My only goal this year is to get my blood pressure under control without any medication. This means:
- Sleep
I got a lot of sleep in 2021 but most of it wasn’t continuous. I’d wake up after 3 hours of sleep and then often had a hard time getting back to sleep because my brain kept on thinking about all the things I needed to do. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m sleeping 6 hours continuously now. My goal is to sleep 8 hours continuously and wake up refreshed. I really have to make sure I’m in bed by 8PM since I’m up at 4AM. - Exercise
My goal is to get at least 10,000 steps each day. I plan on doing this by taking short walking breaks whenever I can. I’ve also signed up for the half marathon in October so I’ll probably get back into running daily to train for that. I’ve also bought this book ’24 Ways to Move More’ when we went on our road trip to pick up my cello. I want to go through each activity in this book if possible. - Eat Well
I haven’t been super good about eating well. I need to make time to cook and if not, I need to somehow make eating healthy more convenient. I’ve looked at subscribing to a meal delivery plan, but I don’t like the idea of all the packaging waste. Come to think of it, I haven’t gone to the grocery store since COVID first happened. Although more people are vaccinated and it is safer to shop in person, I still haven’t really put time to visit the grocery store since I’ve been rushing to get home to find a parking spot. Either ways, I need to eat well. - Treat Myself and Work Less
This means allowing myself to move a slower pace in life. Take longer showers, go get that haircut, spend time lazing around playing puzzles with complete leisure. Spend less time thinking about work. I grew up in a household where you were praised for working outside of work hours. Tommy probably was the only person who knew how to draw the line between personal time and school out of us kids. I often feel bad for not being productive – I need to stop doing that to myself. Being stressed out isn’t a badge of honor and it isn’t doing my blood pressure any good. I’m amazed how much my BP fluctuates according to if I’m relaxed or if I am not.
I wasn’t super stressed in 2021–but I was and still am very tired. I’ve got 7 students lined up today and the first one starts in 15 minutes. Better get going!