New Season Challenge: Update

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How are you going this week?

What one thing have you worked on changing?

It’s time to check in for an update and share what’s been happening with you.

Just in case you’re new to reading this, a couple of weeks ago I invited you to join me and challenge yourself.

The idea is that we do a series of mini challenges over the next quarter. That’s how big changes are made, in small steps.

The first step in this process is to work out what your health goals are. We talked about that over here.

Then you can just go ahead and jump on in here on these weekly updates that I’ll be posting. That way you can get some extra accountability, motivation and support.

My Update

I’m working on ‘ironing’ out a few muscular imbalances I’ve got that have been causing some pain and discomfort. My main goal was to ‘move more’, and so far I’ve been going great with it.

I’ve incorporated swimming 3 times a week, I’ve been doing TONS of stretching – which has really been helping.

I use a tennis ball and a foam roller as self massage/ stretching tools. And I’ve got a strap and a fit ball I use for stretching too.

A friend recommended some pilates, which I have used before, so I’ve discovered a few cool exercises I’ve been incorporating into my routine to help improve posture and strength.

You can view a great selection of great pilates videos here, don’t you just love YouTube!

The other thing I started doing this week was walking up my very steep driveway (pictured to the left).

Want to try doing 12 laps of it? That’s what I did yesterday.

I do 4 laps, then stop and do some sit ups, bridges, leg lifts, and back stretches on my outdoor yoga mat (pictured below), then I repeat twice more.

It’s a great workout and it’s nice to be outside taking advantage of my beautiful nature setting.

I’ve also added in my basic go-to supplements – vitamin C, magnesium, and turmeric.

All 3 of these supplements are great for reducing inflammation, supporting immune function, and aiding stress. So just getting into a routine on that level can help a lot too.

The week ahead

I’m really zoning in on this exercise and strength thing right now because I’m determined to sort out these muscular imbalances. I certainly don’t like being in pain so it’s a great motivator to keep moving more.

I already notice things are changing and it is amazing how quickly your body responds when you just change a few things – small steps each day add up to BIG results.

I know I keep saying that but it’s true. No matter where you are right now, if your health problems are getting you down, all you have to do is take a few small steps each day in the right direction.

I’m eating well but since I want to lose a few pounds, I’m going to work on reducing portions and cutting out additional snacking – that doesn’t mean going hungry, it just means sometimes we can eat too much. Our servings can get larger, our snacking can get more regular – have you found that?

It’s easy to do and these are the types of things to notice in your habits.

I’ve started reducing portions the past few days already and certainly don’t notice the difference – in hunger or anything I mean. Often we don’t need as much food as we dish ourselves out, so it’s an easy strategy to boost weight loss.

I’m also going to schedule a bit of well deserved time out. I think I mentioned that I am a bit of a workaholic. Hey, I love my work, but I need time off too. So I’ve scheduled a massage, I’m going to see my chiropractor, and I’ve got a couple of new books I’d like to dig into. A hot epsom salts bath might be a great place to start reading those.

So that’s it from me.

Now It’s Your Turn

What positive steps are you taking this week? Exercise? Food? Self-care?

What are you working on changing?

I look forward to hearing your update.

Jedha

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