DAY 251 -- Recommendations for energy.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Education Week at the BYU campus.  They offered a wide variety of classes/lectures on topics ranging from parenting, to art appreciation, to scripture study, to physical health...

One class I selected dealt with creating personal energy, taught by E. Jeffrey Hill.  He had a bullet list of various things we can do to get, and maintain, energy; and I found it interesting that food was one of the first things he mentioned.  He feels strongly about eating healthy balanced foods, and told the class how he used to never concern himself with eating vegetables and fruits or eating healthy in general.  Then he lost his wife to cancer, and when he began to study about nutrition he learned that people can reduce, by 50%, their chance of getting cancer just by eating vegetables and fruits.  He admonished us to please eat healthy so that we can perhaps prevent leaving our loved ones behind prematurely.

I know this post is a little long, but I figured if you are like me and want (or need) more energy, you might want to read the bullet list of advice given during his lecture:

• Eat energy creating foods at energy creating times.
• Start your day with breakfast.
• Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods (esp. fruits and vegetables).
• Don't drink soda.
• Eat regular meals with the family.
• Make mealtime a pleasant time (not a time to talk about problems).
• Watch portion sizes.
• Avoid heavy, late-night meals.
• [And I add "drink plenty of water"]
• Get more energy-renewing sleep.
• Avoid exercise, stimulants, heavy meals, and bright lights before bedtime.
• Don't go to bed hungry.
• Have a regular bedtime routine (such as, check the doors, brush & floss teeth, put out your clothes for the next day...whatever you do to prepare for bed, do it routinely each night).
• Keep regular sleep hours: go to bed and get up at the same time each day.
• Sleep in a dark, cool, quiet place.
• Don't try to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes.  Get up and do something until drowsy, then do the bedtime routine over again.
• Engage in more energy-enhancing exercise.
• Start by warming up.
• Remember that exercise energizes.
• Do something that you love that raises your heart rate.
• Variety is the spice of life.
• Exercise with a family member.
• Set a time, and set a goal.
• Laugh more frequently: It generates energy.
• Humor disarms tension.
• Laughing together improves relationships.
• Play with children; it often begets laughter.  (Children laugh 400 times per day, vs. just 15 times a day for adults.)
• Jokes at the dinner table aid digestion.
• Do something unusual, outlandish.
• Remember:  Calamities + Time = Humor (learn to look back and laugh at incidents -- or better yet, learn to find the humor in current situations)
• Think your way to energy.  Our thoughts have more influence than environment when it comes to energy.
• Choose to think grateful thoughts.  Look for the good.
• Think slightly, unrealistically optimistic thoughts.
• Positive mind reading in your thoughts, give others the benefit of the doubt.
• Think of negative situations as...
• Opportunities for growth
• Stepping stones
• Temporary
• Avoid A.N.T.s (Automatic Negative Thoughts.)
• Always/Never type of thinking (... that always happens to me, I never get to...)
• Focusing too much on the negative
• Fortune telling/terribilizing (thinking we know what lies ahead, and it's terrible!)
• Negative mind reading (assuming others think badly about us)
• Thinking with negative emotions
• Tyranny of the "shoulds" (I should do this, I should do that) [gulp...guilty!!]
• Labeling/blaming
• Personalizing (taking things personal)
• Engage in more energy-enhancing social interaction.
• Greet people by name.
• Be courteous and friendly.
• Engage in conversations about the other person.
• Cultivate friendships.
• Partake more frequently of energy-creating spiritual renewal.
• Pray
• Ponder
• Study scriptures
• Fast
• Meditate

H

DAY 184 -- More than halfway.

Wow.  It's already three days into July.  This year is half over!  I've been doing some reflection on the first six months of My Healthy Eating Challenge.  There were times of struggle, but over all, I am happy with my progress.  I did quite well with making healthy choices, but I did have difficulty staying within the parameters of eating only when I was physically hungry.  In other words, I had a tendency to eat when I was upset, sad, or stressed.  But another major player that fought against me was fatigue.


I noticed a couple weeks ago that when I became fatigued, my body seemed to tell me I needed more fuel.  So I ate more than I should (more often, and larger quantities) trying to gain some energy.  It didn't work.  After several days, I finally reached a point where I allowed myself to sleep more than normal, rather than eat more than normal, so now I am back on track and doing well with My Healthy Eating Challenge.  I know it sounds crazy, but I need to remember when I am fatigued, I need more rest, not more fuel.  Who knew?  

DAY 120 -- Extra exercise. Whew.

This morning I did a little bit of aerobics and then some muscle toning.  My legs felt like noodles afterwards....Then the grandchildren arrived.  (Ages 2 1/2 years and 15 months.)  Oh. my. goodness.  We played with them for about 4 hours.  The youngest one loves to climb up the stairs but has not got the hang of coming down on his own so grandma went up and down the stairs with him.  Up and down.  Up and down.  Up and down.  The older one likes to pretend she is Buzz Lightyear and "shoots" grandma with a "laser" from her forearm.  I have to fall down and pretend to be dazed.  Over. And Over.  


