Come stretch with me

New year, new you.  Gosh, how many times have you heard that over the past few weeks?   I don't know about you, but I kind of like me and don't want a whole new one.  But....I guess there are a FEW things I wouldn't mind improving on. 

Over the course of 30 days in January, I am going to improve my flexibility, my mindset and my overall mood with daily morning stretching.  Yep, I will be setting the alarm clock 30 minutes earlier each day and devoting that time just to me.  ME.  No one else.    I would love for you to come along on this journey with me.  Simply follow the link below and 'like' my FaceBook page.

https://www.facebook.com/insideouthealthstudio/

I will succeed!

January begins a more than usual hectic time for me.  My normal hectic is to work my more than full time daycare Monday thru Friday, workout 5 days  a week,  be gone from home for volunteer work at least 3 nights a week, and very seldom have a free weekend.  That's my usual hectic life.

My more than usual hectic life will still have all of the above mentioned busy, but I will be adding into it going back to school, enlarging my health business and buckling down on getting the work begun to open my gym this summer.

How am I ever going to find the time to get all of this in?

I like my sleep...I REALLY like my sleep.  I don't want to have to sacrifice it in order to accomplish all I have planned.  My friend Chris from On Track With Chris has a great time management tool that she has shared with me.  It is a simple time blocking tool.  Simple, right?  Well, you would think so.  My day is all blocked out, ALL I have to do is follow what I am supposed to do at each time and everything would get done.  That is all I have to do...but I just never seem to follow the blocking for very long.   Oh, I always start out with the best of intentions.  My blocking sheet is even color coded to help me.  But within a couple of weeks I fall away from it and before long, I am not getting hardly any of my to-do done.

This time around I will find a way to make this work!  This really is a must...not a want, a must.  I still have a couple of weeks to tweak the blocking and find what is going to work best.  I will find a way, I will make this work, I will succeed!

 We all find ourselves in times of more than usual hectic.  We can sink or we can swim, it is completely up to us. 

Focus

 

"Focus on what it is you want to do. It will expand, it will multiply."

I like to listen to motivational/inspirational messages on youtube while I'm working out. I heard these words this morning and they spoke right to my heart. I am like a squirrel in a room full of shiny things...I go from one thing to the next shiny to the next shiny and then...oh wait...there's a real pretty shiny over there! Can anyone else relate?

Nothing seems to get my full attention for long. Maybe I should mention I'm an instant gratification type of person. I like to see results in short time and if not, I tend to lose interest and move onto the next shiny object. This is definitely not a good quality when working on longer term projects....like myself. 

However, if I pick just one thing to work on instead of trying to tackle the whole project at one time, I find I do much better. For too long I've been trying to take on all of me at one time. Working on becoming more organized, less procrastination, eat better, eat more, exercise, study, open a new business, keep my home clean....whew, I almost lost myself just reading all of that! Too many shiny things at one time.

Breathe. Focus. Choose.

Post of Shame

The 'See How You Eat' app is my favorite go-to tool to help me keep track of what I am eating throughout the day.  It is incredibly simple, take a picture of your plate, that is it.  Even those who are tech-challenged like myself can do this.

In my Health Builders Facebook group we are being accountable with our eating, water intake and exercise this month.  Just two days in and you can see I already had to do the post of shame.   I was doing so good....until supper.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cinnamon, flax, chia seeds and blueberries
Snack: Almonds
Lunch: Spaghetti with homemade sauce, brussels sprouts, orange
Snack: Strawberries

And then there is the supper.  *sigh*  It was almost 9:00, my last food intake was almost 7 hour earlier, it was going to be 45 minutes before I would be home.  McDonald's it was.  In my defense, I ate one cheese burger and only half the fries...I love McDonald fries. 

It happens.  Life happens.  We can have the best of intentions but it doesn't always work out.   Today is a new day and another opportunity to eat well, drink all my water and get some exercise in. 

Accountability

Yesterday we talked a bit about making excuses and following through with what we set out to do.  It is SO easy to talk ourselves out of putting forth effort into our health.  You want to know how to combat these excuses?

ACCOUNTABILITY!

It's not so easy to back out of your health journey when you have to report back to someone else.  I'm not talking about a drill sergeant, just someone to keep you on the right path.  Someone who will support you and cheer you on, yet be firm in not letting you get lazy.

In my private health group, we are practicing accountability for the month of November.  Each evening we will post what we ate, how much water we drank and what kind of movement/exercise was done.   There will be days we give ourselves a high five for nailing it....and there will be days we do the post of shame for not doing so well.   As unhealthy as it is, I still enjoy from time to time a Big Mac and fries.  I'll have to be accountable for those days, but they may not come often since I have to let others know.

Who do you know that would be a good accountability partner for you?