Happy Friday, readers!

Okay, okay – technically it’s not May anymore, but we had our last Mental Health Month 2012 Challenge on Tuesday, so we have to have a Weekly Weigh-In, right?

Right!

Tuesday I challenged you to learn a new recipe – one that’s healthy for both your body and your brain.

Because this week was a busy one for me, I chose to learn a snack recipe. It’s a vegetarian recipe for nachos. WebEcoist calls them 3-Minute Healthy Nachos (they took a little longer for me – sometimes I’m all thumbs!) and I think you’ll like them whether you eat meat or not!

It’s the last week of Mental Health Month 2012, readers!

Over the past month, Your Body, Your Mind has challenged you to:

• Laugh every day.
• Begin each day by saluting the sun.
• Find the right gear so you can finally start (or restart) that exercise you’ve been putting off.
• Take the stairs, both literally and figuratively.

The final challenge?

Well, with all that mental and physical activity going on, I thought we’d wrap up the month with some body and brain nourishment!

Happy Friday, readers!

This week’s Your Body, Your Mind Mental Health Month Challenge #4 was to take the stairs – both literally and figuratively.

This challenge meant everything walking the few blocks to work to skipping a night of American Idol to spend more time with your family.

First, how did I do with the challenge?

Happy Friday, YBYM readers!

How did this week’s Mental Health Month Challenge go? Did you find the right gear to start that one exercise, routine, or program you’ve been interested in?

I did, but I have to admit: I completed this challenge a couple of weeks ago.

Good morning, YBYM readers!

It’s Friday – our Weekly Weigh-In Day – and I’m dying to know how your Mental Health Month Challenge #2 went!

If you’re new or don’t remember (shame on you!), earlier this week I challenged you to begin each day with a simple series of yoga poses called a Sun Salutation.

The goal was to help you start your day by warming up your body and your mind, and helping you carry that focus throughout the day.

So, how’d it go?

How could this face - er...tongue - NOT make you laugh? © Alicia Sparks

Happy Friday, readers!

Earlier this week, I gave you some information about Mental Health Month (it’s this month – May 2012 – in case you’re not caught up!) and told you that, in honor of Mental Health Month, we’d have a weekly challenge here at Your Body, Your Mind for the duration of May.

This week’s challenge was simple: Laugh!

Laughing is one of the easiest things to do and it brings some awesome health benefits: You can enjoy an improved immune system, a boost in endorphins, better sleep, more relaxation, and even distraction from laughter.

Still, I realize laughing on purpose (well, producing genuine laughter on purpose) isn’t always easy, so I gave you some examples (watching funny movies, learning a few funny jokes – you get the idea) to help get you started.

How’d you do?

As for me, I took my own advice and made funny faces at my dog.

Actually…

…I let her make funny faces at me!

Guilt? What? Life's way too short to slow down for that!

Earlier this week I talked about releasing guilt and harnessing the power of tomorrow.

You know the kind of guilt I’m talking about, too.

You’re trying to eat healthier foods to boost your energy and you make a midnight run to McDonald’s. You’re doing pretty well at your new daily jogging routine but you miss a day due to work, but then another due to being a little sore, and then another because, well, you really should use the extra time to reorganize your closet instead…

You get the idea. You’re make a mistake here and there, and suddenly you’re so overcome with guilt and shame that you start to think there’s no point in going forward with what you’ve started because, hey – you’ve already ruined it, right?

Wrong.

Zzzzz…

Oh, Happy Friday, readers!

We skipped last week’s Weekly Weigh-In post to make room for properly introducing the fantastic Jessica DiGiacinto and giving her our full attention so she could tell us all about the diet choices she’s made and what we can expect from her in the future regarding food, supplements, and the link between what we put in our bodies and how it makes us feel.

(If you missed that post, head over to The Gluten-Free Diet: Saying Goodbye To Sweet, Delicious Bread And Dealing With It.)

So, that means this Friday, we have two weeks to weigh in on, and as you can probably tell from this post’s image…

…a lot of laziness is what I dealt with.

Happy Friday, readers!

Welcome to the first edition of Weekly Weigh-In here at Your Body, Your Mind.

Contrary to those snazzy gnarly scales over there, the Weekly Weigh-In posts won’t be about actual weight; rather, the posts are an opportunity to weigh in on what YOU did this week to better manage your mental wellness.

For example, did you try a new exercise? Do you have anger management problems and decide to try kickboxing to relieve some aggression? Maybe tried yoga or meditation to relieve stress?

As for me, I started Jillian Michaels’s “Yoga Meltdown” (not an affiliate link; just showing you what I’m taking about!) routine last Sunday, and have done it every day this week so far, except Wednesday.

Hey, everyone needs a day to just kind of sloth around!