Sharing my Health Journey {week one 1.13.15}

A few months back I became interested in getting a FitBit. I did a little research and it seemed like something that would encourage me to become (and stay) more active. Well, some time passed, and a couple weeks ago Luke used Christmas money to buy me a FitBit Flex. He's so nice. :) I've only had it for a handful of days, but I am loving it so far. And even better, I'm seeing a lot of my habits improve!

My plan is to wear the FitBit on my wrist everyday and try my best to reach the goals suggested on the FitBit dashboard. If you're not familiar with what those goals look like, here's a screen shot of the app that tracks my activity, food, and water throughout the day:

The first is Sunday - it's a pretty good reflection of what a day looks like when I don't put much focused effort into being active.

The second is Monday - it was the first day I reached the steps goal. Big difference!

Then the third dashboard is this morning around 8:30am after morning Refit

Monday afternoon I told Luke that I'd like to start sharing my health journey here on Strong and Sweet. After 23 years with this body, I have been through plenty of ups and downs about how I view it. I've hit lows of self hatred and highs of contentment and thankfulness for the body God gave me. One common theme I've noticed is that when I'm caring for my body, I am much more thankful for it - even if there are still things I'd like to see change.

So here's the plan: I'll aim to share a weekly post here about my health journey. I'll highlight some of the highs, the lows, and the other things on my mind about the week. Consider this a conversation, so if you want some encouragement on things you're working through, too, I'm your girl!

1. Monday was the first day that I met the 10,000 step goal. That felt so good and satisfying. I was pretty surprised by how much extra effort I had to put in to reach the goal! My legs were good and wobbly Tuesday morning. 
2. Keeping a big, refillable water bottle around makes a big, big difference in reaching my goal of 64 oz of water a day. Special thanks to my bro-in-law, Jackson, for my 24.7 oz water bottle that makes this easier. (He also got Bekah a matching one... ah!!)
3. I've been using the ReFit Rev youtube videos and I'm enjoying them so much. I made a playlist on YouTube with some of their videos. It's kinda like Zumba. I just pull it up on my computer and do the exercise routines in the living room or in the bedroom if Bekah is still sleeping. I try to do 4-6 songs in the morning and then a bunch more in the evening. It is really, really fun. I am totally not a dancer but I still find myself smiling as I loose my breath and feel the burn. Give it a try! I'll link to one of my favorites and my playlist below.     
4. I was worried about getting enough exercise during these cold winter months, but I found a fun (and kinda weird) solution. I take walks around the halls of our apartment building. I think yesterday I did like 6-7 laps through the halls and even ran into a few friends along the way. :) That mixed with Refit Rev and just generally trying to stay active most of the day has, so far, been getting me to 10,000 steps (and wobbly legs).
5. Tuesday morning I woke up feeling not so excited about starting over at zero steps. There was some discouragement there so I've been trying to be pretty proactive about catching those thoughts and replacing them with encouraging thoughts instead. Sort of like 2 Corinthians 10:5. 

Alrighty, friends. Bekah is napping and I've lunch to eat and dishes to do. If there's any take away from this, I think it's that there is a way to move in the direction of our goals and better health. This is an area where I've struggled for a long, long time, so it feels good to be moving in the right direction, even with simple changes. Thanks for being a part of that by following along!

How's your week going? Any tips on how you stay active on busy days? 

Love,

Bonnie

Oh! And here's one of my favorite ReFit Videos if you'd like to try it out. Click here for my playlist.