New year, fresh start, time to get serious about this thing, right? Don’t worry if January 1 was just Tuesday for you – when you’re ready to go hard, you will be ready. In the meantime, let’s keep taking those baby steps.
Wellness things I’m working on:
- Steps
(I never increased my daily step goal for December from 5,000 steps.)
As you can see if you look at the picture above, most days making 5,000 steps was a real struggle. Many of the 1- and 2,000 step days, I barely got out of the bed, or if I did, I didn’t leave the house. Those days I just needed (or decided) to stay in. And that’s okay, even encouraged. Do whatever you need to do for you.
What else did I realize about getting my steps in this month? If I’m doing something I find interesting or fun, it is INFINITELY easier to get my steps in without it being such a chore. I don’t even pay attention, and will be near or over my step goal before I even look at my FitBit.
It’s only been a few days where I’ve done this so far, but in the mornings while getting ready for work, I turn Pandora to the Lil’ Jon playlist. Many of the songs there have a beat that naturally make you want to move your feet. BAM. I hit at least 1,000 steps now before I even leave the house. Previously, that number would have been in the low hundreds (depending in large part, whether I had to go downstairs to get clothes out of the dryer to wear that day).
Even with those days where I was impersonating a slug, I still managed to average over 5,500 steps for the month. This isn’t too shabby, but not exactly what I’m tracking. If your schedule works better to do averages, great! Let’s get it. Tell me what your average is going to be this month.
2. Water
We need it to survive. It makes up 55-60% of an adult human body. I don’t like the taste of it. (Let’s not get into the water doesn’t have a taste debate – I’m looking at you Aquafina, with your green grape aftertaste.)
Anywho, I constantly have to find ways to consistently keep my water intake up. Enter: a new container.
There’s nothing particularly special about this bottle; it’s a stainless steel 20 oz. container I got from Target. I’ve had it for a while, but just started using it on the cruise.
I have a few ideas about why this bottle is working for me though:
- The slim cylindrical shape doesn’t feel like 20 ounces, so I am not constantly reminded of how much water it contains,
- the opaqueness keeps from being a constant reminder of how much water I have drunk (and still have to drink), and
- the stainless steel helps keep the water a little cool.
Whatever the reason, I find myself going through at least 2 full bottles (40 oz!) without even thinking about it, usually before lunch. #winning
Lastly, I am embracing the word NO for 2019. Not quite sure that it’s my word for the year (when did this become a thing by the way!?), but I definitely plan to get comfortable with it and all of its various forms this year. This will aid in protecting my mental and emotional health. Rather than having such a negative connotation, I am taking to heart what my best friend once said some years ago: “No is a love word.”
Let’s get it y’all. All 2019.