Have you heard of Rachel Hollis? Rachel is the best selling author of Girl Wash Your Face and Girl Stop Apologizing. Rachel and her husband have a podcast called Rise and started a challenge called #last90days. The premise is that it takes 21 days to make a habit, but 90 days to change your life. Rachel and Dave chose the last 90 days of the year for this challenge for several reasons. First, it is the most stressful time of year, and we tend to turn to bad habits. Second, the holidays are upon us, and often we have to deal with extended family, and if that family is what Rachel and Dave label “toxic,” it can bring out the worst version of ourselves. Finally, due to the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we tend to neglect our health by skipping out on exercise and making poor food choices. I am guilty of all of the above, so I decided to join their challenge.
What does the challenge entail? First, Rachel and Dave want you to complete what they call the Five to Thrive. These are five things we commit to doing each day.
- Get up an hour earlier each day.
- Write down 3 things I am grateful for each day.
- Drink half my body weight in ounces of water a day.
- Move at least 30 mins per day.
- Give up one type of food.
By committing to these five things, we are being intentional about taking care of ourselves and working on our goals for the next 90 days. These five goals bleed over to other goals we are working on, and we end up starting the new year with a bang.
Here is how the Five to Thrive is working for me.
I wake up an hour earlier each morning and write my to-do list for the day. I break it down into three categories – Must-Dos – Should Dos and Would Like To-Dos. I tackle the Must-Dos first and work on those until it is time for me to get ready for the office. Depending on the day, I either get my exercise done in the morning, at lunch, or after work. Some days it is strength training, some days running and other days it is simply walking at lunch to get my 10,000 steps in for the day. It does not have to be a hardcore workout. Any movement for 30 mins counts! I drink my water throughout the day. This one is quite easy for me, as I love water, and it is the only thing I drink besides coffee and tea.
I tend to write what I am grateful for during the workday. These must be very specific and can’t be as general as “I am grateful for my family” or “I am grateful for my job.” For instance, yesterday, I wrote down that I was grateful that I have a boss that understands work/life balance. The last of the Five to Thrive is the hardest for me. I gave up chocolate candy. I LOVE chocolate, and with the holidays coming, I tend to buy it and dip my hand in the bag way too many times. Hopefully, this will keep me from purchasing peanut butter cups or candy cane Hershey kisses!
I can already see it working in my life. By committing to the Five to Thrive, it has given me the energy and the determination to tackle the other goals I have set for myself for the last 90 days of the year. Growing this blog is a massive goal of mine. I have committed to a certain number of posts a month, restarting my newsletters, hiring a Pinterest manager, committed to at least an hour a week of learning, and more. I have mapped out a new training plan for my 2020 races, recommitted to clean eating, and committed to losing ten pounds by the new year. My environment is another area I need to focus on. My house needs purging and organization. I feel so much better when the clutter is gone.
Looking back at 2019, are you happy with all that you have done? Are there goals on your list that you have not quite accomplished? Don’t wait until 2020. By this point in the year, many people decide to wait until the new year to work on their goals. Don’t be one of these people. Drop me a comment and let me know how you plan to finish 2019. Let’s stay motivated together.
A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated America’s birthday, our Independence Day. Seven years ago, July 4th was more than just America’s birthday; it became my personal Independence Day. You see, seven years ago, I started something that would significantly change my life. I became a runner.
For years, I had been envious of runners. Runners seem like happy people. I had attempted to run a few times and gave up after a week. Then I turned 40. I had some extra weight to lose, and I wanted to feel better about myself. Each year on July 3rd, my family and some friends head to Patriot Place in Foxboro, MA, for some 4th of July fireworks. Before the fireworks, Harvard Pilgrim, a health insurance company, puts on a 5K and a 10K race called Finish at the 50. Each route is different, but all runners finish up by entering Gilette Stadium ( home of the 6x Super Bowl champions, New England Patriots) and running down the field. It is a pretty neat race. As I sat and watched the runners come across the finish line, the pure joy I saw on their faces was inspiring. I wanted to experience that.
