The Holiday Hustle Challenge: Results!

On December 6, I created an exercise challenge for myself to get me out of my exercise rut and help burn off a few of the extra Christmas cookie calories. The challenge continued through December 25th, and since the holiday is sadly now behind us, let’s see how I did…

The challenge was to:

• Exercise for 60+ minutes 15x.

• Include strength training into my workout 10x.

• Complete 25 push-ups in a row.

The Results:

• I exercised 16/20 days, though not all of my workouts met the 60-minute [cardio] mark.

• I included strength training into my workouts 11x, with some sessions more thorough than others.

• After working  on increasing my push-up “endurance” throughout the challenge, I completed 25 [traditional] push-ups, pausing a of couple times =/

In the end, I’m glad I created a holiday exercise challenge. I was in desperate need of any kind of motivation! Although I completed 16 individual workouts, a few fell short of the hour goal [in terms of cardio exercise]. I’m glad that anaerobic strength training is now becoming a part of my regular exercise regimen. I understand its importance, and think it’s actually sort of fun! In terms of my push-up goal, I never completed 25 push-ups sans a couple pauses. I came very close Christmas Day, until I encountered a frustrating obstacle in the form of an intense headache.

Unfortunately, the challenge did not prevent the dreaded holiday poundage from creeping on. I’m not going to beat myself up over this, though, because what’s a temporary additional pound or two on the scale of life?

* * *

I’m continuing to enjoy the holiday festivities with my family eating buttery cranberry orange bread, playing games, staying up late laughing, and trying to explain Twitter to my 88-year-old grandpa.

I’m about to go on a walk with the fam before a few of the relatives take off on their separate ways. Then it’s out to Japanese for dinner!

See you soon!

HP

What was your strategy for staying healthy this season?