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March Mindfulness Challenge 2025
baconslave
Posts: 7,041 Member
Life is...well....it's LIFE, isn't it? It can be good. It can also be busy, frantic, and sometimes, downright chaotic. We are pulled so many directions but so many situations and distractions. When do we have time to breathe, let alone live in the moment?
So this month, I think it would be excellent to challenge ourselves to incorporate mindfulness into our journey to health. Plus, it works with the whole alliteration thing.
Morwenna Ferrier (writer for the Guardian) defines the fad-term "mindfulness" this way: "The whole ethos of mindfulness is to encourage people to live in the moment. The theory goes that we are so busy trying to block out past worries and anticipate future ones that we rarely concentrate on enjoying what we are doing at the precise moment we are doing it. Devotees claim mindfulness can be applied to everything from walking and running to sex and eating." http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/23/mindful-eating-how-to-get-more-from-your-meals
But I challenge that it isn't only about enjoyment. It's about AWARENESS. That's how we diagnose the elusive issue we carry, the sneaky ones that fly under our radar, but continue to throw a wrench into our efforts. So much about success in weight loss and health is about healing our dysfunctional relationships with food and other things in our lives, so we are free from the impetus of stress and emotions that often spurs us to sabotage ourselves.
So in that vein, the challenge is to practice some form of mindfulness by pausing and observing what happens in our heads and bodies when we eat or exercise, to be aware. And maybe then we can enjoy our journey more and discover any hang-ups we've missed and lock them down.
And, of course, being mindful of the Low-Carb Basics:
Planning ahead!!!
Staying under carbs
Staying under calories
Logging and measuring
Getting in exercise/movement if that's one of your goals
Keeping an eye on electrolyte levels
Getting enough water
Planning ahead!!! Oh, wait. I said that already? Yes, I frickin' did. Because you must! "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
So. Let us know where you'd like to apply mindfulness this month, to whichever food or fitness or health area is applicable to your life.
But anyone who doesn't want to mess with "mindfulness techniques" and just wants to carry on what they were doing on the challenge last month, feel free to join, too. Paying attention to what we are doing is being mindful anyway.
So this month, I think it would be excellent to challenge ourselves to incorporate mindfulness into our journey to health. Plus, it works with the whole alliteration thing.
Morwenna Ferrier (writer for the Guardian) defines the fad-term "mindfulness" this way: "The whole ethos of mindfulness is to encourage people to live in the moment. The theory goes that we are so busy trying to block out past worries and anticipate future ones that we rarely concentrate on enjoying what we are doing at the precise moment we are doing it. Devotees claim mindfulness can be applied to everything from walking and running to sex and eating." http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/23/mindful-eating-how-to-get-more-from-your-meals
But I challenge that it isn't only about enjoyment. It's about AWARENESS. That's how we diagnose the elusive issue we carry, the sneaky ones that fly under our radar, but continue to throw a wrench into our efforts. So much about success in weight loss and health is about healing our dysfunctional relationships with food and other things in our lives, so we are free from the impetus of stress and emotions that often spurs us to sabotage ourselves.
So in that vein, the challenge is to practice some form of mindfulness by pausing and observing what happens in our heads and bodies when we eat or exercise, to be aware. And maybe then we can enjoy our journey more and discover any hang-ups we've missed and lock them down.
And, of course, being mindful of the Low-Carb Basics:
Planning ahead!!!
Staying under carbs
Staying under calories
Logging and measuring
Getting in exercise/movement if that's one of your goals
Keeping an eye on electrolyte levels
Getting enough water
Planning ahead!!! Oh, wait. I said that already? Yes, I frickin' did. Because you must! "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
So. Let us know where you'd like to apply mindfulness this month, to whichever food or fitness or health area is applicable to your life.
But anyone who doesn't want to mess with "mindfulness techniques" and just wants to carry on what they were doing on the challenge last month, feel free to join, too. Paying attention to what we are doing is being mindful anyway.
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Replies
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I love this!
I think being consistent with logging ALL my food has been really good for helping me be more mindful of what I'm eating. Splurging for premium so I can track net carbs has also been helpful along those lines. I want to continue logging every day.
March SW: 193.2
Logged all my food and exercised today!1 -
I need mindfulness - my job is utter chaos right now and anything I can do to stop and even acknowledge how I am feeling is what I need. I’m tired of reacting and never slowing down to find the right solution to a problem. Same goes with food. I have 2 seconds to go grab food and I just grab whatever. This month is all about getting back on keto and changing some bad habits.2
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I lost exactly 0 lbs in February
Last sunday I weighed at 181.4. Then we decided to have a "cheat meal" i lied.to myself and told myself id be fine. I could just pick right back up Monday.
And i did. But Monday night i gave in again...and tuesday , Wednesday etc. So here i am weighing in at 185 today a gain of 3.5 lbs and exactly where i was beginning of February.
Im getting a handle back on this thing. I cant derail myself any further.
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I need some mindfulness in my life so let’s do this. I’ll continue to make protein a priority and start to watch my carbs more closely. Besides continuing my strength training, I need to get back into my daily walks. I’ve been feeling lazy but it will benefit my mind and get my pups some good training and exercise.2
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I agree mindfulness = awareness for me. I've been good about logging breakfast and lunch but not dinner. That needs to change for March. I also want to get back outside for afternoon walks. Really need the weather to be above freezing for that.1
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Here. I'm not logging as fastidiously as I should be. So I need to be more present and less fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants. So here we go.2
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Weight training and mobilize class yesterday plus completed my entire food diary, great day. Lots of water and a walk today.1
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Better logging is getting done albeit slowly. Activity-wise I'm still in my own way.
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I missed one day of logging last week but happy with how consistently I've done it overall.
I came to the end of a 3-month MS-specific exercise program subscription so I will need to be extra careful with accountability/tracking. We had Friday checkins there for exercise. I might do it in my Bullet Journal.
Last week and this week are extremely full so I'll need to be gracious with myself but try to stay on point with nutrition and exercise-to-tolerance.
March SW: 193.2
Today: 192
I'm very happy I finally hit a new low weight for the first time in 3 weeks. (I started at 198.8 on Jan 25, really kicked in to keto one month ago.) I might start measuring/weighing my food, too, to help with my progress.
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LW 185
CW 184
Respectable.
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Logging is going very well, increased activity is next :)
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