Not Broken…Becoming

A space for slowing down, softening, and rebuilding in small, intentional ways

Tag: healthy habits

  • Operation: Go the F*** to Sleep – A Sleep Experiment

    The weekend cannot be the only time I get 7-8 hours of sleep

    I treated my sleep like it was a fun school science experiment for two weeks. Named it “Operation: Go the Fuck to Sleep” because I could clearly hear Samuel L. Jackson saying it in my head, and it made me laugh.

    Plus, I’m pretty sure he either read a book with the same title, wrote the book, or maybe it was both…Either way, the title seemed fitting because I really needed to get my sleep in check and get more than 5 hours during the week.

    The weekend cannot be the only time I get 7-8 hours of sleep.

    Setting this up was fun, and I’m certain that’s why I was consistent for two weeks instead of stopping after a couple of days!

    Here’s how I laid it out:

    Title: Operation: Go the FUCK to sleep! Day x

    Subject: 13 (my favorite number, and for some reason I wanted to really treat it like it was an actual experiment by not using my name)

    Protocol: This is where I tried different approaches to develop a wind-down routine. What stuck were drinking tea, taking magnesium glycinate, and setting my phone to sleep mode at a certain time.

    Time I went to bed: I wanted to record this to see how long it would take for me to fall asleep after I was in bed.

    Thoughts: A little brain dump space

    Once I woke up the next morning, I would record the following:

    Title: Operation: Go the FUCK to sleep! Day x

    Subject: 13

    Watch sleep times & quality: I wrote down the sleep score, the times I went to sleep and woke up, and the total number of hours. I also kept track of how many times I was awake during the night, and how long that lasted.

    Thoughts: Sharing how I felt my night routine either helped or hindered my sleep, and how I felt when I woke up.

    In the end, I found this experience to be not only fun, but eye-opening. Treating my sleep like the priority it’s meant to be gave me tools and a routine that I need to get back into (because of course, once the experiment was done, it was almost back to the old ways, lol), even if it doesn’t look the same every night.

    I’m not quite at the point where I’m getting 7-8 hours of sleep, but I’m now getting at least 6-7 hours, and I consider that a small success that I will accept!

  • S.M.A.R.T and Sustainable

    I’m sure we’re all familiar with goal setting and how we should ensure that those goals are S.M.A.R.T. If you are not familiar with this term, here is an explanation!!

    SMART goals are a way for us to set and achieve goals effectively. The SMART acronym stands for:

    1. **Specific**: Your goal should be clear and precise. It should answer the questions of “What,” “Who,” “Where,” and “Why.” Avoid vague or overly broad goals. Specificity helps you focus your efforts and provides a clear direction.

       An example of a non-specific goal: “I want to get in better shape.”

       An example of a specific goal is “I want to lose 10 pounds by running three times a week and reducing my daily calorie intake by 500 calories.”

    2. **Measurable**: You should be able to track your progress and determine when you have achieved your goal. Include specific criteria or metrics that quantify your progress.

       An example of a non-measurable goal is “I want to be more productive at work.”

       An example of a measurable goal is “I want to increase my daily productivity by completing at least five tasks from my to-do list each day.”

    3. **Achievable**: Given your current resources and constraints, your goal should be realistic and attainable. While it’s good to challenge yourself, setting unattainable goals can lead to frustration and failure.

       Example of an unachievable goal: “I want to become a professional athlete within a year, even though I’ve never played the sport before.”

       An example of an achievable goal is “I want to complete a 5K race in six months by following a training plan and gradually building my running skills.”

    4. **Relevant**: Your goal should align with your broader objectives and be relevant to your life or work. Ensure that it matters to you and supports your overall mission.

       Example of an irrelevant goal: “I want to learn to play the guitar, even though I have no interest in music.”

       An example of a relevant goal is “I want to improve my public speaking skills because it will help me advance in my career and communicate more effectively.”

    5. **Time-bound**: Set a specific timeframe or deadline for achieving your goal. This adds urgency and helps you stay on track. Without a deadline, there’s less motivation to work consistently toward your goal.

       Example of a goal without a timeframe: “I want to read more books.”

       Example of a time-bound goal: “I want to read 20 books by the end of this year, averaging about 1.5 books per month.”

    However, I would like to add another letter to this acronym, particularly when it comes to setting goals related to health and fitness:

    6. **Sustainable**: Not only should your goal be Achievable, but it should also be a goal you can reasonably maintain, even after achieving it.

