So if you didn't see the introduction last week, in this weekly feature I am going to be tackling the wellness industry in my position as someone who is chronically unwell. You can read my aims in the manifesto but this week I wanted to talk about my current priorities and set some short term and longer term goals for myself.
I think sometimes we overwhelm ourselves with too many goals at once, or set more long term goals and I don't know about you but I am very easily distracted! I need some things to work straight away or I won't stick to them. I would say that the main themes in my life are as follows:
Sleep
Pain Control
Anxiety Control
Gut Health
These at times can all entwine with each other and right now I think that these are the main four things I need to think about when planning anything. As a said before I have no desire to lose weight or anything, but what I do want to do is have my body working as best it can with the conditions I have. So in the short term I would like to:
- Increase the amount of good quality sleep I am getting. As you know I work three nights a week and while I am getting a decent sleep in the day on my days off I feel unable sometimes to sleep at night. I will be trialling a few products etc to help me set a good routine. I also want to look at the science behind things such as naps. In the long term I also want to completely cut my consumption of energy drinks and stop relying on sugar to get me through night shifts.
- As far as my pain is concerned I want to stop relying so much on painkillers. This may be controversial and I would NEVER tell anyone else that I think they should do this but my issue is that I am taking a lot of painkillers. I want to read more about anti inflammatory foods and supplements as I feel a lot of my pain is coming from inflammation.
- The last two things are definitely linked together and again I have a lot reading to do into more research, but I have tried to tweak my diet before and I got to a stage where I was eating barely anything and STILL having symptoms, where as the more I get my anxiety under control the more I feel my IBS is controlled.
Charlotte Lucy
this is a great post and writing this stuff out always helps and lets you keep your mind focused. xx
ReplyDeleteG
www.teawithgi.com
I think this is great you're doing this and it's definitely more sustainable to set lots of short term goals instead of long term ones - long term goals get forgotten so easily.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see how your progress goes :)
Rebecca, libfemblog.com xo
Love these goals! Sleep is such a fundamental building block for anything to do with health, and it's must be unbelievably hard for you with a job that means switching to night working. When I was at uni and working nights in a bar, after a certain period it really began to mess with my health- mental and physical. Nothing major but just really run down, no immune system, feeling isolated. I havent had to do anything requiring night working since but thank god for dedicated professionals like you that do. It is interesting the overall impact it has. I would love to improve my sleep quality but it's a bit out of my control at the moment with Theo being so young and often waking early or not sleeping through the night. Good luck with your health goals x
ReplyDeleteThese are great goals, although they sound like they may be challenging at first, particularly reducing painkillers etc.
ReplyDeleteI did a post this week on my self care goals so things like staying hydrated, getting in to a good sleep routine etc.
I'm also trying to work on my fitness again as that took a back seat when my mental health was really bad. I'm feeling a little better at the moment so taking advantage of it.
Good luck with your goals.
V <3
http://sirvikalot.wordpress.com
I need to sleep earlier, cook more (so I know what's going into my food) and give myself more time for myself. I stress myself out by trying to be a "yes woman" over here because of my serious FOMO!
ReplyDeleteHannah
hannahinternational.co.uk