This May I Will...
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themedalist
Posts: 3,212 Member
Spring is exploding all over the place and it's a beautiful sight to see!
Every day, there's something new. A bud that wasn't there before. Shrubs that are blooming. Chives poking up through the soil. And the Eastern Phoebe that builds her nest every year over the motion detector on my garage...she's back too!
I just love this time of year and I hope you do too. Surrounded by so much growth and renewal makes me believe that all things are possible. And all things are possible in us!
What's on the top of your to-do list this May? What healthy habit would you like to start or continue to work on this month?
If you are joining us for the first time, welcome! Let us know what your goal is and how we can help. And if you're joining us midway through the month, you don't have to wait for June to get started. Start now and you'll be well on your way toward your goal when June does get here. If you're looking for ideas, our list of previous challenges can help.
If it's useful, frame your goal along these lines:
1. My goal for this month (This May I will...")
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible)
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit?
6. What help do you need from us?
7. What does success look like to you at the end of May?
Let’s make May a terrific month!
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Posted a day early because tomorrow is my anniversary and I've got dinner plans.
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1. My goal for this month (This May I will...") I have become lazy when it comes to my meditation. I fall asleep at night to it but I have not been doing my day time meditation. This month I will do morning meditation.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal. I have the app Insight Timer and I will set a reminder.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit. The meditation time will go off and I will set an alarm on my phone.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible). Daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? I will mark a calendar and take note of my accomplishment.
6. What help do you need from us? Support and any tips.
7. What does success look like to you at the end of May? A calmer and more centered me.
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1. My goal for this month (This May I will...") go to sleep earlier (starting again with before midnight, or earlier) than I have been (have been... way after midnight for sure )
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: (perhaps getting some night time things done ahead of time)
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: (my husband is much better at getting to sleep earlier, I need to pay attention instead of using it as a cue to be by myself :bigsmile:)
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible): 5-6 days a week to start with.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? If it is early enough I'll read a bit, using my timer to know when stop. Maybe I ought to pick out a book that I only read at night before sleeping???
6. What help do you need from us? Your wonderful encouragement as individuals and as a group is always a blessing
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7. What does success look like to you at the end of May? An establishment of an earlier night time routine over the course of time. Feeling rested in the morning. Getting up earlier. I like the early morning hours, but it is hard to really enjoy them when I don't feel rested. Or I lose out on them them because I sleep in.
:flowerforyou:4 -
I have the same meditation goal as @PinkyPan1, except that I want to do it at night. I have benefited so much from making meditation a regular practice over the past year. I do it every morning for 10 minutes using the Calm app. Adding 10 minutes at night will relax me and should help me sleep better. I’ve become very protective of my sleep! I have seen what a difference more sleep has made in my life and I want to make sure I do what I can to get a good nights sleep!
1. My goal for May: evening meditation
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: 10 minutes of a favorited Daily Calm session.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit. After I take my shower, I will meditate.
4. How often will you do your new habit. Daily.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit?. I will give myself a star in my nightly journal entry.
6. What help do you need from us? Encouragement....What I always get from you!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of May? I’ll be interested to see if it helps my sleep. But even if it doesn’t, I’ve benefited from meditation and I know I’ll enjoy replaying some of my favorite Calm sessions.3 -
I'm going to be continuing my April goal of staying under my diary fat goal at least 3 days per week. I didn't really make it a habit yet.
1. This May I will stay under my fat goal at least 3 days per week
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal - I'll pre-log my food diary the night before (or earlier)
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit - finishing up by diary for the day in the evening while watching TV
4. How often will you do your new habit - I'll pre-log daily and stay under at least 3 days (going for daily, but don't want to make it too hard).
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? In my food notes, I'll give myself a check mark for pre-logging, and angel emoticon for staying under for the day, and a devil for a fail.
6. What help do you need from us? This thread you are all my accountability partners and I also appreciate the Encouragement you generously share
7. What does success look like to you at the end of May? I'll be in better control of my food diary and making better choices.
I really appreciate these monthly challenges because as I review former challenges, I'll be doing those as well as this month's challenge - daily yoga, prioritizing grading essays before other homework, sewing on a near daily basis, and keeping the surfaces in my house tidy.
Have a great MAY!5 -
I had my evening meditation session on May 1, but missed it last night. For a good reason! I went to be early and slept soundly for 7 hours. I feel great!5
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I'm going to be continuing my April goal of staying under my diary fat goal at least 3 days per week. I didn't really make it a habit yet.
I really appreciate these monthly challenges because as I review former challenges, I'll be doing those as well as this month's challenge - daily yoga, prioritizing grading essays before other homework, sewing on a near daily basis, and keeping the surfaces in my house tidy.
Have a great MAY!
I appreciate hearing this, @77tes and I’ve noticed the same thing. With a monthlong focus, new habits that are a good fit for us tend to stick. Not only are the monthly challenges easier for me to do than the weekly challenges, but I think they are more impactful. I’m still doing most of the monthly challenges I’ve focused on in the past. Still not as consistent on food logging but getting better. And I’ve finally turned the corner on getting consistent sleep. Yay!5 -
I so agree @themedalist about these monthly challenges. They are so helpful. Sometimes two months are necessary to nail down a habit (that's what I'm hoping about my food diary).
I'm glad you are doing better with sleep. This semester I've been doing pretty well sleeping, but then I don't have early classes at all, so the pressure of getting up early is off and I seem to sleep better (also it's been cool - who knows as the weather gets warmer).4 -
For May, I’m going to focus on my newly declared maintenance 4/25/19.
