April 2020: How Will You Grow?

With everyone quarantined, there's been so much chatter about all the free time people have now, and how different their lives look on a day to day basis. As a stay at home mom of an almost 8-month old, and with a husband employed by the United States Marine Corps, not much has changed for me. The hubs is still going into work everyday, with a small baby we didn't get out that much anyway, but especially living out in the high desert there's just not a lot to do. I have my home gym setup so I didn't go anywhere to work out, and we have been doing church services at home since I have to utilize the cry room right now if we go to church (watching on a screen at home vs. watching on a screen at church... I'm staying home lol), so life has sort of resumed as usual.

Been wanting to cook more? This might be the perfect opportunity to bring a new habit into your life!

Also, please note: I'm not complaining about this. I feel lucky and happy that amidst the chaos, we still have stability here at home. I have been telling people that as a professional introvert I've been preparing for this my whole life LOL.

But, as the announcement came down that basically this was going to be our new normal until May 1st, I thought that the month of April would be a great time to tackle a new habit that you want to enforce. With people having so much extra time, what is the excuse not to? "I don't have time," is the number one excuse that people fall back on to not implement that habit... but now according to most people you have all the time in the world. No time to work out? Now you do. No time to meal prep or cook healthy? Now you do. No time to get to sleep at a decent hour? Now you do! The list of healthy habits that you can now employ is literally endless.

So what to do? Three simple guidelines when choosing!

1. Choose something that you can commit to easily! Focus on a low barrier of entry. Once this foundation is laid in the habit, you can always grow it from there.

2. Choose something that will NOT stress you out. There's enough stress in our environment right now that we don't need to be adding to it! Pick something that does NOT overwhelm you.

3. Choose something that makes you feel good! Whether it's mentally, physically, or emotionally, pick something that makes you smile a little more and that you feel proud of!

For me, I am going to do the 800 gram challenge from Optimize Nutrition. You can click here for more information specifically, but basically what you are committing to is eating 800 grams of fruits and vegetables a day. I like this challenge because it focuses on adding something IN rather than taking stuff away. It also brings a lot of intention to what I eat. Eating 800 grams of fruits and veggies is no joke so nutritionally speaking it will ensure that I am getting loads of awesome micronutrients.

I am also ditching added sugar for the month of April which I am STOKED about. I just feel like my body needs a good break from it so I know it's going to feel amazing.

I feel like committing to something this month will also make us not focus so much on WAITING for May 1st. Remember, it's about the journey, not the destination! Enjoy everyday to the fullest, no matter what position you are in right now. Be sure to comment or let me know what habit YOU are enforcing for the month of April!