The question was, could I do this? I had tried running before and hated it. I was out of shape. I had my doubts. Then two people came to mind, my Dad and my friend Traci. You see, in 2009, my Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 57 years old and found himself having surgery to remove half his lung. Thankfully, the cancer was caught early on, and he received a second chance at life. As part of his recovery, he started walking 7 miles a day. 7 miles! The last time he had exercised that much was when he was in the Marine Corp. If he could get out there each day, I could give this running thing a try. My friend and co-worker, Traci also inspired me. In the same year, Traci was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Despite fighting that horrible disease, Traci still kept on running each day at lunch and rode her bike in the Pan-Mass Challenge, twice, while undergoing cancer treatments. Unfortunately, Traci lost her battle with cancer in Sept. 2011. Little did I know she would leave an everlasting impression on me. That night, I made a promise to myself that I could give this running thing another try.
I got up the next morning, laced up a pair of shoes and out the door I went. I did not have a training plan (not such a smart idea), I did not have the right shoes (I learned very quickly why I needed them), and I ran. It was the 4th of July and hot as hell. I wanted to stop. I had all these negative thoughts flooding my brain. You are too old; you are too fat, you have no business doing this. As these thoughts ran through my head, a beautiful orange and black butterfly fluttered by me. You see, butterflies are the symbol for ovarian cancer. Butterflies represent those that we have lost. Traci had made us all butterflies for our office name plaques. She had a tattoo (a fake one) on her bald head. Butterflies were her favorite. Traci was with me on this run. She was there encouraging me and cheering me on. I finished up, clocking just over 3 miles. On that hot July 4th, I had become a runner.
Now seven years later, I have done numerous 5 and 10ks, over a dozen half-marathons, multiple challenges and completed my 1st marathon. If you had asked me seven years ago if that was what I would be doing, I would have said you were nuts.
Marathon medal 
My 1st marathon
Running has transformed me from the inside out. Running has taught me so many things. These are just a few that come to mind.
- The importance of setting goals.
- How powerful it is to achieve these goals.
- How to overcome obstacles.
- It has taught me patience.
- To believe in me.
- To never give up.
- Hard work will be rewarded.
- Pushing beyond my comfort zone is necessary to grow.
Running is my therapy, my outlet, my escape. When my Mom was given the devastating diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer and laid dying, I ran to cope. I used that time to cry my eyes out. I could fall apart without my children watching. When I have a terrible day, the first thing I want to do is lace up my shoes and hit the pavement. Running has changed me for the better. God willing, I will continue running well into my senior years.
Last week I shared a Summer Bucket List of Ideas for Teens. It consists of a list of things I would like to do with my boys this summer. In addition to that list, I have created my own bucket list. Though I adore being with the kids, I have my own list of things I would like to accomplish this summer. Some involve them and some do not. Believe it or not kids, this Mom has her own life! Now before I dive into my list, I want to explain why I have a bucket list.
A few years ago, I was asked this very question, why a bucket list? Why do you feel the need to plan every moment of your life? Well, besides the fact I am a Type A personality, there is research that shows how beneficial a bucket list can be. A bucket list can help create a fulfilling life. It is essential to take time for things that we enjoy doing. Fitting in things like vacations and hobbies bring happiness and satisfaction in our lives. It makes life FUN! By fitting these things into our every day, we reduce stress and enhance our lives. Less stress??? Sign me up!
Here are the top things I want to accomplish this summer.
- PR in a 10k race.
- Road trip with the family.
- Finish my 2018 scrapbooks.
- Date night with the hubby and friends in the North End.
- Visit the new wax museum in Boston.
- Hit the beach at least every other weekend.
- Read six novels before Labor Day Weekend.
- Girl’s night once a month.
- Try the Alice Tea Room at Patriot Place.
- Visit some local craft fairs.
- Attend the Scrapbooking Expo in New Hampshire.
- Try a new restaurant twice a month.
