Auld Lang Syne echoes into the distance and promises of new beginnings peep through like crocuses.
“This year will be my year.”
“Things are going to be different.”
Blessed with wellness or not, the new year is when many of us put new pressures on ourselves to improve things.
Focus and intention are good things, it’s true. But added stress can play nasty games with the human body. So what is the best way to ensure new habits are good, and leave the accompanying negativity knocking on the closed door from 2022?
Take control.
Empowerment is a sure way to have you feeling more confident, and it secretly encourages you to believe you can make life better. Writing things down always makes you feel better, we know this.
If you journal, the stream-of-consciousness thinking seems to feel ‘shared’ on the page as if you have told an imaginary friend your innermost thoughts; with the confidence of knowing their lips are sealed.
If you write a ‘to-do’ list, you can see what you have achieved with every tick, and see what you still need to do.
If you track your eating, you have a list in front of you which gives you a sense of knowing if you are snacking out of control or if you are hitting your intentions.
How about trying to put some of these things together?
There are many free apps on the market to keep a track of food and exercise, but we need more than that if we have health conditions to consider. We know our bodies better than most people, and we know that we have certain triggers. The unpredictability of bowel habits can seem nonsensical at times, which leads to frustration. Occasionally, you may be able to pinpoint some triggers, lowering the frequency of the elusive reasons for symptoms. It can be easy to feel a low vibe motivationally when discussing bowel symptoms from IBD or IBS because there are times when you just won’t know the answer why. It seems unfair.
This is where journaling can help you release some feelings onto paper and potentially encourage you to write about aspects of life which you might not otherwise address.
To help consider food triggers, food diaries will be the best place to start. Yet, the same food may have a different effect if you eat it while feeling stressed, to eating it while you are calmer. Do you ever fancy eating differently, simply because the weather outside is changing?
Summer may bring a flavoursome salad while winter is all about slurping steaming soups.
Your body sometimes does things to give you subliminal feelings, which can go unnoticed.
The best way of making yourself aware, is to keep that food journal but add in some bonus material for your bowel.
Write what you have eaten.
Add water consumption.
Draw up a scale to record your feelings or mood.
Have you undertaken any movement or exercise?
How are your stress levels?
Record how many hours you have slept.
Is meditation your thing? Pop that in the list too.
Are you trying new supplements?
Ladies can add their menstrual cycles.
Describe your bowel movements (pain, loose, constipation, bleeding, mucus)
Complete a couple of paragraphs of thoughts and feelings.
Gaining some control over your life can begin with focusing on what your body is telling you. Life can be very busy, and we feel we are being rolled along on a conveyor belt. Taking a little time each day to record how you feel, paying attention to changes and if they affect how your body feels, and reflecting on any patterns which form, can help you feel more empowered with your symptoms.
New years resolutions? Or new practice resolutions? Let’s take the pressure off ourselves and enjoy getting a little creative with our journals.
My tip: Personally, I prefer to use a blank notebook and draw out what I want inside. That might be little squares to fill a number in on my happiness scale or a bullet list of what my mental health was like on a given day. When I create journal writing, I free-flow my thoughts. We will dig deeper into this in another post.
For me, the art of spending a little time creatively can mean a difference in my mood, which gives me more power to experience a better feeling day.
Need some help with your health goals? Find out more here.
Email to book: lusherlifenutrition@gmail.com