Exactly 30 days ago I was sitting at the Cheesecake Factory with my friend enjoying a delicious cheat meal complete with margaritas, when my phone went off. My lovely cousin and tremendous supporter had messaged me about a challenge her gym was doing–30 burpees a day for 30 days. While admittedly, I hate burpees I also can’t back down from a challenge–especially if there is a little tequila in me. So, after declaring I was officially “in” she failed to mention the challenge had started that day, and that I needed to do them that night for them to count. So, when I got home I did my due diligence and at 10:30 p.m. I did my first set of 30 burpees. It was rough, let me tell you.
I can honestly say as many diets I have started and failed, there has been challenges like this one I have attempted and never followed through. Sure the first few days are exciting. You envision yourself bearing the finely sculpted arms the arm challenges promises you at the end, or the buns of steals from a squat challenge, and not to mention the abs you’ll get from the plank challenge. Then for me, usually around day 4, motivation wanes, excuses take over, and before you know it you forgot you even tried to do it in the first place. But, this time, I felt compelled to follow through. This time, I wasn’t alone and had a group to support me, motivate me, and keep me accountable.
When first presented with this challenge—we were directed to this article. I thought it was going to tell me that if I did these 30 burpees a day for 30 days, I would walk out with a transformed super woman bod. Burpees work the whole body–would I walk away with toned arms, abs, and legs? But I gained a different perspective when reading the article. It wasn’t telling me how this would benefit my outward appearance. It told me how it could make me stronger, give me energy and feel empowered. Curious for my own results and feelings after completing this challenge, I was like oh hell yes, sign me up. Running improved? I am not a runner, but anything to help me get better. More energy? I’ll take that. Feeling empowered? Can always use a dose of that.
Let me tell you what this challenge did for me.
- It gave me a lesson on consistency. Throughout my weight loss journey, I have really struggled with staying consistent with things. I have had times of great motivation, but motivation doesn’t always stick. Consistency is what makes a difference. This challenge made me be consistent. I knew when I woke up every morning, completing these burpees was something I had to do before the day ended. Even on days I didn’t work out, I would still make sure I got these in.
- It made me feel bad ass (does that mean the same as empowered?) I felt awesome that even if I didn’t have a great day in the gym, or if my nutrition slacked a little bit I still had these 30 burpees under my belt. I still felt like I did something, and when I saw a burpee in a workout for that day, I didn’t get the feeling like I couldn’t do it like I used to. Now I knew, “I got this,” as opposed to “Ugh, I hope I can do that”.
- It challenged me. Another one of my weaknesses in this journey is that I often times get comfortable and don’t challenge myself enough. I would have never picked a burpee challenge on my own because it is not a movement I feel comfortable with or think I am good at. I would have chosen something I knew I would be able to do easily. By doing these burpees, I challenged myself daily. It taught me to push myself more on a daily basis, and to get used to getting out of my comfort zone.
As much as this sounds like sunshine and rainbows, you know I like to keep it real. There were some days I absolutely did not want to do these burpees. These burpees were a daily chore .. like doing the dishes or feeding the goldfish. Things you don’t want to do, but you have to. I had days I felt like I would skip, or quit altogether. But, here I stand at the finish line, a finisher’s trophy in hand and I have to honestly say I am glad I did it.
I hope to walk away and apply these lessons to my journey going forward. I hope to use this as way to be more consistent in my workouts and in my every day life. I hope to not lose my “bad ass-ness” feeling, and I hope to always find new ways to challenge myself. (Rumor has it, there’s another challenge starting soon my cousin will probably rope me into).
So, if you want to start to see small changes, start doing little things to challenge yourself every single day, and I promise it will get easier, you will feel better, and you will see results. Start small, but make sure you start at all. And most importantly, don’t give up!
Love you all~
ps, thanks Jen for your love and support always!
Forever Last in Gym Class 