- Freedom Trail Tour in Boston.
- Food Tour in Boston.
- Water Fires in Providence.
- Stay club level at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.
There you have it, my 2019 Summer Bucket List. Between this list and the one I did for the boys, it is jammed packed with activities. Will we do them all? Maybe not, but it will be fun trying. Now tell me, what is on your summer bucket list? Post a comment here or hop on over to one of my social media pages and let me know. Happy Summer!
Every morning my company sends out an e-mail entitled ‘Healthy Tip”. It contains one tip ranging from diet, exercise, self-care, family, finances and more. Today’s topic was “Making a Ten Year Goal.” I love articles like this, and it gave some great tips.
First, ten years is a long time. It may be a bit overwhelming to think of it all at once. The article suggested breaking it down into smaller goals, similar to what I described in my Goals vs. Resolution post earlier this year. Each goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-defined. Each goal should be a building block to your long-term goal. For example, my ten-year plan is to be retired, living a half a year in Topsail, North Carolina and half the year back home in Boston, traveling throughout. There are steps I need to take to make that plan come to fruition. For example, to retire early, I need to be maxing out my 401k. I want to have a second stream of income, so I don’t have to rely on my retirement income solely. To have a second stream of income, I need to monetize this blog. How am I going to do that? I write down my goals for monetizing the blog and work toward those. I need to find and save for a beach house. What are the steps I need to take reach that goal. The list goes on and on, keeping in mind the big picture, my 10-year plan.
Now it is your turn, have you thought about your ten-year plan? What steps have you taken to achieve your goal?
In my last post, I discussed the benefits of journaling. Journaling helps keep me on course with my goals. Another tool I use to keep my dreams alive is a vision or dream board. According to Wikipedia, “A dream board or vision board is a collage of images, pictures, and affirmations of one’s dreams and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation and to use the law of attraction to attain goals. ”
Now, how do you make a vision board? In the past, I have taken a cork board or poster board and put my goals and vision on that. More recently, I have chosen to create one using an app on my phone. I like this idea, as I can make it my screen saver on my phone or computer. I can pull it up anytime, anywhere. Let’s face it, most of us spend more time looking at our phones and computers than we do a wall. Whichever, one you chose, make sure it is what will work for you.
Creating a Vision Board on a Bulletin Board
Supplies Needed:
Bulletin/cork board or a piece of poster board scissors, colored pens or markers, glue stick, stickers, and other fun embellishments if you want to get real fancy.
Magazines, photos, pictures, and quotes taken from the internet. These should be items that reflect your goals, fill you with excitement and serve as a daily reminder of what you are working toward.
Once you have everything you need, start putting it together. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Place the pieces down in any order you like and have fun dreaming big!
Creating a Vision Board on an App
I prefer to do my vision board using an app. There are several free ones on the market. The one I use is called Hay House. I downloaded it from the app store on my phone. I like being able to access it at any time. The app is self-explanatory. You can add photos, quotes, affirmations, text, change the background, etc. Once you create an account, you may share your board across the social media platforms.
Now it is your turn! I would love to see my Facebook page flooded with vision/dream boards. Not comfortable sharing them publically? If I get enough interested people, I would be happy to start a private Facebook page where we can share our boards, support and encourage each other to reach our goals. Leave me a comment here or a message on my Facebook page.
Happy Dreaming!
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Did you keep a diary when you were a kid? I never did and looking back, I wish I had. Writing down our thoughts, dreams, and struggles is therapeutic. A couple of years ago, I received a journal as a gift. Each page contained a writing prompt. For example, 20 things that make you smile or write a letter to your future or past self. I enjoyed going through the journal and writing on a different topic. Once my journal was full, I simply took a pretty notebook and each morning jotted down some thoughts. It has been a habit for well over a year. Perhaps you have thought about keeping a journal, but not sure what you would get out of it. Here are 5 reasons why it is beneficial to journal.
