30 Day Challenge – Day 16

“Be thankful for every new day.” – my 2019 planner. I don’t enjoy being bound by a schedule but I’m realizing sometimes it just makes everything easier. Here’s to more pages being filled out for 2020!

If you read, “30 Day Challenge – Day 14” you know it’s been two days since I wrote about creating a new morning routine. Honestly, I’m off to a slow start. HOWEVER, everything I have read about forging new habits strongly suggests crawling before you can walk.

For both accountability and so I can give you a clearer idea of how this is going for me, I am going to outline the morning I would like to have and how it’s going so far.

1. Wake up by 6:30AM (don’t laugh at me, I don’t work until 11AM most days so this is early for me and another reason I struggle to wake up early since I don’t technically have to wake up early.)
2. By 6:45AM DRINK WATER (apparently if you drink water as soon as you wake up it’s really good for your body and could even support a healthier metabolism) *Around this time my husband would also take our pit bull Jayda out for her first walk*
3. BY 7:15AM eat breakfast with some coffee/more water (I never really eat breakfast but I would like to get back into the habit of eating 3 meals a day)
4. BY 7:45AM pack lunch & coffee for work (trying to SAVE MONEY and eat healthier)
5. BY 8:00AM Meditate/Read/Write/Stretch/Listen to a Podcast (I never make time for any of these healthy habits and I’d really like for it to become a part of my morning routine)

On Days I go to the gym:

1. BY 8:30AM feed my pit bull Jayda & get ready for gym to head out the door (this would give me enough time to get dressed and out the door and not have to RUSH to make it to class on time)
2. BY 9AM WORK OUT (I am currently a member of OrangeTheory and they have 9AM classes most week days at the location near me)
3. By 10:20AM SHOWER QUICKLY at home (has to be less than 10 mins so I can have time to get dressed and walk my pit bull Jayda!)
4. BY 10:30AM get dressed for work and give Jayda her second walk before I have to leave for work! (My husband works a more typical 9-5 schedule so he walks her when we wake up and then I walk her before I have to be at work at 11AM. This way it’s not crazy long between walks and I can walk her after she eats her breakfast)
5. BY 11AM be at work!!!!!! (I really struggle with this since I usually don’t leave myself much time to get to work which is ~15 mins away)

On Days I DON’T go to the gym:

1. BY 8:30 feed my pit bull Jayda & shower (without the gym I can take more time in the shower but ideally keep it under 20 mins)
2. BY 9AM work on a home project (laundry, dishes, straightening up around the house, prepping for dinner, misc errands or projects, etc)
3. BY 10AM get ready for work (this would make sure I’m not only on time but early to work!)
4. By 10:15AM give Jayda her second walk (she’s really efficient with her bathroom breaks so it’s pretty easy to keep this schedule)
5. BY 10:30AM leave for work! (Yay to being EARLY instead of late)
6. BY 10:45AM be at work (This would literally make me feel like a champion haha)

OKAY so, how successful am I so far? Well considering (except for walking Jayda) I have been doing none of these things consistently or timely, I’d say I should give myself some credit.

To start – I never wake up early. Or rather, I wake up early to help my husband get ready for work and then I go back to sleep because I’m tired. However, I know if I just push through it I could stay awake so that’s going to be my biggest challenge.

I do always make sure Jayda is fed and goes for her second walk but I don’t always give myself time to do any of the things I should be doing for myself. Quite honestly my current routine is:

1. Wake up some time between 6AM and 6:30AM to help my husband get ready for work and then go back to sleep
2. Wake up between 10AM and 10:30AM to feed and walk Jayda (sometimes I feed her before I go back to sleep…but yeah)
3. Frantically rush to get ready and leave at practically 11AM
4. Get to work sometime between 11:10AM and 11:30AM nearly every day

Yikes is right.

So baby steps. I’m packing my lunch and bringing coffee to work! That’s about it though.

I think before I can push myself to do ALL of the items on my morning routine, if I can at least get up earlier and stay awake that would really help get me closer to achieving the entire morning routine (heck I’d be happy with even half of the routine!)

Stay tuned to see how I am doing and look out for more ideas on how to start new healthy habits or to break unhealthy ones (I’m trying to do both with this routine so I’ve got so much more to share with you!)

Do you have healthy habits you are trying to start or unhealthy habits you are trying to break? How are you approaching your goals? Have you found anything in particular that has worked for you? If you’ve succeeded already, do you have any tips for maintaining?

