Is it just me, or is winter also giving you a case of the SADs?*
Maybe it’s because we’ve just had the wettest July day since 1990. Or maybe it’s because you have to sleep in a hoodie and thermals. Or maybe it’s because the radar says it’s not going to rain so you leave your bike outside, only to come back to find your helmet and seat is saturated and you’re going to get a nice wet bum on the way home.
Anyway, the good folks at Crossfit U also recognise that life in general is more shitty in winter – which is why they’re challenging us to ‘Make Winter Fun’. We’ve teamed up in partners, and are spending 8 weeks motivating each other to train consistently, eat clean and build healthy, sustainable lifestyle habits.
Even better, we get weekly challenges and prizes as incentives. Aww yeaa!
Challenge 1: Come up with a team name and photo
I was lacking in ideas for this one, so I hit up teamnames.com for inspiration. I ran a few by Jimmy, my challenge partner, including “Double Wonders”, “Might Morphin Power Lifters” and “Jumping Amazing Super Optimistic Noodle Squad” (ok…so I stole that one, but I thought it was funny).
We ended up going with “Holy WODamole“…and came up with this photo:
Getting messy with the guacamole paid off – and we won best team photo! Go team WODamole!
Challenge 2: Set your goals
There’s no point doing a challenge unless you have a solid goal to keep you motivated. Coach Cheongy challenged us to find our WHY and our HOW.
What’s my WHY?
I’m doing this because I want to be as focused, energised and productive as possible. As the success of my business depends on me, I HAVE to be operating at a (relatively) high level where possible. When I don’t sleep well and eat shitty food, I feel like crap, I don’t get any work done, and I start to question my whole bloody purpose. In contrast, when I sleep properly and eat clean food, I feel like I can do anything. Having 6 pack abs would just be a bonus 😉
What’s my HOW?
Here’s what I’m doing for the 8 weeks. Items with an asterisk are habits I’m already doing and want to maintain. These are what I would call “behavioural goals” – that is, measurable goals I KNOW I can stick to.
Food (for fat loss and mental energy):
- No alcohol (obvious reasons)
- No coffee (it messes with sleep, plus it gives me migraines)
- No processed sugars or grains (processed food = inflammatory on your gut)
- One green smoothie a day (to increase my veggie intake)
Sleep (for stress relief, productivity, overall health):
- Electronic shutdown at 8.30pm (no computer or phone)
- In bed by 10pm* (working towards 8 hours quality sleep a night)
- Read in bed for 15 minutes*
Body (for flexibility and strength):
- Train (Crossfit or run) at least 3 x per week*
- Yoga 1 x per week
- Work at standing desk 2 hours a day (Did you know that sitting is slowly killing us?)
- Mobilise (stretch) at lease 20 minutes a day
What’s my END GOAL?
Ideally, I’d like to be able to leap out of bed at 6am every morning, be energised all day, and get a shit tonne of work done. But that’s not very measurable, so I’m going to go with fat loss.
To measure the physical effects of my food and drink intake, I’m going to compare before and after measurements and photos. My goal is to lose 2cm around my waist.
Because I’m committing so much time to mobilising and yoga, my second goal is to do the splits. I’m almost there, so I know it’s totally possible. I just have to commit to stretching every single day!
So to everyone doing the challenge, best of luck, write those goals down and support each other! See you at the box!
