Wednesday 7 February 2018

Wellness Wednesday Feb 7


Welcome to our second Wellness Wednesday link up in 2018! Back on January 10, I wrote about the link up and my three wellness goals for January here. Today, I'm providing a progress update, setting new wellness goals for February, sharing my favourite cardio exercises, three suggestions, and linking up with a group of fabulous bloggers who are also on this wellness journey.

My January wellness goals progress update:

1. Meditate 15 minutes daily: Yes, I've been meeting this goal. The short duration works well for me. I meditate in the morning to set a positive start to my day. In the evening, I do it at bed time and add deep breathing to help me fall asleep.

2. Exercise one hour daily: Yes, in January I did my 5K morning walks, fourteen workout sessions in the gym, eleven yoga sessions at home, two swimming sessions, and four 5K runs on Sundays. The community pool that I use was closed on January 26 for about four months so I replaced my Saturday swims with walking or yoga.

3. Smile or laugh daily: Yes, I've been meeting this goal as well. It would be funny if I didn't, ha! By writing it down as a goal, I remember to find humour every day. The smiling or laughing out loud has made me more relaxed in my day-to-day approach to life matters.

My February wellness goals:

Now that I've established good wellness habits in January, my idea is to layer on new goals in the coming months. Using Valentine's Day in February as my cue, I'm adding two social goals to my list of wellness goals as follows:

1. Meditate 15 minutes daily.
2. Exercise one hour daily.
3. Smile or laugh daily.
4. Enjoy two family outings on two different weekends.
5. Attend two piano recitals with my friends.

My favourite cardio exercises:

Cardio exercise is any exercise that raises our heart rate. Some of the cardio exercises that I've done over the years include walking, running, stair climbing, swimming, elliptical, high intensity interval training, jumping rope, jumping jacks, shadow boxing, cycling, and indoor rowing.

Walking is my favourite since it's the easiest, simple, free, no training required, and I can do it just about anywhere. I can increase my walking distance, or my speed, or add a few flights of stairs or hills to get a good workout.

When I have access to a gym or a pool, my favourite cardio exercises are elliptical and swimming laps. Both elliptical and swimming have low impact on the knees. With the elliptical, I can change the incline to activate more muscles, or do high intensity intervals to make it more engaging. With swimming laps, I can change up the strokes so that I work all kinds of muscles and the continuous pace works my heart and lungs.

My three suggestions:

1. When you first embark on (or resume) an exercise program, focus on consistency, as opposed to intensity. For example, start with a low-intensity routine of 30 minutes, two or three times a week, until you have a solid routine. If you've recently recovered from an illness or injury, check with your physician before embarking on an exercise program.

2. Always do warm up before doing cardio exercises and cool down after doing them. This prevents injuries and muscle tightness.

3. Once you have a consistent exercise routine, make small, gradual changes to your cardio exercises to engage your mind and moderately challenge your body. There are so many ways to inject freshness into our exercise routine and to get more out of our exercises. I've named some examples above. I'd also balance cardio with other types of exercises to use different muscles, avoid wear and tear on the same muscles, and include 'rest' days to allow for recovery.

February is Heart month. I hope you'll take up a cardio exercise that makes your heart happy and healthy.

How are you doing with your wellness goals? Any tip to share?

20 comments:

  1. Congratulations on reaching last weeks goals. If we all did just those three things every day, we'd all be a lot healthier and happier. Thanks for the invitation to link up on Wellness Wednesday!

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    1. Thank you, Christie, for joining in on the link up. I look forward to reading your update on your 8-week transformation challenge.

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  2. Just want to let you know my post is coming! Struggling a bit with it but will have it ready to share today.

    Isn't there something to realizing goals after we've committed to them in writing? Take your goal to laugh more. You are more aware of wanting to add laughter and humor to your day and it is happening! I need to lighten up sometimes although I can be pretty goofy!

    Am anxious to get back to swimming. That and running are my fav cardio workouts.

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    1. I'll be here for your post, Leslie. Writing a goal down certainly helps me realize it. I was so bummed about my pool closure. I hope your foot is back to normal so you can enjoy your fav cardio workouts of swimming and running. Thank you for dropping by.

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  3. Good tips about warming up and cooling down after cardio, Natalie. Well done on reaching your goals and I love the laugh daily one - I need to incorporate that into my day every day!

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    1. Thank you, Sue, for stopping by. The laugh daily goal has been great. I highly recommend it, especially when you have such a beautiful smile.

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  4. I agree - consistency is the key...the rest comes after that.

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    1. Consistent exercising will bring results. Thanks, Jo, for joining in the link up and dropping by. I agree with your ten reasons to exercise in the morning.

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  5. I miss living in an area with sidewalks for walking every night. Living on country roads is tough to just walk at night - not even street lights. & deer jumping out everywhere. it's an obstacle course in itself ;)

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    1. Walking on country roads without street lights and deer jumping out everywhere would be a safety issue for sure. Good for you for finding other ways to exercise. Thanks, Rebecca Jo, for dropping by. Look forward to read your update at our next link up.

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  6. You are right on track this year, Natalie! Well done. I think I ought to add relaxation and/or meditation to my daily schedule as well. I'll start with the focused breathing before falling asleep. Maybe that helps avoid worries and thoughts that prevent a good night's sleep.

    Unfortunately, our social calendar will be empty the coming months as we are leaving San Diego for an unknown six weeks...

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    1. Give the deep breathing and meditation a go for a while, Liesbet. It really works for me. I hope you and Mark find another nice home in a warm place soon. Thanks for stopping by.

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  7. Congratulations on meeting your January Wellness Goals, Natalie. I also love your three tips for beginning (or resuming) an exercise routine. Very sound advice!

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    1. Thank you, Donna, for your ongoing encouragement. I truly appreciate it.

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  8. Thanks so much for inviting me to the party Natalie - I am so impressed with your goals and that you are looking at exceeding them each month - you are inspirational!

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    1. Thank You, Leanne, for joining us. How to find balance in our life is an important piece to maintain our overall wellness. Our next Wellness link up is on March 7. Optional prompt "Favourite exercise equipment or gadget, and wellness goals update". Hope you'll join us again.

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  9. Thanks for inviting me to link with your Wellness Wednesday linky Natalie. I leave for holidays today so my commenting will not be up to its usual standard unfortunately. Love your goals. Walking is my favourite cardio activity too. I don't like anything that makes me feel sick. Walking briskly suits me well. I also love my Reformer Pilates classes and have noticed a huge difference in my strength in tone since I started doing at least 3 classes a week! :-)

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    1. Thank You, Min, for joining us. Walking and Pilates are excellent exercises. Have a relaxing beach holiday! I look forward to reading your updates. Our next Wellness link up is on March 7. Please feel free to join us again.

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  10. Natalie, your exercise program sounds excellent. I am doing Yoga classes twice a week, and we have gone downhill skiing four times in 2018 (I’m trying to increase it to weekly, but weather and our other obligations are a factor). Also, most days I do a 45 minutes walk or hike, we have amazing trails right outside our door.

    Jude

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    1. Your location sounds amazing, Jude. Walking, hiking, skiing and yoga are all excellent ways to maintain our fitness. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your wellness activities.

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