Need to be healthier

[raddishtherabbit]

I turn 40 this year. I don’t have the healthiest lifestyle. I drink maybe 4-5 nights at home, only a couple of glasses of wine but it adds up and it’s probably over 14 units a week. It’s habitual more than anything. I vape. I have a fairly balanced diet but it could be a lot better, I definitely have too much bread, pasta and processed stuff. I try to walk at least 10k steps a day but don’t really do a lot of other exercise. I just feel like my whole lifestyle needs an overhaul but between kids and work and the mundanity of everyday life, it’s so hard to make changes.

The unhealthy things like wine, vapes and chocolate bring me some comfort which is sad but true. So it’s hard to give them up when I enjoy them but equally I can see they are not serving me. I want to live a long life and be there for my dc. I just don’t know where to start when it comes to making changes. Does anyone have any tips?

I quit vaping about 2 weeks ago but I'm still using nicotine (a cap or two a day in a nicotine inhalator pen thing) and it was surprisingly a lot easier than I thought it would be. The worst of it was over in a couple of days and it was just an annoyance more than anything else. I'm going to try and get off the nicotine this month.

I used to be a smoker so I think I had that severe withdrawal experience in my mind of whenever I tried to go cold turkey off of that and thought quitting vaping would be similar.

I think apart from vaping the biggest thing is diet. I've started buying Higgidy quiches and pastries from Waitrose so that everything I eat has vegetables in it. I've got some ready to eat lentils in my basket as well, and smoothies and yogurt drinks to replace some of the coffees I'm drinking (loads).

I've just started eating like this and I'm spending about £90 per 2 weeks (for one person) but I appreciate you might be more limited in your budget if you're having to buy for a whole family. The thing is though, I'm just lazy, most people actually cook more creatively at least a few times a week so just having a lot of vegetables, especially spinach and broccoli, with every meal should keep you healthy. I noticed as well that when I started eating healthier my need for sweet things has went away a lot

I really don't know what the answer to the boredom is. I guess it's why most people use alcohol/ drugs. But yeah I think you should cut down on it

Following for interest! Same age and whilst no Alcohol and smoking I have terrible diet and don’t exercise AT ALL and don’t really enjoy healthy food or exercise. Stuck in rut I can’t get out of. Also seem to have a very fast metabolism so whilst I feel that I could probably manage cutting out the crap from my diet I’d struggle to replace with same number of calories and I’d look awful if I lost any weight! Sooo busy with kids work etc so easy to find excuses

I find ‘shadow questions’ useful for when I want to make a change, like diet. It’s a therapy technique, but I do it myself to the best of my ability. It essentially means you ask yourself uncomfortable questions that push you to reveal unprocessed or repressed feelings that may be preventing you from actually making the change. For example, if you’re drinking too much alcohol, you may ask yourself “why do I need to drink alcohol excessively every day?” See what thoughts and feelings come up, behind the typical excuses like being busy or needing to relax. What feelings are you trying to avoid? It can really help you understand what is motivating your unwanted behaviour which then makes it easier to work on. For me, I was addicted to sugar, leading to weight gain and I’m working through that. I used shadow questions like “why am I eating food I don’t need that I know is bad for me”, and after some self reflection realised I’m basically using sugar as a dopamine crutch, so I can address that it other ways and not use sugar.

Don’t try and give it all up at once.
Ditch the vape outright. Nothing good for you in that.

Wine and chocolate can stay but in moderation.
Rather than 4/5 nights of drinking, alternate. One night wine, the other chocolate. And don’t overdo it.
As for exercise, get a friend to be your accountability partner.