What are you GIFTING yourself?

Ahhhh.

If you live in the USA you may still be feeling the, uh, repercussions of the great Thanksgiving Stress-Out.

Family, food, schedules thrown for a loop, routine replaced by mayhem.

No matter where you reside or what you celebrate we’re all thisclose to being knee-deep in holiday frenzy.

Ive shared my tips for Fighting Holiday Frazzle.

They were fantastic tips (according to my mom, anyway), yet they were generalities.

Vague What *I* do to stave off holiday stress musings in hopes they’d spark thoughts/insights for you.

Today we’re about the concrete.

About building a long & creative list of specific actions we can take to make these next 3 weeks as smooth as we can.

A list this misfit Jew can steal, print, hang on my fridge & use as a “go to” when at a loss for ways to lighten my holiday load.

A list to make our Holiday Season 2013 fun, frazzle-free and PRESENT so we can cruise into 2014 as our best & most healthy selves.

I’ll start us off.

Hanukkah ends Thursday night.

The thing is, a result of my being as busy as a COUGAR Hanukkah Harry, I realized only a few weeks ago Thanksgivukkah was year.

Upon that realization, right in that moment, I bestowed upon myself the gift certificate pictured above.

I immediately recognized how *crazy* card creation would make me (I love personalized photocards. I caint mail said-card without heartfelt note inside) if I attempted to make/mail before 12.5.13.

I immediately acknowledged, while some things necessitate holiday hecticness (preparing for company, purchasing gifts on time, decorating before Hanukkah is OVER), this was not one of those things.

I immediately gave myself the gift(certificate) of time.

It’s not an exaggeration to say, after releasing myself from that obligation, I felt as though I could b-r-e-a-t-h-e again.

I felt so *ENERGIZED* by the sweet, sweet gift of freedom I started us a list of stuffs we could gift ourselves these next few weeks.

Never say YES when your heart & head is screaming NO.If you have a vacation from work dont use *all* the time for others dedicate some to self-care.(should you be a weigh’er) Bestow upon yourself a break from the scale.No! More! MUSTurbation. Do what you can when you can & shed the shoulds & oughts.Please to hit us all up with your number five below…

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Wednesday Weigh In: Know Yourself

I decided to hop on the scale this morning after a pretty high weigh in at yesterday’s doctors appointment.

 According to my GYN’s scale I’m 159 pounds.

Just another reminder that scales are stupid.

Anyway, that’s not what I really want to blog about today. What I need is a shot of motivation to break out of the current funk cycle I’m in.

Ugh. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel like I’m waking up every day and just going through the motions. I’m distracted. Unmotivated. Overwhelmed. I try to keep my food journal only to abandon it by dinner. I say I’m going to go to bed early and then find myself snacking at midnight watching mindless TV. My house is a mess. I haven’t made the 8-year-old’s lunches in over a week. I’m just feeling blah.

I’m in tread water mode until I find my groove again. And I will. I always do.

I’ve learned to cut myself some slack in times like these. In a way I go on autopilot. I do what I can when I can (#wycwyc HA!) and just keep swimming.

OK, enough being Debbie Downer, how was your week! Updates, please! I want to live vicariously through you. :) 

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Answer these 7 Questions to set yourself up for success.

Doing stuff that’s hazardous to your fitness can be downright criminal. We’ve all been there, right? For example, here’s a throwback pic of too much Greedyfication: chocolate cake & pepperoni pizza combo. Dang.
WHY 7 QUESTIONS?

Although I’m posing these 7 Questions to you (and to myself) on a Monday, it’s best to ask yourself the questions before the start of a new week, preferably on the weekend prior. I came up with the questions as a means of taking a closer look at my own situation — to find out how I can make improvements and avoid getting stuck in a rut that I never saw coming (yes, that’s happened recently).

But these questions aren’t just about fitness. You can also apply them to work, household, other personal goals, relationships, etc. One of my non-fitness goals is to run a more efficient household. Greater efficiency on the homefront impacts my family in a positive way and ultimately paves the way for me to focus more on myself without being drawn away to put out unnecessary “fires” due to an out of order home.

