April Showers Bring May Motivations!
Hello Fit Chick Movement Members!
Yes, this is where you are supposed to be! Your weekly email is posted below! Your weekly emails will be posted here moving forward so if you want to go back to them, click the link that was sent to you and you can find your emails for the month, listed here. As a reminder, here is what we as members are committed to …
“I am ready to engage, participate and inspire. I will read emails and respond to questions posed. I'll ask questions and play the fun challenges. Finally, I will pay it forward and share my successes and struggles with other women in FCM.” Please be sure to leave a comment and like a comment …
Week 4 - May 23, 2021
We are in the home stretch of May!!
I’m still attacking my BINGO Board! Yep! Have I completed it?! Nope! Have I made Progress?! ABSOLUTELY!! And I am celebrating the Progress I’ve made, as each of you should?!! HECKIE YEAH I AM!!! As a matter of fact, I’m telling myself “good job Caroline” right now!!
SO, in one of the bingo boxes on our Bingo board was the activity of listening to a roughly 10 minute TED Talk on Brain Health, by “Henry Brodaty; Preventing Dementia and Enhancing Brain Health”. I am encouraging all of you to spend 10 minutes and take a listen.
In case you did not have the opportunity to listen yet, I wanted to share some of my take-away’s from TED Talk because the more information we have, the better choices we can make …
1. By 2050, there will be 150 million people with dementia world-wide.
2. Dementia can affect anyone.
3. Dementia is an “umbrella term” and Alzheimer’s disease falls under that umbrella and is the most common.
4. Physical inactivity, high blood pressure in mid-life, type 2 diabetes, smoking, and obesity in mid-life are all associated with having/developing dementia
5. All of the things listed above are things we can do something about.
”Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ~ Maya Angelou
Thank you so much to those who have commented in this blog!! So many of you have told me how much you appreciate hearing the journey of other women like yourselves who are on this journey … you may be starting from different places, but we are all agreed, that the journey is not always easy, if ever! So this week, I want to share some comments that I’ve received via email/text and then also want to refer you to the comments below to read and to also put a comment there as well.
And as a reminder … no one is failing at this. We have some “F-irst A-ttempts I-n L-earning” going on that we are PRACTICING – which means we do them more than once, because we are practicing … that’s what practice is. We are also giving ourselves GRACE for not starting yet, or starting and then stopping. We are not shooting for perfection … we are shooting for SPUTTERS, LURCHES, LEEPS, BABY STEPS, PUT-PUTTING ALONG … whatever you are doing to move the needle on living healthier, that’s what we are shooting for … the key is to JUST KEEP GOING!!!
Here is what you’ve shared with me …
“… I’ve been eating pretty good. I am making most of my meals or if not, I am choosing wisely. I will begin to do my water intake better. My goal this week is to start each day with a tall glass of water and no less than 1 workout or walk this week.”
“I got side-tracked with the day to day and everything is off. My goal this week is to wake up earlier and get my day started.”
“My goal this week is to eat a real lunch that is prepped for the week. I typically do not get lunch and sometimes breakfast while working.”
“I bought a new pair of walking shoes to protect my knee and help me exercise safely this week and I’m working on intentional water intake.”
“I have a handle on my nutrition until stress hits …”
We are all doing life … we are all working to be healthier … I think it’s safe to say, it’s not easy, but we are all taking steps in the direction of health … KEEP GOING!!!
Have a great rest of the week ladies!! Really big virtual hugs to you all!!
Here is the link to the TED Talk in case you’d like to pause and take a listen.
Brave not perfect
Caroline J
Week 3 - May 16, 2021
Hello Ladies! What a beautiful weekend it has been!! I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy the sun and warmer weather. I know warm weather brings with it a lot of things. Warm and sunny weather can bring a sense of happiness and joy! It usually brings family and friend get togethers. Sometimes it brings a desire to get outside and get more physical activity. It can also bring a desire to eat out more. All of these things are WONDERFUL and I absolutely am looking forward to enjoying every ounce of whatever happiness and connection with others that I can conjure up now that we may have turned another corner with COVID. Whether you intend to remain cautious and stay socially distanced and masked up, or you don’t, my encouragement to you is to seek out and be mindful of happiness and joy. As I am sitting here and writing, I am reflecting on the challenges and difficulties that we have endured, living life differently in the pandemic. I am reminded that we so often take things for granted like hugging a loved one or going to visit with a friend, or eating at a restaurant or even just being able to see someone’s smile. Happiness and connection are my words for the week. That’s what I’m sharing this week. FCM members, what’s going on?! Tell me your word for this week. Tell me what’s going on with fitness and nutrition!! AND I KNOW I’M NOT OUT HERE PLAYING BINGO BY MYSELF, RIGHT??! I was able to get 4 more boxes on my BINGO card marked this week!!! YAY!!
