Building good habits and getting well

 

Last week I went to see my acupuncturist to relieve some awful back pain, she did massage, acupuncture along with cupping all during one long session, while talked to me about a couple of simple things I could do to improve my diet and health.  It was such a healing experience, I came away from the session feeling so much better!  An unexpected effect of my session was that I started sleeping well throughout the night without waking up at odd hours unable to get back to sleep.  It really helped me to feel refreshed and energized the next morning and I couldn't thank her enough.  She recommended that I get on a regular weekly schedule to see her so she could help me address a few issues and also help me with weight loss, I'm super excited to see what results I will get in the next few weeks!

One of the really good tip I got was not to eat heavy dinner at night, especially after 6pm.  Adjusting dinner habits certainly takes some getting used to, but just talking to someone about it helped me putting it in action.  I try my best to have a small salad or some bone broth when I'm hungry in the evening and try to reserve the bigger meals for dinner and breakfast. 

At the same time, I'm switching out most of the cold drinks to warm herbal tea.  One of my favorite tea for the evening is this Korean brand barley tea.  I picked up a box at my local supermarket, but it's also easily found on amazon.  It's conveniently packaged into single serving packet so I just throw one packet into the electric kettle and let it boil and then steep for a few more minutes before drinking it.  It's a very calming and relaxing drink especially on cold nights.  

I recently splurged on a few accessories pieces, since I'm trying to get back in shape, I didn't really want to buy clothes that I don't want to wear for the long term.  I have been dressing up daily for work, slowly my enthusiasm for style returned.  Reflecting back on only one month ago, it's a marked difference on my energy level as I can work full days and still feeling energetic enough when I get home in the evening to take care of my puppies.  Having energy is everything, it allows me to actually live a productive and happy life.  

I'm not quite where I want to be yet physically, but I'm very thankful for the progress I've made so far.  Sometimes it's all about baby steps and being patient, and I'm ok with that.