Happy May!  I feel like this year is flying by!  The warmer weather is finally here in New England, and I’m anxious to get outside and get the kids off their devices and spending more time outside as well.  Unfortunately, they spent a little more screen time than I would have liked this winter.

So far this year, I have been taking on a new wellness challenge each month.  For the month of May, I have decided to challenge myself to get outside a minimum of 15 minutes each day and do some form of exercise, whether it be walking, gardening, mowing the lawn, playing with the kids, etc.  I’m going to challenge my kids to do the same.

My goal is to do this 6 days a week, from Sunday through Friday.  I will give myself Saturdays off because I’m a big believer in taking one day a week off from everything (and for me that day is Saturday.)  I think we all need a day each week to recharge.  I will probably end up going outside and exercising anyway, but without the pressure of having to do it and having to document it.  (I always think it’s more fun doing something when I don’t have to do it.)  I do take these challenges seriously and make them a priority in my life for the month, so Monday – Friday I do feel like I have to do it.

If you are interested in joining this challenge with me, I would welcome the company.  I created this excel spreadsheet to track my progress:  May Wellness Challenge Log Print

Or, you can right click on this image below, click “Save Image As…” to save it to your computer.  You will then be able to print it out to track your progress.

In the event of a day with nasty weather ALL day long, I plan to follow an exercise video of some sort (Yoga, Tae Bo, Tae Chi, etc.) from my video collection or get one from the library, or even play Just Dance with the kids on the Wii.  But hopefully each day will have at least a 15-minute stretch of time without rain so we can get the benefits of sunshine and fresh air!  I know I certainly feel much better after I have been outside.

Today started off rainy, but by the time the kids got off the bus, it was sunny and 70 degrees, so we took the dog for a walk and played basketball together for almost an hour!   The kids are on-board with this challenge and excited to participate.  We plan to reward ourselves at the end of the month if we are all able to successfully achieve our goal.

Happy May!!  May your days be filled with fresh air, sunshine, and all the good things nature has to offer! Enjoy! 🙂