30 Day Challenge – Week 1 Results

I made it through week 1!

This is the second in a series. Read the initial post here. 

My body is wearing out. Since 2000 when I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back and a few months later fibromyalgia, my body seems to have been on a steady decline. I used to be a treadmill warrior, committed to reaching those 10,000 steps a stay so my Fitbit would say “Nice job, Cindy!”. Well injuries and physical therapy and doctors recommendations to try something else have convinced me that perhaps I needed to fold up the treadmill for good. Or at least for the next 30 days…

So I embarked on my 30 Day Challenge with these guidelines:

• Do yoga every day for 30 days straight. Even on flare days I can manage some gentle moves and stretches.
• Log my food and exercise every day into MyFitnessPal. Honestly. I find I stay on track if I know what I have consumed.
• Write in my gratitude journal daily.
• Try to get a solid 6 hours of sleep, 7-8 even better!

I am hoping this 30 days of deliberate practice leaves me feeling energized, stronger, and perhaps a few pounds lighter.

“Life is too short to not stay committed to finding JOY.” ~ Adriene Mishler

I added daily trackers to my written planner to make sure I checked those things off daily, and have been keeping notes in OneNote. Here are some of the highlights from the week…

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Day 1

I have exercised at home forever. I find it comforting to feel like I am not competing with anyone, that if I do something wrong or slow that it doesn’t matter. But I wanted to see what a class was like, so after doing the Yoga with Adriene day 1 video, I decided to venture out for a yoga class at my local brewery. I am proud I ventured out…

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

Whether you suffer with a chronic condition or not, you shouldn’t feel ashamed of your limitations. What I love about yoga is that it’s not a team sport. Everyone has their own individual practice. The instructors stress that as well. I have to focus on me, my pain levels, my limitations, my strengths, my accomplishments. Focus.

An hour later I feel good. I didn’t fall. My arms are a bit shaky however, my lower back is talking to me. Probably will pay for this later today or tomorrow. The class was on a concrete floor with my rather thin and well-worn yoga mat. This probably contributed to my sore back. Time to order a new mat. (I highly recommend a 10mm thick mat if your practice takes you to places that don’t have a cushioned floor. Take a look at these.)

I turn to my Oska Pulse while running errands, to help my back recover. Once I get home, I spend the rest of the day on the couch with ice. Yoga isn’t supposed to hurt.

Day 2

Happy Easter! I slept great – probably because I was exhausted from yesterday, doing a double yoga class. I am sore. More than usual, that is. But it’s the kind of sore you feel when you know you have worked your muscles. I am moving slow but I pull on the yoga pants, brew some green tea, take some Alleve, and do the day 2 video. Thank goodness it’s an easy routine!

Adriene talks about motive. What’s my motive for challenging myself? To feel better, be healthy, deliberate, and focused.

I make brunch for the kids and me – waffles and fresh fruit. (I make a gluten free version for me with some extra protein powder in it. My absolute favorite mix is Birch Bender’s Gluten Free Pancake Mix.) It’s a great day with family.

“Trust the process.” ~ Adriene Mishler

Day 3 – Day 4

I didn’t sleep well a couple of nights while my husband was gone. I have had some stress at work. And now I am in full-blown fibro flare. Ugh! Despite dragging around, I continue to do gentle flow yoga.

At work I feel like I have the flu. My whole body hurts. It feels like a virus has settled into my neck and back. I get into bed early with aches everywhere and a throbbing headache. As I am trying to go to sleep, I think, “Even my eyebrows and teeth hurt.”  Welcome to life with fibromyalgia. It rears its ugly head when you least expect it.

Day 5

I have a lot going on right now between work, two boards, and my blog. Why did I think I could do this challenge? I use the analogy of juggling plates. At least if I were using balls, they might bounce. Plates break! Another early to bed night.

“After all, tomorrow is another day.” ~ Scarlet O’Hara

Day 6

I am still hanging in there with this challenge.

We have a bad storm with hail blow through, bad enough to trigger tornado sirens. I have flashbacks to 2015-16 when we had a tornado in the city I work in, and a damaging hailstorm at our house.  Thankfully the hail is marble sized (right picture), not tennis ball sized (left picture from 2016), and we fare OK.

My body, on the other hand, does not. I feel the worst I have felt in a long time. Anyone who tells you people don’t feel weather changes in their bodies is wrong!

Day 7

I had planned on attending another outdoor yoga session, but Mother Nature in Texas is particularly fickle. The temperature has dropped 50 degrees from yesterday. The class is cancelled, so I stay inside with my Yoga with Adriene videos. I don’t leave the house, as I am still recovering from this flare. We burn a fire all day and stay at home. I made it a whole week!

Attitude of Gratitude

I started my Gratitude Journal in 2016 with this quote:

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~Melody Beattie

I think that’s a very powerful statement. Sense, peace, and vision. And then the first words in it were this: “I am not very consistent with anything…” So this 30 day challenge is about being DELIBERATE. It is my attempt at consistency; at finding some peace with myself, my body, and my physical capabilities and limitations; and at making the vision of who I want to be become a reality.

Week 1 Results

I would say week 1 has been successful, despite having one mini bundt cake and 1/2 glass of wine this week. Here are my overall accomplishments:

• Workouts: At least one yoga session per day
• Food Diary: Logged every day, and under my calories every day
• Gratitude: Written every morning
• Sleep: There were two nights I didn’t sleep so well while my husband was out of town, but all other nights 6 – 8 hours!
• Weight: Lost 1 lb.

I’ll take it! 🙂

Do you have some bad habits or issues you would like to work on? I would love to hear some challenges you are considering or have done in the past.