Jill Beat sets out a teeny challenge

[Jill Beat]

While I'm sure most people here are pumped and ready to get back into the swing of things...I'm not.  I have 3 days of challenge and then I'm off to sun, sand and relaxation in JAMAICA!  I'm extremely excited, this is my first hot holiday, and the start to a very travel-exciting 15 months.  (January 2015 - Jamaica, Sept 2015 Camp NF!!!, March 2016 -Europe!!)

 

So it's really hard to set challenge goals when the first 2 weeks will kinda be a wash.  The other thing that's tough for me is because I'm a fitness instructor, I start up a bunch of my classes in the end of January, and from now until the end of April, my schedule is a bit crazy.  So I'm setting out some small goals to try to ease into the new year of challenges (PS.  I'll hoping to hit the end of February challenge hard, and be ready for it!) 

 

Main Quest - Be a badass who looks killer in a bikini and can do a pull-up (aka, the ultimate in badassery)

 

For those who don't know - I love practicing aerial hoop/lyra and in March, I'll be taking another step towards teaching it!  The super cool upside is that I get all the free practice time I want, and 50% off classes at my studio!  Yay!  So my goals are also to do things that will help me in hoop - the pull up for sure, and also flexibility and mobility is another pretty big goal for me.  

 

Goals

1) Drink 3L of water/day - with my trip coming up, it's hard to set a food goal, and I'll have to see how things are when I get back.  With that in mind, staying hydrated is definitely a step I can take towards keeping my body in check, so water it is.  I find this hard at the best of times, but especially in the winter.  While on vacation, this is a bit harder, so the general goal is to stay hydrated, and not be hung over. lol

 

2) Stretch/fascia rolling daily - I'm really needing to work on my flexibility for hoop and and also focus on self-care a lot more.  I really believe in the whole holistic aspect of health and fitness, and with what I've been reading about fascia is just fascinating (yup, I just did that), and so I need to a) finish reading The Role Model (about half way now) and continue to roll, ideally daily.  For this, I really plan to instagram daily either a stretch sequence, or rolling, or something related to it for accountability.  If you're all instagrammy, follow me and cheer me on @jbean86  

 

 

AAAAAaaaand 2 goals is going to be it for the physical side.  My 2015 mantra is the idea of "doing more with less".  Experiences trump stuff, less is more, etc.  As part of that I'm trying to purge my house, use up what I have, buy a minimum amount of stuff.  This is really inspired by me wanting to move across the country in 2 years.  I figure if I start downsizing now, I'll be happier, but also ready to move when the time comes.  And who knows, it may been sooner than 2 years, and if the right opportunities come up, I want to be ready.  Well...readier.  lol

 

Life Goals

1) Clean and purge my house.  As part of this, I also want to finish up projects that have been started, including decorating my condo.  I want a nice place to live in, but also when it comes time to sell it, I want to have a showing-ready place.  Basically, I'm a grown up (without kids) and there's no reason I can't have a nice looking place.  lol

 

To make this more trackable, I want to set aside (minimum) an hour per week (with the exception of week 2) to make an effort to do something towards this goal. 

 

2-ish) I've been toying with the idea of journaling again.  I did it as a hard hat challenge a while back and by the end of it, I really liked it.  Maybe I'll try to add this when I get back from holidays.  

 

There you have it folks.  Simple, but do-able.  

 

Tracking:

1) Water  1/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7

2) Stretching 1/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7

3) Cleaning 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1

[Glass]

Good luck! I have a similar cleaning challenge, trying to do it 5/7 days of the week. It's gonna be hard to set aside time with my constantly changing schedule but the comfort and pride of a clean habitat might be worth it.

[Jill Beat]

Good luck! I have a similar cleaning challenge, trying to do it 5/7 days of the week. It's gonna be hard to set aside time with my constantly changing schedule but the comfort and pride of a clean habitat might be worth it.

I'm also trying to be better about putting things away as I go, which will hopefully be better if I have less stuff too! 

[Glass]

I'm also trying to be better about putting things away as I go, which will hopefully be better if I have less stuff too! 

This. I found out recently that taking that extra second of putting something in its proper place is strangely satisfying. It's like you're helping yourself or some kind of self-love lmaooo

[Raxie]

Totally loving the minimalist approach to this goal. Purging stuff and having simple fitness goals is so great. Also ahhhh Jamaica!! Please take lots of pictures

Sent by TARDIS delivery service. Apologies for typos caused by interactions with the time vortex.

