May-June Take Yourself Seriously 60-Day Challenge

Woo-hoo! New challenge. I'm modifying the "rules"(if they can be called that) from last time but leaving some of them the same.

1. Choose two things that will make you a healthier person--one physical and one emotional/mental/spiritual--and do them for this 60-day period, from now through July 3. (The point of picking more than one thing is that if you pick one thing you can get obsessed, whereas with two you have to spread your attention a little. Also, with two things, if you miss one you might still do the other, and have some success for that day.)

2. If it's the kind of thing you do every day (like drinking enough water), do it every day. If it's the kind of thing you do less often (like exercising three times a week, or seeing a therapist once a week) do it at that frequency.

3. If you don't do it one day, rub some dirt on it and keep going. The important thing is hanging in there through the end, not doing it perfectly every day.

4. If you realize one of the things you picked just isn't going to work for your life, pick something else and switch. There's no point in dragging yourself through something that doesn't make sense just because you posted here that you would. This is for you, not for the internets at large.

5. I'm going to have weekly check-in posts that you can post to every day if you'd like. I'm going to start a sidebar for the Challenge stuff so it won't be mixed in with everything else every day. You can find the post you want in the sidebar and click through from their to check in. Or just read others' check-ins.

6. No judging other people's two things, but if you have info that could help them, please post it. And if you start doing things that other people have set for their challenges, that's great, too.

7. Have fun!

8. At the post at the end of the 60 days, post what you learned during the Challenge.

Now, for my two things:

Physical: Wear my retainer every single night. (Some of you remember that I had braces on my bottom teeth while pregnant with my second son. I have a permanent retainer, but it's basically useless, so I need to get hardcore about wearing the removable retainer every night so all that time and pain won't have been wasted.)

Emotional/spiritual/mental: This one is a toughie for me, but I think I'm going to commit to journaling in a physical journal for 10 minutes every day. I'm going to try to make that time first thing in the morning, but if that doesn't happen I'll still fit it in later on. I do no writing currently that isn't for public consumption, so this will be just for me.

Now you go.

Comments

[piccolo]

1. Take my vitamins every morning.

2. Do 10 min. of breathing meditation every day.

They seem small, so I should be able to do it. But I haven't been, therein lies the challenge, right? I started yesterday because I was excited to jump on the bandwagon. (Didn't do the first 60 day challenge.)

[Lisa C.]

@Abacaxi Mamao - FYI, so you don't feel alone, I also have a terrible habit of not taking care of myself, including basic grooming, etc. I've had some success with changing that recently (GO ME!!) and one of the things that helped was finding products that I really enjoy using. For my face, I use the Daybreak Lavendar Farm products and I love them so much. They are ridiculously expensive, but oh well - they make me feel good and I don't shy away from the task anymore.

My goals for this challenge:

Physical - T-Tapp 14 day boot camp with BWO+, then down to 3x per week even if the 3x is just BWO+. I have this terrible habit of psyching myself out of working out because I feel like I should be doing a longer workout. It makes no sense whatsoever, but that's my big roadblock with T-Tapp.

Emotional - do EFT ( www.emofree.com for more info, those who are interested ) daily. This method has really helped me with a lot of out of control emotions, and it's 100% free.

[Lisa C.]

I've been sick as a dog for weeks, so I really need to get back to taking better care of myself.

Physical - T-Tapp. 14 day bootcamp with BWO+, then any workout 3x per week thereafter.

Emotional - do EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique www.emofree.com) daily.

I'm also going to take this time to try to do more healthy things like eat more veggies and try to get off the cokes, but those aren't "goals" per se.

[hedra]

@TotallyAnon, there was a twin study that showed that the difference in, erm, ability to get there by one route vs the other has a strong genetic component. So, if you have daughters, they're got some odds of being more like you than not like you. Now, how to work THAT into the conversations... um. But, hey, there's always that 16th birthday present! (yeah, can you see it? 'Happy sweet sixteen. I bought you a pocket pal. Six speeds, and waterproof!') (... along with Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which every girl should have by the time they hit 16, if not sooner.)