Look over the questions and consider your answers:

ALERT: Question #7 is highly suspicious. I don’t know how it got there. A full investigation is underway.

In what areas did I fall short last week?Why did I fall short? (be as specific as possible)What will I do to improve upon last week’s low points?What are my goals for the coming week?How will I prepare for the week to set myself up for success?What specific actions will I commit to in order to meet the week’s goals?Can I haz a slice(s) of pie? YES.

If you find that you fell short due to outside circumstances beyond your control, please don’t sweat it. The rest comes down to PLANNING, PRIORITIES, and pushing through the temptation to avoid taking ACTION.

Don’t skim over these questions and then forget about it. Get serious. Make it happen for yourself this week. You can do it.

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10 Things You Tell Friends That You Should Be Telling Yourself

Why are we so hard on ourselves?

From hating our bodies to thinking we are aren’t enough, it’s time we stop being our own worst enemy and start to treat ourselves the way we treat our friends.

Here are 10 things I’m sure you’ve told a close friend at one time or another. Maybe we should show ourselves the same kind of kindness.

10. “You look great!”

I’m so guilty of this, it isn’t funny. I rarely dress up and when I do, I pick apart my outfit, my hair, my shoes, etc. I focus on everything I think is a flaw instead of confidently looking in the mirror and saying, “You look great!”

9. “Maybe you should take a break.”

It’s so easy for us to look at our friends’ lives and tell them to slow down. Yet I bet there’s always something more you HAVE to do.

8. “No worries. It’s cool.” 

Why does it seem exponentially easier to forgive our friends than ourselves?

7. “Oh stop, you aren’t fat.” 

I’m going to bet, regardless of how much your friend weighs, you never, ever agree with her when she calls herself fat. Why? Because fat talk is negative, destructive behavior and does no one any good. Next time you start to utter, or even think those three little words (“I’m so fat”), show yourself the same respect you show your friends. STOP IT.

6. “You’ve GOT this.” 

We confidently pat our friends on the back all the time because we know what they are capable of. We have faith in their abilities, yet we constantly doubt ourselves. Why?

5. “Everything will be OK.” 

Is that not the first thing you say to your friend in crisis? Next time, try to repeat it to yourself when things get rough.

4. “Maybe it’s time to try something new.”

Sometimes it’s easy to give friends advice because we are outside looking in with a completely different perspective.  And sometimes that’s exactly what we need to do for ourselves.

3. “You are amazing!” 

This needs no explanation. Say it to yourself sometimes, OK?

2. “You should do what makes you happy.”  

It’s advice always given to others, yet rarely done ourselves.

1. “Love you.” 

I don’t care how cheesy it sounds. Show yourself some love!

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Five Foolproof Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

Does this sound like you?

You do your best to fit exercise into your busy schedule. And most of the time, you enjoy it. It takes away your stress. It makes you feel strong. And you know it’s good for you.

But there’s no doubt about it: we all have those days when it sounds better to curl up on the couch and not move for days than to throw on our exercise clothes and work out.

Maybe you’re sore from the previous day’s workout. Maybe you’re tired. Or maybe you’d just plain rather be doing something else.

Whatever the reason, those are the days when we all need that extra little push to get us off our butts and into our training gear.

So how do you motivate yourself to exercise when you feel anything but?Ca

Here are five of my favorite ways:

1. Put the play back in exercise

You don’t have to endure the punishment of a stuffy, windowless gym in order to get a good workout in. Learn how to add play back in your life, and working out will no longer feel like a chore.

Here are a few ideas of how you can play more:

Go exploring (outside). There’s nothing like mother nature to get you in the spirit of being a kid again. Run, jump, climb, play.Take up a new sport. You’ll have so much fun learning, you’ll forget you’re actually exercising. Stand up paddle boarding, mountain biking, and kickboxing are just a few ideas.Play video games. You heard me right: the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect both have game options that will get you playing and moving. My favorite are the Wii Sports games and the dancing games (even though I’m terrible at them!).

