Wednesday Wellbeing Club | 11 August - 24 November | Week 5: Wednesday 15 September 2021

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Welcome!

The Wednesday Wellbeing Club is for anyone who, like me, wants to make some lifestyle changes. It will run every week for fifteen weeks until Wednesday 24 November 2021.

I'm aiming to lose 6kg in that time with the intention of improved health benefits and the opportunity to reduce medication. You might have other health goals - being more active, giving up smoking, getting more sleep.

Each week, we'll check progress against the Rule of Fives I set out in the launch post. You can write your own post each week, or you can just leave a comment on each week's post about how things are going for you.

I've taken the idea from the Saturday Savers Club over on the @eddie-earner account where a group of savers come together to support each other every Saturday.

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The Rule of Fives

I'm using the Rule of Fives as my framework through the time that the Wednesday Wellbeing Club is running. By the end of the fifteen weeks, I am hoping that these will become habits - things I do anyway, without thinking too much about them.

Here is my Rule of Fives for each week:

  • Lose 500g.
  • Enjoy 5 x 30 minute sessions of physical activity.
  • Eat 5 x 80g portions of fruit and vegetables each day.
  • Get 5 nights x 8 hours sleep.
  • Spend 5 x 30 minute sessions of connecting or creating.

(You'll find more detail in the launch post and the back story).

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Let's Check In

Here's a handy little chart to check progress week by week:

GoalThis WeekOverall
Lose 6k0.5Kg ❤️2.5k
5 x 30 mins activity😏❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 😏 😏
5 portions fruit and vegetables❤️❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 😏 ❤️
5 nights x 8 hrs sleep🤔🙂 🙂 😏 😏 🤔
5 creative/connecting sessions❤️🙂 🙂 🙂 ❤️ ❤️
1. Achieve a more healthy weight

It's been a strange old week: the end of last week was marked by continue to recover from the stresses of the ten days before that and I was definitely in a grumpy mood! In addition to recovering, I was also trying to develop better sleeping habits and the first few days were troublesome (see below). But 0.5kg obligingly disappeared, so back on track.

Back on track ❤️

2. Enjoy physical activity

This has been an interesting week, I guess you might call it a reset week. Things were a bit topsy-turvy, there were some days when I didn't go for a walk and I lost my rhythm with using @actifit to post on the @susie-saver account ... but strangely, things seem to have improved the past few days.

A new toy arrived last week, a cordless vacuum cleaner, and I've had great fun trying it out. It's perfect for my needs and has features that some might consider a disadvantage, but I find a bonus. Importantly, it is very lightweight (the hand-held cleaner is less than 1kg0, slender and agile and easy to use in the smallest of spaces. I've enjoyed testing it so much, the whole house is sparkling and I'm in a much better mood ... which got me thinking about stress.

After struggling with trying new sleeping patterns, I woke early this morning and went out for my morning walk with an average of 8:43 minutes per km, up from an average of 11:17 minutes last week. Taking a few est days seems to have helped.

Just for fun, I reset WalkMeter when I got back to the house: so far, I have walked 13km doing chores around the house and garden. Actifit doesn't seem to record all the steps, it's only showing a couple of hundred more steps than when I got back to the house from my walk.

Needs attention 😏

3. Eat well

I haven't tracked my eating much this week and I'm not too worried about it. I've got a good idea about portion size and I keep a running check of how many portions of fruit and vegetables I'm eating, which are right on target. We're having a no-buy month in Saturday Savers Club and that is a great incentive to eat up maybe slightly sad looking vegetables in the bottom of the fridge rather than going out and buying takeaway.

It's also bumper time for produce from the garden with fresh tomatoes, spinach and potatoes playing a leading role. The smaller tomatoes I'm eating straight off the vine (well, after they've been under the cold tap), and the potatoes are a delicious fluffy variety I'm enjoyed them simply boiled with butter with leftovers sauted the next morning and mashed with merguez sausages. Thy haven't lasted long enough to try roasted, but I'll be digging the main bed over the next few days, so may be at the weekend with some roast chicken.

On target ❤️

4. Sleep more

Well, this has been all over the show. I tried a couple of early nights earlier in the week but I wasn't having it. I couldn't settle and found myself getting up and roaming around the house. I find this when I try new things: it's almost like a nervousness or anxiety, as if I'm saying to myself "oo-er, what's going on here?"

The weekend was disrupted because I had an online meeting which started at 10pm my time and ended after midnight - great meeting, but rubbish for establishing any kind of sleep routine! However, I slept soundly afterwards and sleeping (and mood) has gradually improved since then. Last night, I slept through, without waking as far as I am aware, and woke about 6.30am this morning. I also dreamt last night and remembered the dreams, which is a good sign - everything is working as it should.