[chaser]

Two things that have both a physical and spiritual component:

1. At dinner, one helping. After dinner, one well-defined late snack (one cup of milk + two other WW points worth of whatever I want). I have been doing seconds, even thirds at dinner, plus nibbling out of the serving dish, and after dinner there is snack after snack. not because I'm hungry but just out of momentum and a general feeling of Wanting More. The spiritual message: I have enough.

2. Running or other high-intensity cardio 3x/week for >30min each time, with a goal of 45-60 min in at least two of the sessions. I had been doing only 20 min because I was trying to get it over with, and for me, that's not really long enough to start enjoying myself. The spiritual message: I am capable of more than I realize, and it is a pleasure to do more than the minimum.

[MizU]

My first post here!

1) Exercise at least four times a week, at least 30 minutes each time. Ideas: stroller walks around the neighborhood, poi-spinning to music in the backyard, weight workouts at the gym, or a yoga class. Whatever I can fit in that day.

2) Start eating better again; specifically, eat at least three servings of nutritious veggies each day (at least one of those leafy green), and at least three servings of nutritious fruit each day.

Thanks for the challange!

[Joy]

@Totallyanon and Hedra- that's hilarious. I LOVE the sweet sixteen idea! I'm totally doing that for my daughters... very discreetly, of course, but what an empowering, 'it's okay to be okay with your sexuality' kind of message to send. (I got the opposite kind of messages, and it's taken a lot to overcome them.)

My challenges:

Physical: Well, the workout one from the last challenge is totally going strong (I'm up to running 2.5 miles now, 5x a week!! Yay me!! Thanks, Moxie!!), so I'm going to commit to doing one major cleaning chore every weekday. (in addition to keeping up the everyday dishes, laundry, etc.) Clean a bathroom, dust, etc.

Mental: Spend more time reading to my kids. At least once a day.

[Joceline]

Okay, I'm evidently coming into the game WAAAAAY late, but I had to think about my things.
Physical-I'm going to continue to work on the 5 veggies a day. I got better during the last challenge, but I still fell short more days than not. I'd ideally like to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (just a few pounds to go), so this will help.

Spiritual-read my Bible every day. I don't even want to talk about how long it has been. At least 10 minutes will be my goal at the beginning, but I may up it once I master that.

[Kandice]

I think I have commitment issues. It's taken a while to join the group but here goes:

Physical: Eat half of what I normally would eat at lunch and dinner.

Emotional/Mental: Spend 45 minutes with laser focus on building my online store business.

This is a great forum. So glad there's a whole community working towards bettering themselves!

[Kristie]

Aaah, I forgot to think up my goals in advance, and then I had a terrible time choosing only TWO! There are many many things that could use some improvement.

Here we go (takes deep breath):

physical - vamp up my exercise a bit, I want to be jogging or swimming at least one time a week and doing pilates twice. plus, daily kegals. Exercise makes me feel better and helps me sleep better at night (baby wakings notwithstanding)

mental - memorize a Bible verse(s) each week. This one will be tough, with the Chinese study I sometimes feel like I don't have any brain cells left.

Both of these are extensions/intensifications of last time's goals. We'll see how it goes.

[Karyn]

Physical:
Daily-water. I need to drink more than the one medium cup of coffee and glass of water that I typically drink in a day. How I haven't had to be hospitalized for dehydration is beyond me. I'll start at 3 glasses a day and work up to 8.

Weekly: 45 minutes on the treadmill 3x a week. We are going to the Rocky Mountains in August and I'd like to be able to manage a light hike carrying our nearly 2.75 year old (by then).

Mental:
Daily-In bed at 10 every night. Not easy as the above mentioned toddler keeps us busy until 9 at the earliest (by the time lunch is made and the kitchen is straight again).

[BradyBaby]

I just checked in and wanted to thank everyone for the book suggestions. The last two books I read that I loved were "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls and "Creation" by Gore Vidal. I'm almost afraid to pick up a book and read.

