Challenges in Place.

I have some challenges that I want to set for myself. It always makes things more fun when I am challenged, rather than doing things just for the sake of doing them. Sometimes when there isn't a challenge or motivation behind something, I let it fall to the way-side. There is a lot to be said about "The 30 Day Sugar Detox Challenge", "The 31-Day Blog Challenge", "52 Weeks to Organized Challenge".

This Blog Challenge really opened my eyes to the power of the challenge.

Also, any challenges I set for myself, I will document here which will hold me accountable.

It's just a fun way to work on myself while having that tiny extra kick to keep it going.

So! Without further ado:

The first challenge is I am going to set for myself is to walk on my lunch break at least 4 days a week. I used to walk ALL THE TIME before I was working full-time. I would walk at least two hours a day. It felt great, I slept better, I was much slimmer, I had some stamina. It really felt like I was doing something great for myself. Once I started working, I felt like I never had time. I would wake up at 5:30 am, get ready, go to work, get off at 5:00 pm, go home, have dinner, relax, go to bed. No time.... Except I have just as many hours in the day as every other person in the world. So I started to realize that I could easily go on a walk on my lunch. 45 minutes to an hour. Bring my tennis shoes and just walk around. It gets me out of the office, gets my movement and exercise in, and I'm already in work mode anyway. So I did that this week, to try it out, and I love it. It also gets me out of the office and helps me to clear my head. Plus! Bonus! I get to listen to my audio books which adds to the happy me. I would say this is all around a good challenge for my mind, body, and soul.

The second challenge I am going to set for myself is not stepping onto a scale until my birthday. My birthday is on June 8th. I will be 27 years old. I get so hung up on the number and if it isn't going down every day, I freak out and get upset. So, why continue to do that to myself? I'm not going to. I will weigh myself at the doctor's office (they always do that! I turn my head every time). I think there are some changes that come from other things besides the number on the scale. The No-Number Victories. I think it will be beneficial to my psyche and my self esteem. It will help me focus on the other changes that happen.

The third challenge is all about reading. My goal is to read every night before I go to sleep. At least a little bit. Even if that is 2 pages before I fall asleep, I want to do this because it will allow my brain a chance to close out screens and electronics and give me a chance to wind down before bed. 

The fourth and final challenge I have been thinking about is less television. It's so easy to get caught up in a show and watch 4 hours of it before bed on a week night. Or to watch television while you eat dinner. But I don't like it that much. I don't have shows I need to watch on television on certain nights. I was Netflix. So I want to keep the television off three nights a week. I want to see how that goes. This will all Chris and I can make dinner together and play games and talk. That connection time, instead of always just being with one another, this will allow us to be present in our together time.