call for ideas!

what do you want to see highlighted on the blog (other than amazing video blogs) :)

recipes?
encouragement?
spiritual reflections?
workout ideas?
workout recommendations?
food ideas?
soul reflections?
mind reflections?
reflections?


your ideas? :)
your reflections.

name change...

Day by Day...the health journey.

New name, same blog, same idea.

I'll use part of this blog to reflect on the day by day of our health journeys...offer advice/encourage and ask a lot of questions. If you would like to participate as a guest blogger on this, let me know, I will give you all the permission you need.

So, July 1. That's the next challenge type of deal...One of the things I need to do for my challenge is to learn proper follow through....let's see, maybe I should send out the little gifts I wanted to for the participants of the first challenge :)

July 1...like I was saying (tangent anyone??) or any day, check your birthday and start to write out your health intentions for you...not for me, not for your neighbor....but for you. It is your health. When you are healthier, so are we.

Health. Pass it on.

encouragement

One of the things I always reiterated during the challenge workouts on Sunday with my friend Nick is that the workouts we were doing...they were open to anyone's fitness ability. You pick your own pace, you push yourself and you find what will motivate you. I could scream and yell at you, but at the end of the day, it is your choice to give it your all.

I noticed that we both were saying different things in our classes...this is your workout.

This is your health journey. One of my 31 things was to not compare myself and my journey to anyone else's. You can find inspiration in others and encouragement others, but don't get down on yourself.

This is your life, your journey, share it with others, ask questions...at the end, be encouraged. You are making good choices for your whole life.

next health challenge: july 1

the next challenge that will be highlighted up all and through this blog will highlight our upcoming birthdays....

you will notice the blog title will change to reflect the next challenge :)

you need to join this challenge. it was amazing to see how people gathered around each other in encouragement, support and inspiration. we don't want to do this alone :)

and, know that your health ALL OF YOUR HEALTH is important. mind, body and soul.

if you're in, let me know, leave a comment, start blogging, share on facebook.
what do you have to do?

pick a number of things you want to do for your health, for you....not for anyone else...but find a number of things that you want to do up AND PAST :) your next birthday.

for me, i'll find 30 things i want to do until my 30th birthday.

you know you want to join. july 1st is when things will start!
:)

my 31 things.....

Hey you all! This will probably be one of the last posts on this blog on just the 31 days til summer. I'll start blogging more about the birthday countdown.

It was so much fun to celebrate summer in the neighborhood! Ill upload some photos!

My update, i'll just keep the ones that I didn't do or will do for the next challenge :)

Work up to 25 full pushups - well, I haven't tried yet. I hope that I can. Yikes.
Track food daily - slacked off. (next challenge)
Meditate/journal at least weekly (next challenge)
Take before/current/after pictures (need to take after)
Get 7 hours of sleep (next challenge)
Be still and be at home. (just added this one)
Walk Dolly each day (bday challenge)
Increase outdoor running mileage to 5 miles / run (update, add running to routine, not going to go for mileage)
Finish reading In Defense of Food and Women Food and God (must finish in defense of food)
continue with p90x and now TURBO FIRE!
Call/email/text my family daily (keep in touch with family)
Stop hitting snooze (must add to next challenge)
Turn my computer/cell phone off an hour before bed (add to challenge)
Set health intentions for the summer and year (doing that now)
Say when i'm full and stop eating (listen to my belly and my emotions...next challenge)
Don't compare myself to others, enjoy my journey for myself (found so much freedom for that)
Make weekly menu and meals on Sundays (summer challenge)
Finish unpacking our house (summaaaa challenge)
Clean/garden weekly (love it, will keep it up!)
Encourage and read group members' blogs/tweets/updates each day (love this)
Check in with group members to see how they are doing and to update how I'm doing (hopefully i'm doing that)

The next challenge will start July 1...cause it's 9 months from my birthday :) I know, selfish.

In the interest of full disclosure...

WOW. What a 31 days! I've done so much I've needed two days to recover enough to write my concluding blog post.

So, confession time. While I mostly finished my list, a couple of them were modified from my original intentions. I'll chalk it up to completing #10: learning healthy ways to deal with stress. Basically, removing a few stressors :-)

Let's recap a few things I modified slightly, in the interest of getting them checked off my list.

1. Write a screenplay for a short film. I have 4 pages of horrible drivel written that I'll never show anyone. But, it's a start.

2. I've REALLY been trying with my sleep. I try to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, but my body fights it. For some reason, it can't realize that sleep is GOOD for me. Lame.

4. Shoot a personal video project. I tried shooting video of myself, and it was an abysmal failure. If you want to see out of focus shots of me lip syncing, too bad.

5. My "creative retreat" consisted of browsing CSS galleries for a few hours. Creative retreat indeed, but not what I had in mind. My idea was to visit a monastary. Next month...

9. Learn to prepare 3 healthy meals. These "meals" were 1. Blackberry Agave Limeaid, 2. Sweet Potato fries and 3. Edemame (which basically was microwaved.) It's a start...

18. Come up with a redesign for my website. I've figured it out conceptually. It's mostly in my head. Just not "finished."

22. Situps. I think I did 50. But I ran and swam a lot.

24. Wash my car. I had every intention of doing this on the LAST day (since it stormed so much.) But, I busted my back, and the thought of washing my car made me feel 18% paralyzed. So I cleaned the inside instead.

26. Skype date with my niece is going to happen soon. Just not yet...

29. Massage. Tried to schedule it, but this schiester company requires you to have a chiropractic exam first. Lame.

31. Learn a song on the piano. I started with Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# Minor. It was HARD. So I finished learning a Clementi Sonatina I had learned half of before. I love it. So, I learned about half a song. I think it counts.

BUT: I'll have you know--I ran 11.5 miles! And I swam my triathlon distance countless times. And I've MOWED my YARD regularly!

This past 31 (or 33) days has been wildly productive, and good for the soul!

congratulations !