"Effective Strategies to Improve Your Physical Health"

"Small consistent habits will be the catalyst for big meaningful change"

Happy 4th of July everyone! I sit here this morning with my coffee, and am feeling wrapped up, surrounded by, and encompassed with feelings of gratitude. Since announcing my Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge that is set to start July 15th, 2023- I have close to 25 amazing women joining. Keep in mind fellows- this is not just a challenge for women- men can join too! :) You have until July 13th to join along on our challenge so email me at jayfitness4you@gmail.com if you would like to join! Follow happy habits on Facebook and jayfitness4you on Instagram to keep daily updates on the challenge as well!

With that being said one of the four areas we are going to focus on positive deposit habits on your overall wellbeing for the Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge is the area of physical health. If you can guess my next few blogs will also elaborate on the other three areas to improving your overall wellbeing which are your spiritual health, mental health, and nutritional health. For today's blog I want to talk about the area I feel I have the most expertise in, and one of my biggest passion's and that is surrounding your physical health.

So what is physical health? The google definition of it is how your body moves, grows, and feels. The way I like to define physical health is the movement for the soul. Although exercise and movement doesn't always make you feel happy while you are in the present moment completing it. As soon as you are done moving, endorphins are flowing, and your blood is circulating- most people feel a sense of happiness, peace, and stress relief come into their mind, body, and spirit.

So why do people let their physical health fall to the wayside? As a wellness coach- people share their deep dark insecurities with me of how they have let their exercise, nutrition, and overall healthy habits "fall away" even though they know how happy it makes them feel when they are practicing them. I like to explain to those people that they are only human, and the experiences and circumstances that god sometimes places in our path will cause circumstances out of our control, and create an inability to practice them to the standards we would like to. In my own personal experience when circumstances get in our way and are out of our control people tend to develop a lens of "all or none" thinking and decide if they can't commit all in with their habits, behaviors, and actions they won't commit at all. They feel like if they aren't committing exercise to the standards that they place on themselves- they shouldn't commit to exercise at all, and this type of thinking in my opinion is self depreciative and horrible on your self worth, self confidence, and overall wellbeing.

This lens of thinking is a catalyst for disaster, and keeps you in a constant "yoyo" of results. In the book atomic habits James Clear goes on to explain how consistent repetition is better than being perfect or all in for the short term. He goes on to explain we should practice our habits, actions, and behaviors starting small, gradual, and similar to how a professional boxer practices his punches. Consistently.... and repetitively...

Although a boxer wants to deliver that perfect "knock out" punch with the perfect amount of acceleration and force, they don't deliver that punch by just practicing 1 or 2 punches full force in a day's practice. They practice punching over and over and over again. At different rates, accelerations, speeds, and angles. These punches are practiced until they are blue in the face, until they are accurate, and until their brain is programmed subconsciously to deliver the punch without even thinking. The same applies to my experience with posing during my recent body building show. I spent hours upon hours posing in order to perform on stage at my show and be able to flow and look like I have been posing for years. Posing became subconscious for me. I had done it so many times that my body was able to get exactly into the poses fluidly and with ease because I had rehearsed so many times before show day.

Practiced this pose hours and hours. Repetition..repetition..

Photo taken at OCB Scorcher Phoenix AZ, 6.17.23

I encourage you to start looking at your daily habits, actions, and behaviors the same way. Practice them consistently, repeatedly, and until they feel non-frictional in your life. If you are someone with the goal to improve your overall wellbeing and health- you have to start with one simple question.... what habits, behaviors, and actions am I practicing? Are they in alignment with someone who lives a healthier and happier lifestyle? If yes.. how often am I practicing them? Is it daily? Only on the weekdays? Only a few times a week? How can I be more consistent? Do I have a process to stay consistent?

Before I changed my perspective and lens surrounding my physical health- I was falling victim to a few false narratives that were controlling my ability to positively deposit and pour love into my physical health cup. The narratives of "I'm too busy" I'm too tired" "I don't have time" were all rehearsed and played in my head over and over again that I subconsciously believed these narratives were true, and they became my identity. My identity was full of excuses that allowed me to fall victim to my circumstances.

The silver lining for me and my paradigm shift for living life in alignment as a healthier person mind, body, and spirit- was realizing my narratives were false. After reading through several self help books, spiritual books, talking with my body building coach, life coach, and mentors- I was able to reframe my lens of thinking around my narratives. Here are some examples of how I overcame the false narratives and changed my false narratives and excuses to thought patterns and a lens of action and personal growth.

Narratives: "I don't have time, I'm too busy, I'm too tired"

My lens of thinking surrounding the concept of "not having time" was reprogrammed by consciously telling my subconscious/self limiting belief system that I do have time and if I don't make time now I won't have time for anything else but doctors appointments when I'm older.

