exercise | BulgingButtons

October 28, 2013
by BulgingButtons 1 Comment

Visuals for goals make an impression

This is so simple and in many ways so obvious, but how many of us do this? Read on for Lisa Jackson’s brilliantly written advice on ways to stay motivated.

Live to Write - Write to Live

We’ve had several conversations on this blog about goal setting, the importance of writing your goals down and breaking those goals into quarterly/monthly/weekly/daily tasks.

We’ve also talked about ‘checking off’ those daily tasks and crossing items off ToDo lists.

And while I love crossing items off a list, or putting a check next to a “big goal”, I’ve found great value in other visuals, too.

For instance, for exercise – I give myself a star or a smiley face or a “great job” sticker on a day that I have at least 30 minutes of exercise. I have 12 small months taped to a kitchen door, so I can easily see how many days I’ve exercised throughout the year whenever I want. It’s quite inspiring.

Last year, I completed 2 races – a 5K and a triathlon. I tacked the race bibs to my bulletin board (as well as giving…

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October 21, 2013
by BulgingButtons 15 Comments

Going Cold Turkey – A Week of No Starbucks

It’s too early. It’s too dark out. I didn’t get enough done over the weekend. I still need to go grocery shopping and stop by the drug store on the way home today. I have a commitment after school. I’m feeling overwhelmed. And a happy Monday to you too.

Some days just feel crazy. They feel like they are swirling around me and I’m left standing in the middle, bewildered. Sometimes they get moving so fast that I just want to curl into a little ball to protect myself, until the storm passes. Of course this is all figurative, and curling into a ball just makes matters worse, the stressors don’t go away by themselves.

One recent stressor is the realization that I’m not doing a good job taking care of myself. My eating habits have slipped and in many ways my good intentions have become deflated. I’m fixing that. I headed back over to SparkPeople, which is a fabulous free website, and created a new profile for myself (BulgingButtons, of course). I also got out and got some much needed exercise yesterday. It felt tiring, but so rewarding.

Now the next step is to extricate the Starbucks habit. I’m hooked, I admit it. I love me some frappucinos. But, man, are those things costly! Both in money and caloric intake. I’ve been sucking down tons of calories, and forking over mega-bucks to do it. Talk about crazy. Today it stops. I’m committing to NO STARBUCKS for a week. Baby steps, people, baby steps. I know it will make me feel better, both physically and emotionally, not to mention financially. Anyone with me?