The key is to get moving and have fun—and you won’t even notice you’re sneaking in exercise!

2. Make it short

You don’t have to do long, boring cardio or spend hours lifting weights in the gym in order to get fit. If you’re short on time, or just aren’t feeling up to a long workout, you can do some high intensity interval training (HIIT).

Since HIIT workouts are quick (most take no more than 10 to 20 minutes to complete), you may feel a lot more motivated to do them since you know they’ll be over before you know it.

Because everyone has an extra 10 or 20 minutes in their day, right?

Just remember—for HIIT to be effective, you have to work as hard as you can!

3. Get an accountability buddy

Whether it’s a workout buddy, your significant other, or an online community (such as the ever awesome MizFitOnline community!), having someone you can report your progress to is the single best way to keep motivated and on track with your workouts.

Because when someone else holds you accountable, you’ll be much less likely to blow off a workout you’ve previously committed to than if you’re the only one keeping track.

4. Keep track of your progress

Keeping track of your progress is one of the best motivators around, especially when you feel like you’re in a rut.

Start a workout journal—either a physical paper one or an electronic notepad of some sort will work—and keep it somewhere handy so you’ll easily be able to record your progress.

Even better, write down a list of your health and fitness goals and revisit them now and again to make sure you’re staying on track.

5. Change your mindset

If you want to stay motivated in the longterm, you need to completely reframe your idea of exercise.

Rather than thinking of working out as a temporary solution to lose weight, start viewing it as a longterm goal to live a longer, healthier life—one where you can keep up with your kids and grandkids and stay healthy and mobile into old age.

When you do that, working out becomes a privilege, not a chore—and there’s no better motivator than that.

Get motivated today

Don’t let your excuses stop you from living the healthy and fit life you want.

Get motivated to work out today, and reap the benefits for years to come.

“The only workout you’ll ever regret is the one you didn’t do.” – Unknown

Krista Stryker gets people motivated on her blog, 12 Minute Athlete, where she posts free awesome high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts and fitness tips 5 times a week. Get more from Krista on Twitter or Facebook.

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Want Weight Loss This Week? Two Key Questions You Have to Ask Yourself and Act On

Hey guys! How did your fitness efforts and progress turn out last week?

Me? I had one of the most epic week’s of fitness ever. My water gulping was on point, eating was not only healthy, but delicious, my required greediness was contained to a minimum, and my fatty parts took a serious lashing in the calorie-burning inferno, thanks to several sessions of sprint intervals and a 4-hour backyard gardening-frenzy. Whoa.

my two youngest wild-child-spawns also contributed to my calorie-burn

My stomachs have gone flatter in his past week alone. Hallerrrluuuyahhhh!!! Why on earth would I turn back now? Gonna keep this momentum going.

But forget all this blabbering on and jibber-jabber about myself. I wanna talk about YOU?

How’d your own week go? Invest a few extra minutes in yourself to consider last week.

ASK YOURSELF 2 KEY QUESTIONS:

1) What went wonderfully right and how can I ensure I do the same for myself this week, or even better?

2) What went all kinds of wrong, and what changes do I need to make today to avoid a repeat?

…but don’t just ask these questions. ACT on them. No, really. It’s time for A-C-T-I-O-N.

That thing you want. That goal you’re after. That place in your journey you’re thirsting to get to… YOU are the only one who can make it happen. You are also the only one who can deny yourself of the accomplishment. Work hard this week (yes, it’s freaking hard work) to ensure you’re not denied.

XO,

Josie

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Rate Yourself: The 5 Fitness Levels of Hawtness

Well go on then. Rate your hawtness. But it’s NOT determined by your current size or weight.

Your Hawtness Level is a direct reflection of what you’re doing (or not doing) right now to get where you wanna be with your fitness goals. So how hawt are you?

5 Levels of Hawtness

Level Zero: You ain’t doing shit and you know it. Days turn into months without a fitness regimen, including broken promises to yourself to get started. Not so hawt.

