Happy December 1!
Are any of you like me, and find your fitness routine somewhat lacking in December? Or, even worse, non-existent??? If your answer is YES, then please join me as I embark upon my December fitness challenge…
Why I am starting this challenge: Personally speaking, December has always been a difficult month for me to keep up my fitness routine. Most of you probably know the drill. There are sparkly lights to hang, holiday cards to mail, original and unique presents to buy, festive parties to attend, delicious cookies to bake, intoxicating beverages to drink and out of school children to entertain. Whew! Are you tired already???
Believe me, I really do look forward to this special time of year, but I find that SOMETHING usually has to give. And, for me, unfortunately, that SOMETHING is usually exercise.
And truly, if you want to survive December with a smile on your face, a twinkle in your eye, a non-expanding waistline , and a stress level that isn’t through the roof, exercise is the last thing you should let slip through the cracks! So, if you are in agreement with me, please read on for more details about the December fitness challenge and contest….
Here’s how it works. First, YOU decide on a fitness goal for yourself. Think about what kind of exercise you can REALISTICALLY fit in this month. Take in to account what makes you happy and what you like to do. And, finally, make sure your goal is based upon your current fitness level. You may only be doing some exercise 2 or 3 days a week. That’s OK!
Once you have your goal figured out, write it down on a piece of paper and then share it in the comment section on this blog OR on The Spicy RD Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook and not already following The Spicy RD Facebook fan page, simply click on the sidebar at the top of this blog page to follow. Then, for the entire month of December, keep a record of your progress throughout each week. You may simply record your progress on a piece of paper at home, or for a little additional motivation, and to engage in some holiday fitness camaraderie, I’d love for you to leave comments about your progress on The Spicy RD Facebook fan page or tweet about your progress using #DecFit hashtag.
Not convinced yet to join the challenge??? Let me try and entice you a little more…
One lucky winner will be chosen at random, from all the participants, to win a $25.00 i Tunes gift card!
Here’s how to enter:
- Between today and December 7, post you fitness goal in the “comments” goal under THIS post, OR on The Spicy RD Facebook fan page.
- Between now and December 31, keep track of your progress at home, OR on Twitter using the #DecFit hashtag, OR on The Spicy RD Facebook fan page.
- Between December 31 and January 6, leave a comment under this post or on The Spicy RD Facebook page stating 1) If you completed the challenge, 2)How it effected you (i.e. better able to deal with stress, had more energy, etc), and 3)What your fitness goals are for the rest of 2011.
- On December 7, 2011, one winner (randomly chosen from all participants) will receive a $25.00 i tunes gift card.
Here’s MY fitness challenge:
- Plank pose: 1+ minute 3 days week.
- Push ups and triceps dips: 2-3 set of 12 each, 3 days per week.
- Fast walking: Minimum of 25 minutes 4 days per week.
- One day of rest and relaxation, and maybe some stretching.
What’s YOURS???
Please click here to post your December fitness goals, or visit The Spicy RD Facebook fan page to post you goal. In order to claim your prize, make sure you either register by subscribing below, check the Spicy RD Facebook Fan page regularly OR check back here on January 7 to see if you are the lucky winner of the i tunes gift card.
“Variety is the very spice of life that gives it all it’s flavour.”
William Cowper, 1785. 
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Challenge accepted! I will match your plank pose (although my attempt last night was a whopping 46 seconds…have a bit of work to do on that one!) and add my goal of “brisk” walking 45 minutes/daily…Also, my least favorite thing to do: sit-ups…goal of doing a set of 75 in the a.m. and p.m..
Thanks for getting me motivated prior to the New Year!
Awesome! Shall we tackle Mt Soledad one day?
I have a goal of trying to run a full mile without stopping by the end of the year. Right now I am at around 2/3 of 3/4 and need to slow down for the rest of it. It would be so great to make it all the way through!
Awesome blog and thanks for the giveaway!
Would love, love, LOVE to win this!
Happy holidays!
=]
My goal is to train for my first 5K in October 2011 to raise awareness and money for a cure for colon cancer in Daddy’s honor. He passed away October 29th from colon cancer surrounded by family.
