Strong, Healthy Family: Looking Good! (month 4)

Our 4 month plan to becoming a strong, healthy family!

Month Three:

A quick review of why I'm doing this (as stated in Month 1): "My daughters are watching (and watching and watching) and maybe, just maybe, it's possible to raise them in a way that they won't struggle with body image and self-esteem. I need to start with myself, of course, but this time I am creating goals for the whole family, with Nug's participation. (And... I'll blog about them, duh!)."

Review of month three:

Focus: Mental

• We can only speak about our bodies and our abilities in positive ways (Nug interpreted this as "encourage yourself"). 
• We will make sure to get fresh air by exercising outside twice a week (she chose Tuesday and Saturday)

The Verdict:

Two thumbs up! Funny thing to realize at age thirty-eight, but it feels great to look in the mirror and tell myself good things. The time I used to waste on self-criticism is now dedicated to just being; to moving on and living. While it is not foolproof, it is, generally, surprisingly easy (this challenge even coincided with a week-long beach vacation where I practiced my new outlook while wearing a bikini!). As far as the kids, they are too young to embrace this kind of thing, but there was a general sense of encouragement throughout the month. The second part of our challenge, exercise in the fresh air, was also good. We didn't maintain a schedule, but we walked, swam, hit the beach, played tennis, hung at playgrounds, and went to golf lessons.

Beautiful beach bikini body (me on the left)

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Month Four: August (the final month!)

Focus: Spiritual

• We will get involved in our community through volunteering and our Girl Scout troop
• We will spend time daily doing quiet, introspective activities such as gardening, meditating, yoga, or quiet time

Ok, I have to admit I am losing steam on this strong, healthy family endeavor. I have a few things in the hopper right now, and I'm losing focus. We've been having too much fun over summer break! We are having an "alphabet summer" with a different set of corresponding letter activities each day (today is X & Y day- I'm combining Yoga and Exercise). I won't be able to commit fully to this month's challenge, but we are doing a Backpack Drive with the Girl Scout troop.

Here are some websites for family volunteerism that I hope to look through one day!
http://www.doinggoodtogether.org
https://www.volunteermatch.org