“Living and Active” Let-Down…Now what?

I created this graphic to summarize what we focused on over these past 5 weeks. Print it off, or save it to your computer so you can be reminded often!

I thought that the phrase:, “Word Fed, not Food Led, and Spirit Led, not Flesh Fed” best described our focus!

Some of you might be relieved and happy that this 5 week challenge is over.

Others of you may be sad and a little lost.

You’ve had this challenge to keep you focused. You’ve had someone giving you a spot to checkin and ask questions weekly. You’ve had a chance to win a rockin’ grand prize.

Now you are going back to life BEFORE the challenge. Life which was hard. Life that was…well…life.

We can’t live our lives in constant challenges. It is good for us to change things up a bit. Sometimes that means amping it up and sometimes that means taking a step back. I’m not sure where you are right now, but for those of you interested in staying in the game, here are my recommendations.

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Assess

Did this challenge work for you? How didn’t it? Do you need to dial back on the days of the week you exercised or perhaps, add more? Is it time to try something new? What did God teach you through these past 5 weeks as we moved through our 5 key points? Is it time for you to come alongside someone else along their health journey?

Applaud

Listen….This may be the longest amount of time some of you have exercised. Others of you have never memorized scripture before so the fact that you did 3 is awesome. Each of us have our own things that we can be happy about and you know what? Celebrate those accomplishments! If you haven’t done this yet, take a chance to applaud what you’ve done! If you did it with a group of ladies, go out to dinner together. If you did it with yourself, purchase a cute workout top. It is ok to be happy with the accomplishments over the past 5 weeks. But remember this—thank your Heavenly Father. He is the source of everything good in our lives! He alone gives us the strength and perseverance to keep these wondrous bodies going! Never forget that in the midst of your hard work!

Act

Here are some suggestions I have for you to act…again! This should not be the end of your journey, but just the beginning!

1.) Start a new challenge!

Make up your own rules. Choose your own verses. Give yourself a new goal and deadline. Add some new friends. Come up with a fun name and if you do this, be sure to share it with us!

2.) Find a new Bible Study or book to keep you focused on the spiritual aspect of the challenge.

3.) Give yourself a “theme” to focus on for the next 5 weeks.

Then find books, podcasts and more to help you out! (i.e. self-control, marriage, the life of David etc)

4.) Start a “healthy living” focused book club.

Meet once a week, or twice a month. Talk about your physical challenges and review the book.My suggestions? Try “Reshaping it all” by Candace Cameron Bure, “Made to Crave” by Lysa Terkherst, or “Every Body Matters” by Gary Thomas.

5.) Start (or keep) a facebook group to keep the accountability…or…

6.) Join an already made online group (such as this one on sparkpeople!)

7.) Take a break!

That’s right. If you’ve been going strong for all 5 weeks, then it’s ok to take a break for up to a week. Get refreshed and refocused and start again!

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Please do not let the end of this challenge be the end of your goals. Instead, let this be a spring board to lift you off to the next phase of your journey! Make the adjustments as necessary. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you will be doing since this challenge is over. Please write below!

Lastly, don’t forget to stay around here! I plan on doing more challenges in the future (and may do them more often..but possibly in different ways…) so we want you back!

(Would you mind taking a second to vote for me on the Top 25 Health & Wellness Mom Blogs over at Circle of Moms? Thank you!)