After they left, my husband and I felt like collapsing.  But no.  We still had errands to run. HA!  What a term...errands to 'run'....we could hardly walk!   :)

I certainly got extra exercise today!  Now if I can somehow get up the stairs one more time, I will go to bed.  Up the stairs. just. one. more. time. ...  

DAY 115 -- Routines

I like routines, and look forward to getting back into the familiar pattern of my life.  I know I will feel even better when I am able to do that.

My exercise has gone out the window for the past week, and I need to get that going again.  Exercise definitely helps elevate my moods and helps with energy.

Regular mealtimes and healthy foods will be welcome again too.

But for now, I relish the time I have to be with visiting family.  Tomorrow I take our son to the airport.  *Sniff*

DAY 91 - Weigh in report; and a worn out grandma!

First of all, I want to report that I weighed in this morning and lost another three pounds since my last weigh in, which was a month ago.  (That makes 21.5 pounds lost since January 1.  See At the Start, for weigh-ins.) This route is definitely not a "lose quick" method, but I'm fine with that since I know my body maintains better at a slow rate.   Besides, as I explained in an earlier post, this challenge (for me) is not all about weight loss, but rather, about health.


Still, I celebrate the loss of three additional pounds, along with fitting into the dress I mentioned yesterday.

Now... for the second part of this post.  I am one worn out, yet happy, grandma.  I watched my two grandchildren today, (ages 2 1/2 and 1 year) while my daughter went shopping.  When I arose this morning, I planned on exercising, but then realized I would get plenty of exercise with the little ones here...and I was right!  Hooboy!  I climbed our stairs dozens of times.  The youngest can climb up but needs help coming down, so up and down I went with him.  We also walked to a nearby playground and played on the slides, and the swings; then walked  (pushing the youngest in a stroller and carrying the older one when she was tired) around the neighborhood before returning to play on the playground again.  Walking home and pushing the stroller was a real challenge since it was uphill.


I am grateful that I can play with the grandkids.  Thankful that I have the energy to be an active part of their lives.


*Big sigh* as I look around the room.  Now I need a burst of oomph to put everything in order again!  :)

DAY 77 -- Project full steam ahead.

I'm doing better today.  I think the project I am working on will come together after all.  Whew.

Now, with renewed hope in that department, I feel a surge of renewed energy in other areas.  Had a wonderful, healthy lunch of tossed salad with two kinds of  lettuce (leafy green and Romaine) as well as fresh spinach topped with tomato, carrots, and radishes (all organic) with organic olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I also had organic rice medley and some salmon.  Oh and part of an apple.

Now, back to my project!

DAY 57 -- Energy for the grandkids.

I'm awaiting the arrival of our two grandchildren for a visit.  When I first went off sugar, I wondered how I would be the kind of grandma to make sugar cookies with future grandkids.  Now I have two little grandkiddies and I don't worry about making cookies.  I figure we can use the cookie cutters for homemade "playdough" or clay.  I remember how my own grandmother used to make clay-dough and I loved to sneak pinches of the salty substance.  So, I can still build memories with the little ones.

Eating healthy allows us more energy to play with the grandkids, so even though they might not have a grandma that makes cookies for them, they have a grandma and grandpa that play with them.  Our daughter loves it when we watch the kids because we play with them so much they are worn out and sleep hard the rest of the night!  :)

DAY 23 - Interesting Benefit

This morning my husband told me that eating healthy helped him decide we need to set up a budget.  ???  He explained that he used to think diets were restrictive because he couldn't eat whatever he wanted, but now he realizes that he does not feel deprived and in reality has more freedom because of eating within healthy guidelines: he's lost weight, his blood pressure is down, his blood sugar under control, he has more energy and feel more alert.  Somehow those things crossed over into realizing that in the past he always viewed a budget as restrictive--he couldn't spend on whatever he wanted.  Now he sees that using a budget  will actually give more freedom and peace of mind.

This is a milestone for us.  I used to faithfully keep a budget and he used to faithfully fight against it.  For the past 3 years we didn't keep a budget at all.  Now he is excited about starting one, so we downloaded a program that will be easy for him to use, and easy for him to track spending.

Of all the benefits of eating healthy, I sure didn't expect this one!!  :)

DAY 14 -- Fatigue

I battled fatigue today for some reason.  Not sure why.  Still eating healthy.  I guess some days are just like that.  With fatigue, my body starts to act like it needs more "fuel" for energy but I made sure I was really hungry first before having any snack -- usually I drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes (or more) and see if I still feel hungry.

I love having fruit mixed with plain yogurt with a few chopped walnuts.  Mmm mmm mmm!