the heart as it is | courage • grief • beauty

Grad school has started again and so work has also become quite busy lately, so pardon the one month missed in this ! I also have had a couple of injuries from rock climbing, and so I have not been able to exercise as much. However, I want to still try to keep myself accountable with this !

In the beginning of May,  I shared some recommendations from a Taipei in hospital and then said I would try to keep some level of accountability here on my blog. This is the fourth of my self-check-ins to see if I am keeping up with my goals, as well as some other things I’m learning about health & my body ! :

7,000 to 8,000 steps a day. I still have not been reaching 7-8,000 steps. 6,000 a day at most. I have been trying my best to walk as much as possible, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. I need help in how to increase this number. I used to walk around during lunch, but unfortunately this is affected by my sleep as well because if I do not sleep well the night before, I will want to sleep instead of walking around during lunch. Funnily, for a project for school, I have to improve my sleep habits. So hopefully maybe by the next time I check in about this, I might have better steps to report !

Aerobic exercise three times a week for 30 minutes each time until you break a sweat – I have not been climbing due to 2 serious strains, one on my biceps and one on my leg. I have been able to see a physical therapist for my bicep and it feels like it’s getting better. However, this has been a bit more difficult lately and I have not gone to the rock climbing gym for a few weeks. I would like to go at least twice before I head to Hawaii next week ! I have been slowly trying to add in more strength training again though.

A diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil and less meat can help prevent heart disease and cancer. – I have been buying higher quality chicken from Whole Foods lately, perhaps I can see what their fish selection is like. I also recently had an appointment with a gynecologist, and found this small women’s health issue that I had, which is very incentivizing for me to eat better. I found out I will eat more fruit if it is meal prepped. I am trying that this week and will see how I do for the upcoming weeks.

Eat protein and fat foods for breakfast, which can keep us full of energy for the day; Cut back on these foods at dinner to avoid weight gain. Something fun Jacob and I have been doing is meal prepping our breakfast ! We have been making breakfast sandwiches – English muffin, sausage patties (beyond sausage patty for me), eggs with spinach and/or green pepper, and cheese. It is very filling. Also, when I’m in the first half of my cycle, I have been fasting to avoid weight gain (only eat within 8 hours of the day). However, for the 2nd half of my cycle, I’ll usually eat a bit more. It is also difficult not to fast during the 2nd half of my cycle because that’s when a lot of the cramps come in, and I need to be eating something along with whatever pain reliever I am taking.

If you currently only eat 1 or 2 vegetables a day, please add 1 more to lunch and dinner. Lately I have been baking vegetables and that has been so fun and they have been so good ! So far I have been baking asparagus, broccolini, and carrot. I recently bought a box of tomatoes and need to do something with those somehow…

Eat as much brown rice as possible to get more nutrients like fiber, minerals, and more. Something else I have been thinking about with regards to rice is also to sync this with my period. For the first half of my cycle, I could probably eat more black rice. For the second half of my cycle, since my hormones affect my digestive system to a stupid crazy extent, I could eat white rice to have things be easier on my body.

Switch to skim milk or low-fat milk, and reduce carbonated soda or other sweet drinks. I continue to drink low fat, lactose-free milk. For my tea, I will had a little bit of creamer. I may also order a sweet drink if I really like it and am eating out (a yummy milk tea, horchata, a unique latte), but that is actually kind of rare (i.e., once a week). That is the extent of my sweet drinks for now, and I think that is okay.

When buying food, pay attention to nutritional content labels and choose foods with the least amount of sodium or salt. I have not been paying attention to salt once again. As a reminder to self1,500 – 2,300 mg is the daily maximum, or ~2,000 ish in general.

Have dinner before 8 o’clock, and do not go to bed later than 11 o’clock at the latest.  I’ve generally been doing really good with having dinner before 8:00. However, I’ve still been going to bed close to 11:00 again or 11:30. I’m trying this project in one of my counseling courses to help modify my sleeping habits for the better, so hopefully it works !