Here's how this is going to go down.

This is a personal challenge meaning we're not competing against each other. There's no points to keep up with. This is maybe a bit more of a collaboration. I want input from everyone whenever you want to whenever you can. Venting, celebrating, asking questions, or making suggestions. I will post a challenge every week. Every challenge has multiple parts. There's a physical, a food, and a mental part.

For the Physical challenge-Modify what you have to (if you can't do a push up, do a girly pushup. There's no shame in that.) and if you do, tell us how you modified it- there's someone else that could use that information. Do what you can do. But it is supposed to be a challenge so it's not supposed to be easy either. I will try to include modifications in the challenges but feel free to post a harder modification too.

There are some foods I hate. Some it's the smell, some it's the texture, some I think probably wronged me in a past life. That's the best explanation I can come up with since I hate them without knowing why. I'm actually going to put up a sticky for food you hate. Just because sometimes it's a thing you need to get off your chest. And if it's a food you like or love or just can't bear not to have as a part of your life, post a recipe for it. Sometimes all it takes for a food hate to be broken is the right way to fix it. I'm looking at you Guacamole. Are you going to break my hatred of broccolli? I doubt it- but that would be quite a f'ing thing.

The mental challenge is akin to the Victory Dance. Visualizations, NSV's, and getting outside your comfort zone. Not anything risque or dangerous, but let's face it- a lot of us got to this place because we got comfortable and stopped paying attention. Habits form and bad habits multiply and harden. So be realistic, but also have a little faith in yourself. No one ever died of giving up chocolate bars for a week or trying a bicep curl. This is your chance to flex those imagination muscles and try something different. Stand up tall, poke your reflection in the chest (that was my Opa's way of driving home a point) and say "Quit whining- you can do this."

Finally, this isn't about being perfect. This about getting better. Stronger. Fitter. HAPPIER. If you can't do 50 pushups, if you can only do 10 before your arms fall off then DO 10. Next time, do 11. The goal is progress. If cauliflower only kind of grosses you out but kale gives you nightmares, then start with cauliflower. Work your way up the scale. It's not an all or nothing game. This is Pee Wee Soccer. Everyone gets to play, everyone wins. It's about teamwork and encouraging each other. So that being said, no snarkiness, no flame wars, leave the Internet Attitude outside when you come in here. Not that any of you would be guilty of that.

There's really no hard, fast rules except for one. BE NICE OR BE GONE. That's all. Participate when you can. A victory for one os a victory for us all. Let us celebrate it with you!

If you have any questions about the challenge- how it works, what something means, etc, post it here.