What's Been Happening....

There's been a lot going on over the last few weeks, so I wanted to give an update on everything.

Intelligent Change

In October I finally bought myself one of the Intelligent Change 5 Minute Journals (I specifically bought the Fit Edition). I've been wanting to give some of their products a try for a long time now, and since I feel like I've been really struggling with my health over the last few years, the Fit Edition journal seemed like the one to choose. I've only been using it for a few weeks now, and I've been finding it challenging to fill out the evening portion of the day (what did I do to take care of myself today), especially since...

Vertigo

I had a vertigo flare-up at the end of October. I noticed that my head was feeling a bit wonky in the week before it happened. Then I didn't drink enough water on the weekend of the 31st and sure enough, I woke up I think on November 2nd and the room was spinning. That was also the weekend of the time change, so I'm sure that didn't help. Thankfully the flare-up was short lived. I was careful not to move my head too much for a few days, used a bit of the betahistine the day it happened, and have since been trying to stay better hydrated, and it seems to have helped. My head still feels a little off from time to time, but there's been no serious vertigo since that day. Which is lucky because...

Grief

This last week someone else in my family passed away quite suddenly. :( I haven't really been sleeping well all this week, so I was worried that my vertigo would flare up again as a result, but staying hydrated seems to be keeping the vertigo at bay. Of course, at this point I'm doing my best to keep to my healthy habits, but it's been really difficult because I'm grieving and having a hard time caring about things. But luckily I signed up for...

Finch

A number of months ago, a friend at work showed me the Finch App, where you create a little bird (or "burb" as the app calls them) who goes on adventures when you power them up, giving them energy every time you successfully complete a self-care goal or task. Thanks to the app, I've slowly started adding more activity into my morning routine (doing a few shoulder rolls and wall pushups to start), and used the app to help curb snacking on Halloween treats during breaktime at work. And wanting to check in with my little burb friend a few times a day helps me keep these mini-goals top of mind. :)

Karin Dimitrova's New Program

Karin Dimitrova also released a new program a few weeks ago called "Deep Squat." I've enjoyed her teaching methods in the past (I loved Reset) so I was already excited to try a new program. But even more exciting was the focus of it. I've been trying to improve my leg flexibility a little at a time every day (I successfully set a microresolution back in June to stretch my calf muscles daily after I brush my teeth, and I am happy to report that I've continued to stick to that habit!) But adding in some bigger and targeted stretches a few times a week is going to really help.

I also like that Deep Squat is so focused on legs. I have her Beyond Flexibility program as well, but right now I'm a little overwhelmed thinking of my health and how I need to work on so many things; changing my focus for now to just improving my leg flexibility is helping to calm that anxiety. I'm hoping that once I can comfortably hang out in a deep squat, I'll be able to work on just maintaining that flexibility and can then focus on improving another aspect of my physicality. 

October Microresolutions Update

In October I set two microresolutions:

• I will put my food down between bites at dinner to savour what I'm eating.
• I will stop looking at screens at least one hour before bed

I'm still struggling with the first one, though the idea of "savouring" my food has really helped. (Though this microresolution has also been thrown off recently due to my grief - I'm having even more trouble remembering it). So I'm going to keep working at it through November (and beyond if needed).

The second microresolution is, overall, going well. Most nights I am quite happy to put my phone down (and on silent) around an hour or so before going to sleep. It also helps that I'm now writing in my Fit Edition journal every night, so I have little need to be on my phone. Though there have been nights when I can't wait and look something up (this has specifically been happening since I've been grieving), plus there are the odd times when I'm playing video games with my partner late still. 

So I'm going to keep working on both of these through November. I'll reassess at the end of the month, and will hopefully feel confident that at least one of them have become a habit at that time. :)