Make One, Break One: My Week 1 Update

Day 1 of my 30-Day Make One, Break One challenge started on Friday, May 10th. 

 

Quick recap: Make One, Break One is a 30-Day Challenge that focuses on small steps towards a larger end goal. For my 30-Day Challenge, I chose for my "make one" habit to be: I will go on a daily 3-mile walk. For my "break one" habit I am not drinking any soda. 

 

I have LOVED having my little coloring tracker to help keep me motivated and focused on my goal! Each day when I complete my 3-mile walk (and cool down!) I color in my little flower pot (with my favorite pen markers) and give myself time to think about my walk, what I enjoyed, what I didn't, how I am feeling. Just a nice time of reflection. At the end of my day, right before I walk back to my bedroom for the evening, I color in my bee to signify an entire day with no soda. 🎉 I keep this little coloring sheet on my home work desk so it is a constant reminder for me of the habits I am working on right now. I have also been doing a few other things with this tracker. On the side column, I write down times that I notice I am having a harder time. For instance, Sunday is a busy day around my house. We go to church in the morning, I love a Sunday afternoon nap, and then church again at night. It's just busy. So, trying to fit a walk into Sunday is going to take more planning on my part.  I missed my daily 3-mile walk my first Sunday on this challenge. I am NOT beating myself up over it, but I made a note of it and I will be more mindful this upcoming Sunday to make it happen. I also noticed that going out to eat with my family gave me a bigger temptation to just have a sip of someone's soda. I didn't. I drank my water and resisted but the urge was most definitely there for me. The other thing I am doing is that I am coloring in with a colored pencil the entire day at the end of the day so that I visually see HOW exactly I've been handling each day. Red means it was a bad day - full of cravings and just wanting to throw in the towel! Yellow means it was an ok day - I had a few struggles or temptations, but nothing too severe. Green means it was a good day and I really didn't struggle to meet my goals. I have had 5 yellow days, which I expected since the challenge was new, but I've been thrilled to have 3 green days! And very surprisingly, NO red days! Woot! I already know red days WILL come but I am excited for one week down with no red days!

I am learning a few things about myself along the way already as well. For instance, I am a "distracted" drinker. That sounds funny. 😅 What I mean, if we are driving around in the car and my son gets a soda at a drive-thru, I want to just take a sip. I was fine not ordering my own, but "just a sip" was calling my name. I love drinking water but I have struggled because my Hydroflask (that I LOVE) is huge and doesn't fit into my car's cupholder. I attempted to buy an extension for my cupholder for this very reason and I just didn't love it at all (it really took up both cupholders). So, I bought myself a "car" Stanley (as I'm calling it) and it has been my lifesaver! I don't love traveling around with an open straw honestly, so I have purposefully not given into this Stanley craze before, but, for this purpose, to go with me to the car so that I have something to pick up and drink mindlessly, it has been PERFECT! 😊

 

I would say, discipline breeds discipline. I find myself wanting to add MORE to what I am currently doing for this challenge. Maybe I should track how fast I am walking my 3-miles? Maybe I should cut out any form of sugar, along with the soda? Maybe I should go ahead and add in an arm workout? I LOVE that I am FINALLY having some form of motivation and progress. I have been struggling to get back on the horse and continue pursuing my own wellness and this challenge has 100% jump started it for me! However, I know ME and my tendency is to push so hard that I burn out.

 

Next week is a big week around here - my third child is graduating from high school. Whew. Where did the time go?!?! 

We will have company in town and events to attend and host. So, I KNOW I will be busy and distracted, and let's be honest, emotional! I am thankful I jumped in and started this challenge last week, I have a good week under my belt and I have a tracker in place to keep me focused! One micro-habit at a time is how I know I can reach my goal of a healthy midlife woman. 

 

If you haven't started yet, why not? If you are struggling to even KNOW what your end goal is or where to even start, I have several posts below that discuss picking a goal. I also have a handy goal setting guide that will walk you through step-by-step reflection to help you figure out a perfect end goal that meets your needs and desires! 

 

Once you know your end goal, it is time to start looking at SMALL habits that will help you take small steps towards that goal. One day at a time, one habit at a time, join me in taking control of your life and determining your future! You've got this! This challenge is all about finding one habit that you can start immediately to work towards your goal and one habit that you can cold-turkey break to step towards your end goal. 

 

Wish me luck! I will check in next week and let you know if I survive the emotional roller coaster of a graduation! I can assure you, it will not be easy for this momma's heart! 

 

Stop thinking about it and JOIN ME! 😊

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