Operation 40......And So It Begins

First off, I want to THANK YOU all for the very, very nice comments on my Bass Pro Marathon Post.  As always, the blogging community is so wonderful!!

But, now on to the meat of this post.  On Monday, November 11th I will officially kick off what I am loving calling "Operation 40". 

In just 22 short weeks I will turn the BIG 40...as they say.  While I am incredibly proud of what I have accomplished from an athletic perspective over the last several years, I would like to go sailing in to 40 in truly the best shape of my life.  So, I have a lot of work to do.  And I mean a lot.

I had been trying to decide how to go about Operation 40 and I've decided that I will do a series of short challenges, that I will hopefully incorporate into my life after the challenge period is up.  Operation 40 is not just about losing weight, although that is a major goal, it is about making better choices and living a healthier lifestyle.

So on Monday I am kicking things off with a little Weight Loss Challenge with a few girlfriends.  It is going to be EXTREMELY tough.  It is a 4 week challenge and during three of the weeks I will be traveling  at least a few days, and for the one week that I'm home the entire week....well that's Thanksgiving....so yes, it's going to be tough.  I used DietBet to set up the game.  If you've never used it before it's kind of cool.  Basically everyone  has to lose 4% of their starting weight in 4 weeks.  Everyone that does splits the pot.  You can make the game public or private.  I made ours private for more motivation.  I think it helps to know those you are competing against.  If you have any interest in joining it let me know and I can send you the invitation.  It's by invite only.  The bet is $25 and you are guaranteed to at least get your money back if you lose 4%, but you could win some money too.  But you would have to let me know before Monday to get you added to the game.

Other than that I will be doing other challenges throughout the 22 weeks.  They will probably also be 4 week challenges.  Here are a few ideas of things I'm thinking about.  I won't do these all at once, but pick one or two every few weeks so things are always rolling on or off

• No Starbucks
• No Soda
• Squats, planks or other fitness type challenges (certain # a day or amount of time per day)

I also want to add in some other goals, like I don't know maybe biking and swimming again....ha!  I am a triathlete but haven't really biked or swam since September...so I need to get that going again.

I'm also *thinking* about doing the December 5K a day challenge.  Would anyone be interested in that?  It might be a really difficult one for me this year because I will be traveling some in December and will have some pretty full days in the car....so I would have to figure that out.  No pressure to officially join, but let me know if you'd be interested and I might make this a 2nd Annual Challenge.  If you weren't following my blog last year - you can read about what I did here.

I will also post about the other challenges I will be doing along the way, so feel free to join me.  I will need all the help and support I can get to make Operation 40 a success!!!

So do you think you'd be up for the December 5K a day Challenge?  How about the Weight Loss Challenge starting Monday?   If so, leave me a comment below.  If you are interested in the weight loss challenge I will need your e-mail address.  You can e-mail me directly at weatherlymh01@yahoo.com

You can't really see the words I put below these images very well, but the first one says Me Today, and the 2nd Me in 22 Weeks???  Maybe :)