30 Day Challenge – Day 9

Warning: Random anecdote about me ha

Day 9 of my 30 day challenge. The number 9 is actually my lucky number. I stole it from my momma when I was a kid. If you read “30 Day Challenge – Day 6” (coincidentally that’s a 9 turned upside down…) you know her birthday is December 9th. When I was about 6 years old (weird that’s also a coincidence…) I joined my first sports team. I was playing baseball and I got to pick my number. I can’t quite remember if she specifically told me it was HER lucky number or if I just picked it because my mom was my favorite person. Either way, forever more 9 is my lucky number. That’s also the first time I remember being told about “lucky numbers” – superstitions are so wild to me. Anywho –

HERE’S THE ACTUAL START OF THIS POST 🙂

It’s the holiday season and while stress can happen any time of the year, the holidays tend to bring a whole other energy that can really be overwhelming.

When I look up, “Ways to deal with stress” the most common responses are as follows:

1. Exercise
2. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine
3. Get more sleep
4. Relax – meditate, go for a walk, or just take a time out for yourself in some way

Okay, those are all fantastic ideas but what if you’re looking for something that doesn’t require some higher level of awareness?

Obviously exercise is great for everyone – moving your body gets the blood pumping and those happy hormones flowing. BUT, I’m sorry maybe it’s just me, if I’m hyper stressed I may not have time – that’s why I’m stressed. OR I’m nowhere near jumping into an exercise routine right now. Maybe I haven’t worked out ever and I don’t even no where to begin and now I’ve created more stress for myself thinking about how I should really be exercising but I’m not.

Avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine sounds logical. These things can increase anxiety and are generally not considered very good for your health. Okay, sure. But what if when I’m stressed, these are the only constants in my life that bring me some reprieve? Also, we are talking HOLIDAY STRESS of course there’s going to be alcohol…

Relax. Okay first of all, does anything make you less relaxed when you are stressed than someone telling you to, “…just relax!” When you are stressed out (and I’m talking general stress, I will not pretend I am a doctor and can tell you how to remedy your diagnosed anxiety) it’s a great idea to take time for yourself. I can definitely get behind that. But what if you’ve tried to “relax” and your brain just isn’t cooperating. You are on your walk and now, alone with your thoughts, your mind begins running through your unfinished To-Do list and you can feel your heart pounding in your chest because instead of ticking things off of your list you are on this stupid walk thinking about all of the things on your list and it’s winter on the northeast and so it’s cold and so no one else is walking around right now and you begin to panic that if you pass out no one will find you and you’ll freeze to death?

Does that sound like a bit much to you? Well then I don’t know if you know what stress is all about. It’s often completely nonsensical.

This post is already probably too long – or maybe it’s not, I’d love to hear your feedback!! Since I’m not sure though I’m going to pause here and ask you to tune back in tomorrow for Day 10 (I’ll be 1/3 of my way through my 30 Day Challenge, woohoo!) when I tell you some alternative ways to reduce stress.

I’d love to hear from you, for real. How do you deal with stress? What is the most stressful thing for you during the holidays? Talk to me haha

Beautiful palm trees in South Beach Miami – did you know spending time around TREES and even just looking at this picture of trees can reduce stress? Your blood pressure lowers and your mood improves. Look it up!

Last Minute Gift Giving Tip

Not that I’m an expert or anything, but an anomaly is occurring in my life and it’s made me think about the topic.

My boyfriend’s grandmother, my best friend since I was 6, my mother and my mother’s mother are all celebrating their birthday in about as many days.

Which brings me to our topic. Gifts. I love giving them. Only problem is I never feel like anything is ever good enough, or I just procrastinate, or maybe sometimes I just get so wrapped up in my own life that- I forget. Regardless, last minute scrambling is not a foreign concept to me.

One really cool way to overcome this issue I’ve recently been made privy to is through a site called DreamRetailer.com. The site has a bunch of awesome features powered by Shop, but the feature I have found extremely useful when I have succumbed to being paralyzed by indecision or the many other reasons I am not prepared is eGift.

When I use eGift, I am actually able to instantly give the person I care about the ability to choose from as many gift options as I want. Each option can display a personal message, such as the reason I chose the gift, and the best part is it is delivered right to their email. When they receive my email, the option to choose one of my gift offers is given to them along with any messages I have decided to include.

This creative, easy, and best of all free feature gives me a chance to show that special person how much I really do care about them, even when ‘I act a fool’.