Challenge Yourself

So what exercise did I do last night? Mom and I walked at the mall. Probably didn't get my heart rate up as much as I should have, but we did get out and move, which is what I needed. Today I worked with Susan and I did 3 sets of 9 push ups! (Last week it was 3 sets of 8!) And these were hard...push ups on a bar laid over a Bosu ball...tough stuff!! So yeah, feeling good about that!

Tomorrow I work with Susan again, and I am going to try something new. I want to use the machine that you do dips on. I don't know what it's called, but maybe I can find out tomorrow. I've never tried it, and I want to push and stretch the boundaries of what I could do before. This is the new me, and I'm rockin' it! I weighed myself today, and after a week of doing just okay (Easter foods, some fast food thrown in for good measure) I maintained this week. I'm okay with that! But only for this week...this girl wants to make the scale move! I've started weighing myself weekly (Thursdays) in the gym here at work and I like the accountability.

The 24 Hour Fitness website has a section you can click on to find new ways to challenge your workouts. I'm doing 2 this week: I signed up for a 5K and I am trying a new machine in the gym. You should go to www.24hourfitness.com and check it out! It's not groundbreaking or anything, but it's fun to see what they suggest you try. I think this helps me. I like goals and challenges, so this is a fresh way for me to keep it interesting.

What will you try? How will you challenge yourself? Pick one thing. Just one. (Unless you're up for more than that.) But it only takes one small thing to make a big difference. And you can do this! How do I know? Because I can do this. More importantly, WE can do this. Whatever your struggle, you're not alone. That's the biggest lesson I have learned so far...no one can do this alone. No one should have to, either. I know I said a lot of this yesterday, but I think it bears repeating. We are all wonderfully made and we should celebrate that! Give yourself permission to be the person you want to be. And make mistakes or eat something cheesy or chocolaty and don't feel bad! Because guess what? As long as we are breathing we have the chance to pick up and move on to our next victory. And we need to see our lives as a series of victories. Sure, in between I know I have tough times, but I can look back and truthfully say that my victories are that much sweeter because of my tough times.

So celebrate how fabulous you are and make a decision right now...what one thing will you decide to challenge yourself with this week? Whatever it is, you can do this and you aren't alone!