Today I began a lifestyle reset, and already I can report excellent results! First, I didn't drink any coffee. Instead, I drank two cups of Earl Grey tea, so I've had substantially less caffeine than usual. Coffee tends to upset my stomach, jangle my nerves, and dehydrate me, and I suffered none of these adverse effects from the tea.
But before I even had the tea, I brushed my teeth and then drank a cup of water with slices of lemon and a few ice cubes. I took it outside, raised my eyes to soak in some sunlight, and walked barefoot on the grass. The latter practice is called earthing. My chiropractor mentioned it to me, so last year, once it was warm enough, I began starting my day this way. You can read the list at the top of the page of all the amazing benefits.
The basic idea is that connecting your feet to the earth grounds you. The earth's electrons, which give off a naturally negative electrical charge, flow through you, and this helps to neutralize the electrons in our bodies. I notice a positive boost in my mood from just a few minutes of walking barefoot on the grass.
The quality of sleep we get each night is influenced by what we do from the moment we wake up in the morning. Getting exposed to sunlight first thing helps to set one's circadian rhythms for wakefulness during the day and better sleep at night, and the earthing practice also promotes healthy sleep patterns.
For breakfast, I usually have fig bars with my coffee or tea (Nature's Bakery brand are whole grain), but I find that, like the hobbits, I function best if I have "second breakfast". So today, awhile after eating the fig bars, I had a slice of avocado toast and vegetarian sausage.
Another practice with many health benefits is intermittent fasting. This basically means that you eat all of your food in a window of a set number of hours. Inspired by Jennifer L. Scott of "The Daily Connoisseur" blog and YouTube channel, my goal is an eight hour window. However, I find that I sometimes need to give myself an extra hour. This afternoon I went to the greenhouse and planted flowers, which ran into my usual dinner making hour. So I gave myself an extra hour in my eating window.
A window of anywhere from 8 to 10 hours is standard, though some do an even smaller window. Jennifer lost 30 pounds in a year just from practicing intermittent fasting. I am hoping to lose weight as well, to make healthier dietary choices and avoid snacking in the evenings, and to optimize my metabolism and general health.
Before getting showered and ready for the rest of the day, I had devotional time with my breakfast. I find that prayer and spiritual reading in the mornings set the tone for my entire day, helping me to be more calm, happy, patient, and productive. It also helped immensely that I slept through the night and got a solid 9 hours. Praise God!
The last thing I did differently this morning was to take quercetin and homepathic allergy treatments instead of my usual Claritin. I want to taper off all my prescription and OTC meds and replace them with natural remedies and dietary changes. For now I'm still taking my nighttime asthma medicine, plus Benadryl, but I'm cutting down on that. I ran out of Flonase nasal spray and don't plan to refill my prescription. I also used my neti pot this morning and will make that a regular part of my daily routine.
I got a lot done today, enjoyed myself, and spent quality time with my daughter while my husband was out of town. Every day may not go so smoothly, but I feel encouraged that I am setting myself up for success with better habits around food, sleep, and time in the sun. Now I'm going to take an evening stroll to cap off a lovely day!
