Showing posts with label zone perfect challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zone perfect challenge. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

zone perfect blog forward challenge goal check in and GIVEAWAY


It's that time again! Time to check in and evaluate where I am with my 2014 goals. So far I have truly enjoyed this challenge that Zone Perfect has put on. It has really made me check in with my goals continuously rather than making them on January 1st and checking them on December 31st. And this year that would be so much easier to do!

my original post... current updates in purple!
.: fitness :.
  • join the 100 club at pure barre by the end of march. done, so let's update this one. i'd like to reactivate my PB package once i'm cleared by my MD and finish out the year doing at least 2 classes a week. i'd love to do at least 3 a week, but i don't know how realistic that is schedule-wise. 
  • continue to work out at least 5 times a week until the big day. i wasn't great about this one, but too late to change it now. my updated goal is to be active with everly at least 5 times a week. even if it's just a 15 minute walk outside, i want to start early setting that example for her. plus she loves being outside (it usually calms her when she's fussy) so it'll be a win, win. 
  • i don't want to make a bunch of post pregnancy goals as far as this category goes. i've never had a baby before, and i'm not going to pretend i know how i'll feel afterwards. i hope to get my butt back into pure barre for the bounce back after baby program. and i hope to run some races in the fall. but we'll see. i go see my OB tomorrow and she'll hopefully clear me to run. i've felt mostly good postpartum, although i think it's easy to forget what you're body has been through because you don't feel bad, and push it to hard too fast. last week we moved across town and i definitely over did it. carried too much weight, too many times, and got too little sleep. not smart. i'd like my first race back to be the Cherokee Harvest 5K, because it was the last race I did before I found out I was pregnant last year!

.: health :.
  • stay within a healthy weight gain range for me (15-25 pounds). didn't happen, i gained a whopping 40 pounds. thankfully, 20 of that dropped fairly quickly. so now it's time to get rid of the other 20. 
  • join weight watchers after the baby is born. joined last week, went to weigh in and the meeting times have changed and no one was there. fail. i'm going friday. 
  • aim for 100 ounces of water a day. did it, still doing it.
  • keep a healthy snack on me at all times! did it, still doing it.

.:  spiritual :.
  • finish reading the Bible. finished the old testament, now i'm in matthew!
  • join another connect group at church. haven't done it, need to do it, want to do it.
  • begin volunteering at church. still helping at the coffee counter (well i took a few months off with E).
  • find a book about praying for your children and put it to good use. i haven't found a book so if you know of a good one let me know. i've obviously been praying for E like crazy. 

.:  everything else :.
  • date my husband. life gets crazy, we get into routines, not all of them good. i want to make more of an effort to make him feel special and loved. this has been hard, not so much because of Everly, but because of the house sale and move. we're almost settled in our new place and hopefully we'll get back to our normal soon!
  • journal about my pregnancy and then the baby's life at least once a week. i might do it on the blog, i might just type it in a word document, i might just write it down in my planner... but i want to write it down. i've been keeping notes on my phone to put in her monthly updates, which i will share on the blog. 

dear future self,
whatup!?! this is your january self. you know, the all excited, ready to make lots of goals self? so wherever you are in 2014 when you read this, remember how important these goals are to you. you spent a lot of time thinking them through, and they are extremely realistic. so when you want to get lazy and quit, suck it up, buttercup! you've got a lot on your plate now, so balance and prioritizing are going to be the key. you know what's most important, your family and your faith... but you've got to take care of yourself too. you're no good to Brad or Everly if you're worn down and a mess. take care of them, take care of yourself, and let all the silly stuff go. 

**giveaway**

the amazing folks at zone perfect have sent me some goodies to pass along to y'all! it's a very fun care package that includes a variety of things... lip gloss, hair ties, hand sanitizer, a pedometer, and a box of zone bars among other things!




enter by leaving me a comment telling me what has been your favorite way to stay active this summer! giveaway closes Monday August 18th at 9pm. winner will be announced next week!



Monday, June 16, 2014

My interview with Dana Hilmer, Relationship Expert


As a participant in the Zone Perfect Blog Forward Challenge I was given an amazing opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Dana Hilmer, author of Blindsided by a Diaper: Over 30 Men and Women Reveal How Parenthood Changes a Relationship. 

A little background on Dana (from her website DanaHilmer.com) :
Dana Hilmer is the founder of THRIVE*itude, Inc., a media and consulting company, the mission of which is to help people live their truth and to create a life of happiness, well-being, meaning and wonder. Her pet project is forwarding the mission of the THRIVE*olution™, a community – and movement – dedicated to embracing a new definition of success, one that puts happiness, wellbeing, and making a difference at the top of the list. Dana is certified in the science and application of Positive Psychology with Tal Ben-Shahar at the Wholebeing Institute. She is pleased and honored to now be serving as a TA for the program.

Prior to THRIVE*itude, Dana founded LifestyleMom™, an online destination for women who want to live passionately while raising a family. She is also the author of Blindsided by a Diaper(Random House, 2007), a podcaster, inspirational speaker, media spokesperson and long-time marketing executive and consultant.

Dana is a media-savvy interviewee and her insights and tips have been featured on hundreds of radio and television shows across the country. She also writes and speaks widely on making a difference and topics related to healthy, happy, authentic living. Dana lives in a beautiful shoreline town in CT with her husband (and college sweetheart!) and their three young boys.
As nervous as these types of things make me, I knew I had to jump on this opportunity! Luckily, Dana is amazing and I immediately felt like I was talking to an old friend. 

My main question for Dana... What advice would you offer to me and my husband as we embark on this new journey of parenthood? (Dana's comments are paraphrased, I did not record the conversation, just took notes). 

