I'm working towards making some good changes for myself. It's going to be a drag in some aspects, but ultimately, I'm hoping it'll make me happier in the long run, sleep better, eliminate reflux, less body pain, less anxiety etc. Making plans to try going to a planet fitness near my work (can always keep a set of gym clothes in my car and such) and my doc suggested a reflux med to replace my ppi which, while being an absolute pain levels of specific (gotta take an hour before any food always on an empty stomach and spaced 2 hours from all meds and taken 4 times a day yadda yadda 😖) will probably get me into a strict and regular routine for all of my food and habits.

Currently sitting here with hunger pangs since I wanna adjust my habits BEFORE I get the new med. Lunch is so close... 🤤😭 I also need to cave and buy a wedge pillow to help in the meantime too. I hold off on even things that are a life benefit because of money and the whole "If I'm able to live without it then it's not a necessity and I don't need it" mindset which isn't really all that good. If it is a net benefit to health, happiness and comfort it can be considered a necessity. There's an inherent value to QOL improvements in everyday life too, not the ones that encourage laziness but just the ones that make living generally less frustrating like sharpening pencils with a sharpener instead of a knife. Like wow its easier and faster and the tip is a lot neater for drawing.

Please feel free to share your self-care and positive change here. Especially if it helps you stay accountable and proud and keep up with it! I've certainly never been the best at staying accountable, but I wanna put my best foot forward. I hope some others here feel the same about themselves! So, what have you all been up to? Vent a little or motivate yourself and hopefully make it feel like less of a burden and more like progress! 🤗

I started intermittent fasting and daily workouts a while back, but then a mental health setback caused me to lose my habit. Reading your most is kind of encouraging me, though. You're right that QoL improvements can make living less frustrating. Even if it doesn't feel that way...

It's just so easy to maintain the status quo, isn't it? It's real work to develop a new and healthy status quo to maintain. Gotta leverage what we can to make it easier. I'm glad my post was motivating for at least one person. Hopefully more!

I feel like talking about your goals with other people regularly helps to keep you aligned with them better, even if progress is slow. So long as there IS progress you haven't really failed. The only real failure is definitively giving up. Setbacks aren't failures they're just a part of the process of growing.

I hope your Intermittent fasting works out for you. I know it doesn't always work for everyone; it especially didn't work for me as my body just wasn't able to adapt. I also wouldn't sweat missing some days for daily exercise. If you don't ever exercise; daily is a BIG goal to achieve even with small workouts. A goal I am hoping to achieve is going to be 1 to 3 workouts/gym sessions per week if I get started at a gym. Have some clothes in my car and if I'm only spending 10 to 15 minutes walking on a treadmill or stretching or even almost nothing, at the very least I WENT to the gym which is the biggest hurdle for most people apparently. Just don't forget that even if you did one 5-minute workout this week? Thats 5 minutes more than if you had done nothing which is a lot easier. Something is better than nothing. Keep it up!

Yeah, I psych myself out by making "exercising" into this huge ordeal instead of just... doing daily cardio so I don't die at 50. You're pretty brave to go to a gym. The idea of exercising around other people sounds like torture. Why is home exercise equipment so expensive? I swear it's some kind of scam run by Big Gymnasium.

...But anyway, maybe we can be digital workout buddies. You're right that it's easier to keep going when you're talking about your goals with someone! I want to go from 150 to my pre-covid weight of 130, and get strong enough that I can carry all my groceries in at once instead of having to take multiple trips. 😤

You're not the only one working on better habits! I'm really trying to get back in the habit of exercise, because it reaaaally helps my mental health and energy level (not to mention the obvious physical benefits, feeling stronger, etc.) I'm thinking of trying a gym closer to my house so that I can't use the "I don't wanna drive all the way over" excuse - as much as I like Planet Fitness, navigating depression for me often means a lot of brute-force motivation, lol.

I tend to be pretty bad about changing how I eat because I get a little bit obsessive if I count calories or fast, etc. I recently saw some dietitians on social media talking about a more "additive" approach to healthy eating, a la "Even If You Put Ranch On The Salad You Still Ate A Vegetable, The Ranch Doesn't Negate It" and eating more intuitively, and it's helped! Being focused on what I can't eat made me way more likely to eat things I "shouldn't," whereas this way I find I don't want a bunch of junk food most of the time because it doesn't even make me feel good.

Sorry for the big essay, lol, but it's fun to see other people talking about their good habits. Makes it easier to follow when you have buddies doing the same stuff. Other than fitness/exercise, I've been trying to keep up good mental habits like staying present, spending time in nature, journaling, etc etc etc. I wish you lots of luck with your habits and it sounds like you're doing great! (Also hope you got that wedge - you're right that it's worth it! No need to deprive yourself of something that would make your life better!)

I totally get the obsessive part! I think its easier to try and make a concious effort to pay attention to what it is youre eating and how often rather than counting calories imo. I wanna bike more once I have a helmet and I'm still on the fence of the gym thing because well... money. I'll get some modest movement from both biking and taking walks when its feasible.

Alsi yes I got the wedge and for just under 30 bucks its amazing??? I sleep shockingly well on it and the cushion is actually better for my arms not going numb when i sleep on my side. The brand was cozymaker on amazon. This morning since i have to be up at the same time daily now i flipped it after taking my med (need to sit upright for 30min ugh) and just sat propped up half dozing for that half hour lol! But hey up at the same time daily is a healthy habit I need for adulting. Meds are strong incentive to get it right. Gotta transform myself into a morningish person.

Trying to become vegetarian. Well knocking out red meat.

Trying to not drink soda. Limiting alcohol. A drink at a social event is OK.