People with an all or none mindset of thinking will also subconsciously tell themselves or program their brains to believe they have to go to the gym or workout for 2 hours to consider themselves successful with exercise/movement. This is not the case.. in order to create a long-term sustainable relationship with your physical health and movement you should start with small atomic habits that can be repeated everyday, and if you feel like you want to commit to more down the road do that when you become successful consistently and repetitively with your small atomic habit. Until that habit becomes your identity and who you are.. you should be cautious in filling your container too FULL with physical health commitments that are going to put a lot of friction into your present daily routine.

Example: 5-10 minute walk 5x a day for 3 months (around your neighborhood, or on your treadmill at home). Once that becomes non-frictional and part of your identity transition this into a 15-20 minute walk. (from there you can decide if you want to add another environment like the gym, or decide if you want to run a race.. this all depends on your goals). People will jump to the extreme when they set a new habit.. such as I am going to go to the gym for 5x a week for 2 hours. This is 1. a new environment which will cause friction, and 2. a lot of time to just start prioritizing into your life that you weren't before. Start small.. and work from there.

Falling victim to the "I am tired" narrative is also making a negative deposit on your overall wellbeing, as movement has time and time again shown in research to make positive deposits on your mental health, long term health, and prevent age related diseases. Some movement is better than no movement at all. I stopped allowing how I was feeling, and "feeling tired" dictate my actions, behaviors, and habits for the day. You will see more consistency and action when you start focusing on doing habits to be healthier, rather than only doing the habits when you are "feeling" up for it.

I do want to elaborate, and talk about feelings. Feelings can have a negative deposit on your daily health and wellness habits, especially if you are making the feeling of "happiness" an overall long term goal. Jay Shetty the famous spiritual life coach and entrepreneur talks about how you shouldn't chase a feeling such as finding "happiness" as a long term goal, because you will never be successful with that. You will never be "happy" all of your life or find happiness because throughout our lifetime and experiences we are going to feel a lot of feelings.. happiness, sadness, anger, anxiousness, joy, and hopelessness. When god places a storm in our path that will bring out several different feelings- it may require us to shift our commitments and priorities surrounding our health and wellness goals. That doesn't mean your focus of pouring into your physical, nutritional, spiritual, and mental health should just be tossed to the wayside.. It means you realign your daily habits, behaviors, and actions to the best of your ability with what you can currently commit to. Face reality, and deal with it, but don't allow yourself to fall victim to your circumstances, or think you have to be all in to be successful. The biggest mistake you can make when you are on a health and wellness journey is quitting cold turkey on the habits you worked so incredibly hard to improve. It's the repetition and consistency even if it's just a small habit that will build the foundation for the best version of you.

So remember even if you are in a "storm" of life and feel like you can't commit to the habits/behaviors necessary to reach your goal/ideal self- some positive deposits and commitments into your overall wellbeing in a time you are enduring a tough storm mentally or spiritually are better than no positive deposits at all.

I have started talking to myself the way I would talk to my mom, sister, brother, and fiancé with my daily habits that I have been completing, and found great success with this and staying committed to a healthier lifestyle. If you self deprecate because you aren't doing enough, or you aren't good enough, or compare yourself to how others exercise/look- you will never be successful with your habits because you let your external environment create a toxic belief system for you internally that you aren't worthy of moving your body and making change for yourself internally and in time externally with your physical appearance. Make sure you focus on depositing into yourself, for yourself, and only to better YOU and your health. It's easy to let your external environment discourage you, demotivate you, and intimidate you- but if you focus on one small step... each day.. you WILL get better, and one day you can look back at all you accomplished and be that PERSON you always dreamed of being. Focus on changing your thought patterns internally and believing in yourself mentally and spiritually- and I promise you- you will see that outward physical change you have always been looking for.

My lens of thinking around the I'm too busy narrative totally changed when I sat down and did an energy audit with my life coach. You can complete one of these online, but I would recommend doing one of these with a mental health counselor or a life coach, as they can provide their expertise, tools, and strategies for improving where you pour your energy into. For those interested- I have a life coach resource available to assist in an energy audit with you, and when I say this changed my mindset, lens, and where I put my energy I mean it was LIFECHANGING.

When I did an energy audit, it made me realize I was pouring too much into other areas of my life, and not enough into myself. I was often times participating in activities, social gatherings, events, etc. for the purpose of fitting in, when in all reality it was draining my ability to complete habits, actions, and behaviors that would help improve my overall well-being, and help me align with a healthier person mind, body, and spirit.

The example I can use in my own personal life would be socializing and drinking every weekend with friends. As much as my energy battery is filled up and restored spending time with my closest and most valued friends- drinking was a habit that would drain me and cause feelings of sadness, anxiety, and depression the next day. And those feelings would often times create FALSE narratives that got in my way of prioritizing my physical and nutritional health habits. Presently, I will occasionally drink in a time of celebration like weddings/holidays, but these are planned ahead of time.

