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. 

Parents
  • 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.

Reply
  • 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.

Children
  • 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!