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.
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).
Let's Check In
Here's a handy little chart to check progress week by week:
| Goal | This Week | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| Lose 6k | 0.5Kg ❤️ | 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 🙂
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 Saturday Savers Club Wednesday Wellbeing Club First Monday - NeedleWorkMonday Community Three things newbies should do in their first week and, for most things, forever afterwards!
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?
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.
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.
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