten involved in a number of challenges.  I’m a very competitive person, and I do better with goals if I have a challenge or competition.  These challenges all happened to fall on the same month, so I’m doing a lot of self-improvement these days.  It’ll be a great way to head into the Christmas season on the right foot – organized, healthy, and full of energy.

The first challenge is the Ultimate Blogging Challenge.  It is a challenge to write one blog post every day for a month.  If you blog at all, check it out.  There are some great resources and inspiration there. 

My next several challenges are put on by my employer, the School Board.   They are to inspire us to become healthier overall. 

• The first is easy enough:  10 Minutes of Me Time every day.  Fill out the chart, hand it in, win a prize!  I can do that.  Read a book.  Take a nap!

• The second is drinking 8 glasses of water a day for the month.  I’ve been getting better at that, but this sheet keeps me accountable.

• The third is to be active for 20 minutes a day (and they suggest breaking that into 2 ten minute blocks).  When I teach, I figure I get at least one of those blocks by walking up and down the 3 floors in our building.   For the other 10 minutes I grabbed a rake and joined my youngest two in raking leaves.  Fun!

• The fourth challenge is eating at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies.  That sounds easy enough, and I always make sure our kids get lots, but I don’t think I get enough most days.  So we’ll work on that.

• The fifth is a pushup challenge.  I tried one last year but didn’t stick it out to the end.  There are different amounts each day, to gradually work up to 120 (!!!).  I did my first 10 today and was proud to say that I didn’t even have to resort to the “girl” pushups!

• The last one is a squat challenge.  Start with 10 and work up to 120 by the last day.  I’ve heard that this one is killer on the muscles.  We’ll see how it goes.

How about you?  What have you challenged yourself with?  Have you been successful? 


Please come join us on Facebook as we work on the pushup and squat challenges together!  www.facebook.com/youpinspireme

 (If you're interested in the PDF for these challenges, leave me a comment and I'll try to email them to you, or email me at mrenkema79@gmail.com.  I tried to put them into the post, but was not successful.)

So that is my plan for October.  Blog, eat, drink, get active.  And by posting it here, I have another way to stay accountable.