[Cinderellis]

Good luck!! Love your simpler approach to this one (and your pun ), sounds like you're setting yourself up for success! Have so much fun in Jamaica!!

[Jill Beat]

This. I found out recently that taking that extra second of putting something in its proper place is strangely satisfying. It's like you're helping yourself or some kind of self-love lmaooo

LOL.  It totally is! And then I'm like "why don't I just do this all the time?"  But then I don't, and end up with a big mess again! lol

 

Totally loving the minimalist approach to this goal. Purging stuff and having simple fitness goals is so great. Also ahhhh Jamaica!! Please take lots of pictures

Thanks.  I've really started to get to the point where I can better evaluate things that I do need to keep for "sentimental reasons" versus things I think I should keep for sentimental reasons.  

 

And lots of people have requested lots of pics, so I'll do my best!  

 

Actually, it's kinda on my "fears to conquer" list to post pics of me in a bikini on my thread.  I super admire people who have longer journeys than me who are brave enough to post their pics as the go along.  So I think I might just have to do it, even though I've slid back a bit from where I was.  It's actually Scout Says who is my inspiration for this!  That woman is awesome!! 

 

Good luck!! Love your simpler approach to this one (and your pun ), sounds like you're setting yourself up for success! Have so much fun in Jamaica!!

Lol.  Thanks, I hope so!  

[Jill Beat]

So....today I got more awesome news!  Quick recap - I'm currently training to teach aerial hoop...  

 

The owner of the studio was looking for someone to take over the aerial conditioning, and because of my fitness background she thought of me.  YAY!  So I'm going to get to teach hoop and conditioning back to back come April.  I'm extremely excited for this opportunity, and it's always nice to be thought of.   

[Raxie]

Oh man that's so exciting and right up your alley!!! Congrats

Sent by TARDIS delivery service. Apologies for typos caused by interactions with the time vortex.

[LadyWitch]

Jamaica sounds fantastic! Can't blame you for having less goals with such an awesome holiday to look forward to! I'm hoping to start aerial hoop classes at the end of Feb, so well done on becoming an instructor for it!

[goodbye_farewell]

Have fun in the sun, and yay for Camp NF!

[Priscillia]

That is awesome about the classes!  It sounds like a LOT of your stepping stones/goals are lining up.  I love it when that happens!

 

2015 seems to be the year of Pull Up and Purging for lots of people (or at least this challenge).  Super psyched to seeing all the progressions

 

Have fun in Jamaica and take lots of pics for those of us stuck in the cold!

[Jill Beat]

Just back from Jamaica (well, and Toronto - 24 hour layover, boooo).  Trip was fantastic - full update and pics to follow soon!  This next week is going to be super busy for me, so I'm not sure how much catching up I'll get around to.  Tomorrow I need to do laundry, buy groceries, cook, and plan my classes for monday night!  This week I start teaching all my classes - 4/week for now.  

 

Anywhoo, I'm off to shower and go to sleep!

[goodbye_farewell]

Welcome back! And yikes on the Canada layover after being in Jamaica!

[Raxie]

Welcome backkk! Glad you had an awesome time and can't wait for the pictures!

Sent by TARDIS delivery service. Apologies for typos caused by interactions with the time vortex.

[Edigo]

Nice challenge and have fun on the trip

Sent from a mommy brain lacking sleep. All typos are the night fairy's fault

[Jill Beat]

It's been a super busy week! I my classes started up this week and I wasn't prepared for them (as always, it seems). It's been a pretty good week though.

Weight wise I'm definitely back up. Holidays + vacation was a bad combination. At the beginning of December being under 150lbs was in sight and now it seems so far away again. Im back up to 158.5lbs. Ugh. Frustrating but I feel like i can do it.

I've been cooking at home all week and drinking water. Maybe not *quite* as much as I eventually want to, but it's definitely a lot more than I normally would. I figure that getting back to routine should shave a couple pounds off without too much effort.

Teaching this week has been amazing. I've run into a bunch of people from my past which has been amazing to reconnect with them! My bellyfit class was great last night! So full of wonderful energy, it was a tough routine that they learned, but there were so many smiles, I think everyone had a great time.

