When I was young I could do anything. Well, I thought I could. I didn’t think about nutrition and exercise and never thought I would. But then I got older and realized….bumps and bruises take longer to heal, recovery after a workout takes longer, and nutrition has a huge impact on how you feel.
I went through menopause rather early. By my 50th birthday I was officially post menopausal. Hooray! Let’s be honest with each other, having a monthly cycle is aggravating on many levels. But I’m done with that and rejoice in the fact every dang day! But with this joyous change, I needed to make some changes in my life if I was going to “feel good”.
First, it took a while for me to fully understand why my body stiffened if I sat too long. But, a friend of mine made some major changes in her nutrition. When she told me what she had changed and how she felt better, I decided I would do some research and see if the changes she made were right for me. Let me be clear, this is personal research. Neither one of us is a doctor, nurse, dietician, or any other medical personnel. After doing my research, I changed my diet. Did I do the exact same thing my friend did? Absolutely not! We are two different individuals and therefore needed to adjust our diets to our own personal needs.
Second, I was not sleeping well. It wasn’t night sweats or hot flashes (I didn’t have much of that at any stage during menopause), but I was HOT! This blew my mind since I am always cold. But at night, my body temperature would rise and I couldn’t sleep. So I researched what I could do and came across a solution I thought would work….the ChiliPad by SleepMe (formerly known as Ooler). It was a total game changer! I can literally set a schedule for the temperature that allows me to climb into a warm bed, then gradually cool down after I’ve fallen asleep to keep my body temp at a comfortable temperature, and then wake up to a gentle warming. I sleep soundly all night!
Last, I noticed I was lacking the energy I used to have. Now this was a combination of not enough quality sleep, poor diet, and lack of exercise. I solved the first two issues, but I am not one to go into a gym and lift weights, take a yoga or aerobics class, and I’m certainly not a jogger/runner. So what were my options? I live in one of the most walkable cities on the planet. I started walking. Then I got a dog and I started training/playing with the dog (training/playing with you dog(s) should most definitely be counted as exercise). And while Athena and I are out and about, we take breaks to stretch, drink more water, or maybe just sit and watch the world go by.
The end result is I feel better because I’m taking more care with my diet, sleep and exercise! My body doesn’t stiffen up quite so much, I’m getting a minimum of 7 hours of quality sleep every night, and I have more energy! WooHoo!!!! I’ve shared all of this with all of you, because I will be writing about all of this more in depth as we go along. Feeling good is a never ending journey and we’re all on that journey. We may take different paths, but we’re all headed in the same direction….feeling good. Getting older may bite, but we don’t have to let it keep biting us! So, what have you done, or are thinking about doing to feel better? Let me know.