Month 1- Health and Self-Care

I am less than three months away from my 40^th. The first area of my life I want to focus on improving in my search for more happiness is health and self-care. I have tried a lot of diets and I have read a lot of books. While we all are looking for a fast solution, it is very true that a full lifestyle changes is needed to see long lasting results.

Yes I want to lose weight. Yes I want to tone up. Yes I want to eat better. Yes I want a clean bill of health for many years to come. And as mentioned before, I can only hope to enter the next decade looks 25% as good with as much energy as Jennifer Lopez.

My overall goal starting this month is to create habits that last. I want to be the girl that loves to workout. I actually was that girl for a short period of time about 4 years ago. I want to fill my body with good healthy food. I want to take care of my skin. I want to increase my energy and the energy that I give off to others. I want to be my best self for me, my husband, my employees, my friends and my family.

I am committed to doing 100 (yes 100) workouts. This program is through Beachbody but if you want to join me don’t feel like you have to do my exact workouts. Just commit to moving your body every day. You can run, take an exercise class, lift weights, walk with friends, or whatever it is that makes you happy. Or at least happy knowing you did something good for your body.

The coach that I am working with is also doing a 100 day bible study to accompany the workouts. I don’t think I am going to do the exact study that she will be doing but I do plan to something daily.

These workouts are intended to be done in the morning. Here is the thing, I have no problem getting up early but the last time I tried to do morning workouts, it has a reverse effect on my mood for the day. I was flustered all day, I felt like I was rushed and behind. I am going to try to do this in the morning because I do agree that it will ensure that I actually complete the workouts daily and eliminate the excuses for why I can’t work out later in the day. I am, however, going to give myself permission to change my workout time if I feel like it is affecting my mood. After all the entire goal is to find my happiness.

In addition to working out and spending some time with God each morning, I want to focus on my food. I know it won’t be easy and I know it won’t be perfect but, if I can try to make a few more good decisions, plan my meals ahead of time, and drink more water, I know it will help me get on track.

The rest of the month plan is a little more superficial but hey, this is my happiness project. I am getting my hair and nails done. I am stepping up my skin care routine. I hate to spend the money on these things but when I have a fresh color and cut, pretty nails and clear healthy skin, I always feel a bit more happy (and pretty).

Beachbody gave me a fun little book to track my progress. I can’t promise that I will be brave enough to post my progress pictures but I will be posting on my Facebook group “Believing in Happy”

The Be 100 book has a few things for me think about before I get started. So here we go!

The Perfect Morning Routine...How do I envision the perfect morning?

I actually have thought about this before and it looked like this:

·         We (the hubby and I) get up together

·         Take the fur kids outside and get them breakfast

·         We put on workout gear

·         Go for a run

·         Come back and mediate/pray/read the Bible/Journal

·         I take a shower while he reads

·         He takes a shower and I read

·         Finish getting ready

·         Leave for work

Let me tell you all the things wrong with this list. I can’t make other people do things. This means, my husband is not ready for a morning workout routine. Second of all, we are not runners. I want to be but I am not there, yet. I might be able to run out of the driveway but that is about all the further I will be running. Third, we have one bathroom so this schedule doesn’t give either one of us enough mirror time in the morning.

After some thought and reflection my perfect morning now looks like this:

·         Wake up and take care of the fur kids

·         Drink water

·         Fire up my workout

·         Take a shower

·         Drink my amino

·         Bible/Prayer time

·         Finish getting ready

·         Drink my morning shake

·         While I brew some coffee

·         Leave for work

I think is worth pointing out that my nightly routine needs to be in check if I want my morning to run smoothly.  I need to layout my next day’s clothes including workout clothes and my work clothes.  I would need to have my lunch’s packed and ready to grab and the coffee prepared so it just needs turned on.  I also need to hide my cell phone in the morning. I cannot believe how quickly time passes when I think I am just going to scroll through my social media feeds for 5 minutes.

Next Question: What do you think it would feel like and how would it impact the rest of your day?

It would be nice to know that something is already checked off my to do list and my day hasn’t really started yet. I also know that many of the world’s most successful people make working out a priority. Plus bringing God into my day every morning is important to protect my heart and head as I move through the day.

The next two questions on working on building my WHY and removing obstacles before they start. What is the one thing that will keep you committed to completing the 100 workouts? Is there anything slowing you down that you can work through now?

I am going to tackle the obstacles first. I know that it will be easy to say things like, I can miss one day or I will double up tomorrow. I also know that one day turns into 2 days, 3 days, 1 week or even a month. I am also going on two trips in the first 30 days. At the end of August we are going to the beach and then to Chicago. We will gone and not in my normal schedule for over a week.  The good news is I just need my laptop to workout, so having access to what I need should not be an issue. Food is going to be my other struggle. I just need to focus on make good decisions when I can but also allowing myself small treats.

