21DFC Day 15 – Create Your Fitness Mantra!
This is Day 15 of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge (21DFC) for Feb 2012. View all posts made during the challenge: 21DFC Overview.
Hello and welcome to Day 15 (Feb 17) of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge! 
We’re now in the last week of the challenge!
Final Week – Are You Ready???
Now that we are in the last leg of the challenge, it’s time for us to give it all we’ve got and put all them athletes out there to shame!!!!! 
Are you ready to do that or not??? 
:dance:
Seriously speaking, this week is the golden opportunity for us to give it our all. Doesn’t matter if you missed a session, or two, or three, or even (gasp) skipped all your sessions in the past week. It’s all in the past now. What matters now is this new week and what we’re going to make out if it. Our objective is to make the best out of our remaining time together, both on the individual level with our fitness sessions, and on the group level with our daily comments, support and discussions.
If you haven’t been falling in the daily posts with your progress report, now is the time to do so. If you have been sharing your daily progress but haven’t been participating in the group conversations, now is the time to join in. No more holding back guys – let’s give this last week our best shot!
Week 3 – New Tips Format
Last week, the daily posts for 21DFC involved a reflective question to ponder over, as you stick to your daily fitness activity. Here’s a quick snapshot of the 7 questions posed to you during Week 2:
- Day 8 – What is Your Favorite Fitness Activity? | 62 Comments
- Day 9 – What is Your #1 Obstacle to Becoming Fitter – and How Do You Plan To Overcome It? | 79 Comments
- Day 10 – How Committed Are You To Achieving a Healthier, Fitter Body? | 63 Comments
- Day 11 – What is Your Favorite Time To Exercise? | 64 Comments
- Day 12 – Why Did You Join 21-Day Fitness Challenge? | 83 Comments
- Day 13 – What Do You Love About Exercising? | 53 Comments
- Day 14 – How Would You Rate Your Progress So Far? (And How Can You Make Week 3 Your Best Week Ever?) | 22 Comments
Thank you to all of you for your amazing responses! There have been some highly conscious discussions going on among the participants. If you haven’t been reading them / participating in them, I highly recommend you do that! You may well get something out of it for yourself.
Just like how I switched the challenge format from Week 1 (self journaling) to Week 2 (reflective questioning), I’ll be introducing a new format for this last week. For Week 3, I’ll be assigning daily tasks for us to do, on top of our fitness activities. These tasks will be short and to the point, fitness-related, and definitely helpful in helping us cultivate the life-long habit of being physically active. Think of it like 30DLBL, but for fitness.
Are you ready? Let’s get started! 
21DFC Day 15 – Create Your Fitness Mantra!
Mantra – An often repeated word, formula, or phrase, often a truism (Dictionary.com)
Do you have a fitness mantra? One that pushes you to keep going even when you may feel tired during your workouts? One that makes you want to go for your daily fitness session, even when your muscles may be sore, your mind may be weak, and your spirit may be unwilling?
I have a few mantras that do just that for me. They include, but are not limited to:
(In relation to something that’s physically challenging) “This is nothing. If others can do it, so can I.”
“I love exercising. It keeps me looking thin, healthy, sexy, fit and strong.”
“The more I do this, the better I get!”
(When I’m worn out mid-way during a run) “Slowly Celes – One step at a time.”
Your task for today is to create YOUR own fitness mantra(s). As a mantra, it should be short, to the point, and most importantly, inspiring – to YOU. Doesn’t matter if no one gets head or tail or what exactly it means, because it’s not for them; it’s for you.
Once you’ve created your mantra, share it with everyone in the comments section below!
Share Your Plans/Progress for Today!
What is your intended fitness plan for today? What physical activities are you going to do, and how long do you want to do them for? Share with us!
Update your progress as you go along. At the end of the day, review your progress and share your learnings.
Check out other participants’ responses and join in the discussions!
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Lol guys, check out this article I read while exercising today at the gym (still in the gym right now in fact – doing knee presses now).
From Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/sitting-can-kill-you-2011-4
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Progress report for today – 30 min walk to the gym +1 hour of intense leg workout.