Level 1: You’re tired of living like this. You recognize that change must happen now. You’re ready to really do something about it. You’re serious this time and willing to do whatever it takes. Genuine commitment has set in! [insert epic music here, like the Rocky theme or something]

Level 2: Ugh. Change is difficult and old habits die hard, but you’re pushing through the rough spots. Quitting is NOT an option this time. Many do-overs are still required, but every mess up, slip up or misstep you experience is practice at getting it right. You can’t be held back.

Level 3: You’re moving everyday and eating right with an acceptable amount of greedy indulgence on the side. It’s happening. You’re doing it! You feel good and you’re starting to see the emergence of solid results.

Level 4: You’ve made excellent weight loss progress, but have you honestly challenged yourself OUTSIDE of your comfort zone? You could go into maintenance mode right now and be glad about it, but to achieve something even greater (like sexy glutes or bad ass biceps), you’re not totally there yet. A push is required: Greater commitment. More self evaluation and fine-tuning. More sweat. Yet lots of peeps aren’t interested in pushing, so they stop here at Level 4. But others (maybe YOU?) begin to ask yourself questions like, “Is this workout too easy?” And, “How can I take it to the next level?”

Level 5: Beast mode! You get out of it what you put into it. Your fitness is no longer cruising on autopilot with average results. You are on your way to fully reclaiming your body and health, or achieving the body you never had but always wanted. Level 5 Hawtness is where it’s at. It’s hardcore badassness in action — a serious investment of time and effort, and a bold, relentless vision that gets up everyday and makes it count.

I’ve personally experienced Levels 0-4, and now thoroughly enjoy my Level 5 fitness journey. What Level are you basking in right now and where do you see yourself headed? Oh, and if you feel hopelessly stuck at any Level (escpecially Zero), just shoot me an email me. We need to talk.

Ps: Today is my wedding anniversary. Bow-chicka-bow-bow!

[photo credit]

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What Would YOU Do? If You Found Yourself in This Eating Dilemma…

I’m asking, because this has happened to me, and probably will again. I’ll tell you how I handled it, but first, let me propose the dilemma-scenario in question for your consideration…

YOUR DILEMMA-SCENARIO

You’re seriously hungry. For whatever reason, I don’t know, but your stomachs are excessively way past their feeding time. Maybe you were waiting for hours at the doctor’s office, or you got held up at work. Unplanned crap happens that messes with our ability to eat on schedule, and now it happened to YOU. You have no snacks in your bag, there’s no sort of hippie health food store around for you to grab some kind of organic crunch bar, and you won’t be home for another hour and a half. You are freaking STARVING!

So what do you do?

There are fast foods spots on every corner. Do you continue to starve yourself or do you grab the only thing around — fast food? And please don’t say, “that would never happen to me because I’m perfect and I carry my snacks at all times” because that’s NOT part of this hungry scenario. So what’s your answer? How would you handle the situation? Starve or take the fast food route?

JOSIE’S ANSWER

I used to allow myself to starve until I got home, and it was excruciating. I refused to eat anything that violated my healthy-eating code, especially fast food. But later I decided that was bullshit and there was no reason for me to be putting myself through that starving nonsense, so I started grabbing the healthiest fast food item I could identify opposed to starving myself until later, especially if had worked out earlier in the day.

It’s not too hard to find a decent salad or grilled chicken sammich on a fast food menu nowadays. I recently had both in the last few weeks, and I have ZERO guilt about stepping into a fast food joint. Fast food is my last resort, emergency ninja-move alternative.

So how about YOU? Would you starve until you got home, or get fast-foodie instead?

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The One Holiday Gift You Absolutely Must Give Yourself This Year

“Do good unto others” … “Love thy neighbor” … “Give and you shall receive” … These are important biblical ideals I believe in and practice to the best of my humanly-flawed ability: giving of yourself is a loving, selfless act that lifts up others. We need that in this crazy world.

But let’s just switch gears for sec and talk about what you need for YOU.

