Join the No Cave November Holiday Challenge Here!
Sawyer Paull-Baird
Administrator, Moderator, Practitioner, AFS Staff admin
Welcome to "No Cave November"!
We are very excited you made it here. 
If you're someone who tends to lose some of your fitness momentum during the holiday season, or just want to support others who have this problem, the No Cave November Challenge was made for you.
What is it?
The concept here is simple..
Step #1: Choose a health behavior you're currently engaged in that you think is very important to maintain over the holiday.. State your goal in very specific terms, and state your intention to maintain it over the holiday. This could be maintaining your exercise routine, a specific nutritional habit you've been working on, your body composition, or something else entirely.
Step #2: Once you state your goal, we will use this forum for support and accountability as we all work to sustain that habit. Each week we will be posting content such as reflective activities and lessons that can help us stay strong during the holiday months.
These activities, along with the community support on the forum will be the foundation of the challenge, hopefully resulting in a lot of us sticking with our health routines a lot better than previous holiday seasons.
How to get started?
While there is no official "sign-up" for this challenge, we encourage everyone to share their goal in this thread. The sharing of that goal will serve as declaration of your commitment, and the "sign-up" for the challenge.
While the challenge officially starts on the 18th, before then, you can do the following:
1) Choose your goal. You can create a commitment contract at StickK.com if you'd like the extra accountability of putting some money on the line!
2) Share your goal as a comment on this thread! Social support is the back-bone of this whole challenge. So sharing your goal, and posting about your victories or struggles, will be very important to the challenge.
We sincerely look forward to hearing about all of the awesome goals set this holiday season! Without further ado... start sharing (!) and look forward for the first AFS post on Monday the 18th to kick this thing off!
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PS- Lastly, a small tip! We would recommend you "Follow" this section of the forum to get email notifications when new posts are made. If you can do this by following the steps below:
1) Click your profile picture in the top right corner of your screen
2) Click Edit Profile or Preferences
3) Click Notification Preferences from the right side menu
4) Scroll down to Categories, and check the box "email" under the "No Cave November" category. You can choose emails for new discussions, which will alert you whenever a new post is made, or comments, which will notify you every time a a comment is made on a post. I would urge you to choose discussions to avoid excessive emails.. but the choice is yours! 
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PS- If you're not a current AFS client, but would like to participate,
please email Sawyer@4afsfit.com, and we can set you up with an account..Sawyer Paull-Baird BS CSCS ACSM-EP PN-Lvl1
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
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Comments
My goal is to only snack 3 nights a week.
After my kids go to bed (finally!) I get so excited to do whatever I want that I get a “Woohoo let’s party!” Mindset, which = wine + cheese!
I do really great with healthy eating all day, so I’m definitely sabotaging all my hard work.
Maybe limiting that to 3 times sounds embarrassing, but it’s true 😂 and when I don’t snack at night, I go to bed earlier too, so it’s a win-win.
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
Heather, I'm right there with you! (Fountain is the only way to go). I'm trying to give it up. But it is hard! I switched to ice tea which I like but we will see....
My challenge is to stay positive on my road to recovery. (Shoulder surgery ugh) I had my first strength solutions class today with Eileen. It felt great!! Thanks Eileen for your support. I have two more months for recovery but I am setting a schedule for 2- SS a week , 2- cardio workouts a week and a daily walk with my dog Bailey, its my favorite part of my day (rain or shine). My goal is to be cleared by my doctor in January so I can play hockey again. 🏒🤞#allin
@Beth Manoogian heck of a schedule! Your goal doesn’t have to be workout related 👌🏼 @Amy Rivard lets do this!!!!! #return #comeback #laceemup
@Nate Langley I would love to join you for some cold weather walks!! The trail is so beautiful and peaceful after a fresh snowfall!! ❄️😍 Maybe we could even try out some snowshoeing later in the season? I’ve never done it, but I’m dying to give it a try!!