45 minutes of recumbent bike and 15 minutes of knee press. I got to the gym later than usual today though because I was up till 7am yesterday setting up my new laptop.
The good news? No more long loading times and sudden screen freezes which have been creating so much pain for me in the past year or so. Onward to getting more value out of my time spent on the comp every day.
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Hi Celes, Hope that placing this note to you here is fine. It is Day 15, and I did respond to your reply/request for me to share the biggest things that enabled me to get rid of two hundred pounds. I was all jazzed and excited to tell the story, (still am),
even stayed up all that night, that’s how focused I was! (Time did not exist!) 
So this is to let you know that what I wrote is now quietly resting in Day 12, page1. (resting verrry quietly, lol). It is lonnnng, much longer than I thought it would be. I got sooo into writing the story, :heart:. focusing on the realizations and growing awarenesses of my dropping all that weight, and expressing the main things about this sweeping topic/story that spans a lifetime of experience so challenged with physical fitness/weight issues as told by one with food issues and unfitness.
Giving my story a voice is awesome, but so is hearing responses to a story. Since I have written it, I mentioned it to ASLO when I was replying to one of her posts, and hearing back is a wonderful feeling! Haven’t mentioned it to anyone else yet, but unless I do, I think it will not be seen,
since Day 12 is pretty much (part of the) history that has carried us forward to the current day of 21DFC, and it is more about looking forward here, more than looking back. Any ideas about how/where I can be more helpful in sharing?
Anyways…just to let you know these thoughts and feelings, Celes, and thank you for asking me to share this important story. I always am learning so much, and that only continues here.
Bette
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I read it! I commented there rather than here. What AN AMAZING, INSPIRING WEIGHT LOSS STORY — lifestyle story — life-change story. (I put that in all-caps here in hopes it will grab the eye of some other people so they’ll go read your story on Day 12.
HERE’S THE LINK DIRECTLY TO BETTE’S POST:
http://personalexcellence.co/challenges/2012/02/21dfc-day-12-why-join/#comment-24403
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You’re an angel , Kate.
I’m lovin’ your support!
And your valuing my story!
Also, I just wrote a reply to you at that post.
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We are all here to learn, grow and seek together…there’s no one time when I wouldn’t rush in to do my bit for you whether its as simple as reading a post and appreciating (genuinely, from the core of the heart) it…….take it from the other fiction/non-fiction authors, it took them time to get their bit of recognition, and they didn’t have the support from already having a fan base via blogs…..so if you don’t have a blog already as KATE has said p l e a s e create one….and be sure that I and am sure Kate would be there witnessing how an a great, from the
writer makes her mark on the world….. 
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Dearest, dearest Bette – thank you so much for your reminder!! I have *NOT* forgotten about it and *WILL* be reading it today – the only reason why I haven’t gotten to it is because I’ve been so swamped with a lot of tasks in the past few days (still am, actually) – and with my computer breaking down and having to buy/set-up a new one a couple of days ago, that really didn’t help.
That’s why I haven’t had the chance to read (and participate) in all the comments in the past few days as actively as I would ideally want. But it’s the weekend now and I have slightly more time for myself, so I’m going to get to the comments in a bit.
Update: I just responded, Bette!
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Today I did a personal BEST with my run. Cut off 2 minutes off my normal time. LOVING THIS!!!! My legs are really starting to feel it, so I think no running this weekend, will try out the yoga classes at the gym. I think I need a good stretch.
I have a mantra that I chant as I run (normally near the end when I feel like I can’t go anymore)….
“I am fit, I am strong, I am fast, I can breath easily”
(I’m an asthma sufferer, so that last bit helps when my chest gets tight)
M
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My mantra is usually just “I can do it, just keep pushing” for when I’m swimming front crawl and getting tired.
Day 15 – swam for 50 minutes.
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I like that. Usually when you keep telling yourself you can do something, it becomes easier to do! Good luck. I love swimming!
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I know I’ve mentioned sweat pretty often in my last posts, lol, but I’ve reached a point where I associate it with being fit&healthy. So something I tell myself during a workout is “Sweat is power.”. It’s power ’cause it means I’m getting a good workout and I’m getting fitter, stronger, healthier – ALL of it leading to a powerful me.
