A month of working on my wellness. DAY Four March 4, 2018
Hooray!
I am totally over the grumpiness that I dealt with yesterday! There are so many things that went right today! I am going to list them:
- I slept over 6 hours. Dr. Sara Gottfried says, “Only 3 percent of the population does well on less than 7 hours of sleep, so chances are you’re not one of them. Sleeping 7 to 8.5 hours every night keeps cortisol in check, which prevents the muffin top and accelerated aging. Put yourself of a screen curfew every night at least one hour before bedtime. In Ayurveda, going to bed by 10 p.m. is considered optimal.” 2 things about that, 1. I think I AM in the 3% because I wake up generally after 5-6 hours of sleep and 2. I am working on getting to bed by 10, last night was later though, it was after 11.
- Sara Gottfried also talks about starting your day with warm lemon water as it has detoxifying attributes. I followed her advice and even packed the other half of lemon with me for tomorrow morning at the hotel.
- I was able to get in 2 TM meditations. Turns out that even if you are not ready or able to meditate that there are breathing techniques that have many of the same benefits. What are the benefits of meditation? Again, this comes up in almost every wellness book or article I read. Meditation has an anti-inflammatory effect, and it helps stabilize blood sugar. One classic study of the effects of meditation demonstrated the people who meditated regularly had stronger memories, and the brain areas connected to cognition, attention and sensory processing were better developed. It promotes a relaxed state that shifts brain waves for the stress center of the brain to the part of the brain associated with relaxation. NICE!
- My long car drive turned out to be 4.5 hours vs 5.5 so I only needed a little bit of caffeine. Come Monday I am done with that stuff. It is connected to keeping your cortisol level high and has other negative effects on your wellness. It’s part of why caffeine drinkers feel tired and wired. Anyone else want to join me on going caffeine free for a minimum of two weeks?
- I ate really well. I had a veggie heavy breakfast, grabbed a banana and some cashews on the car ride, lots of water, and found a ridiculously yummy Szechwan restaurant here in Philadelphia that had so many vegan choices. Asian food, especially Chinese can have sugar in the sauces. I tried to order wisely choosing veggies and tofu in garlic sauce; it’s not sweet.
Seriously, this smelled and tasted amazing, so flavorful. I am proud of myself for stopping when I got full instead of attempting to join the “clean plate club.” Cleaning your plate, an important lesson I learned in childhood and internalized as an adult, is not in anyway in sync with mind-body connection. I practiced mindful eating which is really difficult for me, so I am feeling proud of myself. What lessons from your childhood that do not promote your wellness can you let go of? - Even though I decided that today would be a rest day from exercise, and I was confined to the car for hours, my daughter and I walked around the city enough for me to reach my 12,000 steps and then some. Somehow when you are having an adventure in an unfamiliar place, oh and shopping, reaching step goals come pretty easily!
This woman loves a plan
Tomorrow is a college audition & tour day for my daughter. I packed my running clothes so I will hit the treadmill in the morning. I do like running in places I am unfamiliar with, it’s the way I get to know places I visit. It’s supposed be really windy and chilly tomorrow, that doesn’t appeal to me. Between 3-4 miles on the tread and walking around campus I am thinking I can get to 12k steps before we get back in the car and head home. There’s breakfast included with our hotel fee, far be it for me not to take advantage of that. I am hoping for some oatmeal, if not I have some fruit with me. We will have to have lunch out and I am determined to make wise choices. We should be home in time for dinner and then I can be sure what I am eating and how it is prepared.
Grateful & Centered,
Jodi
Dr. Jodi Ann Mullen 