As I write this, I’m on the last 2 weekdays of my spring break. I’ve rested and restored and ready to do some work on myself again.

Since the end of January I’ve been learning new ways of eating, movement, how to energize myself in healthier ways, and bringing my stress levels down. I am still at 1 cup of coffee each morning either with or after I eat breakfast. I drink more hot tea. I’m getting more efficient at the meal prep and packing my lunchbox for work each day. I’m more aware of my sleep habits, and that will be a daily work in progress. I’ve been moving more, but not as much as I’d like to.

I’ve been focusing on one habit at a time so I don’t feel overwhelmed. And that’s been a good plan so far. Now it’s time to put it all together.

Starting today I’m going to take my blood glucose readings each morning. I’m still pre-diabetic and I’ve been worried about how my 2nd bout with Covid has impacted that. So I decided to face my worry and take my reading, and I’ll do so each morning. That’s one of my most important measures of progress that doesn’t involve the scale. I’m also going to use my continuous glucose monitor again. I got frustrated with it because it would come off like 3 days into using it, and one time it just got jacked up when I was trying to apply a new one. And I discovered that the alarm goes off like I have a big glucose dip when I sleep on my side and on the arm where it’s attached. Not fun at 3am to be woken up by my phone beeping loudly. Anyway, I am looking for weekly improvement in my morning readings no matter how slight.

This is what I want my days to look like by putting all the habits together:

1) Prep my breakfast and lunches the night before.

2) Pack my workout bag the night before. If the weather is good, walk right after work around my school. If the weather is bad, go to Planet Fitness. The goal is 30 min of walking per day, 30 min of strength training 3-4 times per week.

3) Take my thyroid meds with 16-24 oz of water. That’s been a habit for over a decade.

4) Eating a protein rich, savory breakfast. Shooting for 25g or protein for my 1st meal. Drink green tea before and then I cup of coffee with or after my breakfast.

5) Track and hit my daily goals for protein (130g), magnesium, fiber, omega-3, and Vitamin D.

6) Eat every 2-3 hours. Save my complex carbs for later in the day. I learned that this, along with hitting my protein goals, really helps reduce my urge to binge eat at night.

7) Set my bedtime and stick to it. My nighttime routine is non-existent so I’m starting with a set in stone bedtime and then reading to get sleepy instead of being on my phone. I was journaling at night for a bit and I enjoyed that. I shall give that another go and see if that habit can stick.

Those are the daily habits. These are the things that will help with my health goals.

List all my supplements on my white board so I can see them, and/or write them in my passion planner, and check off when I take them.

Use my good water bottle and add my electrolyte drops. My house has a reverse osmosis system and I’m not getting any minerals from all the water I’m drinking.

Meal Prep when I am home on the weekends. Make a double batch when I do cook during the week so we have a meal of leftovers the next day to cut down on my cooking time.

Do a brain dump with my journal and use my wall calendar for appointments and tasks. The mental load of a mom overloads my brain at times. Getting it on paper where we all can see it helps immensely.

I remember the last two times I got really healthy. In 2002 when I trained and focused for Gathering of Nations and I got 1st place, and then in 2009 when I trained and focused for my 1st half-marathon. I used a lot of visualization to picture myself succeeding at those things. It’s time to bring that back and start visualizing myself as healthy and active. Let’s try this and see how it goes. Everything is open to be adjusted or tweaked as I continue with my healing journey.