Want to take on an exciting challenge with a twist, that will push you to the next level not just in running, but in other areas of your life too? If the answer is yes, you’re in the right place. The You Fooked Up 45 challenge is brand new and, in this post, you’ll learn why you have to give it a try.
A note from Craig: Creator of Runners First
John Brzozowski, the creator of the ‘You Fooked Up 45’ challenge, is the guest blogger for this post. He explains his motivation for creating the challenge, breaks down how to take it on, and explains why it will change your life for the better.
Part one of the challenge is all about working up a daily sweat, so running can be your sweat generator of preference!
John co-hosts the Quadbunk podcast, a tongue in cheek exploration of a wide range of topics from Coronavirus and economics to the discipline required to complete the 4/4/48 running challenge.
From episodes 9th November to the 21st December 2020, John takes on the You Fooked Up 45 challenge himself. During these episodes, he reflects on progress made while participating in the challenge and documents personal changes that have come about as a result of it.
The Quadbunk podcast is insightful, humorous and will always give you something to think about; I strongly recommend you check it out on your preferred platform.
Without further ado, I will hand you over to John for him to guide you through the You Fooked Up 45. I hope you’ve got your cup of tea at the ready.
About the Author
My name is John Brzozowski and I am a mid 20’s accountant by trade that hasn’t given up on being a healthy human being yet.
I am in a profession where the total distance you need to travel to complete my job is from the bed to the coffee pot and then to the desk. This means I must motivate myself to stay moderately healthy which has been a challenge.
I am not a great runner, and judging by my use of adjectives, could have paid attention more in writing classes. I will not be placing in the top 100 finishers of a marathon any time soon, but if you sprint past me on a running path, I will match your speed for as long as I can.
I have recently been expanding my horizons and started podcasting, so there will be a few shameless plugs to my podcast ‘Quadbunk’ in all my guest posts.
What is the You Fooked Up 45?
The YFU45, working abbreviation, is a 45 day challenge all about consistency and setting strong personal habits.
Can you commit to perform the same set of productive behaviours every day, for 45 days? Can you forget that weekends are for relaxing and weekdays are only for work, for a whole month and a half?
At the end of this challenge, you will be able to definitively say that you are a better person than you were a short while before.
In this blog post, I will lay out the 5 pillars of the challenge and give a brief explanation as to why I think each is important. If you would prefer to hear me explain it, feel free to hit this link that goes directly to my podcast. Either way, thanks for reading this blog post, it means a lot.
1. Daily Sweat
Every day you must get out and sweat. Choose something that you will commit to every day, and that you can do from different locations so you aren’t stuck in your home for 45 days in order to stay on track.
I chose a 5k every day that I can substitute with a 10 mile bike ride if need be. The daily sweat is something that my friend Randy and I thought of a couple years ago but have hardly stuck to.
It comes in handy most when you have been drinking the night before and you need to get rid of the noodle brain that comes the next day. When we sweat, we get the body moving forward and I’m sure there are some biological reasons why it is great for you, but I’m an accountant so you will get no such explanation here.
I will only suggest you do something that is a challenge, but not impossible to complete every day. If it usually takes you 3 days to recover from this workout, choose another one. We are going for reps here.
2. An Hour on your Goal
One hour, that’s it. Do you have something you want to do outside of work, or that can help improve your direction towards your ‘big dream?’
Lets think about how much time we spend on things that don’t move us forward on the daily. How many hours do we spend on social media? How long do we watch television or play video games? How many of us hate that screen time app on your iPhone because it exposes us. ME.
All I need out of you is a collective hour that you cut from your day and put towards a goal. The goal needs to be separate from your workouts but that’s the only rule you must abide by.
I am studying for an accountant certification exam and finding time to get that done every day has challenged me to audit my lifestyle. I started waking up earlier, not because I wanted to study, because I still wanted a life after work.
Knocking one of the items out in the morning is always helpful, but I’m not telling you how to live your life.
3. A Consistent Diet
To save us all some time in our day, I won’t go into detail on why a diet is important. However, I will speak briefly to the consistency piece.
Remaining consistent is going to be everyone’s greatest challenge, so set a realistic goal. Try to pull from your past on what diets have worked or ones that if you know you can stick to.
I am doing a no sugar, low carb diet. The easiest way for me to accomplish this goal is through doing keto, as the extra fat in the diet limits the hunger you usually experience from cutting carbs.
The diet might make you a little worse at our runs, but remember it’s about the consistency, and if we don’t hit our personal record (PR) every day that is the point. You can hit your PR on most distance travelled in 45 days.
4. Vice of Choice
This pillar is my saving grace. I am not going to tell you to cut out every bad thing that you do in your life, you get to keep one.
The goal with keeping one vice is so that we don’t binge at the end of day 45. This challenge is a mental shift, but it must be a sustainable one.
Common Vice’s include: drinking, smoking, gambling, diet soda drinks. In order for it to be a vice to you, it must be something that you do consistently now, and you know that if you stopped completely it would be hard for you.**
Within the vice you chose to keep, you get to keep 1 thing. So, my vice is drinking and the alcohol I am picking is Tequila. I chose this as my vice partly because I have tried a sober month before and I gained 7 pounds. Feel free to think this one through as it’s important.
5. The Wildcard
The last pillar is something for you. Fill this with whatever makes you happy, or you know you should do but don’t.
For me it has been journaling, listening to audiobooks, or podcasting. These keep me centred and help me understand why I am putting myself through this laborious challenge.
Careful, another shameless plug is coming in the next sentence. LISTEN TO THE QUADBUNK PODCAST, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Bring it all together John
Okay we have made it this far, time to try to sum everything up and wrap it in a nice bow.
The main driver behind this challenge is to jumpstart habits that will improve your life and make you feel in control. It’s for the people that wake up in the morning knowing a path they want to be on, but just are choosing to put it off for “future me” to figure out.
If you feel you have “Fooked Up” then this is challenge for you. If you currently run 25 miles a week and occasionally have a cheat day, then keep going pal you are doing great.
The YFU45 should change your mindset and make you realize it is not impossible to fit all of this in daily. Did I mention that you will probably be a damn good version of yourself if you make it to day 45?
Thanks everyone for reading this far, it was a blast being a guest blogger on the Runners First website. I hope they will have me back some time soon. Alright guys, talk soon.
**If something is a vice for others, but not for you, feel free to do it. Just be careful that when you limit your vices, you don’t pick up someone else’s.
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