30 DFC - Day 1

So I was trying to find something for my family and I to do that would start the Holiday season out on the right foot.  I'm a fan of proactive prevention approaches and what better way to fend off the Holiday sluggishness than a 30 Day Fitness Challenge!  There are tons of fitness challenges out there, but if your family is like mine there is a varying degree of time available, fitness level, access to equipment, and so on.  That meant I had to find something easy, flexible, and tailorable.  After all committing to something for 30 days can be tough enough even when it's not related to fitness.  That's when I found this 30 Day Fitness Challenge from the exercise section at About.com.  Using a little creative freedom I decided that every challenge didn't have to be completed everyday, but if someone was up for it the option was there.  This way people didn't feel as pressured.  

I also set up a document that everyone participating can access and make notes, comments, ask questions, or browse to see how others are doing.  My thought here was along the line that misery loves company and what better company than your own family.  We love each other I swear.  This also works well because my family (participating family) is spread throughout three states and let's face it we all have lives so a central meeting spot (document) makes it easier for everyone to keep up.  Also since I'm the focal point for all this it makes my life easier.  People just have to deal with me constantly "family spamming" their email with updates, changes, and anything else I come up with.  To say it was a rough start is an understatement.  It's obvious that I'm a "jump-before-I-look" kinda guy.  I think in psychology circles they call it failing to completely unpack the task.  What can I say I'm a work in progress.

So Day 1 is today as if you couldn't tell from the title of this post.  Basically it's a day to get your stuff in a sock and prep yourself for the next 29 days.  My first impressions of the program are that it offers a good variety and it's great for a beginner who wants to learn or get started living a healthier life.  On that same note I feel it can also be overwhelming for beginners who have no experience and have to wade through everything.  Seeing an active challenge, exercise challenge, flexibility challenge, nutrition challenge, and finally a mind/body challenge for 30 days can appear like a mountain if you're starting out.  That's why - like I wrote earlier - I have scaled it down and rather than saying you have to complete all the challenges.  We are saying start with one challenge and progress onto more when you're ready.  I believe that just making one healthy change a day can have a compound effect.  Eventually that one change will be habit and open the door to another and then another.  That's why we're going to crawl, then walk, and finally run.

Check back for updates and thoughts as we make our way through this month.  Also has anybody else tried to do a family challenge; fitness or otherwise?