Pizza, Wine, Cupcakes & My 30 Day Challenge Complete!

It’s over. It’s done.

I love the sense of completion. I’ll admit, at the start of the 30 Day Challenge, I wasn’t sure I had the fortitude to see it through until the end. I was recovering from a bout with the flu along with some serious exhaustion dealing with some stress in my life. Why is it, the moment you can’t have something, all you think about is the something you can’t have? It’s like that pink elephant metaphor! Except, for me, it wasn’t a pink elephant at the table, but a delicious cheesy pizza and a cold glass of wine that was kinda hard to dispel from my mind!

And, yes, I do eat pizza. Heck, I’m from Chicago and it’s pretty much infused in my DNA. Honestly, I barely drink as I’m such a sucky lightweight who practically gets a wicked hangover from simply the sight of a glass of wine. It’s more about the ritual. It just feels nice. I’ve graduated to white wine spritzers over the last year. Mostly spritz and very little wine, but it does the trick. And there’s nothing like a melt in your mouth cupcake for dessert!

I’ll tell you that this 30 Day Challenge was profoundly transformational. I suppose that’s the thing about challenges – every time we challenge ourselves – we raise the bar a little higher and a little higher again – and, WE raise ourselves a little higher each time.

The biggest lesson for me was in Self Discipline. It takes a bit of fortitude, an inner strength, to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and to stick with a program even when we don’t feel like. ESPECIALLY when we don’t feel like it.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Catherine Grace O’Connell (@catherinegraceo)

Trust me, when it’s 20 degrees outside (like it was on day 30 and SNOWING!!) and the water is an icy 45 degree constant, it can take a lot of gumption to freeze your ass off and complete the task ahead. I learned that I have a whole lotta gumption!

Of course, the transformational experience went beyond self discipline and fortitude. One of the biggest reasons I’ve been wanting to add cold water plunges to my daily routine is for my health. There’s tremendous research behind the impact on our immune system and our overall health. I definitely found that I barely had a sniffle this past month. And, I don’t have a functioning immune system so that was HUGE! I also found that the cold water had such a massive impact on my energy levels. I’ve never been a great sleeper so that was an enormous win! I felt invigorated and exhilarated. I had a profound sense of ALIVENESS that felt so darn good. Feeling alive makes you want to get the most out of life.

Of course, clean paleo eating along with no alcohol and sugar certainly added to the overall impact. And daily meditation, which is always part of my day, only enhanced the experience and benefits.

So, it’s a new year and a new me. I’m hoping it’s been a wonderful start to the new year for you too! I have been asked quite a bit to lead 30 Day Challenges. If you’re interested, please comment below or shoot me an email or DM. I do find having a partner in crime certainly motivates you to keep going. For me, that was my fabulous fierce sister and world’s greatest makeup artist, Jessica deBen Polish who joined in my challenge.

And guess what goes with pizza and wine? A great TV show! And it just so happens to star my darling daughter Maddie and produced and directed by the incredible Tosca Musk. (Yep, Elon’s sister!) It’s called The Secret Life of Amy Bensen and it’s streaming on Passion Flix. And it’s streamy and steamy! Yikes.

One last thing, as I know you maybe missing my Moxie posts. Just as I’m shaking things up in my life, we are also doing some shaking on the blog too. I’m ready to make changes on multiple fronts. So, stay tuned as I have lots of new things on the way. First and foremost, I’ve just created my first guided meditation in collaboration with MelloBe Meditation and Lifestyle Cushions. These are very special and intentional meditation cushions that make you comfortable while you meditate. The added bonus is that the patented shape also perfects your posture. I use my MelloBe all day long to keep me comfortable while meditating and while working to ensure my posture is the best it can be.

Use code: “comfycushion23” for 20% off your MelloBe. This isn’t a sponsored post. Simply sharing what I love & I love MelloBe! It really works!

With every purchase of a MelloBe Meditation Cushion, you’ll receive a free Heart Centered Guided Meditation download from CGO herself! I highly recommend the MelloBe experience. I hope you enjoy the meditation. I’m working on my first series to be released in the next few weeks. Lots more on the way, Beauties.

Oh, and Sayonara Midlife & Hello MODLife. This ain’t no crisis, baby!