Month of fitness challenge

I was at the gym the other day sitting in the dry sauna and an Ironman Triathlete and I got to talking. He informed me he was in his "month of fitness". Of course I inquired what the hell is a month of fitness? After we talked about this for a bit, I realized this is something I would love to do with my friends and family.

What is a month of fitness you ask?
A month of fitness is something you do only once a year. You set aside one month, where you give up everything you enjoy for your health and your fitness. You give up all of your vices, such as drinking, junk food, soda, smoking or whatever other vice(s) you may have.

Yes, this idea came from an Ironman, so they know how to suffer for long periods. During his month of fitness he runs 65 to 80 miles a week, rides a couple hundred miles a week and swims 4 to 5 days a week. No, I am not asking everyone, or anyone for that matter, to do what this guy is doing. Well... Not exactly.

The point of this challenge is to get your body healthy, possibly even get over some bad habits, increase your fitness and hopefully some of the good habits stick.

Here are some ideas/guidelines. Give up the refined foods. No white flour, if you must have bread, it has to be whole wheat or whole grain. You get bonus points for no bread. Give up soda, diet and regular, fast food, french fries, fried foods, all of it. Maybe you have a pretty healthy diet, but you just have one bad thing, like stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. Cross those bad habits out for a month!

From a fitness perspective, commit to an exercise goal that will challenge you! Maybe that is walking to the end of the block and back three times a day, maybe that is an hour of walking a day or crazy like that Ironman who is running 80 miles a week, then cycling and swimming! It has to be challenging. This could be anything, it could be weights in the gym, swimming, cycling or even just playing ball with your kids.

Part of this challenge means you have to give up more than the foods and do some exercise. This may mean you will have to cancel on some dates you have, maybe not go out with friends that Friday night so you can squeeze in another hour or two of fitness. This is for one month, your family and friends will be understanding and supportive as this is a goal for you and your health.

For those of us who are building up to a big summer with Half-Ironman's, Endurance Duathlon's, Marathon's and other events, this is a great time to build up some good base miles, trim down and possibly integrate new training for a winter month. Also, could you imagine coming in to the spring with such a great fitness level!

Now, I am not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. I truly think they are horrible because people often set unrealistic goals, fail and go back to where they were or worse. If you want to do something, pick a date and DO IT!!! However, I think January is the perfect month. It is after the holiday's which everyone gains a few pounds during but it is not during the holidays. Come on, who can do Thanksgiving or Christmas without eating some of your favorite home made foods. I'm not cruel...

The rules are easy. Find a friend or family member who you will be accountable to for the month of January. It is ideal if you find someone who will be doing it with you. This person doesn't even need to be at the same fitness level as you. Here are some ideas.

Set your goal of exercising for X hours a week. Sorry, not goal, this is not a goal, this is a COMMITMENT to you and your family. Your friend may be committed to a different goal, but you both will be held accountable for the commitment. Of course you can do betting as to who will achieve what goals, or personal rewards. You hit your commitment for the entire month, maybe you can buy that new pair of shoes you have been looking at!

Another option, say you are going to run, bike and/or swim X distance each week for the month. Or who runs the most miles, wins a prize bought by the loser.

Ultimately this is for you and you will be the winner. Commit to a goal and accomplish it. Eat right and be super fit for a month. Just one month!

Push yourself and you will be surprised.

If you are in, leave a comment with your commitment. Get a friend to join you and get them to post as well.

My commitment:
I am committing to 15 hours per week of fitness. This is a time based commitment for me as I do not know what is going to happen with the stress fracture in my foot yet. I may end up doing a lot of swimming, cycling and weights, we will see. I am honestly gonna try and stretch out 20 hours if work doesn't get too hectic.

That was my fitness goal.

My food commitment is that I will stop drinking soda for the month. That is a huge one for me. In addition I will stay as far away from refined starches, such as white breads and pasta's. I will not touch fried foods and I will try and increase my protein intake drastically.

Anyone willing to join me? What are you going to commit to?