- Great way to start the day. Each morning take 5 mins and write down how you want your day to go. Write it as if it has already happened. For example: I woke up early and exercised for 30 mins. I made my to-do list for the day and checked off everything I accomplished yesterday. I went into the office and got through all my e-mail, successfully set up my meetings for next week, and finished making edits to three agreements in my inbox. As you can see, I laid out how I wanted my day to go. By jotting this down, it is in my head and sets my mindset for the day. I am set up for a productive day.
- Promotes healing. We all have tragedy in our lives. We all have relationships that have gone bad. By writing down your feelings and thoughts about these events, it can start the healing process. It’s not healthy to keep everything bottled up inside, but many of us are not comfortable speaking to someone about our feelings. This makes a great alternative.
- It helps connect us to our goals and dreams. Do you have a big, scary goal or dream? I do. Actually, I have a couple. One of which is to own a beach house on the North Carolina coast. I have a series of goals to reach in order to achieve this dream. From time to time, I may sway from these goals. In doing so, I am moving further away from achieving my dream. When I journal about, it brings me back to my goals and reinforces my why. I write the entry as if I am already there, owning my beach house. I describe what it looks like, how I feel, who is visiting me, what a typical day on the beach is like. What time do I get up? What is my morning routine? What is my evening routine? Get real descriptive with your writing. The more you can envision this, the harder you will work to stay on course with your goals.
- Use it as a brain dump. A brain dump is when you take all of your thoughts and put them down on paper. It is everything. It is feelings, emotions, questions, worries and things that you need to do. By putting it all on paper, you are organizing these thoughts outside of your brain. It allows you to take a look at everything and become more organized. Once it is down on paper, you can go back and organize these things into buckets or categories. This may include, work, family, exercise, meal planning, paying bills, school events, self care, friends, etc. Once you have gone through and made different categories, you can use this as a reference as you cross the items off your list. I don’t do this every week, more like once a month, but it works!
- Self reflection. Journal about how your day or week went. Take a moment to reflect on what went right or what was a struggle. It is important to acknowledge the highs and the lows. It is how we grow as a person.
I hope these tips have been helpful. I would love to hear about your experience with journaling. If you have never journaled before, but would like to start, I am offering to all new subscribers to this blog a FREE PDF checklist of journaling prompts. IN ADDITION, for every 25 subscribers, I will be giving away a journal. Please share with your friends and lets journal together.
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As I mentioned in a previous past, I just finished the book “Girl Stop Apologizing” by Rachel Hollis. It is a personal development book about reaching your goals and not to apologize for doing so. This book contains some great nuggets of wisdom and many times, I would stop to write down a quote or two.
I remember hearing this particular quote while on a 12 mile training run. 12 miles can take a bit of time to run and I am often left to mull things over in my head. When I heard this, it got me thinking. Many of us define ourselves based on past experiences. Our past, often times, is what holds us back. There are things we want to do in this life, but fear is holding us back. Perhaps we fear, in moving forward, history will repeat itself. The fear is so great, that we get stuck. We remain status quo and never move toward reaching our potential. This can be a vicious cycle. So how do we move past this?
It is about mindset. It is about learning from the negative impact of that decision, taking what you learned and applying it to the present. This allows for us to move forward, reach our potential and live our best life.
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Hi y’all, it is finally SPRING!!! Can you believe it? The weather here is still a bit wonky, but we are getting there. So today I am doing my monthly goal check in. As I mentioned, by me sharing my goals with my readers, it holds me more accountable. I also strive to help motivate you to make some goals, write them down and smash the hell out of them.