If you’re not “doing good unto yourself” and “loving yourself” and “giving (investing) in yourself“, you’re gonna end up run down, all washed up, and screaming, “I done lost my damn mind!” Or has that happened already?

The holidays can be maddening and filled with so much you are probably doing and planning for everyone else right now. And that’s great. Go on and do that. But please don’t neglect you… EVER! Don’t send yourself to the slaughter just so everyone else can be happy.

Don’t treat yourself like a piece of shitty by refusing to ever make yourself a priority; by refusing to invest in yourself in a way that will make you better and happier and healthier and whole. The refusal to do so is garbage mentality.

I encourage you to commit to the very important gift of continually caring for yourself. In whatever ways you would define it, do good unto YOU, love YOURSELF and INVEST in YOU. This is a gift that doesn’t cost any money and never goes out of style.

Happy holidays, everybody! XOXO

Josie

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Weekend Quote: How Do You Talk To Yourself?

Image found on http://fitfluential.tumblr.com

How true is that?

Anyway, I’ve gotta make this quick. I’m watching the Notre Dame game with the husband and it’s half time.

I’ve been a bit down. Eating just to eat. Skipping workouts for no real good reason. Not sure why. I’m just in a mini funk. I’ll run my way out of it tomorrow with the last scheduled training run before my half next week.

10 MILES!

I’m freaking out a little but there’s nothing to it but to do it.

Right?

RIGHT?

yikes.

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Weekend Quote: Pushing Yourself.

I took my first BodyPump class at my new gym, and it was AWESOME! Seriously the fastest, funnest strength based class I’ve taken in a long time.

The instructor was phenomenal as well. She was motivating without being annoying–if you know what I mean. At one point she blurted out…

The only way to get stronger is by pushing yourself when you don’t want to.

It really resonated with me.

How can we make progress if we don’t challenge ourselves? It reminds me of the quote…

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.”

Besides working out, I was pretty productive today. I made and photo documented my adventure making baby food and shared some fun pictures of Little Guy on Poop Butterflies.

Have a great weekend!

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Yourself! Fitness

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Loving yourself to change.

Thais is a 20s something yoga dork (her word) with a passion for food and life. You can catch her taking naps in the park with her black lab Caviar or tweeting away about some quote or another. You can check out her corner of the blogging world at letitgo8.  I do love me some Thais.

I’m a binge eater.

I’m the first to admit it.

When things are rough on the inside – I go to food for comfort. When I am not bingeing, I’m beating myself up about the last binge. I spend the whole day feeling guilty, ashamed, and pretty low. I look at my body with distaste and dwell on the binge like a big black fog that doesn’t lift.

It becomes a vicious circle and pretty soon I forget what started it. Did I binge because I beat myself over and over again or did I beat myself because of the binge?

Today, as I was getting ready for my work out, I was undressing in front of the mirror and I caught my own eye. So I gave myself a good look over.

And I stared. And kept staring, expecting my inner critic to have at it. But for some reason, the voice didn’t come. Instead, all those months of my own voice telling people to love more, to have more compassion, to keep an open heart, came back to me.

And that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks, right there in the middle of the locker room.

I realized that I WILL NOT CHANGE BY HATING MYSELF.

I will not stop my bingeing by scaring myself to stop.

By blackmailing. By making myself cry with all the self-hate. By starving myself. By avoiding touching my skin because I do not want to feel my fat.

By not buying new clothes for years because I do not want to admit I went up two sizes. By not feeling like I deserve good people in my life.

I cannot hate myself into change. And neither can you!

When’s the last time ignoring, hitting and screaming hateful things at a child generate good response? I would never want to treat any poor child the way I treat myself.

So after that little moment, I decided it’s time to LOVE myself into change.

Because I really do want to change. I do not want to have binge attacks.

I want to lose weight and fit back into my jeans. I want to be able to show off what I have worked so hard to achieve. But my self-love shouldn’t come because I am a certain size.

My self-love should not be dependent on the percentage of body fat I have. My self-love should come because I am ME. I am dedicated, motivated, and I deserve the best.

