Fit, fab friends,
Welcome to Wellness Wednesday, 04.2019. Linking up with my friend Natalie at Natalie the Explorer and some of my dearest blogging buds for an update on my 2019 wellness goals and some healthy mind tips.
WELLNESS WEDNESDAY, 04.2019: GOALS UPDATE
I shared my wellness goals for the year in January’s Wellness Wednesday post. My goals for 2019 are very similar to those I worked on last year. Hoping to continue the good work I began in 2018 but seem to be struggling to get my momentum. Maybe this month with warmer temps and lots of sunshine, I will finally begin kicking some fitness bootie.
Here’s where I stand right now.
Physical Health – 3.5 (holding steady)
PC’s back is really an issue. He plays baseball on Saturday and then is practically paralyzed much of the week until time for another game. I need to just start going to the gym during the day and then if we go when he gets home…bonus!
- Work back to running 5K (want to run more regularly again) – Although I will be running a 5K in a few weeks, I haven’t really focused on distance or speed in my running lately. Need to pick up the pace.
- Lift weights (at least 4x a week) – Averaging about 3 gym visits a week. And in March, we were staying longer but PC is just miserable. He will have a nerve ablation on Tuesday, 04.16.2019 where they burn the nerves in his back that are being compressed by his spine. Hope he will soon be a new man.
- Walk 7,200 steps a day and 3 stories (build walks back into my daily routine) – I am enjoying a morning walk every weekday and we are doing a bedtime mile every evening. Have been sleeping like a champ. So while we haven’t gotten to the gym as much, I am getting in my steps and stories.
Nutritional Health – 3.5 (holding)
- Eat more veggies and fruit (and cook meals at home 4x a week) – So, while my Prince was in Washington, I bought juices for a 2 day cleanse. Was telling Brennyn about it and she asked me to look at the ingredients and nutritional values on the juice. Glad she did. Each bottle was 56 carbs! Good grief. Crisis narrowly averted. Now what do I do with all this juice?
- Drink 75 ounces of water a day (pretty good at this already) – Really doing well on this goal.
- Alcohol and sweets on weekends – Doing better in this department. Not losing any weight. But haven’t had many sweets at all. I keep chocolate kisses (now chocolate Easter eggs) and having one or two of those satisfies my sweet tooth without destroying the diet.
Spiritual Health – 4.0 (holding)
- Quiet time 5x a week (M-F, bonus points for the weekend) – Probably averaging 4x a week.
- Attend church more regularly (at least once a month) – We have begun going on Sunday mornings. Used to really enjoy our Saturday evening church date nights. But after PC’s Saturday morning ball game, he doesn’t feel like doing much of anything.
- Gratitude journal before bed – Overall, I am good about this but over this past weekend, I kind of forgot. I need to be sure my gratitude journal isn’t buried on my bedside table.
Mental Health – 3.0 (-.5 for starting but not finishing anything)
- Work puzzles and play word games, practice Spanish (Wordscapes, Word Classic, jigsaw puzzles, Brainscape/Duolingo) – Lost interest in playing Wordscapes, Word Classic and Draw Something on my phone last month. Did buy a small jigsaw puzzle to work but it’s still in the box. No practice on my Spanish. ¡Ay, caramba!
- Weekly art date (do something creative or attend something artsy) – Unearthed a Mexican art coloring book to work on in Washington. Haven’t finished the calavera (sugar skull) I began. Bought this paint by sticker book and began work on it but haven’t completed a page in it either. Need to finish something!! Of course, there’s my cross stitch, scrapbook, mosaic, and puzzle to work on, too. My friend Dolores told me about a doll exhibit at our international art museum so would like to take myself there. And my dear SIL Greta sent me the loveliest boiled felt doll from Ireland named Snowdrop. How well she knows me. I love dolls. Have collected just a few with sentimental meaning.
- Read 3 books a month (in order to meet my Goodreads goal) – Currently reading It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way; It’s Never too Late to Begin Again and Next Year in Havana. Just finished reading The Wartime Sisters with my virtual book club. It was well received. The characters’ perspectives were shared in alternating chapters and they were very well drawn. This book had prompted more discussion than most of the others. But our latest read, Next Year in Havana, is really winning favor. Would love to have you join our group!
