This week we’re joined by Klara, our Specialist Mental Health Adult Weight Management Practitioner.
I was driving home yesterday from a ‘meet up and chat lunch’ with friends in heavy rain and wind. Wading through flooded roads, I thought, ‘Didn’t the weather just change?’. It is that time of the year, summer and autumn has gone, winter has arrived.
‘…you feel that your life is going ‘well’, but every day feels like Groundhog Day?’
Do you ever get to the point where you feel that your life is going ‘well’, but every day feels like Groundhog Day?
Rush through the morning, kettle on, breakfast, get ready, work, quick lunch, shopping, quick dinner, struggle
to find the time to keep in touch with friends, or even to do something for yourself. When it comes to mealtimes
how easy it is to have the same breakfast or lunch, have the same shopping list every time, cook the same few
kinds of meals, or repeat the same exercise regime and hesitate to try something different? When habit takes
over there is no challenge anymore.
The fun is in the challenge
The brain is a cheeky little organ, it switches repetitive activities to autopilot to save energy but demands
challenges. When I feel stuck, a little bell rings to remind me that my autopilot is on. I love listening to ‘Just a
minute’ on BBC R4. The guests are challenged to speak about any topic for a minute without hesitation, deviation, or repetition. I take my hat off to anyone who gets to a minute, it is so difficult! But the fun is in the
challenge. The beauty of this panel game is that this is actually what I try to apply in my everyday life.
The NHS advice for the general population is that eating a variety of foods from all food groups, keeping physically active, avoiding alcohol, and not smoking are the key components for maintaining good health. No doubt one should keep to the principles of healthy lifestyle without deviation, but the challenge is to avoid repetition! The chances are, if we stick with the principles of a healthy diet, by going for a greater variety of foods, fruits and veg, meat, dairy, pulses, including oily fish, trying new recipes, or even cooking from scratch will increase the challenge the brain is asking for, without (too much) repetition.
Follow the link to read more about a healthy balanced diet: NHS live-well eat-well
