Love Yourself Challenge

I was recently talking to a few girlfriends and we were discussing how we, as moms and as wives often find that we are always putting ourselves on the back burner. We don’t take the time to do the things we love and enjoy anymore and we are lucky if we even do the little things that just make us feel human! Like paint our nails or floss our teeth or even eat fruit! One of the moms made a comment that she always finds herself not eating the fruit in the house because she wants to make sure the kids have enough of it to eat and the other moms and I both laughed and shook our heads yes, because we find ourselves doing the same thing! How crazy is that? We make sure our kids have the right amount of fruits and vegetables each day but when it comes to our own diet we eat the left overs from last nights dinner or the scraps of what the kids didn’t finish! Here’s what’s wrong with this, besides the obvious of not getting the nutritious foods we need. We are also not practicing what we preach. We are not showing our kids that “mommy eats healthy because it’s important for us to eat a balanced diet each day” instead we are showing them.. Mommy’s cramming whatever everyone else isn’t eating into her mouth as she prepares your perfect meal because her health isn’t as important as yours. We are also showing our kids that we aren’t worth the few extra dollars it would take to buy enough to fruit and vegetables for our whole family. See anything wrong with this picture?

A few days after this conversation a friend of mine sent me information about a love challenge. The title was the “Love Yourself Challenge” Some may be wondering what in the world is that? I know I did when I first saw it. But as I read more about it I realized it was actually perfect for me and came at the exact right timing. I figured it was also perfect for a lot of other moms out there feeling the same as my girl friends and I did that day, so I wanted to share it with all of you!

The “Love Yourself challenge” is essentially creating time for yourself and performing acts of self love daily to build self esteem and confidence. There are 4 main categories that you will focus on each day plus one bonus category that you will challenge yourself to do at least once a month. These acts are intended to energize your mind, body and spirit. This challenge is made to be done with other women in your life to “hold you accountable”of sorts. Each day you can either post to FB, write in a journal, or text a friend, about how you accomplished each category in that day.

The four categories are:
Feeling Healthy
Feeling Happy
Feeling Badass
Feeling Beautiful

And the bonus category to be accomplished each month: SUPER LOVE

 

The idea is to pick something for each category to accomplish each day for 30 days. The ladies who made the challenge gave some great examples for people to use to get started.

Feeling Healthy– this category is aimed to help make a change in our own health. It’s time to take care of ourselves too ladies! Not just everyone around us! Here are a few very attainable examples:

* drink more water (try making spa water or fruit-infused water)

* drink a smoothie (all fresh fruits and vegetables and no added sugar)

* cut back on wheat or grains

* choose a side salad over fries

* pack your own healthy lunch instead of getting take-out

* cut out sugar for one day

* learn to cook a new healthy recipe

* replace an unhealthy snack with a healthy option

* say no! to an unhealthy craving

* go to bed eary/get a good night’s sleep!

* replace an afternoon coffee with herbal tea

* incorporate more probiotics through foods (komboucha, kefir, yogurt, fermented veggies)

* switch from milk chocolate to dark

* eat until you are satisfied, not full

* skip the carbs and go for veggies

* no soda or other sugary beverages

* choose organic

* take a nap
Feeling Happy-this category is meant for us, as women, to stop and take time (you determine how long) to do something that brings joy to our lives. As the saying goes, if mommy is happy, everyone is happy! So do something to make yourself happy today! A few examples are:

* Read that book you have been putting aside for the last few months

* Paint your nails

* Watch that show you have had DVRed for the last 6 months

* take a relaxing bath

* listen to music

* take a walk

* go barefoot outside

* pray

* go shopping

Feeling Badass– although it’s not the name I would have picked for this category, I understand what the goal here is. The creators of the challenge called this a challenge for a reason.. They feel woman don’t take enough time to dig down deep and really embrace themselves in every way. We often don’t do that marathon or climb that mountain because we limit ourselves. We error on the side of caution and tend not to go on that adventure that we always wanted to. So here’s your chance:

*go bike riding

*climb that mountain

*dance your butt off

*make crazy love to your husband (yep, I went there)

*go rock climbing

* go kayaking

* jump into the water

*learn a new instrument

*start a new business

*go back to school

* take a huge leap of faith

And Lastly there is the SUPER LOVE category- Which is basically doing something super special for your self that month! Something that is a treat and that you normally wouldn’t do for yourself. Some examples are:

*Mani/ Pedi’s

* Massage

*Girls night

*Romantic night away with the hubs

*Shopping trip

So, there is it is in a nutshell.. The “Love Yourself Challenge”!  Sounds pretty great right? Anyone interested in joining me? I would love some other women to join me for the next 30 days!

Check out the full challenge here: Love Yourself Challenge and how it came about! Its a pretty cool story!