The 4 C's
  • Connect:  Physically and emotionally. Have fun with each other. Make checking in with each other a priority.
  • Communicate:  Make a point to spend 10 minutes together daily with the intention of purposefully communicating. Put away phones, turn off the TV,  make eye contact. 
  • Create:  Goals and dreams for your family together. Declare dreams for yourselves, your child(ten), and family. If you put these goals out there you can help each other work towards them. 
  • Celebrate:  Who you are as a couple. Appreciate each other and your relationship.
Another fun thing she pointed out... Appreciate has two definitions:(1) being grateful (2) increasing in value. Just like anything else that you want to appreciate in value, you've got to put time and energy into it!

I'm very grateful to Dana for taking the time to speak with me and to Zone Perfect for allowing me the opportunity. I also wanted to pass along to you all that Dana is offering a really cool program right now, called the Thrive Circle. Twice a month you can call in and she'll be discussing various topics centering around well-being and happiness. The really great thing is that right now she's offering the program for free! Check it out here to sign up! 

Monday, May 19, 2014

zone perfect blog forward challenge #2 :::: an update on my goals and a giveaway!


it's time to check in with the goals i made for myself at the beginning of the year in this post... How could I have made better choices (or did how did I make better choices) regarding them.

.: fitness :.

  • join the 100 club at pure barre by the end of march. I made it into the 100 club on april 3rd... pretty darn close!
  • continue to work out at least 5 times a week until the big day. i did really well with this through the end of february then i fell off a little. i have hit 3 days a week consistently, but it's time to step it back up. kind of. i think today MIGHT have been my last official pure barre class before the baby. but i'm planning on walking at least 5 days a week. 
  • i don't want to make a bunch of post pregnancy goals as far as this category goes. i've never had a baby before, and i'm not going to pretend i know how i'll feel afterwards. i hope to get my butt back into pure barre for the bounce back after baby program. and i hope to run some races in the fall. but we'll see. haven't had a chance to mess this one up yet!

.: health :.
  • stay within a healthy weight gain range for me (15-25 pounds). well this one has not went so well. i know myself and i really should have been more proactive about this. i went through a spell when i could only stomach certain things and those things weren't exactly healthy. my MD is perfectly fine with my weight gain, so that's good. i have a horrible habit of either being on a diet or being full blown off a diet. so i'm either losing or gaining. NOT GOOD. 
  • join weight watchers after the baby is born. this will happen. 
  • aim for 100 ounces of water a day. i've done really well with this one.
  • keep a healthy snack on me at all times! this one too, i keep a zone bar in my purse at all times!

.:  spiritual :.
  • finish reading the Bible. still plugging along. almost to the new testament!
  • join another connect group at church. epic fail. 
  • begin volunteering at church. done and done. i work the coffee counter every fourth sunday!
  • find a book about praying for your children and put it to good use. i need a big old smack on the hand for this one. priorities... this needs to be one!

.:  everything else :.
  • date my husband. life gets crazy, we get into routines, not all of them good. i want to make more of an effort to make him feel special and loved. i think we've both been doing really well with this one. i guess you'd have to ask brad to be sure ;)
  • journal about my pregnancy and then the baby's life at least once a week. i might do it on the blog, i might just type it in a word document, i might just write it down in my planner... but i want to write it down. i should've done better about this, but between the blog, instagram, and FB i think i've kept up with it pretty well. 
*giveaway*
zone perfect sent me this really cool portable charger and they also included one for me to to share with you all! 

leave me a comment below telling me about a goal you've done well with this year  and that'll get you entered. i'll pick a winner on Saturday night!


“Become A ZonePerfect® VIP & Save up to $10*
 
 
 *$10 in savings relates to savings spread across a one year period and may vary.”

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

goals for 2014 and the zone perfect blog forward challenge

it's that time again! time to make some goals for 2014!

this year i've joined up with zone perfect for their 2014 blog forward challenge. i love a good challenge, so i'll be posting throughout the year as the challenge progresses. our first challenge is to share our resolutions and also post a letter to ourselves, so let's get to it!



.: fitness :.

  • join the 100 club at pure barre by the end of march. 
  • continue to work out at least 5 times a week until the big day. 
  • i don't want to make a bunch of post pregnancy goals as far as this category goes. i've never had a baby before, and i'm not going to pretend i know how i'll feel afterwards. i hope to get my butt back into pure barre for the bounce back after baby program. and i hope to run some races in the fall. but we'll see. 

.: health :.
  • stay within a healthy weight gain range for me (15-25 pounds). 
  • join weight watchers after the baby is born.
  • aim for 100 ounces of water a day. 
  • keep a healthy snack on me at all times!

.:  spiritual :.
  • finish reading the Bible. 
  • join another connect group at church.
  • begin volunteering at church.
  • find a book about praying for your children and put it to good use. 

.:  everything else :.
  • date my husband. life gets crazy, we get into routines, not all of them good. i want to make more of an effort to make him feel special and loved. 
  • journal about my pregnancy and then the baby's life at least once a week. i might do it on the blog, i might just type it in a word document, i might just write it down in my planner... but i want to write it down. 

dear future self,

whatup!?! this is your january self. you know, the all excited, ready to make lots of goals self? so wherever you are in 2014 when you read this, remember how important these goals are to you. you spent a lot of time thinking them through, and they are extremely realistic. so when you want to get lazy and quit, suck it up, buttercup!



disclosure:  as a part of the blog forward challenge i will be receiving free product and other promotional items from zone perfect. but as always, all my opinions are my own, like them or not ;)





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