I'm hoping to start tackling my craft room tonight for a bit before going out for dinner with friends.

Happy Friday everyone!

[Jill Beat]

Okay, so tomorrow is basically my "restart" to this challenge.  I was just about pulled into that shitty "well, I guess I'll wait for next challenge to do better" mentality and then I realized, NO! It's another 3 weeks, and you can kick butt for those three weeks.  It'll be a fresh start, my goals are fairly simple, so I'll put on my big girl panties and just do it.  

 

I've been a lot more conscious about drinking water.  Taking a water bottle to work definitely helps.  I've been bad about stretching/therapy balls.  I think i need to try harder to get to bed earlier, but I also want to try to stretch periodically at work like I did for one whole challenge.  With cleaning I haven't tackled the room I want to yet (which will include selling crap on kijiji) but I made progress today taking care of tasks I've put off for a while, so I get to count one for that.  

 

I've realized this week that when it comes to teaching classes, I find I'm always being reactive and not pro-active when it comes to learning new stuff/planning.  It's like I'm always playing catch up, and I know I could be better than that.  So as part of this challenge, but more officially next challenge (I'll work it into my goals), I'm going to try to learn new material as I get the resources (Zumba I get a cd/dvd every month, and Group Power it's every 3 months).  I've said this in the past, but this time I'm really going to try harder.  

 

I went to a Zumba choreography workshop this weekend which was great, but sometimes I have a hard time letting go and having fun.  And I think that part of it is I don't really have my own style.  For my Zumba playlist right now I pulled a bunch of old choreography, some of which is my original creation, and I got to thinking that I really haven't done much of that lately (because I'm always so behind!)  So as part of that "review resources as I get them" I want to try harder to do my own thing and work on developing my style more.  

 

Anyway, I think I'm starting to ramble and make less sense.  Let's rock this second half of the challenge! 

 

1) Water  1/7 0/7 5/7 0/7 0/7 0/7

2) Stretching 1/7 0/7 3/7 0/7 0/7 0/7

3) Cleaning 0/1 0/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1

[goodbye_farewell]

Okay, so tomorrow is basically my "restart" to this challenge.  I was just about pulled into that shitty "well, I guess I'll wait for next challenge to do better" mentality and then I realized, NO! It's another 3 weeks, and you can kick butt for those three weeks.  It'll be a fresh start, my goals are fairly simple, so I'll put on my big girl panties and just do it.  

Yes! I'm with you on this. Struggled a bit last week, but you are right. Still 3 weeks left, and a lot can be accomplished in that time!

[Jill Beat]

Yes! I'm with you on this. Struggled a bit last week, but you are right. Still 3 weeks left, and a lot can be accomplished in that time!

In the past I've considered even breaking my challenges into 2 3-week mini challenges because it seems like that's how long I maintain momentum! 

[Priscillia]

Agreed with the Week 3 Redos! Or even shorter challenges.

 

Glad to know you have a battle plan on the go for catching up on stuff.  I admit, that seems to be one of the bigger challenges these days (or getting blind sided by unexpected stuff)!

[jdkc4d]

I like the idea of the 3 week challenge. Something about week three always causes me to stumble. Starting week 4 with the mindset of failing on week 3 is not good. But ignoring week 3 and pretending its week one is slightly better.

[Raxie]

Someone somewhere at some point had said they want to bottle the excitement of week 1 and release it upon everyone during week 3 hahah. We should figure this out for real.

 

This challenge isn't over yet and you can still totally do what you wanted to do

[Jill Beat]

Agreed with the Week 3 Redos! Or even shorter challenges.

 

Glad to know you have a battle plan on the go for catching up on stuff.  I admit, that seems to be one of the bigger challenges these days (or getting blind sided by unexpected stuff)!

 

I like the idea of the 3 week challenge. Something about week three always causes me to stumble. Starting week 4 with the mindset of failing on week 3 is not good. But ignoring week 3 and pretending its week one is slightly better.

 

Someone somewhere at some point had said they want to bottle the excitement of week 1 and release it upon everyone during week 3 hahah. We should figure this out for real.

