GOOD MORNING everyone! I hope you're having a great day so far. I hope you get to eat a cookie or pet a dog later.
In week 4 I'm going to be talking about 4 things:
- Why I don't care about loosing weight
- why I had coffee last week
- how my week of breakfasts go (and what I learned going forward)
- what I'm challenging myself with next week
I didn't start this blog to loose weight. I started this blog to actively challenge myself to be more present, mentally healthy and physically healthy. I also started this blog because I'm secretly trying to challenge my brother, The Modest Man, in a sibling blog-off. Just kidding......................................... ..... .. .
Anyways, I don't know about you guys, but I suck at routine. I can barely get through a week of reading the same book without getting distracted. Oh wow, I'm literally writing this sentence three days after I wrote that one because I got distracted. Okay, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah routine.
I don't weigh myself everyday, but I did weigh myself before I started and recently. I noticed that although I've been eating significantly healthier, smaller portions I've gained a pound. I quickly realized this is because I have become incredibly buff since starting fauxga (just kidding, but really). Scales are dumb, don't let a number define your beauty (suuuuuuper cheesy but you know what I mean). If you're looking for a way to stay aware of your weight, take this advice I once heard from my friend's mom (which I thought was really wise if you're trying to keep track of your weight). "Wear jeans. Scales will lie, pictures will lie, leggings will lie. But jeans will never lie to you." So wear the jeans (for the record I HATE JEANS) #leggings5ever
Your mentally and physically healthiest self is your best self!
Something I need to address: Coffee is my friend. I had a cup of coffee this week around 3pm at work and it was great. I was getting really tired, and since it's "frowned upon" to take a nap "on the company couch erin, seriously we're going to fire you" - I needed to find another source of energy. The reason I ruled out coffee is because I was drinking it when I didn't need it. So now when I really need a pick me up, coffee is there for me...it keeps me safe.
Let's talk about meditation. I am so lucky this summer because I a.) have a beautiful backyard to meditate in [I'm living with my parents, aka, the McGoff Central Headquarters] b.) my internship isn't too high stress and I have plenty of time in the morning. Even though I'm working everyday 10-5:30/6, I go home and get to relax. College isn't like that. College you have an irregular schedule consisting of external stresses, extra-curricular activities, friends to maintain (well...most of us....), on top of interning and going to class. I find this environment incredibly stressful and I can already see myself not wanting to meditate once I get back into the mode of college. But the stress of being a senior in college is probably when I'm going to need it the most. So if anyone has advice on how to motivate yourself to sit in silence for 10+ minutes a day when you're sickly stressed out and bursting with anxiety, let me know! :))))
How'd your breakfasts go, Ernie Mac? (my street name)
Glad you asked. Last week, I promised myself that I would try out 5 different kind of breakfasts and here's some things I learned:
- eggs and whole grain toast kept me the fullest and gave me the best energy, but it wasn't fun to eat. I studied abroad in Scotland and was so poor (I spent all my money on travel) that I ate eggs for 3 meals a day. Ever since then, I haven't been able to look at eggs the same. I also just prefer sweet things in the morning #srynotsry #isthathashtagstillcool
- cereal is an empty breakfast. It's sugary and dairy is best to be avoided in the morning. I got very hungry an hour later.
- whole grain waffle with peanut butter and honey is my favorite go-to. It's quick, filling and budget friendly. But it's definitely too much carb in the morning for my taste.
- Pancakes and bananas is a huge breakfast. I found myself forcing myself to eat this a little bit and it was also very time consuming.
- Yogurt with granola, honey and berries is still my favorite breakfast (at least for what I'm doing now/in the summertime). It's definitely heavy in dairy, but the granola and berries outweigh that for me.
The biggest thing I learned was that you should eat what you want to eat in the morning. It's best to get your body in the habit of eating breakfast (no one will argue against that), so sometimes that requires a little discipline in the beginning. But the most important thing is to listen to your body in the morning and to give it what it needs to get you through the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some days, it's just hard to get out of bed. Here's an ancient technique I've used to help inspire myself to get out of my comfy warm love-sac of a bed.
So for next week (July 25th - 29th)
- Hot lemon water/green tea every morning
- 40 mins yoga/10 mins of meditation every morning
- I'll eat what I feel like eating for breakfast (maybe that's a leaf, maybe it's a kit kat WHO KNOWS WHO CARES #free)
- Name 5 things I'm grateful for every morning (like my dogs, my health, my dogs, my friend's dogs, all the dogs, the usual)
- 1 table spoon of apple cider vinegar (lol yeah let's see how that goes)
- No negative self-talk
- I was doing some research last week and learned that we can think up to 3,000 words per minute (check this article out). That's crazy. Most of those words are us critiquing ourselves, our value, our work or our actions. As cheesy as it sounds, I'm going to try and catch myself in the act of "negative self talk" and change it into positive self-talk. The Navy Seals do it, ok!? It's for REAL.
- 1 detox bath (cuz epsom salt and lavender essential oils)
- Give at least 1 genuine compliment a day
- people love to receive compliments, but they also find a lot of satisfaction in giving them.
Want to try meditation but don't know if it's your thang? CHECK OUT MY 17-STEP PROCESS!
Just kidding, but really, try this if you want to see what it's like without actually doing it:
Sit in a moment and have the moment: be present. Anywhere you are, having a conversation with a friend, sitting by yourself at work. Go through each of your senses and experience them exactly as they are. Do you smell anything? Do you hear anything? Do you feel warm or cold? How does your chair feel? What are you hearing? This is all meditation is. Just being aware without judgement. After you've noticed all that's around you in that present moment, notice how you feel. You'll probably feel more present in the moment and more aware of your surroundings. If you'd like to continue learning about meditation, try downloading the apps Calm or Headspace on your phone. They guide you through different techniques that will help you unlock your soul and party with buddha (basically).
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Question for my yogi/stetchy peeps with full time jobs - does anyone have any solutions to getting your hips to not be so tight after sitting down all day? The fronts of my hips are so tight after sitting at a desk; what do you do to help this? LET ME KNOW THANKS IM DYING
Ok - now go forth and conquer your week. Make it a fun and productive one. I BELIEVE IN YOU.
xo Erin