Tag: routine

Posted in exercise

Finding a routine

Posted on by nlchronicles

I joined a wellness center. It’s affiliated with my job at a local hospital and it’s in an area I frequent most in the city. Now I’ve just got to find a routine and stick with it!

Getting started at the gym

When I lived in Chapel Hill, my apartment complex had amazing facilities so I didn’t need to join a gym. And the weather tended to be alot warmer year round than where I now live so looking for a gym was not as pressing. I chose a wellness center that has a gym, well, because it’s a wellness center. With the exception of a sauna, it has every single thing that I was for including a steam room and heated pools.

The challenge is fitting workout time into my day. It’s easy to do a quick yoga routine or treadmill workout at home but I also need a bit more than just those two. At first, I thought that going before work might be an option. But since I’m in school as well, I use the mornings to cover homework so that’s out of the question.

At least for now!

So my goal has been to go one time per week and try different elements each time. I have started seeing a chiropractor twice per week and I am upping my gym time to twice per week – heading to the gym while I’m already out!

Today I tried out the elliptical machine for the first time on about 3 years. Dealing with the osteoarthritis, which turned out to be Ankylosing spondylitis, made using an elliptical extremely difficult. I did 10 MINUTES! That seems very small but it’s a jump from not exercising on it at all 🤩🤩

Any suggestions on how to add another day at the gym? I’m open to all suggestions! Hoping your health journey much success this year 🎊🎉

Posted in Overall health, self-care, Work/life balance

Sleep – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Where do I even begin with making sleep a priority? Looking back, for years I ran on little sleep which didn’t help me to better health. Then, for awhile, I would go to sleep really easily but wake up around 1 or 2 am and just be in the bed, wide awake until about 5, doze off and jump up to a 6 am alarm. I would maybe get 4 hours of sleep. Not enough hours and lack of quality caught up with me.

And I knew I needed to do better because I felt tired all the time. I would need a nap in the middle of the day, which worked out as I worked remotely at the time. But I felt awful and it affected everything else.

I follow a couple of functional doctors who kept emphasizing the need for quality sleep as well. Then I started with working my nutritionist (I actually work with two now who focus on different things). The first one really helped me to understand the importance of sleep and how it allows the body to repair itself and reduces inflammation, which is HUGE for me. And it’s made such a positive difference.

So if you are not getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep, rethink your routine. Wear blue blocker glasses after dark. Limit the amount of time you watch tv, especially at night. Don’t use overhead lights after dark. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule, even on the weekends. Meditate before bed to get your mind prepared to sleep. These are all changes that I made and continue to tweak as I still work on this area.

Any suggestions on how to improve sleep quality? Comment below and share what works for you.