Last Words

Well, I'd like to say that I finished off this challenge feeling wildly successful. Switch out the "w" for an "m" and you'd have a more accurate interpretation of my experience. First, let's start with the positives:
Upping my fruit and veg intake was easy, peasy, and a very much enjoyable aspect of this challenge. I seemed to be able to work lots of good, healthy grub into my diet with little hesitation. I also noticed a bit of a difference and *gasp* dropped a few pounds as a result. Another benefit was the consistent vigilance regarding eating habits and other behaviors. The first month and a half proved successful as overall alcohol intake took a nosedive, however that massive C-37 caught wind and powered full steam ahead for the rest of the challenge. This is not something I'm happy about and I must take a better look at these behaviors. It is also interesting to note that I kicked ass on the mid-challenge update. My fitness capacity soared and I blew away my baseline results. At the end of the challenge I dopped below the mid-challenge results. Is there a parallel between drinking and smoking and diminished fitness capacity? It seems so. If anything, this challenge has taught me that such behaviors do have an impact on health and I need to work on improving my willpower in order to be in tip top shape.

I wasn't able to participate in any community service activity, even though it was my idea to add it to the challenge. I gave it a lot of thought and only realized what I'd like to do when it was too late. I do plan to regularly volunteer my time at an animal shelter in town; however I don't want to be a part of euthinization. If anyone knows of any shelters that don't kill perfectly healthy animals, let me know.

I suppose this is all I've got for now. I plan to work hard on maintaining each aspect of this challenge as I want to live as healthy a life as possible. I am honestly tired of my fitness pursuits being derailed by unhealthy, drunken Saturday nights.