It’s almost February! AH! How did that happen?! February…hmmm…Will Phil see his shadow? Is it a leap year? And, what sort of sadist decided to lump all the holidays together where being single seems to equate you with a leper? But at least it means there’s only 6 more months until the Canfield Fair with my boo Deanna!
Ok, but seriously…February also seems to be a month where people start falling off the wagon in terms of their 2013 goals. It gets bitterly cold and dank out (altho this nice warm spell in DC is GREAT!) and I know I would rather sit on the couch in my comfy sweatpants than think about being social, working out, or trying a new recipe!
So, along with some other challenges that are floating (#Plantpower with Powercakes and the 2013 Challenge) a few friends and I have decided to band together to keep one another accountable and encouraged as we work on building new habits!
You may have heard that it takes 21-30 days to build a habit… I thought that was a cold hard fact! But, recent research from the University College of London suggests that the 21-30 day habit building ideal is actually a myth, saying that evidence for the 21-day cycle is purely anecdotal. WHAT?!? Then how do you build new habits effectively, and how long does it take? Welp, it depends on YOU! Everyone is differently, beautifully, and wonderfully made, so any kind of cookie cutter diet/fad/plan/etc will either leave you feeling like…
- A: a CHAMP… you are already on step 9 of 12 and it’s only day 2
- B: a WIMP… you don’t even know where to start and figure you’ll fail anyway
- C: like CRAP… you started off great but it’s been 2 weeks and you’ve seen 0 changes
Sound familiar? For a long time I always ended up in category C… I start off with great intentions and then life happened, someone brought birthday cake to the office and I would feel like IT’S ALL OVER…today is shot, might as well throw in the towel and have a cheeseburger or Chic Fil-A (mmm Chic Fil-A waffle fries are made of 100% magic) right?
WRONG! Building a habit, a new lifestyle, a new diet (and I mean diet as in the way you eat NOT some unattainable fad you adopt for a month and then crash because you can’t live on cabbage), isn’t about beating yourself up. It’s about taking small steps FORWARD!
I started to see results in my own life (health and fitness wise as well as discipline wise) after really taking a look at what I was eating through My Fitness Pal, chatting with my friend Tracy about nutrition and exercise, and generally keeping myself honest with… well… MYSELF!
So what’s FebruHABITS all about?
It’s NOT just about HEALTH GOALS…although those are great and would be a good addition. It IS about setting small, attainable goals that you’re comfortable sharing with others, getting accountability to KEEP MOVING FORWARD in your pursuit of those goals, and CELEBRATING your achievements at the end of the month!
How does it work?
#1 you need to a pick a reward… that’s the fun part! Maybe you’ll get that new pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing, dinner at your fave restaurant, or a new piece of cooking equipment…whatever you choose, but make it something out of the ordinary.
#2 choose at least one simple daily goal! You can choose more than one (I broke mine down into categories, two small goals for each, 6 in total) but keep them S.M.A.R.T. & don’t go overboard! It could be health and fitness related (do 25 push-ups everyday), spiritual (read a new Bible verse each day), or even interpersonal (talk to one stranger everyday!) They shouldn’t be… lose 5lbs, eat more veggies…that’s not specific nor measurable enough! (shoot me a comment if you need help developing your goals)
My goals…
- HEALTH: Drink 1 gallon of water every day (that seems like a lot but I’ve been working up to 1gal for awhile now, so I know it’s attainable)
- HEALTH: Make my daily food intake from #Plantpower with Powercakes except on Mondays
- SPIRITUAL: Read a Proverb every day & Journal on Monday nights
- PERSONAL: Read at least one chapter of Great Expectations a night (I have been trying to finish this book for FOREVER)
- PERSONAL: Keep in touch with all of YOU by posting for FebruHABITS each week!
#3 Download the FebruHabits Calendar, put your goals at the bottom, print it off and hang it somewhere you see everyday… I’m guessing that for most of us that’s the refrigerator! AND post your goals below so we all know what you’re up to 🙂
#4 check off each day when you’ve completed your goals and start doing a happy dance as we sail through February! Miss a day? NO PROBLEM! Tomorrow is a new day! And you get 3 cheat days (that’s 90% success rate)…although no cheating is the preference 😉
#5 Be sure to check in each week to see what’s new, get some encouragement, and let me know how you’re doing! You can also follow me on instagram @spoonfulofsara and post your #FebruHABITS pics (maybe extra accountability? 😉
So…what are your FebruHABITs goals? Are you nervous, excited, both?
Spoonful of Sara 
Great idea! Very interesting about the habit – I think there is probably some truth to that though. Hm! I could use some help sticking to my organizational goals of getting rid of stuff – so I’ll say, because it’s the least pleasant (I’d much rather work out even!), 30 minutes, or even 15 minutes, every day of throwing things out!
Awesome! There’s another FebruHABITs-er whose trying to be more organized and de-clutter…I told her if you want to get rid of stuff maybe you can pick a daily goal of getting rid of one thing you don’t need… 28 days… 28 unnecessary things GONE!
I want to take my vitamins every day – and read at least a portion of my daily bible reading with prayer, go swing dancing at least 1x week at Jamcellar and get to the gym at least 2x a week. Is that too much??? : ) I need to do all this!!
It’s not too much Jenn… if… you think that you can definitely accomplish it! What night(s) of the week are you hitting the gym and the jam cellar? And, if you’ve been finding it hard to get to the gym…do you go straight from work or before work? I know you have an odd schedule so it might be hard to find a set time to do things, but that’s usually the best… plan ahead and you should be AOK 🙂
I love it!
Spiritual: Daily devoted personal time with Jesus; I’m calling it my Coffe date with The Lord!
Health: Drinking 8, 8oz glasses of water daily- I’ve been managing 3-4 but then not making myself drink the rest! I’ve also been on No Cokes! Yeah!
Health: 3 times a week 60 minutes of cardio.
Personal: I am a grad student and I have a ton literally a ton of reading for my classes! So… 3 days a week read 1-2 chapters of school related material!
I’m so proud of you with the no Cokes! That is a HUGE accomplishment! Now…can you keep to that through another YW summer? 😉 Those all sound like specific, timely goals that you can totally attain if you just stick to it! I know you’re a visual person like me so get ’em on that calendar and start checking off the days as you go along…that way a week from now you can already start to feel like you’re accomplishing something!
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