I will take a look at both book blogs tomorrow and see what looks good! Have to go put my monster to sleep. Thank you so much for the suggestions.

[Karyn]

For the record, it is now 10:45! Argh!

[maman_du_petrus]

I am in (late). It took me a long time to join in because I could not find the time to write on this blog or even think about what my challenge should be... It made it obvious that what I need to work on is "time to think and reflect and to take care of myself".

So my emotional challenge is: not work more than 1 hour each night. I am in academia and apparently having a toddler and trying to get tenure do not go very well together, especially since I leave work at 4pm (gasp!) to pick up our son at daycare and be with him at least a few hours each day. This results in me (and husband who is on the same train) having to work at night after our son is asleep (which of course is later and later now since he is 2 1/2 and right in the middle of the "going to sleep" habit change that was well described on this site). I end up working all the way to bedtime (10pm) and doing nothing to give some time to my brain to slow down and focus on other things. Its like that all week, although I do take Friday night off usually, but not Saturday or Sunday. And I work during nap time in the afternoon during the week end. So this challenge will be a huge change (especially if I add that week ends are totally off, depending on how well it goes).

Physical: Because of said time constraints mentionned above, this one is a small challenge: go walk during lunch time for 15 minutes at least 3 times a week. I count on biking and walking during the week-end to add up to this, now that the weather is nice here up north.

[Clementine]

I'm in late, too, but willingly. My goals are very small, but that's all I can handle these days.

Physical: Do some form of abdominal exercizes every day. Maybe isometrics, maybe crunches, maybe Kegels. Something. Anything!

Mental: Every day acknowledge that I'm doing an OK job with family, with work, with my own health. I notice if it isn't 'perfect,' but OK is really . . . OK.

I was interested in the challenge last round but knew it would be too much. At that time our twins were 3 months old, and I was just ramping my work hours back up to full time. I think it's a good sign that I feel able to handle these small daily goals.

Maman_du_petrus, the tenure process isn't compatible with life in general, never mind life with a baby or toddler. Many institutions allow a one-year delay in the tenure clock for new faculty who have had or adopted a baby. Maybe yours does? Hang in there.

[Sky]

I'm in! Late, but in. I really enjoyed the last challenge, but it was only in the last two weeks that I was really succeeding at it. Hopefully it will click in a little earlier this time.

Physical - within the sixty days, I would like to complete a few last pre-pregnancy things and then get pregnant. My, it looks so simple when I write it out like that! It's unlikely to be easy (3 miscarriages before the birth of my daughter) and I need to get my periods back, but it's time to start trying if I want a sibling for my daughter.

Mental - In the last challenge, my mental challenge was to go regularly to my local breast feeding support group. I'm doing that and thoroughly enjoying it, although I still have to push myself to go. For this challenge, I want to add another weekly social event for us, either the baby swimming classes I've signed up for, or baby massage or Mum's and Tots yoga.

Looking forward to reading all about everyone's progress.

[&BabyMakes75]

1. Ride bicycle to work (less than 2 miles) every day unless weather in unbearable (heavy rain or high heat) for entire 60-day challenge

2. Pack healthy lunch at least 4 out of 5 weekdays

Adding to #1: this also means I need to plan ahead about how much junk I mindlessly throw in my bag since it'll be on my shoulder!

[Nina M]

Can I join in late? Took me a couple of days to narrow things down...

Physical: Do my PT exercises every day until I'm ready to start lifting again, then lift 3 days/week.

Mental/Emotional: Try to pay attention to and challenge that little voice in my head that keeps telling me I'm a piece of dirt, at least once a day.

Good luck to everyone! :)

[Catherine]

Another late-comer....

Physical: 2 glasses of water a day. I've been living on diet coke and coffee for far too long.

Emotional: Sex twice a week. I've been living on cuddling for far too long. Oh, and I could have used a vibrator on my 16th birthday.