Not sure what's going on - let's see what this week brings 🤔

5. Connect and create

Lots and lots of knitting! Also the 10pm meeting I mentioned earlier, a lovely weekend with Mr P and a long call with a friend.

On target 😍

How's your week been?

Where are you up to in your wellbeing journey? Just starting? On your way? Achieving lots or wondering how to change things? Let us know in the comments.

Showing up is where it starts - everything else follows 🙂

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2. Hot Wellbeing Tip

Each week we'll explore an aspect of the Rule of Fives. In previous posts we've talked about setting goals and tracking progress, and taking care when you are making changes. This week's tip comes via @stav (extra thank-you EDS tokens in your wallet 😍). We're going to talk about:

Stress: It affects everything!

So poor sleep contributes to feeling (and being) less able to cope, which can lead to less sleep and so on. Conversely, better sleep and less stress combine in a virtuous circle getting better and better and less and less.

I mentioned last week about taking on too heavy a load sometimes, and I'm also away that I need to do more now to maintain wellbeing, and it takes longer to maintain everything (eat well, move more sleep longer). I notice I feel stress at work when I'm maintaining two contradictory ideas, usually along the lines of: "this needs to be done by x date, it's not possible ton get this done by x date because y has happened." After a while, I get to realising that I have to let go of the idea that whatever it is is going to be done in whatever time I originally decided (yes, I am setting these deadlines)!

At home, I feel very stressed when the house is disordered and needs cleaning. The new cordless vacuum cleaner has been a huge help in dealing with this, not least because it only has a 16 minute run time before it needs charging again. This means I have to be very organised before I get going with the cleaner, I have to "chunk" the work - what can I realistically clean in 16 minutes? - and that involves setting priorities ... bathroom or guestroom, because they are not both going to get done. This is immensely helpful because I can't maintain the illusion that I am going to do both and then feel stressed when it feels overwhelming.

The cleaner takes a good couple of hours to re-charge - time for me to sit down with a cup of tea and do some knitting ... or go for a walk ... or make some food.

I love having few choices: I find it helps me to manage stress.

What are your tips for managing stress?

As we say about saving in the Saturday Savers Club - start small and start today. I've chosen a Rule of Fives that set out my plan and will help me - but you might have a Rule of One or any number up to Five. The only thing you need to do is to show up, the rest will follow.

I'll be back next week with my check-in. See you then!

EDS for Comments

Each week there'll be an opportunity to win EDS tokens for comments. I like EDS income tokens, they're a great way to build an extra pay-day for yourself each week. You can see the EDS report on the @eddie-earner account.

Last week, we had comments from @bearmol, @justclickindiva, @missaj, @neumannsalva, @dswigle and @old-guy-photos; @akipponn wrote a post, too! They all went into the Wheel of Names for the Wednesday Wellbeing Club.

This week's winners are @justclickindiva and @neumannsalva - check your wallet!

Wednesday Wellbeing Club
Back Story
Launch and the Role of Setting Goals
Week 1 - Setting SMART Goals
Week 2 - Walking is Good, Brisk Walking is Better
Week 3 - Wellbeing and Taking Care: Prevention and Amelioration
Week 4 - Sleep: the fundamental well-being factor?

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Saturday Savers Club
I run a savings club every Saturday over on the @eddie-earner account. We're aiming to save £670 ($800) by the end of the year using the 365 day savings challenge. You can join any time of the year and set your own goals and plans (some people are saving Hive, others Bitcoin, some their local currency). We share savings tips and there's a free giveaway every week.

Wednesday Wellbeing Club
I'm hosting a Wellbeing Club on Wednesdays from 11 August until 24 November 2021 in the Natural Medicine community. It's for anyone who wants to make a lifestyle change. We have a weekly check-in and share wellbeing tips, and a weekly giveaway. Here's the back story and the launch post with more information. Everyone is welcome.

First Monday - NeedleWorkMonday Community
Every First Monday of the month, I host a Live Chat for an hour from 7pm for the Needlework Monday Community. Bring your knitting, sewing, crochet (or nothing, that's okay, too), a nice cup of something, and join us for a relaxing hour of chat. Find our more in this post

Three things newbies should do in their first week and, for most things, forever afterwards!

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17 comments
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Congrats to the winners. I realized I did set a goal some time back on lose it (my calorie tracker) ; I’m planning /trying to lose 3/4 kgs a week. That is no easy feat. I’m trying to add more exercise. To be more specific 3-5 times a week . I got two good sessions in last week . This week I’ve already surpassed that (my body is protesting but I’m pushing through.) Need to avoid sugar a bit more - that’s a work in progress. Do have a healthy week.

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I agree, it's not easy to losing weight. Great to have a goal of three to five exercise sessions a week and good to hear that you're progressing well this week 😍. Keep keeping on, thank you for dropping by.

