Team Wellness and Sunday Morning Coffee
We started a new health and team wellness routine at My 100 Year Old Home that will carry us through the New Year and beyond.
Thanks for joining me for Sunday morning coffee. Today I am sharing my weekly thoughts about entertaining, decor, crafts, and recipes, and why I have made team wellness a very high priority for my company.
Volume 40
A Little Bit About Me
I know I work too much. Most of my friends tell me I am crazy for writing seven blog posts a week. And they are probably right. But I love it and I set a goal and I don’t like to miss my goals.
So herein lies the problem. I am really good at making time for my work and my family. But for me? Not so much. So I decided to change how I look at a typical workday at My 100 Year Old Home. Not only does it include the healthy eating I started 18 months ago, but it now includes a lot of awesome exercise. During the day. All week long.
A Time for Wellness
I have a very strong work ethic and I have since I was a small child. I grew up in a family that held working hard and accomplishments in very high regard so I have always worked hard. When I was a child, I focused on studying and sports. As I grew older, I added learning to become a leader in addition to studying and sports. As I added more and more to my plate, I began the lifelong journey of attempting to master the precarious skill of balancing all of the different aspects of my life.
When I launched into the world out of college and began my career in marketing, the variables in my life shifted from studying and sports to working, friends and dating. Soon, I met my husband, got married, and began our family. Again, the variables shifted but also multiplied. I was balancing work, friends, my marriage, having children, and everything that comes with a raising family. I did all of this happily and successfully.
Once my children were a bit older, I shifted from my marketing career to being a full-time working artist and then I added teaching art workshops to my plate.
About four years ago, I had this wild idea to start an Instagram account that would help me sell my art. And as often happens, life took an interesting twist. About a month after I started my Instagram, @my100yearoldhome, I posted a photo of the front of our house. The next day Better Homes & Gardens reposted my photo and I had 10,000 new Instagram followers, literally, overnight. What happened next was that I found a community that was inspiring, thoughtful, and supportive and I made some really good friends. And I kind of fell in love with posting to Instagram and decided to start a blog to compliment the Instagram account. One thing led to another and here we are four years later, where I post to my blog seven days a week and twice a day on Instagram.
So, once again, I am sitting on an unbalanced teeter-totter and work-life balance is front and center. Except now, my children are grown, I am older, and I have a very different perspective about my health and wellness.
Team Wellness – A Part of the Work Day
I am not a big fan of waiting until the New Year to make resolutions that never last. I just knew I needed some balance in my life. What was missing? A dedicated focus on wellness. If every aspect of my life; work, eating, exercise, time management, family, and friends were focused on health, I could actually change my life. Not just for a few weeks, actually make positive changes that would stick.
Plus, a year and a half ago my husband and I went gluten-free and dairy-free. I was almost there!
For months I knew I wanted to do something so that my brand would not only represent fun and beautiful decor, living, crafts, healthy recipes, and entertaining but a healthy lifestyle too. So I made a change and decided that team wellness would be part of my brand. And part of every day here too.
A year ago my best friend Mary Liz came to work with me. She is a huge contributor at My 100 Year Old Home and am so grateful for her every day. I knew whatever wellness plan I came up with would affect her too.
The Best Wellness Plan Ever
So we came up with a team wellness plan that encourages both of us to be healthier, more focused on the balance of both work and health, and one that we do together, as a team. We are both pretty competitive, so neither one of us would dare let the other down and break the routine and so far, we are sticking to it!
So what are the components of our wellness routine? Exercise, healthy eating, drinking lots of water, and supporting each other. Nothing new, right? Wrong. We made one change that is making it all work and helping us stick to it.
All of the wellness activities happen during our workday. Like a meeting or a project, the components of the wellness plan are non-negotiable. Just like we wouldn’t miss a deadline or drop the ball with a brand partner, we don’t miss an exercise class or get lazy and eat something unhealthy.
Can I just say that incorporating exercising into our workday is brilliant? Rather than trying to squeeze it in before we start work or attempting a workout at the end of a long day, we scheduled three (and sometimes four) workouts during our work week. We found a great pilates reformer class that we can walk to! The class incorporates mat pilates, the Pilates ring, (or as it has been referenced, the pilates ring of death) together with a workout on the Pilates reformer. We are lengthening and strengthening and most importantly, we are sticking to it.
As I mentioned, we bought ankle weights and hand weights and use those throughout the day. That might sound like no big deal, but our office is on the third floor of our house in the converted attic. The ankle weights are serious business. Three floors, multiple times per day! We also pick up our hand weights and get ourselves moving rather than just sitting at our desks all day.
We are still intentionally eating healthier. Instead of rummaging through the fridge looking for something to make for lunch, we have a few places that we order lunch delivery that offer healthy salads or bowls. Having lunch delivery makes our working lunches very productive. We stay on task, get more done and eat healthier. Win, win, win!
What About Water?
