Self Care
Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 8:54 pm
There's major agreement over on the "What are you doing" thread about us being at the start of the long slow slide ... working on self care/looking after ourselves, is more and more important, I think - the NHS is on life support itself, if we can get by ourselves without burdening it further, or exposing ourselves to winter germs in overcrowded waiting rooms, then I think thats a good form of prepping.
What do I already do (and fail at, quite a bit of the time):
- hydration. "If you feel thirsty, you've gone too long without a drink". I fail at that regularly, but I do spur myself into action when I remember.
- sun protection. *So* much skin cancer in my family - hat, SPF50, sunglasses, staying out of the sun during the summer peak hours (but remembering to get some exposure during October - March to help with vitamin d production).
- getting "enough" sleep. I fail *so* badly at this one - I've decided to break the sleeplessness cycle with OTC tablets once a week, I can't live like this.
- currently, for covid - ventilation on the very rare occasions I'm around other people indoors, a mask, sanitiser aplenty. And I do still wash the packaging of my shopping, though I hear that might be hygiene theatre for anxious people. Don't know. Count me as anxious, possibly.
- flexibility. Stretches after breakfast, when I'm about to start doing stuff. Just a few minutes, but it does feel better.
- eating as few processed foods as possible. I buy a kilo bag each month of rosti potatoes, they're like my cocaine I have to limit it to one bag because my taste buds have no moderation whatsoever.
- this is an odd one: close my eyes if I'm thinking or on the loo or whatever. I studied the Bates Method when I was in my 20s, and it was mentioned how hard we work our eyes, and why not close them to give them a rest when we don't need them. And if you need to watch what's around you when you're on the toilet, you've got bigger problems than me
- keep prescriptions and treatments up to date. I still don't have any glasses prescribed, I just use the zoom on my mobile phone if I need to see detail. I should probably change that. And I could really do with a hygienist's appointment at the dentist, but I need to make phone calls etc before that. Using interdens brushes has been a real help - a few years ago, my dentist told me that the X rays he'd just taken were functionally identical to those taken 3 years previously.
- trying to eat a variety of foods - difficult, given my reliance on frozen veg, but I try.
- I also try to use some supplements, a multivitamin and C and D when I remember, but frankly it's been months since a supplement has passed my lips.
- cutting down on stress. The credit card fraud perpetrated on an account of mine has left me with £6745 hanging over me, and the company are being incredibly unhelpful. Everyone else who's had this happen (and I know there've been many) has had it resolved very speedily. Not me. I get very sweary inside my head at the situation, and the stress is really impacting me right now. Family are helping, but it's rough, I must say.
Anybody got anything they could chip in here? Keeping ourselves going is so important.
What do I already do (and fail at, quite a bit of the time):
- hydration. "If you feel thirsty, you've gone too long without a drink". I fail at that regularly, but I do spur myself into action when I remember.
- sun protection. *So* much skin cancer in my family - hat, SPF50, sunglasses, staying out of the sun during the summer peak hours (but remembering to get some exposure during October - March to help with vitamin d production).
- getting "enough" sleep. I fail *so* badly at this one - I've decided to break the sleeplessness cycle with OTC tablets once a week, I can't live like this.
- currently, for covid - ventilation on the very rare occasions I'm around other people indoors, a mask, sanitiser aplenty. And I do still wash the packaging of my shopping, though I hear that might be hygiene theatre for anxious people. Don't know. Count me as anxious, possibly.
- flexibility. Stretches after breakfast, when I'm about to start doing stuff. Just a few minutes, but it does feel better.
- eating as few processed foods as possible. I buy a kilo bag each month of rosti potatoes, they're like my cocaine I have to limit it to one bag because my taste buds have no moderation whatsoever.
- this is an odd one: close my eyes if I'm thinking or on the loo or whatever. I studied the Bates Method when I was in my 20s, and it was mentioned how hard we work our eyes, and why not close them to give them a rest when we don't need them. And if you need to watch what's around you when you're on the toilet, you've got bigger problems than me
- keep prescriptions and treatments up to date. I still don't have any glasses prescribed, I just use the zoom on my mobile phone if I need to see detail. I should probably change that. And I could really do with a hygienist's appointment at the dentist, but I need to make phone calls etc before that. Using interdens brushes has been a real help - a few years ago, my dentist told me that the X rays he'd just taken were functionally identical to those taken 3 years previously.
- trying to eat a variety of foods - difficult, given my reliance on frozen veg, but I try.
- I also try to use some supplements, a multivitamin and C and D when I remember, but frankly it's been months since a supplement has passed my lips.
- cutting down on stress. The credit card fraud perpetrated on an account of mine has left me with £6745 hanging over me, and the company are being incredibly unhelpful. Everyone else who's had this happen (and I know there've been many) has had it resolved very speedily. Not me. I get very sweary inside my head at the situation, and the stress is really impacting me right now. Family are helping, but it's rough, I must say.
Anybody got anything they could chip in here? Keeping ourselves going is so important.