The Jasmine Challenge

So the Spartan Challenge has ended and I didn't really do it because of how crazy life has been lately. On Thursday, after Crossfit everybody was stretching, and somebody asked me about the Spartan Challenge and Crystal replied for me, "Jas is doing her own challenge."

She's right. This challenge lasts my whole life but is particularly important for the next year while I wait for Geoff to come home. Today's blog post is going to focus on the Jasmine Challenge for the next 6 weeks.

I am going to Arizona on August 8. That will mark then end of my challenge. Crystal will do my measurements and I will report my successes. Now for the goals!

1. 120-125

This is a weight goal. I know weight isn't everything. Fitness and health are more important and weight can be an inaccurate measurement if you are strong etc. That being said, a person who is only 5'2 even with muscle and curves should weigh between 115-125 (without muscle and curves, a 5'2 girl could easily be 100-110 and not look sickly). My current weight is 129. The weight I was before Geoff got home in May 2009 was 116. The weight I was when I got married in August 2009 (when this picture was taken) was about 122. As you can see, my weight slowly crept up over the year. In 6 weeks, I would like to lose 5-10 pounds. So when I leave for Arizona, I would like to be 120-125. I think this is reasonable but it's going to take discipline (which leads to the next goal).

2. 90% Paleo

More blogs on Paleo later. This means one cheat meal a week. I read the Paleo Diet book and the best idea it gave me was to try to stay at 100% and say no to temptation whenever possible. But if that 10% time is unavoidable, do it and don't hate yourself over it. This happened this week. I have been 90% Paleo for one week. Yesterday we were tubing all day and the group of people I was with wanted to stop at Taco Bueno. Although it's the opposite of Paleo, I had tortilla soup and a beef taco. I didn't even finish the soup though because I am not in a cheating mentality. But after a whole day of tubing (of which I was the one pulling the tubes and getting the exercise), I needed some sustenance.

3. Run, Yoga, and Crossfit at least once a week

I'm happy doing 4 days a week of Crossfit but I need balance in my life. I used to love running and be a lot better at it. I want to get there again. I also enjoy the challenge of yoga and the personal strength it gives you. Fitness, in my opinion, is being able to do a variety of activities well. This is my variety.

I have so many other goals. I would like to do a handstand push up (first I need to be able to get up on the wall unassisted), I would like to run a sub 8 minute mile again (first I need to set up a plan for this), I would like to be able to do Angie unassisted in sub 20 minutes (100 pushups, 100 squats, 100 pullups, 100 situps). I can do Angie RX but my hands tear too soon at the pull ups and the whole thing is thrown off. And I have a million personal goals (mostly to get a school law job and graduate with honors). Also, I'd like to become more proficient in Spanish. I bought Rosetta Stone Levels 1-5 and my goal is to complete it by the end of the year.

But this blog and my main focus for the next 6 weeks will be to complete the 3 big goals above. They all go hand in hand and they are all part of my "Jasmine Challenge."