I’ve done my 30 minutes workout and meditated. This weekend I’ll be doing shorter workouts because -long story short- I share a room with my parents and they’re free from work during weekends. So I can’t really exercise with them in the room and there’s no way I could workout outside at the moment (still lots of snow and negative temperatures). But I’ll be jumping the rope, stretching and doing some basic Pilates for legs instead of the 30 mins workout.
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Lina, “Sweat is power” – this is so powerful! I’m going to use it for myself, if you don’t mind.
I’ve been sweating like CRAZY in my past workouts too (either I’ve been cycling harder than ever, or it’s the hot weather, or a combination of both!), and while the sweat doesn’t make me smell like roses, I love it because it’s a sign that I’m having a good workout – like what you said!
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Feel free to recite is during your workouts
Haha.
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it* Me and my jelly fingers on the keyboard…:lol:
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~Just get it done and make it fun~
I tell myself this everyday. That if I go ahead and get the exercise done and find a fun routine to do, then it’s not so bad and it’s worth it in the end.
I think the burst of heat the other day got me wound up for spring. But I will compensate with some fun yoga routines I have found and then enjoy getting the house clean and ready for the weekend.
For today, I am going to do the booty shaking link I shared yesterday for 10 minutes. Then I am going to do the abdominal work out for 12 minutes. Not walking weather again today.
Note to self, try to go to the indoor pool in my area this weekend. That’s adding lots of fun in getting it done!
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I find the jogging enjoyable. Just yesterday evening Daniel Schacter, a psychologist at Harvard suggested that exercising is a good way to keep memory. I find that exhaust odors are more intense after running.
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I had no idea that jogging can do that o.o One more reason for me to try jogging
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“Change your body, change your life”-> This is what I believe actually
But it is not only limited to this one, but I think this is the best one for me currently.
Today’s workouts: I walked (not sure how long), ran (not sure how long for this either) and I did burpees (for 7 min and some seconds).
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I was going to ask what are burpees, then I went to google it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M
I remember doing it during my fitness sessions in school.
Doing it for 7 minutes is definitely intense alright! Great job Monisha. 
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Thank you, Celes!
You’re doing a great job yourself!!! 
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In these 15 days, I have created a few of mantras for myself without my conscious.
When I feel that I’m busy and no time to exercise:
–> Busy can never be the excuse.
When I feel tired to exercise:
–> 10 minutes of stretching must be able to refresh myself.
When I feel lazy to exercise:
–> The more I exercise, the better stamina I will have for traveling.
In general, I always tell myself since 1/1/2012:
–> Exercise can make me healthy all the while in year 2012!
(I fell sick for more than 6 times last year… broke my record >. I want to look thin and healthy.
The sky looked dark just now, so I just ran in place for 40 minutes. However, until now, I haven’t even seen a drop of rain… =.=
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Correction:
In general, I always tell myself since 1/1/2012:
–> Exercise can make me healthy all the while in year 2012!
(I fell sick for more than 6 times last year… broke my record >. I want to look thin and healthy.
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Seeking the the winner’s edge in this game of life with a winning attitude…for that well set my aptitude for all I desire….wishes of my fine future tomorrow set on my fine successes today…..exercise to me means not falling to the hell-hole of depending on medicine et al for recuperation from ailments….because God never made his work for man to mend.…….
, Happiness 
and fitness 
to all……
So coming to the fitness mantra…
Whenever I feel like not getting exercise done i’d say to myself ‘Quit wishing for the flowery meadows and the glowing stars…but life is not the mocking bird we’d all wish for it to be…it’d never play fair and hit you hard….but the true essence in proudly standing up to the Creator and saying that I lived my life my way, is when you don’t see how hard you were hit, but how hard you get back when you are hit….take that, keep moving in…’…
But that’s too long for a mantra. so i keep on repeating to my self No pain, No gain when the joints oppress you trying to reach your success or “Don’t give up what you want the most for what you want at the moment.”……….
For today, did the routine 35 mins of walking…and later 20 mins of cycling,,,
Great going guys…..Love
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LOTS of good thoughts in your post, Aslo! Some excellent ways to manage your mind when management is needed. I’m glad Celes gave us this challenge today, and you’ve done a good job figuring out what will work best for you with your fitness plans.