I now like to spend my weekends in nature, moving my body, and cooking home cooked meals that are nutrient dense. I will still occasionally have a mule or glass of red wine at home with my fiancé, and enjoy a local dessert from my favorite Dubois local baker Queen of Tarts, but my habits/behaviors are much more in alignment with my ideal/happiest/healthiest self because I am able to do the things I enjoy all weekend. I feel a lot healthier prioritizing moving my body more, eating healthier, and being out in nature. This healthier lifestyle in turn helped me find a better sense of happiness, peace, balance, and alignment in myself.

I know a HUGE reason and aha moment for me that my "time excuse" was a false narrative was when I began getting the weekly reminder of how much time I'm spending on social media a day. I stopped allowing myself to even make the excuse that I don't have time because I was making time to browse social media- which in all honesty doesn't always pour into improving my overall wellbeing. So my advice to you is to practice awareness and stay present in each day so you can consciously interpret your habits, behaviors, and actions, and determine if you are prioritizing other habits that don't improve your health higher than movement/physical health.

Some questions to ask yourself when you are "too busy" or "don't have time" is where are your priorities? Realistically...why are you unable to prioritize 1/2 hour to 1 hour a day to move your body? Are they real road blocks, or false narratives? How can I make better use of my time in the day? Am I pouring into things I shouldn't be? Why am I pouring into things that don't fill my cup? Are you practicing habits/behaviors and actions in alignment with your healthy?

If you are feeling "off" and searching for a more internal sense of happiness. The first place to look is your daily habits, choices, behaviors, and actions. If you focus on healthier choices- you will make your actions, behaviors, and habits a catalyst of change for more internal feelings of happiness.

Remember- you aren't alone.... I wouldn't try buying a house, or doing taxes on my own. You look for mentorship and support when something feels out of your scope of expertise. I would go to a realtor to buy a house, or see an accountant to do my taxes.

Yes..... some people conquer their feats alone.. but if it's draining your energy cup to the point it's affecting your overall wellbeing and inability to take action towards a better YOU- don't be afraid to ask for help. Because having the ENERGY to pour into your mind, body, and spirit is where you will be the most successful for the long term. If you are operating from an empty cup of energy and trying to change your habits, behaviors, and actions you have no energy to pour into yourself, and those habits and behaviors won't change for the long term.

So lets break down the small atomic physical health habits we are going to try to implement over the next 30 days when our Happy Habits Challenge Starts on July 15th. We will elaborate on these for the people participating in the challenge, and for those of you not ready to take the leap of the challenge just yet- feel free to use these as tools and a resource for you presently and in the future:

The Physical Health Habits for the Happy Habits Challenge

FYI: These physical health habits can be scalable. If you are a person who feels like you have already been practicing some of these habits for the duration I have noted- please feel free to reach out to me, and we can set some realistic expectations and habits that are individualized to you and your goals!

Habit 1: Strength Train for 15 Minutes

This can be any type of strength training. A dumbbell circuit at home for less friction, a workout at your local gym with resistance machines. In order to make the 15-30 minutes effective the strategies I have for you is to come up with a plan! Have a strength circuit ready, and stick with it. If you work out with intention for 15 minutes you will have an EFFECTIVE workout.

Example Strength Circuit:

Shy Girl/Guy Dumbbell Workout

Warm Up: 3 minute brisk walk, or dynamic stretching to ensure blood flow to muscles for strength training

Circuit One (8 minutes, do as many rounds as you can with 8 minute timer)

20x alternating dumbbell bicep curls

15x body weight squats (weighted or body weight)

20-30 second plank hold (do on elevated surface if you can't keep neutral spine)

20s rest

Circuit Two (5 minutes, do as many rounds as possible)

20x alternating overhead press

15x weighted Romanian Deadlifts

10:10 weighted step ups holding dumbbells by side

Habit 2: Walk Briskly for 15 Minutes

This can be any type of walking. Outdoors, indoors, with your kids in a stroller. The walk briskly is the important component... You should be able to hold a very out of breath conversation with someone. If you don't feel out of breath while walking you are not walking briskly.

Effective habit change is always done when you make a habit more obvious, easy, and attractive (per Atomic Habits, James Clear). How to make walking more obvious, easy, and attractive

1. Obvious- set out your shoes, and workout clothes as a reminder that you need to WALK/MOVE today.

2. Easy-Pick a time of day that is easiest on you, and your ability to follow through on your commitment. First thing in the mornings, at night immediately after dinner, right after work. Only YOU know you best, and where you will be the most successful implementing this habit into your life.

