Physical and Mental Health

For me, the hardest part about mental health is keeping myself physically healthy as well. A lot of people with mental health also suffer from insomnia. Insomnia is either the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep or wake up. Unfortunately, depending on the day, I have all three. Perfect example, last night I couldn't fall asleep, then I couldn't stay asleep, and in the morning (when I had to get up for work), I could barely get myself out of bed. Sleep plays a major part in both our physical and mental health, along with eating healthy and being physical.

Over the past three years of actually facing my mental health head on, a mixture of keeping my physical health and therapy has worked the best for me. I understand in today's society, it is hard to eat right, sleep right and keep fit. But it is all about managing your time properly. Schedules work the best!

I work, and unfortunately my work I get called in a lot for shifts. So my schedules have to be fairly flexible. And I am still working on it. I am not a morning person so I tend to sleep late (until 10am), this also means that I stay up later then most people. I do my best to get around 8 hours of sleep a night, that way I am not lacking in sleep. If I can't sleep or don't sleep well, I do NOT "make up" for my lost sleep. For me, I find that doing my workouts and physical activity later on in the evening is best for me (based on my sleeping schedule). So I do it usually after dinner. I go on a walk to warm up and then I end up doing a workout on my Xbox One. Since, in the past, I have also suffered from binging and purging, I do my best to watch when I eat and what I eat. Currently, I am doing a 10 days of real food challange (hopefully I will move up to the 100 days). All of this did not come overnight though and I am still working on it as go!

I took tiny steps and created reachable goals to make my schedule happen. That schedule I have created, will help me in my long term goals. So firstly, I focused on exercise. To me, that was the easiest place to start. It began as one half hour walk a day. That actually changed a lot in my mood and made me want to do more. Since my boyfriend had bought an Xbox One, it came with Xbox Fitness. That made working out easy, fun, and manageable.

Then I focused on eating right. That was the next easiest thing. If I cooked a meal, I knew my boyfriend would eat with me. He was a huge factor in how I ate, since he wasn't overly healthy, I wasn't. But when I started eating and cooking, he joined in. It was easier for him and healthier for me. Also I had to find a way to make food good for me. By that I mean, my previous "relationship" with food was horrible. I wouldn't eat, and when I did, I binged and then purged it in some way. So I had to make food something I wanted as a part of my life. So I learned to cook unique things and add more flavour. I was sick of bland, dry food, so I started cooking spicier, adding more natural sweets (I have a huge sweet tooth!), and trying new things.

Sleep, I am still working on. I am having issues waking myself up. I just do not want to get out of bed. I think for me, what it is, is when I am not working, there is no need for me to leave bed. So I may need to pick up a hobby or two. Something to look forward to in the morning!

All these things, you do need a reason to do them. For me, being healthy is enough. I do this for me. But you may need your own reasons. And schedules do not have to be boring. You do not have to go to the gym to be active. Go on daily walks, hikes, bike rides, runs, pick up karate, dance, anything that you think would be fun and you would be into doing! If you are tired of your regular food, learn to either spice it up by seasoning it differently, adding different ingredients, or learn something new! And for sleep, turn off your technology, get a dark room, and meditate. Take your time going to sleep. Get a bedtime routine. Mom was onto something when she bathed us, got us to brush our teeth, read us a nighttime story, and then tucked us in. It was to calm us down before we slept! Schedules don't have to be timed, they don't have to be predictable, they can be fun, wacky and absolutely entertaining! Try to put yourself on your schedule, and if you have a bad day, don't worry! You can't control everything, but you can control how you deal with things! This is my way of dealing with mental health! If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or just want to add on, feel free to do so :D always looking for input and knowledge!