A glass of water - the self-optimisation thread

[pigmcpigface]

Let me start by saying this is an experiment, and I have no idea if it will work!

I made a thread called 'Shit, I'm obese'. It was about getting onto the scales and finding out that I was far more overweight than I had realised. A bunch of other Mumsnetters joined in, very sympathetically, to say they'd been through the same thing, but had lost weight and I shouldn't despair. Others posted that they were in the same place as I was, and that they wanted to lose weight too. Some said that they didn't have problems with weight loss, but they had other goals they wanted to reach.

This has just made me think- rather than having weight loss threads with a one-eyed focus on pounds and ounces, why don't we have a thread devoted to wellbeing more generally? That means fitness, healthy eating, happiness, self-development, and generally feeling comfortable and at peace with ourselves. It can mean learning to run or to do yoga, or fulfilling a life ambition, reaching a career goal, or getting a qualification. It might mean anything from tidying and sorting the house to huge emotional steps - leaving a bad relationship, or finding a good one.

It can, in fact, mean achieving ANY goal that is related to self-care and that can be reached by steady baby steps each day, with the help of a supportive bunch of people.

I also thought it would be good if we had a kind of "base" activity. This is a first step, but also something to do when things get overwhelming. When everything feels too much and you feel like giving up. When you're having a really bad day and are tempted to do something that doesn't care for yourself. It had to be something simple, straightforward, quick and accessible to most people, but that would be a tiny thing to look after yourself when the chips are down. So I settled on the idea of drinking a glass of water (hydration is important, right?!!). The point is that if you take even a little step, like drinking a tiny bit more fluid, you can feel just a bit better - and that this makes taking other steps a bit easier too.

Anyone with me?

Hello! Can I join in too?

I want to:
Eat less processed foods and cook from scratch more (I do enjoy cooking I'm just very lazy ).
Do either some yoga or pilates 4 days a week.
Sit down less, move more! I suffer on and off with back/hip problems from sitting too much.
Less mindless internet browsing and more reading the 17 million books on my to be read pile!
10 mins of meditation every morning to help with my anxiety issues.

Welcome cherry. That's a great set of goals. I hear you on the mindless internet browsing. I could write the book on internet-as-avoidance.

What a great thread. I'm feeling mega overwhelmed at the moment as I have so many changes that need to be made.

Anyone got any great stories about how they made a lot of changes and stick with them?

Am at the tricky "don't know where to start point" at the moment

Rula - welcome!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to drink a glass of water. That's it to begin with. It's not just about hydration (important though that is!) - it's about telling yourself that anything is possible, one small step at a time. And about learning to take the time to do something for you, because you're worth looking after.

I am early on in the journey, so I am afraid I cannot regale you with my tale of how I transformed myself into a cross between Marie Curie and Cindy Crawford quite yet . However, I am having some success in changing one small thing a week. So far I have stuck to:

• Slashing my alcohol consumption so that I stay inside 14 units a week.
• Sticking to a 1200 calories a day (net, after exercise) diet, 6 days a week.
• Making one small improvement around the house each day to make it a bit nicer to live in. (Yesterday, I changed my shower seal, which, I am ashamed to say, had gone bright green with algae- gross!).

Next week's job is to start upping my exercise from walking to a light run. And when I say 'light run' I actually mean a kind of a slow trot.

cherry I too love the books to replace late night mindless browsing! 2 hours of mindless browsing and I find I can't get to sleep...I wouldn't make it through 2 hours reading without falling soundly asleep!

pig - you are ace. You have given me a big boost.

I have a water in my hand. I'm drinking it.

I can do this!!

Thanks pigmc!
I know Morphene, I used to always read before bed as a child and usually end up almost falling asleep in the book, mid chapter Really need to get back to that I think, my before bed internetting definitely interferes with my quality of sleep.

Rula - you really, REALLY can! One step at a time, and in a year you'll be amazed how far you've travelled!

I listen to audiobooks before I go to bed. It's like a half way house between effort and not-effort. Since I've been eating less and exercising more, though, I've fallen asleep almost the moment they have been put on (I have a 30 minute sleep timer). I am ashamed to say that I'm nearly at the end of a long book, yet have only heard about 20 minutes of it in total! Think I might have to start again!

Drinking a glass of water right now

Hope you're all staying hydrated in the sun... and enjoying a lovely weekend! I'm trying to get on top of a spot of garden which has got a bit out of control. I've done really, really badly with my diet over the weekend BUT I've done a ton of physical exercise, which I am hoping may offset some of the damage!

Hi @op and everyone else on this thread!

Well done on the exercise. That’s not easy in the heat and it’s so beneficial... or so I hear .

Hope everyone is well today.

The weather here is still lovely. We had a great weekend and I managed to control my eating most of the time. I have to confess to a beer or two over the weekend though, as it was just such perfect weather for it. Contributing to my spare tire no doubt!

I’ve stayed away from sweet stuff and have actually found that very easy. I’ve also started doing 16:8 (intermittent fasting). I’m not doing the 5:2 part as it isn’t really suitable just now I don’t think.

Anyway, 16:8 has been a bit of a revelation actually. I’ve been doing it for just a few days but I think it’s really helped with my tendency to overeat. Now, just to stick with it!

I’m about to do some yoga and I’m still pondering what to do re retraining for a new career.

I’ve also been reading my book more and therefore less screen time.

Hi all...

Haven't checked in for several days so thought I'd better make an appearance. Although I have to say I'm not doing at all well with my goals I seemed to start good with the exercise bike/real cycling and managed that for about 5 days running but the heat over the weekend has put me right off! And apparently I have no will power when it comes to resisting the treats and controlling what I eat, which in turn gets me down as I'm obviously not losing amy weight why can't it happen magically without any effort on my part?!

Anyway, on a more positive note, we spent a lovely day at the beach yesterday ... we are in Staffordshire so a trip to the beach is a bit of a rare treat. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we had a lovely few hours just relaxing, building sand castles, splashing in the water and playing. Sunshine definitely works wonders for my mood

Today I have got the kids to school and then whizzed round cleaning the bathrooms, hoovered and got 2 loads of washing done and am now being lazy sitting in the garden enjoying more sunshine. Which isn't really accomplishing any of my goals but its too lovely out here to not sit and enjoy it!!

dance - wow, it sounds like you're doing really well. Not even thinking about eating sweet things is a huge step! I'm with you on the alcohol thing... to be honest, I am never going to give up having the odd glass of wine. I just have to do it sustainably and more sensibly than I have done in the past! I'm so impressed that you've started thinking about a new career... just WOW.

Wenchelda - I think 5 days running of exercise is REALLY good, and you should be patting yourself on the back for that rather than beating yourself up for not exercising in the heat. Your body needs to rest and recover, so just see it as that and get back onto the exercise as the weather cools this weel .

I also think that, in a thread that's about self-optimisation and WELLBEING, sitting in the garden feeling happy is definitely to be applauded. I am not being an advocate for laziness here, I just think that a happier person who is at peace is in a better place to start to set and meet goals than someone who feels guilty/in turmoil.

I am cracking on with some editing work today. It's a job I've been putting off and dreading, but I just have to grit my teeth and get through it. I've done about 66 pages of a 350 page document today, so keeping up the pace! I will give myself some time away from the boredom later on, to read something more enjoyable! More generally, I am slightly dreading this week since I have a load of patio work being done outside, and a lot of interior joinery too. Having had 6 months of building work, suffice it to say that I am sick to the back teeth of managing projects, and very much looking forward to this being the END of having to have people in the house constantly.