My March goals were as follows:
- Organize the kitchen cabinets – Yes
- Organize the linen closet- No
- Run 65 miles- CRUSHED IT- ran 78 miles
- Become certified in a second nutrition program- Ultimate Portion Fix- Halfway there
- Implement a morning routine- Yes
- Read one personal development book and one book for pleasure- Yes
- Grow my blog audience- Yes
So as you can see, this month was a mixed bag. Since I have quite a few races coming up, the miles had to take priority and they did. My kitchen cabinets were driving me nuts, so that had to happen. The linen closet, not so much. Perhaps this will happen on the next rainy day. I was putting most of my free time into this blog, so the certification in my new nutrition plan fell by the wayside. That is okay. I plan on diving head first into it, once I am back from Disney. I did implement a morning routine, but it is not the one I set out to do. Starting next week, my commute is shorter, so I will have more time to get things done without having to get up at 4:00am! As far as reading, I finished the book Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis. If you are looking for great goal setting book, I highly recommend. Rachel is funny and has some great advice, tips and tough love when you need it. For pleasure, I read Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter. If you like mystery, murder books, this one was good. I highly recommend all her books.
As far as my blog, I did a ton of work behind the scenes on this. I am in the middle of a travel blog course and a content creation course. I want to make sure I providing you with quality content. I did grow my blog and I want to thank all you that have shared it. Please, please continue to do so. I really appreciate it.
Now, on to a new month, with new goals. April is going to look very similar to March. I am adding a couple of things and really buckling down on my own health and fitness. I need to get back to strength training and better portion control. With that being said my April goals are:
- Finish my travel blog and content creation course. *
- Grow my blog by 20%.*
- Become certified in my new nutrition plan Ultimate Portion Fix and be a product of the product.*
- Date Night with the hubby, at least once this month.*
- Try a New Spring Adventure with the kids.*
- Organize my new office space that we are moving to.*
- Run 75 miles.*
- Strength train 4 times a week.*
- Lose 5lbs.
- Read 1 personal development book and 1 fiction book.
- Get at least 5 scrapbook layouts completed.
The list is a bit long. However, I have divided it into two. The goals with the asterixis are a MUST. The others are things to shoot for, but not going to stress over it. Notice how the weight loss does not have an asterix? I go by more how I look and how my clothes feel, than the number on the scale. That is simply a tool and does not define my journey.
I would love to hear how you did last month or what you have on your list for April. Drop me a comment below if you set goals last month and any struggles you face in accomplishing same.
Have a great Monday!
The last two weeks have been hard. Hard in the sense, I can’t get my act together when it comes to healthy, clean eating. I was doing great, down 7lbs and boom, something happened and it has been downhill since then. Well, I have to stop. I need to get back to my good, healthy habits. Not only does it help me lose weight, but more importantly, it makes me feel amazing. I have so much more energy. My running is better. I feel more confident in my clothes and myself. So, I sat down and sketched out what I need to do to reach this goal. I am going to Disney this weekend, and I would by lying if I said I was not allowing myself treats. I make this a lifestyle and not a diet. It needs to fit into my life. With that being, I still like to eat clean 85-90% of the time. In order for me to do that, I HAVE to meal prep. This is a non negotiable. If I don’t meal prep, then what has been happening the last two weeks, will continue to happen. So, off to the grocery store I went and stocked up on some things.
Now, you are probably thinking, I don’t have hours to spend in my kitchen, on a Sunday, prepping all my meals for the week. Well, neither do I, nor do I want to. I have plenty of other things I want to be doing, so here are my hacks to meal prep
- Cook batches of food, like chicken, turkey, pork or lean beef to have during the week as your protein. For example, I cooked a turkey breast in my crock pot for dinner this weekend. There was enough leftover for two meals. This, along with a bagged salad, will be my lunch for the next two days. This week, I plan on making a pork tenderloin in the crockpot. Leftovers will be used for lunch and probably one dinner. The same thing can be done with veggies or a carbohydrate. I will make a batch of butternut squash, roasted broccoli and roasted brussel spouts to have with the pork. Again, there is enough for 2-3 meals.
2. Buy your veggies and fruit already cut up and ready to go. Yes, it is more expensive, but time is money. These make great grab and go snacks. Throw in some dip or hummus and there you have a healthy snack.
