11.27.2012

12 Days of Gym Days of Christmas 2012 and GYMGO!


It's that time of year again! Time for another round of the 12 Gym Days of Christmas!

(You can read about last year's Gym Days of Christmas here and here)

In case you missed last year's Gym Days of Christmas, here's a rundown. My friend Djillian (aka DJ-Illian or, The DJ) created it as a way to encourage people to work out during the holidays, a sort of antidote to all the holiday parties, desserts, rich foods, extra drinking (for some), and general lazing around. You can read about the updated format of Gym Days of Christmas on her blog, here. If you don't already read her blog, I highly recommend it, as her writing honest, funny, and heartfelt all at once.
In order to participate, you have to...

  • work out 12 times for at least 30 minutes each time (only work out per day will count) between Dec. 1-24 
  • somehow tell Djillian how you worked out (facebook or a blog comment)
  • and if you manage to do all 12, the DJ will mail you (yes, you!) an amazing prize in the form of a button to commemorate your accomplishment. 


This year, there is a very exciting addition to Gym Days of Christmas: 

GYMGO!










I'm personally excited about this aspect of Gym Christmas because a) I miss the fun of New Orleans Conference Bingo, and b) I think I have a good chance of actually getting a GYMGO. The DJ says there will be GYMGO prizes awarded during Gym Christmas, at least until people like me call GYMGO to the point that it annoys her. 
You can download your own GYMGO card as a pdf and find all of the GYMGO rules on her blog. 

As a personal challenge to myself, I'm going to write a blog post about each of the work outs that I count. They will be pretty simple posts, but I have three items that I'll write about in each one:

  1. What I did to work out, and what GYMGO box, if any, I've checked off. Note that you can only check off one box per work out. 
  2. Provide a photo that may or may not be related to the work out, but that was taken the day of the work out. Get ready for some awesome pictures of my backyard.
  3. Tell you what I ate for dinner that day (items 2 and 3 may often be related). And if it's not dinner time yet, then I may tell you something else I ate that day - because, you know, my diet is fascinating. Prepare to have your MINDS BLOWN


Since I normally work out 5-6 times per week, fulfilling the minimum requirements for Gym Christmas probably won't be terribly difficult for me (knock on wood). But writing a few sentences about it every time will probably be a lot more challenging, and it's nice to have something new to think about at the end of term.

If you'd like to participate in Gym Christmas, you are most welcome! Feel free to start any time after December 1st and leave a comment on Djillian's blog. The program is on the honor system, and you don't have so sign up in advance (though it might be nice to say hi in a comment on this post and let her know you're excited). I find that it's a great way to stay motivated to exercise after the fall races are over and while gingerbread and brie and stuffing (separately, duh) are calling my name.

Merry Gym Christmas to all! 




3 comments:

  1. I'm doing the holiday streak again too! Even if I only run a mile, it's still better than doing nothing. And like you said, you probably won't have any trouble with it, but that little bit of extra accountability during this time of year is motivational.

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  2. Abby! We did this last year and will do it again this year all thank to you!

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  3. @Kira, I thought about doing a RW streak, too. But my foot is still bugging me, and I think I'm going to keep my mileage low for a while. Gym Christmas incentivizes cross training, so that's good for me. But I may try a streak in the new year, something to get me through the coldest months.

    @Kate, if you comment on her blog and email her your address, DJ will actually send you a button. She lives in the US these days, so it's not as complicated. I proudly display mine from last year in the kitchen. But it's great that you participate, either way! I'd love it if you commented here at some point and let me know how it went for you. :)

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