Small but significant healthy daily habits

[hallesmelly]

I'm in a rut at the moment in mind and body. Feeling anxious and not happy with my appearance or general health.

I need to make changes but I know there's no point trying to totally overhaul my life all at once because it will be overwhelming and I'll just fail.

So I'm thinking of trying to gradually introduce small but significant everyday habits to my routine. This week I'll try and get out everyday for a walk even if it's cold. I'll just get myself and the baby wrapped up and we'll go. Also need to give up booze totally but perhaps the wrong time of year for that one!

What else do you do as part of a healthy lifestyle?

I got Atomic Habits on audio book and it was SO SO helpful.

To start, pick one smallish thing that you might enjoy or feel is important/urgent (like if you struggle to remember to brush your teeth, start with that!).

Don't set a big goal yet. Build some momentum on smaller habits first. For me, I know I need to lose weight but the best first step is logging all my food. If I am doing that habitually, that is a better thing to aim for each day as a first step.

Always floss before I brush my teeth at bedtime

100 squats a day - 25 on waking, 25 once dressed, 25 before dinner and 25 before my evening bath

The drugs won’t help if you don’t do the basics.

real whole foods, sunlight every morning, adequate sleep and exercise like a walk in nature. Mental health issues are caused by our lifestyles - we need to go back to our roots. Animals don’t get depressed when they live in their natural habitat and we no longer live in ours.

the most processed food I have each day is bread. I always have something on toast for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are then always single ingredient ingredients and healthy. So a jacket potato with mixed veg, leftovers from dinner, something like that. Dinner is a from scratch meal, so bolognese, chilli, homemade burgers and wedges, risotto, curry etc.

if you must eat junk, make it yourself. So make your own cake or biscuits - significantly less ingredients and no chemicals.

Giving up alcohol made the biggest difference to me, although I don't know whether that counts as small.

A decent walk every day.

Vit D especially in winter.

At least 5 fruit and veg a day, ideally more.

Get up at about the same time every day, even if you can't always go to bed at the same time.

Everyday I drink a glass of water when I wake up and have a small handful of unsalted nuts at some point.

I need to make more changes but these two are easy and I do notice the difference to my skin, hair and energy levels.

Thanks, this is a great thread!

If there's stairs, use them, don't stand on escalators, don't use lifts for less than 6 floors

Just reading through all your replies now the baby is napping. This is all so helpful. I just feel overwhelmed to be honest. The baby is incredibly clingy, I can't even hoover without having her on my hip. I don't get any time for myself other than in an evening when she's asleep and by then I'm too tired to contemplate exercising or going out. The exercises while the kettle is boiling etc are great ideas.

I have totally neglected myself and that's led to me not liking myself very much.

Will be checking out the podcast/Audio book recommendations too. I have heard of the James clear book before and it sounds good.

I recommend the book atomic habits.

I would look at what habits serve you - support how you want to live etc and do more of them, look at any habits that harm you. Eg take you away from goals. Might be wasting time social media scrolling. Not getting out of bed in time for a healthy breakfast. Look to change these, one at a time.

Recommend a 5-10 minute workout every day. Some days I do 20 minutes other days 5 minutes. Varying between yoga, strength, core and cardio. I always feel better afterwards. Sometimes do it in the morning, sometimes after work. But alway make sure I do it. I've kept this going to 2 years. When ill I did 5 minutes of nice stretching and breathing exercises.

I think a lot of people end up depleted in all sorts after having a baby, I know I was low in iron, b12 and vitamin D. Makes you feel like crap.

Get sauces on the side and dip your food in vs pouring the sauce all over. Still get the flavour without the extra calories.

This HIIT is only 4 minutes!!

Very effective 😎

Meal planning. Make a list at the weekend of all the main meals for that week. It removes the daily drudge of trying to think of what is for dinner every single day. I don't really plan breakfasts or lunches because I always have cereal/toast for breakfasts and either omelettes/soup for lunch.

Get an alarm clock for the bedroom and leave the phone in the other room. Stops me scrolling before bed and first thing in the morning. I read books in bed now and I actually get up and don't have that morning doom feeling everyday.

