Happy New Year! Is your resolution to be fitter and healthier? Maybe you want help sticking to a fitness regime or you’d like to just be more active on a daily basis.
…Perhaps signing up to a challenge could help you achieve your goals! Have you heard about the RED January 2020 challenge? https://redtogether.co.uk/about/. One of our colleagues let us know about how it helped her in January 2019.
Hannah Beecham CEO and Founder set up RED January in 2016 after seeing the amazing effects of regular exercise on her mum, as she recovered from a period of severe depression. Four years on and Hannah continues to put on free, all-inclusive fitness events in January to beat the winter blues, suitable for all fitness abilities. The idea is all about supporting mental health by introducing movement into daily life.
What could I do?
You choose your goal and daily fitness activity. It could be swimming, running, yoga, cycling, dancing or something different every day. Plus if you’d like to raise money (as an optional extra), RED January is teamed with Mind ( the charity for better mental health)
Could this help you?
87% of REDers reported feeling significantly better physically and mentally after completing red January 2019 according to the post-RED survey. There’s also a red online community via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to support you and for you to share your amazing achievements! And for more moral support – why not set join RED January as a team of friends of colleagues.
..And after January?
It doesn’t all stop when February starts; in fact January is just the beginning. The RED community and Mind are available all year round to provide support, to be part of a community inspiring others and there are Mind events throughout the year. That way physical exercise can become part of your life to manage your mental wellbeing.
Our colleague’s experience
Our colleague who signed up in January last year, now signs up to various other virtual charity challenges on the web for each month and sets up Justgiving (justgiving.com) pages as an additional motivation to stick with the challenges.
She doesn’t ask for donations from anyone else, but donates the equivalent of any loose change she accumulates each month to the cause she has chosen.
She uses the Strava fitness tracking app – Strava http://(www.strava.com) has monthly fitness virtual challenges for which you get a trophy icon. So far she has completed a Strava virtual 5K each month this year and her aim is to have the full twelve trophies by the end of this year.
“I try to be engaged rather than obsessed”, she says “although saying that, Strava does report back on times and personal records amongst other stats, which I find really interesting! Also Strava lets you upload photos of your activities each day, so I choose to take photos of the landscape around me while I am out and about, with the occasional indoor photo for any gym classes I do. “
” Just to mention that I am not sponsored by any of the charitable or commercial enterprises mentioned above! Other organisations and apps are available!”
We’d love to let others share your successes too! So if you sign up for this challenge or have any other stories related to well-being that you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you! Simply email emma.bown@stmonicatrust.org.uk or naomi.stone@stmonicatrust.org.uk.
Sticking to regular activity throughout the year and particularly through the winter can be tough. Here’s a few words of wisdom:
- Buddying up or being part of a team can really help to support and motivate you.
- Make it meaningful – think about why you’re doing it. If you want to be fitter so you can run around with your children or grandchildren, you’ll probably achieve it faster than trying to lose a stone and a half.
- Finding something that you really enjoy is key. If you’re not sure where to start, we have lots of ideas on the Physical Well-being page of this site.