“Honestly, this post is for me not you, lovely reader. I’m deeply grateful for you being here, and I want you to continue reading. However, I need to warn you that I’m not really trying to convey anything helpful or beneficial for you in this post. This post is to get me writing in an attempt to gain some momentum. I haven’t written in awhile so I challenged myself to write a post today.”
Read MoreMy first update in the Strengthening my Foundation series.
Read MoreAn introduction to my new series on my self-care journey.
Read MoreThe start of my Sims Self Care challenge. Come be the life coach for our Sim Claudia!
Read MoreSelf-care 101 or the basics of self-care. What is it? Why is it important? Why should you do it? How do you get started?
Read MoreSorry, I don’t mean to brag, but I’m super excited that I am once again visiting the most magical and happiest place on earth!
Disney is so much more than an amusement park to me. As someone who is terrified of roller coasters, prone to motion sickness, and gets super anxious around crowds, Walt Disney World is a magical place where my fear and anxiety melt away. I feel safe. Only in Disney do I happily talk to complete strangers and ask for help when I need it. I constantly push the boundaries of my motion sickness and my fear because it feels safe to do so. This scaredy-cat would never vacation alone anywhere else, but if my husband didn’t also adore Disney, I would be headed there on my own in a heartbeat. It’s comfortable and I understand why so many Disney fans refer to it as “home”.
Planning for Disney is a great self care tactic for me. I find the organization and research fun and soothing. Planning isn’t for everyone, but for those who do like planning, it makes a trip to Disney even better! Planning for Disney also REALLY pays off. With planning, you can avoid crowds, get to go on way more rides, and eat at the places you want to eat. Disney puts a lot of information online including complete menus for all their eateries. They also allow you to book fastpasses (sort of like reservations for rides) up to 60 days in advance and their version of dining reservations 180 days in advance.
I went to Disney (both world and land) many times when I was a kid. There was a gap for over a decade when I didn’t go because college and grad. school. However, my husband and I went there for our honeymoon in January 2015. Then we returned in 2017, 2018 and 2019. I also had an extra bonus single day Animal Kingdom adventure in the fall of 2018. I think it’s safe to say I’ve had a lot of experience planning WDW trips recently. Given my naturally nervous nature, I read a lot of articles, make spreadsheets, listen to podcasts and investigate the best touring strategies.
Last year, for the the first (in forrrreevvverrr) , we brought two friends with us to Disney. One of the friends had never been before. These two (non-couple) friends both enjoyed their trip so much that they are going to WDW again. Not just again, but with me. And not just with me but on my next trip! I did not expect them to go again so soon. While most of the credit goes to Disney and to our mutual friendships, of course, I’m going to give a bit of that credit to my travel agent and tour guide skills.
I'm going to be sharing my planning experience here. My strategies, tips and tricks, moments from my previous vacations and more. I would love to help you plan your next Disney trip or answer some of your Disney questions. Please leave suggestions for topics, questions and comments below.
Just over a month ago, I wrote a post about the different types of self care where I discuss nine different kinds of self care that are all important for wellness. Having good self care is more than just occasionally taking an evening off to binge your favorite show, or taking a luxurious bath. It is a mindset. It is a collection of small habits that you do on a regular basis to maintain your health and happiness.
My approach to improving myself care is to make small changes, on a weekly basis, to help me form habits that will help me feel healthy, energized, motivated and happy. Of course, I use my bullet journal to keep track of these changes, and to reflect on my progress.
This week, I am focusing on improving my physical self care.
To quote my own blog post:
“Physical self care is one of the more obvious categories [of self care]. It is likely when you think of ‘self care’ at least one of the first things you think of will be in this category. This is the care of our physical bodies. This can include things like: exercise, nutrition, hydration, sleep, skin care, beauty, stretching, rest, medical and dental appointments, medicine, and pain management.”
Take a moment to reflect on your own physical self care. Are there any obvious gaps in how well you are presently taking care of your body? Do you need more sleep? More movement? Better nutrition?
For myself, I take a 25 minute walk several times a week and I do a 12 minute stretching/yoga routine three times a week. I also pack my lunch everyday and I eat most of my dinners at home. I try to incorporate lots of fruits and veggies into my daily meals. I frequently floss, and I see the dentist every 6 months. I see my doctor at least annually, if not more often. I try to maintain a somewhat consistent sleep schedule too.