I am also going to use my beach trip as my motivation for the first few weeks. I am currently at my heaviest weight and I know I will be so uncomfortable in my bathing suit. I don’t expect to be back to my 20 year old body in a short time but I do think it will be an improvement and I should gain a little more confidence.

My overall motivation is really for my health.  I want to be the best version of myself. I am always looking for ways to improve but if I don’t have the energy or confidence to propel my life forward, I am not going to get there.  In addition, my family is not very healthy. I see their struggles as they get older and I don’t want to be that way.

There you have it! I have started and I am 10 days in....only 90 to go. 

My search of Happiness

Y’all I am almost 40 years old. I know age is just a number but after seeing Jennifer Lopez celebrate her 50^th birthday, I realized I needed to step up my life game. To be clear, I am very much aware that I am no JLo but a girl can dream.

About 9 months ago, right before I turned the big 3-9; I made a very extensive goal list. I planned to make this my best year yet. I wanted to be primed and ready to join the 40 club looking and feeling fabulous. Well I now have 3 months to go and I am not sure I can say with confidence that I have achieved anything on this list. I started a few things but I can't cross anything off. 

Okay, so we did have a major life change, we moved to Canada. If you know me at all (and if you don’t I am about to tell you) I do NOT like change.  I like to think I am open to new fun idea. However that is not the case, I am a rule follower, do what you are supposed to do, and I don’t color outside of the lines. I over think everything which causes me to be do nothing new. That was until January 2019, when my CEO asked me if I wanted to move to Canada and run a company they were about to purchase. I said yes because I didn’t want to let the company down; no turning back now.

The story of our move and that adventure is for another time. The reason I bring it up now is because it is easy to use this moves is the reason why my goals, plans, and dreams have not been pursued.  As they say, ( I don’t know who actually said this first) “If it is important to you, you will find a way.  If not, you will find an excuse”.  I don’t want to make excuses; I want to live a life happiness.

I am reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin for a second time. Full disclosure; at the time of me writing this I have only read a few chapters but that is not going to stop me from attempting my own Happiness Project. In the book she tackles one area of her life each month in order to see if she can improve her overall happiness. Like Gretchen, I am would not describe myself as unhappy but I always feel like there is more to life. I am always seeking the next thing and not really enjoying my life daily. 

Okay, I can hear the critics now, are you really enjoying life daily when you are planning out the next 9-12 months by setting goals and plans. Yes, I do believe that is my road to happiness and a living a fuller life. I understand that my goals and the goals of other will not be the same. I understand that some of my goals might seem superficial or silly to some people but that is the beauty of it, this is my path. Your path to happiness might be different, just like mine will not look exactly like the it does in the book.

For example I don’t have kids, so you might need to focus your attention in that area of your life. The Happiness Project book does have a section about parenting, if you want some more inspirations on how to tackle that area.

Here are some areas of life that I plan to cover:

·         Health and self-care

·         Attitude

·         Money

·         Work

·         Travel and Fun

·         Spiritual/Mindfulness

·         Learning

·         Giving

·         Be adventurous

·         Dream Project

As I move onto a new areas, I will not be leaving the previous month behind. The plan is to do what makes me happy and keep  doing it by add a new idea. I don’t know the exact order that I will be tackling these areas and I am sure some of them will overlap. I don’t know if I will add more or take some away.  I also don’t know if this will take me 9 months or longer but the only way to find out is to get started

First ups is health and self-care in August.  This is an area that I struggle with so I want to tackle this one first, while I am super motivated

Who is with me?

Alexa (yes the one from Amazon)

I did it! I joined the crowd and bought an Echo from Amazon. I was actually someone that was against the idea of the Amazon or Google versions. I just didn't see a need. Then I was at a work lunch and two of my co-workers were talking about the echo and I became instantly hooked.

We went with the Echo Plus and so far it is fantastic. The app needs a little work; it is slow (or I am impatient).  However, you can just talk to Alexia and you don't have to use the app all the time. we debated getting the Echo show but I did not see us using the drop-in feature. No one in our family has one at this time and we hardly every use the face-time feature on our phones.

On my first morning with Alexa. I though I set a morning routine called "start my morning" but to my surprise it started, what I would describe as, a version of the Miracle Morning*. She walks you through most of the LIFE SAVER steps 60 seconds at time. Need more time, just tell her and she will give you more time.

I did set a custom morning routine but I called it "start my day" which included my local weather, a news briefing and tell me something new. I am now sitting here writing this post with relaxing spa music playing in the background.
 
I did compare the with the Google version. The reason we choose the Echo was because I use Amazon for everything. I do 90% of my shopping there, so it seemed to be a logical connection.

We are excited to learn all the feature.Do you have one of these devices? What features, games, or skills do you love the most?


*If you have not read the Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, I recommend pick up a copy.

Disclaimer: This is not a paid ad or sponsored post. I have no affiliation with Amazon.  I am just excited about my purchase.