Happy Tuesday, friends!
I have THREE different posts for our day 🙂 .
First up, I have my STRAWBERRY & BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE (it’s really easy, delicious, and perfect for summer!) + it’s PRIME DAY, which means I have MY CURRENT TOP 10 FAVORITE PRIME FINDS for you today too.
Right here though, I have a little post on MAJORING IN THE MAJOR (not the minor!).
I’ve heard this topic discussed on various podcast episodes, and it’s been on my “to blog” notes for months now.
In the wellness sphere that I love to learn about (in books and via podcasts), experts are often on to discuss so many cool, trendy, new, niche topics, and I don’t know about you, but I can easily get overwhelmed with “all the things”. I’m always reassured when someone else will remind me (the listener/reader) not to get too bogged down in the “minor” and instead just focus on the major.
Red light therapy, cold plunges, dry brushing, sooooooo many supplements, detoxing, gadgets…agh, there are so many “things” that could potentially benefit my health and wellness. I get “too many things” fatigue easily when it comes to this stuff. It turns into a lot of noise: I need to do that. I need to buy this book and read about that. I need to quit doing this, add more of that, make an appointment with my doctor to discuss this, get labs to check that, oh for the love, I’m overwhelmed by the options and specifics…and now I’m stressed.
Am I alone here? I can go down the health and wellness rabbit hole on all the “minor” things and get so overwhelmed that I forget to do my major things.
I love dabbling in some minor things. If they work for me/are affective/beneficial, sometimes they even become my “major” things…but I have to rein myself in sometimes to avoid “health and wellness overwhelm”.
Anyone else do this too?
Below is a little list of things I’ve deemed MAJOR. The truth is that all of these started out as “minor”, but after seeing and feeling the results, they’ve become the foundational things that make up my current health and wellness.
I’ll share my list, and then I would love to know what “minor” things have morphed into “MAJOR” for you 🙂 .
Here are my TOP 6 “MAJOR THINGS”…
HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
I remember so so clearly the day someone told me I should consider HRT. I was young but on the hormone struggle bus. Even before my complete hysterectomy, I would have told you this was the #1 best thing I’ve done for my (health) self. It has absolutely changed every aspect of my life. HRT has affected my physical health, my emotional health, my sleep, my energy, my muscle tone, my sex drive, my metabolism, my skin, my mood, my focus and cognitive health…the list is long. I “dabbled” at first but quickly became someone who dove right on in to the deep end.
I have so many posts on my experience with HRT that you can read HERE.
SLEEP
Deciding to get quality sleep on a regular basis was the SIMPLEST thing I’ve ever done that had the GREATEST effect.
If you’re asking yourself “how can sleep not be a major” then you haven’t been around my blog space long enough.
I’ve always been a really “good” sleeper (I go to sleep easily and stay asleep all night). Up until a few years ago though, I wasn’t dedicating enough time for sleep. I was living off of sometimes less than five hours of sleep each night. I did this for YEARS. Once I decided to aim for seven hours each night, I felt so much better that it quickly and easily became a “major” for me. I was so used to being tired that I thought that was “normal”. That should not be anyone’s normal.
Sleep has become such a nonnegotiable for me. Now, it’s easy for me to carve out my seven hours because anything less just sounds torturous.
I have so many posts on sleep and my Oura Ring that you can read HERE.
DIGESTIVE REST
This was one of those “trendy/niche” topics I heard about on podcasts and read about in books. I tried this out as a “minor” little adjustment and for me, it quickly became a MAJOR. I personally just feel better when I get at least 12 to 16 hours of digestive rest between my last meal of the day and the first meal of the next day. For me, everything just sort of clicked when I took that time and allowed my digestive system to rest.
You can read about my journey with Intermittent Fasting/Digestive Rest HERE.
WALKING
Next to getting more sleep, walking more was the easiest “minor” I turned into a MAJOR. I have worked out pretty much every day for 30 years. I love to get sweaty and out of breath and ACTIVE during a workout. I love for my Apple Watch to tell me my heartrate is up, and I’ve burned a ton of calories. I love a hardcore workout…which is why, I was never into “walking”.
I am a runner. If I’m going to take an hour and head outside, I’m running six miles instead of walking three. Why go three if you can go six?
Well, once I jumped on the “walking” trend it totally rocked my world FOR THE GOOD!
I blogged about my journey FROM RUNNING TO WALKING, but spoiler alert, it has become my most favorite way to “be active”. I can’t imagine ever going back to “not” walking again.
STRENGTH TRAINING
I know, I know, I know, I know…everyone is talking about eating protein and strength training.
Everyone.
I have lifted weights for 25 years, but it wasn’t until about two-ish years ago that I really started LIFTING WEIGHTS. Instead of lifting light weights a few days a week, I started consciously lifting heavier and heavier weights at least four times a week in a systematic fashion (taking notes, rotating muscle groups, etc).
This minor trend of “lift heavy” quickly started to show me actual results in my body composition. It was kind of freakish how quickly I could see actual muscle growth when I started to really and truly work on it. This is a MAJOR in my life that comes before any of the other “types” of working out (Pilates, yoga, cardio, etc).
And finally…
SUPPLEMENTS
Supplements and I have had a fickle friendship most of my adult life. The problem? Me.
Instead of actually looking at my labs and talking to my doctor about what I personally need to be “supplementing”, I was just taking supplements based on what my friends were taking/my husband was taking/Oprah was telling me to take/Women’s Health magazine was mentioning…nothing was “working” because I wasn’t taking anything with any regularity that was actually meant for me personally.
I’ve blogged about supplements before HERE, but for me, this one MAJOR had the biggest learning curve. I had to first figure out what I needed to be supplementing based on my actual labs and then, I had to find brands that seemed to do the trick along with appropriate dosages. It was (and is) a lot of trial and error. I have made it a MAJOR though because I have seen major results when I use the right ones appropriately. Not only do I see the actual data on my labs, but I feel better too.
So, those are six of the things I’m MAJORING IN without getting distracted and overwhelmed by all the “minors”.
I’m curious about things like redlight therapy and cold plunging and perhaps, I’ll try them and make them a MAJOR, but for me personally, honing in on a few solid things that work for me instead of getting overloaded with “all the things” is more affective.
Okay, I want to hear from you!
Do you major in the majors or get confused and sidetracked by the minors? Have any “minors” turned into majors for you? I want the deets! Please comment and share!
Don’t forget, I have my STRAWBERRY & BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE + I have MY CURRENT TOP 10 FAVORITE PRIME FINDS for you today too.
Happy Tuesday!
I’ll see you all tomorrow. xx
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