Rise and Shine: Awesome April Challenge


Spring is such a wonderful time to witness renewal and rebirth as the world comes to life around us. Daffodils peak at us from beneath soggy leaves in gardens and burst forth with beauty.  The days are suddenly longer and warmer and call for us to get out in nature and enjoy the sites around us.

I hope you'll join me this month in the Awesome April challenge which is all about "rising" in two ways... rising in the morning and rising to the challenge.  And it is about "shining".  In this month you're going to conquer (or be on your way to conquering) something that you didn't think you could do.  It doesn't have to be a HUGE goal... but it does have to be something that perhaps only you - in the very depths of your thoughts - realize that you need to change in order to true SHINE!

If you're anything like me (and it is scientifically proven), you slow down your pace in the winter months. I slowed down to the point of hardly exercising at all and have every excuse in the book to give you if you'd like to know why! *grin*  But I'm planning to 'rise' off the couch and 'rise' out of bed in the morning and find my exercise renewed in April.

Here are the challenge details:

Rise up 30 minutes earlier than you are now.  Now I *know* this is going to be difficult for those of you who already do wake up at the crack of dawn and may have classes or kids or a husband or ... (you fill in the blank) to take care of the moment you open your eyes.  If this is the case, then you need to find 30 minutes every day AT THE SAME TIME that is just for you.  It is proven that if you can keep a new routine for 40 days (so May 10th for us if you start the challenge on April 1st), then it becomes habit and no longer may seem like a chore.

In those 30 "rise and shine" minutes you're going to dedicate yourself to renewing yourself in the month of April somehow. I'll be walking and planning out my day in my head.  You might write in a journal or write out your goals for the day.  If you're just starting to exercise, begin slowly but you might start by doing a short walk around your block or an at-home walking dvd or beginner's exercise dvd.  If you're exercising now and feel confident in that way, then give yourself 30 minutes of meditative time... quiet your inner-self and just listen to what your heart is telling you might be one way in which you could renew yourself.



Now, the second part of the challenge is all about SHINING.  If I were to have you write out an answer to a question and no one (but yourself) would ever see it, how would you answer the following question:
To be truly content and feel good about myself, the one thing I know I need to work on is (fill in the blank).

What was that one thing you JUST thought of?  THAT is what you need to rise and shine and meet this challenge to work on.  Do you need to stop watching too much television?  Do you need to stop drinking soda, diet soda, alcohol? Do you need to start eating less, stop eating processed foods?  Stop your Friday night pizza (oops... that one was for me!). Do you need to set an exercise goal and then stick to it? You know what it is.  In the next 30 days, make a plan for yourself to conquer and rise above what is holding you back from feeling content and good about YOU!  If you need help from a friend to do so...ask for the help.  If you need to see your doctor, go see her.  If you need some inspiration when you're feeling down, I'm a comment or a tweet or an email away. (And I may need some encouragement from you, too!) : )


You CAN rise above your fears and have an awesome April.  We all can do it together.

So? Who is "in" for the Rise and Shine Awesome April challenge?  We've got this! :)

Here's to our health friends!
HealthyLoserGal / Jan

PS: Use hashtag #hlgAwesomeApril on Twitter to post comments and encourage other challengers.  Thanks!

8 comments:

Carol Z April 1, 2013 at 11:18 AM  

I am very excited about this challenge. I had been thinking of doing something like this, but I love the ideas of Rise and Shine. I think I too often try to choose too many things to work on at once, then none really get done. The focused nature of this is terrific for me. I will get up a half-hour early to walk my dog. We both need that exercise! And my shine is to pickup/clean my kitchen/living room each night. I get stuck in the clutter. It's also a great meditation time just before bed.

hello.iamphat April 2, 2013 at 8:34 PM  

Looking forward to this exciting challenge! I'll be Tweeting my through this amazing challenge :-)

ff12a April 3, 2013 at 3:12 PM  

Ok I will admit to actually running outside all winter. Some weeks not as much as others but I did get out there. I will attempt the rise part but it is tough for me esp since allergies are killing me right now. My shine though will be yoga. The reasons I need this are way too numerous to count. Love you friend! Hoping things are as good as they can be!

ff12a April 3, 2013 at 3:13 PM  

Ok I will admit to actually running outside all winter. Some weeks not as much as others but I did get out there. I will attempt the rise part but it is tough for me esp since allergies are killing me right now. My shine though will be yoga. The reasons I need this are way too numerous to count. Love you friend! Hoping things are as good as they can be!

ff12a April 3, 2013 at 3:13 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carey Doust April 15, 2013 at 8:02 AM  

Thank you for being an inspiration to all of us. I can't wait to start this April Challenge. I've been making plans with regards to my activities for the day or for the week. I must say, that it's difficult at first, but as the time goes by, you get used to it and you just feel motivated especially when you know that you're going to achieve your goal. :) Good luck to our April Challenge! :)

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Chris June 8, 2013 at 11:03 AM  

I never realized that if you continue a routine for 40 days it becomes a habit. That's actually a great tip for me because as one of my odd quirks, the only time I have difficulty following through with anything in life is when I don't know how long it is supposed to go on for. I convince myself I'm doing something wrong and wasting time that could be spent better doing it differently because I haven't seen the expected results yet. But when I have a specific duration I know I'm supposed to complete, it doesn't matter how big the challenge or how far away it is...I can beat it.