Week One of "The Challenge"

Oh dear, seems I am already behind with the blogging. I need inspiration and motivation. One of my old blogging friends, Melanie, is doing a sort of self improvement challenge.

She was inspired by 2 Facebook posts currently doing the rounds.

I have decided to join her as it may just help me get my blogging mojo back. Can't hurt to try anyway.

See them here if you are interested:

http://brightside.me/article/how-to-change-your-life-for-the-better-in-just-one-month-505/

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/12/52-fun-things-try-a-new-one-each-week-of-the-year/

The first link promises “4 weeks, 12 steps and in just 1 month you won't recognise yourself”! A very bold statement. Sounds good to me and it can't hurt to try. So….

Week 1. Purifying the body and mind

Step 1 - Get up earlier. The author suggests 6am. Now I don't know about you but that is the middle of the night as far as I am concerned! However I can see her logic that if you give yourself more time at the start of the day then you should have more time to get stuff done and that includes “me” time.

She also says that often we are not actually tired so much as lethargic and fed up. I think that is true. I am not a morning person. I like my bed. I think part of my problem is that I do not go to sleep early enough. I am usually in bed before midnight but because I find it so difficult to get to sleep I have my light on until at least 2am. I read and use my computer.

I am going to adapt this step to my own needs. So I am going to try and make sure that my light is off by midnight. I will try to be up by 8.30.

Step 2 – Better nutrition. This is a no brainer. The message is basically to ditch the junk and allow our bodies to recover. The ultimate aim is a fit and healthy body. Well we all want that don't we? I think I eat fairly healthily most of the time. I have lost a lot of weight over the last year so I am pretty good about portion sizes. However we have just had Christmas and New Year and a daughters 30^th birthday celebrations and I have stuffed myself with all kinds of rubbish. No wonder that I feel slow, heavy and lethargic. My energy didn’t just get up and go I chased it away with all the rubbish I have fed it.

I need to try to eat more light, healthy but nutritious meals and they need to be easy to make, quick to cook and relatively cheap. I am going to try and make one new meal this week that fulfils this criteria.

Step 3 – Sport I.E. Exercise

Hmm, me and sport do not compute. Computer says “NO”. Merikans probably won't get that joke. I am already getting my 10,000 steps a day (mostly). So how to try and do this step? I need to increase my flexibility so I am going to try and incorporate some simple stretches into my day.

Now to that 2^nd link. This is a list of 52 new things to try. The idea is obviously one a week for a year.

Week 1. Write a handwritten note and post it to someone you haven’t been in touch with for a while.

I can't really remember the last time I wrote a personal letter. I mean occasionally I have written a letter to my bank, but a letter to a known person? Not in an age. Actually letters to the bank are not handwritten and this specifically says handwritten.

I am going to have to give this some thought as I can't think right now who would most like to receive a letter. This sort of comes under the heading of a random act of kindness. I like that.

So to recap; this week I shall be properly in bed and attempting sleep by midnight and up to greet the day by 8.30am. I shall do some stretching exercises, cook one new meal and write a letter using a pen! Quite how all this will help with my blogiing mojo, I have no clue!

Like my friend Melanie, I will update you next Sunday. Fell free to join in.

Melanie s blog is here: http://chovblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/week-one-of-challenge.html