Health and Fitness, November 2017

[Harriet]

Let's think challenge!

30 days lie before us. Could these be THE most helpful 30 of the year for challenging ourselves with a health habit?

Why November's 30?

Well, these are the days leading up to what may be the most social time of year. More cameras. More greeting folks we haven't seen in a while. More making of memories and being remembered in mental snapshots, too.

30 days from now, will more folks be needing to ask for our energy, our smiles, our ability to keep up, as we all go out of our way for each other?

These are also the days leading up to the most tempting poor eating habits. I haven't even seen a pecan tart all year, but they are already in the stores, guys, and the fruitcakes and kugel are coming. Fudge. Toll House. Need I say more? Should I have said less?

These 30 lead up to the most time-sensitive part of the year, too. If we don't get certain hopes onto our calendars/planners/cards ahead of time now, they may turn into the ones we just wish we'd remembered, come December!

What healthy habit would YOU choose to add, as the one most helpful for you in November?

Would you like to join in encouragement and accountability for it here?

Yay! Let's do it!

Pick daily, every-other-day, every-meal, or whatever time frame suits your habit. Jump in and say it "out loud" - we're all friends here! Then be prepared for some company on the way to a month of a better habit, and someone to brag to when you have a good result.

[Lynlee]

I'm onto the first so I'll jump in here.

I've been reading that regular strength exercising is a good indicator of health.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-01/s ... sk/9104732
Of course it may just be that as people get sick, the weight training drops away.
situps and pushups got a mention so no fancy equipment needed. Suggestion was x2 weekly.
I've returned to doing some window sill pushups most mornings after I open the bedroom curtain, so might continue with that, and see if I can add a regular pushup or situp or 3 on a daily basis. That was my thought.

Trial - plank to downward dog transition x 3 is more appealing than pushups. I need something under my left hand due to broken shoulder arm shortening to keep my trunk even, and pushups from there with hands higher than chest are difficult. A teatree bark small baby pillow is just right height, and I can ease fingers over the front of it to ease my wrists. right hand/wrist, not so happy.

I'm wanting to be regular with walking (pref 3k) esp on non yoga days.

Sticking with diet that suits my gutz is a must. Why choose pain? I managed today despite temptations there on the table with me. A woman opposite told of her bone soup success for her DH's gutz. A definite maybe for the future. Now that I have multiple stove top elements it is more easily possible. GAP eating was her clue. Maybe to have a go at that shortly is a November aim.

Sleep. If I short change myself staying up late what chance do I have? Its here on my list, but I'll believe 8 hrs in bed each night when it starts happening. I'll let you know if an 11pm ( I/l 12, 1 or 2, or so ) pumpkin lockdown starts happening consistently. Hey - 12 o'clock pumpkin hour would be an improvement.

[Lady Maverick]

What healthy habit would YOU choose to add, as the one most helpful for you in November?

My daily exercise habit has disappeared. I need it back!

Would you like to join in encouragement and accountability for it here?

Yes!

Harriet - Thank you for this encouragement!

My November healthy habit focus will be to establish the daily habit of 30 minutes of exercise.

My preferred exercise time is early in the morning because it energizes me. I was doing so good, but now I have childcare between 5:15-7:45am and then homeschool starts. This change in morning schedule has thrown me off my habit. I need to get firm with myself and insist on having my 30 minutes!

[Nancy]

Yesterday's exercise included 15 min. Weeding moving rocks for a the path @ the grange. Walked 1 mi. W ddog.

Did part of a walk w ddog. She saw that dog she is leary of and wouod not finish so we came home, I did finish on the exercise bike.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I sense stress will be my biggest threat this month since the weeks are already very full.

Therefore my challenge for this month will be to meditate every day using Headspace.

I will also set a timer for my phone to remind me to do this every day. The problem is what time to set the timer for? I'm not up at the same time each day due to variable bedtime. I'm out many evenings so setting a timer for 10 p.m. may have it going off while at an event. Maybe I'll set two timers and see which works for me in a given day. One for morning, say 11:00 and the other for evening, say 9:00. When I'm out, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb but I'll have to make sure timers don't break through that. Or else I'll turn my phone off when at concerts/plays (I have at least 3 this month, maybe 4.)

[Harriet]

Lynlee, pumpkin lockdown! So smart. Also I totally agree with "why choose pain?" I would add, "why choose constipation?" which is TMI but maybe ought to be more openly discussed in polite society! So many years of many telling me it was because I was a woman/PMS/estrogen-dominant and few saying - "girl! just get your fiber" (my daddy said it - our parents get so smart as WE age.) Anyway re: "Why choose pain?" - how about "Nothing tastes as good as being well feels." Who told us to make it our search to find extra-tasty food all the time, anyway - to what end?

Twins' congratulations on your losses - I thought I already said it but can't find it. hmmmm... ...

Kathryn, about probably needing 30 habits - I actually saw a 30-days of 30 beneficial things somewhere, but now can't find it. How do I just KNOW none of them would do me any good if I was thinking about something else the next day!

dd19 has an assignment to make some habits in a week and write about them. She borrowed my Making Habits Breaking Habits book to be able to (nicely) quote passages about expectations for habit-forming time. A good writing prompt, maybe, but probably no real effect for the students.

