How it works:
The calendar has 24 windows (we almost lost door 23… oops, printing error, but we rescued it again!), there are 12 challenges hidden away under some of the doors. Don’t worry, they aren’t brutal or designed to take up hours of your time (who’s got time for that in December?!). They are designed to take around 5-10 minutes out of your day, and usually precede a little reward. The day after the challenge, you will be rewarded with a new piece of your medal.
The exception is we go straight in on day 1 with a gift to start you off.
The medal is easy to build, each part clips on to the medal, and you can assemble the dangly bits in your own unique way.
DAY 2 SUNDAY Challenge 1
Step it up! This challenge is all about increasing your step count. Can you easily smash 10,000 steps? Then today we want you to achieve 11,000. Is usual step count 6000? Let’s aim for 6600. Want some ideas how you can increase your steps?
Get off the bus one stop earlier
Take the stairs instead of the lift at work
Take the dog or yourself out for a walk – walking for a mile generates around 2000 steps
A little bit of gentle gardening or even taking the bins out can all increase your step count by a few hundred
DAY 4 TUES Challenge 2 -
Hydrate your body! The eatwell guide on the NHS website recommends we drink 6-8 glasses of water every day. No need for expensive bottled water - tap water will be perfectly fine. Here’s a great app you can download to remind you to drink those 6-8 glasses “DAILY WATER” https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/daily-water-drink-reminder/id466387763?mt=8
DAY 6 THURSDAY : Challenge 3
5-minute physical challenge. Your choice to complete one, two or three of these mini workouts.
It’s super important to get sit ups right, here’s a great article and set of 6 videos giving examples of abdominal exercises you can do at home https://dailyburn.com/life/db/beginner-core-exercises-for-ab-workouts/
DAY 8 SATURDAY Challenge 4
Time for another physical challenge – why not try a press up or half press up? Here’s a short video demonstrating how to build up to a full press (push) up https://youtu.be/Pkj8LLRsoDw
DAY 10 MONDAY Challenge 5
5 A DAY. The world health organization recommends we eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables EVERY DAY. That’s a total weight of 400g of your fave colourful fruits and veg. Take a look at their recommendations here http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/fruit/en/
DAY 12 WEDNESDAY Challenge 6
Stretch it out! Stretching your muscles after a run or cycle session can really help improve performance, cool you down and ensure you avoid injury. But did you know that stretching on a daily basis has so many other benefits too. Here’s a great article explaining why https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-stretching#getting-started