I will lift weights every other day & on alternate days do harder cardio (hills/ex bike/ maybe join gym for treadmill). Each day I will walk 10K steps & do a minimum of 60 mins of cardio/walking. If I’m too tired, I will do flat walks at slower pace.
These are not new- except for greater frequency of the wt lifting.
Doctor completely agrees with this plan.
I will monitor my average weekly weight & make changes as needed.
Goals: Average wt in May =< 153, great energy, good muscle/strength. Continued great health❣️4 -
I have been vacillating between two goals so I think I have May and June figured out. I spend way too much time on my iPad in the mornings so for May...
1. I will go outside every morning for 5 minutes and appreciate the new day.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: before going to bed I will put my binoculars and camera in my backpack and set it on my favorite chair where I spend too much time in the mornings.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: the backpack will be in my way when I go to sit down.
4. How often will I do my new habit? Every day that I’m home.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your new habit? I will have the pleasure of being outside, a place that I love, and may see something cool to photograph, and will inevitably pull a few weeds while I’m out there.
6. What help do you need from us? The usual amazing support and encouragement that this group provides.
7. What does success look like to you at the end of May? I will have spent time outside and hopefully will have some nice looking flowerbeds, nature photos, and I will feel more fit because I’m moving more in the mornings.
So far:
5/1 I was still figuring out my goal
5/2 I sat in the sun ( getting vitamin D) on a porch bench and caught up on old local newspapers which I was then able to recycle.
5/2 I drained our small yard pond, cleaned and refilled it.
5/3 I brought mealworms to the pair of bluebirds that are nesting in our yard and then took a few pictures.
Happy May!6 -
April avg wt 153
May 1 - 75m Lifted weights + 77 walks
May 2 - 18m moving around + 40 walks
May 3 - 80m lifted weights + 37 walks
May 4 - 261 m hiking (2,222’ elevation)
9.3 miles (PR)
May 5
May 6
May 7
Previous 30 day avg wt:3 -
Totally lost track of what day it was yesterday so my days are off. And I might need to find a trigger for my trigger. Forgot to set backpack on chair 🙄 but will get outside soon.5
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I didn't want to go out but at 11:00 I put on my shoes and went out to feed the bluebirds armed with camera and binoculars. I got a few photos that might be good but you never know for sure until they're downloaded. I was going inside when I decided to plant some seeds. However, to get to the rake I had to walk past one of my flowerbeds. There are some daylilies that I want to transplant so I grabbed my rake and the shovel. Then I noticed that the front bed had dandilions that were about to spread a million more seeds so I dug those up and pulled lots of maple saplings in that flowerbed. Long story short, I'm a bit ADHD when I'm outside. The planting and dividing will have to wait until later today or tomorrow.6
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Hi everyone! I'm late to the party again. Shocking, right? I'm sorry, but life has been a bit overwhelming and I've realized this weekend that during all the turmoil is when I need to stick to my routines the most. I went backwards last month and even missed my favorite challenge -- declutterfest! So bummed, but I will still have a declutterfest on my own when I have time.
I'm going to repeat my March goal this month.
1. In May I will journal every single bite, good or bad.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal prelog my work B, L and snacks; use the camera on my phone to capture serving info easily.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit Log it before I eat it. This will help me see if I really want it, depending on the calories and my daily allowance.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) Daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? Close my Food Diary at the end of the day. I love doing that. Gives me a feeling of satisfaction. I will also place a sticker on the day in my bullet journal.
6. What help do you need from us? Just be your awesome selves!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of May? Stickers on each day of my bullet journal. I should be down at least 3 lbs if I stay the course like I did in March. I will be feeling better because when I log, I make healthier choices.
So nice to see you all. I'm sorry for disappearing for a while. :flowerforyou:3 -
April avg wt 153
May 1 - 75m Lifted weights + 77 walks
May 2 - 18m moving around + 40 walks
May 3 - 80m lifted weights + 37 walks
May 4 - 261 m hiking (2,222’ elevation)
9.3 miles (PR)
May 5 77 mins of walking/stairs
May 6
May 7
Previous 7 day avg wt:2 -
So far my May goal has been going well. Last week I stayed under my fat goal ever day except for Sunday, so I exceeded my goal of 3 days per week.2
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I got my 5 minutes outside done but that was all. Got my hair done and then it rained the rest of the day. I stood in the garage a few minutes to listen to the rain on the roof😍5
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April avg wt 153
May 1 - 75m Lifted weights + 77 walks
May 2 - 18m moving around + 40 flat walks
May 3 - 80m lifted weights + 37 flat walks
May 4 - 261 m hiking (2,222’ elevation)
9.3 miles (PR)
May 5 77 mins of flat walking/stairs
May 6 149 mins flat walking + 80 mins wts
May 7
Previous 7 day avg wt: 153.89⬆️2 -
These are great habits to focus on in May! I like that we choose what works for us. It can be a carryover from a previous month, or something brand new. Whatever works best for us.
@nebslp, I love your goal of getting outside every morning! I’m doing the same thing. I’ve replaced my morning 15 minute treadmill walk with a walk through my woods. It’s just lovely this time a year!
Work is still crazy but our first annual report was submitted yesterday and the second annual report on a completely different project gets submitted in mid June. Then I shift to a more relaxed summer schedule. I’ll be here more and able to contribute more often. I’ve also decided I want to write 2 blog posts this summer. I think I have the blogs identified that take guest posts for the audience I have in mind. I’ve outlined both posts and this summer I will write!
I’m getting my evening meditation in most nights, but I need a stronger trigger. “After my shower” just doesn’t quite work. So I’m shifting it and tying it to a very entrenched evening habit I have —playing the guitar. Going to try that out and see if it’s a better fit.3