I am a good person and I have a big heart. Which means I need to start loving myself NOW. No time but the present right? At the end of the day – we all make mistakes, we all slip up. You just gotta laugh, give yourself a big hug, and spend a little more time figuring out how to love yourself more.

And I have a pretty sure feeling that by self-lovin’ myself enough, good things will start to happen. I won’t binge as often because I won’t beat myself up all day about it.

I won’t feel scared to look at a mirror. I’ll stand up a bit taller and hold my head a little higher.

The weight will come off because I am no longer ashamed of it. It’s not going to be easy, but what do I have to lose?

Clearly hating myself hasn’t worked out too well for me so it’s about time I try something new.

What about you? Do you love or hate yourself to change?

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What 5 things would you tell yourself? (Rewind)

I’m doing a sort of double rewind for this weeks question. About 3 years ago I asked What 5 things would you tell yourself? to help face some stuff from my past. I think as we age we need to remind ourselves where we come from and the experiences we had. It helps us figure out who we are and gives us the ability to look at the present and future differently.

This post isn’t about go back and changing anything. It’s about celebrating what we’ve learned about ourselves and others over the course of our lifetime. Whether we are 25 or 45 our experiences are valuable and they shape who we are today.

Here’s my original post from April 22, 2008 where I rewind to 1991.. NO LAUGHING! ;)

I can’t take credit for this question as I know there was a meme going around awhile back asking bloggers to write a letter to their younger selves. Like, if you went back in time what would say to the high school version of you? I thought it was an interesting activity but I didn’t have time to participate then, so I’m stealing the idea for this weeks question and changing it up a bit. Instead of a letter, I want us to think about 5 specific things we would tell ourselves if we could go back in time.

They don’t all have to be weight related but I think we’ll discover even the non-weight issues are relevant to self-esteem, confidence, body image and a host of other things that may manufacture themselves as “weight issues”.

So travel back in time with me.

The year is 1991 (HOLY CRAP) I was 15, wearing my cuffed jeans, hot pink BUM wind breaker, listening to Def Leppard and Boyz II Men. Don’t believe me? Look at this… (Sorry Jen – Don’t Kill me :~P)

The sad thing is, I was already “dieting”, not happy with my body and envious of my skinny friends. Notice I was hiding myself in the picture, that’s a pretty common theme in my old photos starting at about age 12.

What do I tell myself?

Stop being so preoccupied with your body. You are young, fit, active and beautiful (that was really hard for me to type) Love who YOU are and stop comparing yourself to others, it’s not worth it, life is too short. Wear clothes that FIT YOU!! I know you don’t believe it but baggy is not better and it makes you look much bigger then you are. Stick to the salads at McDonald’s! (I worked at MickeyD’s for 5 years and ate WAY to many quarter pounders on my lunch breaks) HAVE FUN! Life is too short to miss out on things because you are worried what you look like. Throw that bathing suit on, get in the ocean and SWIM! Enjoy it now before you are running after a 2 year old on the beach Don’t wait until your junior year of college to take a computer class. Get into it early, you have a knack and one day you’ll make a career out of making web sites. Oh! you don’t know what a web site is, don’t worry you will soon enough. :~)

Your turn. :~)

I originally got a little humorous on that last one so I’ll add another.

Your body is capable of AMAZING things. One day you will have children and realize this. In the mean time treat it and yourself with kindness. Embrace who you are and don’t be ashamed of ANYTHING. Confidence is a hard thing to master. Start now.

ok, NOW it’s your turn. I’m curious what your 5 things are.

Click here to see the comments on the original post as well. Lots of great stuff!

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What are you gifting yourself?

Ahhhh.

If you live in the USA you may still be feeling the, uh, repercussions of the great Thanksgiving Stress-out.

Family, food, schedules thrown for a loop, routine being replaced by mayhem— all that.

No matter where you reside we’re pretty much all thisclose to being knee-deep in holiday frenzy.

A few weeks ago I shared my tips for Fighting Holiday Frazzle.  They were fantastic tips (according to my mom, anyway), but they were generalities.