I know that we know each other well enough in 21DFC that I feel like it’s OK if I make one tiny suggestion? Affirmations (and mantras) tend to work best if they’re completely positive statements, i.e. no “negative” words involved. Kind of like being pro-something rather than anti-something. (A rather lame example, keeping it away from the fitness realm: Rather than saying “I don’t like bad television” I’d say instead “I enjoy well-made, interesting television shows.”)
So I have a feeling you’ll be up to MY challenge for you — Think about how you might reword your two mantras above to remove words like “no” and “don’t”…. I can offer some help but first I’ll challenge YOU to do it because I know you can! I’ll watch for your followup post, ok?
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I’d say, that’s a “wowzer” advice Kate…for quite some time I’ve pinned up the No Pain, No gain just in front of the growth zone of my house from where i meditate, do yoga and exercise…but actually it never seems to provide the jet fuel that’d let me launch my rocket ship to new heights….guess that’s how the power of attraction works, whatever you talk about is what the universe listens to a speed posts to you….the universe doesn’t have an english teacher to teach it about No and negative-clauses in a wish….so even if i’d repeat a mantra and it isn’t really shaped to what i actually, positively want then i’d be receiving the wrong -yet for the genie of the universe, the right- deal…so the mantra is a powerful tool, yet if used with naivete and without a thinking ahead sort of mindset then it’d work against you….so thank you for correcting me here….
I feel a lil’ hard-pressed here…my best time for coming up with new :idea: is during meditation 5.00 am to 5.45 am period…read this post much later and somehow the inkling thought seems to elude me. you wouldn’t really say this is my fitness mantra, cause i’m making this now for my tomorrow…completely new, yet something i find light in knowing that with its glow i’d be able to endure times when i’m cold and low…..so i’d say For the woman of spirit i strive to be…i believe in me
Any suggestions?
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I
your statement: “For the woman of spirit i strive to be…i believe in me.” :!: :!:
It even sounds kind of musical as I read it. Good one! So positive and uplifting for every woman!!!
So here are my thoughts on “no pain, no gain”. It’s not positive reinforcement. Like when mommy says to a kid, “If you don’t eat your veggies, you’ll get no dessert.” A subtle change to that might work better: “Eat your veggies and you can have extra dessert,” or some-such. You’ll find your own wording to use, but my example of transforming “no pain, no gain” might be something like, “This pain is getting me where I want to go!” BUT! I dunno, I don’t like the use of the word “pain” because it has negative connotations to me. I’m more of the yoga frame of mind: If it hurts, don’t do it; instead, back off the pain a little. Doesn’t mean we can’t push our bodies, but going to the point of pain won’t give the gain, IMHO.
But back to the thoughts about phrasing our affirmations and mantras as positive and self-reinforcing statements. Do you know what I mean? Using your other statement as an example, “Don’t give up what you want the most for what you want at the moment.” Perhaps it could be transformed to something like, “What I want the most will happen if I’m committed to it in this moment.” Or, “I’m working towards having everything I want!” Or, “Everything I want begins in this moment.”
A while back, I wrote my own how-to version about creating affirmations. I’m happy to share it with you: http://ponder-the-pre.posterous.com/how-to-change-your-mind-your-life-by-using-af Hope you enjoy it!
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Thank you for sharing that page Kate, checked it out and bookmarked that, its ‘mazing how the power of a pen or rather the keyboard here can dictate a spell of your life that needs more advice/attending to, please do share links on anything relevant that you feel might work out for me/anyone else on this forum…..
I guess i too really find home in the woman’s quote….of course it doesn’t really zero in to exercise, but it invokes self-belief, and that is step one to walking up any path right?
Now thanks to ya, i know how to phrase/coin my affirmations properly in case i need to set one for the future…..thank you
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My mantra for before and during my workout is “I can do this”. Helps a lot!
I plan on doing a light workout today of stretching and dancing.
By the way Celes, is there going to be another challenge next month? Any ideas of the topic yet?
