Last 90 days Challenge 2019

Last 90 Days Challenge

10.1.19-12.31.19

Do you see the difference?!

These before and after pictures aren't the best, I know. 
They aren't in the same location or with the same lighting.
But I put on the same clothes and tried to re-create the picture on the left to have some kind of visual of the impact of this challenge!

I discovered the #last90days challenge 2 years ago, from one of my favorite people/authors, Rachel Hollis

That first 90 days was a serious struggle lol. 

If you are new to this, the goal of this challenge is to END your year strong,
instead of starting out on January 1st trying to figure it out with all the new year motivation then failing and giving up mostly by March/April.

I loved the idea! 

It's pretty simple too - there are 5 actions that you work for daily that Rachel calls
the "5 to thrive":

I went into the challenge in 2018 hyper focused on one of the 5: moving my body every day. 

I committed to going to the gym on specific days each week and I did it (not perfectly, but more consistent than I had before!). 

The other 4 didn't go as great, but I did try every day. 

I realized last year that this was not as easy as I thought. 

I spent the next 10 months of 2019 "practicing" the ones I was terrible at throughout the year: 

* drinking more and more water daily (working up to half of my body weight in water in ounces)

* figuring out what it would take to get me up an hour earlier for this non-morning person/chronic snoozer

* evaluating what I needed to give up for my food/drink item.

By the time October rolled around, I was ready and excited! 

Here were my 5 to Thrive for 2019: 

* Wake up an hour earlier

For me, this was 6am. 

I had gotten into a bad habit over the summer of sleeping in until 7am. Since it didn't get darker until later, I was staying up later and I needed to reset my" brain clock" anyway. For me to be really productive, I like to get up before 6am, but this was a good place to start.  

* Daily Gratitude - write it down!

This may seem silly or not a big deal, but it really is. Your daily gratitude items aren't supposed to be deep thoughts or some grandiose thing. These are small, daily things/moments. Something that happened to you the day before, that morning, or something that will happen that day! I do 5 things - but even if you write ONE it will change how you view your day! 

When you know tomorrow morning you're going to be writing down something you were grateful for, you start looking for those things throughout the day. When you show gratitude for the things you have, you automatically create joy for yourself! How much of a better day would you have if you created that joy?! 

* Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water

Last year, I thought I was going to drown in the water I was drinking (80 daily ounces - when I used to be proud of myself for drinking two bottles! And that was on a day when I worked out, so one of those bottles was during my workout. A good day without an intense workout was usually only 20ish ounces). 

I thought it was impossible to make that a daily practice because it was just so much water! Turns out, the more you drink - the more you want it! I rarely drink anything else anymore. I may have a sweet tea on occasion or a ginger ale with dinner, and on an even rarer occasion, I'll have a Coke for the caffeine but even then I can hardly finish it. 

When you're not drinking anything else, it is so much easier to drink all the water! 

* Move your body in some way (walking / yoga / workout) for 30 min.

This one was a struggle this year. Read more below on why. 

* Give up one food/drink item or category

Here's my big one: 

I gave up alcohol. 

Yep, instead of Sober October - I did Sober End of the Year. 

I told you I did this challenge last year - at that time, I considered giving up alcohol - but quickly talked myself out of it because why would I do that when all the fun things are happening in the last 90 days?? There are a few events I normally go to, Halloween, our annual sales meeting with work, and then holidays with holiday parties (Thanksgiving AND Christmas)! So last year, I chose something else in the food category and told myself it was no problem, I would just do a dry month at some point in 2019. 

...well...that didn't happen. 

At the beginning of every month when I would think about trying it, I made an excuse. 

Whether it was someone else's birthday, my birthday, vacation, weddings, events... I made an excuse why I couldn't do that month because each of these events would have alcohol and I couldn't not drink, right?? 

I also wasn't going to commit and not go all in.

So then in September 2019, I realized what had happened and that I had made
dumb excuses every. single. month!

I knew what I had to do. So I made a commitment and on 10.1.19 - I was all in! 

So how did it go?? 

I was by no means perfect in all 5 areas. 

I missed days writing down my daily gratitude. 

I overslept. 

I didn't drink all my water some days.

But I went in with a goal to give up alcohol for those 90 days completely and I did it! 

Not one drink. 

One of my main reasons for giving up alcohol was to honestly make sure I could. Since I hadn't made the decision to commit any other month, I was honestly nervous that maybe there was a problem.

I also realized I had an unhealthy coping relationship with drinking. If I had a hard day, or was frustrated at someone - I needed a drink. If I didn't want to deal with someone I had to be around, I needed a drink. Even just to "relax", I felt like I needed a drink. So I wanted to learn to cope with things - without a drink.  

...and I was pretty excited about not having a hangover! 

(they get so much worse the older you get!)

I had NO idea how much I would learn about myself.

The usuals people talk about - skin, sleep, mind - all improved through those 90 days which is great. 

Those weren't really my focus though.

 But let me tell you... 

- honestly - 

none of these "feel good" things came in month one. NONE. 

MONTH ONE SUCKED. 

I can't tell you how many times I almost gave up so many times during month one because:

I did not feel great.

AT 

ALL. 

Not that I was feeling under the weather from a cold, or allergies...  

