blog about it

Lately, the topic of healthy habits as a writer keeps coming up. I needed a starting place to consider what I was going to change. I’ve been reviewing my lifestyle and my less than stellar habits. I sometimes take health matters for granted, and allow bad habits to stand. In part it’s because I’m writing; I think how much damage am I doing.

However, since I need to make a lifestyle change, I’m going to share some healthy habits that work for me and may work for you. As I do the research, I’ll link the collection back here for easy reference.

What Happened with My Health

Recently I began to notice that I was chronically tired, even after I cut back on my extended working hours. I reviewed all my poor health habits and decided to do things a little better. I slept more and ate a little better and . . .

I thought maybe I just burned my candle at both ends for too long. Nothing really was helping so I thought it was time to see a doctor.

What made me see the doctor?

• it seemed like all I wanted to do was sleep all the time
• my focus and energy had abandoned me
• my memory was shot
• I was feeling down and unsure of everything

You can imagine what an impediment this can be to writing. Going to the doctor was the best move; it turns out I’m anemic. Making just a few changes, has improved health symptoms and put me on the road to recovery. It’s really good to have my energy returning to me. Work (writing) feels like play again; I’m enjoying again the pleasure of the writing process and research too.

5 healthful changes I’ve made:

• iron supplement added to my diet
• juice regularly to drink with the iron
• vitamin B12
• vitamins and minerals
• dancing (at home) to raise my heart rate

These practices I’ve put in place are working for me now. Of course my doctor only said to take iron. The rest was on the advice of others I trust including a man who also is anemic. We’ll see if I get any flack about taking initiative. And while I’m eating a bit better now, it’s only sporadic. It’s time for a diet makeover and to have that become my new eating habit. So, eating habits has made the list too.

What’s to Come

1. 5 lifestyle points to review
2. mind, spirit and body
3. what is brain food?
4. practice proper posture
5. rest well to work well: why is sleep so important?
6. 7 sources of stress and how to manage them
7. 7 exercises for writers
8. 7 benefits of keeping a writing schedule
9. 7 relaxation tips and why they work