One of the things I have really embraced since my wellness journey began this year is going with the ebbs and flows of the process. Instead of getting frustrated that I fail to meet unrealistic expectations of doing everything and living perfectly healthy, I try to focus on doing a few things each day that I feel are important to me and giving myself grace on the rest.

In any given day I try to do a mix of the following:

• Spending quality time with my husband in between our busy work and life schedules.
• Eating vegetable and fruit based clean meals.
• Drinking a kombucha, kefir drink or vegetable based juice daily.
• Drinking lots of water to flush out toxins and chemicals that enter my body each day.
• Cooking and eating meals I prepare (vs eating out).
• Doing a workout (strength training for at least 45 min or cardio for at least 30 min).
• Praying for at least a few minutes.
• Reading or listening to podcasts for about an hour focused on personal and professional development.
• Cleaning, picking-up or reorganizing an area of our home that is in need (because life happens and things can get messy).
• Participating in an activity to support my mental and emotional health (such as going to a grief group).
• Checking in with family and friends.
• Writing a gratitude note to summarize all the things I am thankful for that occurred during the day.
• Getting quality sleep (at least 7 hours each night).

I have really found this new system to be working well for me. I’ve been able to stay on track making positive decisions each day, while not worrying too much when I don’t get all the things done.

But I realized over this weekend, it’s so easy to get in an automatic routine in life doing the same things. I determined that I needed to regularly stop and look at the big picture with how I am doing in each area. Maybe I have not been eating as many vegetables as I would like or drinking enough water. Maybe I only did two workouts this week and my preferred is a minimum of 4 workout sessions each week. So I’ve instituted an end-of-week check in to review how I’ve done over the past week holistically. This allows me to review choices I’ve made, reflect on the total successes of the week and reset for the week ahead.

While over the past week I have done a great job taking in new information by listening to tons of podcasts and reorganizing some problem spots in my house, I have slacked in the areas of getting quality sleep and drinking lots of water each day. Those are just two of the areas that I will make a focus this upcoming week. In addition, I am anxious but very much looking forward to trying acupuncture for the first time this upcoming week.

I now have great joy about taking ownership my wellness journey. I just wrapped up my wellness check-in for the past week and I am ready for the week ahead.

~ C ~