Day 15 Drink Your Water

Disclaimer - I am a water drinker, work in the water sector and I’m very biased toward drinking water. LOL. Seriously - drinking water is one of the most important things we can do when we ‘re trying to get healthy. Water is essential for our health. According to Mayo Clinic:

“Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs water to work properly. Water is essential for maintaining your body temperature; lubricating and cushioning your joints, and getting rid of waste through urination, perspiration and bowel movements. And drinking water during or after a meal aids in digestion.”

— Mayo Clinic

Mayo goes on to say that how much to drink each day has no definitive answer and is variable based on activity level, where we live, and other health factors. Historically, I’ve heard 8 glasses a day but is this enough? too much? I have no clue. So some practical tips for how I determine when I need to drink more:

1. Thirst - if you’re overtly thirsty in the desert (Phoenix) - you could already be dehydrated. So while thirst is an indicator, I better be drinking water before I get really thirsty. I tend to drink a glass of water with each meal, while I’m working, and during physical activity. I always have a glass of water nearby even when driving.

2. Monitor my dog’s drinking habits. In the desert, I tend to drink more water in the summer than winter. So I watch the dog’s drinking habits. When I see them drinking more or when I notice I’m having to fill up the water pan more, I start drinking more to prepare my body for the summer heat.

3. Watch my urine color. Okay this may seem weird to some but I can tell by my urine color if I’m drinking enough water. If the “yellow” is too yellow I know I need to drink more water. May be a coarse way to think of this but it works!

Hey - if I’m drinking water I’m not eating. While I’m not too concerned about weight loss at this stage of my get well journey, I do find myself hoping to lose a few pounds!! Drink your water every one!

Day 11 Laugh Often

I come from a long line of laughers. We love stories, jokes, and seeing the funny thing within a situation. We can be snarky, bawdy, and completely inappropriate. We’ll be in the middle of a funeral and someone usually my brother Chuck will notice something awry and whisper it in my ear and I’ll almost pee my pants laughing - the whole pew will be rocking. Mom will look at us with that look that mom’s can use but not so seriously that we think we’re in trouble because we value humor.

I listen to many comedians on Netflix, so much so that during pandemic I had to remind myself that watching streaming video is not my job. I make time to expose myself to comedies and funny movies because the day seems better when I do so!

Part of my research this past year has been to consider what there is about humor and its importance to the soul. According to Peter Berger, a sociologist, humor is part of our everyday life and is a universal phenomenon.

“The experience of the comic is universal. While its expression differs greatly from one culture to another, there is no human culture without it.”

— Peter L. Berger in Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience

Mom used to say, “laughter is the best medicine.” I certainly feel better after listening to a comedian or hearing something funny. Well according to Mayo Clinic, laughter serves several beneficial functions including (a) stimulating organs by increasing our intake of oxygen and releasing endorphins, (b) activating and relieving stress, and (c) soothing tension.

So here I am today reminding myself to laugh often….and encouraging you to do likewise!

Quote source: Link to Amazon

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Day 7 Keep it Simple

To say I want to get “fit” is to open up the possibility of understanding the many variables that influences fitness such as water intake, exercise, nutrition, and amount of sleep. When I say I want to get fit, I think of these things and have read enough to understand that fitness is complex. Understanding this complexity and enacting the behaviors to achieve fitness are two different things.

My seeing style is to start with the big picture. I tend to see possibility and can visualize if this, then what types of actions - an ability that is good for helping clients develop strategies. However, a drawback of this sort of thinking is the transition from vision to implementation. At some point, you have to take action to achieve the objective. Staying in the big picture mode, if I’m not intentional, can translate into feelings of being overwhelmed and a sort of analysis paralysis where I seem stuck on making a decision. Hubster who is a really good project manager taught me years ago to chunk big picture objectives into manageable discrete tasks. In so doing, I can dissect the whole into parts representing actions I need to do to accomplish or attain the goal I see. Super advice because then I can take a chunk and get started which has a side benefit of getting a sense of accomplishment as I manage to get tasks done.

So with this journey, my fitness objective is daily exercise in the gym for 20 minutes or greater. Period. It’s specific, do-able, and a start. Thus, my mantra today: Keep it simple!!