Stop. Deep breath.

One of the things I'm known for is my love for planning things. It's a love-hate relationship. I have this weird capacity to see schedules in a 3-d way, I see how things layer on top of each other, I have a pretty good sense of my friends' schedules (they don't know this, haha). But I just get it. I hear when people are tired and when I look at a combination of their schedule (if it does or doesn't include a workout) or if they aren't eating very well, or haven't been to the doctor in awhile...I can hear their weariness even more.

Part of the 31 day challenge for us all is to remember to STOP. And take a deep breath. I mean, a real deep breath. Not one of those, let me add TAKE A BREAK to my to-do list. But, no, just stop. I think that to-do lists have a place in our lives as long as they don't paralyze us or hold us captive to the calendar or clock. I use my to-do list at work to make sure that I'm holding onto the right projects in the right place. I refer to my calendar to make sure that I'm watching certain ongoing projects: pay this bill on time, buy gardening supplies, look at plane tickets, call so and so back, finish these minutes.

For me writing my 31 things was difficult on a number of levels. I didn't want to feel like at any point I was setting goals for myself that if I didn't achieve I would feel guilty. If you know me, you know that I reprimand people who demonize any type of food or berate themselves for not working out. Choosing health is choosing freedom. As soon as you feel like a goal/intention is suffocating you, don't do it. There is an element of re-learning or learning discipline, but there's a fine line between discipline, self-abnegation and punishment...and guilt. You have to find that line on your own. Don't compare yourself. If you only wrote 10 things you wanted to do for the challenge, take those 10 things and work it. Those are YOUR things.

As you learn how to listen to your body, write down and remember what you're learning about yourself. I know for me last night I had a piece of pizza, I was tempted to feel guilty, but I enjoyed that piece of pizza and knew when I was full. That's a big step for me. Yes, I need to watch how much dairy I have because of my lactose intolerancy, and yes, I love vegetables and maybe should have had a salad with my pizza, but you know what, it's over. I'm moving on and I enjoyed that pizza like it was the bomb.com. Cause, it was.

At any point this challenge is controlling you, step back and see what that means. This is a journey to health with others. And it should be enjoyable. And me saying all of this isn't to say that this journey won't be difficult. You got this.