After last week’s post, long-time BeautyXpose reader Lissa commented that perhaps I needed a challenge to get myself back into the swing of living a healthy lifestyle. At first, I thought it was a friendly proposition to race against her in our respective journeys, but after a welcome email exchange, I found that she was really saying I should race myself.

Does this sound like your typical holiday season?

Lissa introduced me to a site that would help me do just that – SocialWorkout.com.  The site offers a free way for users to sign up and inspire themselves and each other with fitness challenges. Currently, the site is featuring The Emergency Holiday Challenge, which challenges users to complete 20 workouts and 10 designated “feats” that range from taking public transportation standing up to grabbing a friend and playing in the snow.  Of course, these must be completed between Nov. 26 through Jan. 1. The site encourages you to track your progress by “blogging your workouts,” and it subsequently posts your stats to keep you up to date on how you’re doing.

So will I join the challenge? That remains to be seen. There are a few things holding me back from just jumping in. First, it’s honestly hard for me to imagine adding one more responsibility to my life right now, which feels full to the brim (and overflowing most days). I don’t want to make a major commitment to myself that I know I can’t keep, and I don’t want to feel like a failure if I can’t really stick to it. Second, I don’t especially love the thought of blogging to a site full of runners and other exercise junkies (or so it seems) that I consider a one-mile walk at lunch justifiable for starting to live healthier by just getting up and moving.

That aside, if the site really allows you to determine what constitutes a workout, then, if I plan accordingly (knowing I have travel for work, celebrate my 30^th birthday — eek! — and of course, the holidays themselves), I might be able to swing it.

On Friday, after a little TLC with some good food and good company, I’ll sit down and take a good, hard look and plot my path. While it may or may not include this specific challenge (which only seems exercise-based), I can assure you, there will be a solid path in place. And of course, I’ll report my decision back to you next week. In the meantime, have a happy holiday!