I experienced a minor pang of jealousy recently when I realized my two co-workers and another woman in our boot camp were going to be participating in the CrossFit Relentless Adventure Challenge, which is an intensive 8-week program. From the official website, here are some of the components of their challenge:
- 8 weeks of workouts emailed to you to complete on your days off from your regular boot camp
- Relentless Adventure Challenge T-Shirt
- Free entrance to 2 exclusive Adventure Challenge Seminars: Goal Setting and Nutrition Seminar
- 2 Team Benchmark Workouts
- Goal setting, goal assessments, body measurements, and pictures (pre-program and post-program)
- A Relentless coach who will hold you accountable, help you with training and nutrition, and keep you motivated!
It’s too late for me to round up a team and get in on this action as things are already underway. But it’s never too late to create a Do-It-Yourself Challenge!
Here’s what I have in mind: A Tiny Glow Fat Loss Challenge, focusing on many of the elements mentioned on the CrossFit Central Relentless site:
- Initial body measurements and body composition numbers taken at start; final measurements taken after 12 weeks.
- Dietary makeover. I’ll be honest: I’m not sold on the Paleo nutritional approach espoused by many CrossFitters, but I’m also not so biased against it that I won’t give it a shot, and I know that my current diet is overloaded with processed foods. I will make changes to my diet incrementally, week by week. Aspects of the makeover will include cutting out all diet soda and sticking to water or tea for beverages; weekly meal revamps (focusing on one daily meal at a time, such as breakfast); and continuing to monitor my calories.
- Physical activity. I’ll be attending CrossFit Relentless boot camps 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday) during my challenge. I will set aside 1 day per week for rest (Sunday), and will design my own (primarily) cardio workout plans for the other 3 days.
- In order to keep things real, I will be blogging daily during the challenge, even if I only write a few sentences. These daily check-ins will help keep me honest about my frustrations and successes.
I will begin my challenge next Monday, February 8. My 12-week Tiny Glow Fat Loss Challenge will end on Monday, May 3.
Over the next several days I’ll be talking a little more about the various components of my DIY challenge—delving into what Paleo eating is all about and figuring out my exercise plans for non-boot camp days. I’ll also be writing about the super-accurate body analysis session I’m signing up for in order to obtain my initial benchmark numbers for the challenge. Woo hoo!
I hope you’ll enjoy following along or even trying out some of my DIY challenge strategies for yourself over the next several months!
3. February 2010 at 11:20 AM
If you have any questions about paleo that I can answer for you, don’t hesistate to ask! To say I was skeptical before making the switch is a vast understatement. I was NOT at all enthusiastic and approached it with a very “prove it” attitude. I was convinced by my experience that it was the right way for me to eat… but my husband has only adopted some of the principles and he feels awesome, too. I think it’s a very personal choice, but if you want some practical tips or have questions, I’m here for ya!
3. February 2010 at 11:26 AM
Thanks, Melissa! I will definitely consider you one of my go-to advice sources when it comes to Paleo eating. I appreciate your candor about not being sold on Paleo at the start. I guess when you’ve been through as many diet phases as some of us, you just start to get cynical, you know? I’m glad you have experienced so many benefits from adopting this way of eating!
3. February 2010 at 5:19 PM
Looking forward to hearing more about your challenge, and reading about your progress!
3. February 2010 at 9:12 PM
Great to have you along for the ride, Ernise!
3. February 2010 at 8:12 PM
I’m definitely game! Can’t wait to hear more about it. :)
3. February 2010 at 9:14 PM
AFG: As I was driving to boot camp tonight, I thought, “WHAT was I thinking with this whole challenge thing? Boot camp is haaaaaard. And it’s gross out tonight.” During boot camp I wanted to barf a few times. But somehow, on the way home, I knew I would keep going with the whole thing. It’s gonna be an interesting journey ;).
3. February 2010 at 10:35 PM
Sounds like an intense challenge, but I know you’re up for it. Way to go Hilary. Did you ever think you’d be JEALOUS of people who joined something like that? You are awesome, girl!
4. February 2010 at 7:08 AM
Hah, Josie, good point! Nope, I can’t say I ever did think I’d be jealous of people doing a fitness challenge before, not really!