Healthy Habits: Getting Started

I'm back to give you an update on the areas I'm working on during the Healthy Habits Challenge. 

Healthy Eating

I eat pretty healthy with smoothies or oatmeal for breakfast, salads and soups for lunch and dinners with fruits and veggies on the side. I also intermittent fast, so have many days where I do not eat breakfast and even skip lunch a couple times per month. In the last couple months there has been more snacking (often bread or cookies). Our youngest daughter has been home from college, so many more meals have had pasta or other processed carbs and they really do not agree with my body over the long term. She will be back at college later in the month, so I expect that will help me tremendously. 

I'm going to make sure that I pick smoothies over oatmeal more often this month. At least until our daughter returns to school, I'm going to limit my pasta and bread serving to just one per day. If dinner is a carb, then I will eat it, otherwise my goal is to not eat them at other times. The sugar goal may need to change to zero as the month progresses, but again there have been some chocolate and/or peanut butter fixes lately, so I need to stop those. I'm starting small by allowing some three days this week. 

Water and Exercise

I currently walk daily and I do drink a fair amount of water. This month I will add a liter of water to my goal and an extra half mile to my walking routine. I expect both will be pretty successful. I will increase the mileage later in the year as the temperatures start to cool down. The strength training is where I really need to improve. I am starting small, simply to create the habit. I will do either pushups, squats or a 4 minute exercise promoted by Dr. Zach Bush which is a nitric oxide dump. Here is a link to that exercise routine. 

The biggest issue is not the ability to do the exercises, but the creation of the habit. The first day I did Dr. Bush's exercise just before I went upstairs to shower. I was waiting for the bathroom to be free, so I did while filling time. I think it would be better for me to do this exercise after I have changed for my walk and just before I leave to walk. After walking would work also, but I seem to come home tired, in need of a drink and I sit down outside. The last thing I really want to do is add in another exercise. I'm just being honest with myself, that it may not be good to expect I would be in the place to add it after. 

Self Care

Yes, I misspelled meditation! Whoops, maybe I will get it right next week. I already do a meditation in the late afternoon. I do miss days here and there depending on what is going on. I added this to the list this month, simply to remind myself to be more consistent. I also signed up for a free 21 day meditation with Deepak Chopra, so I would like to follow through with that. 

You might have seen my previous post about social media addiction. I have removed all social media apps but YouTube from my phone as of this writing. If I go to social media websites I will have to be on my computer, and I will set a timer for the day. I have to go in and get out! I think this is the habit I am most excited about experimenting with because it will make sure a big impact on my day!

And finally, I have picked four affirmations to memorize this week. This was prompted by listening to a spiritual teacher regarding joy. It is so important to find joy in our daily lives, yes even in the midst of chaos! I found an app (ha I know...makes no sense to add an app based on what I just said does it?!) for affirmations called Think Up. I was able to record my own voice for these four affirmations. I listened to them repeatedly while I was on my walk on Saturday. I like that potentially I am doing two things at once, affirmations and walking! 

What healthy habit challenges are you working on in August? I know nine may seem like a lot and it really could be too many for some of us to stick to. I think even just one from each category is a great start. My experience in creating various habits over the years is that it helps to link a new habit with an old one, and that even if you try a habit and fail or don't meet your own expectation, you have learned something! 

I hope to have another update for you in a few days!