3. Have the same breakfast during the week. This way you are only prepping one thing and it is ready to go. I have 2 go-to breakfast ideas I use through the month. My first is non fat Greek yogurt, with a tablespoon of chocolate hummus and a tablespoon of granola. Quick and easy to pack in my lunch bag. My second favorite requires a bit more work. I make egg cups on the weekend and portion them out for each day I will be eating them. I usually eat them for 4 days and then have yogurt on the 5th day during the week. I freeze the remaining egg cups and use within the next couple of weeks.
4. Have other convenient, yet healthy things that don’t take any time at all to cook. For example, frozen turkey burgers, chicken apple sausage, rotisserie chicken, hard boiled eggs, etc. These make great, quick meals. Add a side of frozen veggies and you are good to go.
5. If you eat out during the week, even the healthy options tend to be HUGE. Immediately ask that half of the meal be wrapped up and put in a box. Viola! You now have two meals.
6. Have meals you like and keep them in your rotation. Then it becomes second nature when planning your week ahead.
If addition to these 6 hacks, I thought I would share what my meal planning looked like for this week. This will help give you an idea on how simple, yet effective it can be.
Breakfast- Monday-Thursday: Non Fat Greek Yogurt with hummus and granola.
Lunch- Monday-Wednesday (Leave for Florida Thursday afternoon) Monday & Tuesday will be left over turkey with a bagged salad, Wednesday: left over pork tenderloin with left over veggies and whole wheat couscous.
Dinner- Monday- Flank steak and roasted broccoli. Tuesday- Pork tenderloin and roasted squash. Wednesday- Turkey burger on the grill with brussel sprouts.
I hope these hacks are helpful. I know I need all the help I can get when trying to get back on track. I have a big goal I am trying to reach in terms of my health and fitness and would love for you all to help keep me accountable.
Did you know that approximately 60% of Americans get the Sunday blues? Did you also know that Sunday is the least favorite day of the week. I think part of the reason is that we are so overscheduled, we have so much to do Monday-Friday, that it can be overwhelming just thinking about. From personal experience, at around 3-3:30pm, I would start to feel anxious about the week ahead. I hated that feeling. Now for the record, it has nothing to do with my job. I actually like what I do and enjoy (for the most part) going into the office. Though, I fully acknowledge that this is the reason for a lot of people. It was all the other stuff during the week that would cause me anxiety. About a year or so ago, I decided I needed to start my week planned, organized and refreshed! After following through and doing this for awhile, it resulted in a more productive week and less chaos in my life. Below are 6 things to do on Sundays for a productive week ahead.
Meal Prep
- There is nothing worse than coming home and hearing, “What’s for dinner?” and having no idea. This tends to lead to either take out or quick, not so healthy options. Every Sunday, I sit down and plan all my meals for Monday-Thursday. Fridays I work from home and eat what every left overs I have for breakfast and lunch. We also tend to order out on Fridays. In addition to planning my meals, I cook batches of veggies, some sort of protein (usually chicken) and a grain. This serves as my lunch. I also make eggs cups for breakfast or have my Greek yogurt already portioned out.
Laundry
- I make sure all the laundry is done for myself and the children. This way I am not washing something at 10:00pm on a Tuesday night. I can’t say it all gets put away, but it is clean!
Schedule your workouts
- Exercise is non negotiable for me. It is how I deal with the stress of the week. My days are much more productive, I have more energy and feel so much better about myself when I exercise. However, there are times when I have let it slip and let other things get in the way of me getting it done. This is why I look at the week ahead and put it in my planner. It is like any other appointment.
Write your to-do list
- On Sunday evenings, I sit down with my planner and write down my to-do list. This is a general list of everything I need to accomplish that week. It does not mean I am doing everything on Monday. I take the list and assign a day of the week to do each thing.
Self-Care
- Take the time to do something for you. Take a bath, read a book, go for a walk, play outside the kids.
Sleep
- I know it is tempting to stay up late, but go to bed early. Starting the week off with proper sleep is essential.
I hope you find this helpful. Try it for a couple of weeks and let me know how it goes. Have a great week!