I hurt my ankle so I haven’t exercised at all the past few months. To get back into the swing of things, I’m going to try to walk 3 days a week. Thanks for the motivation to exercise, and good luck everyone with your goals!
Bryanna, Happi Shopr, Jamie, and Jacob-Thanks for joining the December fitness challenge!
Bryanna-I’d love to hear what your fitness goals are!
Happi Shopr-What an awesome goal! I wish you much success in your race and in your fund raising efforts to find a cure for colon cancer.
Jamie-Sorry to hear about your ankle. I know how frustrating it is to not be able to exercise. I’m glad to hear you’re able to start walking again.
Jacob-I have no doubt you will reach your goal to run a mile soon!
December and January are the worst months for exercise—I will get out the dance exercise DVD and dance along at least twice a week—–and will some brisk walking at the mall once a week also count as exercise?
Sue-Absolutely! The goal is to commit to some sort of exercise you feel you can realistically stick with during the hectic month of December. Even a little bit of regular exercise will go a long way in helping to deal with the stresses of the holiday season. Thanks for joining the challenge!
I want to lose 10 pounds. I want to start walking 30 minutes a day.
crazyred61 at yahoo dot com
My fitness goal is to run a 5K this spring.
My fitness challenge has been, when I am done with my routine, take a short break and squeeze 10more minutes!!
I have set a goal of getting back into Zumba at least 1 time a week. I used to go 3 times a week and then got real sick and have not gotten back into it. It was so much fun and so good for me and I say that by the end of January I will be going at least once a week because it is so fun!!
I’d love to lose 15 pounds by the end of January, so I’m going to set my goal to jog at least 2 miles three days a week, spend 30 minutes on the stationary bike five days a week, and to gradually increase my use of free weights to put on more muscle and burn calories more efficiently. Challenge on!
Rachel, Julieh, Trisha, Gena, Geoff-
Thanks for joining the fitness challenge! Good luck with reaching your goals!
I would like to lose 10 pounds
Thanks for joining the challenge Jimmy! What kind of exercise will you be doing to help achieve your goal?
Wow – lose 10 pounds over the Christmas holidays? Jimmy is ambitious!
I plan to walk or use my aeroglide 5 days a week. Good thing I didn’t say this until today, because yesterday I thought I could walk every day because my Northern blood can handle the Southern winters. Today, I found out I was wrong. It’s COLD!!!
i will walk 3 miles 4 times a week.
Seeing how I love a good challenge, count me in! I will try to do a solid 45-60 minute workout at least 5 days a week every morning! Won’t be easy, but then again nothing worth having ever is!
Barbara, Debbie, and Ian- Glad you could join the fitness challenge!
my fitness goal is 30 minutes of cardio a day
My goal is to do something active every day. I’m pretty good during the week, but totally lazy on the weekends and holidays. My goal is to fix that!
My goal is to tone up and to get back to Zumba class!
My fitness goal is walking a mile a day
I’m going to start with small potatoes. My goal is to work out 3 times per week and lose 5 lbs. by December 25.
Thanks for sponsoring the contest !
My goal is to get some weight off BEFORE the year is over. It’s too easy to say, ‘eh, I want to enjoy the food this season, I’ll start after the New Year.’ But then…inevitably when the new year gets here, I always have another reason to delay. So my goal is to start tomorrow morning, exercising on the treadmill for half an hour a day until the end of the year is over…with Christmas morning being the only exception. It’s only half an hour a day, and it’s only 23 days, but it could make all of the difference in the world.
Upping my walking everyday to 5 miles! Also upping my water intake to 200 oz.
My fitness goal is to lose fifteen pounds. I am going to take up yoga and aim for a morning jog three times a week .
My fitness goal is to maintain my weight or lose some, not gain!
Thank you to everyone who has joined the December Fitness challenge! We have 28 participants which is awesome!
I will continue to update my progress on my Twitter and Facebook pages regularly, and I encourage everyone else to check them out and add your own progress as well, especially if you need a little extra motivation and encouragement! We are all here to support each other!
