Bee

Fruit/Veggies: A Still been doing well with this! On top of smoothies I finally got around to making my lunch for work last week and ensured I had at least a serving of veggies included. Water: C I haven't done as well with water this past week. I find it a lot more challenging to drink water at work as I don't want to be running to the bathroom all the time. And I forget to fill up my water bottle. Stretching: F Yikes. Still not doing this. Budget: B I'm doing well with the app but I'm not sticking to it as much as the first week or two. It has still created a mental pause when I go to buy something and I've avoided some purchases over the past few weeks because I realize it'll be real money coming out of my income and I don't really need it!

So far, so good! I haven't been precisely keeping track of my daily goals on paper but I've been tracking them mentally, which is about as much effort as I feel like giving right now: Fruit/Veggies: B+ I have been mostly good with my daily smoothie but have missed a few days while on break & without my usual schedule. Overall though, I'm feeling good about this! Water: B Pretty much the same as the fruit/veggie goal, a few more missed days. Stretching: F Whoops! I haven't done this goal at all. Honestly, I think I know how much flexibility I have lost and I'm frustrated to the point of not wanting to try. Budget: A Yay! My budgeting app is going well and I'm tracking all my purchases except for necessities as I already have that built into my monthly deductions. I was able to pay off my credit card again after some silly purchases and it feels awesome.

Starting late but excited for this focus! Day One: + Fruit/Veggie: I had a smoothie for breakfast AND lunch, so about 3 servings total. - Water: I finished about half of a water bottle - Stretch: We are having a hard time remembering to do this ~~ this will be a good kick in the pants! Budget: I have an app downloaded I tried to use a few months ago. I liked it but didn't utilize it well. Back at it.

Daily Challenge Goals: 1 Veggie/1 Fruit --> Building back my health after weeks of illness and a round of antibiotics. My husband and I are challenging ourselves to drink one fruit/veggie smoothie each day. 1 Water Bottle --> Rehydrating & revitalizing by drinking one full bottle of water each day Stretch Session --> Reigniting progress toward calm mind, calm body. My husband is interested in trying yoga for the first time ever so we are starting with stretching! Goal: ~10 minutes each afternoon Level-Up Goal: Budgeting App --> Bottom line: I want money and I'm bad at managing it. With my husband and I both working for the first time in 3 years we can finally start planning ahead to save for some big projects & dreams! I will download and play around with a budgeting app to track my spending ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• My goals are driven by health rather than weight loss. This is new for me. When I feel good on the inside I look good on the outside, without fail. I want to set an example for myself, my students, my friends, and my family that striving for wellness & confidence is achievable through the lense of body positivity and self-love.

Welp, I haven't made it to the starting line quite yet. I still feel like I'm coming out of the November fog and trying to catch up on life I pushed aside. But that's okay! This may just end up being another low-key challenge. Something I did do today is set up a really basic budget tracker through an app. Based on my income and monthly expenses combine with a monthly savings goal and a couple future savings goals, I can spend about $16/day on personal stuff. It may not be detailed enough for long-term use but I kind of like the general money pit that I can spend on whatever or save. I have tried super categorized budgets in the past and while my brain LOVES categorizing things, that had too many pieces to follow. So let's see!

We're in the same boat! I fell apart last challenge but am back for something really simple this time. Good luck.

Okay then. November was . . . rough. There were some incredibly wonderful moments, but a lot of very difficult moments as well. I let go of things for a while just to keep my head on straight. I woke up this morning feeling ready to get back into a challenge, and am excited to see that one hast just begun! I'm keeping this one pretty simple. There are about a million things I want to do yet I know that picking a few essentials will be best. Here's a really great thing that I've realized about myself: I don't need to look at exercise as purely for weight loss, muscle building, getting in shape, etc. I can look at it as a form of staying healthy, regardless of whether I see noticeable physical changes. I recently turned 30. I want to set up a healthy lifestyle, which means building habits before worrying about what change will come from them. And as much as I look back and reflect on how many times I've started over with habits, I also know that the ones that work have stuck. I just need to keep moving forward one step at a time. Stretching: I plan to stretch for five minutes each day. I fully believe one of the reasons I've had a difficult fall/winter is because I'm no longer doing a regular yoga practice. I loved the studio that I found after the summer but it has become challenging (and expensive!) to get over to each class that I want to take. The bottom line is that my body desperately needs to stretch regularly, and I'd love to build a habit that I can easily do each day without making it a big deal. Bodyweight Exercise: I plan to start with ONE MINUTE of bodyweight exercise each day. I have a set of bodyweight FitDeck exercise cards -- I'll pick a random one each day and complete that exercise for 60 seconds. I know this won't do a whole lot for me in the grand scheme of health, but I need to gently start building this habit.

