*Lindsay’s Note: This is a guest post is from my friend AJ at Confessions of A Fat Girl. You have probably read about her before on my site before because she is awesome. So awesome that I asked her if she wanted to write a guest post on being awesome. So here it is! You can read more about AJ in the contributors section here. This post is so fun I just want to give AJ a big hug. Enjoy!
Since Lindsay is off being a new mom and stuff, she asked me I’d be interested in guest blogging for her.
“But your majesty,” I said (she makes me call her that – it’s soooo embarrassing), “I’m kind of the physical antithesis of fit.”
“Oh, but AJ,” she replied, “my blog is also about being awesome!”
And that’s when I knew. I knew I could guest post for Lindsay’s blog.
“Say no more, your majesty. I got this,” I told her. I mean, I know exactly how to be awesome, after all.
1. Sleep. It’s pretty likely you’re not getting enough of it. Being tired makes you cranky and being cranky is not awesome. Did you know it also improves your memory, lengthens your life, enhances your mental acuity and even curbs inflammation?!
2. Get outside. I’m not going to tell you to jog or even power-walk (although, feel free and hats off to you if you do), but a little fresh air goes a long, long way. Consider that you get a lot of Vitamin D being out there in the world and Vitamin D deficiency can be linked to osteoporosis in your older years as well as higher blood pressure. But at a base level, you just feel awesome when you’ve been cooped up and step out into some fresh air!
3. Make plans with friends. And I don’t mean “I’ll meet you for a bite after work.” Find some kind of local adventure and recruit three or four friends to join you for it. I recently joined three girlfriends to create and share a Google spreadsheet of field trip like activities we want to try such as museum visits, cooking classes, etc. We did a lot of these kinds of things this year (i.e. a Chocolate Tour of Beverly Hills we discovered) and it’s so fun to diversify my weekends with this kind of adventure!
From said tour – Teuscher Chocolates in Beverly Hills.
4. Hug people. If you’re not a hugger, I’m gonna be blunt – I feel a little sorry for you. Hugs are powerful, healing forces. You never know what kind of day someone’s had. Maybe a good, firm hug will turn it all around. Maybe hugging them will turn your whole day around. Human contact, man. It’s good stuff.
5. Shut off our devices! Read a book, bake, cook, watch TV, have a drink… But really do those things. Put the phone down. Shut the laptop. Flip your iPad over. Do it for 30 minutes a few days a week. Get brave – do it for an hour or do it every day. You wouldn’t believe how it changes things.
6. Share your woes. Seriously. Not comfortable calling up a friend just to vent? Don’t wanna tarnish a nice dinner with complaints? That’s fine. Here’s what I recommend – find your “tribe.” Find those three or four or five trusted confidants and start a private Facebook group. Give it a nickname. Make it a safe place to swap ideas and frustrations. Share your triumphs and your troubles. It’s a lovely way to make social media work for you.
7. Eat Healthy and Exercise. I’m gonna throw this in there as rebuff anyone who calls me a hypocrite later. Do you need to be a gluten-free raw-food vegan? Only if that makes you happy. All I’m sayin’ is, find your bliss. There is a good, strong sense of reward that comes when you know you’re in control of your health this way. And I assume Lindsay could tell you more about the endorphins that come from regular exercise. Or something. Like I said, Lindsay can tell you…
Seven things right there that I think will make anyone more awesome. I’m not a credentialed life coach or psychologist. I’m just a person who learns really well from experience so take it as you will.
One more thing that is awesome ? I totally just guest-posted on a health and fitness blog. Never thought I’d say that. So thanks to Lindsay, her Royal Highness, the Queen of Fit & Awesome, for inviting me!
(I thought of one more awesome thing – Lindsay’s sense of humor. Thank goodness.)
That’s me on the right with Lindsay and our friend Anne on the left.
YES. Especially the part about doing things with friends. And the part about turning things off. I spent last week off of Facebook other than the blogger group and I loved it. I really need to do it more often…gained so much time back and interacted with people on a much better level. So I could be more awesome.
I agree! I would like to learn to unplug a bit more myself. AJ is so wise 🙂
Wise?! Hahahahaha….. I’m just drunk.
AJ, you ARE so AWEsome! This is a great list, a life-style list; yes, and an awesome list. One of those kind of things you want to keep in mind, on days when you’re just kinda blah.
Thank you, Ann! I was pretty pleased with myself. 😉 LOL