There are definitely many ways I can improve my physical self care routine, but it’s also important to acknowledge the good things I am doing! So…yay for all of the above! I feel like there is room for improvement in all the areas of my physical self care with the exception of perhaps making and keeping routine appointments. However, there is one thing in particular that I’ve been wanting to work on lately.
As I said before, good self care is a collection of small everyday habits that make you feel better. This week I’ve added one new goal to my to do list- form a better hydration habit!
I do drink water and I typically have water with me. However, I don’t drink as much as I’d like to. Drinking a certain amount of water a day (such as 8 glasses) or trying to drink as much water as you can isn’t useful or healthy despite the common myths surrounding it (https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/how-much-water/). My problem is that I’m not always drinking when I’m thirsty.
I check-in with myself often throughout the day to record my brain state, emotions, etc… as part of my work with EBT. One of the things I record is physical states or body sensations such as hunger, thirst, feeling too hot and anxiety symptoms. I’ve noticed I record “thirsty” quite a bit. I think I need to do a better job of noticing, acknowledging and responding to thirst.
I’m currently testing out an app that tracks water intake, but I might come up with another way of working on this habit. Mainly, I just need to remind myself to drink more often.
Hydration might not be an issue for you, but there’s likely something else you can do to improve your physical self care. Here are some other ideas:
Keep a record of what you eat for a couple days. Also record how hungry you were before you started eating and any other activities or emotions. Make some observations about your logs.
Track how many servings of fruits and veggies you eat daily for a week. Average it. The following week aim to get that average one higher than it was the week before.
Look up what a serving of fruit and veggies looks like.
Make a list of fruits and veggies that your really enjoy. Use it for inspiration when you go shopping.
Find a few new healthy recipes to try, or start a healthy recipe board on Pinterest.
If you track your steps, look at your average daily step count. Try to increase that next week by 500.
Start taking an extra 20 minute walk each week.
Find an exercise you can do at home (hula-hooping, an exercise machine, etc…) and schedule a weekly session.
Increase your normal exercise routine by 5 minutes.
Think of something you enjoy doing that requires movement (playing basketball, swimming, geocaching, playing Pokemon Go) and make plans to do that.
Track and/or log your sleep. Make some observations.
Establish a bedtime.
Setup an evening routine that helps you fall asleep.
Try meditating before sleep to increase your quality of sleep.
Adjust your thermostat settings so that you are cooler when you sleep.
Make a doctor’s appointment- either an annual check-up or for an ongoing problem you’ve been having.
Make a dentist appointment.
Refill a prescription.
Ask a doctor for suggestions on treating an ongoing problem such as allergies.
Make an appointment to get a massage.
Floss every day.
Replace your toothbrush or toothbrush heads.
Ask your dentist for suggestions on how to improve your dental hygiene- perhaps getting an electric toothbrush or using a flouride mouthwash.
Start a skin care routine.
Moisturize regularly.
Get your haircut.
Change your hairstyle.
Find time to rest- take a relaxing bath, sit on the porch or take a nap.
Replace an item of clothing or shoes that no longer fits or isn’t comfortable.
Make your own list of physical self care activities.
My first update in the Strengthening my Foundation series.
An introduction to my new series on my self-care journey.
The start of my Sims Self Care challenge. Come be the life coach for our Sim Claudia!
Self-care 101 or the basics of self-care. What is it? Why is it important? Why should you do it? How do you get started?
“What factors should we look at? Here’s where the self care categories come into play. I consulted six websites and found a lot of overlapping information, but with some variety too. I’ve consolidated the information I found into the following list, and added my own examples. You can explore my sources in the links at the bottom if you’d like a second (or third, or fourth, etc...) take on this information.”
“What factors should we look at? Here’s where the self care categories come into play. I consulted six websites and found a lot of overlapping information, but with some variety too. I’ve consolidated the information I found into the following list, and added my own examples. You can explore my sources in the links at the bottom if you’d like a second (or third, or fourth, etc...) take on this information.”
Read MoreOne of my greatest tools for self care and mental health is my Bullet Journal. I tend to keep my Bullet Journal pretty simple, like the original method by Ryder Carroll, with the focus more on planning, goal setting and self-reflection. While I sometimes use washi tape or stickers, or add in the occasional doodle, those only happen when I have time and/or a creative outlet is beneficial for me at that time.
