Wellness In Progress: February 2025

[itsfi]

Hey there, BIC! The February BWell board is up!  🎉  For a brief description of the wellness activities listed in the squares, check out this link --> February 2025 BWell Activities.  

If you're new or this is the first time participating, welcome!! The activities change from month-to-month, some reflecting seasonal shifts and others made to switch things up and add a new take or approach to self-care into our efforts.

Practicing wellness is a process, one that takes time and effort. Sometimes it's about finding what works for you, while other times, it's all about hitting your stride and maintaining your routine. We have our good days ... and our bad ones. Self-care can be a very personal effort - what works for one person may not work for someone else. And, that's okay. It doesn't hurt to have some support and encouragement along the way. Or just knowing that there are others working towards wellness. Wellness takes work. Let's do the work together, BIC!

▶️  How To Play - There are many different ways to take part in this wellness challenge. A few are mentioned in the spoiler below, but if you have a way to approach wellness bingo that works best for you, go for it!

Spoiler

• Treat it like a game of BINGO, except in this BIC-version, you are your own moderator and can select which activities you want to engage, choosing at random or thoughtfully deciding which activity/square you want to undertake.
  
  
• You can aim to do activities in a way that earns yourself a BINGO -  5 activities across the same row, down the same column or across diagonally from upper left corner to lower right, and/or upper right corner to lower left. OR
  
  
• You can just go about your day picking one activity to engage in and work towards doing all the activities on this B Well card (but see notes on making adjustments below).
  
  
• You can choose to go row by row or column by column each week. Thank you @Mellmars1185 , for sharing this approach!

⚠️  Make Adjustments As Needed - We are all at different stages of our wellness / self-care journey. While it can be good to challenge ourselves, sometimes, it's best to take make adjustments. I'm not at expert at this at all, and if there's an activity that is not something you are ready for, or one that you should not engage in, make the adjustments you need to, or just skip that square altogether.

• Be Safe. Consider weather conditions and your health and physical condition before engaging in any activities listed. For activities you're unsure of, especially the physial ones, before starting an activity, consult with your physician or health care professional before make any adjustments, if and as appropriate.

• Duration For Activities. As you will see, some activities include in parenthesis a time period. These are arbitrary and should be taken as a suggestion. If you are able to safely spend more time performing the activty, go for it. If it's better to start out with a shorter time period, do so. If you're starting out or are aware of certain conditions that may make it more challenging to engage in the activity listed, please discuss with your physician or health care provider before starting, and adjust accordingly.

Looking forward to another month of working together towards wellness! 

[Samtian]

@itsfi Haha that's kinda what I meant. I don't do as good as the long months haha. 

[PrettyPaint]

I was able to do the top row (more or less) this week. I took a little time to play piano and read, I checked in with a couple of friends to see how they were doing, and I burned my lovely "By the Fireplace" candle for some aromatherapy time. I also purchased some matcha powder and have been enjoying some hot matcha almond milk lattes (and some iced ones). For exercise, I did a HIIT workout this morning (and did weights for the rest of the week). I may need to take a rest day tomorrow because my legs are super sore. 

[CynthieLu]

Oooh yum, matcha from the comfort of your own home @PrettyPaint. Do you mix anything sweet with your matcha tea?

[PrettyPaint]

@CynthieLu The kind I purchased is actually pre-sweetened, so it's definitely sweet enough with just almond milk. I probably could have purchased something a little healthier, but I purchased the flavored kinds from David's Tea. 🙂

[CynthieLu]

I'm Intrigued it sounds good! @PrettyPaint I do prefer to sweeten my matcha, I'm addicted to sugar 🙈

I don't have David's Tea where I am, they sell flavoured Matcha? 

[PrettyPaint]

@CynthieLu Yup. I ordered pistachio, cherry blossom, pear, marshmallow, and vanilla. They all have sugar but the vanilla one. I don't have David's Tea by me either (I think they are in Canada), but they still shipped to me. 🙂

[CynthieLu]

That's awesome!! @PrettyPaint Your flavors picks sound delicious. I think the Cherry really sounds really good!. I have only had plain matcha or strawberry, I didn't know you could get it in so many flavors. 😍

[itsfi]

Woohoo!!! Nicely done @PrettyPaint! That's a BINGO!!! 🙌 Ohhh yeaaaahhhh!

HIIT workouts are no joke, and weights, too? Brava!!! 👏👏 I'm feeling sore just thinking about it, lol. A rest day is definitely in order; in fact, that's a self-care activity too! Ooouh, I was thinking about making matcha almond milk this morning; I feel like I haaaave to make some now. Do you have a preference for it cold or hot?

[PrettyPaint]

@itsfi I took a "kind of" rest day (just 30 minutes on the elliptical). I figured it would be helpful to work out the soreness. 

Honestly, I like matcha both hot and cold. In the spring/summer, I tend to opt for iced. It's still pretty wintery here, though, so I've mostly been drinking it hot. Do you have a preference? 

