What I learned by doing a Walk Challenge

In February, I decided to do a walk challenge. The challenge was pretty simple—to walk 30 miles in a month. I have been extremely dormant during COVID, and I haven’t gotten much better now that things are returning to normal. I had been taking walks on occasion, and I love when I take them, but I decided in February to challenge myself to be more consistent.

This is an extremely doable goal, but the key to me being successful was consistency. 

And consistency is something I have struggled with.

This isn’t just total daily mileage on my fitness tracker which included my walks to the bathroom or the kitchen, but the time I set aside in my day to intentionally walk.

I’ll skip to the end and tell you that I achieved my goal and walked 30.49 miles in February.  But in addition to achieving my goal, I also walked away with some lessons/outcomes.

Here’s what I walked away with:

The health benefits of walking every day are outstanding.  A few benefits include: it increases blood circulation, lowers blood sugar levels, aids with digestion, cuts bad cholesterol, lowers risks of certain cancers, slows risk of alzheimers, and helps with weight loss.

There is time in my day to walk.  I always felt like I just could not find the 30 minutes to walk (or do any exercise for that matter) but I have proved that, while there may be days that it is hard or not possible to squeeze it in, on most days there is time to walk.

A short walk is better than nothing.  Even walking as little as 5 to 10 minutes outside has proven mental health benefits, such as boosting your mood, improving creative thinking, and reducing anxiety.

I prefer walking outdoors over the treadmill.  One day I was out of town, and I just did not find time during the day to walk outdoors.  But I was able to run down to the hotel gym for 20 minutes that night and walk on the treadmill.  And after the first minute, I was completely over it.  For some reason it just felt like a total struggle, whereas walking outside feels easier and less daunting.

Routine and planning were the keys to my success.  Having a consistent daily routine of working, walking, and showering removed a lot of excuses.  I may not have known the exact time each day that I would walk, but I knew it would be while the sun was out.  I knew that it would likely be in the afternoon or evening. So, I planned to have my shower each day after my walk. Rinse and repeat for each workday.

Keep it un-fussy.  I realize that nobody, and I mean nobody, cares what I wear, or really how I look.  Getting caught up in what I was going to wear when I walked was an easy way to get stuck and do nothing.  I threw on a coat and some sneakers and got outside.  Sometimes I even had on pants that I normally only wear as pj’s.  I may have taken an effort to match my outfits but that was about it.  As long as I was warm and had pockets to carry what I needed, that was all that mattered.  It is nice to have on a cute outfit and sometimes that can be very motivating, but it can also be a hindrance or a stumbling block, and I realized it just was not more important than my goal.

I finally understand that accountability matters.  I always see people doing various challenges and they say that putting it on social media helps to keep them accountable.  So, I did the same.  I don’t have a ton of followers, and most probably really could care less about me and my challenge, but in my mind, there was something about putting my daily reports in my IG stories that made me feel like I had to accomplish my mission.  And I wanted people to see that I set a goal and accomplished it.  No matter how insignificant the goal may have been or how few people even paid attention.

Walking is a good way to explore the neighborhood. I actually moved a few months ago, and while I know the main roads of my area pretty well, I never explored any side streets or back roads. But walking was a good way to go a different way and see what my neighborhood has to offer.

I learned and entertained myself while I walked. I recently got into podcasts. Having a dedicated time in my day to listen to the podcasts that I enjoyed really made the time feel like it was “my” time. Learning something while I walked helped me to feel mentally enriched while also being physically active.

I breathe better. Lung issues run in my family, and honestly, I feel like I can catch my breath just a little bit better just from the simple act of taking a slow walk in the sun every day and letting my lungs do some work.

I am hoping this consistency sticks. I truly enjoyed the challenge, and I felt the benefits in doing it. I may not walk every single day, but I plan to walk most days.

If you want to see how the month went for me, here is a link to my Insta walk diary.

Have you done a walk challenge? Did you have any takeaways? I’d love to hear about it!

A Quick V-day Road Trip: Lancaster, PA

In lieu of Valentine’s Day gifts this year, my boyfriend and I decided to put money towards a little getaway. We are actively purging things in our home, and there is literally nothing else that either of us needs. I’m not super into v-day, so I didn’t want flowers or chocolates or any gifts. It all seems wasteful to me, and since we are trying to eliminate clutter, gifts just didn’t make sense to us.

