Being healthy, staying sane

A sequel to my health and wellness journey

I am immensely grateful for the immensely positive response to my blog debuting my health and wellness journey. From a combination of questions I’ve received and details I left out, I wanted to share a deeper dive into some of the challenges and triumphs of this journey, with some special thoughts for life Safe At Home.

For those who know me well, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that I have broken these down into sections/categories — four, to be exact. For those who don’t know me well, hopefully you at least know that I am becoming a rabbi — so yes, that does mean Judaism and spirituality play a role in my health and wellness! Without further ado (because I could ramble on and on but I know how to edit), here’s some more guidance that comes solely from my personal experience — as informed by research and doctors, but really mostly from my own trial, error, and experience. The categories, for your reference if you want to scroll around, rather than read this whole thing (which I won’t hold against you, but at the same time, it may provide more mild entertainment than whatever else you’re scrolling through these days): Factoring in Judaism, Cravings, More Notes/Advice from the Plan, and Dealing with Chronic Injuries.

Factoring in Judaism

I believe that wellness must include all aspects of a person’s life — not just body, but also mind and soul. I shared a bit already about the psychological aspects of my journey, but there is another key element: daily Jewish practice. Since I started rabbinical school, five (long) years ago, I have been making prayer a fairly permanent part of my daily rituals and habits. Particularly, the early morning/beginning the day blessings, and blessings over food and digestion. I wake up and thank God for my soul reawakening, and recite a series of blessings thanking God and bringing mindfulness to how my body works. I also say a blessing before I eat — almost every time, sometimes I forget, of course — and I lately I have been adding the habit of saying blessings after meals as well, to be thankful both for the food and for my ability to eat, digest, and enjoy. What does all of this praying have to do with wellness? If it wasn’t already clear from my descriptions, here is a little list of reasons why I have found this meaningful and helpful:

• reminders of gratitude: I stay humble(ish), I stay grateful!
• grounding in faith, values, and reality: connecting my Judaism with my healthy choices makes the whole experience more powerful
• mindfulness, taking moments to ritualize, appreciate, experience: this has helped me slow down, and take more notice of what I’m eating, how much of it, and when I’m full and satisfied
• connecting my physical and mental health with my love for and deep commitment to Judaism (this is a self-explanatory bullet point, I think)

Cravings and how I deal with them

This is one of the most common questions I heard after my first post, plus the question of how not to snack all night while watching TV. First of all, I must say that sometimes I still do eat way too much of a snack that I love, and/or eat all night in front of the TV. And the most important thing is that I do not feel guilty for doing that, nor do I treat it like some kind of “reward” for good behavior. It’s just something that happens, especially in moments of high anxiety or emotional turmoil — or, like these days, being at home all the time. It’s been established that I like all kinds of food, but that I have a particular affinity towards sweet treats. I have a truly simple set of guidelines for buying sweets without overindulging and/or derailing all of my healthy choices:

• buy things individually wrapped or with easily identifiable serving sizes: if it says something like “3 oz of this chocolate bar,” there is no way I will be able to accurately eat a serving size, and therefore I’m much more likely to eat all of it [this is science, as much as it was discovered through trial and error].
• look at nutrition facts: turn things around and read how much sugar or sodium or chemicals go into making it; this often helps me decide I do not want to eat something, because it grosses me out or makes me realize I am going to feel sick or bad after eating it
• let yourself eat what you like! I’ll buy something and then meditate for a few minutes on removing guilt (a few deep, even breaths), because food is not a reward or punishment! And, I love dessert.

This is me with one “serving” of beer, at one of my favorite spots in Jerusalem, Beer Bazaar

More Notes/Advice from the Plan

These are just a few notes that detail a bit more some of the methods I’ve chosen, as well as the ways I bend the guidelines

• Intermittent fasting: As I said, I change the time window for myself. I also don’t always do it. I alsoooooo…wait for it…don’t include drinks! This is counter-intuitive, because one of the biggest flaws in healthy consumption is that people forget to factor in their alcohol intake. But, I went on a separate journey with my drinking — it was a particular(ly unhealthy) coping mechanism while my mom was sick and when I began grieving. To make a long story short (at least for now), I drink a lot less now, and I also drink after I’m done eating for the day. One way I do this is to drink hard seltzer instead of beer or wine, because a)I’m sometimes a little basic b)it’s delicious c)they are much less bad for you!
• Sometimes I take more days off: there’s a reason there’s a range of days for exercising. Some weeks I work out 6 days, some weeks it’s 3 days…or none. *shrug emoji* *sass emoji, the one where she’s raising the roof with one hand*
• Related to this last point — sometimes I will simply do random short spurts of exercise when I’m truly not feeling it, or as extra movement when feeling anxious (it’s amazing how 10 squats and 30 arm circles relaxes me, the repetitive, simple motion that’s barely straining but feels like I’m moving). I’ll just randomly do squats or lunges or like 10 reps of an arm exercise throughout the day, and it adds up — or doesn’t — but either way, it takes the pressure off.
• This last thing might be weird and only work for me, but here it goes anyway: I will watch TV that inspires me to move (instead of making me want to sink deeper into the couch): this includes movies with fun music, popular/fun dances, activities that I would partake in, and/or scenes I want to skip so I get off the couch while they happen. I watch a lot of TV.

Dealing with Chronic Injuries

I have three chronically injured joints. I deal with each of them a little differently, but there are some guidelines for exercise that I find apply across the board. If you’re wondering, and/or want to ask me more details later because you have a similar issue: I have an ankle that I badly sprained and has never recovered, I have runner’s knee (ligaments can loosen and knee cap will shift instead of staying in place), and I have a tendon cyst coupled with tendonitis in my wrist. Anyway, here’s what I do:

• Avoid high impact exercise: I don’t do burpees, jumping jacks, jumping lunges, really anything that involves jumping of any kinds. I do alternative exercises when these things come up in workout videos
• Lots and lots of stretching! And icing — I try to stretch each of these joints at least once a day, and I ice them if they feel particularly sore, or seem swollen
• Wear a brace — I have a good brace for each problematic body part, and I wear them when I exercise. Sometimes I wear them when I’m not exercising, just to provide additional stability, especially if they’re irritated

I have one more list for you, but this one is different. I mentioned at the very beginning of this blog post (if you can remember that far back), that part of it is meant to help during this time that we all Stay at Home. I wrote a list-poem about how I have been trying to stay well while staying at home, which I wanted to share with all of you:

At-Home Wellness Checklist

— see the sun every day

— drink lots of water

— moisturize your hands, exfoliate your face

— put on a pair of pants with a button and zipper, maybe once a week

— bra choice pertains to the individual; do as advised by your own personal comfort, how you plan to address the screen and the people on its other side, and your physical activity level (ambitions)

— listen to music, and/or podcasts; if you’re typically a commuter, listen like you would on that commute. for me, that generally means pick a genre that matches the volume of sing-along i feel the need to expel on my way driving somewhere at this moment. (if it’s rap or hip-hop, i’m blowing off steam, or I’m getting ready to take on the day. if it’s folk pop, i’m a bit in the feels but trying to move through it. if it’s pop i am in a fantastic mood! or possibly looking to daydream. all throwbacks reference a time and space for which i’m feeling nostalgic. musicals pertain to what i have recently watched, been reminded of, or are planning to watch and would like to sing along with accurately. possibly more on just this subject later.)

— remember to also be alone, and/or with the people around you, as you would in day; make the space for peering at your reality

— don’t forget to power down and sleep

— read or write using physical paper

— listen to the sounds around you, that which is familiar and that which is new and possibly strange

— laugh out loud