Water

I read somewhere that when fat it released from the body, it turns into water and carbon dioxide. The premise of the article was that if you want to lose weight, you should drink more water and breathe more.

I don't know if it's true, but pretty much everything I've ever read about weight loss and healthy living says that drinking more water is important.
I   don't   like   water.
There, I admitted it. I like liquids with flavor: coffee, tea, juice, pop, sparkling water....
My dogs drink water. They will even drink mud-puddle flavored water.

Here is my new Level Up My Health goal. 

I will drink one of these per day. With water in it. And ice. Gotta have ice.
My plants remind me that every living thing needs water. They remind me by dying when I forget to water them. That's a morbid thought. I think I will go water myself.

Big Picture and Details

I like to see the big picture.

I also like to know the details.

So when I'm training dogs, I like to know where we are going to end up eventually, but I also love breaking down the process and figuring out the details.

When I'm designing or painting sets for a drama production or making costumes, I like to know how it's all going to look together, but I also love learning how to achieve the big picture by figuring out the detailed steps.

So, if the big picture of my Healthy Living journey means that I'm going to end up healthy, what do I need to figure out in the details? Putting together the look of a musical requires knowledge in different areas, such as building, painting, sewing, design, color theory, etc. Putting together a training routine for a dog also requires knowledge in several areas, such as training methods, socialization, stress-reduction, nutrition, motivation, communication, etc. What areas are involved in a Healthy Life journey? Movement, mindfulness, motivation, and moderation.

So I'm going to categorize the random changes I've made so far.

• Movement
• 5 active hours per day
• Mindfulness
• Journaling
• Think about why I eat something before I eat it
• Motivation
• Breathing
• Humming
• Light Box
• Taking Vitamin D
• Moderation
• Going to bed by 11:00

It looks like it's time to add another Movement goal, so I'm going to take 5000 steps per day. 

Cortisol

Because I'm practicing mindfulness with eating, it's becoming even more clear to me that I make bad food choices when I'm tired or when I'm stressed.

So, how can I reduce stress? What small lifestyle change can I implement today, that I can continue, that will help me reduce stress?

A quick search of "Vagus nerve and Cortisol" led me to this article which talks about the Vagus nerve:

 IT INITIATES YOUR BODY'S RELAXATION RESPONSE.
When your ever-vigilant sympathetic nervous system revs up the fight or flight responses—pouring the stress hormone cortisol and adrenaline into your body—the vagus nerve tells your body to chill out by releasing acetylcholine. The vagus nerve’s tendrils extend to many organs, acting like fiber-optic cables that send instructions to release enzymes and proteins like prolactin, vasopressin, and oxytocin, which calm you down. People with a stronger vagus response may be more likely to recover more quickly after stress, injury, or illness. 

I know that the breathing exercises help reduce my overall life stress, but how can I reduce the stress in the moment?

This articles give 6 ways, but I don't want to wash my face in cold water so I'm going to choose Humming.

My Level Up goal of the day is to hum one song after 4:00 pm, because that's when I start feeling stressed and tired. I'm also going to snuggle my dogs, because hugging a dog always brings me peace.

Level Up

To have a well-trained dog, I need to break down every learning challenge into it's smallest components, and make changes one tiny step at a time, until the dog can learn the activity. To have a healthier mind, body, and spirit, I also need to make changes one tiny step at a time. I usually try to make huge lifestyle changes, and overwhelm myself, and quit.

So every day, I'm going to add one tiny lifestyle change, that I can actually sustain over time. I started yesterday with journaling. Every day, I will write down at least one sentence about my journey to giving myself the gift of being healthier before next year.

Today, I'm committing to doing a breathing exercise every day. I've done it in the past, and noticed huge changes in my mental health, my ability to handle stress, and my creativity. I also stopped taking antidepressants after doing this exercise faithfully for a month. But then over time, I stopped doing it faithfully. So for the next year, I am going to breathe intentionally every day.

Here is a link to the breathing exercise, if you want to improve your mental health with me.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevagusnerve/learning_content/?filter=631935287319434

What tiny change can you commit to today, to Level Up your health?