I am so glad you guys are out there! I am Karen from Wellness Works NW and I love summertime! I’ve always enjoyed summertime! Now I find myself in summer and I am getting ready for Challenge 22.
You are wondering: What is Challenge 22? Well let me back up just a little bit. Some of you know I joined the military years ago, back in 1982. It was July 9, 1982. As you can tell it has been a while and I am hitting that anniversary point.
I was talking to Lieutenant David Mark Davis from The Salvation Army, he’s a good friend of mine and we were talking and he was telling about doing his Challenge 22.
For 22 days we are going to be doing 22 pushups to signify the fact that 22 veterans, unfortunately, commit suicide every day. 22. We are doing this to act as encouragement; if you’ve got a problem, talk to somebody and get some help.
Lieutenant Dave was doing that, and I think it is great! Then he called me out on Facebook. He does a Facebook Live every time he does his pushups, and I got this tag: I’d like to go ahead and challenge my friend, Karen G Clemenson to do these pushups with me. He thought that was really funny! LOL! No, actually, I am honored to do them.
So he challenged me, and me being the competitive woman that I am, I said, “Yeah! We can do that.” So I am going to be doing this online, starting on Thursday July 9, 2020…tomorrow. I am really excited about this and I can’t wait.
[If you want to be part of this challenge shoot me a message on Facebook. We also considered that some people may not be able to do 22 push ups and since the mission is to encourage veterans who are struggling we want to encourage people who agree to be called out to choose 22 of any exercise they can do well for 22 days…and no you don’t have to do the same exercise for 22 days in a row, feel free to vary it up. We will only call you out if you say you will do the challenge.]
It has been many years since I have been in the military. I was in the Army. I remember that very first bus ride to Fort Dix, New Jersey (Now known as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst)…and it was something else! It was like 1 o’clock in the morning and everyone was yelling and out comes this staff sergeant, and actually I think I was a little taller than he was, which he didn’t care for, and he says, “What are you doing here? Why are you here? You should be going to a sewing class or something. Why are you here with me?”
I looked at him and thought: This guy’s a nut! He screamed at me the whole time. But the funny part was, when I got to the end of basic training he told me, “Boy! You are a heck of a soldier.”
I thought: Wow! The man screamed at me, threw me out the bunk at about 3 in the morning and said, ‘Let’s go do some PT!” I thought this guy did not like me! So you just never know. At the end he was sure I was going to be a great soldier. It was that esprit decor: the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group.
I am very excited about Challenge 22! We are going to be doing that and we are going to be challenging people out there to do it. I’ve got some people who have already accepted the challenge, so when I call them out, so to speak, during the Live, they are ready!…but we are going to have a ball!
It has been many, many years since my Army days, but it has been a great life!
CORRECTION: Before we began talking about Challenge 22 we blindly called it Mission 22, without checking to see if that name was being used for something else. Wellness Works NW wants to apologize to Mission 22®. We are thankful they understood that we meant no malice and support their wonderful work with Veterans. Please check out their website at Mission22.com for more details about what they do to help our veterans.
Anyway…are you ready to move it? I know you are screaming: Move it! I am going to do just a few pushups to get ready for Challenge 22. The pushup has been known as one of the best exercises in the world because when you are doing this, its perfect. You are coming down, nice and easy, and you are your own resistance. I am not going to do 22 right now.
Speaking of resistance I am going to find my little contraption right here (The Core Reformer) to work my shoulders. It is always to get a squat in there. Squats are a compound exercise because you’ve got your glutes involved, so I am going to demonstrate one variation of a squat that is including my shoulders, my glutes and my quads. Yeehaw! We are having a good time.
You guys are absolutely awesome! I thank you so much for being here, especially all you vets out there. I am sending positive prayers and vibes
I will be going live on my personal Facebook wall for Challenge 22 check me out at https://www.facebook.com/KarenGidderonClemenson
Call or text me at 360-447-8061 and we can talk about your success! I can’t wait to hear from you!
#KeepMoving #WellnessWorks #WootWoot #Challenge22
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Karen G. Clemenson is not a doctor or a scientist. She is a real person that eats too much sometimes and misses her workout on occasion but is mindful of her path toward wellness, all the time.
Karen understands that your physical wellness does not begin and end with your membership to a local gym. She knows that weight loss management begins with steps; some small and some large. These steps include diet, physical activity and retraining of the thoughts and habits that keep you from being successful on your path toward wellness.