So we took a road trip instead. And what place screams amore like Lancaster, PA–the Amish capital of love?

Let me tell you, we went with no expectations, and we had such a relaxing and lovely time. We went to the outlets (which forced us to get rid of a few extra items from our closet to justify the purchases), we went to a little shopping village for sourvenirs, we did a wine tasting, we grabbed coffee, we found an artisan bizarre, we stumbled upon a fire and ice festival, we went to food vendors, we saw horse and buggies, and we sampled ice cream at the Turkey Hill museum. We visited some neighboring towns near Lancaster, and overall, we just played everything by ear.

We had not done any traveling or even so much as a road trip in over a year, so this was a nice getaway that wasn’t too far, and that had little traffic to get to. We loved just going with the flow and holding hands and just enjoying each other.

One thing I did not realize is that the tourist area of Amish country is actually called Intercourse, PA…(I chuckled about this entirely too much)…so I guess that’s in line with Valentine’s Day after all!

My favorite place was the canning shop where they had every type of canned butter, marmalade, jam, relish, and pickled items that you could imagine. I can’t wait to dig into my apple butter and pineapple marmalade!

Do you give/receive gifts for Valentine’s Day? Would you forego gifts to do something together as a couple? How did you celebrate this year?

Here are a few more pics from the trip, and there’s a video on my IG at @justa_mdgirl.

I Created Habits Instead of Resolutions

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I did not make any resolutions this year. Honestly, it just feels so phony for me to do it. I know myself very well and I know that creating this new version of myself on the 1st of the year, with lofty goals and dreams of perfection, is just not realistic or honest.

I will not miraculously start doing things that I’ve never done in the past, and that I have not taken the time to create a pathway of success for.

I didn’t create a vision board, because honestly, for me, it’s just cool pictures and no action plan.

But I did say to myself that I’d like to do better with my finances this year, I’d like to not wake up super hung over after happy hours, and I’d love to stop relying so much on coffee. I decided to try out some new habits, I didn’t set any timelines or expectations, and I just decided to see if I liked these things and if they were things I wanted to continue doing.

So long as I like doing them, I will continue to do them. If I decide that they no longer serve me or that they are of no interest to me, I will stop. I am not going to pressure myself about any of it.

Here are six things I have tried in January, that have now become regular habits.

• Balance my checkbook daily: How old school can I get, right? I’ve tried various ways to track my finances over the years. I’ve used various excel spreadsheets and I’ve used a planners and paper, but I still felt like I was sort of caught off guard by some payments that came out of my account. I wanted to get back to entering purchases and bills into my bank register, and reconciling the difference with the amount in my account. For me, there is power in looking at my account in this way every single day. Every day, it got easier to go through the reconciliation process. And then it became something that I couldn’t wait to do each night. So now it’s just part of my nighttime routine, just like brushing my teeth and taking my medications.

• Not drinking alcohol: I went into this one knowing that it would not be a forever habit. Lately I have noticed that my body was not springing back after happy hour the way it had always done. I noticed I was not sleeping well on nights when I drank, and I was starting to make some bad decisions when I was drinking. Nothing super major, just maybe saying things I wouldn’t otherwise say, or being a little more rambunctious than I would prefer. So I decided to stop drinking for a while, and then make a decision about the relationship I want to have with alcohol going forward. So for now, drinking is on a pause for me. I have been leaning on mocktails, apple juice and ginger beer when I do go out, though I did have some wine this week.

• Drinking tea instead of coffee: I had already managed to scale back to decaf coffee with zero sugar creamer a few months ago. This was already a huge step for me. But for January, I gave up coffee all together. This was actually not an intentional habit, but I got sick the first week of January and drank tea during that time. Once I got better, I did not go back to coffee, and surprisingly, I’m actually ok with it. So I believe this is a habit I will stick with. My daily hot beverage will be tea, and I will have coffee occasionally when I’m in the mood for it.

• Listening to podcasts: I finally took the plunge and found some podcasts that interest me. I’ve now found intentional space in my day for podcasts. I have found a few podcasts that I absolutely love ranging from budgeting to mindfulness to true crime stories. I feel motivated to take action or inspired to think differently about something every time I listen. They really give me food for thought, or at the very least, I get some entertainment out of it.