Stop eating when you are no longer hungry instead of stopping when you feel full.

Get into the habit of flossing your teeth every night. It's so good for not only your oral health but or your health in general. I never skip a night now and I enjoy it in a weird way. The methodical aspect of it is quite therapeutic.

The big thing that made a difference for me was devoting just half an hour of every day to exercise. For me it's running, 30 mins, first thing in the morning. I don't monitor my time or anything like that and I'm not particularly fast or good. I don't care because I'm not soing it for those reasons.

I was prompted to start doing it in the first lockdown and I initially laughed at myself because I had never previously been a runner and did not think of myself as someone who 'could do' physical exercise at all. I know understand that exercise is not just for people who are 'in shape', 'fit' or 'good at it'.

If I truly listed all the ways that this has made a difference to my mental health and self-esteem, I'd be here all day and come off as braggy. But it honestly has. A daily slow, pottery, awkward run is now one of the main drivers in me being mentally healthy and happy I think.

The only thing I struggled with in the start was consistency, ie some mornings when it was cold and dark I couldn't be arsed. But I forced myself and that dread actually passed quite quickly, within a couple of months I'd say.

Got a dental appointment today... last time I went he said... floss every day... EVERY day.... and never drink anything fizzy.

Take vitamin D, vitamin C and cod liver oil.
Drink loads of water.

Fasting, 10 mins Audio meditation online before bed and a daily walk. The rest follows. I also follow keto which has given me energy, weight loss and I’ve got rid of my brain fog. Amazing.

And before you leave the house brush. Brush your hair your teeth and brush yourself down.

if your lips feel dry you’re already dehydrated. water on wake up/before bed/after a wee.

Put something on the tv or speaker that makes you laugh or sounds good to you. Even just in the background.

find a daily treat. I love my morning coffee in my fav mug. Cosy socks, I also sneak in naps with my baby and do housework later.

cold showers if you need a real reset for the day or as a wake up later in the day.

keep the clutter out, deep clean and recycle/donate/throw what isn’t working in your home.

write a letter and post it to a friend/family as a surprise.

message someone and thank them for something they have done for you even if it was a while ago.

tell someone you are proud of them for something they’ve done/achieved/doing.

show your support to someone trying to achieve something.

Making someone else feel good feels really good.

Avoid the news/social media if it brings you down.especially before bed and first thing.

Ask for help. Offer help.

It sounds like your baby is needing you a lot right now. Getting out for a walk every day is a great first habit to try.

But honestly, with a small clingy baby, don't try to do too much. Lots of people commenting here will have kids at school, or a baby that is happy to be put down, which makes their lives completely different to yours.

I remember somewhere that new mothers have to learn to see success differently because they are always trying to meet their babies' needs as well - not 'I managed to get the house clean' but 'I got the dinner made WHILST keeping my baby relatively happy'. Everything is different now and you have to adjust your expectations.💐💐💐

For the booze one, I've cut out drinking alone.

When we had a kid, so ended up stuck at home most nights, I got into the habit of having a couple of cans, infrequently at first but it ended up being most nights. I tried cutting it out completely, or not drinking at home, but then the Christmas period hit, and well you can't not have a drink at Christmas, so then I'd end up drinking again.

DP doesn't drink all that much, so I've decided I won't drink unless someone else I'm with is drinking. That was I'm not missing out on having a drink at Christmas, or a birthday etc, but I am cutting out 95% of my at home drinking.

Is this on you tube?

Yes. Yoga With Adrienne. She also has a website and there are Facebook sites. She does LOADS of different ones of different lengths so you can either follow a month long programme or just dip in and out and find what suits yous (Find What Feels Good) as it suits you, depending on mood, time, complaint etc.

Lovely. Thank you. I’ve never tried yoga but I may give it a go. What kind of differences did you notice? I want to feel more flexible and relaxed. I guess it doesn’t really help with weight loss so May look at some hit workouts too

I make sure I take my vitamins and supplements at breakfast

I apply some lip balm at the same time as my moisturiser

I have a nice handcream for my desk

I remember to STREEEETCHHHHHH!

Needing 2L of water a day has been debunked recently. A fair bit of your fluid needs come from your food for a start.