What small changes have you made to improve your physical and emotional wellbeing?

[MatildaTheGreat]

I'm overweight, drink too much and don't eat properly during the day so end up snacking at night.

I work full time, but erratic hours and being a very routine person I find it difficult to achieve things regularly. I also waste a lot of my free time through procrastination and lack of motivation.

So I'm looking to make small changes to improve my physical and emotional wellbeing.

I plan to start walking more, and looking forward to the weather improving. I'm also trying to get more organised with healthy food to take to work. I am also going to buy myself a bunch of flowers each week and try to read more.

What little changes have you made?

Started cycling to the station and back - take 15 minutes each way, but gives me more time and flexibility

Learning French

Giving myself permission to ignore the mess & take time for myself first.

Every night before I go to bed, ds and I swap 3 things we are thankful for that day. It can be something big but usually is an almost insignificant thing such as managing to scrape together the right change for a car parking machine :) Mine today are seeing a beautiful rainbow, my football team doing well today and ds offering to make me a cup of tea without being asked.
It has become a habit and it has meant that my mindset has changed and during the day I find myself thinking "Ooh, I can add that to the list tonight". It means I'm looking for positives in my day rather than my more natural negative state.

That's lovely, thesnail, must try that (as opposed to 3 complaints!)

I’ve recently cut out bread. This has made me make healthier choices for breakfast and lunch. It was too easy to rely on toast and a cheese sandwich. Now I have porridge with fruit for breakfast and something more nutritious for lunch.

I also walk every day

One of the most important thing I do now is limit the time on my phone that I’m just wasting.

Great thread. Any recommendations for yoga app, particularly for an inflexible unfit person.... ?

My partner encourage me to buy an apple watch last year and I use the health and fit apps. Suits me perfectly. I started with 1 pilates class 3 years ago and since autumn '18 its 2 classes. I started drinking more water - was only having about 300mls a day. I try and have 1 green tea a day. I really just like drinking coffee! I do have health issues but I've lost some weight and I'm the fittest I've been in 10 years.

Start taking opportunities even if a voice in the back of my head doesn't entirely believe those opportunities are meant for me, because, well, I realise fortune favours the bold. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. So after years in a crappy job I hate, I applied for a job I would love. And, boom, I got it!

I’ve been taking a multivitamin called Immunace Extra for the past 6 months and this is the first winter ever (I’m in my 40s) where I haven’t had a cold, despite my small children regularly snotting and sneezing all over the place.

Decluttering has helped my stress-levels too - not the full Marie Kondo, but just having less stuff around makes my mind feel clearer. Especially in the bedroom - I sleep better when there’s no clutter in the room.

I stopped going to the gym as much.
I was going 5 days a week, i struggled to do other things. I said no to plans on my gym days. Now i go twice a week and do a very long walk once. I'm home more and more relaxed.

I got a fitbit for Christmas and now make myself do 10k steps per day with at least 250 steps per hour- sometimes it's challenging because I can spend 2-3 hours per day in meetings and also do a lot of travelling. (yep, I'm the woman pacing the train carriage!) . If i''m under target I go for a walk at night which is just lovely.

The 50 book challenge has been brilliant for mental well being. Making time to read is probably the most important thing I've done for myself in recent years.

Signed up to a meal box delivery service so we get 4 well balanced, easy cook, meals per week. No stress about thinking of what to have and DH cooks them. (He didn't cook at al before which was a source of conflict)

Monday - Friday I prepare fruit for breakfast and veg for lunch first thing in the morning so that this little job is out of the way. I break out with more indulgent treats at the weekends - this has helped to keep my weight stable.

Try to go for a walk round the block each weekday, weather permitting.

Try to do three household chores each day - no more.

Count my blessings, despite being generally disappointed with life I have much to be thankful for.

Snacking on almonds or pumpkin seeds instead of biscuits. The protein is really good for you and a lot lower in sugar obvs.

Have cut down on social media, furst Facebook now Instagram. Although I'm.on here more . Charge my phone downstairs means I'm not tempted to mindlessly scroll once I'm bed, so I'm naturally getting more sleep and of a better quite. Tend to read at bedtime, always got plenty to read and love buying books so I'm getting my reading mojo back. Walk part way to work in all weathers, only equates to about a mile maybe 2 a day. Want to start running but I'm fat and need a decent sports bra as I don't want to run holding my busters! Trying to make time to cook a decent meal at night. Limiting my snacking, especially at work. Not always hunger, mainly just habit. I agree with everyone who has suggested small steps so as to not get overwhelmed and give new habits time to stick. This is a great thread!

