Improving self care

Inspired by another thread :-) After spending a very long time thinking that I’m quite good at self care (because I do always eat clean and ensure that I get enough sleep) and assuming that I didn’t need to make any changes to my habits to improve my self care, on reflection I concede that I was wrong. There are many things that I could and should change in order to improve my self care. For example: I drink far too much coffee and not enough water; I don’t really exercise (difficult to fit it in going to the gym with my youngest being only 2 but I figure that I can walk/find exercises that I can do at home); I don’t plan my week out past the basics  and I feel that my life would run a lot more smoothly if I micro-managed my life a lot more. So, I am going to read and research self care and make changes to my life that enable me to take care of myself to a better degree. I shall use this thread as a ‘blog of sorts’ to post useful resources that I find; write any tips that I perceive may help others and generally report on my progress. I would like to invite others to join me. To share their own resources/tips on self care; to come on their own ‘improve self care’ journey with me or even just to participate in discussion on this thread. 

  • I’ve been burning sandlewood with ginger and sweet clementine in my oil burner lately. I have no clue if it’s helping my Autism symptoms or not but my house smells gorgeous! :-)

  • It must be really difficult to prioritise self care when you have physical health difficulties and many people requiring your time. 

  • Hi, that’s another good method to increase water intake. Basically anything that makes water taste better Slight smile 

  • My wife and I have upped our water intake hugely after discovering Sainsburys Sparkling water. We discovered it during one of our 'no alcohol' experiments and it's been so easy to stick with (the water!) because it's so refreshing.

  • I find self-care very difficult.   My health problems control a fair portion of my life and my CFS controls a big chunk of what's left.    I intend to be better to myself but stuff happens and it goes out the window as it's the lowest priority at that moment.

    I intend to eat a better diet but, due to my body playing up, i often go without or eat quick/convenient rubbish.

    In an ideal world, without anyone making demands on me and my time, i might be able to be better at looking after myself.

  • Thank you for the tips. I have managed to cut my coffee intake down to 2/3 cups a day and I never drink coffee after 6pm, I haven't done for years otherwise it's a total disaster sleep wise! I have also taken a recent liking to lemon and ginger tea which is caffeine free and is helping me to drink my daily water target :-) Maybe you could try finding a herbal tea that you like to help encourage you to drink more water?

  • If you have trouble with caffeine causing insomnia sleep problems because you drank coffee too late in the night, you can try replace it with hot milk, or what I prefer hot chocolate milk - it actually works almost immediately for me. Remembering to drink water for me is a hard one, because I get fixated and am highly focused when working and forget to drink water, even if I am dehydrated, by which point it's 4am.

  • I found a couple of resources while browsing online, one is related to self care and one just seemed like a good resource, so I thought that I’d share them:

    https://musingsofanaspie.com/essential-reading/

    https://thesilentwaveblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/25/the-importance-of-self-care-for-people-on-the-aspergers-autism-spectrum-part-1-self-care-and-its-detriments/

    This one is a bit random but it appealed to me as I did an aromatherapy massage course years ago and know how to mix oils and I got a new oil burner at the weekend and was planning on getting back into burning aromatherapy oils anyway:

    https://www.healthline.com/health/essential-oils-for-autism#benefits

  • Personally I would find going to the gym or an exercise class as a waste of time, simply because I don’t have the spare time to do it so I would end up putting more pressure on myself in other areas. However, exercise that I can build into my everyday routine and that has a purpose works well for me. Walking is a good one and something that a lot of people overlook when thinking about exercise but as long as you’re walking at a reasonably fast pace then it is still classed as moderate exercise and thus does improve cardiovascular health. I don’t find walking really makes me sweat nor tires me out too much. I actually got really ‘on it’ with walking a lot in the couple of months before Christmas and was walking loads, for the school run; to the shops; even just for random walks in the country. I had so much more energy and found that doing that exercise first thing really set me up for the day. But then the Christmas holidays happened and I got out of the habit. I need to get back ‘on it’. It’s just a case of getting the children ready in time to walk the morning school run rather than having to use the car!

  • I also find exercise a difficult one! I think maybe because it's quite tedious - you need to use a lot of energy - and it's not really rewarding (and maybe the opposite: you sweat and have to take a shower, which is more work). I personally also don't find exercising by myself that enjoyable, I do like sports when it's played like a game with others, as there is a goal (to try to score points or win), but I don't really see the goal when doing it alone.

  • Thank you for your input. I do some of these but the more ideas I can get from other people and resources the better. I bought a children's reward chart this morning and turned it into a weekly planner. I was going to type one out and laminate it but I thought why do that when I can get a pretty wipe clean planner from sainsburys? I already plan my paperwork/admin out each week but feel I would benefit from being a bit tighter on the organisation and planning front! I got a magazine on being mindful and leading a calm life too which I shall peruse when I have a moment. I really do need to learn to be calm because it's not something that I'm very good at, I'm  far too good at being very busy!

    My brain in just so busy today, in a good way. There are so many questions that I want to know the answer to; so many new avenues I can see opening in my life; so many new ways of understanding things that are starting to take shape in my brain. I feeling in a self development growth spurt kind of mood! 

  • Sounds like a really good idea. I've been guilty of this over the last 12 months for obvious reasons but normally I'm pretty good organised etc.

    I do batch cooking when working to make life easier on long days.

    I get up earlier than necessary on work days so that I don't have to rush and panic.

    I clean the house on a certain day.

    I go to bed early on 'school' nights.

    I walk the dogs every day even if I'm on a real downer, it usually lifts my mood and its exercise.

  • So just to start off. As of the last two days, I have reduced my coffee intake to 2 cups of coffee a day (I will reduce further in time but I am so addicted to caffeine that I need to reduce slowly); been making an effort to drink a lot more water (not difficult when some days I was drinking zero pure water and my only liquid intake was coffee) and been ensuring that I do at least 10 minutes of ‘brisk’ walking per day (I have found in the past that exercising and improving my cardiovascular health as a consequence of that exercise, is the only thing that gives me the boost in energy that I always seem to think I’m going to get from a cup of coffee).