Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: How I Take Care of My Health

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Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

While I did get out of some of these habits last year due to how topsy-turvy 2020 was for so many of us, I’m a health-conscious person in general.

I don’t smoke, drink alcohol, or use any other substances. My body can barely handle the side effects of caffeine, much less anything stronger than that. Haha!

I lift weights, do yoga, or take long walks nearly every day of the week. Winter tends to be a more sedentary season for me, but I do still try to get some activity in when everything outside is covered in ice and snow.

close-up photo of fresh raspberries, blackberries, and blueberriesI eat five servings of vegetables and fruit on most days. If I’m hungry between meals, these are the foods I reach for first.

I eat a low-sugar diet. That is to say, the natural sugar in whole, fresh fruit is fine, but I avoid the processed stuff unless it’s a holiday or I’m on vacation. (This is one of those rules I broke a lot last year. I’m working hard to make 2021 less sugary).

I meditate most days of the week. It does wonders for my mental health.

I use an electric toothbrush at my dentist’s recommendation. Apparently, they’re better at removing plaque than manual toothbrushes are. All I know is that I feel kind of futuristic and cool when a machine does some of that gentle scrubbing for me.

I’m up-to-date on my vaccinations, but I will never enjoy the sensation of a needle sliding into my arm. Shudder!

I weigh myself daily. There is more to being healthy than the number on the scale, but I like to see what my longterm trends are and stay within a healthy range for my body frame size. Unexplained changes in weight can be an early sign of some pretty dangerous diseases. It’s also handy to know how much you weigh in case a dentist, doctor, or other medical professional needs to prescribe certain types of medication that must be calibrated to your weight in order to be effective and safe.

24 Comments

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24 Responses to Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: How I Take Care of My Health

  1. The water reminder app I use is Water Drinking Reminder. I like it because the pro version lets you count everything you drink. Thanks for stopping by!

  2. Sounds like you have things under control! Our health is so important…

  3. There you go. You’re under control. 🙂

  4. You certainly seem to be doing it right! I admire the fact that you stick to a low sugar diet. Every time I tell myself I’m going to avoid any processed sugar outside of special occasions, I always seem to slip back into it again. Oh sugar… you are too darn tempting. 🙂

  5. You are a much more health-conscious person than me. (Which, I mean, yay! And also I should do better.) Thanks for stopping by!

  6. You are definitely proactive in your health. Wish I had been when younger. It’s caught up to me now.

  7. I think we all fell off the wagon to some extent last year. I know I did (more to other things than COVID, but COVID didn’t help). I have faith you’ll get back on track soon enough!

    My post

  8. Why is sugar so addicting? Not to be gross, but have you ever tried breast milk? I breast fed all 4 of our kids for a year. It’s super sweet–so we’re hard-wired to prefer sweets. Also, that would encourage our ancestors to wait until fruits were ripe to eat them.

    That being said, if I have a choice, I’ll pass by the baked goods to have a salty snack. I prefer popcorn usually–or nachos with jalepeños. No sweet tooth here, though I do bake pies from scratch, and bake at least 6 kinds of cookies for Christmas. Mostly to give away.

    • Sugar is so addicting!

      I was breastfed for the first two years of my life. So I technically have tried it, but I don’t remember what it tastes like. 🙂 It’s interesting to hear that it’s super sweet. No wonder humans tend to love sweet stuff so much.

      Salty snacks are amazing, too.

  9. Brava! You take great care of yourself. The pandemic has thrown us all off, so we are all recovering from slippage.

  10. Oh man, I wish I could do what you do!! I am terrible at so many things. I do drink lots of water, which is easy for me for some reason. I don’t drink much of anything else – no soda, juice, coffee. I don’t smoke or drink or use substances either – I’m in the same boat re: side effects, and I’m on medication that already makes me feel pretty yucky. But I’m not good at getting proper exercise beyond running after my kid and cleaning the house (I’m not allowed to run and don’t feel safe joining a gym during COVID, so walking is pretty much the only thing I can do, and I don’t do it enough). I eat WAY too much sugar, usually because I forget to eat a meal and then end up craving fast calories because my body wants fuel. I know if I stop having sugar I will crave it less, but I am having such trouble giving it up! I always get my shots (not fun, I agree, but better than the alternative) and I brush and floss regularly, though I can’t use electric because my teeth are too sensitive to the vibrations! I have started doing yoga with my kid that includes some breathing and meditation, and I’m enjoying that, so hopefully I’ll start doing more. I’m proud of you for doing such an amazing job, and I agree that the daily weighing is a good way to keep an eye on things. I need it so that I don’t accidentally end up gaining weight. It’s a good indicator of when I need to really put effort into what I’m eating to avoid adding more – or ideally to help me keep slowly moving on a downward trend! Thanks for sharing, your discipline is inspiring!

    • Thank you! Your kind words made me smile.

      Where do you like to walk? I have a nice local park I use from spring to autumn. It’s generally too icy to snowy and visit in the winter, though.

  11. I need to get my five a day. I love fruit and vegetables, but I never get enough.

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