February has arrived, and that means a fresh challenge, another chance to try something new. Actually, this isn’t something new to me but something I’ve tried my hand at a long time ago and since mostly forgotten: knitting! A lot of my previous experience was based on knitting rows and rows of just plain stitches, marvelling as the length of knitted material grew, then frogging the sort-of scarf I made and starting over again.

It’s not the best start for a new year of 30-day-or-thereabouts challenges to have given up halfway through the month, is it? Actually, it wasn’t so much giving up as realising it wasn’t working. Therefore I’m refraining from using the word fail because even though I didn’t do a full month like I hoped, I learnt a lot along the way. This month, I was supposed to be following a Les Mills challenge schedule, a featured workout each day that is backed by a scientific plan and reason for the order, duration and difficulty.

To kick off the new year, my first challenge is a health and fitness related one - to stick to a Les Mills challenge schedule. I was in two minds about this because, you know, the new year resolution to keep fit and change your life and be the absolute epitome of health is such a cliché and I am fully aware of that. But when I sat down and thought about it, the timing is perfect.