Remember the Elkay Built-In Filtered Water Dispenser that I bought a few years ago?
We just hit 6,000 plastic bottles saved. How cool is that?
We are drinking a ton of water.
Although Maryliz just bought the one-gallon motivational water bottle and we realized we need to drink a lot more water!
Reflections on the Week
Some Exciting News
I kicked off a campaign with The Home Depot and I can’t wait for you to see what I have already done to get ready for holiday entertaining. Please click here to see more! And if you like what you see, please like and share your thoughts in a comment.
Last week was so much fun! I hope you will click on the titles below to see the blog posts and what I shared!
Good Things From Martha
What’s Ahead for the Week
I am so excited about the upcoming week. I am sharing some fun fall plates, a classic dessert made beautifully, a quick and inexpensive Thanksgiving centerpiece, a healthy Thanksgiving recipe, a fun table runner, and my Thanksgiving table!
Catch up on Sunday Morning Coffee
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 39 – Why do I Love Crafts?
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 38 – Is it Time to Focus on the End of the Year?
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 37 – Classic Antiques or Unique Vintage?
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 36 – How Well Do You Know Me?
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 35 – Happy Anniversary
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 34 – Happy Labor Day Weekend
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 33 – Fall Flower Arrangements
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 32 – Happy Fall
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 31 – When the Seasons Change
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 30 – Late Summer Dinner on the Beach
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 29 – Repurposed Decor
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 28 – Summer Fun Outdoor Partyy
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 27 – How to Use a Soft Summer Color Palette
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 26 – Endelss Summer Nights
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 25 – Summer Decor Finds
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 24 – Summer Decor Tips
- Sunday morning Coffee Volume 23 – Beach House Renovations
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 22 – Happy Sunday Morning Coffee
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 21 – Easy Home Ideas
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 20 – Thirty Summer Days
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 19 – Summer is Almost Here
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 18 – The Carriage House is Done
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 17 – Sharing Joy and Thankfulness
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 16 – Summer Entertaining
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 15 – Projects at Home
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 14 – How to Get Ready for Summer Days
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 13 – The Best DIY Projects
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 12 – Just Do It Yourself
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 11 – Creative Inspiration
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 10 – Inside the Life of a Blogger
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 9 – Live Your Best Life
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 8 – Living Green
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 7 – Why I Love to Entertain
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 6 – February is All About Living Beautifully
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 5 – Our Beach House in Ventura, CA
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 4 – The Story of My 100 Year Old Home
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 3 – I Think I Might Be Martha’s Biggest Fan
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 2 – A Tribute to My Mom
- Sunday Morning Coffee Volume 1 – How Chip and Joanna Influenced My Life
If you are interested in jumping on the health and wellness bandwagon, I have curated some of my new favorites for you here.
Pin the image below to your entertaining boards on Pinterest (just click the Pin button in the top left corner). You can also follow along with me on Pinterest!
For more real-time updates, follow me on Instagram @My100YearOldHome
Ok, I’m getting my ankle weights out. Now, if I just remember to wear them. You so inspire me. Hugs to you.
Hugs right back, Renae!
Your artwork is beautiful! It’s funny the path life put you on…that’s a great story!
Thanks Jennifer!
Congrats Leslie for your wellness journey. Its so important for us to also take care of ourselves but we rarely put ourselves first in things. I started my own journey in Jan this year after a heart scare last fall. I found a life coach to help me out and I’ve lost 32 lbs and feel much better about things in life. Thanks for all your fun blog content and the important life stuff too!
Oh that is so wonderful to hear. Thank you!
It is wonderful that you have been upping your health awareness. An interest in health and well being has always been a sort of obsession for me. I am most interested in alternative health and it has really paid off for our family. You will enjoy your new kitchen tools for sure. I used to use the Vitamix to make almond milk and a couple years ago bought an Almond Cow. Really love how much easier that process is now. I would like to use the air fryer a little more. There are so many nice recipes for that.
I believe that this is quite possibly your best post ever – if that’s possible! Incorporating a daily active lifestyle, a weekly schedule, and healthy eating keep my husband and I in the best shape in our neighborhood – and we are the oldest! I just read recently that although drinking enough water is good for you – it also flushes out many nutrients that our bodies need, and we need to supplement them. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this? I love the picture of your handsome family.
Fabulous Leslie! During the workday is perfect for exercize appointments with yourselves! Thanks for sharing your great story – you’re so inspiring once again! Happy Sunday!
I to have heard that you don’t need to drink so much water, however I like water and it’s all I drink during the day. My biggest problem is making thing to eat during the day that is healthy. I go for the quick items. I would like to hear your thoughts on water as does Lyn.
Always a beautiful well written article on your blog. I enjoy them so much. I am Impressed with the latest idea working in all the exercise while working. That is very creative way to make sure you stay on a healthy path. I see a book coming out of this post. Keep doing what your are doing as it most enjoyable and learning new things all the time. What a huge Blessing you are to so many.