Day 5-Surround Yourself with Positive Peeps

Friends, Family, one person, five people -- whoever makes you smile, fills you with positive energy, or inspires you -- hang out with them!! At least once a week (if not more) hang out with some positive folks. If you can, avoid the negative people who suck the energy out of you. You will be amazed at how much better you feel when you surround yourself with people who compliment you instead of people who detract from you. It can be hard to avoid all the negative people, so focus instead on finding positive peeps to hang with every week! You don't need to be around them for an entire day, but take a quick walk with someone you love (that is a 2 for 1!), have a few positive peeps over for a healthy meal (another 2 for 1!). Make it fun and easy!

Day 4- Move Your Body!

Exercise is one of the best things for us, yet often the first thing to go. I know I haven't officially exercised or worked out for the last 10 months (probably longer but you get the picture!). I decided if I could look at facebook every day I could exercise every day. Run a marathon? Not any time soon. Exercise for 15 minutes most days? YES.

And so can you.

I just took my dogs for a jog since one of them has gotten "extra fluffy" in his older age....We jogged for 15 minutes. That is what we had time for and now everyone feels better. How else can you fit exercise in? do sit ups and push ups while you watch television. Do squats while you are on the phone. Take a brisk walk to break up your work day. 15 minutes. That is it. And you can do it in three 5 minute chunks if you cannot find a solid 15 minutes. Stretch for 5 when you wake up. Walk up and down the stairs at work for 5 minutes after lunch. Hula Hoop with your child or on your own for five minutes after work. Easy Peasy.

Give it a try!

Day 3 - Eat Healthier

Do you need to change your whole lifestyle? No! Just eat one more healthier option each day. Add one piece of fruit or a veggie to your diet. Sprinkle blueberries on your oatmeal. Blend your coffee with ice and a banana on a hot day. Chop up an apple and eat that instead of your evening crackers. Not a big huge change, just add a healthy treat into your day. It can replace something or be a new treat on its own. How is eating a piece of fruit or munching on a parsnip going to help you stress less? Well, eating healthier is just plain good for you, and if you can do a few things each day that are good for you, you are going to feel better which in turn makes for less stress!!

Now, fruit juice, lettuce on your sub roll, and ketchup (sorry President Reagan) on your burger don't count! and sweet potato chips don't count. Go for a nice fresh piece of fruit or a nice fresh veggie. If you are going to parties this long weekend and are not sure if there will be anything but hot dogs, hamburgers, and pasta salad, bring along a fruit salad or a veggie platter.

Eat up!

And just so you know, I am prioritizing by not baking cookies, hanging with the little man, and alternating my son's goldfish crackers with apple slices....And yes, I eat my son's snacks all the time - I am kind of obsessed with those Lil' crunchies...

Day 2 - Proof that Perfectionism is overrated and Prioritizing!!

So, I didn't blog yesterday, already killing my perfect stretch of blogging for thirty days!! That is okay though - A couple pretty stressful things came up and while thinking about what I really needed to do vs. what I should do vs. what would make my soul feel good, hanging out with my little guy and getting sleep took priority. Ah hah! That brings us to yesterdays topic - PRIORITIZE. If you can learn to prioritize, you can learn stress management. Here are some tips.

What do you NEED to do (keep a roof over your head, eat, sleep, etc.)

What do you HAVE to do (go to work, wake up at a reasonable hour, be a positive part of society)

What would you LIKE to do (see friends, do yoga, walk the dogs, hang out with family)

What SHOULD you do (bake cookies for a cookout, call and talk to friend, write out birthday cards)

If you can get your needs met by doing what you have to do while sprinkling in things you like to do, you will probably feel pretty good. But what about the "shoulds"? Well, let us try and get should out of your vocabulary. Revisit why you should bake those cookies. Do you want to? Did you promise you would? Do have the time? If you want to then go for it, it isn't really a should, but a like. If you promised you would but don't feel like it, buy some or call your friend and tell her the cookies are a no go. This should is an example of doing something purely out of guilt - not very enjoyable. If you don't have the time, don't do it. In this scenario it seems as though you probably overcommitted yourself which is something we will continue to work on. Is it a necessity? No. Might you feel a little badly for not getting them baked - maybe, but that will hopefully help you say no the next time you think about volunteering to do something.

So today, practice prioritizing!

Do what you need to do, do what you like to do.

Day One - Perfectionism - not allowed!

Well, today I was going to start out with my favorite bit of advice that I dole out - SLEEP - sleep is seriously the most important thing to work on in terms of mood, stress, health (at least in my book- literally I do say that in a book). But anyway, I decided to save sleep for a few days from now since I slept ALOT today and feel a wee bit guilty since I slept so late, and was only able to sleep like that since I had the day off.

We will conquer sleep soon, but today is all about not being perfect. First of all, if you think you are perfect then you have an inflated self ego and probably don't need to work on your self-esteem or stress management so good for you!! Second of all, if you are a perfectionist, I want you to recognize that you cannot do this challenge perfectly so stop trying. This challenge is for fun, not to make yourself crazy. Third of all, if you accept your faults and embrace them, YAY, you are already helping your stress level!!

Perfectionism is not a fun one and is very difficult to stop. There is a bit of a secondary gain we get as perfectionists - people are always impressed. To let go of perfectionism, you have to work on letting go of what others think of you or worrying about who thinks you are not perfect. Most likely, the main culprit is you. For today (of which there are but 75 minutes left - see I am not perfect at all), be forgiving of anything you did that did not meet your expectations. Accept that you are not perfect and that perfect is overrated anyway.

Can you do it?

I know today, I did, I will continue to try and do so for the next thirty days...

Where the Heck Have I Been??

Well, I have been frazzled. That is putting it lightly. And to deal with my frazzledness I have been eating ice cream, not sleeping, grabbing coffees, not exercising, and doing everything I would tell my clients NOT to do.

So, after my trip to the Book Expo - I am starting a thirty day challenge to take my own advice. I am going to lecture myself, look in the mirror and raise my eyebrow when I claim I have no time to exercise or eat a vegetable, and TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!! I don't mean getting massages, eating bon bons, and ordering people around. I mean eating healthy, incorporating stress relieving practices, and not taking too much on.

So read on or join in!!! I would love to have some peeps relaxing with me!!!

I will be ready to chillax on Thursday (the next few days will actually be filled with relaxing since I am not working, but I felt like that was cheating.....)