Today I decided to do a little bit more research into the things that could help me to become fitter, to stretch myself and to add a bit of that something else to my journey and generally to find out things that I could do once this is all done (and some things that I can do now).
One of the magazines I subscribe to is Men's Health magazine. They have loads of hints and tips and recipes and interviews etc that can help me to try and find ways to motivate myself as my journey continues. I also have a laptop and a television and, armed with these, I tried my hands at some research to help me and to keep me occupied.
One of the articles in the magazine was about cold water swimming There are, apparently, lots of physical and mental benefits to cold water swimming, which I did not realise. Mention cold water swimming before reading this article and I would have talked to you about first getting in to the water at the local swimming baths. Apparently though there are some possibly insane individuals that go swimming in almost freezing water. The temperature of the water in the article was 4.8 degrees centigrade, which made me shiver even though I wasn't actually there.
Gradually, as I was reading the article, it made it sound much more enticing and actually made me contemplate doing it myself at some point in the future. The physical benefits of cold water swimming are things such as enhanced pain tolerance, supercharged metabolism, a healthier immune system, injury prevention and a few others. I did know about injury reduction because I had heard of ice baths for professional sportspeople, the rest I was dubious about but it did give notes on the research and the sites to look at.
Additionally there are also apparent mental health benefits to cold water swimming too. Again, things such as habituation - which is apparently the practice of regularly subjecting yourself to stress (such as the cold water) can blunt reactions to other stressors and therefore decrease anxiety and depression. The article's author also pointed out the fact that being out there in the open water in Scotland, with only the surrounding mountains for company also helped him to feel much more calm and relaxed. In all the article was an enjoyable read and made me think that perhaps there are other things out there that also might be worth trying. After all, you only live once.
Another piece of research I undertook was about drinking, trying to find other ways of making sure that I don't drink too much when I am stuck at home all day and even after this is all over and we can all go back to our normal lives. On one website there was a set of rules that one person had designed for himself with regards to drinking that I thought were quite good.
Firstly it was to 'never drink alone'. I thought that this was a particularly good one as most of the time we are alone, so if you have this as a rule you will drink less. Next was 'never drink anything you don't like the taste of'. Again I thought that this was good as sometimes we are offered drinks when we go out that we wouldn't normally drink, so if you don't like the taste of it, don't drink it. The penultimate rule was to 'enjoy the company of the people you are drinking with', which may seem obvious but the thought here is that, if you are enjoying the company you are drinking with, you are more likely to talk than to drink, which again helps you to cut down. The last rule was a given - 'drink lots of water'. Obviously I don't need to say much about that one.
The other pieces of research I did today was to look at how to keep motivated and on track. Some of the things I found were to choose a goal a week to get healthier - such as one week drink 3 litres of water a day, the next week cut down on carbs etc. By building up you aren't shocking your body by cutting out everything at once and therefore are more likely to succeed in it becoming a habit. Next, I found that apparently visualising the meals you are going to have during the day helps you to stick to having them rather than snacking. The last one on the Men's Health website said to write down the health benefits you notice from your healthier lifestyle, like more energy, better sleep, better confidence etc. All good things to have a go at I think.
One of the things I found to help motivate me and to keep me on track was to find someone that I admire or that has done something similar and find out about that person. Read a book on them or research them and find out how they did it and what obstacles were in their way and how they overcame them. There are so many inspiring stories out there, not just celebrities, that it's easy to find some sort of inspiration and use it to help you to get to the place you want to go.
Finally, one I had told to me yesterday by Sheperdess on Healthunlocked.com. She talked to me about how disciplined I was about writing down my routine every day and completing it. She then said that she, rather than doing that, wrote down what she had done during the day that had made her feel great or that had helped her on her journey that day, that way she was always looking at the positives rather than, perhaps, missing something on the routine list and beating herself up about it. This is another strategy that I think I will try. I might even try and write some of the things I am grateful for throughout the day as an addition to this.
I am certainly grateful that I am safe at home and have the power of research and reflection to help me cope and to give me advice that can help me on my journey. I hope this has also helped some of you on yours.
Until tomorrow, stay safe and stay strong.
Thanks for reading.
Sean.
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