The main problems are that 1) I work too much, 2) so I don't exercise at all and 3) therefore I don't always get a lot of sleep. I try to stay under 50 hours a week, but...Yea, not doing so well with that.
Hubby and I started consciously eating a lot better and healthier last year. That's good.
We also started doing what I call "The Team effort" for cleaning and generally tidying up.
Slight detour on the way to my point: I love the forum Get Off My Internet. Although it has its problems, I love how it picks apart the ridiculous pinterest-style of life and double standards that a lot of those social media/bloggers have. I find it ridiculously inspiring to read about the healthy living bloggers that just cannot lose weight and are picked apart on the forum for faking it and their lies upon lies. Before and after pictures where you just suck in your gut on the after? Fail. Instagram and blog telling two different stories? Fail. Same dirty sock on the floor in pictures supposedly two weeks ago? Yuck and fail.
It's really inspiring to see how people cut through that kind of bullshit. It actually helps to keep me from lying to myself about how little I actually move. Or what I eat.
It has helped to bring healthier food for work (Here, a delicious grilled salmon, cream cheese and avocado sandwich on high fiber bread) instead of being tempted to getting takeout with my coworkers. I appreciate that.
Anyways.
I tried to find the thread I'm thinking of, but haven't been able to. In this particular thread, a poster says something along the lines of "Eat a vegetable once in a while, get some fresh air and clean your home some time". So simple, but yet so awesome. It puts all the weird, crazy "diets" and "get healthy quick!"-self help books to shame.
I brought it up to Hubby and had him read some of the thread too. We put a little more effort into things like cleaning, and it evolved into these little exercises where we clean together. One of us grabs the vacuum cleaner and starts from one end off, the other starts airing out, disinfecting our work surfaces, sorts and takes out the trash, changes the bed sheets, cleans the kitchen or whatever else needs to be done. Then when we're done, we high five and feel really good about ourselves.
It's pretty awesome actually.
Back to the point.
Everything that I could do better right now, points back to my work load. If I worked less, I would probably bother to train, I would sleep more hours and I would have more time to relax or even have a hobby.
The thing is, I don't want to lower my hours/workload at the moment. I love Work #1 and Work #2 and they're great for my career.
So, what can you do?
I have asked my bosses at both works for a meeting each to discuss changing my work days around a little. Basically I want more work days in a row, to free up more days off in a row. When I only have one day off, I usually just end up doing chores and preparing for the upcoming work days. Not really something you relax with.
Please cross your fingers for me that I can get my way with this.
But. We have also made another change...
Hubby and I got Fitbits.
I have the Alta HR and Hubby has the Charge 2. I have some really conflicting opinions on these though.
On one hand it really helps by tracking how much you move during the day. Which is great! No more "Oh, I think I did pretty good today?", now we know for sure. It also tracks my sleeping pattern and helps me put more effort into getting a good nights sleep. It makes it a lot easier to adjust our diets, because now we know how much we burn.
But. But...
These things absolutely refuses to sync calls, texts or calendar entries up from any phone or tablet in our household.
Which #¤%& pisses me off, because this was the claim that made us pick fitbits to begin with. I hate when companies lie to you like that! And I hate when their customer service representatives only respond with "Have you read the FAQ?" or something similar when you contact them about their stupid product not working as promised.
If I had know the claim had been a fat lie, I would have picked another brand.
Of course we could have returned them but we ended up keeping them. They just only have half the actual functions we were promised. Not cool. I/we will replace them as soon as I find another brand and model I/we want.
I do not recommend anyone getting a Fitbit ever due to the product not working as advertised and the customer service being so condescending and useless.
I do not recommend anyone getting a Fitbit ever due to the product not working as advertised and the customer service being so condescending and useless.
It's still good for something though. And I feel it helps me stay on track.
Badass.
Anyways. Does anyone have a recommendation for me?
I'm looking for a smartwatch with activity sensoring or an activity band that can synchronize to other devices.
Requirements:
Anyways. Does anyone have a recommendation for me?
I'm looking for a smartwatch with activity sensoring or an activity band that can synchronize to other devices.
Requirements:
- Not Apple
- Not Fitbit
- Small and slim design
I've run (when in my 20s and 30s) or walked (40s onward) about 2.5 miles (4km) 6 days or more per week, outdoors if at all possible, but treadmill when not. I'd go stark raving mad due to stress without that.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their own requirements. Having said that, I'm still 20lb (9kg) overweight, and had cancer twice. So there's no magic formula, that's for sure.
So sorry to hear you've been through cancer! :( That's horrible. Are you in the clear now?
DeleteIf you find anything let me know because I"m still searching. I've researched so many of these fitness trackers and they all come up bad because I need something slim fit (I HATE bulky watches!), it has to have the time on it, and I need it to have a metal band due to my sensitive skin and those plastic bands.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you do---meaning work wise--you have 2 jobs--are they they same type (ie sitting at a desk or can you move around in the office?). It looks like you are making healthy food choices, and I think you commute to work yes? (Take the train?) So, you ARE walking to and from the train to the office.
