Witness the Fitness!

The time for New Year's Resolutions may be past, but really, who gets started in January, anyway?  It's dark, cold, and dreary in most places (and that's certainly the case here in Reno, Nevada!) and it takes twice as much willpower to get moving under those conditions.  In May, however, the weather is perfect - sunny and warm outside, but not hot, with inviting breezes and blooming flowers all around...who wouldn't want to be doing something outdoors?  It's inspired us here at Jimmy Beans Wool to start what we hope will become a yearly tradition: our very own Fitness Challenge!

Now, we all know that most activities (especially ones that may require extra motivation) are best done with a partner, so that was our first step: we teamed up with workmates to make sure each of us had support, accountability, and continual motivation toward our goals.  We discussed what might be reasonable goals for a one-month period, and how best to track our progress.  Some of us wanted to be more active, others to improve our diets.  Along with our partners, we wrote our goals on a board so we can track our progress - and we're expecting big results!

Some of the biking gals...now, Jeanne, your bike doesn't exactly count as exercise...

For our first partner feature, let's check in with Bethany and Rachel.  Since they both love to cycle and don't live too far from work, they decided to make it a goal to bike to work two or three days every week.  So far, they've made good on their goal and we are all proud of them!  They keep each other motivated by checking in with each other every day, bringing each other healthy snacks and treats, and sending short messages or texts to encourage each other to get on those bikes!  Great job, gals - you're an inspiration to us all!

Happy Crafting...and Fitnessing!

~Heather

Don't Sleep Your Life Away...Just Your Stress!

We've been talking a lot about that ugly word - stress - and how to combat it.  I don't know about all of you, but I have always thought the winter holiday season was pretty stressful - traveling, eating poorly, remembering gifts for everyone, combined with our busiest season at work - until now, that is.  It almost seems like I'm busier and more stressed out right now than I was during the holidays!

Well, if you haven't started on your New Year's Resolutions yet, I have a new one to add to your list: reduce stress by getting more sleep!  A new survey by Huffington Post revealed that lack of sleep was the number-one cause of stress among survey participants, and getting more sleep - even a short nap - helped alleviate that stress.

But how much sleep do you really need?  Sleeping too much can cause almost as many problems as too little, and is a major sign of depression.  Check out this article from The National Sleep Foundation to help you gauge how much is beneficial for you - you might be surprised to find you should be aiming for more hours per night.  I know I was!  I've decided that from now on, I'm going to set an alarm for 9:00 pm to remind me to start getting ready for bed.  That might be a good trick for you to use as well!

What other stress-relieving tips do you have?

~Heather