Also, remember to “keep it real” meaning, do what you can REALISTICALLY do over the holidays. A little REGULAR exercise can go far in helping to alleviate stress, keeping your spirits up, and keeping your waistline from expanding over the holidays!
Remember to report back here at the end of the challenge, between December 31 and January 6 (2011!) letting everyone know how your challenge went!
I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and fit holiday season!
Happy 2011 December Fitness challengers! I hope you all made some good progress on your fitness goals in December, and are ready to continue on with your goals in the new year. Remember that in order to be eligible for the itunes gift card drawing you must to leave your “post-December fitness challenge” comments here. I want to know 1) If you completed the challenge, 2)How it effected you (i.e. better able to deal with stress, had more energy, etc), and 3)What your fitness goals are for the rest of 2011. The random drawing will be on January 7. Here’s how my fitness challenge went…I reached my goal of fast walking/exercise for 25+ minutes 4+ times per week for 4 out of 5 weeks in December. (It just didn’t happen the week before Christmas…) I did my pushups/triceps dips/plank pose for the first 1 1/2 weeks, then developed some REALLY tight neck and shoulder muscles that caused me daily migraines. Not good! Once I stopped, the migraines went away. All-in-all I’m very happy with my results. I definitely exercised much more consistently this December , then I have in Decembers’ past. My goal for 2011 is to continue my fast walks/hikes, get back in to the gym at least a couple times a week, get my bike tuned up and start doing some rides, play tennis with friends, get in a few more ski trips, AND train to hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney (hopefully in the summertime). How about you?
1. I wouldn’t say I actually finished it – how about I started a little late? OK – VERY late. I’ve walked every morning since Sunday
2. When I’m really stressed, I can’t function at all – that’s why I didn’t start walking back when I said I would. But now that I’m walking every day, I feel a lot better mentally (my brain is clearer), emotionally (I’m happier), and physically (my knee aches from time to time, but never while I’m walking regularly).
3. It’s not realistic to think I’m going to walk every single morning, but I AM going to shoot for 5 days a week. If I just get in the habit of doing it, it will become part of my routine and I’ll stick with it. And once I’m walking regularly, a natural progression is that I’ll start eating healthier, too. It’s only been a few days, but already I noticed that I’ve got the crockpot going with chicken, sugar-free peach jam, and onion soup mix. Yesterday, we had chicken chili (I grind the chicken myself – WHAT a difference – now I get nauseous just looking at store-bought ground chicken) instead of the usual beef.
I really just needed a push to get going. Thank you!
1. I DID complete my goal! I did something active, like a walk with my husband or a yoga fitness DVD, every day! I would say the only exception was Christmas day, when we were in the car all day. But visiting with family was pretty intense, so maybe that counts???
2. Exercising, even briefly, every day really helps me stay healthy and feeling goo. I credit this challenge with helping me to prevent packing on the usual holiday pounds. I will confess I did indulge quite a bit this holiday season, with pumpkin pie, egg nog, and Christmas cookies. I was nervous every single time I stepped on the scale, but to my surprise, I didn’t hardly gain any weight at all! I saw a pound or two creep on here and there, but as of this morning, I’m back where I was in November. So that made me feel great about my efforts! I also didn’t feel any of the usual holiday blues/seasonal affective disorder. My energy level is high, and so is my mood!
3. My new goal is to step up my activity level a bit more. So far, I’ve been doing light exercise with the goal of just moving every day. Now I’d like to add in some more intense work outs, at least 3 times a week. Today I started with the Biggest Loser Challenge Wii game, so my plan for now is to do that every morning and see how it goes!
Congratulations Carolyn. You are the winner (via random drawing) of the itunes gift card, and congrats on completing you fitness goals! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with everyone here. I’d love to hear updates on your progress in 2011!
I did manage to get out the dance DVD’s —but the roads were so bad I didn’t make it to the mall—but I’m still trying to get some exercise.
I just felt a little bit better about myself for getting some movement in my body.
I plan to keep trying to add more exercise time as the year goes on—and get a lot of walking done when the weather gets warmer.