self improvement. – Dad looks confused

It all starts With a change of Mindset

For this post I would like to talk about mindset and choices, we are presented with choices everyday whether it is what we eat or how we decide to spend our free time. Usually we are so busy everyday that we always choose to sit around watching tv or play video games but it these same types of choices that have us wanting more or something different. We live in what seems to be an endless cycle of boring with nothing to look forward to but the weekend, even then we overextend ourselves by trying to make the “most” of our days off. At the ends of each weekend we go back to work just as or more tired than when we started. I too used to live with this type of mentality and I felt like it was draining me instead of helping me live better. This is where mindset comes in I decided to make a change and try to change the way my days went I started to plan something that I looked forward to doing everyday and eventually I started adding more things.
The key to changing the way I lived making my days more enjoyable, was to add one thing at a time I didn’t try to make any drastic changes it was slow change for bettering the way I lived my week.
Tips for a better week

Make a list of things you like to do and help you relieve some stress.
A.meditation’
B. Exercise
C. Reading
Start one of the thing do not try to add all of these things to your day at once
Once you have a routine you are comfortable with try to find something that will help you improve as a person and learn.

It’s almost 2020 but there is still time to work hard

With only 23 days left of the year I find it very helpful to recap the goals you have accomplished this year. I believe that a win comes from meeting goals and being able to cross them off, even if it seems like it’s a small goal. The way I see it, a house is built brick by brick until you have a finished structure, creating a better lifestyle with more desirable habits is very similar to that because it is done step by step. I know you might be thinking well I only met one of my big goals this year, it was not very successful but you have to also look at the small things you accomplished. Maybe you found a better job or lost 5 lbs this year every little step counts. I take this goal recap as a time to reflect on what I have accomplished and also to see what more I would like to accomplish in these next 23 days which trust me is more than enough time to still work hard and meet a goal.

As you decide what goals you would like to accomplish by the end of the year make sure to document it

1. Write down your goals

2. Make monthly goals that way you feel like you’re making progress

3. Cross them off as you go

4. Take pictures when you accomplish one in order to track progress

5. Have fun it’s your own list and only base it off of what you want to do not what you think others expect of you. monthly goals that way you feel like you’re making progress

The struggles are real: Nightshift (Repost)

For this week I have decided to repost something from last November, Why? Well because just like taking care of ourselves emotionally and intellectually I strongly believe that we should be taking care of our body and having a schedule that is somewhat consistent is something that helps with keeping healthy. Based on my experience having a schedule that doesn’t change very much has helped me with managing stress.

Having a nine to five job and trying to stay healthy can be difficult trust me I say this based on my past experience. When I was between the ages of 20-22 I had an office job and yes I do understand that it can be draining because even though you are not very physically active, stress and a busy day schedule can lead to making not very good food choices. I do understand that at the end of the day all you want to do is go home relax and forget about work for a few hours before you have to get up and it all over again the next day. I look back to those days when I weighed 350lbs and to be honest I am embarrassed at the fact that I had all of this free time before and after work and I still refused to make any healthy choices. I would wake up at 7 in the morning and get ready for work without eating breakfast at home but I wouldn’t completely skip breakfast because on the way to the office I would stop and get myself a monster with a muffin every morning. If I would’ve made a better healthier breakfast at home I would not have gained so much weight and my other meal choices were not any healthier. I realize now that if I would have actually sat down and made a schedule for myself that included healthier food choices and waking up earlier to get at least 30 minutes of working out, my life would have been better. The crazy thing was that the time that I decided to make these changes in my life was when I started a different job where I had less free time in my day. I realized that the only way that I was going to start feeling better about myself was by making a lifestyle and yes it was hard at first because I was not very educated in this health and fitness world but all it took was doing some research to get started. Today I still am learning everyday obviously it is not the same as when I started because my endurance, strength and most importantly my goals have changed, now I feel like my situation is what most people would call odd because I work 12 hour night shifts and well the way I see it my day is backwards and it is does take a bit of work to get it right but it is possible to reach your fitness goals and still hold a job Night or Day.

Here are some tips that I use on how to make it so that you don’t overeat while working night shift or any shift:

1. Make sure your first meal is at a scheduled time for example on my days of work I eat my first meal 5:30pm make sure that is is filling and healthy

2. Make sure you carry a snack with you or make sure it is easily accessible during your shift for whenever you start feeling a bit of hunger. I like carrying around a granola bar from hidden valley it is 180 calories per pack I love them.

3. Make sure that you eat your second meal at the same time everyday or at least within the hour (I like my lunch between 1:30 am and 2:30 am) that way you get your body used to the idea that there will be food coming at a specific time and trust me it is easier to control hunger once you get in a routine.

4. If you are still hungry and don’t go over your calories you can have a snack 11/2 to 2 hours before you shift ends and not right before you go to bed let it settle a bit. I have got to the point to where I just consume the majority of my calories with my meals so they are pretty big but they are healthy choices.

I get seven hours of sleep everyday and I am able to make it to the gym for one hour

• Wake up 3pm

• Brush teeth and do my morning stuff 3-3:30pm

• Meditate and take pre-workout 3:30pm-3:45pm

• Gym 3:45pm-5pm

• Eat 5:30pm

• Get ready and leave for work 6pm

So all it takes is some scheduling and you too are able to achieve your health goals.

At first it seemed like a burden but once I got used to it this became something I did without putting too much thought into it.

Room for improvement

Self improvement, comes in many forms such as art, exercise, traveling but in my personal opinion it starts in the form of words whether it is books, articles or captions on social media it is just up to us to find what subject or activities spark our interest. For this post I would like to share some books that I have personally have enjoyed.

Here is the list of my top 5 books:

1.How to Win Friends and Influence People

Book by Dale Carnegie

2.You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting You

Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

Book by Jen Sincero

3.You Can Heal Your Life

Book by Louise Hay

4. Striking Thoughts

Book by Bruce Lee

5. Six great dialogues

Book by Plato

I chose these books as my top 5 because I feel like they have helped me find a better understanding of myself. Yes, two of these Books deal with philosophy but I feel like these help me improve as a person as well, they give me a different perspective of life based on ideas that other people throughout history have had. It was difficult to chose just five books because I have read so many that are great and would recommend to everyone, but I feel like these books have really made an impact on the way I see myself.

Bigger, better, more

Hello everybody and welcome back to my blog. I have been gone for a few weeks not because I didn’t want to post but because I have been working on expanding my topics. After a few weeks of self reflection and much thought into this I have decided to change up the content on this page from health and wellness to self improvement. I will still be posting workout tips and recipes and more on fitness and dieting, which in itself is a form of self improvement. Any tips that I post will be something that I have personally tried, of course with some added research.

Here are some of the topics I will be posting about:

1. Health and wellness tips that work for me

2. Self improvement book, that I would recommend

3. My stress management techniques

4. Journaling

5. What keeps me motivated

And many more great topics that I really enjoy learning about, these topics because it helps me learn a bit more about myself and find more things that challenge me.

I will be moving my post days back to Fridays so make sure to check in for more great content.