3. Attractive- Decide to make this a walk by yourself to spend quality time alone, listen to your favorite podcast, or favorite music, make this a date with a friend.

Habit 3: Stretch/Yoga for 15 Minutes

This would be a great habit pair with your walk or strength training to continue improving your overall well-being and to help ensure an adequate cooldown from a workout.

On the other side of things, this is a great way to find connection with your spiritual health by practicing yoga/meditating. Either way 15 minutes of stretch/yoga/meditation should be done without your phone, and in a place you can get quiet and enjoy quality time with yourself and your thought patterns. Are your daily thought patterns about yourself subconsciously positive or negative? Getting into a spiritual place to reflect can really help your overall well-being. When you can consciously recognize if your though patterns are generally positive and uplifting or negative and downgrading about yourself- this is the first step in improving your overall wellbeing.

Habit 4: Go on a Hike With a Family Member/Friend

Being out in nature moving not only pours into your physical health cup, but also your spiritual health cup. There is nothing more grounding, balancing, and aligning that being outside in nature, under the sun, moving your body. Going on a hike with a friend will also improve your mental health so that you can reconnect with them and their life.

As we age it is hard to stay connected to some of our most valued friends. I alone feel senses of guilt at times for how little I see even my family members. So I LOVE habit stacking, and also focusing on experiences and things that will fill my cup in multiple areas. A hike in nature outside with a family member/friend reconnecting will fill your mental health, spiritual health, and physical health cup, overall filling up and giving you energy and abundance for the week. If you haven't tried this habit yet- I really do urge you to. My favorite hikes in PA would be Mt. Nittany in State College because it is driving distance and has incredible views, and for a weekend trip would be Rickets Glenn State Park. We made the best of our last trip there because it was a rainy day.. but the waterfall photos were absolutely beautiful, and it was nice getting most the waterfalls to ourselves.

Rickets Glenn State Park in Benton, PA is Breathtaking. Photos by GWVproductions

Habit 5: Complete a Recreational Sport or Take a Local Fitness Class

Personally for me- when I first started on my fitness journey it took a lot of courage to even go to the gym alone. I sometimes forget feeling intimidated, scared, wondering what others thought of me, and also feeling little confidence lifting around others and using the big scary machines. I wanted to let you know that you are not alone. It takes a lot of time, consistency, and self talk to get over the limiting beliefs of "I don't look like I deserve to lift/be here." That is why I created this habit, because accountability with a trainer, or by finding a community of like minded individuals would be a great way to have parallel accountability with bettering your physical health.

As a native to Dubois/Brockway there is a lot to offer. Personal Training and Group Training Classes I Know Currently Being Offered In Dubois (and I apologize in advance if I'm missing some).

One on One Personal Training Sessions

Cody Staples at Snap Fitness

Lauren Myers at Blitzfire Fitness

Group Settings:

Fitness Classes with Brian Duttry at the Dubois YMCA

Yoga Classes with Vinny Daugherty at Snap Fitness

Boxing Classes at WPIAL Gym

Boxing Classes at the Boxing Gym in Brockway

Various Fitness/Cycle Classes at the Dubois YMCA

REAKT Women's Group Classes

Dubois Cross-fit Group Classes

The YMCA does offer a lot of recreational sports too like pickle ball! So the accountability, community, and opportunities to get out there are available! Participating in a group setting if that interests you is also a great way to connect with the community which in turn does pour into improving your spiritual health, and mental health cup as well! So this would be a great habit to try over the next 30 days!

Habit 6: Go to Bed One Hour Earlier Than Normal

This habit is specific to people who do not have a good sleep routine/schedule. It is suggested to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. If you sleep poorly- this negatively impacts your ability to exercise, lose weight, stress levels, hormones, eating habits, mental health, and your overall wellbeing. Some strategies to improve your sleeping patterns would be to prioritize a good wind down routine, limit screen time before bed, watch afternoon caffeine intake, avoid movies/podcasts/shows that are aggressive in nature before bed, and avoid lights/TVs being on one hour before bed. If you can get in the routine of a good sleeping schedule this can help improve your overall wellbeing with your workouts, weight loss, mental health, and spiritual health.

In my own experience I have found staying up late as a trigger to my mental health being out of alignment. When I am feeling "off" or not balanced with my overall wellbeing I tend to stay up late, have a lot of screen time, worry/stress about the past/future, and have restless nights of sleep. So if this is a common occurrence for you- it may be time to prioritize working on your sleep schedule so that it can have a positive impact on your ability to prioritize your physical health.

Habit 7: Go for a Half Hour to Hour Walk with a Friend/Family Member

This habit is specific to people who need accountability to be consistent with their physical health habits. Like I said in this blog post earlier- accountability is key at the beginning of a health and wellness journey if a habit is feeling frictional initially. In my experience with body building and competition prep-I would have never made it through the hard days and vigorous days of prep without my coach. For someone who hasn't been in the habit of prioritizing their physical health for awhile- you are going to feel stressed, a little bit anxious, overwhelmed, and just generally uncomfortable. So it is helpful to have someone mentoring supporting, and helping you stay consistent with your habits.

