Summer vacation is winding down...

And what a summer it has been! It is funny how long it can take to true lily unwind and decompress and I am so thankful to have been able to take an extended amount of time off. Time off always helps me keep my priorities straight and refocus on what is important...family, friends, health. Thank you to all of you for helping to remind me of how lucky I am.

I have been so very impressed by all of you and your focus on health and activity this summer! It has been inspiring to me and been very motivating to be among a larger family that is focused on their health. It has certainly made me feel accountable in ways that I have not felt before...Thank You!

In terms of my goals, in July I had set 2 goals. First to eat at least 5 fruits/veggies a day prior to other lesser snack foods. I was fairly successful on this and it really did help my studying...well that and dark chocolate. The second goal was to spend some time each day reflecting...that was a big failure. A lesson to me on why setting more than one goal can back fire. It was to much to keep track of and reflecting actually takes way more energy than I anticipated. It is hard to actually be conscious and aware rather than just living on autopilot so to speak.

I didn't set any formal goals or blog in August but in hindsight this was probably a good thing as I really tried to limit my outside contact with technology...less email, less Internet etc. It has actually made a huge difference and I hope I can continue to set some technology boundaries once I return to work.

So now onto September. I have decided to go set the goal of obtaining enough daily calcium in my diet...something I don't usually get enough of since I don't like the taste of milk, am only so-so on yogurt and am somewhat lactose intolerant. For me the suggested daily intake is a approximately 1000 mg/day. I need to step it up!

So now it is your turn...what inspired you over the summer, did you make and/or meet any goals, any new goals for September 's challenge, any good and healthy end-of-summer recipes to share? Post it all in comments or send me a longer post and I'll put it up on the blog.

Reflections and Moving Forward

The apartment is empty...well almost...and finally cleaned.  I know that I should go to bed as we have several long days ahead of us as we transition and literally move back to Wisconsin.  But wanted to take a few minutes to reflect as one thing that I have realized this year and started reading a lot about is how little time we spend reflecting or even paying attention to our emotions and daily choices.  Overall, this year was fantastic.  It certainly was a great adventure for our family and we learned a lot about each other and life.  We certainly now realize that it really doesn't matter where you call home as long as you are together.  No place is perfect and we loved living in Los Angeles more than we thought.  I would be less surprised if someday we moved back someday than I was when we made the decision the first time. 

In terms of my June goal, to somehow remind Erik of how special he was to me every single day proved to be more difficult than I thought.  I admit there were days when I simply didn't remember.   I would get to the end of the day and wonder why it was so easy going through my day thanking everyone and being cheerful with people at work etc, and find this so difficult to do at home.  Something for me to ponder over the summer and as I transition into my new position.  Sometimes, my gesture would be so subtle that Erik was to busy to notice.  Over my short medical career, I have learned that when giving medical students feedback, you need to be very explicit and say "now I am going to give you some feedback" otherwise they will always check the box that you didn't give them feedback...despite giving it constantly.  Maybe we all need those cues.  This is definitely I challenge that I am going to continue to work on! 

The month of July will be a true transition month for us.  Moving to Wisconsin, taking my CAQ exam in Sports Medicine, and once again becoming home owners.  It will be full of adventure (I was going to say stress but I realize that it is all a matter of perspective).  For the month of July, I am actually going to set two goals...I know I am breaking the rules but hey why not.   My first goal is to eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day prior to eating any other type of snack food (pretzels, popcorn, chips, etc.).  This is going to be important as when I am studying I tend to eat more junk.  My second goal is to spend at least 5 minutes a day writing/reflecting.   This transition point in my life is very important and I want to make decisions in a very conscious way and I think that time will be well spent. 

SO NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!  How did the month of June go?  What will you set for your July goals? 

Food!

Jenny had a great idea of creating an entry to help give each other some healthy eating tips and recipes particularly with kids involved.  I have been very lucky this year that Erik has done a vast majority of the grocery shopping and cooking ( I may have cooked dinner one night, maybe?).  This has been amazing as for those of you that have been to visit you know our kitchen is tiny and not very user friendly. This year has also been difficult we have been working with a much smaller food budget than in the past.  As I suspect most people and family's do, we tend to get into food ruts eating the same meals and snacks over and over.  It would be great to get some new ideas from all of you! 

