Why this challenge??

It makes me wonder what people think when I say that I am going to do 2 hours of exercise a day for 31 days. And then it makes me wonder too....I have a busy schedule, I have fears that I won't be able to do it, I don't want to fail, I have partners in the blogging world and I feel accountable to them, and then I hear the sounds of - WHAT!? You are going to do that much a day, each day, everyday for 31 days. Are you crazy? How are you going to do that?

It is not about the how - it is about the WANT!!! I want to be challenged. It helps me!!

I have been reviewing our posts from the last 9 months. The one post that has been viewed the most is from back in May when I talked about My Time - My Pace - My Journey. I have read that post over and over again in the last few weeks. I am still doing this the way I want to. I will not change that, but I am ready to go from the Tortoise to the Rabbit at this point. I question myself everyday lately. What am I so afraid of? What are you waiting for? Where are you going to be in a year? Why have you stopped? How come you are not moving forward (or better yet, how come the scale is moving downward?). What is holding me back?

Then this weekend I was with my friend that I mention in that one post. When I first met up with her on Saturday morning (first time in months) there was this WOW moment. Things were said like - You look good, look at your hair, look at you, spin around, how great do you look!!! And then she tells me hours later - I am so jealous of you. I mean, you are doing it, you are working out, losing weight and you have this motivation that I wish I had. I was thrilled. I could not wait to tell my sis later that night. I mean, my friend who is a size "little" is jealous of me. It gave me the boost I needed. Not that I want her to be jealous of me, but that she is excited for me, wants me to succeed and there was no "lecture" of sorts and that she was the one that was getting motivation from me. It really is a good feeling right now.

It is time for me to push myself to the next level. The next step. Stop just waiting around for it to happen. I am the only one that can make it happen. Yes, I can get help along the way, but it really is all up to me to make it all work. The eating, the exercising, the breathing, the deep thinking, the staying healthly plan of action. I want to push myself and this will be a good push in the right direction. With being challenged you have to pick the one thing that you know you can take you to the next committment, the next goal. That is what I am doing - reaching for that next brass ring.

My goal - 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour at night. However, I am going to squeeze in 30 minutes of walking while at work. We have a very slow month and I never really get out of the office, so this is the month to do it. Even with the pending rain for this week I want to get out of the office. Therefore, if I get in  30 minutes in the middle of my day I will do 30 minutes at night when my schedule is way too full.

I did well this weekend. I had to laugh that my first workout with with Richard Simmons for 1 hour. That I won't be doing but maybe once again - not really thrilled with how the workout flowed. I then put in a Leslie Sansone CD on Saturday night and then went dancing with friends. Totally got in more then 2 hours on the first day. Sunday was a Leslie workout and she really does work you out. I felt it in my hips, which really do need to be stretched and moved more (I sit at work way too much). I then did the local Street Faire in town and walked, walked, walked, (lots of stopping and starting) but was there for over 3 hours, and parked more then 6 blocks away from the festivities. Always love the weekends where you can venture out of the house and the gym.

The rest of the plan is this - mix and match my many home options. There is the punching bag, the pilates board, the eliptical, jump rope and the many tapes/CD's to play on the machine. Walking around the neighborhood, too. My sister just got a Total Gym and well, she is a short drive down the road so I can add that into some of my weekend workouts or even some evenings. I will come up with a set plan so that I can stick to it and not get bored or be all over the place with this and that. I will admit that my mind did say to me a few times this weekend - 2 hours a day - are you crazy....this first hour is going slowly - how am I going to do another hour tonight? I am not going to let the demons win - I will fight them off, just like I did this morning as I slowly pulled myself out of bed. I am feeling a bit sore, and will take Alan's advice and not push myself and avoid any injuries. Looking forward to the next 27 days!!!!

Staying Strong - Living Well .....Staying MOtivated MO