Relationship Health – 3.0 (up .5)
- Unplug at 9:00 pm – Finally, finally getting back to this. Of course, we promptly stumble up to bed at 9:01, though. But we are also taking bedtime walks which is a form of unplugging. Yay, us. And this week, starting today….drum roll…I am going to unplug at 8:30 and work on my coloring or crafting.
- Date night 2x a month (bucket list activities) – We were together for a long weekend in Washington and did some fun, touristy things and took a step outside my comfort zone that I need to write up. For my birthday, PC treated me to new workout outfits at Under Armour and lunch at PF Chang’s – new to us.
- Skype with Brennyn/Cady & Lauren/Lucia (read books to my babies) – I have Skyped with all my girls but not read to anyone. Got to make that happen. It is important to me.
Maintaining Health – 3.5 (holding steady)
- Use sunscreen on my face daily (moisturizer with SPF) – Every single day on my face. Now that spring has sprung, I need to get back to spraying on SPF before walks and ballgames.
- Floss – Using those little toothpick things with the floss on one end and flossing more, too. Not really. That is a lie.
- Take vitamins and minerals daily (multi, vitamin B, C, D – LMNOP – flaxseed oil, biotin) – Yes, almost every day. Have added probiotics this month. Also, PC and I enjoy 2 Melatonin gummies every night and our quality of sleep has greatly improved. But the dreams. The dreams. Zombies. Natural disasters. Lions, and tigers and bears. Oh, my.
Financial Health – 4.5 (up 2.0)
Great improvement here. But I cashed out some of my stocks to pay off my Amazon card and PayPal. Before you get any ideas about me being some kind of fabulous investor, I hardly had any stocks to sell!! But I did sell most of what I had and I am blissfully debt-free.
- Save money for Christmas – Will start taking this on in May.
- Pay off Amazon card – Done. And I haven’t used it.
- Have money in my checking account at the end of the month – Yes, so far this month but it is only the 9th! Also, saving $10 out of each of my paychecks…baby steps.
Not a whole lot of upward movement but feeling so relieved to have that Amazon card paid off. My teeth may all fall out and my gums cave in but I am debt free.
Healthy Mind Tips
My friend and Australian ‘cousin’ (in name only because we are both Roberts), Sue at Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond, wrote a most helpful post about keeping one’s mind sharp as we grow, ahem, more mature? Please check it out. Full of great tips.
Having spent a lot of time at mom’s recently, I have tried to think of ways to help her stay sharp. She’s always been so intelligent, so well read, so aware of current events, the economy, politics. But with her very limited sight, the things she used to love…crossword puzzles and reading (even large print) are no longer an option. My sister Valerie read mom the crossword clues while she was there this past week and mom answered. Our mother really enjoyed that. Would like to have her try listening to a book while I am there. But gadgets make her very anxious. We will have to think more on that.
Be Brain Fit
Stumbled on this website that has a wealth of good info about keeping one’s mind healthy and sharp. Was pleased to see that I do try some of their suggestions myself on a regular basis.
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- Wear your watch (fitness tracker) upside down. Or, as I did, on the other wrist. Drove me nuts but I survived the day. And I am currently wearing it upside down. I feel like Alice in Wonderland.
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- Read books out loud. This is where that wellness goal of reading to my grands comes in. I like reading aloud. Must be the elementary school librarian (and ham) in me. Oink.
- Take new routes. If you always leave your house a certain way, try leaving in a different direction.
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Suggested Activities
The article lists these brain-stimulating past times.
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- camping
- craft hobbies of all kinds YES
- creating any form of art YES
- creative writing YES
- dancing WOULD LOVE TO, PC
- gardening YES
- geocaching
- learning a second language SOMETIMES
- martial arts
- playing a musical instrument
- playing chess or Scrabble
- scrapbooking YES
- traveling YES
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Do you enjoy any of those brain boosting activities?