By recording what I expect to do every day and what I actually did on any given day and then comparing the two, I’ve been able to adjust the expectations I have on myself. On a day to day basis, I’m kinder to my self and I’m finding more balance in my life.
I still have time struggles, though, particularly on weekends and with my overall picture of what I am accomplishing on a larger scale. Effectively, my life to-do list is long and ever-growing, even though on a day to day basis I’m forming more reasonable expectations. My therapist has suggested that I start applying the methods I use for day to day on the scale of a week.
Weekly Spreads are a pretty common thing in the Bullet Journal community. I’m trying to keep my new weekly spreads simple while motivating. I’m trying divide my goals by category to help give me an idea of balance. The goals side of my spread involves a lot of self care. I keep a separate work Bullet Journal as I have a 40hr/week job that has plenty of responsibilities and such to keep track of.
The idea is that when I go to create my new weekly spread, I review the old one. If I didn’t finish a group of goals or tasks, I try reducing the amount a bit or relocating things that are less important to the monthly list. For things that I did well in and can push myself to do more (steps, sleep, etc…), I’ll increase the amount or add more tasks.
This week I have some to-do list tasks plus a variety of goals. I have health goals for the programs at my workplace that I participate in. I created a list of self care tasks based upon the self care categories I recently identified in my research (post about this coming soon). I think the list might be a bit too long, but there were 9 categories and I couldn’t choose. I’ll see how many I get done and adjust accordingly.
Level Up Life is an app that awards you XP (experience points and stats, like a roleplaying game) for completing various activities to improve your life. I increased my XP goal for this week based on what I earned last week. However, on Sunday I purchased a plant for my home which corresponded to a significant XP gain. So, I’ve already completed my weekly goal!
I have a list of blog tasks I need to complete, and I’m going to try to check off three of them this week. In addition to this post, I have 3 more in the works (categories of self care, day zero of our WDW vacation, and a Sims post). I’m also tracking a stat for the first time in awhile.
What are your goals for the week? Do you use a weekly spread?
A list of things I anticipate seeing in the Sims 4 Journey to Batuu DLC, when I finally get to play it, based on my experiences in Galaxy’s Edge in Walt Disney World.
“Honestly, this post is for me not you, lovely reader. I’m deeply grateful for you being here, and I want you to continue reading. However, I need to warn you that I’m not really trying to convey anything helpful or beneficial for you in this post. This post is to get me writing in an attempt to gain some momentum. I haven’t written in awhile so I challenged myself to write a post today.”
“Last week, I wrote a blog post called The Simmer’s Guide to Batuu to give Simmers who haven’t been to Galaxy’s Edge some context for the pack. The post was well-received, and I’m continuing the idea today with a post dedicated to the food and beverages of Batuu. Many of which seem to be making an appearance in this DLC!”
“If you are someone who is interested in the pack but is unfamiliar with Galaxy’s Edge, or even Star Wars, I am here to help! I’m not trying to convince those who are uninterested in the pack or change anyone’s mind. I just noticed a lot of people had questions about Batuu and how to learn more, and I feel like I could be useful here. A Sims/Disney crossover seemed to fit very well on this blog.”
“The following morning, David headed for the trailhead. He was equipped with a bit of food, a machete, spider repellent, and the flower that was supposed to ward off bees. He didn’t plan on staying long on his first day. He was confident about his abilities, but he also understood his inexperience would leave him naturally unprepared.”
“On a rainy spring day, David arrived in Selvadorada for the first of his expeditions. He rented the cheapest place he could find for three days. He was excited for his new adventure and he knew that with enough effort, he could make a career out of his explorations.”
A personal update and introduction of a new Sims 4 story.
I’m currently working on a couple of longer blog posts. One on the different categories of self care and examples of activities you can try for each one. The other post is my first post for my WDW 2019 trip report.
In the meantime, here is a cat (Mike Wazowski) sitting in his toy box.
“Honestly, this post is for me not you, lovely reader. I’m deeply grateful for you being here, and I want you to continue reading. However, I need to warn you that I’m not really trying to convey anything helpful or beneficial for you in this post. This post is to get me writing in an attempt to gain some momentum. I haven’t written in awhile so I challenged myself to write a post today.”