Dear Ms Anonymous,
In my Valentine’s Day post I gave you a sneak peak into this month’s topic: self-care. In that post I included a link to 45 Ways to Create the Ultimate Self-Care Routine. It had some great ideas to get us started.
But I didn’t want to spend the month thinking about self-care in that cheesy way people use the term these days. Instead, I want to focus on actually caring for your “self” – your body, mind and soul.
The Self-Care Prescription
On my quest to figure out how to present this topic I found a book: The Self-Care Prescription. The author, Robyn L. Gobin, Ph.D.’s writing style is similar mine, so I took to the book easily. Dr. Gobin provides powerful solutions to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and increase well-being.
My goal is to use her themes to see if we can’t figure out how to make self-care about taking care of our whole self.
One of the main ideas I picked up in her book is the idea of scheduling self-care. I realized that scheduling is so important to releasing the “I don’t have time” excuse so many of us cling to when it comes to taking care of ourselves.
Making Time for Self-Care
Blocking out time on your schedule is crucial to the success of your self-care journey. I find that when I write things in my calendar, and carve out the time for them in my schedule, I’m more apt to do them!
My commitments to myself are just as important as the ones I make to others. And if I commit to taking care of myself in 2020, then I need a plan of action.
Join me in making a plan for our self-care! And this month, on #selfcaresaturday we can share our successes, and even our failures. Together we can start to really take care of ourselves, instead of just everyone else.
Taking care of our bodies
This week, I want to focus on taking care of our bodies. Our body is the machine that propels us forward through every task. And without it, we would not be alive. So let’s take care of it!
With the rising costs of health care, a lot of people would prefer not to have to visit the doctor. When you already have to pay high monthly premiums just for insurance, the last thing you want to do is pay the cost of actually seeing the doctor.
This is especially true if you are on a high deductible insurance plan like I am. Every paycheck, I have a whopping $200 deducted to add coverage for my husband. And if he goes to the doctor that’s another few hundred dollars out of pocket to pay for the visit!
No wonder people aren’t getting the care they need!! Who could afford to!?!
But you know what, who can afford not to?
Schedule an annual physical
Let’s talk about the importance of getting annual physicals. Getting a routine check-up every year is a big part of self-care. You know why?
Because early detection saves lives!
More than 90% of women diagnosed with breast cancer at the earliest stages survive their disease for at least 5 years compared to around 15% for women diagnosed with the most advanced stages of disease.
Cancer Research UK
I’m so glad that under my health care plan an annual physical is covered for free! Call your insurance company to check if your annual physical is covered as well! And then, call your doctor immediately and schedule it!
You deserve to have a wellness check up, even if you aren’t experiencing any symptoms. Many symptoms are silent, and you don’t want to wait until it’s too late!
Using food for fuel
We all know that we need to eat better. You don’t have to read this blog to know that. So, what’s stopping us!? I say “us” because I make bad decisions all the time. I’m working on practicing what I preach.
Have you heard of the Blue Zones? They are the geographic regions where people live the longest. Many scientists are fascinated by these places. You won’t be surprised to learn that the United States is NOT one of the blue zones.
So, what makes the people in the blue zones live so long? One thing that scientists found that those people have in common is that they eat a 95% whole plant based diet. (No, they don’t go around eating plants off the ground!)
They stick to REAL food, NATURAL food. Food that grows from the earth. They eat a diet full of vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. These foods are all associated with reduced mortality! They use these foods to fuel their bodies!
In order for us not to suffer from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and all of the other diseases that are common in our society – let us eat more like the blue zones.
But how?
Just because fast food is on every corner, doesn’t mean we have to eat it. And just because our grocery stores are more than 60% processed food aisles, doesn’t mean we have to fill our carts with that. The truth is, you get more vitamins, nutrients, and fuel from a whole plant-based diet. And if that’s not self-care, I don’t know what is!
If we dedicate some time to making a plan to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into our diets, we are already doing so much better.
Preparation is so important for healthy eating! Type “meal prep” into Pinterest and you’ll have more ideas than you can possibly try. Having your fruits and vegetables ready to eat when you’re hungry makes a big difference in your successful plan to eat healthier foods.
And being a person who didn’t really enjoy vegetables until well into my 30s, I found out that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Birds Eye makes some excellent frozen vegetables that are easily cooked in the microwave, or oven roasted. My freezer is filled with them. Now, I just need to eat them. (I’m progressing, not perfect.)
You don’t have to change your whole diet today. (Because sometimes you’ll just want a hamburger!) Just figure out how to incorporate more whole foods into your day. Maybe you start having a salad as one of your main meals. Or you throw some fruits into your morning parfait! Just like that, you made great, healthy choices. Your body will thank you!
And speaking of fuel…
Make time for exercise!! There are so many easy ways to build exercise into your day!
My friend Pam and I have been cutting our work lunches short to get in at least 20 minutes of walking as many times a week as we can. Some days we are able to do 30 minutes! As we log in our steps, we also get to chat about our lives, which makes the workout so much better!
If you have a pet, or child, then you have no excuse to not get in enough exercise daily. Kids and pets – they can’t sit still for too long! Go for a long walk with your dog after work, or take your kids on a bike ride, even if it’s just around your neighborhood. If you don’t have either of those things, find a outdoor sport that you enjoy, and do it as often as you can!
Find ways to add exercise in, even when it’s cold outside. Do yoga or jumping jacks in your living room. Get down and do some pushups during the commercial breaks of your favorite TV show! I used to move my coffee table on Saturday mornings and do Zumba videos. (I need to get back to that!)
The best way to add exercise to your day is to plan for it. Schedule yourself a gym session after work. Bring your gym bag, so you don’t have any excuse to go home first, put your pajamas on, and fall asleep!
Start feeling better about yourself
You know what’s going to happen when you start eating better, incorporate activity into your day, and just taking care of yourself in general? You will start to feel better about yourself.
It’s actually a glorious cycle – eat better, move more, feel better… eat better, move more… feel better… you get the idea!
When we make time for physical self-care, our body image will improve. There are so many women out there who will say that they hate their bodies, but don’t do anything to take care of themselves.
How can you love a body you don’t care about?
Ladies, I urge you to make yourself a priority, starting RIGHT NOW. Take responsibility for your body – what you put into it, and how you treat it.
You’re not going to start feeling good about yourself, until you start treating yourself right! When you look in the mirror, don’t you want to start finding things you love about yourself, instead of things you hate?
Having a positive body image is also part of that cycle that I was talking about above. When we stop criticizing ourselves, and start loving ourselves, we start to feel a shift. And inside that shift, our whole perception about life changes, as well.
In April, we’ll talk more about developing a positive body image, and confidence, as we continue “self” month, by diving into self-esteem! But for now, let’s start with self-care.
Self-care is about taking care of your whole self
Remember I said above, self-care is about taking care of the whole self – body, mind and soul. Start with what you see in the mirror. Make positive changes that will transform your body. And see what happens to your mind and soul.
We’ll dig further into those two as March progresses. For now, let’s decide to take better care of our bodies. We owe it to ourselves to do that. Especially since we have so many other people counting on us.
What are you going to do this month to start taking care of yourself? How will you schedule self-care into your daily life? Let me know in the comments!
With love,
P.S. Check out this article on 31 Plant-Based Recipes That Aren’t Salads. You’ll be excited to see that eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring! So many colorful options to fill your plate with food and your body with fuel!