• Taking walks: At some point in January, I realized that neighborhood walks were the perfect time to listen to podcasts. So I started really looking forward to daily walks just so I could zone out and listen to podcasts. The walks aren’t anything major–usually about 20 minutes or so, and about a mile and some change. I don’t walk super fast, and I didn’t start off with any sort of fitness expectations. I just wanted to get out of the house, get some sun on my face, and get some fresh air into my lungs. But in January, I really leaned into the activity, and I decided to challenge myself to walk 30 miles in February.

• Attending church (virtually): A local church was recommended to me, so I decided to attend virtually in January. I truly enjoy it and I take so many notes during each sermon. And I even refer back to them throughout the week. I love having practical action items and I love feeling like I am taking steps to being a better person.

Did you make any resolutions this year? How are they going for you?

January Diary Entry: TV, Podcasts, Crafts, and Tap

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It’s been a good start to 2023. January has been all about trying to keep my mind and body active and entertained. I’ve been taking lots of notes about random things, and I’ve finally gotten into this podcast craze I have been missing out on. I’ve found some cool things to watch on tv and even took a tap class. Here’s my round-up for the month:

What I watched:

• Lovers in a Dangerous Time (Tubi) – a woman goes back to her small hometown for a class reunion and reunites with her friend. It is a low-key movie but there are a few themes that are relevant, especially if you come from a small town
• Becoming Abi (Netflix) – a cute workplace show set at a marketing agency in Nigeria, which follows Abi as she navigates her career and dating life
• Perfect Bid (Netflix) – a documentary series about a Price is Right fanatic and his perfect bid that caused a scandal
• Schmigadoon (Apple+) – stars Key (from Key & Peele) and is about a couple that gets stuck in a fictional musical town. So funny!
• Fleishman is in Trouble (Hulu) – This series starring Claire Danes, explores the relationship between a man and the wife that he separates from after a 15-year marriage, and the course that their relationship takes post-marriage. The series touches on dating, marriage, kids, career changes, postpartum depression, and separation. This is a powerful story about love, friends, and family that will make you laugh and cry.
• Breaking Fast (Hulu) – an LGBTQ rom-com about a Muslim-American man who meets an American man and starts sharing meals during the holy month of Ramadan
• The Housewife and the Hustler (Hulu) – a documentary series that follows the story of attorney Tom Girardi and his “Housewives of Beverly Hills” wife, Erika Jayne, as they lived lavishly off the proceeds gained from clients that he scammed
• Starstruck (HBOMax) – funny show set in London about a woman who unknowingly has a one-night-stand with a movie star and then sorta kinda dates him. So awkwardly funny
• McMillion$ (HBOMax) – documentary series about the McDonald’s Monopoly game and the $24 million scam in the 90s by a mastermind and his accomplices

Podcasts I’ve Listened To:

I have been wanting to get into podcasts for some time. I got a new phone recently and decided this was the time to dive in. Initially, I bookmarked a ton of true crime podcasts but I haven’t really been feeling true crime as much lately. I kinda noticed that true crime stories put me in a mood, and made me jittery and nervous all the time, so I decided to stop absorbing so much violent, sensational, scary stuff. I’ve totally limited my intake of murder mysteries and crime shows and have, for now, steered clear of true crime podcasts. I will admit though, I have a lot of scam podcasts on my list, so that will probably be what I get into next. But this is what I’ve been listening to for the last few weeks:

Photo by Lum3n on Pexels.com

• The Minimalists – If you have not heard of the concept of minimalism or the two guys ,The Minimalists, who are a big part of this movement, do yourself a favor and google their website, watch their documentary, or listen to one of their podcasts. They give the most amazing motivational viewpoints on removing clutter from your life, be it physical, mental, technological, or emotional clutter. I have tangible takeaways every time I watch or listen to whatever they have to say.
• Bitch I’m Budgeting – I started following this IG account, and then realized she had a podcast. I have become sort of obsessed with tracking my finances and staying on top of my budget lately. Her IG posts and her podcasts really help me to maintain the enthusiasm for tracking my money.
• A Mindful Moment – I love to listen to this one mostly when I go for walks. Being out in nature, clearing my mind, and taking a few minutes to have a literal mindful moment, really makes me breathe deep and fully appreciate life, health, and gratitude. The episodes are usually just a few minutes long, but they really help me to feel grounded and centered.
• Erotic Stories – Sometimes you just really need to zone out and trust me, these do the trick. lol.
• The Professional Creative– This one is great for anyone who wants to use their creative talents to make money. She gives some great tips and a lot of food for thought for people who use their craft as a primary source of income or as a side hustle.
• Therapy for Black Girls – I was actually pleasantly surprised that this podcast was more than chats about mental wellness. This podcast delves into topics such as workplace issues, tv shows, personal development, as well as topics around mental health. This podcast definitely has some moments that have me wanting to take notes.