Your Turn
How are you coming on your wellness goals for the year? Have you made a significant improvement or change that has improved your overall health? Are you struggling, like I am, in some areas? Won’t you leave a comment letting me know or link-up your wellness related post with us below.
Speaking of wellness and healthy minds, I am going to quick write a few minutes on my story and then go for a walk before enjoying lunch while working on my mosaic. How ’bout that??
Thank you, sweet friends, for joining me today. Hope your hUmP dAy is glorious.
Hugs and kisses,
Kellyann Rohr
Yay for you paying off the Amazon card! That is a great accomplishment! I’m running a 5K in a few weeks too and while I used to do a lot more running I’m happy to do a 5K again – and walk/run while I do it. My joints can’t take the running any longer – boo.
Your poor PC’s back! That’s terrible that he suffers so much after the game. Good for you getting out and walking and doing your thang!
When I read this I realize I should probably write down some wellness goals for myself – it’s a great way to stay motivated and accomplish important tasks!
xo,
Kellyann
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, thank you. My stock account took a bit of a hit but I am glad to have my card paid off. Running is hard to on my knees these days. I really had a hard time getting back to running after the trips to KY but seem to be back on track now.
Would love to have you join Wellness Wednesday with your wellness goals. You could join us next month and then do an update when you like, if you like. And please keep in min our summer bucket list…06.21. Thanks!!
Gail
PC’s op doesn’t sound too pleasant – hope it goes well and he’s back to full strength!
I often wonder about brain boosting activities. The only thing I do on your list is gardening (although I suppose you could include creative writing from the blog). When I retire I want to learn a language, or possibly make it easier for myself and brush up on my very rusty French.
Your mom will love audio books I think. I gave mine a Kindle and she liked how simple it was to use (and how you could make the fonts bigger), but she didn’t like the fact it was connected to my Amazon account, because she was afraid she would make a purchase by mistake! I said I would disconnect it but by then she’d gone off the wretched thing.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
We have talked so much about getting mom a Kindle. But she gets so frustrated just using the remote control for the TV. If she could just turn it on and off, that would be all she would need. And maybe start and stop or pause. She misses reading so much. I even thought about reading a book to her. Wonder if I could call her everyday for 15 minutes and read a chapter. I think she would struggle to follow along for much longer than that. Will see what she says when I go next week.
You do plenty of brain boosting activities through your career. I felt like I did until I quit working. Now I am getting mushy headed. So little games help delay that decline a little.
Natalie
Congrats, Leslie, on what you’ve accomplished to date! Yay for paying off your Amazon card, and holding steady on other wellness areas. Hope PC’s op goes well. I have a goal to read minimum 3 books/ month, too. Just finished one book for April and have a few waiting to be opened.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
With all of your travel, I would think you would have good, undistracted reading on the planes. But then once you arrive at your destination, I am sure you have little time for reading.
We are anxious to get PC’s back op behind us and just pray it will bring him some relief. Thank you for the well wishes.
Deb
Here’s hoping that PC’s back problems are cured by that procedure. It sounds like he’s in a lot of pain 🙁
I’m really enjoying the book club book and learning a lot about Cuba as I go – I didn’t know anything about the history of it back then.
I can tick off a few of those brain boosting activities, craft, dance, travelling – can I substitute crosswords for scrabble? And surely blogging should come in there too?!
Well done on all you have achieved!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
I am so glad you are enjoying the book club book. I am, too. I have been listening to it but also bought the paperback copy and read a little before bed. I didn’t know anything about the history of Cuba either. Hoping I can convince my younger daughter to read it. Reminds me, in many ways, of our years living in Panama. The Canal Zone was so Americanized but the rest of the country, at that time, was so primitive in many ways.
Does your husband dance? If so, how did you manage to get him to? Or was he born that way??? PC will not dance. And I would love to.
Juhli
You have a lot of goals in this category! Good going on what you have accomplished including all the exercise.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you! Hope I can get up to 5 on all of my wellness categories by year’s end.
Dara
You have so many great ideas for improving your health! I’ve always wanted to be a runner, but I’m awful at it. We do take daily walks, well most days! I also drink 80 ounces a day, which is going a lot better than I expected when I started. The brain ideas are so fun. I’ve been playing Wordscapes, I think it’s fun!