I haven't done it yet but plan to from my next supermarket delivery order - we're only cooking for 2 of us now but I've still been thinking we need a 'idiot's dinner every night. Actually there's no reason at all why it couldn't be just an omelette or cheese and crackers etc. That would make the evenings much easier, especially as I often have to do work stuff when I get home.

This is a lovely thread.

3 years ago when my life completely fell apart, I implemented a lot of changes - to save myself.
Going vegan - lost a stone, minor health issues cleared up.
Fitbit - walked 10k a day, the group section where you can have friendly challenges against friends really helps when I slip!
Meditation - headspace app.
Habit and mood tracking - I've been using Daylio app for 2 years.
Gratefuls- DD and I share 3 things that made us happy each day and one thing we did to help someone else.
Alcohol - rarely.

3 years on I've slipped a bit 🙁. Still vegan but weight has slipped back on 😊. Maybe because I'm not quite doing 10k steps every day. Have been going to gym more and do weights but I don't think it's replaced all the walking. Also menopause!!!! And a massive growing belly, although other symptoms are very mild (magnesium was the best thing for meno related flushes and insomnia).
Too much time on phone!! I think it's part of a backwards spiral - every so often I do the leave it out of the bedroom thing, then slip...🙁.

So time for a reboot! Thanks everyone for the inspiration. I'll give myself credit for all the good stuff that's still in place. Be strict about phone time. Get back to walking. Cut out snacks. Bring more joy in with a choir and dance. 😊👍

I mute the work group chat as soon as I finish my shift. I'm amazed how much calmer and less stressed I feel now that the afternoons/evenings are really my own time again without endless pinging of messages.

I’m overwhelmed by the responses and will need to read through carefully and make notes.

I am feeling very motivated this morning as the sun is shining, so plan to go for a walk this morning.

I had a supermarket delivery so have lots of lovely fresh food to plan packed lunches for the week.

Loving the idea of moving house to be by the sea, maybe in 10 years...

Lovely thread. Place marking to read properly later. Going through very bad patch and need to take more care of myself, physically and emotionally

I have stopped watching the news on television, it had become depressing, annoying and frustrating in equal measure, and not watching has improved my outlook on life so much. There is nothing I can do about any of it anyway, so why get stressed over it?

A quick catch-up every morning as I listen to Moira Stuart read the news at 8am on Classic FM each day (with a digit hovering over the 'off' button in case the word 'Trump' is mentioned) as I drive to work, and a brief look at local news online and that's it. Stopped buying newspapers ages ago.

I've found that it has made my life far more peaceful - well they say ignorance is bliss, don't they?

"Going vegan - lost a stone, minor health issues cleared up"

Can I ask which minor health issues?

I've been inspired by Debra Searle (solo Atlantic rower, believes in "choosing your attitude" each day and in action creating motivation rather than the other way round ) and Anita Moorjani (incredible near death experience, spreads a message of the importance of loving yourself dearly, which could include thinking "I will eat healthy foods to nourish my body").

Just read this back and noticed that my phone changed 'proper dinner' to 'idiots' dinner' - ???????????????????????????????????

I'm trying to ban myself from reading work emails at the weekend and on at least two evenings per week. I'm not doing very well so far, but need to get better at this.

Another one for yoga. I loathe the gym,never been to one but do like cycling and walking.

Been doing regular yoga since December - at home, YouTube Adriene - and it is brilliant. Highly recommend.

Also been taking Berocca during the winter.

Physical well being - I don't do much at present (too much going on), but I have a vitamin every day (Tesco kids jelly ones ).
Try to eat healthily, but exercise is on the back burner right now. I did couch to 5k a few years ago and that was very good.

Emotional well being:
Bunch of daffs a week,
try to keep on top of the housework.
Not spending too long on MN or FB. If I'm on MN I steer clear of the threads that are upsetting.
Read everyday.
Have someone to confide in for any shit going on in your life.

I can't do all these things at the moment, it's tough times in the Dino household at present, but I try.