Today's post will be short and to the point. We've got things to do! It's Thanksgiving tomorrow, and you may be feeling a little (or a lot) of stress! How does stress affect your habits? That is today's journal question! When you feel stressed, what happens to your habits. Do you bad habits get worse? Do you get snippy (I do!)? Do you eat junk food? Over drink? Or may you exercise like crazy hoping to sweat it all out! Whichever you choose, it's good to be aware of what it's doing to you. Call yourself out on it! The fact is... dinner is still going to happen! Thanksgiving Day is still going to happen. You can get caught up thinking it's all about you (everyone is out to get me!). Or you can choose to embrace the chaos, laugh it up, and enjoy yourself. Remember, how you respond is your CHOICE (reference yesterday's post). Hang in there friend!

In day 2 of our journaling challenge, I ask you to take a look at the choices you are making each day! Write them out, and be honest with yourself!
​
Why is it so hard to make the changes I desire? Why am I not the "ideal person" I dream of?
It's hard to face the truth! What is stopping you from being the person you want to be? Why is is hard to make these changes? Is it because you don't have time? Money? Energy? It's just too hard? Not sure where to start? Take 10 minutes and really think about what has to change to be that ideal person you see in the future!

Got your list? Great! Now it's time to really get to work on it.

Step 2 of today's challenge is to tell yourself that your reasons for not being your ideal self are in fact- excuses! Take each item on your list and dig a little deeper. In Marie Forleo's book "Everything is Figureoutable" she suggests crossing out each excuse, and writing "BS" (I'll let you figure that out) next to it. I try to avoid negative language, so I simply choose a different colored pen. Whichever you choose, write the real reason behind your excuse. It may look something like this:

I don't have time!- I prefer to spend my free time watching TV.
I'm too tired at the end of the day to work on anything-- I stay up too late every night scrolling social media.
The class at the gym is too hard for me! -I think I will look foolish infront of others.

Did you see a theme in your excuses? Did a lot of your answers start with "I don't want to"? Take one last step and rewrite your answer to start with "I choose". I choose to watch TV at night. I choose to scroll on social media. I choose the couch over feeling foolish. 

Huh, it seems you are CHOOSING to live your life in your unfilled dream state. Maybe it's time to start making different choices! 

If you are struggling with this one, let me help you! Contact me and I will help you through this exercise!

I know. It's the Monday of Thanksgiving week. There are a million things to do; groceries, house cleaning, laundry, but today I need you to take 10 minutes out of your life and begin a new journey. The Holidays are hard for a lot of people. You may face family members you don't care for, there are holiday parties every weekend (and don't forget that $20 gift for the gift exchange!), and let's not even start on the over eating, over drinking and under sleeping that are about to unfold. I get it. But, with all of that circling around us, it's a great time to really get in touch with why we let these stressors get the best of us and to get in touch with the person we really want to be.

Help me, Help you. Follow along on my Instagram (@dandylife_kitchgym) or Facebook (@Dandylife), for the next 21 days, as we prepare our thoughts for what is ahead!

Alright, it's time!! Bust out a new notebook (research shows handwriting these things really helps your brain process them), set a timer for 10 minutes, and answer this first question.
​

What does my future self look like? What do I eat? What is my job?
​How do I present myself on a daily basis? 
Close your eyes, and visualize yourself in the future... your ideal self!
​Here is what I see for myself!
I am smiling and confident as I stand in front of a group of people touring my facility. I am on a matted floor, in an open room, in the gym that I own (FlexAbility Inclusive Fitness & Play Center). And it's not an ordinary gym. This gym is an indoor playground for kids and adults. It's fully accessible for whatever your abilities are. It's a Functional Fitness space for workouts, nutrition classes, cooking demos, and a place for young adults with disabilities to hang out. Getting back to me! I am tan (because I was able to afford a recent vacation to a beach somewhere). My posture is divine and my shoulders are relaxed even though I did a tough lifting workout this morning.  I look nourished, healthy and strong because I stick to my plant- based diet during the week, and minimize foods with no nutritional value. My skin is bright and glowing, my clothes hang just right, I am in my element. 

So- what is your future self doing? Get uncomfortable with your future self... make her be the person of your dreams, and then add a little more! Dream big!

Stop reading! Go journal! If you feel inspired to send me your description of your future self, email me at 1dandylife on gmail. We can work together to help make your ideal self your actual self! Or be extra brave and post it in the comments!

I have been promising myself for a while now that I would re-kindle my nutrition and wellness business. The voice in the back of my head said that I needed to get myself in a healthier place before I shared my knowledge. You see, I have all the credentials and I do all of the reading. I am Nutritious Life Certified and have several Personal Training Certifications, but I don't always practice what I preach. And, who would want to take Healthy Living advance from someone who doesn't live by example?

I set my 2019 intention to be more "Authentic". To live the life I ask others to live, and to be the person I say I am. While I have cleaned up my act in some areas, I really have wanted to lose about 20 pounds, and so far, haven't lost a single one (or maybe I lost a few along the way, but then found them again!). Then I realized, the best way to get you to follow along, is to bring you along. To share the struggles, to let you weigh in on the battles, for us to come together and work as a team to beat the voices in our heads that want to sit on the couch and eat M&M's (peanut ones are my downfall). To be authentic means I am sharing my true self! The best way to move forward is to own where you are at today!

So... Goals.
Tomorrow I will be weighing in on my body fat/muscle detecting scale. I have been doing this on the first of every month for a year now. It's had it's ups and downs. But for the most part hasn't changed. I always prided myself on being an athlete, and used that as an excuse for my weight, thinking I had more muscle than most. This scale tells me differently. My body fat is in the "high" category buy .2% (but still) and my body muscle is in the "normal" range. I can't find my calculations as I write this, but if I do the math, I would have to lose around 25 pounds to be where I want to be. That's a lot. But that also is where my BMI is supposed to be (I know the whole BMI thing is a little bit of rubbish- more on that later).  So, I have some pretty straight forward goals using this scale. They are clear and measurable My goal is 23% body fat, and 30.2% muscle this puts me on the low end of normal body fat, and the low end of high muscle. I will let you know how far I have to go tomorrow.

I've set myself some pretty simple goals for the first 4 weeks. I need some simple goals that I can achieve fairly easily, and help build confidence (that's your first pointer). As well as some goals that I can use to push myself every day and a couple that are a big stretch. 

My daily physical goals are; (1)10K or more steps each day- this means I HAVE to get out and walk in addition to my workout. (2) stretch every day for 5 minutes (3) do an increasing number of "sets"- in High School Track we did 8 sets a day; 30s of abs +10 pushups is 1 "set". I am starting out with 3 sets and will add one per week until I get to 6. This is outside of any ab work that comes with my workout. (4) 30 minutes of intentional movement (run,walk, yoga, bike, etc). 

I have learned along the way the logging and restricting food doesn't work well for me. I have more success when I consciously add things into my diet. So I also plan to include of veggie in each meal. Breakfast is hardest of course, as my typical breakfast is yogurt and granola! I am still working on this concept- stay tuned!

I am using this august2019_goaltracker.pdf to log my progress. I am also weighing in each day. I will simply color in the squares as I go. Feel free to use this tracker, and set your own goals. 

If you want some help setting goals, feel free to reach out, and I can help you. I think that's it for today! I have a lot of prep work to do!