@AlDanvers I'm sorry about your mum. I understand what you mean, I think another poster commented the same: when the things we can't control feel like they're spiralling, it can help to pay attention to the little places where we can have impact. When I have gone through rough periods, I often find myself doing a house/ wardrobe declutter etc.
@CaptainMal thank you for replying, that sounds out of my price range.
@CommanderBurnham (re: intermittent fasting) I think the best think for me was listening to the podcast, that gave me a really strong 'why'. I like that there is no gimmick, nobody making money from it etc. Plus Dr Chatterjee is a GP (and resident doc for BBC), have listened to (and learnt loads from) his podcasts.
I just went cold turkey, but it took me about 2 weeks to feel the benefit. Also, I don't restrict my eating in the window I eat (normally roughly 12-7:30)-so most of December I had a slab of Christmas cake every night with a decaf coffee.
I do 5 days per week- sometimes I do all 7, but I don't make myself. Some days, if I feel I need the energy of food (and I find I'm really good at listening to my body now), I might eat at 10:30, and then I just try to stop a bit earlier. If I'm going for a meal with friends etc, that's just an exception.
What I found hard starting- the boredom/comfort treats at about 8pm- 'I've had a rough day, I deserve this' type of thing. Now i have black decaf coffee, herbal 'bedtime' 'sleepy' type tea or often just water with lots of ice (as someone else posted, drinking it in a nice glass makes a difference)!
I struggled not having milk in my morning coffee, but actually now it feels too rich if i have it.
Fasting has helped me keep a nice, 'natural' ,stable weight for me. I have found I meat whatever I want in the time frame and not put on weight, but I still want to exercise more to tone up/have more energy, and the same with having more fruit/veg/water.
For myself, I have done really well with my ticky list! I have managed most things, except regular exercise (have been doing 10k plus steps though), but bought myself some weights and asked on a thread on here and got loads of YT video recommendations for work outs to start exploring. Been sticking to TOMM bootcamp too, which is exhausting, but very satisfying. 5 rooms/spaces done, 3 to go (one I'm totally dreading and might require 2 days as I can't dedicate a full day to cleaning!).
I have maybe £200 I can allocate- trying to decide best use of it- teeth cleaned (though I think they're sort of okay?), maybe a facial, or not sure if I would be better buying some decent skincare (thinking of some from your list @Captainmal)?
Happy 2022 everyone!