I'm choosing exercise, and for similar reasons as LadyM. It's been slipping away from me, during the time I've felt really good about getting my eating even more where I want it. So, time to tug the lagging habit forward.

I printed out a free November calendar sheet with design that can be colored-in if I so desire to reward myself later for sticking with it, and punched holes, used hole re-enforcer circle stickers and it's the new first page of my healthy habit binder.

Making a goal of 2.5 hours a week of my serious dvds - will concentrate on correct alignment this month, so probably nothing too dancey. Three 45- to 60-minute workouts M,W,F-ish every week, or, daily for some variety, as long as I meet my weekly goals.

Intangible goal - beyond brains exercise improves inflammation level, general health. It turns out white blood cell counts, of all things, are improved downward by exercise, which may mean that wbc counts give more clues about our health than we think, and maybe we should aim for reducing them. Who knew. (this was tested with Zumba, btw, so dance-y is also good)

October was better for the scale than the summer months, so my theory of warmer being better than cooler times may not be so. 1.2 pounds, so it's the largest monthly loss of the year (or maybe even of last year - I'll have to check). Maybe I'm just getting better at my hearty breakfasts and lunches so I'm happy with modest suppers.

22 months now without a gain at any end-of-month. (Lots with tiny losses, though.)

[Lady Maverick]

Healthy Habits -
This is a list of Healthy Habits that I put together a few years ago. I keep a printout of these in my folder and review them once a week or so. I don't do them all and probably disagree with some of them. But it gets my mind thinking about Healthy Habits even if it is just to argue with myself.


1. Drink Water

• 1/2 oz per lb of body weight
  If sitting then water in hand

2. Plan meals.

• a. Plan meals monthly on 19th
  b. Adjust meals weekly (Sunday)
  c. Prep at least 24 hours in advance
  d. Each meal has protein and fruit/veg. Carb & fat are optional.
  e. D.I.A (deciding in advance)

3. Fruit - 3 daily

• a. Smoothies
  b. Dessert
  c. Snacks

4. Vegetables - 5 daily

• a. Omelets
  b. Spring Salad mix
  c. Garden produce

5. Fast from food daily

• a. 6pm - 7am

6. Never eat til full

• a. Mindful
  b. Slowly

7. Weigh daily

• a. no denial or hiding
  b. Compare weight from week ago

8. 10,000 steps daily (Fitbit)

• a. 2000 - 7am
  b. 3000 - 9am
  c. 4000 - 10am
  d. 5000 - noon
  e. 6000 - 3pm
  f. 7000 - 4pm
  g. 8000 - 6pm
  h. 10,000 - 7pm

9. below 1400 calories

• a. Breakfast = 300 calories
  b. Lunch = 500 calories
  c. Dinner = 500 calories

10. Chew gum

11. Positives/blessings/Successes

• a. Capture those successes!
  b. Write at least one blessing a day

12. Sleep 7 hours daily

• a. 10pm - 5am
  b. Melatonin - 1mg when needed

13. Relax

• a. Daily - eyes closed just breathing for 5 minutes
  b. Weekdays - 1 hour daily doing fun things (piano, quilting, painting)
  c. Daily Read Bible/pray

14. Eat meals on regular schedule

• a. 7am
  b. Noon
  c. 5pm

15. Take off 1 day a week

• a. Saturday 5pm - Sunday 5pm

16. Vitamins daily

[ellyphant]

I'm in! Cold and wet here, but I bundled up and walked around the block. I'll confess that this walk took only 10 minutes, but it is better than nothing, which is what I have been doing. Will try this for November and then work back up to my 40 minute walks. Thanks, Harriet!

[Elizabeth]

Hi everyone! I know what I need: exercise! My foot did better tramping around Hawaii and I felt better than ever! I know some of that was because I was on vacation, but I don't think I would have felt as good on a trip where I did nothing but relax. I was active every single day. And loved it! Even 5 minutes a day would be an improvement over current. Plus, I need to get in some serious practice for the dance performance on the 18th.

That being said, I will not be starting with the rest of you. Doctors orders this morning: no dance/exercise for 48 hours. I will prepare by watching the choreography videos and making notes. Friday evening, I'm ON! For some reason calendar stars motivate me. I will count the prep work for a star, because it is easy to procrastinate on.

[Lady Maverick]

Posting for accountability. Because of this thread, I kept the thought in my head all day yesterday that I need to stop and exercise. And that is all that happened. I just thought about it. When the thought happened, I acknowledged that I need to exercise. That I WANT to exercise. Then the day's doings kept happening and thoughts of exercise were OBE.

This frustrates me AND motivates me to do better today. Just thinking doesn't get my goal of exercise accomplished. I need more than thoughts to establish this habit.

I'm setting an alarm for 7:45am to exercise. I'm blocking off the timeslot of 7:45 - 8:30am for ME.