Wellness stuff - AIBU to ask whether I would feel bloody marvellous if I "did everything right"?

[Greeper]

Considering lifestyle overhaul...
Here I am; ordinary and always just slightly grotty, 4kg overweight, marginally ropey skin, slightly lacking in energy, sleep intermittently crap, brain a bit forgetful etc etc so not 100%, but pretty ok, maybe 92%. I eat ok, dont drnk masses, do a bit of excercise etc but I don't go full on with the self care. Could definately do more.
If I did the whole wellness razmadazzle and ate amazingly well, cut out all alcohol, drank 2 litres of water, ran 10km a day and inserted jade eggs up my flue, well maybe not that bit..would I feel 100% amazing?! Because based on Pareto, I am not sure that I am convinced that all that effort would be worth it.
If you do all this, do you feel amazing and is it worth the hassle?

I'm convinced that it's not healthy to be 100% happy. To be truly happy and have a good life we all need stuff we are unhappy about too.

Agree 100% Tabby.

OTOH, I know I feel immeasurably better when I cut out refined sugar. My mood is far better, I have more energy/am less tired and my skin improves massively too. I also lose a little weight without even trying.

The first ten days is hard but after that you stop wanting it, are even a little repulsed by it. The someone my mum bakes and gets all offended if I won't have a piece and I fall off the wagon and am back to square one

I think 'doing everything right' becomes very tedious - you drag yourself through your list feeling miserable.

I don't do all on your list but I try to eat virtually no sugar, exercise every day, drink lots of water, get enough sleep- and when I do these things consistently I feel like a different person. It's why I always feel so goddamned awful after a holiday, or after Christmas- because the basic 'good stuff' I do goes out of the window. There's fundamental self care that everyone requires- I've tried to stop seeing them as a punishment and instead see it as a lovely gift to myself (she says, working up the motivation to get changed for a fitness class in 30* heat....)

I've recently given up dairy, only done 5 weeks so far, but I genuinely cannot believe how much better I feel and I didn't even realise it was making me feel crap. I can't describe it but I feel lighter and less 'meh'

Oh lawwwd, gonna have to give it a go arent I. Sigh

Honestly I do think if you can find an exercise that you enjoy you feel miles better. But no sugar and no dairy would really not be for me. I’d be craving chocolate, which I’m not even that fond of, in no time.

I think exercise - that you love - is the big one.
I have horses and ride a lot and whilst sometimes I can’t be arsed, if I don’t ride for a few days for whatever reason I notice my mood goes right down. I also eat relatively healthy - I do have junk sometimes and plenty of chocolate on a daily basis and I notice my mood drops if I eat a lot of rubbish. It just makes me feel fat and frumpy.

I wonder this too! The law of diminishing returns..

I've definitely noticed a link between my mood/forgetfulness/bloating/tiredness and food choices. If I eat a junky dinner like fish and chips I will feel fine that day but the next day definitely feel a bit sluggish and bleh. If I have a week of junk I definitely get overall grotty skin and tiredness etc.

But I understand where you're coming from, I've had a week of eating really healthily here and there (lots of clean protein, salads, avoid fried/ junk/processed food etc) and it didn't make me feel amazing. So not sure it would be worth the effort to maintain

If I became energetic and upbeat long term that would be great. I just don't think my energy levels are that high in the first place though. I think we each have a set point and can influence that up or down a bit but ultimately that's our range. I don't think I could ever become a madly sporty person for example..

I did loose 4kg recently by making a conscious effort with walking and eating which did make me feel a bit better (mainly because bras and clothes fit better...) but I wouldn't say it made me happier. What has really made difference for me is drinking more water. I'm starting to put the weight back on but keeping up 3 pints of water at least a day makes me feel hugely different. I've never drunk much and I can feel my concentration and everything is better when I made a concerted effort to drink.

Things that made me feel much better (did them all at the same time):
-Drinking more water, and only water
-Cutting out refined sugar
-Eating lower carb
-Going to bed earlier to ensure 8 hours sleep per night

Things that actually made me feel worse:
-Exercising for 45 mins 3x per week. The classes I went to after putting the kids to bed, plus having a shower afterwards etc. meant I pretty much had no evening 3x per week and was up til late cleaning the kitchen, doing dishwasher, washing, general tidying & life admin etc., so it was physically impossible to get a full length nights sleep after classes. After about 2.5 weeks of doing this I was starting to feel really run down and knackered, kept getting ill etc, and packed it in after 7 weeks. Unfortunately the fitness benefits and the fact that the classes were so fun didn’t outweigh how I was feeling on a day to day basis! I can totally understand now how mums say they struggle to fit in exercise. All my mum friends who exercise on a regular basis either have much older children, and/or cleaners 😂

Good question! I was putting on a bit of weight so trying to watch what I eat. This hasn't really improved my mood, if anything I'm bored and fed up of not getting any treats! I agree with pp who said exercise is the big one - massively improves mental health too. I really struggle to fit it in and have a bad neck from doing kettlebells so it has to be exercise well done! I'm also struggling to sleep at the moment due to anxiety so not getting a good night sleep affects me the most.

Idk. My fit bit tells me I'm getting an excellent amount of sleep. I don't feel it. But I did cut out poor quality chocolate a long while back and yesterday ate a peanut butter kit kat and realised I didn't enjoy the taste. Maybe I should maybe more similar changes?

Cutting out poor quality chocolate I can do. Its the bloody consistency of all the other stuff thats the PITA. The idea of never ever having another slice of lemon drizzle cake or a little bit too much wine. I just think uurgh, life seems quite bleak and colourlesss...... although i suspect that says more about my life than lemon drizzle cake