Monkey see , monkey do, monkey swim

churchtown67

in the last 5 years I seem to have lost my direction in life . I am currently off work for 2 weeks with high blood pressure and stress. I am taking this time to first and foremost get my blood pressure in order. This is medication and excersise firstly and then I am hoping the weight will follow on (fingers crossed). As an ADHDer my ability to prioritise and descion make is lacking so I am trying out MFP p remium . I am not sure what I am getting from this yet BUT so far the meal plan is working ok as I can never decide what to cook - tonight I am having ravioli lasagne (let’s see if it is as weird as it sounds !)

I am struggling navigating this app in order to connect with people so I am going to attempt to create a place for my ruminations

churchtown67

the reason I have called this thread Monkey See, Monkey Do , Monkey swim ,is whenever I see something I say “I can do that “ Or” I would like to do that “ inevitably” I get distracted and I don’t ! BUT the the thing I have stuck to I. The last 3 years is cold water swimming ! Or should I say swimblimg and I LOVE it .
I am not a string swimmer but thus tread I swam 1.4 miles Bournemouth to Biscomve pier . I was so proud of myself

I seem to be struggling with my sinuses recently and sea swimming seems to be the only thing that resolves it . We live so far from the sea , this is making me sad . I will try a lake swim later today and try out the nose clips . Fingers crossed

churchtown67

the reason I have called this thread Monkey See, Monkey Do , Monkey swim ,is whenever I see something I say “I can do that “ Or” I would like to do that “ inevitably” I get distracted and I don’t ! BUT the the thing I have stuck to I. The last 3 years is cold water swimming ! Or should I say swimblimg and I LOVE it .
I am not a string swimmer but thus tread I swam 1.4 miles Bournemouth to Biscomve pier . I was so proud of myself

I seem to be struggling with my sinuses recently and sea swimming seems to be the only thing that resolves it . We live so far from the sea , this is making me sad . I will try a lake swim later today and try out the nose clips . Fingers crossed

AnnPT77

You're doing a good thing here.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed if we try to fix everything all at once. Fortunately, that's not necessary.

It's absolutely a good idea to pick out one thing that's doable - like your swimming - and keep at that until it's a routine habit. Then, when we have the energy/attention bandwidth to devote, pick another thing that sounds doable, and chip away at making that a habit. Keep going like that, we can surprise ourselves with how the benefits add up over time. That was for sure true for me.

Anytime the new habit is enjoyable, as it sounds like swimming is for you, that's ideal. At minimum, it helps to choose tactics that are at least tolerable and practical. Incremental change works. As a bonus, doing it that way tends to build a path to overall permanent more positive routine habits that will sustain health and well-being.

The more common "revolutionize everything all at once" strategy doesn't usually have that same long-term benefit. That's largely because instant perfection isn't possible, and when there aren't huuuuuge results quickly from all that effort, most people simply give up.

Chipping away gradually is more manageable, and makes long-term success more probable.

Wishing you success: In my experience, the quality of life improvement is more than worth the effort it takes to accomplish it!

churchtown67

monkey see , monkey do monkey sing ! While my sinuses are troubling me and my BP high I decided to do something for my stress levels and went to an open choir session . I was part of rock choir pre pandemic then I fell out of love with it . There was an open community choir session going . They are singing Messiah . OMG I loved it Studies show that singing can lower BP due to deep breathing which activates the parasympathetic nervous system and by releasing mood boosting hormones like endorphins and dopamine … so bring it on !!

churchtown67

monkey see monkey do monkey run ! As I try to get fitter I have started to do couch to 5 k . I am currently on week 3 day . Today I got up and did my first ParkRun . I came last ! But I don’t care . It’s great to have a low baseline !😉

churchtown67

Went for a swim Sunday and ended up in A&E . My nose Clips got inverted and stuck in my nose . Huge panic moment ;turns out I have a hole in my septum that needs resolving 😔. Not gone back to work as still feel really low .