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.

You might like this series to listen to

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p09by3yy?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

That's it for me too. I need something crunchy with a sandwich. I have down on crisps so I don't have a pack every time but I still eat too many.

One thing I like is to cut carrots up into tiny pieces for jnside the sandwich, not grated but chopped, because then they still retain a bit of bite.

I've listened to a few of those and they are really interesting as it backs up the idea of all these small steps making a big difference.

So, onto Week 4. The last week has been a bit crap as my sleep hasn't been the best. Phone curfew still going and it now feels weird to use it late (eg if someone sends me a message I'll check in case they need an answer if it might be about needing help with school run etc) so I think it's just peri-meno sleep patterns messing around for a few days. It's hard to pin down but the tiredness now doesn't feel quite as consuming so I think overall I am starting to feel a bit more with it!

I'm looking forward to using this week to really try and embed Week 3's morning/night self-care routine that I kept forgetting aspects of. Adding the apple in at lunchtime will be an easy no-effort habit.😁

@Mollyplop999 you're being very harsh on yourself, you fell off your pony so I'm guessing that's still going to be hurting! Maybe the small step can be the yoga or take one aspect of healthy eating at a time rather than feeling like you have failed because overall you didn't eat as healthily as you wanted to.

Someone on another thread talked about focusing on adding something rather than cutting things out which feels so much more motivating. So if I'd said my Week 4 habit is "no more crisps" I would have found that really hard, like I'm punishing myself. Framing it as "have an apple with lunch" I'm adding something healthy and by default I'm a lot less likely to also want crisps but if I do, it won't need to feel like failure.

When I was trying to stop my crisp habit I’d have half a packet, as it’s just habit, you’re used to having the crunch with the sandwich.
So if I’m at home I might have half a packet, although I can do without it now. But if it’s work I take carrot sticks, as I can only eat what I take.

@ToriTheStoryteller there's an episode about eating an apple a day! Pink lady ones are the best according to the podcast

ToriTheStoryteller thank you for that. You're quite right I am still in a lot of pain. I still can't lie on my side to sleep as the pain in my ribs is awful. So then because I'm frustrated, tired and fed up I binge on rubbish. But I've thought about whst you've said and my small change this week is to cut out the milky coffees and cut down on sugar.

That sounds really awful, and compounded by each night of bad sleep. Good luck, hopefully it will ease up this week for you. Hope the gentle yoga has been helping too.

cosypompoms that's lucky as there are 6 Pink Lady apples sitting in the fruit bowl waiting for me!

New week, new habits on our way to feeling happier and healthier. 😍

Hi all, how have your week's been going?

My sleep has been crap this week so it's been hard to remember to do everything but I am still managing to keep to my habits more than before the four weeks started:

Week 1: phone curfew 8pm. Feels natural now, with very rare slip-up. It feels easy to think 'reading a thread about parking or family issues isn't worth the tiredness' so I don't feel like I'm missing out. I'm reading more books as well.

Week 2: 15 min walk early each day. Manage it most days, sometimes it might only be 5 mins or sometimes I'll do it as my warm up before a workout.

Week 3: 10 mins morning and night self-care habits. I probably remember vitamins 4 days out of 7; only miss flossing teeth 2 or 3 times and have used moisturiser and body butter twice every day so a big step in the right direction!

Week 4: piece of fruit with lunch. Im doing this if lunch is cold, but if I'm eating soup or leftovers I don't worry as that will contain lots of veg anyway. I might stew a batch of fruit so I can heat it up to have.

The biggest problem is the catch-22 of HRT: one of my biggest peri-meno symptoms is brain fog and forgetfulness and I reckon I'm forgetting to take HRT at least twice a week. So I've put a list on the inside of the bathroom cabinet of what I need to do each night. Hopefully if I can make sure I'm sticking to that every night it will improve the sleep again and help with poor memory too.

So onto Week 5: this is going to be to stop working so many extra hours. I WFH most days and don't really track my hours but I reckon I'm probably doing at least 1 hour more than I need to. So that stops now unless it's for a specific urgent issue. I'm taking my lunch and I'm finishing on time. Hopefully something else to help with tiredness and forgetfulness.

Would be great to hear how everyone else is getting on.🙂

Hi Tori

Sounds like you're doing well, and yep I can't disagree with working less hours, that's a definite new habit worth doing.

I didn't manage to keep up with the apple every day habit and I haven't done much weights as I missed 3 nights a week due to watching the traitors 😂 I also had my dd home from uni so had less spare time to do what I want 🤷‍♀️

I have however managed to increase my sleep, except on the traitor nights, so back to weights, apple and more sleep from this week.

I am sticking to a brown bread sandwich and banana for lunch as opposed to the Tesco meal deal and occasional greggs sausage roll 🫣 so that's a massive improvement, and I feel better for it, no mid afternoon slump. Oh and ive reduced the amount of tea/coffee/caramel lattes I drink at work.

