Fitober

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am on an intense journey to continually work towards a mentally, physically and spiritually healthier me. It started about two years ago after a series of major life changes (graduation from college and completion of a masters program, moving back in with my parents, then a year later joining TFA moving to a new city and living alone for the first time ever) led to me taking on a whole lot of stress and new responsibilities and forgetting to take care of myself in the process. One night in October of 2012, I was home for the weekend and my parents asked me to meet them for dinner at which point they had the intervention that I think actually saved my life. They forced me to take a minute and tell myself the truth: I wasn't happy and only I could do what it took to fix that. So the very next day I took the first step to making things better.

I know it's cliche and nobody believes people when they say it, but this journey really isn't about losing weight. It's about learning how to better manage stress, it's about having more energy to continue to work and make my life goals and dreams come true, it's about loving MYSELF no matter what the world has to say about how I look, dress and act.

Each year September is the hardest month for me to make it through: whether I'm in my student role or my teacher role it always means adjusting to a new schedule and figuring out the work, sleep and workout routines that are going to get me through the semester or year. Therefore, in honor of the usual dip in consistent working out and increase in quick, "cheat" meals, and an unstable sleep schedule,  I have dubbed October: Fitober in order to give myself a push back onto the right track.

This Fitober I have three 30-day Fitness Challenges on top of my regularly scheduled 30-45 min cardio workouts (3-5 days a week):

As well as a meditation challenge in which I will use one of three guided meditation apps by Meditation Oasis to help me remain calm and focused, especially as October also usually marks the beginning of assignment due dates and ramped up workloads for courses.

Even though October technically doesn't start until Wednesday, I am starting all challenges today because I hate starting things in the middle of the week. If you want to join (click the pics above to enlarge them and really take a look) leave a comment and we can all motivate and encourage each other as we go along. #FitoberStartsNow!