I love my workouts so much I don't feel they will be compromised through the holidays. BUT- sweets and desserts will be my weekness. It has already started with the huge bowl of candy in front of me daily from Halloween. Then birthday cakes, then Thanksgiving desserts (celebrate 3 times), then the Xmas cookies will be everywhere. I need to stay strong and keep my hands and mouth away from all the additional sweets and treats at arm's length each day!!! 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
@Lisa Damphousse lets roll!
My November goal is to increase water! @Heather Quinlan I know what you mean about the diet pop. It is my go to as well. Or rather my lifeline some days. LoL my goal is to decrease my pop intake and increase water. As well as being more prepared with meal prep for lunches. I do well with breakfast and dinner but I slack at lunch which is not ok.
My healthy behavior goal is going to be communication! I've been working really hard at being openly honest with people about my feelings: when I've been hurt, when I've experienced joy, and so on. During the holidays I'm extra care-full so I'm a little bit more sensitive, both to the good stuff and the yucky stuff, and my typical way of dealing is to bury the feelings under layers and layers of "It's fine" or keeping the joy to myself 😬 and that's not very healthy for my spirit!
So! I'm committing to acknowledging my feelings and communicating them healthily and kindly :)
My goal is get back to working out as I haven't set foot in a gym since August. As I'm traveling almost weekly for my new job, I'm finding it hard to be motivated to go during my down time. I'm exhausted. I also need to increase my water intake. It's incredibly low. I know that my energy level will increase with more water and exercise. I know that I can do this!!!
My goals are (1) make it to boxing at least 3x/week, especially now that outdoor exercise options are limited, (2) piggybacking off of what @Alyssa Romig said- I'd love to have a more consistent sleep schedule + average a minimum of 7 hours a night, (3) continue to grocery shop and cook more at home- both to save money and eat healthier, and (4) maintain weight while in France visiting my grandparents, where there will be an abundance of food and lounging! Also loving @Corinne Albrecht's communication goal!!
My goals are to get more sleep, increase water intake and avoid Dr. Pepper and Chocolate Chip/M&M/Sugar cookies. I can't help myself when I have easy access to them!
My goal is to keep up with my recent re-introduction to running. I have worked up to doing 2 miles and am hoping to keep the momentum going so I can participate in the Turkey Trot over Thanksgiving. this is in addition to standard “‘maintain dont gain” :)
My goal is two fold:
I'm already working out my calendar through the beginning of January!
@Porter, Nicole Love the step goal... Between the cold, rain, and darkness I've already found myself not hitting 10k as consistently. Thanks for the reminder to keep moving!!
Ok...I've got a bunch of goals here which all focus on me moving more. Being self employed, it is easy to sit in a comfy warm home and do computer/paper work. (It has to be done but leads to stagnation) So.....
1) Get to AFS 2-3 times a week
2) Go to 3 dance events a week (Hubby and I have started Ballroom Dance and currently take 1 private lesson, 1-2 group lessons each week and participate in a dance practice party on Friday nights)
3) I am participating in the Holiday Mile: pledge to run/walk a mile a daily from Thanksgiving to New Years!
I will not be a Holiday Sloth!!! 😊
Instead of eating two weeks of Christmas cookies and three days of rich Thanksgiving leftovers - My goal is to limit my holiday indulgences to the actual holidays - Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. I want to maintain my healthy eating habits every other day in November and December. Oh, and one small piece of my dad's birthday cake on November 22 :)
I like that one, @Jessica Rice!
I am sitting her looking at the word GOAL and thinking I am so bad at making goals and sticking to them. And I am not just speaking of workout goals, also household goals for me can be so daunting. My goal will consist of me accomplishing something everyday that I have been putting off. I have small fires that need to be taken care of. I have come to realize that not having a job and structure outside of the home can make for a person a procrastinator and with procrastination comes the feeling of being over-whelmed and walking in circles will occur. today Friday November 8th I Will accomplish the front hall closet. When my life is not organized everything else becomes chaotic.
@Heather Quinlan you just have to try good kombucha :)
@Nate Langley @Lisa Damphousse We need to start a trail walking club! I was actually thinking of posting a meet at the trail for Thanksgiving morning if anyone is interested! Run or Walk!