More October Goals & My Challenge for You

Happy Tuesday! Yes, today is usually reserved for Tough Love, but today I want to focus a bit more on fun challenges (and more goals) for October. Don’t worry, I’ll get back to the Tough Love next week. I know, you were worried.

First let me thank you for your support in the goal I talked about in yesterday’s post. I wasn’t sure it would be well-received and it means so much that several of you reached out in comments and in emails to cheer me on. I’ve always been a goal setter, it’s just what I do. Whenever I feel like I’m in a rut and not where I want to be, I think about what would make me happy and how to get there. I’ve definitely been in that kind of place lately, despite my decision to become vegetarian (which makes me super happy, by the way). In order to kick things up a notch, and actually aid in my primary goal for October, I’ve decided to take part in a few other October challenges.

First up is the #plantPower Challenge from Heather and Kasey. I’m super excited for this particular challenge because I think it will not only give me more ideas for vegetarian foods, but will also keep me accountable. Nothing like taking pictures of your food to make you conscious of what you’re putting in your mouth. Here’s the challenge in case you’re interested in jumping on board! My goal for the month is to do this every day and attempt to create new recipes based on the challenge.

As you can see, the first #plantPOWER challenge was to eat a rainbow. That wasn’t too hard for me because I love color variety in my meals. My parents likely found it obnoxious when I was a kid, but it pays off now.

All of my meals were quite colorful, but dinner was definitely the most vibrant.

Red bell pepper, broccoli slaw, pea shoots, alfalfa sprouts, chickpeas, edamame, dried oregano, salt, and pepper sautéed in olive oil with a splash of white balsamic vinegar. This was one of those “I have very little time to throw something together and I’m starving” kind of meals and it couldn’t have turned out better if I had spent all day planning it. I won’t be posting all of my photos here, but I will be posting them all on Twitter and Instagram, so follow me there if you haven’t yet and you want to see what I create.

My next goal for the month is about fitness. I already have two races schedule for this month, the first of which is the BAA Half Marathon (that is, provided I can actually run by this Sunday…stupid knee) and a second is a costumed 5K at the end of the month. One thing I haven’t been doing enough of, however, is yoga. I haven’t done too much yoga in my life honestly, but took a few classes in college and loved it. I’ve done it a few times since then using DVDs and I really want to get into doing it more often.

Lucky for me, Courtney is hosting a yoga challenge! Her personal goal is to incorporate three yoga sessions of any length into her weekly workouts for October, but she is leaving everyone else’s goals up to them. What a great and flexible (HA!) challenge. My own goal is to incorporate two sessions of yoga into my weekly workouts and I aim to do them early in the morning. This will not only improve my flexibility and balance, it will get me out of bed early to work out! Win-win situation. Check it out and join in. I will be posting a recap of my progress during Fitness Friday, so keep an eye out!

For my final October goal, I want to focus on mental wellbeing. For me, and I’d bet for almost all of you out there, the path toward wellness is not complete without taking care of oneself emotionally and mentally. So often we get caught up in negativity and obsessing over the number on the scale (or the race time we just can’t seem to beat) and forget about all of the awesome things we do on a daily basis. My own personal challenge for the month of October is inspired by Caitlin’s #AmazingMe post that inspired my own list back in July.

Every day this month I want to take at least 10 solid minutes to think about (and meditate on) something that I have accomplished or something that I love about myself. During this time I will (try to) free my mind of anything else that may be troubling me and just focus on the things that make me feel blessed. I hope you’ll take part in this challenge as well and leave your negativity behind. Or, if we’re going with the fall theme, “leaf” your negativity behind. Yep, I’m corny. Sorry I’m not sorry.

I’ll be sharing some of my positive thoughts and accomplishments throughout the month on Twitter. If you feel comfortable sharing yours, use the hashtag #leafnegativitybehind so we can all join in on your celebratory journey!

Have you participated in challenges like these before? What are your personal goals for this month?

Similar Posts:

• Live For Yourself: An Update On My October Goals & Challenges
• A Local Halloween Workout & Other Exciting Updates!
• WIAW: #plantPOWER
• W Is For Walking On Air
• Spicy Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup