Remembering to be grateful and inspired

Monday marked the start of #fallfreedom - a fitness and mindset challenged hosted by the spectacularly amazing Neghar Fonooni. Apart from challenges that are meant to help fill your life with gratitude and happiness, what I've found most inspiring is the community she's created, filled with women that mutually supportive and incredibly motivating. What else could you ask for? Well, I can only think of one thing - a challenge that for women and men, but which is just as welcoming and supportive.

In any case, here's what I've been up to these last few days.

Monday
Monday wasn't exactly 'fun' but it was definitely productive. My first dentist visit in over a year resulted in 2 fillings and a higher than expected bill, but on the plus side, I managed to schedule a vision test, close a bank account, and buy a few things from Walgreens on the same visit. I love being able to chain errands together. Work, Portuguese lessons, a workout with M and a warming home-cooked dinner made it a pretty perfect day.

The scheduled challenge today was to start a gratitude journal. I've already got one, so I guess I succeeded by default but my intention was to make the items more meaningful rather than just being "I'm grateful for food", because well, I am, but there are so many other things to be grateful for.

Tuesday
Having decided to head into the city office fairly last minute, the morning was rather more rushed that I would have liked. I forgot my travel mug, but the train journey in was made more bearable by a few corporate finance lectures (because yes, I study sometimes for fun).

I've just discovered Roti which is like a Chipotle clone but with middle-eastern cuisine. I still prefer Chipotle's but at least there are options open. Now to find some more clones with different cuisines available. I'd probably end up cooking even less than I do now if I did though.

The challenge today was to walk 3 miles which I ended up breaking up into 3 sessions: a 1.8 mile walk during a lull at work, a 0.7 mile walk from the train station to nowhere in particular while waiting for M to pick me up, then a stint on the elliptical while on a late night phone call. Still counts.

Wednesday
Hump day. Failed the challenge of waking up without hitting snooze this morning, but at least made the most of my day, starting off with a few stretches like I do every day. Lack of coffee marred my morning routine, but surprisingly I felt OK even with the caffeine withdrawals.

The rest of the day has been dedicated to work and with a workout slotted in just before lunch. Two small loaves of rye sourdough have just come out of the oven, and I have an interactive Portuguese session scheduled for later tonight.

A few days until the weekend but plenty of work and an important presentation to get through before I get there.