I wanted to reiterate- it is okay to feel all the feelings I mentioned above. But remember to focus on the habits of being "healthier" and although the habits initially feel uncomfortable, overwhelming, hard, and stressful- the healthier habits you practice on a day to day basis- the happier you will feel in the long run.

An example would be eating fast food very frequently over home cooked meals that you KNOW every single ingredient you are cooking with. Eating fast food may initially make you feel happier because it is more convenient, but if you are doing this very frequently you will not be happier in the long run because of the long term effects fast foods can have on your overall wellbeing and health. Fast foods are typically loaded with processed chemicals, added sugars, dyes ,and ingredients we aren't really aware of. So yes.. eating home cooked meals may be more stressful and frictional initially- in the long term it is healthier for your mind, body, and spirit. It is important to prioritize to the best of your ability physical, mental, nutritional, and spiritual health practices/habits that are going to better your overall wellbeing/health and wellness goals- even if they are frictional at the start.

Summary:

To wrap up this blog post- I hope that I have provided you with some mentorship, guidance, tools, and strategies for improving your overall wellbeing- specifically your physical health with today's blog post. I have been on a health and wellness journey with running, lifting, and now body building since I was a kid, and there is no wrong time to get back into alignment with pouring into your physical health cup- even if it is not to the degree you would like because of the current realities, hurdles, and obstacles in life that you are dealing with. BUT small positive deposit physical health/fitness habits are better than no habits at all, so I hope you will join me on my Happy Habits Challenge starting July 15, 2023- or just start practicing these habits in real time on your own because I know focusing on my physical health has really changed my life for the good, and it could change yours too!

See you soon to talk about Strategies to Improve Your Nutritional Health

Love,

Julie

"Transform Your Life: The Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge"

Photo by GWVproductions

Me Speaking at an Event on the Topic of: Finding Your Happiest and Highest Self.

Upgrade your Life by Practicing Small Atomic Habits

I sat in church this morning and was uplifted, energized, and in alignment with the speaker at this morning's church service. He spoke about some deep and troubling past life experiences he had to endure. These experiences were hard to understand and deal with when he was going through them at the time, but now that the storm has passed, he has a solid understanding as to why he went through those trials, tribulations, and tough times.

The silver-lining or reasoning as to why we go through an experience can take time to clearly understand, grasp, and wrap our heads around. But just like myself, and many others with the tough experiences you go through in life, it is important to keep faith in your circumstances, and use your experiences to fuel, humble, elevate, and inspire you. Our speaker at church this morning was fueled by his experiences, and didn't let them defy him. Now he is a spokesperson for world vision, and has used his trials and tribulations to help others and give people the tools and resources to sponsor thousands and thousands of children in need in Tanzania. I will provide the link at the end of this blog if you feel inspired just like my fiancé and I did by our church to help a child in need.

With that being said- after listening to the speaker in church today talk about his passion which is helping thousands of kids in need- I feel uplifted, energized, inspired, and ready to help others by gifting people something I am passionate about, and that is helping others find alignment with their happiest and highest self through their daily habits.

If you haven't read my first blog on "Finding Your Happy" please tune into that one before proceeding with today's blog. In Summary of my first "finding your happy" blog- you have to be able to prioritize and find balance with your daily spiritual, mental, physical, and nutritional health habits. When one of these areas is lacking balance in your life- your overall well-being will begin to suffer. Symptoms that you are not properly balancing your overall wellbeing with your daily nutritional, physical, mental, and spiritual habits include feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, lack of energy, demotivation, weight gain, physical pain, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, lethargic, or sadness. The more at peace, balanced, and aligned you feel the more you know your spiritual, mental, physical, and nutritional health habits are in alignment with your happiest self.

So I wanted to offer an amazing opportunity for my followers, our local community, and anyone on social media, and this opportunity is to participate in my Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge. If you participate in my Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge- you will be entered in a raffle for free access to my happy habits cookbook, and 2 8oz and 2 16oz candles of your choice from my all natural 100% soy wax candle line.

What this will provide you with is not only a chance to win access to my cookbook, and candles- but a chance to improve your daily health and wellness habits over the next 30 days! These habits we are working to improve and build upon may be a little frictional from time to time, but for the most part will help to ensure you are working towards better alignment with your spiritual, mental, nutritional, and physical health.

I couldn't pick a better time or opportunity for individuals to join this challenge, and here is why..