The biggest issue is the work itself: If it's mentally taxing, you'll be more tired when you get home and feeling too drained to do much else. It can also affect your sleep. But, don't let your two friend's health scares scare you--remember, work alone doesn't create illness--genetics and other factors also come into play--a healthy or unhealthy lifestyle--smoking, excess alcohol, poor diet/diet high in fat/no exercise all together can add to anyone's health issues. But, genetics is cruel. That's the biggest factor in some health issues.
It sounds like you are making positive steps to make your work environment healthier (speaking to your employers is great!). I don't know if you work shift work, but if you do, maybe get a sunlamp or some natural light lamp when it gets dark so you have more daylight on you? I remember my brother working nights and it really messed with him.
I have started doing more fitness wise and got myself back into riding lessons. Dang, it's VERY easy to get fat and out of shape. I think the main issue also is stress relief---whatever your job is, if it's high stress, then finding an outlet is your second best defense against illness/health concerns. Playing video games, watching youtube--whatever. Then, on weekends or days off, a stroll to the mailbox or whatever will be a nice outing (or, stay home if you're like many other places and it's still freezing cold and snowy/rainy :) ). Jokes aside, you have a good sense about you and understand fitness and health needs. Knowing yourself is the best defense to problems later down the line. Good luck!! :)
Heh, still looking for a better option than fitbit :) Funny thing I found was that you can find a lot of knockoff replacement bands on Amazon. Some metal, some really pretty and more jewelry-like. But it doesn't change the fact the the tracker itself doesn't deliver on what I wanted it to do. Booh. I'm looking into Garmin at the moment...
DeleteFunny, I would say the same about you :) that you have a good understanding of health and fitness needs XD
I have seen the nice bracelet options on Amazon for the fitbit, but I need something waterproof (current fitbit is not). When I wash horses or dunk my hands into a water bucket, I need to know that won't kill it. So, for now, I use my pedometer on my phone, and have a new app for when I ride. Downside is, I'm not keen on riding with my phone if I'm jumping, and you need the phone /app to track you and your horse's progress. It's a new app and will likely integrate with any sport tracker soon, so I'll wait. Good luck with your search! :)
DeleteHa, I love GOMI, too! Never "met" anybody that knew of it :D I also like GuruGossiper, but it's more geared towards th whole Beauty youtubers, not so much about bloggers or Instagram.
ReplyDeleteI share your take on living healthy without going totally overboard. I work a lot, often overtime, sometimes during weekends, sometimes even during vacation, I love it. Before my current job I used to work out in the morning before I got to my job, but I was bored out of my mind and counted hours until i could go home.
When the weather is nice I will go for a walk with my BF in the evening or at least on the weekend, that's 3km across fields and through the wood. I haven't gained any weight in the last two years since starting my job, so I don't think I'm too inactive, despite sitting on a desk the whole day.
My "health thing" is cooking a fresh meal every day, either me or BF, but mostly the two of us will cook together after work. Yes, I eat too much meat, but in my book that's still better than too many sweets or highly processed food. We both hardly ever drink alcohol and don't smoke, which helps, too. After a night with alcohol, even if it was just a glass of wine I feel the effects the next day.
I also tend to relax in the evening and go to bed kind of early, earlier than most people I know, usually between 10 and 11. I'll read for a bit and I get up at 7:40, as I prefer being well-rested in the morning, so that I can actually work, it's much more enjoyable for me that way.
Cleaning is also a good point. I'm no neat freak, but I try to vacuum twice week (or as needed), clean the bath once a week and wipe down all kitchen counters daily after doing the washing up and try to pick up after me, or rather, BF and I do that, we too do this as "team effort". Works for us, and while the flat doesn't always look pristine, it's never bad or really unclean or anything. We both are in good health, don't do any of the "extra" stuff propagated on Social Media, which leads me to believe that your quote "Eat a vegetable once in a while, get some fresh air and clean your home some time" is very valid for people that are healthy to begin with and don't aspire to achieve immortality by posting superfoods arranged on Scandi tables on Instagram.
Awesome XD seriosuly, GOMI is such an odd forum. The other day I found myself wondering how I even found it in the first place, because it seems no one else knows about it? I will check gurugossiper out :) I also know of kiwiforums and...pretty little liars? Or something like that. But GoMI is my favorite even though I never registered. I enjoy lurking from the uncool kids'table :)
DeleteI like your idea of at least one fresh meal a day! That sounds both fun as a couple and really healthy.
i also never registered, neither on GOMI nor on Gurugossiper. I'm not even sure why and i don't even read/watch the people mentioned there, but I really enjoy reading along.
Delete