 

This challenge isn't over yet and you can still totally do what you wanted to do

 

I know that it's technically 6-week challenges because that's about how long it takes to build habits and start seeing results, but for me "the imperfect method you follow is better than the perfect one you quit".  So for me, I find if I need to break it up into two 3-week sessions, it's better than 3 gung-ho weeks followed by 3 weeks of slacking.  lol

 

P.S.  if you haven't read Steve's article from yesterday about committing a whole month to your health and fitness first, read it.  It has me thinking.  I keep trying to make changes, without wanting to change my routine.  For me, because I live alone and don't have kids, I can generally do whatever I want.  It's great in the sense of eating what I want, setting up what equipment I want, etc. You would think that I wouldn't have excuses.  But I find that my biggest one is "but I'm so busy teaching".  While it's true that I teach 4 hours a week, add in about an hour per class extra time (getting there, being early, staying after class to chat with people), and it does take up a fair chunk of time.  But that's only 8 hours a week.  There's still 64 hours a week that I'm not sleeping or working that I have to use.  

 

Reading through some of the comments on that article were interesting.  One single mother who got particularly defensive at other people making suggestions to try to help her.  But it started with her saying something about "how this article very much reflects that Steve doesn't have kids...blah blah blah."  Why, yes, that's right.  Steve doesn't have kids, and he has a job that allows him to manage his time differently than say, a 9-5-er.  But I would be willing to bet that he has challenges in his life that she's never even considered, because her life is so drastically different from his.  Reading her comments, it sounded like she isn't ready to put her health first.  Her kids are clearly her priority, and that's fine.  Not every article is going to resonate with everyone.  Not everyone is in the same place in their journey.  This woman clearly put up walls before even considering what Steve was proposing.  "Putting your health first" looks different for different people.  He stated what he started doing (ie. X number of workouts a week, etc.).  For a single mom of 2 young kids, working 2 jobs, this is very likely unattainable to do THE SAME THING.  But maybe in this situation it would be "asking a friend/family member to watch the kids one day a week/month/whatever, regularly so that you can go to the gym/yoga/get a massage/go for coffee with a friend/whatever".  Additionally, people with small kids commented about not being able to get uninterrupted sleep.  Yup, that's your life for a while, and there's not much you can do to change it, however, maybe doing things like getting to sleep earlier, napping when your kids nap (instead of trying to get things done - those things will wait), etc might work better for you.  The point of my ranting here is maybe - people need to be more open to the CONCEPT that's being proposed and see how it fits into their life, (and maybe the article could have been written a bit differently to help convey this?)

 

The biggest thing that I took from this though, was in the comments.  Someone mentioned that they think about the night before as the START of their day instead of the end.  And that good sleep and prep was really the basis of having a good/successful day.  I found this interesting. It wasn't until I was showering at 7:30pm after the gym last night that i really thought that this could be what I need to make the changes I need.   When I thought about it, here's what I came up with.

 

I generally shower in the evening because of the gym/teaching.  Why can't this be my "morning shower"?

And then I started thinking about sleep like work.  You wouldn't allow yourself to be late for work, so why let yourself get away with it for your bedtime. 

Then I thought about "work" as "sleep time/night" and that my day really begins when I get home from work.  

 

I tried applying this last night, and I really liked it. 

 

One of my biggest downfalls, since university even, is wasting my time in the evening because anything after about 8:30pm was dead time.  I wouldn't accomplish anything after that. But if I think about starting the day after an evening shower, or after work (depending on the day) I was SO much more productive.  And like you think about getting ready for work, I thought about getting ready for bed, stretching while watching TV, brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc.  It worked out really well.  I plan to keep practicing this idea.  I felt so much more productive!  I think it might be what I need to shake up my routine.  It's hard to "put fitness first" when I have a fairly full schedule of commitments, but this might be the thing that does it for me!!!

 

What do you think, would you try switching your "start of day" time? 

[goodbye_farewell]

That article was pretty interesting. I feel pretty good about how I do things. I sleep 10pm-5:30am every night (including weekends). I am always at the gym 3-4pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The place where I have trouble is from 7:30-9:30. My 2 yr old goes to bed at 7:30. After 8 hours of work, and hour of working out, cooking dinner, playing with my son, and putting him to bed, I am exhausted. I usually just veg out in front of the TV for those two hours...  I'd really like to use that time more productively!

 

As for your last point, I don't really "start" my day the previous evening, but I do prep for the next day by packing my gym bag, prepping lunch etc...