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Three Thoughts for a Health Breakthrough

October 07, 2018 in Nourished Leadership, Nourished Mind, Nourished Soul

I just returned home from the annual Thrive Conference this weekend. The theme this year was Audacious Hope. Shout out to all the ladies who attended the conference (it was incredible)!

There are too many topics and ideas to fit into one blog, so I picked out 3 takeaways from the conference that I want to share with you. Guys, Thrive is a women’s conference, but these ideas and questions are universal.

The first question I have been pondering was presented by pastor, author, and speaker, Craig Groeschel. Craig was speaking about leadership, specifically on ‘becoming a leader people love to follow.’ This question was asked in relation to leadership, but I’m going to ask it to you in relation to your health & wellness habits:

1. “What is no longer working that needs to be changed?”

Proximity: The Distance Between You and Success

July 07, 2018 in Nourished Body, Nourished Home, Nourished Mind, Nourished Soul

Proximity can be the difference between meeting and missing your goals.

Proximity can be the difference between having a dream and making it a reality.

Proximity is nearness in space and time. So what is the distance between you and success?

I tried to explain this concept to my husband as he was lugging a heavy and awkward spin bike from our basement into our kitchen at my request...yes into the kitchen. He was as confused as you may be.

We do not have a spacious kitchen but it fits our needs. There happened to be a space between our kitchen table and the deck door that looked just the perfect size for my experiment with proximity. See the spin bike fit nicely in our basement and I had the best intentions to use the bike while watching TV downstairs. I was excited at the possibility of have a consistent, easy to access workout option in our home that I could utilize despite the variable Minnesota weather.

As I've alluded to in previous blog posts, working out is not second nature to me like my dear sister Ashley Darkenwald. I'd go as far to say most of my life I have loathed exercise. It always felt like punishment because it was boring, hard, and painful...and honestly I never stuck with in long enough to see results which only has made me more discouraged from doing it. Fast forward many years of turbulent health challenges and dramatic changes to my daily nutrition, I've found myself exercising again but with a completely different mindset. Instead of thinking of exercise as a punishment, I seek out exercise I enjoy, find my "happy movement" as Ashley calls it. In addition to being much more mindful of what I like and dislike doing for exercise, I'm more aware of how much my body personally needs.

Achieve Your Goals-- 5 Tips to Make It Happen

January 27, 2018 in Nourished Body, Nourished Mind

We are super exciting to have the one and only Amy Peterson, RN, personal trainer, and group fitness instructor extraordinaire as our guest blogger today! Amy’s been a guest on our first and second Living Wellness LIVE shows. Click the links here to see the Facebook LIVE recap videos of our shows: Show 1 and Show 2. Without further ado, here’s Amy with some great tips for jump starting or re-starting your 2018 wellness goals.

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January is that time of year where you get to start fresh. It’s a new year and there’s something inspiring about starting out with a clean slate. Setting goals are on the priority list for many people. Unfortunately, though, not everyone obtains their goals. You get busy, lose focus, the momentum slows, and, quite possibly, you might even forget them…not that that ever happens to me! 😊

Over the past 10 years, I’ve seen many clients and friends succeed in accomplishing their wellness goals, and I’ve seen many stall or just give up on their goals. Let me just say that it is never to late to start prioritizing your health by making some SMART goals, no matter how small of a goal it is.

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

September 10, 2017 in Nourished Body, Nourished Mind

Two weeks ago, I received clearance from my doctor to get serious about my postpartum health and exercise journey. Check out my first post here.

As many of you have read, I recommend setting goals for your wellness and fitness journey that are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals (Living Wellness for Growth Groups, p. 17). I've recently decided to make it my goal to be back to pre-baby shape and size by Thanksgiving. That gives me about 3 months from now (5 months since baby was born)--Just in time to make a new plan to get through the holidays, healthy- and with a new baby! My point in blogging this journey is not to keep a digital journal, but rather give you inspiration AND to receive encouragement as well. I have been thrilled with your response from my first post-- please keep your stories coming! I want to hear about your struggles and progress.

I'm happy to report I HAVE made a little progress these past two weeks, but progress nonetheless! Here's what I've been up to, I hope this inspires you, wherever you're at in your health journey.

Quote_ Rest & self care are so important. Whenever you have time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel._.png

More of Me

July 30, 2017 in Nourished Body, Nourished Mind, Nourished Soul

Well friends, tomorrow marks the last day of our #LWGG30Day Challenge. Thank you for sharing this journey with me and supporting me as I challenged myself with my wellness goals.

My hope is that over this past month, you found our wellness challenge posts to be inspiring. Inspiring you to nourish your body with different types of exercise. Inspiring you to choose your body with foods that not only satisfy your hunger but nourish your body with the building blocks it needs for health. Inspiring you to take time for yourself. And inspiring you to put nourishing your body, mind, and spirit at the forefront of your mind in order to worship God, honor God, and serve God more fully.

Two weeks ago, I shared with you in this post my progress with the Living Wellness 30 Day Challenge, what exercises I found I enjoyed, and a few take-aways that I learned from this challenge.

Today, I'd like to share with you one final take-away.

Progress Note

July 15, 2017 in Nourished Mind, Nourished Body

I was stressed about getting a paper done for my 9th grade English class. It was late in the day and I was tired, but the assignment was not finished...being type A that I am, I want every task I start to be "finished" and finished well. But, this particular evening, my brain felt it had hit a road block.

My mom suggested "set your alarm for 5am and finish your paper then. It will be very quiet in the house at that time and your brain will have had time to rest and reset." I thought she was crazy (as many high-schoolers often feel about their parents!), but I didn't know what else to do. Little did I know that this simple event would be a defining moment for me.

I woke up the next morning groggy but determined to finish my paper. I read over where I had left off and went to work. My fingers flew across the keys and paragraph by paragraph I finished my paper before the rest of the house was up.

Now what's the point of this story? Looking back, it wasn't until that early fall morning that I realized how awake and alive I felt in the morning. Over the years since, these early morning times of quiet have served to be such a blessing--from times of productive studying and finishing assignments to devotions and sweet snuggle time with my toddler. I'm surprised though that I never considered until this #LWGG30Day Wellness Challenge that this would be a great time for a workout.

Getting Back on Track

July 01, 2017 in Nourished Body, Nourished Mind

Friends, I have another confession to make: I have fallen off the exercise bandwagon. Like, that wagon is so far beyond my gaze that I may need a telescope....or two.

Back in March, I wrote about starting a new chapter in my own wellness journey. For years I've been diligently working on my nutrition while allowing the fitness part of my health to fly under the radar. In March, I was all set to get a regular fitness routine established not because I felt that I had to or "should," but because I realized that this was one area of my life that I was ignoring. I wasn't nourishing my body with the exercise it needs to stay healthy and strong. I had moved through the Stages of Change (listed on page 18 of Living Wellness for Growth Groups) from pre-ontemplation all the way to action.

But then, you know what happened? Ready for the really big confession?

This week I looked back at my Living Wellness Journal and my Living Wellness for Growth Groups book after wiping some dust off of them. Want to know where the writing stopped? Week 1. I completed a week of journal entries and the first chapter of questions, and then...I got too comfortable....too busy....top confident that I would be able to keep up this new routine on my own. Many of us have heard that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. No wonder my new fitness routine flopped after just 7!