My texted confession…
ME: Full disclosure: I missed the treadmill today. 😉
JOSH: So much for the 29 day challenge
ME: That’s what my readers love. I’m flawed! It’s that I bounce back instead of stay down.
Here are the results of my first seven days on the 29 Day Challenge;
GOAL: Twenty minutes daily on the treadmill
ACTUAL: 6 out of 7 days. My missed day was Sunday. Fall Back Sunday! I had an extra hour even. It was procrastination. I was going to do it before my brunch shift. And then I was going to do it between my shift and my evening plans. And my final thought was I going to do it after my evening plans. None of that actualized.
The best option for me is in the morning. Just Do it! Nike knows what they are talking about. I need to get it done. It’s only twenty minutes. I need to think of it as my daily cup of coffee. The treadmill is something that awakens me and I need to look forward to it.
GOAL: 12 personal training sessions with Josh
ACTUAL: 3 of 12 personal training sessions with Josh. After conflicting schedules over the last couple of months, we are more easily syncing up our time. And I’m benefitting from the robust sessions and the personal attention and often redirection.
GOAL: 10 yoga classes
ACTUAL: 3 of 10 yoga classes. I recently switched over to a monthly pass which gives me unlimited classes. Besides my regularly scheduled classes, I have assessed two others that could easily work in to my routine, one is Monday at noon and the other is an hour weekly restorative yoga. Although I love the quarterly two hour restorative yoga for the optimized relaxing, I tried the mini alternative last night and found it to be a perfect option.
GOAL: 435,000 steps
ACTUAL: 97,446 steps of the 435,000. I’m going to need to step it up. HA! I’m probably a good 10,000 steps off for the weekly tally to be on target. As the weather rolls into winter, I need to ensure I’m watching my steps. It’s too easy to sit it out.
GOAL: Daily -Stretching and Increased water intake, protein and vegetables
ACTUAL: Josh showed me a few stretches to do before I go to bed. The focus is on opening up my hips. I’ve acquired a lot of tightness in that zone. And giving them a gentle stretch before bed helps my fluidity of movement in the morning.
As far as, water, protein and veggies. I made a big batch of boiled chicken with a variety of mushrooms. I’ve been eating that with arugula for lunches… it’s tasty. I’ve got my eggs in the morning. And I found these delicious sausages with butternut squash in them. I’ve been throwing them into my luncheon salads or my morning eggs. It brings an unexpected flavor to the meal. I’m not doing great on water intake. And in turn, I’m drying out. My skin is flakey. My lips are chappy. And I’m seasonally tired. This happens every year. As it gets colder, I don’t want to drink water, specifically cold water. I push myself to stay hydrated with room temp water and herbal tea.
GOAL: Red wine reduction
ACTUAL: I feel like that guy in the movie “Airplane.” Throughout the disaster, he comments on different vices that he gave up. For me, it’s my big annual event…tomorrow. So, it looks like I picked the wrong week for red wine reduction. 😉
GOAL: Rein in the excessive spending
ACTUAL: They say you can count on two things in life: death and taxes. Well, an unexpected funeral in Cleveland brought unexpected expenses. Although it wasn’t excessive spending, it wasn’t budgeted. I’ve also been packing my lunch which saves money. And I picked up the Monday night dinner shift. It was slow and I cut early but I made a few bucks and didn’t spend any money going out.
GOAL: Double the couch fund
ACTUAL: I put some tip money into my couch fund! Wahoo!
GOAL: Re-engage in the living mindfully book
ACTUAL: Big Fail! I need to reinvest in this effort in the next week.
GOAL: Be kinder to everyone… even the jerks
ACTUAL: I’ve been adequate in this one. It’s a stressful week for me with multiple minute details to pull off this major event. So when people seemingly choose this week to focus on their own agendas, I get a little snappy. I know I need to be kinder no matter what I’m going through. Positivity breeds positivity! Last night, our yoga instructor closed the practice with touching her eyes and saying ‘may we feel more here’ and then she touched her heart and said ‘may we see more here.‘ In other words, I need to work to broaden my vision and my heart as a collaborative force.
On to week 2….