Friday Five - February 17th

This year my primary focus is my health. I have been slowly gaining over the years, at the rate of about three pounds a year. That doesn't seem like much, until you look at the fact I have been doing this for over twenty years. But I love eating out. I love to cook. And while I generally cook reasonably healthy, eating out has slowly been sabotaging me. That combined with an aging metabolism means I need to make some changes if I am going to stay healthy.

So this week you get my five quick changes I am making to improve my health.

1. Work out everyday. This one is not for everyone one, but my primary job has me sitting usually for about 10 hours, and I need structured movement to make sure I move. So for the last three weeks, I have been hitting the gym every morning. I am fortunate that I can belong to a gym, and one with a heated pool. So every morning I get up and I go.

2. Get a good night sleep. I love to exercise in the morning, but I hate getting out of bed. And if I don't get a good night sleep, it is even harder. To help me get out of bed, I have set the timer on my central heat to start warming up the room a bit before my alarm, because I really hate getting out of bed when I am cold.

3. Drink lots of water. I have never had trouble drinking water, having lived in places where it generally tastes fine, or I got a filter. But if I am going to change my behavior and help my body, I need to give it building blocks and water is one of the major ones.

4. Go for a walk in the evenings. I am having to change a habit, and that is to move more throughout the day. I am working on that, but to keep my step count up, I am working on walking every evening. It helps that I have a dog that needs to be walked. When the weather is bad, since I am unsteady from my broken bone several years ago, someone else manages the dog. But I do this as much as I can.

5. Eat first thing in the morning. Since I exercise in the morning I need to give my body something to work with. I eat a banana every morning so I can get some healthy vitamins and a little bit of carbs in my system before my workout.

I hope these tips help you or at least inspire you to make some small changes to keep healthy.