Shannon's Update

Shannon Willardson:
Lessons Learned from Week ONE of the FOUR-WEEK Challenge:

Well, week one of the Four-week challenge is basically OVER, which makes it a good time to assess how we did and to see what we can garnish from it. If you're following along in this little challenge, I invite you to do the same thing! Here were my goals & how I did on each one of them this week, rated on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being 'Woot woot! I OWNED that goal!' and 1 being 'Ah Poop - that goal OWNED ME.' ):

My Goals:
a) 1 serving of fresh vegetables MINIMUM of per day: 4 (goal owned ME)
b) ONE ‘free meal’ per week… not SIX: 9 (owned that goal!)
c) protein shakes at night instead of cookies: 8 (owned that goal!)
d) 2 hours of cardio per week & 4 days of weight-training: 6 (I did 1 hour of cardio and lifted 3 days... a little bit of owning and a little bit of being owned.)
e) 1.5 gallons of water per day: 7 ( a little bit of owning and a little bit of being owned.)

Lessons Learned from Week 1:
-If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. One of the major mistakes I made was failing to write down my goals and hang them somewhere where I could see them & be reminded of them. I think I could have done better on them if I HAD done this.

-Having a GOAL or a challenge increases the motivation levels - BIG TIME. This is one of the reasons why I love giving myself challenges. I noticed this week that there were many instances where I did better because I thought 'I'm doing that 4-week challenge. I gotta just do this thang.' Whether it was actually getting myself to the gym when I might not have otherwise, pushing myself harder once I was there, or making healthier food choices when I realized that I was about to eat something unhealthy that I wasn't REALLY craving... all of these things became easier and more appealing because the Challenge was in the back of my mind. I LOVE working toward a goal, pushing myself, and feeling myself get stronger - in body and in mind.

-Be Nice to Yourself. Just like with anything worth pursuing in life, there are challenges involved and set-backs along the way. that's part of what makes it so rewarding when we reach those goals! so when you DO have a set-back or two, BE NICE TO YOURSELF! don't beat yourself up. don't tell yourself yourself that 'maybe you just can't do this'. the power of our MINDS is intense - super intense! I believe that if we train ourselves to THINK WE CAN, even when we've just barely had some setbacks, then WE there is great power behind a positive & encourage power of our thoughts and mindsets are



So hooray for learning awesome lessons! That's REALLY the whole point, right? Because this is about PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION, RIGHT? Right!




Now here are a few THINGS THAT I REFUSE TO DO: (including when I am doing a 4-week challenge, or ANY 'challenge' for that matter):

a) I Refuse to weigh myself daily. Nope - won't do it. Once or at most twice a week people. THAT'S. IT. Friday morning is the day I've chosen because I like to see where I'm at by the end of the week. If I ever do more than once a week, it's on a Monday so I know where I started the week at. But I'll be honest - I'm not a huge believer in weighing yourself, and I might even advise to not do it at all and base your progress on how you feel and how you look rather than some stupid number on the scale. Those numbers can be VERY deceiving. I went a long, long time where I didn't weigh myself - at all. For the record though, if you ARE going to weigh yourself, DO NOT DO IT EVERYDAY, and make sure you do it first thing in the morning, after you've used the bathroom, before drinking or eating anything, without any clothes on. Word?


b) I Refuse to put myself on a diet. Repeat after me everyone: DIETS ARE DUMB. This is something we're gonna talk A LOT more about in future posts, but I am a FIRM believe that Diets are little more than just a big fat recipe for failure and DO NOT WORK. We'll go more in depth in the future on what we do INSTEAD of 'dieting'. But here's a little quote that I LOVE:






(this is a hard concept for the general public to understand!)



c) I Refuse to put this goal or anything else above the things that matter most to me: my faith & my family. Let me give you an example that happened this very morning. My husband and I planned to watch a broadcast that happens in our church twice a year. It's called General Conference and it's something we really look forward to because it is SO inspiring & uplifting. I had planned to wake up early and go workout prior to this conference. But things didn't go as planned and I woke up late, & more importantly, my husband really wanted me around this morning before going off to be with family to watch the Conference on T.V. Now I'm lucky to have an incredibly supportive husband who is unselfish and understanding. He didn't try to persuade me to stay home with him & would have been fine if I had decided to go workout. BUT, it was one of those times when I could tell that it would have meant a lot to him if I stayed home with him instead of going to the gym. So ya know what I did? I stayed home. I missed my workout today, but people: I would not have traded hanging out with husband this morning for going to the gym ANY DAY. Because bottom line is this: my husband's feelings and more important than one workout at the gym. Period. (note: husband & I usually just go to the gym together, but he had some school assignments due this morning that prevented him from being able to just go with me...just for the record.)

What I'm Going To Do Differently This Week:
a) Write down and hang up my goals where I can see them!


b) Get organized and plan a little better so that I'm more prepared and therefore more LIKELY to reach my goals.

c) buy more vegetables to ensure that I have my 1 serving of fresh veggies daily.

d) RECOMMIT MYSELF! Keep up the good work in the goals I did well on, & recommit myself to the goals that needed improvement.




In light of that, here is one of my favorite quotes that serves as a good reminder when we're pursuing our goals:





SO HOW DID YOU DO? TELL US WHAT LESSONS YOU LEARNED THIS WEEK! And good luck this week with your goals!




xoxo,
-Shannon