In mid-January I challenged myself to do 3 things every day for 30 days in an effort to be healthier and happier. I drank at least 60 ounces of water, worked out for 10-60 minutes and meditated for at least 5 minutes. It didn’t hurt that 2 of the 3 things are also on my 101 in 1001 list. :)
There are a number of habits I’d like to restart or create this year. None of them are particularly groundbreaking. 2018 is a year of getting back to basics for me. Drinking more water, working out, taking vitamins and supplements, flossing my teeth.
To make sure I completed them each day, I added a daily task to my Simplified Planner. It seems kind of silly to have a “water” to do, but it helped to keep it at the top of my mind and gave me a sense of accomplishment to check it off each day. I honestly feel like this step was key to sticking with it for the month.
1. Drink 60+ Ounces of Water
Drinking more water had been on my list of things to do for quite some time. I used to be good at making it a priority so I knew firsthand the benefits, primarily better skin, improved digestion and being a little less cranky. Jim gifted me the Swell Traveler for Christmas which really helped me meet my daily goal. I filled it up 3x throughout the day. I didn’t count other fluids (iced tea, kombucha, sparkling water) towards my 60 oz…only “regular” water. I figured any other fluids I drank throughout the day were extras! This has been the easiest for me to keep up since the 30 days ended.
2. Workout
Since Sybil was born almost 18 months ago, I have tried and failed to get into a consistent workout routine. I really enjoy running but it was hard to find enough daylight hours when Jim wasn’t in school to make that happen. So I joined barre3 online (a monthly subscription is $29). I had taken barre3 studio classes when we lived in Arizona and knew it was a workout that I loved. I’ve been impressed with their online workouts. They offer 10, 30, 40 or 60 minute workouts and it’s really easy to search for the length and focus you want. In 30 days, I only repeated a workout once or twice. I tried to do at least a 30-minute video during the week and then on the weekends I did a 10-minute workout. Oftentimes I workout when Lawson naps and Sybil plays around (or on) me. Ideally I’d love to get into a habit of running twice a week and doing barre3 four days.
3. Meditate
Meditation seems to be a bit of a hot topic/trend/fad. I was hesitant to try it because I have a hard time sitting still with my thoughts. After a few too many days of losing my patience and reading Carly’s post on 100 days of meditating, I decided to add it to my 30-day challenge. I used the free trials for 3 different apps (Headspace, Calm and USC Mindfulness). I would highly recommend Headspace. The narrator’s voice is soothing and I was most successful at meditation with the Headspace app. I often left mediation for the last thing I did before going to bed, which meant I wasn’t always that into it. (Yes, I even fell asleep a few times.) After 3 weeks, I knew meditation wasn’t going to last beyond the challenge for me. I would love to try it again sometime when I can create a better routine.
Up next on my personal challenge is taking vitamins/supplements every day. Based on what I’ve already learned, I immediately added it to my daily to do list!
