Karianne85

I agree. I'm also generally working on not being a perfectionist. It's tiring! I say to myself "Imperfection is the new Perfection."

First week was pretty good. Second week is so-so. Not exactly doing what I said I was going to do every day but moving in a positive direction overall I think. Thanks for asking but I don't need any help right now.

Things I can do: 1. Water activities (someone at the gym complimented me on how nice I did some water exercises and most weren't even swimming) 2. Bike ride pretty far without getting too tired out. 3. Walking for an hour. 4. Make my exercise 'look pretty'. (throwback to when my ballet teacher said 'make it look pretty'. Think that helped the swim stuff above. 5. Eager to try new things. (just tried yoga and zumba; liked yoga and hated Zumba but I tried them out) Features I like: 1. shapely legs 2. good skin 3. good teeth 4. my body parts are symmetrical (sounds weird but when my granddaughter was born the nurse said that about her. I realized mine was too.) 5. pretty feet Changes when I am eating and exercising and at the top of my game. 1. Feel happier 2. More confident 3. Look better in my clothes 4. Good blood work/health stats 5. Proud of myself

I'm not sure as I'm having the same problem. I like board games but he doesn't (except a select few). We like some of the same things on t.v. but not much. At least you two are in the same room! That said, we have been married 44 happy years! Go figure. I can think of some ideas that you all might like even if most won't work for us. Cook/prep foods together. Invent your own recipes. Just talk with room dark and candles lit. Do an exercise video together. Listen to music also with candles lit. Read the same book and discuss it sometimes. Give each other back massages. Plan something like a trip. Look at places on the internet. Even if you don't go. My husband and I fantasized about a trip to Holland one night. It was relaxing and fun. You could do it with houses/home furnishings/remodeling ideas. I love an internet site called houzz.com. You can save your ideas in their Idea Book. Get out photos and look through them. i got a big box out to organize but never did. Just enjoyed looking at them together though. Teach each other something or learn something new together. Do a jigsaw puzzle together. Keep and add to a scrapbook sort of thing for your kids. Write down things that happen, add photos, etc.

I was trying to think of a way to keep telling myself that I enjoyed cooking but not just say "I like cooking" every day. I like variety. I decided to look for ideas online and also think of some and write one down each day or most days anyway. I am keeping a list on my fridge. As an example, the first one is "Home cooking tastes better". If anyone can think of any I can use, I'd appreciate some suggestions. Thanks, Kari

I can't remember whose thread it was but someone else was going to get in bed earlier. I thought they had a good idea for this so I'll pass it along to you. This person said they were going to set an alarm to go off X minutes before bedtime. I thought it was a really good idea because I know I can be online or doing something else and while I mean to get to bed earlier, I get sidetracked. Setting an alarm when it is time to start getting ready for bed was a great idea I thought. I am doing my first challenge also. Good for us!

What a good idea to set your alarm to remind you to get to bed earlier. I will have to file that idea in my brain.

I love your "Lying to yourself" theme. That makes me want to have a theme. I am doing my first challenge also.

Trust me, I have a crockpot!

Yeah, who knows, maybe some day I'll even do one of those cooking blogs since I love cooking so much now and all....

Well it seems like my goals are kind of lofty but really I have the gym part down. I just love doing the classes so it is not a challenge. Just have to fine tune it a bit. Plus I am retired so doing 15 minutes a day of a home project is just me not being too lazy which I have kind of been lately. I know it sounds wimpy but the menu planning/food prep is really my sticking point and when I don't have things planned I get hungry and the junk is right there waiting for me to eat it. Ugh, lol. I will post on others' threads but not tonight. Thanks!

Hi, Just joined and don't know what I'm doing really. I'll figure it out as I go along. I don't know anything about gaming but doing a monthly challenge sounds good for me so I'm in! Goals: My overall ultimate goal is to lose 20 pounds but that sounds daunting so I'm going to start with 5 and then 5 more and so on. In the past when I've lost, I would lose and then get tired of 'dieting' so just maintain until I felt like 'dieting' again. That worked for me and kept me going so planning to do it again. I'd really like to just get to healthy eating all the time rather than even saying dieting but semantics aside, you get the idea. I am 64 and joined a gym 2 months ago although I have always exercised by walking, swimming, workout videos or bike riding. I wanted more variety and imagine my surprise when I learned my health insurance pays for any gym I want to join! It is called the Silver Sneakers program for anyone over 60. So I picked the gym that had a pool and a lot of classes. I mainly do the classes as they are fun. My biggest challenge is living with my husband and son who are junk food junkies. When my husband worked more hours he ate that junk when I was in bed so I wasn't tempted. My adult son (now disabled) is now here all day with me (I'm retired). I was able to maintain my weight for years until their junk was all around me. I refuse to gain weight with them anymore so am trying to figure out ways to do it whether or not that stuff is in the house. My goals for this month's challenge: Eating: 1. Menu plan every week-ugh... For some reason I hate to do this but I need to. 2. Keep containers of chopped veggies and other salad ingredients full throughout the week. Spend time in kitchen 'every single day' on food prep. 3. Work on not saying "I don't like to cook" or thinking it. From now on I'm the happy chopper. Actually everything I cook tastes good. For some reason, I'd just rather be doing something else but I want to re-program my thinking on this. Gee I LOVE to cook! Fitness: 4. Balance my gym schedule. I think I have been overdoing it. I need to take a harder class every other day and in between do more mild exercising so that is my goal this month. Lifestyle: 5. Tackle cleaning/organizing chores around the house. I will set a timer and do 15 minutes each day of something that is not in the ordinary routine. Kari