Stay engaged ladies … keep going! Also, please check out Blenda’s story … in the link below. Please share encouragement and inspiration by commenting. Thanks Ladies and have a healthful week!!
Finding My Voice and a Healthier Me — Fit Chicks! Live (fitchickslive.com)
Week 2 - May 9, 2021
Happy Mother’s Day! And Hello again … FCM members, you are in the right place!!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother’s Day Weekend and that everyone was able to connect with loved ones as mothers, daughters, besties, nieces, aunts, grandmothers … whoever we are to people in our lives, the meaningful loving connection is the point!
I know you all are hyped and ready to play FCM NUTRITION BINGO!!! WOOOO HOOOO!
I haven’t figured out how to post the game board here so I am sending it to you via email!
Print your Bingo Board and fill in the blank boxes with your own nutrition or exercise goals
Focus on attempting to accomplish at least 1 box a day. But of course, you can do it more than once a day.
The first 2 people who complete the entire board will win a small gift!
Everyone who gets a least 1 “Bingo” 1 full line across will be put in a drawing for a chance to win a small gift!
Be engaged and intentional about your own health.
Post in the blog comments that you have your board and that you are playing.
Update us with your “Bingo” progress for the rest of the month
Have Fun!!
Play the game!
Engage in your own health to make progress … stay connected with us … progress not perfection!! Make comments in the blog so we can encourage and inspire others!! 3-2-1! GO!!!
Good Luck!
Week 1 - May 2, 2021
April showers bring May flowers, YES! But what else can May bring? … Motivations! YES!
Last month we committed to trying meatless meals. I heard from a number of you who did just that! We had ladies who committed to 1 meatless meal per day or 1 meatless meal per week … and some committed to at least trying some meatless meals last month and you did just that!! FANTASTIC!! Congratulations!!!
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual retreat with Katie Jay. She is a health coach and the woman who wrote the article I shared with you last week. If you did not get a chance to read it, click on this link below and read it. It is absolutely worth the read!! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the article.
Control over eating — Fit Chicks! Live
There were a number of things that I took away from her retreat this weekend … the biggest being self-care.
I am curious to know if you have things that you do, specifically for you, as part of your self-care routine? Some of the things that are in my self-care kit include 4 workouts per week, meal prepping, meal planning, journaling, reaching out to friends that I feel connected to, and spending time with my besties. I am thinking of adding, “writing” or being creative in some way, to my self-care kit, because it is calming and I enjoy being creative. AND it also allows me to practice grace for myself when things that I do, don’t turn out so well. Being able to have grace for myself and not beat myself up because I have setbacks or fall short, or are terrible at what I am doing is like having a cure-all … it’s like having gold in my self-care kit! Grace for myself for slip-ups, falls, mess-ups … is a must-have. Lastly, I have motivational sayings or mantras that help me!
So, here’s how we are starting in May.
Here’s how you stay engaged and participate!
1. Read the article from the link above and comment in the comment section of the post.
2. Pick a motivational saying or mantra for yourself for the month of May.
Mine is “Brave not Perfect”. “Brave not perfect”, for me says, while I don’t think of myself as being “brave”, I have done brave things. Taking that first step to exercise and make a commitment to it, … writing blogs to try to help and encourage other women on this journey, … sharing my own personal story on this blog, … are all acts of bravery to some degree… Choosing “Brave not Perfect”, as my motto and believing it, somehow helps me believe I am capable of these things and much more. It also allows room for imperfection and grace for myself, which I need!
Here are a few other motivational sayings and mantras :
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” - Vivian Greene
“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”
“The best things come to those who never give up.”
“It’s never too late”
“I’m Enough”
“Courage over Comfort”
“Progress not perfection”
So chose a motivation for yourself for the month of May… one of the motivations above or pick your own. Post it on your bathroom mirror or on your nightstand next to your bed, read it every morning and every night and BELIEVE IT for yourself.
3. Post it in the comments section of THIS blog!
Use your first name and the 1st initial of your last name, if you don’t want to post your full name. We want to share motivations with other women, in an effort to help them find their motivation and inspiration. We want other women to see motivations in the comments when they scroll down! Use it to fuel your actions around fitness and nutrition this month. You will also use this motivation as fuel for your mind and body, as we prepare for, and play BINGO this month!! I am working on preparing the BINGO board now and will have it out to you by the start of next week.
The winner will receive a small prize from me along with bragging rights!!
WOOO HOOO!!
Thanks for reading!!
Brave not perfect,Caroline JohnsonCommunity Manager, Fit Chicks Movement