The Back Story
I've wanted to lose a bit more weight for some time. Last year I lost seven or eight kilos eating a low carbohydrate Mediterranean diet. I was pleased with that, and looking back, I see, even then, I was planning to lose more weight.
Well, I've maintained that weight loss over the intervening months, but haven't made any progress with losing any more. The weight I am now is where I seem to stick - it's good enough, but a few more pounds would help from a health point of view.
I'm doing okay, healthwise - looking back at a post last year, I've made a steady recovery from the health trials and tribulations of the previous year (2019) and started to regain some of the strength and resilience I enjoyed before then.
I'm still taking medication which I would like to reduce over the next year or so, and that means time for action on the weight front before we start messing about with changing medication regimes.
I thought I would take a leaf out of the Saturday Savers Club over on the @eddie-earner account: every week this year, a band of intrepid savers meet up through the weekly post to track their savings progress. It's been a great experiment and I love the engagement each week between the commenters.
So, for fifteen weeks, from Wednesday 18 August until Wednesday 24 November (that seemed a propitious day to end and give thanks) I'll be running a weekly Wednesday Wellbeing Club. There will be a launch post on Wednesday 11 August where I'll be setting out my goals and my approach.
Each week, we'll come together to check progress against what we said we wanted for ourselves, to enjoy our achievements and support each other when things haven't gone the way we intended. I'd like the post to be a place where you can come and feel welcome if there are things you would like to change about your lifestyle and wellbeing.
My Approach
I'm an omnivore, I eat and enjoy everything. I like vegetarian and vegan food but that's not where I'm at full-time in my journey. I've posted this in the Silver Bloggers Community in case there are people there who would like to join us, but the Wednesday Wellbeing Club itself will be hosted in the Natural Medicine community.
I like the Natural Medicine community philosophy about living intentionally and it's where, however imperfectly, I can bring together the interconnectedness between the environment, how we shop and where we choose to spend our money, the kinds of foods we buy and the businesses we support, and how we cook and eat and share our food and our health and wellbeing.
Somewhere I read something about "eat food, not too much, mainly plants ... not things made in plants" (Michael Pollan, maybe?) and that's my aim. I do buy ready made foods sometimes - cheese sauce, fresh pasta - but I like to see things I recognise as food in the ingredients list.
I also came across the phrase "deprive yourself not". I regard eating as one of the great pleasures in life, I want to enjoy it, rather than feeling I'm suffering some dreadful punishment. Apple pie is okay now and then, if that's your fancy, and sometimes it just has to be Mr Kipling's Bramley Apple pies.
My Bete Noir
My bete noir is work. I live a very healthy life without work, sleeping well, eating well, enjoying physical activity and great creativity. The sucker is work, demanding factory hours and pulling me into a treadmill of tedious, stressful activity and an unfortunate emphasis on drama. I've never been a great one for drama, even though it seems to drive so much. I'm not much cop at multi-tasking either.
When I'm working, I find that whole hours and days disappear. I have no idea what I've eaten or when and it's a surprise to me to find a fridge full of food, uneaten, after several days at work. Too often, tired in mind and body, I aim for the frozen pizza aisle, or kettle chips and noxious dips.
My plan is that the Wednesday Wellbeing Club will help me stay out of that mire. I've time tabled it for a work day and it will be interesting to see how I build that into my routine. I'm aiming for an easy format that can be completed and posted in half an hour, and I know the accountability to other people will help keep me focused on what I want to achieve.
Image by congerdesign on Pixabay
Love
I looked up antonyms for bete noire and "love" appeared.
One of my goals will be spending half an hour five days a week on something creative or loving. It could be a restful bath with Epsom salts, green tea and classical music, or meeting a friend for coffee or a phone call or writing a letter, or knitting or sewing, or a walk to somewhere I haven't visited before, or meditating (a new one for me), or reading a book, or drawing when I am in the Botanic Garden nearby, or developing one of my creative projects.
Love, self-love, loving others, loving the world. Whatever pleases me. The antidote to the bete noire.
Would you like to join me?
What would you like for yourself? What lifestyle changes would you like to make over the next twelve to fifteen weeks? Let me know in the comments (as much or as little as you want to). I'll be posting my goals on Wednesday - you can add yours in the comments or write your own post and link it in the comments.
Each week (including on this post), there'll be a draw for two EDS - my favourite income token on Hive - for comments. It's just for fun, the real rewards are intrinsic in reaching whatever you set out to achieve.
Until then, enjoy your #sublimesunday with @c0ff33a and the world around you.
Saturday Savers Club
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.
Three things newbies should do in their first week and, for most things, forever afterwards!
