Early this year I wrote about doing 30 day challenges and promptly forgot all about it. You can insert all the usual excuses here.
My main excuse: I spent some time travelling and have been enjoying life. In recent weeks, I have returned to ‘reality’ and have a more stable routine. I’ve actually started working more normal hours (9 to something) and this has brought with it some new challenges.
A little background. At some point during my travels I lost around 8kgs of weight from 68 to 60, and in the last three weeks I put on around 3 to 4kgs, mainly due to little exercise, poor diet and lots of drinking. About a week ago I revisited my old blog posts and decided it was time to do a thirty day challenge and get back to writing more frequently. And so, my challenge for this month: ‘Be healthy’.
What does that mean?
– Eat well (cut out junk e.g bad carbs, chocolates etc.)
– Exercise at least 3 times a week
– Drink lots of water & green tea (avoid fizzy drinks, sweetened tea and too many juice drinks.)
– Stop drinking alcohol (this is hard given the culture and people I am surrounded by, where drinking is very much ingrained as the default social activity of choice)
How am I doing?
I had meant to write this post sooner but didn’t get round to it. On the bright side, I have some stats for the last 7 days:
– I have been to three separate social drinking occasions / nights out and stayed mainly on tap water.
– I have been eating ‘healthy’ meals where possible, although I have cheated and snuck in the odd chocolate / doughnut.
– I have exercised 3 times for at least an hour.
Why?
A few people have asked me why I am doing this challenge, so here’s my reasoning:
– I want to see if I can do it (a lesson in self discipline and willpower)
– I want to save money for other things e.g. Flying lessons and investments (more to come in a future challenge)
– I have a personal goal to reach a certain level of fitness.
– It’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to drive home after a night out than take a cab.
– I wanted to see whether alcohol makes me enjoy a night out more or less. So far I’d say I’m happy sober and can make my own good mood without the need for drinks. Waking up without a hangover or feeling rough is great too and gives me more time to enjoy the weekend.
If you’re thinking of doing a 30 day challenge – do it! Leave a comment and let me know how you’re doing too 🙂