Stephanie Eva: Wellness for Christmas #2

Hello World and welcome to the first update of the "shape-up" series collaboration with Sophie! In case you couldn't tell by the title, I have completed my goals and can luckily escape the punishment I set myself last week. If you missed that post you can find it here. Sophie's introduction and goals can be found here, as well as her first update here. If you'd like to read about my week in terms of wellness just keep reading on to the next paragraph. If you'd like to skip over to see the goals that I've set for myself this upcoming week, just keep scrolling to the bottom of this post!

It was quite difficult to eat healthfully this past week and luckily eating a "balanced diet" was not on my goals list! Still, it all felt very naughty. In comparison, I was surprised at to how easy it was to keep up with my "eat breakfast every morning" goal. I do think that especialy after Thursday (Thanksgiving holiday in the USA) it was a cake-walk to complete this goal. There were so many delicious left-overs, I was perfectly happy finding time for breakfast! My second goal of "drinking water before eating" was slightly more difficult, although not as difficult as I had initially expected. The first day I set the goal it was fresh in my mind, but the following few days it became tough to remember. Sunday morning after church, Spencer and I went to brunch at Starbucks and only after finishing my sandwich did I recall my water goal! At this point I thought that I had failed and would be "sweatin' to the oldies" with Richard Simmons. Fortunately for me, I had poured myself a cup of water without knowing and downed the whole thing before my meal even got to me. *Phew*. The last goal was also a bit difficult to motivate myself to complete. "Four sessions of Ballet Beautiful" was harder than I thought! I am very happy that I pushed through, as I can already feel results. Sure, it is nothing outwardly noticeable, but inside I feel like a true champion. I'm not going to lie, I might even miss the burn from straining muscles! I will be honest with you, overall I do not feel like my goals were overly challenging. Thus, I am not treating myself with my set reward mentioned in last week's post. This week I've kicked the challenge up a notch and will be adding my previous reward to the winnings pot of this upcoming week!

1. Eat Macrobiotic Meals Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; The macrobiotic lifestyle is one of my favorite lifestyle diets that I have experimented with. I lived Macrobiotically for almost two years before I fell off track. As time progresses, I hope to incorporate more days where I will opt for only Macrobiotic meals. So, I'm challenging myself to start! I realized throughout last week that there is no way to prove that I'm completing my goals other than taking my word for it. I want that to change and will be documenting what I can and sharing that on my blog. The proof is in the "macrobiotic pudding", so check back Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for some "what I ate.." posts!

2. Wake up before 8am Each Day This Week; I have always been a night person, and coincidentally have always been a morning person, too! Of course it's tiring to favor both morning and night, and for me staying up late will always be the winner. I'm a true insomniac! The problems starts on days where I have no where to be early in the morning, which enables me to sleep in. This morning I woke up at 11am! I hate this, because as I stated earlier, I'm also a morning person! So, I'm challenging myself to set my alarm every day (starting Tuesday Dec 2nd, I counted today as the seventh day of last week's challenge) for 730am. And, again to share proof of this, I will be taking pictures of my phone each morning where you can see the time and date! Trust me, this is going to be difficult especially when you've got no where to be!

3. Complete a Small Daily Workout Each Weekday; This goal will not be something I'll be able to prove with pictures, although it would be foolish for me to lie about completing it. I'm ultimately working out for myself, and I'm only hurting my body by saying I've done a workout when I really haven't. So, my third goal is to complete this mini-workout I found on Pinterest each week day.

If I fail to complete my listed goals, my punishment will be to take an "I woke up like this" #selfie, every morning for a week. That means immediately when I wake up, drool, hair knots and all. Finally, at the end of that week I will compile those #selfies into one post and share for humiliation. I'm very comfortable with myself, so this isn't personally demeaning for me, however it's a punishment I wouldn't ever volunteer to take part in!

Wellness for Christmas #2 | NO RICHARD SIMMONS!