This week I’m combining three short but important tips: eat, exercise, and give yourself rewards.
Eating nutritiously is important always but especially during stressful times. Don’t skip breakfast, but if the thought of eating scrambled eggs isn’t pleasant, think outside the breakfast box. Try a granola bar and milk, a peanut butter cracker, or even an apple. Give your body some fuel to start the day. When I’m tired of oatmeal or cold cereal, I spread a little peanut butter on wheat toast and sprinkle on some blueberries. Delicious.
Don’t forget to exercise. For my athletic children, exercising may mean going for a three-mile run. For me, it probably means riding my bike for ten or fifteen minutes or at least walking to the mail box. The point is—get up and get your blood flowing.
Finally, when you’re in the middle of doing something difficult, and you’ve completed a short-term goal—maybe you’ve just sewn in a zipper and both sides of the garment match, or you’ve conquered your last calculus problem, or you’ve finished writing a paragraph, treat yourself to a reward.
I’m not talking about buying an expensive gift. The treat could be as simple as making a phone call to a faraway friend or watching a TV program or reading a chapter in a novel. For several years during my children’s naptime, I’d indulge in an ice cream cone. The creamy goodness soothed any nerves that might have splintered during a stressful morning and fortified me for the remainder of the afternoon until my husband arrived home from work.
What hard thing are you working on now? What’s your treat?
Leave a Reply