ShootingStarsMag
You’re doing really well! I need to figure out some sort of meditation routine, because I do like it. And I do some of those brain activities – dancing, traveling, scrapbooking (need to do it more though), arts and crafts, etc. 🙂
Lauren
Leslie Roberts Clingan
We need to do a scrapbook post together. Maybe part of your keeping it together series. Try Calm.com for your meditation. It has worked for me.
Rebecca Jo
That would drive me nuts with my watch upside down too. I have to plug in my phone upside down to get it to hook up to play Spotify – & if I have to unlock it upside down, I can NEVER figure it out.
What a good idea – I need to start saving up for Christmas now too – even better, START BUYING!!!!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
It drove me nuts wearing my fitness tracker upside down but it made me think. I need to follow my own advice and get started buying Christmas, too!!
Theresa Muth
I love these! It seems we have much in common and I’m so gad I found your blog. It seems actually writing these goals will keep us more accountable, right?
Good luck and I look forward to seeing how things progress
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hey Theresa! So glad to have you stop by. Took a peek at your blog and we do have much in common. Would love to invite you to join us for some of the series we do…of course, Wellness Wednesday, but we also have a seasonal bucket list series. We will share update on our spring lists 04.21 and 05.21 and then will publish our summer list on 06.21. Come join us!!
I also do a series called Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone and I am struggling to get it off the ground. Would LOVE for you to join me for it. I publish on the last day of each month, and share something that I have done to stretch myself. A new experience/activity even wearing a new piece of clothing. If you are interested in any of these series, please shoot me an email at mommyhon333@hotmail.com.
Thank you for coming by and cheering me on my steps toward a healthier me!
Retirement Reflections
Congratulations on all of your accomplishments. I greatly admire that you publish your goals and so candidly share your results with us. For the month of February, I committed to only making vegetarian, low salt, low/no sugar meals. With Richard fully on-board, that commitment was much easier than I thought it would be — and has carried on into March and April without needing to think about it. Richard and I recently had our yearly medical checkups. Although we thought that we ate health before, the results (especially in our blood work) were substantially improved. Little differences can make BIG changes!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Wow, so proud of you to switch to vegetarian meals in February, and carried the practice into the spring. I think I could pretty easily become vegetarian but the best part of any meal for PC is the meat!! PC’s blood work came back a little funky this time so we are trying to be more aware of what we are eating.
Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
Hi Leslie, I love how you make yourself accountable by grading your performance. It is a great way to keep track of how we are going. I’ve never heard of wearing your watch upside down but it would make your brain work harder that is for sure! Thanks for another Wellness Wednesday and look forward to next month. xx
Leslie Roberts Clingan
So enjoying your April series. Learning much. You inspire me to do my best for our Wellness Wednesdays (and Thursdays, and Fridays, etc.).
Nancy Dobbins
Hi Leslie,
It seems to me that you are doing really well overall…and being out of debt is such a great feeling. Dan and I did it a few years ago and have made it our mission never to go there again.
I giggled about wearing the fitness tracker upside down. I must be one of the few earthlings not to have one…but I recently broke down and ordered one from AMAZON (ha-ha) to track my walks. I think I should learn to use it rightside-up first!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Nancy, hope you will enjoy wearing your fitness tracker as much I have mine. It really, really makes me walk more!! And go up stairs more. Having my Amazon card paid off has been a big burden lifted. I cannot start using it again. Or only for small amounts that I can readily pay off. Need to start buying for July birthdays and Christmas now so I don’t have to resort to plastic.
Dee | Grammy's Grid
Yay on your accomplishments, good luck on continuing! I do enjoy brain boosting activities such as jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, word games, and creative writing. Speaking of creative writing, our next Short Story Prompt Link Party starts tomorrow (April 15).
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hey there!! I am thinking about the new short story prompt right now! I think what happened last time was that I read your story and then couldn’t think of my own. So this time I skipped your story until I think of my own.
Dee | Grammy's Grid
Best not to read any of them until you write yours ♥
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Need to remember this!