November 30 Day Challenge

Hey friends!   Happy Halloween!  Today I’m taking a bit of a departure from my usual DIY design talk to tell you all about the November 30 day lifestyle challenge I’m starting tomorrow.  I’m hoping some of you will join me, so we can encourage and motivate each other over the next month.  But if you’re mainly here for the design and style talk, I’ll be back to the usual programming tomorrow and will be tackling another reader design dilemma.  So feel free to skip this post if you’re not into lifestyle challenges.

For those of you up for a challenge before the hustle and bustle of the holidays sets in, let’s jump right in to this 30 day challenge shall we?  No worries with this challenge friends, you can still enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and some leftover Halloween candy.  😉  This challenge is not about restriction; it’s about repetition.

Experts say it takes 30 days to break a habit.  So I say that has to work in reverse right?  If it takes 30 days to break a bad habit than by that way of thinking it should take 30 days to form a good one.  I don’t know about you, but I overindulged my sweet tooth over the summer months.  I got out of my normal exercise routine, and I got into the habit of staying up way too late.  Even though summer is over and my kids are back in school, I’ve not done the greatest job of getting back on track with my diet, exercise and sleep schedule.  And the sluggishness and lack of motivation I’ve been feeling is a tell-tale sign that my body needs me to get back on track.  With the holidays coming soon I really want to be on top of my game.

SO, I’ve decided to create my own 30 day challenge.  This is NOT, I repeat NOT, a diet.  This challenge isn’t really about losing weight.  It’s about creating and establishing healthy lifestyle habits, which will probably lend to some weight loss no doubt, but will ultimately improve your energy level, your mood, your metabolism and your immunity.  The main goal is to fuel the body with what it needs to thrive!  Because let’s face it, most diet and exercise challenges only yield temporary results.  You do let’s say a Whole 30 and you feel great and lose weight, and then when it’s over you gain it all back and slink back into your old eating habits because a Whole 30 is just so, so restrictive.  At least, that’s how it has happened for me in the past.

This challenge is different in that you’re not being super restrictive with what you can and can’t eat.  On the contrary you’re just being repetitive.  And the goal here is to turn that repetitive behavior into a new healthy habit.  I think adults just like kids thrive on routines, so let’s motivate and encourage each other to establish a few good and healthy routines this month!

NOVEMBER 3o Day CHALLENGE

Here is this 30 day challenge in a nutshell:

Eat a salad every day.

Simple enough right?  Eat a green salad every day.  Put whatever you want on it, and make it as big as you want.  The goal here is to incorporate more vegetables in the diet.  I’ve been really slacking in this area, but I know that I feel my best when I’m eating lots of fresh vegetables.  So I want to once again make eating my greens a regular thing.  Making it easy and convenient is the key to success for me, so yesterday I prepped 5 containers to eat for lunch during the week.

Exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week.

30 minutes seems totally doable.   It’s getting it in 5 days a week that’s going to be tough for me, but I’m hoping that by putting this out there I’ll be more accountable.  It doesn’t have to be intense exercise, but something – walking, running, bike riding, yoga – anything for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week.  Hopefully by December 1st that will seem like a small goal to achieve and working out will be a normal part of my weekly routine rather than the occasional activity that it has become.

Get in bed at 10:00 pm at least 4 nights a week.

Y’all I’m telling you sleep is super important!  According to research, not sleeping enough – less than 7 hours of sleep per night – can reduce and undo the benefits of diet and exercise.  All that work for nothing?!  Check out this article here for more info on how sleep affects your fat cells.  Bottom line, sleep is a vital component to your health and fitness.  And I don’t know about you, but I know I’m not getting enough.  So I’m pledging to start going to bed earlier at least 4 nights a week, and I’m really hoping to make an earlier bedtime part of my normal routine by the end of this.

So, who’s with me?  These three goals seem totally doable.  On top of that they seem like good, healthy habits that will be easy to maintain long after this 30 day challenge is over, which really is the whole point.  Some of you may already be doing these three things or maybe just one or two.  But just imagine the difference it would make in your life if these three things were apart of your normal every day routine.  Just the idea of that is motivating to me!  I personally feel like when I’m winning in one area, like say I’m eating really well, that I’m failing in another area like exercise or sleep.  So I’m hoping that by challenging myself in all three areas – diet, fitness and sleep – for the next 30 days that I will make these simple changes a normal part of my lifestyle.

Let’s use hashtag #fifthhousechallenge to check in, motivate and encourage each other over the next 30 days!  We can do this!