21 Day Challenge Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know when you make a New Year’s Resolution and you intend to keep it for the whole year…….you then you don’t.  Or at least I don’t.  I always have the best intentions to lose weight, exercise, eat healthier or whatever other idea I have called a resolution.  But one day of skipping out on my resolution suddenly becomes two.  Then I feel myself saying I will start again next week, then next month and pretty soon it is the holidays and I am thinking the same ideas I have had the year before.  The problem with a New Year’s Resolution is it is a very daunting task with no real actions steps to achieve this goal.  I am much better with a 21 day challenge.  Lucky for me, are actually 21 days until the first day of school for most in Minnesota………..

They say if you do something for three weeks, or 21 days, it will actually become a habit.  I am not sure who they are, but if you google 21 day challenge you will find all kinds of hits from diets, to exercise routines, to skin care and everything else.  I have done a 21 day challenge with my AVID students and we loved it.  Everyone in the class including me picked something they wanted to work on for 21 days.  Some were school related, some were personal, mine was to run/walk on the treadmill.  We talked about barriers and action steps we would need to do to accomplish this goal.  I checked up with the kids and we did some journaling along the way to talk about how it was going.  Now some worked better than others but all of them saw positive change in their habit.  So since I have 21 days left………..

If you have followed along with the Summer of ME, you know I have walked almost everyday this summer.  My walks were and still continue to be about decompressing and relaxing.  I still do not bring my cell phone and literally just walk, observe and breathe.  I have hardly missed a day and when I have missed a day of walking for whatever reason, I regretted it and craved my walk.  But school is coming and this is a perfect time to up the ante just a little bit.

My new 21 day challenge

I am committing to run/walking at least one mile on my treadmill everyday I am at my house.  I just feel like I need to get this old 37 year old body moving!!!  My walks are not necessarily at a high pace, so when I run/walk on the treadmill, the goal is to be forced to work hard.  I have never been a runner, so running one mile at a time is not maybe something I can do.  Hence the run/walk combination.  Plus I have no idea how my body is going to react to the prospect of “running” with more purpose.  I am not going to allow myself a cheat day because if I cheat for one day, it will turn into two, which will turn into three and then we have a New Year’s Resolution all over again.  It’s not like I am training for a marathon.  This is only 21 days, I can totally do this………

I say everyday I am at my house because my family is still going to the lake on the weekends and I will still walk there.  I will also still walk in the morning at my house because I need the relaxation.  The running one mile on the treadmill is to be done separately.  But I am tired of feeling out of shape.  At the beginning of summer I could not tackle this feeling.  I was still too stressed out from the school year.  But the Summer of ME has offered time to relax and decompress and now I feel like for the last 21 days of summer, I really want to see if I can do this.  However, I will need your support as well.  Next time you see me, ask me how this is going or send me a message on Facebook!!

Challenge Time!!!  Okay you have 21 days!!  Who is with me??!!  What can be your focus for 21 days?  Could be exercise, like mine, or it could be putting your phone down more often during the day?  Let me know!!  Share your comments here or on the Facebook page, Speaking Jelinese.  It is only 21 days!!  Let’s do this together!!

Talk to you soon!!

Angie