Primary Foods - Week 2

A short road that runs behind my work office

 To follow-up from last week, I did successfully implement my walking plan at work. It was incredibly helpful!

Getting up every two hours and taking a brisk five minute walk was refreshing and the pain I usually feel in my knees, hips and lower back was not there at all. It also really helped with my overall mood at work.

Near the end of the week when deadlines were looming I was waiting longer to stop and take a walking break and I could definitely feel it! It was very clear to me how important it is for my wellbeing and productivity to get up and move. When I am in the thick of deadlines and time constraints I get caught up in the stress and I believe that I need to keep going, taking a break of any kind will be a distraction and cause me to miss my deadline. I discovered last week that the opposite is true, I am more productive and clear headed when I get up and walk outside for a few minutes. While it is a distraction from work, in the sense that I stop working for five minutes, the movement of my body and breathing fresh air keeps my mood up and my head clear. I am actually happy to be working on the projects I am working on and feel good about getting them done instead of feeling overwhelmed and angry.

Shieling Forest

Shieling Forest

I am still working on adding in activity after work. With work, school, being a Step-Mom and a Wife I have found that it is not as easy to fit in 20 minutes of walking at the end of the day as I thought it would be. Over the weekend my husband and I stopped at Shieling Forest, which is a 10 minute drive from our house and about 5 minutes from my office. I have included some pictures of the trail we walked. This place has short and easy trails through the forest that are beautiful. While we were there I thought, "I need to spend more time here, this place is perfect!" My goal for this week is to continue with the five minute walking breaks through-out the day and then go to Sheiling Forest twice this week after work before I go home so that I can take a quick 20 minute walk through the beautiful forest.

I am very happily surprised at how small changes can make such a big difference I am excited to continue working on increasing my activity and then also working on my other Primary Foods that need attention in the coming weeks.

How have your own efforts to increase activity been going? What are you finding difficult or easy? Have you noticed any improvements since adding in more activity? I encourage you to keep trying and keep increasing in whatever way works best for you.

Wishing you whole health and wellness!