Update

Below is my log of how I did each day this past week (feb 17th-23rd):

Tues: 2 liters of water, 6 f/v, no sweets (high sugar, empty energy foods), bed at 12 (8.5 hrs of sleep), and took all vitamins

Wed: 3 liters, 5+ f/v, 2 cupcakes :(, bed at 11 (9 hrs of sleep), vitamins check

Thur: 2+ liters, 4 f/v, 1 BIG slice ice cream cake :(, bed at 11:30 (10 hrs of sleep), took all vitamins

Fri: 2 liters of water, 3 f/v, another slice of ice cream cake :( :(, bed at 11:30(9 hrs), vitamins check

Sat: 2 liters of water, 4 f/v, chocolate soufflé, 11:45 bed (9.5 hrs), vitamins check

Sun:  2.5 liters, 5 f/v, no sweets, 11:30 (10hrs), vitamins check

Mon: 2+ liters, 7 f/v!, no sweets, bed at 11:30 (8 hrs), vitamins check

Also, I just found out after class last Wednesday that I now in fact do have mono, dun dun. So I guess that's why I've been needing so much sleep ):

3 Barriers to Change

Some barriers I am running into that are making it difficult to stay on track include: 1) not keeping daily accounts of how I am doing with REST*, 2) eating unhealthy because I do not cook meals ahead of time, because I'm out of the house or really hungry cause I haven't eaten at regular meal times and lastly, 3) staying up till midnight or one on the computer and snacking because I prob don't take enough time during the day to have "alone time" and it's my only time to relax and do a little wedding planning.

The way I'm going to try and overcome these barriers include: 1) begin keeping a daily journal on water intake, f/v intake, sugar intake, hrs of sleep and if I took my vitamins/supplements. Then I will post my daily progress each week and not just my overall weekly general progress. 2) When I have any down time (perhaps Sunday evening before the week starts) I will try and cook a few meals for the week and I can also begin making my lunches the night before if I know I won't be at home during lunch the next day. This should help with eating at regular meal times and eating more fresh healthy foods, also when I'm out I can search for healthy alternatives. 3) Lastly, I can work on going to bed at 11 instead of 12 or 1 by doing wedding planning on the weekends only or during the day when I have time but not in the evening. Instead of going on the computer which tends to make me anxious and is easy to stay on for a long time I can make sure I take time to reflect and pray each night before I go to bed. I could also have my fiance call me every night at 11pm to make sure I'm in bed, sometimes the extra accountability can go a long way. 

 

Simple Status Update

Just a quick status update. Jan 25-31 I began feeling better and worked out 4x(20-45 min) during that week. Then came last week Feb 1-7 in which I did nothing whatsoever to exercise, not simply because I was lazy but because I kinda rebounded and am feeling really crappy again. So I will still be taking it week by week to see when I can incorporate physical activity. For now, I will still be focusing on the RESST acronym. Below is how I've been doing overall the past four weeks on each section:

R (rehydrate): good! each day I have been able to drink at least 2 liters of water (not to hard of a goal, I normally drink a lot of water anyways)

E (eat f/v): The majority of the days in the week I eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, I've been short apx. 1 days each week. The "eat less sugar" aspect of this intervention has been harder than I thought and I've been doing poorly in both tracking and eating less sugar if anything I've probably been consuming more sugar even though I'd really like to work on this :(

S (sleep): I've been sleeping at least 8 hours every night (w/ the exception of apx 1 night a week) but I want to set a new goal of going to bed earlier (11pm at the latest) and not just going to bed late and waking up later.

S (stay away from coffee/soda): nope haven't been doing this but I think my interventions to broad and I already have one "S" anyway so can I just get rid of this one? :)

T (take multi-vitamin/ B daily): check, missed only 4-5 days in past month

Motivation for Change

When I initially heard we were going to have a personal project to improve nutrition or physical activity I was excited. I was planning on trying to get back in shape this semester anyway for various reasons and this project would be a good way of keeping track. My motivation for trying to take care of myself more and being more active is because it just feels better. I feel less tired, more alert, I have more energy, feel healthier and have more self esteem when I take care of my body. In addition, I am getting married this coming July (yay!) and have been putting off getting in shape for the wedding for sometime now. For the past five years of my life I ran cross country/track & field in college so I know what it feels like to take extra special care of my body (sleep, nutrition, etc). Since I stopped running last spring, however, I also now understand how crappy it feels to stay up late, eat poorly and not exercise. I'd much rather prefer to experience the benefits of exercise and taking care of myself, however, doing it is the hard part. So for motivation when I don't want to follow through I'll try and think of how bad it feels to be out of shape and not take care of myself and also how I want to look good for my fiance (did I really just write that).