1. It's summer- From my own personal experience- summer means several false narratives, excuses, and roadblocks. And I can't blame people... there is nice weather, summer sports, road trips, vacations, parties/campfires, and so much more.... but in order to stay in alignment with your highest and ideal self- summer habits should be held to the same standard as winter habits. So now is the time more than ever to join a challenge where you will be held accountable to improving your daily health and wellness habits.

2. Accountability and Community is Key- There is no better way to become successful with small atomic habits than to have a community of likeminded individuals working towards the same goal. We will spend the next 30 days focused on improving our daily health and wellness habits, and there is no better support than support in numbers!

3. External Motivation- Need I say more? You not only will get the prize of improving your overall wellbeing- but one lucky winner gets access to my cookbook, and candles as well :)

4. It's FREE- I had a calling from the universe and the holy spirit to work on giving more- my love language happens to be gift giving :). I usually charge for my services- but I find it empowering to give others free tools and resources to practice that will help them better their mental, spiritual, physical, and mental health. The more we rise- the more we conquer as a collective!

So please join me for the Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge.

Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge Guidelines:

It's Simple and Easy. For 30 days you practice one habit in each of the four categories to work on improving your overall well-being 1 day at a time. Each day you will pick one mental, one spiritual, one physical, and one nutritional health habit to complete. If you decide to be a part of the 30 day challenge I will email you a habit tracker that you will fill out on a daily basis to keep track of your daily physical, mental, spiritual, and nutritional health habits. At the end of the 30 days if you are successful each day with your 4 daily habits from each category- you will be entered into the raffle for a chance to win my cookbook and candles!

Here are the habits from each of the four categories. Each day you will choose one habit from each of these four categories for the next 30 days.

Physical Health Habits (choose 1 of these to complete daily)

• Strength Train for at least 15 minutes

• Walk Briskly for at least 15 minutes

• Stretch/Yoga for at least 15 minutes

• Go on a hike with a family member or friend

• Participate in a recreational sport or do a personal training session/group training class (golf, pickleball, basketball, group class, one on one training session)

• Go to bed one hour earlier than usual and get a good night's sleep

• Go for a half hour to 1 hour walk with a friend

Nutritional Health Habits (Choose 1 of these to complete daily)

• Pick a whole food snack over a processed snack (whole foods are only one ingredient, ex: strawberry, banana, orange, apple, blueberries, cucumber, carrot sticks, celery, etc)

• Drink at least 80 oz. of water today

• Eat all home cooked meals today

• Choose the healthiest option on the menu if you go out to eat

• Eat high protein whole food snacks for a day instead of processed snacks (cheesestick, greek yogurt, hard boiled egg)

• Eat a serving of veggies with atleast 2 of your meals

• Eat 30g of protein for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

• Use the food hunger scale when eating for a day and stop each meal around a 6 or 7.

• Drink a glass of water before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 1/2 a glass before ea snack.

• If you go out for ice cream/desert, get a small size or split it with your friend/significant other

• Journal your daily food intake and how it made you feel. Become aware if you nutritional habits are in alignment with your goals.

Mental Health Habits (Choose 1 of these to complete daily)

• Do a wind down routine for bed (wash face, read book, meditate, journal)

• Take a bubble bath with zero screen time

• Go for a walk alone without screen time. Meditation music only

• Dress up and wear your favorite outfit on a weeknight

• Get a massage, manicure, pedicure, or buy yourself flowers to treat yourself

• Get up and make your bed. Today- tidy up each room before you leave it.

• Spend quality time together- Cook your favorite meal with your friend/significant other

• Listen to a self help podcast or read a self help book (my favorites are Jay Shetty, The Self Love Fix by Beatrice, The Positive Mindset Podcast by Henry G) Favorite Books: 7 habits of highly effective people, atomic habits James Clear.

• Say 5 positive affirmations about yourself in the mirror today

• Dance in Your Kitchen to Your Favorite Song

• Catch up with an Old Friend

• Monitor your daily thought patterns, and journal about them. Are they more negative or more positive?

Spiritual Health Habits (Choose 1 of these to complete daily)

• Meditate for 5-10 minutes

• Journal for 5-10 minutes

• Take a walk in nature

• Practice a new hobby or passion

• Take a day trip somewhere new

• Go to church or try out a new church

• Practice presence for a day. Become aware when you are worrying about the past/future. Journal about how being present made you feel.

• Volunteer in the community, or help a friend/family member in need

Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge Rewards/Rules/Responsibilities:

• At the end of the 30 days, the reward is to feel better alignment with your overall mental, physical, spiritual, and nutritional health. The famous author on habit change James Clear wrote himself that small atomic habits will create significant change. So although these habits may seem small, silly, and easy attainable if you start repeating them consistently, and frequently you will find yourself on a catapulting course to your happier and higher self!

• So please join me for the 30 day challenge to finding your happier/higher self through your daily habits.

