The USN team would like to congratulate you on registering for the USN Body Makeover Challenge. The 12 week Challenge is all about self-improvement and there are some great prizes to reward the people we think have made the biggest transformations!
Its official. I'm doing it. I've posted my before pictures and uploaded my measurments, there's no going back. I must be mad.
You're nuts - I'm not doing that
Me and a friend of mine have a long workout/crazy diet history. This is basically us.
In January of this year she told me she was doing something called the USN body challenge. I'd never heard of it. She told me that she was doing something like 14 workouts a week, two a day basically and was eating really healthily and had given up alcohol. Sounded hellish to me, I've never understood why people give up alcohol in the most depressing month of the year. Nevertheless I wished her well on her journey.
My friend posted loads of updates of her healthy meals (she managed to time her posts well - just when I had a croissant in my mouth or a massive glass of wine in hand). At first I thought it was all a bit full on. No one can possibly keep this up and it couldn't possibly be fun.
One step at a time
I saw her a month or so into her challenge, I thought she looked great. I decided to get a training and diet plan from the same personal trainer and do what I could myself. Not going to go crazy but I can aim to get similar results at a slower pace.I continued to workout and eat fairly healthily but with the usual splurges, desserts and wine being my vices of choice. "I'll start my plan next week" I'd say to myself or "I just need to attend that party/birthday/social thing and then I'll definitely start the next day". Next day came, nothing changed, next week came, nothing changed, two months on, nothing had changed.
I also wanted to cut down my alcohol intake. I like to drink a nice glass of wine but I should not be able to stand after 8 of them and I could. I knew it wasn't right. I wanted to give myself a break but I didn't know how. I have ZERO willpower. A friend suggested I give up for a month for charity. I wanted to give to a charity which I think is important and for me that's Stroke Association, my mum having suffered three of them. So I gave up (I still have some time to go). Feel free to donate - http://www.justgiving.com/Lisa-O-Daly1
Not so easy
My friend was 9 or so weeks into her challenge and she was posting regularly about her progress. She was looking amazing and it was getting on my nerves. Every healthy post annoyed me. Why? Was it jealousy? If I said there wasn't a tiny bit of me that wasn't a little green about her new flat abs, I'd be a lying cow. But that wasn't the real thing. It wasn't really annoyance at her. It was frustration at myself. I would love to get a figure like that through hard work but that nagging self doubt in my head kept telling me "you can't do that, you'd never be able to do anything like that, you'd give up".I went to see my mum for her birthday. My mum is disabled, she's been in a wheelchair for almost 15 years. The strokes have robbed her of her speech and much of her movement on the left hand side but she's still smiling. Recently she astonished me by teaching herself to stand so that she could shuffle a very small distance to a seat or a bed. She tells me that its painful but she has to do it to be as independent as possible. I've genuinely never met anyone so determined to overcome such significant physical obstacals as my mother. Seeing her on her birthday kind of made me think that life is too short, you never know what might happen and take away your mobility. You're actually really blessed to be able to workout.
Why not do a body challenge? I'm pretty fit, healthy and I might not be that way forever so stuff it, might as well make the most of it and see what I can achieve.
And you know what? I'm actually pretty excited. Its called a challenge for a reason and I'm actually really looking forward to cracking on.
The big question - will I do it?
Hell yes.
I'll keep you posted...
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