I have stage 4 breast cancer so trying to be a little healthier, whilst I deal with this.

I hope the changes you make help you to feel better while fighting. I know cancer is never easy. I wish you the best of luck on all of your health related goals! 🥰

thankyou Currently stable and feeling well

Yes! I've been exercising a ton the last few years and it really does help with sleep and I think a little bit with depression too.

I'm also trying to eat more healthy fats to keep my cholesterol good, but it's challenging because fish is expensive and I don't like avocados. At least it was easy to switch out butter and mayo for healthier stuff.

all kinds of tree nuts like walnuts, almonds, etc. are great for adding healthy fats so long as you aren't allergic. Cooking with olive oil and other healthy plant oils, sunflower, avocado, coconut, etc., also help too. Making chia seed pudding is great for fiber and has omega 3's in it as well along with flax seeds.

Myself I often make overnight oats for breakfast with a packet of carnation instant breakfast for flavor and add a spoon of flax/chia/hemp seed mix along with maybe peanut butter or whatever might go nicely with either the chocolate or vanilla packets. The only sugar is from the carnation (they also have sugar free packs) and you can use plant milk instead of regular cow's milk too. I also make a savory version that I'll heat up in the microwave too with chicken bouillon and some seasoning mix and adding in sauteed veggies and a scrambled egg, maybe a bit of cheese and cut the milk with water.

I hope you find other healthy options that work for you! These definitely work for me at least for the mornings.

,I hope the changes and new medicine works out for ya!

I too am trying to make positive changes for my health. I recently got diagnosed with high LDL cholesterol. I am trying to eat healthier foods to lower it. I started following The Mediterranean diet. So far,so good. I am also trying to regulate my portion size. Thankfully, I have a good friend helping me with that! Along with hydrating,and getting plenty of steps in daily,I hope my next round of labs show a lower LDL!

It's certainly going. It's unfortunate I can't actually do that breakfast anymore because my word decided we suddenly can't eat at our desks. 😤 I guess its foods I can eat while driving from now on. I function on perpetual time crunch and insomnia. I have an idea that maybe pickled eggs won't be unpalatable for me (since covid made boiled eggs smell like butts to me regardless of them being overcooked or not) so time for food experiments!

Now if I could just get exercise worked into my usual habits Ill be golden. Really I need to CUT the phone use down majorly because it chips away time that just adds up so so much. Like time spent browsing could easily be used for a walk after dinner or something. Not even 15 or 30 minutes of my afternoon. I'm certain my last labs said my cholesterol was too high but I haven't had a doctor point to it in extreme concern just a "you should lose a bit of weight" comments.

I hope your labs make a big jump for the better soon! Hopefully mine can be better some day too.

Im really trying to ensure I drink more water. I got a cute new water bottle that, dumb as it sounds, is helping me drink water. It has measurements on the site and I can see the water in it so that somehow helps? Lol

I have a pretty physical job which is good but after work I tend to just gorge on big meals and a ton of snacks at night time so even though Im working hard during the day Im still putting on pounds so I need to be mindful of that as well...

I can "feel myself aging" so Ive had to start really taking things seriously. Trying to practice gratitude as well. I feel like the older I get the more things I need to consciously do in order to feel somewhat normal

Oh man I've been feeling myself age since 25 😭

A good rule for food is to not overeat, just eat until you're full enough (about 80%) but not stuffed and if you think you want more wait a half hour or so and check again in case your brain and stomach aren't on the same page. Plus, not eating within 2 to 4 hours of going to bed. That's more for sleep and reflux cuz I got insomnia and GERD :')

I currently do my best to eat primarily plant based and walk to and from work (1 hr walking total a day). Still working on trying to figure out how to drink more water without drinking crystal light, sadly lemon doesn't do it for me. One of the only ways I used to get exercise in when I lived in the city was only watching tv if I was walking on the treadmill otherwise id read in bed etc.

Aw man! I wish I could walk to work. I checked and it would be about a 3.5 to 3.75hr walk just one way if I were to try and walk to my work. The drive itself is a half hour with average traffic 😭

Have you ever seen any kind of water additives without coloring? I'm so determined to get my mother drinking something that isn't bright red crystal light fruit punch but she only ever wants fruit punch. I sometimes wonder if the sheer quantity of red dye contributes to her arthritis pain, but she's so stubborn and also doesn't like the taste of water.

ugh awful! I had a commute like that to here before I moved. Loved it for listening to audibooks and podcasts though.

I've tried so many things to try to get water more palatable but i'm knit from the same cloth as your mother and love a good fruit punch. There's so many sneaky dyes in things nowadays.

Thanks for the suggestion! Might be worth getting for hot days but she would only be drinking this and no water whatsoever so I'd be afraid an "electrolyte enhanced" or something with any kind of benefits added could risk her basically overdosing vitamins or something. I'd think having nothing but Gatorade or electrolyte drinks could wreck your kidneys over time. Plus, she specifically likes the punch type flavors. Otherwise I might shoot for the "True lemon" stuff. Maybe I'll suggest it and we can try it out if she's open to it.

Sometimes I'm debating if I just need to start my own company to create the product I need. Some people just can't stand regular water, I mean imagine someone with an autistic child who just refuses outright right? Don't want them fat off sugar and dyeing their skeleton red with food dyes isn't exactly healthy either. but honestly the idea just seems like too much work since I wouldn't exactly have any help it would just be me.

Ngl, I kinda wanted to do it as an "experiment" of sorts. Constant drinking of the bright red crystal light can't possibly be making her feel good? All the info about red 40 causing inflammation and generally awful feelings? Would she feel better if we stopped it? I genuinely wanna know.