[itsfi]

I like matcha both hot and cold @PrettyPaint, but when it's iced, I prefer just the matcha and water, no milk, no sweetener. When hot, I like it as plain tea, or matcha latte with almond milk, lightly sweetened occasionally. If it's sweetened I'll usually use agava syrup. 

[CynthieLu]

Thank you for another month of encouragement to hit these healthy goals @itsfi 🙏💝

My new years resolutions are going strong. I'm trying to hit a minimum of 3 days a week of exercise and stretching. Journaling helps me keep track of these. I try to write something encouraging to myself once a week and be kind. So far it's going great! A lot better than last year's efforts at this time.

I am having a childhood favorite meal tonight with my family. A dish with breaded flattened chicken fried, then covered in salsa and Monterey Jack cheese and baked. We serve it with boiled potatoes and the sauce from the chicken with the potatoes it is just right.  You could have any thing with it but potatoes are just what we prefer. 

I've been on a skin care focus since the new year, making time for my LED mask ( soo relaxing) and some other favorite masks. Carving out time for self care that I enjoy has been very mood boosting for me. 

[Samtian]

@CynthieLu Sounds delish! Kudos for still going strong on your skin care focus!

[CynthieLu]

I have so much of this and that in my beauty stash. I'm determined to use it this year. 💪 Thank you! @Samtian 

[itsfi]

@CynthieLu, childhood favorites are so fun to have. Nice work on keeping on top of your resolutions! 👍

[PrettyPaint]

@CynthieLu Mmmmm that meal sounds delicious! I hope you and your family enjoy!

[CynthieLu]

@PrettyPaint @itsfi 

It's a favorite and still as good as I remember 🤩

 

 

 

 

[PrettyPaint]

@CynthieLu Mmmmmmm that looks delicious. Thanks for the pics! 🙂

[CynthieLu]

I can confirm, it was tasty! 😁 @PrettyPaint 

[itsfi]

The weather was better this week and I took the opportunity to be outdoors when I could. 

And, we're walking ...

Week 3 self-care activities marked with an orange xo in the upper right hand corner of the wellness squares.

• Get Outdoors (remember sunblock): With the sun out and staying out a little longer, I squeezed in a couple of winter walks whenever I could, in the early morning and evenings. And, yes, I remembered my SPF, reaching for LIGHTSAVER Tinted - Activated Mineral Face Sunscreen Broad Spectrum - SPF 33 1.69 oz / 50 ml and COOLA Scalp & Hair Sunscreen & Color Protection Mist with SPF 30 before I went out. I've been tinted sunscreen on the weekends and will go over a few, including, but not limited to, this Lightsaver one on the National SPF Day ☀️ later this month. 

• Practice Gratitude: I turned one of my walks this week into a gratitude walk, using the time to focus on people and things I'm grateful for.  

• Mask Time: With scalp care from the 2025 Skincare Check-In Challenge on my mind, I followed up Vegamour GRO Scalp Detox Clarifying Treatment for Dry, Flaky, Oily Scalp 3 fl oz/60 ml with shampoo, conditioner and the tried-and-true Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Hair Mask 8 oz/ 237 mL (gratis)

• Quiet Time - Meditate - Journal - Breathe: @Shosh85 mentioned breathing exercises last month maybe (?) and it stuck with me. I decided to use my quiet time to try some breathing exercises this week. I usually take a deep breath - or two or three (if I remember to) - before a significant or stressful activity or it I find myself agitated, annoyed or irritated by someone or something, or to relax or during a massage, but I rarely just focus on breathing exercises as a mindfulness or self-care practice. It was different, for sure, not really focusing on anything other than my breath; to be fair, there were several times during the few minutes I devoted to it where I caught myself doing something else, like rolling my neck or shoulders or stretching out my arms. Those are not bad things to do but I do want to try the breathing exercise again and be more intentional about just really digging into the breathing exercises, without the multi-tasking. 😬 That'll be a challenge.

• Have a healthy meal: I made a batch of vegetable soup earlier this month and put some in the freezer for another day. I set out a container in the fridge to thaw earlier in the week, and added some leftovers from the chicken I roasted earlier in the week and cauliflower "rice" to make it more like a hearty stew, topping it off with half an avocado. A quick and easy, warm, comfy, filling, tasty, and healthy meal. 😋

• Hydrate: I'm getting back on and staying on track with my water intake. This week was a good week, for the most part - I hit my minimum goal and was able to reach or get close to my stretch goal for my water intake a couple of day this week as well. 

[Samtian]

@itsfi 😖 why would you ruin that with yuckycado....why 😅   Fabulous job on everything else!!! 😄 

[itsfi]

hahahahahaha! 

@Samtian, I think your autocorrect is acting up again - "yuckycado?" 😲  I'm suuuuuure you meant avocaDO! 🥑 

😂🤣😂🤣 As I was posting this check-in, one of the thoughts that ran through my mind was "ohhh, that avocado topper is going to be samtian's *favorite*!!!" I'm thinking you've requested no avocaDO in your Hello Fresh meals?