So please help! Post in the comments some of the strategies you use to make sure that your family is eating healthy or maintaining variety.  Recipes appreciated!  I particularly want Ani's amazing hummus recipe...still dreaming about it from our recent trip to Seattle!

June Challenge

So as promised, I am posting my June challenge at the end of my car trip.  But first, I thought that I would fill you in on a few of the things that I learned at the conference I just attended "Exercise is Medicine". 

-In the Fit vs. Fat debate, I have changed my perspective and point of view.  While being fit and lean is probably the best scenario, being fit and active seems like it may be more important than achieving any specific weight goal.   Fit and active people seem to be healthier than unfit people at any weight.  In counseling patients, I will definitely now be focusing on lifestyle changes and even in the absence of weight loss people are winning. 

-Kids need to move!  Kids that don't have basic functional movements down by third grade are less likely to be active in sports and less likely to be active as adults.  We need to teach and encourage our kids to move!

-Sleep is super important.  Sleeping less than 8 hours a night may be associated with a change in metabolism so that you are burning less fat and more lean tissue in the setting of an energy deficit

So anyway, BACK TO THE REAL GOAL OF THIS POST, my June Challenge. So in honor of Erik and my FIFTH Anniversary and Father's Day, my goal is to do something extra for him everyday this month.  He is an incredible man and is the most loyal and kind person that I know.  I need to tell him this on a more regular basis.  So Erik, I LOVE YOU and can't wait to see you in TWO DAYS!

 

YIKES ITS JUNE!

Well I am not sure what happened to the month of May!  With the travel, move planning, and daily life I find myself in June without even realizing that it was approaching.  I guess I have been living in the moment.

My May goal went well and it was easier than I thought once I got started.  I may not have gotten as much work done but hey work isn't so important, is it? 

I haven't put a lot of thought into my goal for June.  I know that it is going to be a really busy month as Erik and I celebrate our 5th Anniversary, I graduate from fellowship, Father's day, celebrate the marriage of Kirk and Amber,  we close on a house, and move back to the midwest!  There is so much to look forward to.

I have an 8 hour drive back to Minnesota later this afternoon to think about my goals for the month and promise I will post tonight when I get there with my goal.

How about you?  How did your May challenge work out?   Are you going to commit to something for June?

Half Way!

We are half-way through the May Challenge!  It was so nice to see and spend time with family in Seattle over the weekend!  I was impressed by the changes and commitment of everyone.  In terms of my challenge, so far it has been both more difficult and easier than I expected.  I have found that I easily have time to exercise 20 minutes a day and it does feel so good to sweat! However, it is hard to get out the door to workout at 9 PM at night when I would rather be lying on the couch and reading or watching television.  It really goes back to my initial comments, I don't have the perfect circumstances to work out (I would rather go for an hour run in the morning about 30 minutes after I drink a cup of coffee) but I do have time and desire and can't use the circumstances as an excuse to keep me from something that I love to do. 

Being half way through the challenge, it is also time to reflect.  Is your May goal something that you plan to continue?  Will you make changes to it to make it more sustainable?  What do you think that you will tackle in the month of June? 

I look forward to hearing from you!

5 days in!

We are now five days in to our May Challenge!  I am interested to here from all of you on how things started off.  Is it easier or more difficult than you anticipated?  What have you been doing to remember your challenge? 

My challenge is off to a good start.  I was able to work out for 20 minutes three days last week (which I think is pretty good since the challenge didn't technically start until Wed) and went for runs both days on the weekends.  I am realizing that for this challenge, more importantly than getting in the workouts is realizing that I actually am not as busy as I make myself to believe and that I do actually have time in the day to do this (and other important things!). 

I also changed some of the settings for this blog so those of you with IPads should now be able to post comments without difficulties. 

I hope everyone has a good week!  I am looking forward to seeing the Miller Family this weekend!