10 Months to China, the reason, the need and the desire - Day 1

About Me

So here I am, thirty something but closer to forty something.  I have just finished a gruelling stint at University - I graduated in March, so I am still feeling damn good about myself for that! (no applause needed it took me far to long to get that damn stupid degree finished).

Now I have found myself with a gap or a void as such to fill.  So what do I go and do? I sign myself up to walk the Great Wall of China in aid of raising money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  For any normal fit and healthy young person without a family that does not sound to hard, but for me that is the opposite, I am a mum of two beautiful boys, I am a wife, a worker, a soccer mum and oh yeah at the moment I am overweight and not very healthy - brutal honesty is the only way I am going to get myself fit and ready for May 2016 - 10 months to China.

My Fundraising Goal

I have been very nervous on how my friends would react to  me doing this, I set up my everyday hero page (EHP) and started my bid to get sponsorship from my facebook friends.  I know that this is going to be a hard slog - I need to raise $3500 to firstly qualify to go, I can do this, I am thinking a few major events and I should have it nailed. 

I received my first sponsor last night through the EHP, $50 from a friend who really can not afford to make such a generous donation, so then that element of guilt kicked in, but thankyou for believing in me and having faith that I can do this.

The Ugly Truth

I have had a few people ask about the sponsorship money - firstly let me say 100% of the money paid into the EHP goes directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), no, I can assure you that it is not money to pay for me to go on a holiday, every cent goes to breast cancer research.  So far I have paid the $700 registration, and a $600 deposit towards my airfare - all out of my account.  I don't expect my friends to pay for me to go.   Awkward topic but there it is.

My Fitness Goals

I am not going to put my weight down on here, it is not great but I can work on it.  I think part of the reason I decided to do this is because I needed an incentive to work towards.  The Great Wall of China is not going to be a holiday, yes I will see some great things but it is going to be gruelling and hard work.  I will be walking around 5 hours per day, up lots of stairs and at higher altitude than what I am used to.

So how I am going to get ready - well day 1 is today, the 27th July 2015 is my start of making healthy choices, I am not going to diet, but I am going to make better choices than what I am.  My exercise schedule so far is:

• I have signed up to do the Corporate Cup which is a walk every fortnight with the intention to better my score every day,
• I am going to do the City to Bay which is 14kms between Adelaide to Glenelg.
• I have a Friday walking lunch scheduled with a friend from work who is going to help keep me motivated.
• I am going to attempt walking the 16 flights of stairs in my office on a weekly basis
• Other days I am going to go for long walks in my lunch breaks

I have myself a fitbit, and armed my  phone with some apps to track my exercise.  My ultimate goal is by May 2016 is to have lost 15 kilos and improve my overall fitness levels.

What is next

Well I am not going to spam people too much over Facebook.  If you want to keep up to date on my progress, bookmark this page.

I am 100% committed to making this happen, so thankyou in advance to all of my friends and support network for everything you are about to do.

If you want to help me out you can make a direct donation to the NBCF at the following link:

https://nbcfchina2016.everydayhero.com/au/laura-mcdonald