My November Challenge

November marks the beginning of the holiday season, which means that I am dreaming of turkey, stuffing, hot chocolate, whipped cream, and pretty much anything decadent and warm. This is when my physical activity really plummets because it's too dark and cold in the morning and too dark and cold at night. My main goals this November have to do with staying focused this holiday season:

• Lithe at least 4 times a week- Lithe Method is my new obsession. It is a cheerleading-cardio hybrid class. Think cheerleading, bootcamp, barre method, and pilates rolled into one!

• Get more sunlight- I am a firm believer in the power of some good ol' vitamin D to improve your health

• Make at least 3 new squash dishes- I looove roasted butternut squash but I want to branch out and experiment with some acorn squash and spaghetti squash

• Try a kettlebell workout- I have a kettlebell at home but I've never used it!

• Learn crow pose in yoga- I love yoga but I am not very good at it. This month I want to push myself to get this move down!

• Complete the Doyouyoga.com 30 Day Yoga Challenge- If you haven't seen the badge, I'm a MyYogaPro Ambassador which is a new project that doyouyoga.com has undertaken. I'm so excited for them to launch MyYogaPro, but in the meantime I want to take their 30 Day Yoga Challenge. 

• Live more mindfully- My boyfriend and I recently had this conversation about mindfulness and how the whole point is to be in the moment and believe that the present moment is the best moment of your life. I know I need to be more mindful of things because I spend way too much of my time hoping time will pass quicker and looking ahead to things to come rather than enjoying where I am right now.

October Goals Check-In:

• Successfully complete the Coursera course "Organizational Analysis"- 
• Incomplete (it was wayyyy too boring)

• Do yoga every day- 
• 15/31 days I'll try to beat this number in November!

• Make healthier choices- 
• Success!

• Drink 2 cups of green tea a day- 
• FAIL! I'll try to drink more

• Cook 3 crock pot meals- 
• Complete: 4/3! Extra credit!

• Read 2 books- 
• 1/2 books read; 50% not bad

• Stop buying (so many) unnecessary things- 
• Depends who you ask. I say SUCCESS!

• Start loving my body more- 
• Yes, slowly but surely.

What are your November goals?

My October Challenge

Like any changing of the season, fall makes me feel like I have the ability to change everything in my life. It feels like I can turn over a new leaf (pun intended) and start the projects that I've wanted to start and stop doing the things that I know are bringing me down. I've been on a self-improvement kick for a while now, but I feel like I've been doing it all half-heartedly. I'm ready to re-commit myself to my goals and start this season with a renewed sense of self-commitment. Here are some of the personal goals I will be working on this October:

• Successfully complete the Coursera course "Organizational Analysis"- I have yet to successfully complete a Coursera course and this one is 10 weeks long (on week 1/10 now, gulp)

• Do yoga every day- even if it's for 10 minutes! This app has re-sparked my love of yoga.

• Make healthier choices- You know, like maybe not choose the most deep-fried thing on the menu??? That's all I'm really asking of myself.

• Drink 2 cups of green tea a day- Massive health benefits!

• Cook 3 crock pot meals- Um dinner cooking all day so it's deliciously tender when I get home, why do I need to remind myself to do this?

• Read 2 books- I always read one chick-lit/ trashy book and one socially acceptable book. This month I will be reading Bossy Pants and The Undomestic Goddess.

• Stop buying (so many) unnecessary things- Aside from stressing out my finance-savvy boyfriend, I really do need to get a better grasp on my spending or it's going to become a problem. 

• Start loving my body more- Right now I'm a handful of pounds heavier than I'd like to be (not so much focused on a number, more so on how my body actually looks) and getting in better shape is really important to me, but I also need to stop with so much of the scrutiny and self-hate that has been bouncing around in my head lately.

Does anyone have the same goals as me? What are your goals?