• If you want to join the challenge email me at jayfitness4you@gmail.com with a subject of Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge. I will promptly email you back and send you a habit tracker for when the challenge begins!

• Please join my Happy Habits Facebook Group and Instagram Page jayfitness4you- I will be sending daily reminders and keeping everyone updated on the 30 Day Challenge.

• The 30 day challenge is set to start July 15th, 2023 and run until August 15, 2023. One lucky Winner will be selected August 16, 2023 to receive my cookbook and candles! We will not draw the winner until after the 30 day challenge to ensure everyone was successful with their 30 days of habits!

Thank you to everyone who tuned in this week, and I hope to see you a part of improving your spiritual, mental, physical, and nutritional health by being a part of the Happy Habits 30 Day Challenge!

SUPPORT WORLD'S VISION & SPONSER A CHILD:

Spoke about this earlier in my blog. Our church (Dubois Tri County) is participating in this cause, and I find it very important to extend an opportunity to those outside of our church to participate in this cause as well. If you copy and paste this link you can find out more in regards to sponsoring a child in need.

Taken Directly From World Vision's Site:

"Unlearning Failure: How to Redefine Your Belief System for Success"

"Redirection" NOT "Perfection, and STOP Fearing Failure"

Top of Cathedral Rock Vortex. Upward Flow Energy was WILD. Photo taken by: GWVproductions

I couldn't think of a better time to talk about how so many of us fall victim to viewing our experiences through the negative lens of "failure" when we feel as if we fall "short" with an experience, an event, a job, a competition, or even a task. We often use negative terms or attach negative emotions to an experience we fall "short on" or feel like we failed. However, I found so much freedom, peace, happiness, and contentment with myself and my experiences when I discovered I was falling victim to a self limiting belief system anytime I labeled myself as a failure or was scared to fail.

Failure really doesn't exist unless you allow it to. The moment you stop believing in failure is the moment you will be able to upgrade your belief system, and start FEELING and KNOWING your experiences are meant to happen to you for the purpose of redirection, alignment, and growth.

So here are some inventory questions I encourage you to ask yourself in the present moment. These questions helped upgrade my life and be more at peace with unforeseeable or unpredicted life experiences and outcomes:

1. Am I labeling my experiences, trials, tribulations, and precious moments in life as "failures" when they don't go as planned?

2. When I go through an experience in life that doesn't pan out the way I anticipated does this embarrass me or cause negative thought patterns/emotions to my self worth?

3. When I go through an experience in life that doesn't pan out the way I anticipated do I create a laundry list of excuses for why I "failed"

4. When I go through an experience in life that doesn't pan out the way I anticipated does it make me lock my emotions and vulnerability away into a vault and throw the key away to never let them resurface again..?

5. When I go through an experience in life that doesn't pan out the way I anticipated does it make me feel miserable, anxious, hostile, or aggressive in nature?

6. Do I not partake in certain experiences because of fear of what others will think about me, or "label" me as.

7. Realistically- Am I setting the bar too high/or too low for myself and my goals/accomplishments in life? How do I improve if I am on either spectrum?

I can say a few years ago I would have answered yes to a lot of the above questions. and I still fall victim to living life in this lens from time to time. Just because you go through a vulnerable moment of labeling yourself as a failure, start comparing yourself to others, or self deprecating- doesn't mean you are a coward, are sick, or weak- it just means you are human.

The real superpower is having the ability to be aware when you are living your life through the lenses of fearing failure, and other self deprecating thought patterns. When we live life through a perfection lens and with constant fear of failure, we have difficulty being present and allowing life to unfold around us exactly how god, the holy spirit, and universe wants it to. We need to release wanting to control every moment in our life. The more we try to control situations and experiences-the more negative emotions and thought patterns will continue to lock us down, downgrade, and drain us of our overall happiness.

That is why I continue to share all my hardships with social media, and am really inspired by others who share the ups, the downs, and the in between as well. When people spend their time only sharing victories it paints a picture to younger and future generations that it is not okay to stumble and fall. It's very uncommon for people to admit their failures, frustrations, stagnancy with their job/passions. We tend to see more of the "good news, the accolades, the awards... rather than the stories of the 9 tries a person made before succeeded on the 10th. This creates that limiting belief system of fearing "failure" because it is often times misconstrued that in order to succeed is not to fail at ALL.