What *I* do to stave off holiday stress with the hope they would spark some thoughts/insights for you.

Today we are all about the concrete.

About building a long & creative list of specific actions we can take to make these next thirty-twoish days as smooth as we can.

A list I can steal, print, hang on my fridge & use as a “go to” when Im at a loss for ways to lighten my holiday load.

This post is all about YOU & making your Holiday Season 2010 as fun, frazzle-free and PRESENT as possible so you can cruise into 2011 as your best & most health self.

I’ll start us off.

The Jewish MizFits among us know tomorrow at sundown Hanukkah begins.

None among us know, as a result of my being as busy as a Christmas elf Hanukkah Harry helper, I realized only a week ago how early Hanukkah came this year.

Upon that realization, right in that moment, I bestowed upon myself the gift certificate pictured above.

I immediately recognized how *crazy* it would make me to create (I love to do the personalized photocards), edit, print & personalize (I cant just plop a card in an envelope. This crazy writerwoman feels compelled to pen a heart-felt note on each card) our cards before 12.8.10.

And I immediately recognized while some things necessitate holiday craziness (preparing for company, purchasing gifts on time) this was not one of them.

And I immediately gave myself the give of time.

Now you.

With some help from me.

What can you (the royal) gift to yourself TODAY which will make your holiday season a lot more enjoyable?

Perhaps:

Never say YES when your heart & head is screaming NO.If you have a vacation from work DON’T use that time for others dedicate it to self-care.(should you be a weigh’er) Bestow upon yourself a break from the scale.No! More! MUSTurbation. Do what you CAN & shed the shoulds & oughts.Please to hit us all up with your number five below…

This post is brought to you by the fit-minded  Peeps at Sears Fit Club.

And no. They aren’t getting out of adding in *their* number five below either.

View the original article here

What are you gifting yourself?

Ahhhh.

If you live in the USA you may still be feeling the, uh, repercussions of the great Thanksgiving Stress-out.

Family, food, schedules thrown for a loop, routine being replaced by mayhem— all that.

No matter where you reside we’re pretty much all thisclose to being knee-deep in holiday frenzy.

A few weeks ago I shared my tips for Fighting Holiday Frazzle.  They were fantastic tips (according to my mom, anyway), but they were generalities.

What *I* do to stave off holiday stress with the hope they would spark some thoughts/insights for you.

Today we are all about the concrete.

About building a long & creative list of specific actions we can take to make these next thirty-twoish days as smooth as we can.

A list I can steal, print, hang on my fridge & use as a “go to” when Im at a loss for ways to lighten my holiday load.

This post is all about YOU & making your Holiday Season 2010 as fun, frazzle-free and PRESENT as possible so you can cruise into 2011 as your best & most health self.

I’ll start us off.

The Jewish MizFits among us know tomorrow at sundown Hanukkah begins.

None among us know, as a result of my being as busy as a Christmas elf Hanukkah Harry helper, I realized only a week ago how early Hanukkah came this year.

Upon that realization, right in that moment, I bestowed upon myself the gift certificate pictured above.

I immediately recognized how *crazy* it would make me to create (I love to do the personalized photocards), edit, print & personalize (I cant just plop a card in an envelope. This crazy writerwoman feels compelled to pen a heart-felt note on each card) our cards before 12.8.10.

And I immediately recognized while some things necessitate holiday craziness (preparing for company, purchasing gifts on time) this was not one of them.

And I immediately gave myself the give of time.

Now you.

With some help from me.

What can you (the royal) gift to yourself TODAY which will make your holiday season a lot more enjoyable?

Perhaps:

Never say YES when your heart & head is screaming NO.If you have a vacation from work DON’T use that time for others dedicate it to self-care.(should you be a weigh’er) Bestow upon yourself a break from the scale.No! More! MUSTurbation. Do what you CAN & shed the shoulds & oughts.Please to hit us all up with your number five below…

This post is brought to you by the fit-minded  Peeps at Sears Fit Club.

And no. They aren’t getting out of adding in *their* number five below either.

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