I truly think that my body did not know how to function or process this extended period of time without alcohol!

Everyone kept asking me (in this order):

"Are you pregnant?!"
"Why aren't you drinking?!" 

 "Do you feel so much better/ clearer?!" 

NO. 

I didn't. 

I felt foggy (like brain fog), clumsy and annoyed. 

So, on top of feeling worse than I had thought, I was around so many people drinking! 

I went to 6 events - SIX - in just October alone -and that's not counting Halloween night!

If I hadn't had the thought that I needed to complete these 90 days just to
PROVE TO MYSELF that I could, I would have cracked. 

It does get better though!

Once I made it over the month one hump,
it was like all the good things started flowing in!  

My mind was clearer. 

The "NO" got so much easier. 

And bonus: I noticed weight coming off! 

What did I learn??

In most social circles, it is extremely odd for someone to not have at least one drink. 

BUT

It is 100% ok for someone to make the choice not to. 

Sounds silly to say because you think, "well duh, of course it is ok!" But I know before this journey, when someone else I was with was choosing not to drink, I was guilty of my initial reaction being: 

"You're not drinking? Awww why not?"

{Like it was some kind of disappointment or that they would be less fun.

Seriously makes me cringe just thinking of me saying that now.}

That became one of my own fears - that others would view me as automatically less fun because I wasn't drinking! {Or worse: that I would actually be less fun}

Because I got the same questions:

"You're not drinking? Awww why not?"

So I challenge you - next time you're with a group 

and someone says they're not drinking right now, or that they're doing a dry/sober month (or more) - 

don't make it weird.

don't quiz them or make them feel bad. 

ok?

Cheers their Sprite, soda water, or regular water and carry on! 

This incredible journey impacted me in so many ways - mentally, financially and physically.

 Mentally: 

-  I realized how much I actually depended on "liquid courage". 

Those of you that know me in person know that I am not a shy person. 

However, apparently I had grown accustomed to having a drink in my hand at social events and get-togethers. 

When I didn't have a drink to carry around, I literally did not know what to do with my hands (yes, like Ricky Bobby) and then I went into this weird shell! 

I still like to have the crutch of a glass in my hand but I don't need alcohol anymore!

For any of you thinking of trying this, here's a tip:

{TIP}: I noticed if I carried around some kind of non-alcoholic drink (water, Sprite, ginger ale, tea, coke) in a bar glass - I felt better! I had something in my hands AND people asked less questions!  

I was not above asking for Sprite or ginger ale in a champagne glass or Coke or tea in a rocks glass.

- I definitely did not need alcohol to have fun. 

A comment was made during an evening with few ladies drinking and we all got to laughing. I ended up laughing the hardest and one of them said, "And you're not even drinking!" That proved to me I wasn't any less fun or having any less fun without the alcohol!

- I also learned what people I actually like to hang out with. 

Any "late night" I had during these last 90 days (and they were rare) was because I genuinely wanted to be around those people. There were social situations that were easy to avoid because - sober, it just wasn't appealing to stick around. Any other time, I would have thought I was participating or attending because of the people - but it was really only the alcohol. Made life a lot easier too once I learned that! 

Financially:

- My bank account was SUPER happy!

Y'all - do you know how expensive it actually is to drink?! Especially at restaurants!

The first time Andrew and I went out to eat, he thought there was something wrong with the bill! I wish I would've tracked all the money I actually saved!    

Physically: 

- I lost FIFTEEN lbs! 

15! 

From doing nothing else but not drinking! And I can tell even more in the inches lost and how my closes fit. THIS was definitely fun to watch. I would have NEVER thought this much weight would come from just abstaining from alcohol. (I guess that's another sign I was drinking a little too much? Or maybe it was just 12 years of no break... either way - I know my body was happy about it!) 

Just like in all things, to break a habit or get through something hard, 

You must (and I mean MUST) know your WHY and be committed to it.

That focus is what helped me make it and what can help YOU make it through any struggle you're trying to push through!

I'm gonna switch gears for just a sec...

Wanna know the one area I failed miserably in? 

* Move your body in some way (walking / yoga / workout) for 30 min.

Whew. Can you imagine how much more weight I would have lost if I had made time for this too?? 

Crazy that it was the same area I put so much focus on last year! 

I could probably count on one hand how many actual workouts I did during the last 90 days. Definitely not optimal - but I felt I needed to put my focus on the one hard thing so that I could achieve it and I don't regret that. 

I didn't give up on "moving my body" completely though! While I knew I wasn't taking time for the gym every day, I tried to make little changes like parking a little farther way at the store or walking around my office every hour or two. 

The bright side is: this was one of my goals in 2018 that I achieved, so I know it's possible - I just didn't make it a priority like I did last year.

While I wish I had, I am not going to beat myself up over it because I KNOW I am capable of moving my body every day. 

I am just even more armed with the tools & knowledge to make it happen the next go around! 

And that's it!

Now that you know all the details on exactly how the last 90 days works, who is in for trying it mid year?!

I'm thinking April - June would be the perfect time to check in with yourself, goals you set at the beginning of the year and keep any momentum going! 

Leave me a comment here or on my post on Instagram if you'd be in for a mid-year challenge! 

 Happy Tuesday!

I'd love to meet you/interact with you!

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