Which is why so many of us including myself fall victim to looking at our experiences as a failure when we don't meet up to the expectations we set out for ourselves. BUT I encourage you to see your experiences through the lens of "redirection and growth" rather than "failure/perfection"

I am hoping this blog post will provide you with the tools and strategies to face life's storms, and come to acceptance with the outcome, even when it is not the outcome you have hoped for. Life's moments and experiences are bigger than us, and in the moments we feel the most defeated, like a failure, like you are stumbling, and like you've fallen ten times and can't get up, are the moments the holy spirit and the universe are redirecting you to keep holding on, because one day you will see the lesson and blessing in it all. The tough times are the times you have to hang on and have faith that your experiences are bringing you or keeping you in alignment with your happiest, highest, and most ideal self. Those who watch over us will put us through a time of "redirection" because they always have our best interest at heart, and know long before us what we need in any present moment, even if it is not the outcome we had in mind.

My recent experience is a testimony of redirection not "failure" and initially I fell victim to labeling myself as a "failure."

For those of you new to my blog I am a professional body builder. Last Saturday, I recently competed in my first professional body building show, and didn't even place. I've spent the last three years and a grueling 14 week competition prep making tremendous sacrifices for the sport of body building and for my body building show. I gave up drinking, going out to eat, staying up late, social gatherings, hobbies, passions, time with friends/family, and serious energy to embark on the journey of winning my body building show. I exercised for two hours 5-6 times a week for the last two years, and for 2 years weighed out everything I ate. All for one competition where I didn't even place in the top 5 of my class. So initially when I found out I lost my show, and didn't even place in my class I spiraled downward with my thought patterns. I labeled myself as a failure, not good enough, undeserving of ever winning, a loser, a joke, an embarrassment to my friends, etc...

BUT... the newest and highest version of me knows that my ego is a horrible roommate in my head, and doesn't deserve my time or energy. 120 professional body building competitors (myself included) showed up to compete. Of those 120 professional athletes, 20 of those competitors including myself fought for the overall in the professional bikini division of body building. Each competitor being beautiful, strong, hard working, and courageous.

So I changed my focus to the lens of redirection rather than the lens of failure/perfection quickly after I realized how horrible I was talking to myself. I was aware that my thought patterns were initially negative, and I changed them. I began telling myself positive thought patterns.

Some of my positive thought patterns were:

• I am honored to stand next to 20 women who worked just as hard as I did and made similar sacrifices to mine to be "show shape" ready on show day.

• I am grateful that this competition prep-I reconnected my relationship with god and the holy spirit.

• I am grateful that for the last few years I have such amazing new and old friends who have supported me through a time I have really prioritized my physical health.

• I am honored to be able to challenge my physical and nutritional health the way I did over the last two years.

• I am grateful to have the finances and abundance to travel to Phoenix and compete in a show that I dedicated my time and energy to the last two years.

• I am grateful to explore a new town and make new travel experiences with my significant other

• I am grateful for a time to reconnect and recharge my spiritual/mental health with a vacation out in Phoenix post show.

I may not have won my show, but I did win that day because my current self was able to recognize that my old negative thought patterns were coming back to bite me and with a vengeance.

So I made it a motive to let my positive mindset win that day.... big time. If I would have let my ego win, or my old self win.... I would have lost sight of the present moment and what I gained from my experience.

What I gained/was redirected on from the outcome of my show:

• I gained a trip to Phoenix with my significant other where we hiked new places, tried amazing foods, took awesome pictures, and made new memories

• I gained experience as a PROFFESSIONAL athlete which will benefit me in my future body building endeavors. This loss will just make me better and stronger currently and in the future.

• I gained respect, gratitude, and humility for the fact I got to stand next to veteran female body building athletes and grace the stage with them.

• I gained peace, balance, and alignment by visiting one of the most spiritual places in the world (Sedona and the four energy vortexes-this will make for another blog post one day). If I wouldn't have come to Phoenix I wouldn't have gotten to visit Sedona and the amazing energy associated with it.

• I recharged my mental and spiritual health by getting to be out in nature and experience new places, foods, cultures, and human interactions.

So all in all, I felt called to share that life does come in storms, and sometimes the storms feel like failure, a loss, or don't make sense. BUT..... what these storms do is give you an opportunity to be "redirected," to keep you in alignment with your truest, and most authentic self, and to live life exactly how those above us intend for us to.

So I encourage you to practice awareness in the present moment, and become aware if you are falling victim to the fear of failure lens- and change your perspective to seeing the mishaps of life as a motive to be redirected, grown, and molded into your highest, happiest, and best self. We are human, and we will fall victim to negative thought patterns from time to time- but I hope you can find the courage to stand up to those thought patterns, and start experiencing life like a sailboat does. A sail boat does keep moving onward and forward with a direction in mind. However, that sailboat does not have fear, and allows the winds of life to redirect and guide it if needed. In the game of life, be more like a sailboat.

Much Love,

Julie

My quote of the night:

When your circumstances don't go as planned, don't focus on the one thing that failed.. focus on the thousand other things you learned, gained, and grew from the experience.

Top of Cathedral Rock Vortex. Upward Flow Energy was WILD. Photo taken by: GWVproductions