Alright, hello world! Apparently I needed a 2-week break, which is just fine by me. Didn't really follow any challenge rules, but I have adjusted my goals a little bit and am ready to get back into it. We pushed ourselves to do a lot of housework this weekend. It's starting to feel under control again. Instead of just focusing on the kitchen I have decided to focus again on the whole house. We want to have friends over for dinners and movies and having a clean house will feel good. I am starting to struggle a bit with going to my yoga studio. I love it and have enjoyed the classes, but I'm starting to find that it's not quite meeting my needs. I miss my summer class as it was much more focused on the stretching and therapeutic aspect rather than the "flow," which I'm finding isn't doing as much to help. So I want to get back into stretching at home. Also, went down to one Fitdeck card per day -- I feel like going real easy on myself

@LittleTurtle gotcha. I started taking Prozac in the summer and I'm amazed at how much it has helped, but feel myself starting to get low again. Maybe I'll try a lamp...

I have been taking my D3 again as well and I think it helps a little. I am seriously considering getting one of the lamps. I walked by one in a store one time and it was pretty amazing. How did you go about getting a prescription from your doc?

I can't get it to quote, but hooray for not using weight loss as the only measure of success! When I finally gave that up (for reals) it was ridiculously liberating. It has its place, but at some point I just love the intuitiveness of paying attention to how my clothes fit and my energy levels. Great challenge!

Thank you @Vibrantella! I haven't been 100% on any of my goals yet, but some wins: -Husband and I did some major cleaning of the kitchen after letting it get messy again. We also talked through some plans for "fixing up" a few areas of the house. -I have gone out with friends twice in the past week and had half a pint of cider each time. It worked well, and I was naturally ready to stop drinking after half the glass. -This is my first Halloween as a true vegan. I slipped a few times at work last week when I was feeling miserable and had a few mini Twix bars. Otherwise, though, I have mostly refrained from sweets! Loving soy chocolate milk in the morning though -I have been breathing and breathing and breathing as much as I can. Working through some random fall anxiety/depression -- it's my absolute favorite time of year but perhaps the loss of vitamin D does affect me more than I thought. -I have been 100000% grateful every day for my home. No matter how messy it gets, all the repairs it needs, it's a safe, warm, cozy, inexpensive home and it holds my little family together. -November is my 1-year vegan anniversary month, yay!

Me neither! I could use about a week of sleep Thank you! Trying something new and unfamiliar but hoping it leads me in a good direction. I've been off the past few days -- aside from the sickness -- and haven't been able to figure out why. I think there are two possible sources of the funk. 1. I forgot to take my meds twice last week and it seems to have completely thrown things off. All my anxiety I had been working to understand just came flooding at me so strongly. It's pretty amazing to be reminded of how I was feeling before, and it makes me so thankful I have them. 2. I found a clothing brand I like and started obsessively checking online for cheaper prices. Like, tonight I spent two hours just scrolling through eBay. I have been so stressed about finding just the right thing at the right price that I feel like I have to keep checking every few hours. It has been quite a while since something caused me to get obsessive like that. So I spent some time just breathing. Taking in all the stress and anxiety and work issues and sickness and just breathing with it. Allowing myself to be human, and allowing myself just to let go. Phew. Namaste!

I have stayed home sick the past two days and have been in a general funk since last week. A combo of the changing weather, sinus issues, and general fatigue. I considered skipping the challenge this time around but after a few days off realized how much they help me create a reflective space for my self-awareness. This time around I'm practicing the idea that my goals have nothing to do with weight loss, self-improvement, fitting into certain clothes, setting a deadline, etc. I'm really digging Pema Chodron's concept that we can look exactly the way we look while focusing on compassion, mindfulness, expanding, and letting go of anger. Although most of my goals have to do with "making life better," I'm really trying to approach them from the foundation of creating a sense of present-moment well-being. Perhaps a few more days off from the challenge as I return to work and make it through the week.

I am learning to stay put -- to love myself exactly as I am. This fall is about sticking with myself to go deeper into who I already am rather than envisioning someone I want to become. I have never lived simply as myself without aspirations to be better. Instead of setting goals to improve, I'm setting goals to cultivate a healthy, wholesome life. Soul: •Stretch 5 minutes/day •1 Fit Deck flash card each day Body: •Continue avoiding eliminated foods/drinks •No fruit-type candy (i.e. skittles, jolly ranchers, etc.) Mind: •Practice mindful breathing •Continue focus on housework •Be grateful daily for a roof over my head