Making one small change each week

[ToriTheStoryteller]

I can't do overhauls, I don't want to count calories but I recognise that I'm living in a way that isn't making me feel very happy or healthy.

So, I'm going to make one change starting today, then add in another next week, and so on. By the end of the year I'm hoping that will ads up to a significant change for the better in how I feel, look and live.

Anyone else up for a more gentle alternative to massive resolutions? I'll update each week anyway even if no-one replies, so I record what I've done😂.

Week 1: No phone use after 8pm. I'm hoping that will improve my sleep, it's got out of hand in the last few months.

My small step was to drink a green tea every day. And it’s only yesterday that I forgot, so I’ve taken them out of the cupboard and put them next to the kettle now.
Ive also put a hand cream and cuticle oil in a nice box on the table next to where I sit in the lounge, so no excuse not to use it daily. My hands are starting to feel sore with the cold weather, and it’s always after I’ve sat down that I realise i need it!

Is the green tea part of the effort to increase water intake or as a sub for a strong coffee/hot chocolate/fizzy drink? I've never tried green tea, something tells me I will hate it but I could cadge one from a friend at work before I buy a whole box to see what I think.

I think what you said about putting things in view, in the right place is key isn't it. I'm doing the opposite with my phone, it lives in the kitchen now so it never with me in the lounge or bedroom. Keeps it out of easy reach.😁

Green tea is full of antioxidants, so it’s hopefully good for me.
No, it’s not the nicest, so I make it and let it cool, then just neck it!

😂

I am trying to do similar but monthly so each habit has a chance to fully embed. For January I'm aiming to walk every day, not setting a distance or time limit but just get out. So far I've done it and I feel an improvement in my mood. I read something a while ago about incremental gains, even a 1% improvement every day is a huge improvement over a year and I'm trying to get into that mindset...also habit stacking..I have a program at work which takes a while to load, so everytime I use it and I'm waiting I file my nails, put some cuticle oil on, just a few minutes but it's becoming automatic.

I'd love to join you on this, I got a Fitbit last week and am now making myself go to bed earlier each night as 5 hours sleep a night is not good for anyone 😂

Going to start reading a book this week instead of going on my phone at bedtime

I will join also.
Started having a pint of water when I wake up and reducing the amount of time I spend on my phone. I really want to get back walking. I used to walk every day then when Covid hit and that was all we could do I started to hate it. Any tips for getting back into it?

Get a pedometer and aim to do 10,000 a day. With walking the dog and running up and down stairs a few times a day, it’s amazing how many you can do.
On work days I struggle, but it evens out over the week.
When I get that after lunch slump, I force myself out for a walk, and it’s gone when I get back.

I think the thing that has made me choose walking for this week's new habit was seeing a beautiful sunrise the other day, first one for ages with all this rain we have had. I love seeing changes during the season when I walk so maybe if there is somewhere you can walk that you can notice differences in flowers, trees, wildlife, seeing that the sun is coming up in a different place each day, etc? That might be motivating.

Definitely, sounds counter-intuitive but walking through tiredness is brilliant. When DS was a baby I would force myself to go out when I was exhausted because I thought if I'm going to be tired anyway then I might as well get something positive out of it! Plus sitting around when i am tired feels worse than exercising.🤪

I love that, so you aren't heaping up pressure by aiming for an hour that might not be doable every time.
I'm stealing the phrase "habit stacking", it's perfect and I think sums up what we all trying to do here.

How is everyone doing this week?
Week 1 phone curfew is going well, although I managed to somehow forget what time it was one night and was on here at 9pm! Sleep is definitely improving: normally, if I woke after 4.30am that would be it for the night so I might have been on my phone for 2 hours before even getting out of bed. This morning, first time in years, I woke up at 5, decided to try and sleep...and next thing I knew it was 6.30. It was amazing.😂
Week 2 early morning walk, it's been the perfect week to start: cold, crispy clear sunrises. Beautiful start to each day. Might change my opinion when it's pouring with rain though.

Still drinking my green tea every day, and I’m actually starting to like it!

Ha ha, so it's something you have to acclimatise to? 😂
I'm a bit like that with camomile tea. I do like the taste but I really hate the smell so have to force myself to put up with the smell of it because it's actually nice!

I need to think of something else to add in. I really need to quit sugar, but that’s a big one, for another time 🤣

I'm late to the game, may I join? I'd love to do a daily walk but I live in along the North Sea of Japan and the weather is extreme here, so it'll have to be a walk at the gym 🤣

This is such a brilliant idea

I’m in! Love this idea of small steps! I have let so many things slip the past few years.

This is a lovely thread. Atomic habits is a good book to read about how small habits add up. Emma Guns also did a podcast called 24 things which was about trying something new every two weeks which is a good listen.

This week's change is to take a magnesium supplement to help get better quality sleep. (Thanks to all the lovely MNetter's on the menopause board who suggested this.)

I’ve been terrible - DH was away all week so I couldn’t do my evening walks, and tbh I gave up even before that as it kept chucking it down and felt borderline unsafe. He’s back today so back on the wagon tonight!

Have taken the view that the exercise is meant to improve my quality of life and not be a stick with which to beat myself, so not too concerned. Good to hear some success stories!

@DustyLee123 yes that is a biggie 😂. Maybe it could be a bit gentler than that? Like cutting down on something specific or reducing by X amount? I normally have a pint-sized mug of hot chocolate each morning while I work. This week I made it in a normal-sized mug with unsweetened oat milk. I still had my fix of luxury but reduced my intake by 5tbsp chocolate powder and 5 pints of whole milk per week.

Lovely to have some newbies! The good thing about this approach is that it doesn't feel like an all or nothing. Even if you started in November, you could have an extra 8 positive habits by the end of the year.😍

@IcarusFlies exactly, I'm not going to punish myself. If I sometimes miss something then I missed it and I'll try to remember to do it the next day.

Magnesium - that's a great shout. I need to start that too.

I definitely feel like my focus for the first 6 weeks or so will be habits that promote good sleep because I know that will lead to motivation to make more and more changes as I'll be less ratty!

Its really useful. He did a longer programme on radio 4 today looking at the key tips to het you healthier & live longer.

I'll try to find that, and also the book and podcast mentioned by @headcheffer . I can put a positive listening list together for while I'm working.🙂

I've managed to go to bed earlier every night except one so I'm happy to be getting so much more sleep. I've only picked my book up once though, mainly because I've gone straight to sleep so whilst im not reading in bed im not going on my phone either.

I've also changed over to brown bread and stopped eating crisps at lunchtime,

I need to start exercising daily but not sure that's a small step 😂😂

That's great - do you feel better for it yet? I can't say that I actually feel less tired after two weeks of better sleep habits, but I'm accepting that it could take a few months of good sleep before I suddenly think "oh I haven't felt exhausted today." 😂