@ToriTheStoryteller sounds like you are doing really well - well done!!

I haven't been as consistent with my changes. The weather affected my motivation with the daily walks although I am persevering and trying to get back into a good routine.

Phone curfew is going better. I have an 'official' curfew of 9.30pm but try and switch it off even earlier when I can. I have been leaving my phone downstairs at bedtime so no laying in bed scrolling when I wake up either. My phone keeps telling me that my phone usage is going down every week.

Latest habit is to take a proper lunch break each day. Going OK so far but struggling to do it consistently.

I like the apple a day idea suggested earlier. Might start that one next week.

I’m keeping up the green tea, apple and orange every day thanks to this thread.

I wanted to stop snacking in the evening last week especially at the weekend and I managed it! Delighted I did and hopefully this thread will help me be accountable.
Phone usage has also gone down.
Have a good week everyone

happinessischocolate that sounds like a really good shift to lots of little ways of living. I think life is always going to get in the way but if the habits feel like positive and easy ones it's much easier to slot them back in without thinking "oh no I FAILED last week!" which can then spiral into "there's no point trying anymore." We can be our own worst enemies sometimes!

mum2jakie that all sounds great too! I'm a bit like you, some of it has stuck really well but some isn't quite embedded as a habit that you just do automatically, so I'm having to make an effort to remember things.

dustylee123 brilliant news! That's great, must feel like a normal daily ritual for you now.

minesatea that's a biggie, so we'll done! I tried changing my HRT to the morning to help me remember to take it but after two days I put it back to bedtime because both days I ended up having a snack in the evening (taking HRT at bedtime stops me snacking as you have to have an empty stomach). I don't want to start eating in the evenings when I wasn't even doing that before.😂

Have a great week all.😀

I started walking today after mucking the ponies out. Did a 30 minute brisk walk. It's a start!

I can imagine a walk being a nice way to loosen up and stretch the muscles after that!

OK, Week 6. It's not a health thing but it's definitely related to my wellbeing because I'm constantly berating myself for not contacting friends and relatives. I leave it, then I feel guilty so I leave it even longer. This isn't about people who never bother with me, these are all people who ring or send emails or cards so I want to stop apologising for being shit and put effort into maintaining my relationships.

So, this week's small change is to contact one of the people who matter to me (phone, text, letter, meet up) once a week.

My one thing this week is to stop drinking the Nescafé frothy coffees. Full of sugar and unnecessary calories. This one will be hard, but just got to break the habit.

Ooooh, a month late but I'd love to join! ❤️

That sounds a toughie 😂

@WelshSmog welcome, nice to have another face here. Just think, even if you only joined at the end of October you'd have 8 positive habits by the end of the year so it's worth it!

@ToriTheStoryteller Thank you and yes, you're right! 🤗

this is an excellent idea. I’ve just started drinking Green tea to replace coffees/teas i have throughout the day. i still need the coffee first thing in the morning though !
i think i will walk for fifteen minutes a day , and do gentle yoga excercises too in the following weeks.

Wrong thread - sorry

I’m back, having fallen off the walking wagon since… something like the 3rd Jan 😅

The weather was absolutely appalling, then I was away with work a couple of times, unwell, pregnant (still). And frankly lazy. But today I’ve actually been in a fair of discomfort due to constantly being at home and WFH 2 days a week when I don’t move much… So I went for a 27 min walk to get some tomatoes to accompany dinner. DH is out tonight so I knew I couldn’t go in the evening. Feeling much better for having moved a bit - better late than never, and aiming to keep it up now that the weather is improving a bit.

Great to read about all the successes!

Well done you!
I have been making little changes recently too... I now;
-drink loads of water
-read most nights
-walk around a block or two extra after the morning school run
-floss daily
-take vitamins every morning
-no more than 2 caffeinated drinks per day
-drink one cup or green tea per day
-upped my steps. I can't do 10,000 every day, but I ensure my weekly average is 10,000

Keep at it 😁

I love this idea. I'm the worst for getting really invested in something big for a few days, then stopping. My sleep is terrible, very unfit and lethargic, skin awful, I think small incremental habits and a bit of accountability will really help.

Starting today, no phone after 9pm unless it's an actual phone call. Great idea. I'm up scrolling through shite till far too late every evening.

And as of yesterday I stopped vaping and started using nicotine pouches. They scratch that nicotine itch but are pretty unpleasant so only used 4 a day so far. Good for my finances too. ( I gave up smoking jan 23)

Ohh can I join in please? I really need to change lots of things but always fail miserably. Maybe 2024 is the year I change this?!

This week's goal is kinda 3 fold. I need to take medication in the morning with food but I'm not always hungry or have enough time so I often just end up having a packet of crisps and a can of fizzy juice at 6am so I can take my tablets or I forget to take them if I do have breakfast later. This week I'd like to eat an apple every morning then take the medication whilst drinking a bottle of water.

There are some great ideas on here I'll definitely be borrowing over the coming weeks!