What's Working for Me - FREE 30 Day Challenge Template!

May is just around the corner and summer is peeking its head above the tulips - it's time. It's that time of year where we look at our bodies and imagine what the beach days will look like - then push the diets into high gear.... for a week...

I'm right there with you Lazy Girls!

A moment of positivity - you are beautiful and you can rock the bikini no matter your size. It's all about confidence!

However, if you're anything like me and want to live your healthiest life - mentally and physically - then follow along.

Over this past month, I have been letting go and working on myself in other ways. I've stopped counting calories, I've stopped meal prepping, I've stopped feeling guilty for sleeping in rather than getting up to hit the gym - instead, I've created a challenge that is so simple - I have absolutely no excuse other than complete it!

Don't worry, this isn't a 75 Hard Challenge or convincing you to go Keto - I would never do that to you Lazy Girls.

This challenge is different for everyone and I'm going to show you exactly what mine looks like.

On April 1st, I began my 30-day challenge. I had a list of rules and daily/weekly goals that were so simple, I had no excuse not to complete them.

Rules:

• No tracking food. Make smart food choices, but eat what makes me happy. Intuitive eating.

• No cheat days - like the rule above, do not obsess over every meal. Eat what I want to eat. If I'm going out, choose what sounds good. Stop when I'm full. I can take the rest home. There's no reason to clean my plate. Despite what my mom told me, me eating the rest of my food will not help the kids without food. Sorry.

• Stop feeling guilty for not waking up at 5am to go to the gym. Enjoy my nights. Watch a movie before bed. Get a full night's sleep. If that means sleeping in until 8am - so be it.

• Recognize the negative thoughts as soon as they begin, let the positive thoughts take over.

• If the negative thoughts are too strong, change my environment. Go on a walk to get out of the house, peruse Walmart for some sneaky clearance deals, clean the kitchen - do not let the negative thoughts consume my mind.

Daily Goals:

• 10 Minutes of activity.

  • This can be 2 five minute breaks at work where I walk around the building. This can be a walk around the blog with the pups. This can be dancing in the living room before bed. This can be anything and everything - just get off my bum!

• Read 5 pages of any book.

  • There is no reason to skip over this goal. To read 5 pages takes 8 minutes (according to Google). I can pause the TikToks for 8 minutes. The sneaky trick, I know that if I begin reading, I most likely will continue to read until the end of the chapter - but telling myself to read a chapter sounds much more difficult than read 5 pages.

• Put lotion on - even if it's just my hands.

  • This one sounds silly, doesn't it? I am the absolute worst at putting on lotion and I've always wanted to get better at it. My skin definitely looks and feels better when I put on lotion. Putting this down as a goal, even with how silly it may be, forces me to spend the 30 seconds to put it on - because I have no excuse.

• Clean my face - twice a day.

  • Morning and night is the goal. I'm the worst at washing my face. Throwing water on my skin at 8am just doesn't seem fun. I specifically wrote clean my face rather than wash my face because this allows me to grab a reusable cotton round (here are the ones I'm currently using) with some micellar water rather than drown my face in soap and water.

• Use my planner - create 3 daily goals (that are not included in this challenge)

  • Complete 3 goals every day, easy. It's easy because I can write anything down that I want to get done. Goal one: call a friend, see how they are. Goal two: fold my laundry, it's been in the dryer for a week (oops). Goal three: clean out my purse, there are a few recipes in there that I do not need to keep anymore. Do you see how easy those goals are? I probably was going to do those on my own (except for that laundry one), but writing them down makes me feel productive. Instead of laying down after work, I check my planner to make sure I completed what I wanted to for the day. Sometimes I write the important things down like, finish your taxes (still haven't done that) or schedule that doctor's appointment. Other days, the goals are a lot calmer like put the blankets away, make the bed, or wash the dishes.

• Practice some form of Law of Attraction.

  • Again, do you see that wording? If I put; journal daily, write down my daily gratitudes and affirmations, meditate daily - the moment I skipped one day, I would feel guilty and probably miss the next 3 days too. By stating, practice some form of Law of Attraction, this opens the door to every form I can practice. One day I might journal, the next I might meditate. I might have such a busy day that I completely forget - which allows me to state my gratitudes and affirmations out loud before going to bed. This doesn't limit what I need to do - which is the whole point of the challenge.

Weekly Goals:

• A minimum of weights twice a week.

  • I feel good when I go to the gym, but honestly, sometimes I just don't want to go. When my previous goals were to go to the gym 5 days a week, I never succeeded. This lead to me feeling guilty and stressing about going to bed early so I could wake up early. It made me unhappy honestly. Now, with two days a week, I can go whenever I feel like it. Last week, I went after work because it's just what felt good. Keep in mind, I have 10 minutes of daily activity (minimum) too.

• Face mask, once a week.

  • Again, like the lotion - I always feel much better when I put on a face mask, but I always find an excuse not to do it. Now that it's on my goals for the month, I just do it when I want. I stare at my goals and I feel good when I can cross it off my weekly list. My skin loves it and I love it too.

These are my goals for April and sure, I've slipped up a day or two. Perhaps I didn't put on lotion or I was running late for work and forgot to wash my face that morning - but that's okay! These goals are so simple that there's no excuse to not complete them, but there's also no reason to beat yourself up if you forgot too.

I'm loving these goals so much, that I'm going to continue them into May. I'll probably add a few more too!

Now, everyone has different goals and that's wonderful! The great thing about this challenge is that you can customize this challenge to your goals. If you want to count calories - do it! If you want to hit the gym - do it! The point of this challenge is to make your goals so simple that you have no excuse not to complete them. For example: if you're new to counting calories - maybe make your counting calorie goal - 3 days of perfect calorie counting. This gives you wiggle room and doesn't make you feel upset if you mess up a few times a week. If you're new to the gym, try 20 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week. Some days might be the gym, other days might be a long walk - the point is, if you don't hit the gym every day that week, you won't feel guilty or disappointed in yourself.

For those wondering, yes, I do have a weightloss goal like many of you. When looking at the goals, knowing that I was previously calorie counting, meal planning, and trying to go to the gym 3-5 days a week, you would assume that I definitely was losing weight then, but not now. I mean, eat what I want and when I want - that's a plan for disaster, isn't it?

Not for me.

I was obsessing so much about going to bed early - getting up early and counting calories, that I was miserable and stressed. Every thought throughout the day was about food or working out - it was no fun. Since I've begun this challenge, I've lost 4 pounds. I started on April 1st, it's now April 19th. When I changed my mindset, my body changed too!

Below, I've created a FREE printout of you to track your goals and weightloss (if that's something you want). Don't feel obligated to make this a weightloss challenge. Like I always say, mental health is almost more important than physical health. Once you change your mindset, the rest will fall into place. If you're not in the right place to focus on weightloss, don't print that second page - it's not needed for this challenge.

FREE 30 Day Challenge & Weightloss Track.

Download • 115KB

Finally, if you're anything like me and love to cross things off when you complete them. I strongly suggest downloading the Habit Tracker. It's a great way to track your goals and see your progress. It's totally free and I use it daily!