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Mirna – No plans yet. I’ll play by ear and see how it goes. For the most part, I want to take a break from running the challenges in March and possibly April (I’ve been doing it every month since last October actually – I could definitely do with a break) and probably focus on my new videos channel (will announce soon at PE).
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Well, I don’t have an Exercise mantra, but here is one that I like.
“Push beyong what your eyes can see for your belief sees beyond your limitations.” This gives me the motivation to get one more rep in, or go the extra stride before my time is up. Today at 4:30 a.m. I did the following workout.
Fantastic 400 Conditioning Session:
10 exercises, 40 seconds per exercise:
- Jumping Jacks
- Run in Place
- Total Body Extension
- Split Shuffle
- Mountain Climber
- Bodyweight Squat
- Seal Jumps
- Sumo Squat
- Alternating Lunges
- Pushups
I did it 3 times with one minute rest between sessions. I am flying now.
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With the rebounder I set the alarm on the oven for the time I plan to be on there. So one mantra there may be:
“I’m not done jumping and stepping until I hear that alarm”.
And perhaps:
“Exercising on the rebounder is a great reason to put on some dance music I enjoy and play it loud”
Today I did 25 minutes on the rebounder. A bit less than I was doing before, but I’m trying to incorporate a few dance like moves into my routine.
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Haha, ingenious timing system
And about the music, I always find it fun to put music in the background while working out because I it makes me feel like dancing-> makes me wanna move-> helps with the workout
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Hi Lina, yes, it definitely helps a lot!
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“I’m not done jumping and stepping until I hear that alarm”.
LOL, I like this one Glenn!
Like Lina, I think syncing your exercise with using the oven is quite an ingenuous idea. It’s a sure way that you will remember to exercise (if you use the oven every day, which is the case here).
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If I didn’t have the fast music to jump in time to, I would probably slow down and not get as much of a workout. The only thing is when the music is faster than normal, I can’t jump as high. Only small jumps just to stay in time
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I can’t believe it’s the last week already
i’m feeling quite numb and tired because half of my day is in the train^_^”
So I really need to do exercises. I’m doing a home workout. I’m gonna updating my progress later.
And the idea of a mantra is cool. i heard about mantras in meditation before but never think of applying them to other aspects.
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So….. I’m looking forward to reading what mantra you come up with, Linh! (I’m reading this page from beginning downwards, so I apologize if you’ve already posted your mantra below… if so, I’ll see it there….)
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I did aerobics for 15 mins and I walked for about 30-40 mins around the city centre
I’m staying in another city during my holiday. The weather is so much better in here than in my school
About my mantra, I often remind myself that the true comfort and enjoyment is waiting for me and therefore, just stay focused and do my tasks for a bit more. I always push myself little by little and then the momentum will appear eventually.
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Happy holidays, Linh!
I like your idea for your mantra. I’m still having to meet this 21DFC challenge one day at a time, so I enjoy reading that you and others are kind of in the same place. When you say “little by little” it’s like the “one step at a time” thought. We can DO THIS!
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I went to the gym on foot for some indoor cycling, strength exercises en treadmill running.
Because we reached the 15 day mark (only 1 week to go
)and I want to make sure there’s life after the 21DFC I posted a new goal at Stickk http://www.stickk.com/members/commitment.php/cid/206956
So after completing this challenge (using the flow I’m in) I am going to tackle the big one next. Weight loss.
I appreciate the work you are putting into this challenge Celes. You are an inspiring force!
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Thanks for your kind words Raymond. I appreciate your active participation in this challenge! You’re doing a marvelous job with your fitness sessions.
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I went to the gym tonight but I really couldn’t get going. I tried rowing but only managed 5 minutes; then cycling; afain only 5 minutes. Then I did the plank; normally I’ll manage 1.30 to 2.00 mins but tonight only managed 55 secs.
So, I started to lift some weights (something I don’t normally bother with) and that seemed to help. So I did some abs, pecs and biceps work for about 20 mins. I treid cycling one more time but only managed 2 mins.
So, I gave up and went home. Then took my son out tonight to watch Warhorse.
I have 2 mantras that keep me going; for exercising it is “just one more” and when I used to jog (before being lame) it was “just on more lampost”
It always worked for me.
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