Time for a change

With our eldest child’s 6th birthday fast approaching it has made Lee and I think about how quickly time is flying by and that we are both getting older too. We are far from being spring chickens. I am in my early 30’s now and Lee who is 8 years older hit the big 40 late last year.

As we are getting older and are feeling the aches, pains and tiredness of our busy lives now more than ever we have decided that it is important that we take more care of ourselves. So that we can play and have fun with the kids and be there for them as they grow older we need to think about our health and be as fit and healthy as we can be. Whilst on the whole we are relevantly healthy and do not have many bad habits (we eat healthy and neither of us drink any alcohol) there is always room for improvement which will hopefully leave us healthier with more energy.

Here are a few lifestyle changes we want to implement that will have a positive benefit on our health and wellbeing -

Drink more water

To be honest I cannot say ‘hand on heart’ that we drink the recommended amount of water per day. As it is important that the body is hydrated well and the benefits of water are vast - helps maintain the balance of bodily fluids, keeps skin looking good and energises muscles are just a few benefits - we are doing to our upmost to drink more water every day.

Also as Lee is a big coffee drinker and lives on the stuff throughout the day he has vowed to slowly cut down on his coffee intake.

Quit smoking regular cigarettes

I don’t smoke and never have but Lee is a long term smoker, having smoked cigarettes for over 20 years since he was a teenager. Since becoming a parent Lee has cut down on the amount he smokes and never smokes in the house or around the children. But he has struggled to quit completely.

The act of putting cigarette to mouth and smoking is a habit that he finds at the time he cannot quit. Whilst he would prefer to be completely smoke free at this moment in time he is struggling to achieve this. As such he is looking at making the switch from regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes and try vaping instead (again never around or in front of the kids) with the hope that once he has kicked the habit of regular cigarettes of then cutting down and stopping vaping too so that he has quit both completely. Being new to the world of e-cigarettes he is looking at trying vape starter kits to find one that suits him.

Exercise more

Before having the kids when we had more ‘free’ time to ourselves and no big responsibilities both Lee and I spent time exercising. I used to swim regularly and go to the gym, and Lee used to play football and run outdoors. Nowadays my swimming consists of fun, splash time with the kids and I can’t remember the last time I hit the gym, whilst Lee’s footie days are past him apart from the odd kick about with the kids.

We want to improve our health, fitness and stamina so that we can not only improve our chances of being around as the kids grow up and start families of their own but also so that we can keep up with their play too. As such we have drawn up a schedule around our commitments that allows Lee and I to exercise whilst the other looks after the kids (having no family close by for babysitting help means it is not easy to juggle ‘free time’ without the kids). To be honest I can’t wait to get back into the pool in particular and swim laps again, I love being in the water and find not only does swimming improve my health and fitness but as it is relaxing and my worries fade away when swimming it is also great for my mental health.

Have you made any lifestyle changes to be healthier and fitter?