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Hello there.

Welcome to Laurel and Iron - a lifestyle blog documenting my life and adventures in New England and beyond.

Project Back on Track: Having a "Perfect" Day

Project Back on Track: Having a "Perfect" Day

I started Project Back on Track because I felt like I had let summer get the best of me. I was throwing caution to the wind and gave up on all those #adulting activities I know I need to be keeping up with. It was never meant to apply pressure to my day or to make things harder. It was simply meant to be a tool for guiding be back towards good habits.

This 90 day project has been nothing but positive. I have thoroughly enjoyed tracking my healthy habits daily and sharing the my results with you.BUT there was something I really wanted to do. I wanted to have a “perfect” day… a day where I filled in every single box on my habit tracker. I just wanted to know what it would feel like to take a day to really focus on my goals.

So, of course, I’m going to take you along with me!

Bullet Journal | I had a "perfect" day | Project Back on Track | Laurel and Iron

My first goal is to get 8 hours of sleep! I went to bed at 0100 and set an alarm for 0900. Then, because I could, I actually stayed in bed a little longer to snuggle with my dog, Paige. I got out of bed feeling so refreshed! What a great way to start my day.

Oracle Cards | I had a "perfect" day | Project Back on Track | Laurel and Iron

Next, I made my coffee and sat down with my journal. I wrote down 5 gratitudes and then spent some time with my cards doing affirmations and setting my intentions. One side effect of this project is that my morning routine has really changed in such a beautiful way. I usually only dedicate time to one of my “soul” activities - gratitude, mediation, affirmations, or nurturing a relationship but this day I was going to do all four! It was nice to slow down and take a little more time for journaling than I normally do.

After coffee it was time to get moving! I was going to try a new fitness activity. I have been following Whitney Simmons on Instagram forever but I’ve always been intimidated by her work outs because she’s insanely fit and I am of an average fitness level. It was finally time to face my fears and try some of her moves. I chose two leg work out circuits and headed down to our basement. My goodness these workouts are not easy! But I learned some new moves and got completely and totally covered in sweat in the process. Win-win!

Whitney Simmons Workout | I had a "perfect" day | Project Back on Track | Laurel and Iron

By the time I finished Whitney’s work out, I was famished! I made myself a paleo breakfast with lots of greens! I made a tomato-spinach 2 egg omelet with some left over pork and nutritional yeast. This is a pretty typical breakfast for me. So I was a happy camper!

Paleo Breakfast | I had a "perfect" day | Project Back on Track | Laurel and Iron

After breakfast, I rolled out my yoga mat and settled into a gentle flow. Doing yoga at home has been another one of the major changes in my life since starting this project. Even if I can only squeeze in 15 minutes, I hitting the mat with much more often than ever before. Taking the pressure off myself to get to a yoga studio for a guided classes has made the practice more accessible for me. Maybe I’m not learning as many new poses or getting the posture feedback I need, but there is a set of poses that I feel confident in and make me feel good. And doing them with regularity has only grown my practice.

When I was done on the mat, I sat down and worked through my Tmac Fitness Mind Right mediation. Todd, the creator, recommends this practice after movement as a “shock” to the system. So, that’s how I’ve been incorporating it into my routine. After spin, I sit down in the corner, head to the yoga room, or my car, and spend five minutes just listening. I’ve already talked about what a game changer this is here. So, I won’t belabor the point but you really gotta try it friends!

By midday, I ready to practice a little self-care and I did something I rarely do - I took a nap! It seems so decadent but it was what I was feeling! So I crawled back into bed with my book and fell asleep with absolutely no guilt. I woke up feeling all glowy. It was a beautiful thing!

After my nap, I went to 5pm spin class. While this may seem like an excessive amount of exercise for the day, and it totally was, I felt so energized and refreshed after the nap that I was ready to take on 50 grueling minutes on a bike that goes nowhere.

When I got home for spin, Thomas was back from work. I heated up some of my veggie-packed paleo chili and we enjoyed dinner together at the table - something that rarely happens because Thomas and I have wildly different work schedules. It was great end to a great day.

Whole30 Chili | I had a "perfect" day | Project Back on Track | Laurel and Iron

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and preparing for my next work shift. Then finally, off to bed! I truly enjoyed this “perfect” day and it put me in a great head space for the busy week ahead.

Do you track habits? If so, what kind of habits do you track? Tell me all about it in the comments below!

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