What small things have you done that made you feel more healthy?

[Redcrayonisthebest]

My resolution for 2019 is just to feel healthier. I'm overweight but don't want to just do another fad diet. I seem to have struggled recently with a run of minor health problems. Bad back, depression, vertigo, chest infections, D&V etc so..... what small things do you do that you feel keeps you healthy? And/or what changes have you made in the past in order to improve your health? Thanks.

Apologies for that awful link! Struggling with new Android phone. 🙄

The single biggest thing has been giving up booze. Nearly 6 months in and it’s been really tough at times, but one of the best decisions i’ve ever made.

Something I read on here really resonated for me, and kickstarted this process. A poster wrote that we should treat ourselves as though we loved ourselves, even if we don’t.

So, for me, asking the question ‘how would I behave if I loved myself?’ - had been pretending i’m putting behaviours in place for my child rather than me - so would I tip a bottle of Pinot down DDs throat when she was sad or angry?
Would I feed her a box of milk tray and a bumper tube of Pringles when she was bored?
Would I expect her to be able to fall asleep immediately after a full on day with no winding down time?

Dog walk every morning up the big hill.

Vitamin D supplement.

B12, folate & P5P complex supplement.

Minimal sugar, apart from 1/2 tsp of honey in my greek yoghurt.

Minimal starchy carbs, apart from maybe 2 sliced new potatoes on a hotpot/ 1/4 cup dry volume rice a couple of times a week.

Drink a bottle of spring water a day.

Drink kefir/eat kefir yoghurt when I can find the Kefir Collective stuff in Morrisons (seems to have sporadic stock). Need to make my own.

Eat a lot more meat/animal products (free range/organic/grass reared). I've been veggie/vegan/skint for much of my adult life, and though I generally cooked from scratch and ate whole foods like veg, grains, beans, for the first time in my life now I feel properly nourished and I can feel my depression/anxiety shifting. I eat stuff like gouda cheese, eggs, lamb's liver, ox heart which are rich in all the fat soluble animal vitamins like A, D3, K2 etc, heme iron and co-enzymes.

Last year it was more water, more sleep and doing something outside every day. Feel physically and mentally better for it.

This year, I want to reduce my sugar intake and be more committed to the gym.

I've started Dry January and C25K. I do feel livelier already (after only 5 days ) Finished week 1 of c25K today, so there's a small sense of achievement.

Soup! - make lots of homemade soup - freeze what you have leftover, lots of great vegetable recipes to try.

I'm making butternut squash, apple and ginger today. A bowl every day for lunch and you're satisfied until dinner time.

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Definitely make sure you get as many fruits and veggies as you can. Your food diary should be colourful.

I find if I sprinkle seeds on my breakfast, it stops the chocolate cravings later on in the day and stops the rumbly tums.

I’m trying, and succeeding at the moment to cut down on refined sugar. Been eating healthier and I’ve managed 2 bouts of decent exercise this week

Drinking a bottle of water before getting out of bed every morning.

I've changed my diet completely. I eat smaller portions, snack on fruit instead of fatty crap. Swapped most of my dairy products for plant based products. Also, Alpro deserts are amazing!!! Plus drinking green tea and lots of water or sugar free squash instead of other drinks.

Little tings I have done:

Limit alcohol to three nights a week.

Get out in fresh air and daylight every day.

Eat at home way more (was eating out all the time)

Adding in a few more exercise sessions so now do typically at least 5 good sessions a week sometimes more. Sometimes less tho, don’t beat myself up about it.

@MarthaHanson that is a really interesting way to look at it! I like how you put that.

I started with small changes and they have added up enormously. I was very, very fat. Fucking enormous, tbh.
First I devised a new diet, which I called the ELF died. (Eat Less Food.) Basically smaller portions. I lost a bit of weight doing that. Not a drastic amount, and not fast, but enough that I had a bit more energy to think about what I was putting in my mouth as well as how much.

At the same time I ended up nursing both my parents through their final illnesses and having a major health scare myself, so that was also good incentive. I lost some weight doing intermittent fasting, and it was great.
My neurologist told me to try the Keto diet with intermittent fasting for my migraines and which has helped enormously, so I stick with it and have lost a lot of weight and I do the keto/intermittent fasting thing still - has added health benefits including helping arthritis.