What else I’ve been up to:

• Saw Ne-Yo perform with the National Symphony Orchestra: This girl loves a concert. And with COVID, it has been something that I’ve really missed. When I saw that Ne-Yo was performing with the National Symphony Orchestra, and that tickets were super reasonable, I jumped. The show was fabulous! Having a date night, getting dressed up, and having a night out in the city…it was all so wonderful. Ne-Yo has an extensive catalog so he couldn’t sing everything. But seeing him perform with the accompaniment of the orchestra did something for my inner band geek.

• Took a Tap Class: I took a couple of tap classes a few years ago and loved it. I needed to get some physical activity into my life so I thought it was time to dust off the tap shoes. But finding adult tap classes is a struggle. I found one close to me and decided to give it a try, but unfortunately, this class wasn’t a good fit for me. It was a little more advance than what I was looking for, and the instructor indicated that his plan was to not slow down because he got too bored going slow. OK… So, I had definite feelings about that being the attitude for a beginner class, and ultimately, I didn’t care enough for the instructor to really debate it. So I’m still on the lookout for a class, and in the meantime, I will set up a practice board at home and do some online instructional videos.

• Attended a new church (virtually): A nearby church was recommended to me, and I wanted to check it out. So I have been attending virtually all month and taking lots and lots of notes, which I plan to blog about.

• Started a new craft: I saw fabric button earrings on IG and just had to learn how to make them. I am pretty sure I’m going to go entirely too far and make trillions of these adorable things. Here are a few of my creations photographed in one of my past obsessive craft creations, the clay trinket dish.

• Sold some items on Poshmark: I have a ton of stuff to get rid of, and I love selling my items on poshmark. Every time someone buys something, it makes me kinda giddy.

What did you get into in January? Let me know if you made anything cool or did anything fun. And definitely let me know if you have any tv shows, movies, or podcasts that I should check out!

FOMO: A New Perspective

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For Christmas, I gave my sister an ornament. You know the ones…it has the year on it and then you add a cute family picture from that year. The picture I chose was a funny memory because we had to figure out using my ring tripod, and wrangle the kids off of their devices, then squish everyone into the frame and set the timer. We captured what we thought were great pics. Only to realize that my niece had been crossing her eyes in every single freaking picture. It was annoying and completely laugh-worthy.

So of course, I had to put that picture in the ornament. But what I realized as my sister opened the package at Christmas, was that my oldest niece wasn’t in the pic. And I felt so bad for selecting that picture. I apologized a couple of times and told my sister that she should feel free to replace the picture with one that includes my oldest niece. And my sister said to me, no, this is the picture that we will look back on and remember that niecey pooh wasn’t there because she was off at college.

I was so shocked at how simple and perfect that perspective was. What a new way of looking at this scenario. Maybe it’s just my family, but we do tend to acknowledge when all of the siblings are at an event, or all of the cousins, or all of the boys, or all of the grandkids. And when we photograph those events and someone is missing from the group, we do point out that all of the aunts/uncles/kids/etc. are there except so-and-so. And we do typically say that the picture would be so much better if the missing people were there. If that aunt was there or that grandchild was there to complete the group. We spend time focusing on who wasn’t there and how the picture would be better if they were in it.

But the thing I love about my sister’s response is that the absence of my niece is in itself a story. And this picture can remind us of how she was dedicated to school, even though it meant missing out on a family gathering that she would have liked to attend. We can commemorate the period of time that she was away at school through her absence from the picture.

There will always be times when people are missing from gatherings and events. Instead of creating a sense of guilt or sadness or FOMO around it, it’s so much better to focus on those who made it. It is more fruitful to acknowledge that people do have other things going on. We should choose to think of gatherings as a positive and joyous time to spend with the people in your presence, not a time to dwell on those who did not attend. That’s the perspective I’m going to try to have going forward.

Chime in–how do you handle FOMO?