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(Edited)

Hello 👋 @shanibeer and WWC members,

Great Stress management tips. Thank you.🙏

Congratulations to this week’s winners @justclickindiva and @neumannsalva.

Here is the link to my report for this week.

https://peakd.com/hive-120078/@bearmol/wednesday-well-being-club-or-report-4-my-third-week

Here is another related post as well.
https://peakd.com/hive-183952/@bearmol/pear-picking-experience-in-kobe-japan-or-88percent-water

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Great to see your progression and interesting that you are changing one of your goals next week now that you've achieved what you want to with hydration. If you are looking to lose weight, how about something to do with food?

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(Edited)

Hello @shanibeer. Thanks for stopping by and reading my post.

I think that the average person should have no problem with hydration. I have simply made a conscious decision to substitute drinks I usually have with my meals with water especially at lunch time then drink more water between meals. Goal achieved.

Thanks for your suggestion re food goals. I’ve been thinking about what to do. I don’t think I have a major problem with food except my salt intake may be a bit high. I’m afraid if I set that as a goal I’ll achieve it in a week or two as well.

I wonder if I should go environmental wellness? Reduce Waste or usage of plastics

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I was thinking about food in relation to weight loss, but you may feel you have that covered with increased physical activity.

Environmental wellness is a great idea - harmony in all things is a great sign of wellness. Look forward to seeing what your goal is 🙂

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Thanks again for your great suggestion. Getting feedback does a great deal for me so I appreciate it.
I'll give it further thought share my decision.

I was also thinking that it may not be a bad idea the include a section for things that I can work on in the short term and achieve easily.

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Hey! How come you're not doing Actifit posts with this? ;)

I have been musing that my having more git-er-done energy/focus the past couple of weeks might be because of my air purifier, which is amazing. I mean, it could also be a coincidence, but that's damn fine timing if so. So far it looks like it is really helping my health. :D I've also been wheezing less, so ya know, even just that is great!

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Hey! How come you're not doing Actifit posts with this

Just ran out of steam or motivation, one or the other :) I kept forgetting to carry my phone with the app on it and then I get frustrated when actifit doesn't record properly/won't let you post yesterday's result and sometimes won't post at all (the most aggravating, when it says "there was an error" but you have no clue what the error was)! Anyway, I have the phone strapped to me today, although @actifit doesn't seem to be be registering all the steps I'm doing.

Great that you are feeling more get up and go. I wonder if it is the air purifier? Quite possibly. When I was first diagnosed with asthma, before the medication was right and I learned how to manage the condition, I was trashed all the time. Do you have any medication for the wheezing? That doesn't sound too good, but great that the air purifier is helping.

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Hello @shanibeer. I see you had a week of ups and downs. The ongoing knitting is lovely as a stress reliever and visit with friends. My solution for stress as I mentioned in my post is to shake off the issue and say to myself to do better next time.

Also, something I didn't mention and I learned long ago was about external and internal stressors. Both can be eliminated. Internal is harder than external. The external stressors can be work, world events, such as disasters that are closely monitored by you, and friends and family. Yes, friends and family can be sources of stress when they pull you into family and friend drama. I try to distance myself whenever I can, give advice only if asked for and look at their issues through a non-partisan lens.

Difficult to do sometimes. However, I realize I can't solve other people's issues. And they can't solve mine.

A cordless vacuum. I need to invest in one of those because the plugs just drive me bananas always trying to move them out of the way.

Here's my Week 5 Wellbeing post:
https://peakd.com/hive-166408/@justclickindiva/week-5-91521-spreading-the-word-about-or-wednesday-wellbeing-club-until-112421

I improved my sleeping a bit this week with 4 full nights of 8 hours.


Thank you so much @shanibeer for my Tokens in the Wheel of Names for the Wednesday Wellbeing Club. Also, congratulations to @neumannsalva on winning.

I was not going to let @bearmol put me to shame with his exercise bike. So I pulled out my trampoline :)

Hope everyone participating in the Wellbeing Club had a good week.

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Lol 😂 🤣. Hi @justclickindiva I can assure you that I have no intention of putting anyone to shame. The picture serves as a great reminder of what I need to do. Lol.

What I can tell you is that I'm now excited to go over and check out your trampoline.

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Well, at least I do have it indoors for you to see how shiny and new it looks.

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I agree about family and friends and trying to stay out of it. Not always easy! I love the young people in my family, though, great to see them grown up and with children of their own.

My cordless vacuum is my new BFF! We have a lot of trees here, which is a lovely environment to live in, but there is always debris coming into the house. It is so easy to grab the cordless and run it over the floor or take the handheld and do the stairs.

Good news about the improved sleep, hope you feel better for it.

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