    An example of a sustainable goal: “I want to eat less junk food. Instead of cutting myself off cold turkey, I will pick one day a week where I won’t eat any junk food, or eat one less junk food item a day.”

    An example of an unsustainable goal: “I want to lose 20 pounds by incorporating going to the gym. Even though I’ve never gone to a gym, I will go 7 days a week for 1.5 hours.”

    Consider this infographic as an example of creating goals that are realistically sustainable:

    https://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean-infographic

    This content is used under license from Precision Nutrition Inc. and may not be reproduced, transmitted, or otherwise used or reused in any way without the express written permission of the owner. Copyright © [2023] Precision Nutrition Inc. For more information about Precision Nutrition, visit http://www.precisionnutrition.com.

    For the longest time, I wanted to have defined abs and a slim build (essentially what I looked like back when I was younger and before I had my daughter). I had a general idea of what it took to get there and while I was deployed I dare say I got pretty close (I was under 200lbs, and was what I considered “skinny”)! However, the steps I took to get there, and considering what I would need to do in order to keep that build (essentially live like I was deployed all the time) would NOT have been sustainable given life back home is different from deployed life, and if I’m being honest with myself, I didn’t enjoy it all that much! I had to REALLY consider if it was sustainable or even desirable for me to do what was needed to maintain that goal I desired (which, according to the infographic would’ve been the first “healthy” image on the bottom), or would I be okay doing something that fit my lifestyle back home better (which is more between the top two “healthy” images on the top row)?

    This isn’t to say that the goals on the bottom are not sustainable or attainable; they are! I share this because I believe people make those goals without considering how much it would take to sustain them. This can lead to the yo-yo/back and forth that happens often on various health and fitness journeys. I share this as a guide for you for future goal setting; hopefully it will provide greater insight and give you a good and realistic path to achieving your goals!

  • Netflix and TEA, not Netflix and EAT

    Whenever I would sit on the couch and turn on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, I would always find myself craving a snack while watching a favorite show or a new show that I’ve discovered or was recommended by a friend. And of course, it wasn’t a healthy snack, it was usually chips, ice cream, cheese toast, or some other random concoction that tasted good but wasn’t overall good for me. In the end, this habit became automatic, and eventually, I didn’t even have to be watching anything on my computer! Sitting in my favorite spot on the couch almost ALWAYS led to me snacking on something, whether I was hungry or not.

    I came to this realization the other day, that my brain had reprogrammed itself to correlate sitting on the couch with eating, and a result of me doing this while watching a show led to me being unproductive, I wasn’t reaching my goals (personal, professional, and health wise), and on the weekends I was often sleeping my entire day away!

    Is this something you can relate to? Is there an unhealthy habit that you have that you might not have noticed is triggered by a certain action? Let’s take some time to really think about it…

    What is an unhealthy habit that you want to break? What activities are linked to this habit? Are these activities good or bad for you? For example, me sitting on the couch isn’t necessarily bad, but my sitting on the couch and watching binging shows for hours knowing that it will lead to a habit I’m trying to break is bad (for me, anyway).

    Now that I noticed how these two activities are linked, I’ve been more mindful of it and started to come up with ideas of how I can reprogram my brain to correlate sitting on my couch with doing something that I both enjoy doing AND is good for me! Some ways that I’ve started reprogramming my mind include:

    • Sitting in my favorite spot with a book instead of my laptop
    • Watching a show, but when that craving for food hit, get up and make a cup of tea or drink some water
    • Just getting up and doing something else around the house
    • Creating and keeping a routine that keeps me off my couch (because when I sit on this thing, 9 times out of 10 I wasn’t just “relaxing”, I was procrastinating!) until it’s time to take a break
    • Reminding myself that I’d either just eaten and can wait a few hours, OR if it is time for me to eat, grab something HEALTHY instead of junky

    Now, let’s look at the unhealthy habit you want to break, and the activities that you find yourself doing that automatically end with the habit you want to change. What are some things that you can do or tell yourself to help reprogram your brain and associate those activities with the healthy habit you desire to create? Spend some time with a pen and paper and write it out! I think you’ll be impressed by what you can come up with J

    If this post spoke to you, please leave a comment below and share with a friend (or a few)!!

    Until next time!!!