I returned from my recent trip to the Mayr and More Health Centre in Austria fired with enthusiasm for leading a healthier life. Not that my lifestyle pre my visit to Austria was insanely unhealthy but I felt there was room for improvement.
I know from experience that I am living in cloud-cuckoo-land when I launch headlong into trying to change many things at once, and that some of them inevitability end up falling, like tumbling autumn leaves, by the wayside. So, it was best to concentrate on a few minor changes. I could, for example: eat more fruit and vegetables; drink more water; and cut back on my caffeine intake. How did I fare?
I have done well on the eating more fruit and vegetable front. Admittedly there was great potential to best my far from stellar intake. I find reaching the recommended five portions a day challenging but much easier on the days when I have one or more of those portions for breakfast. Two current breakfast favourites are avocado on toast topped with sun-dried tomatoes and granola with berries.
When I was staying at the Mayr and More I drank around three litres of water every day. I felt I could easily fail if I tried to down that oceanic quantity on a day-to-day basis when I returned home. I don’t know what the optimum daily intake is but one litre sounded like a manageable amount so I decided to aim for that and so far I have kept on track . It helped that I bought an IKEA litre glass bottle to measure the water into each day so I knew how I was doing. And that I remembered a tip which suggests leaving a glass of water on your bedside table at night so that you start to drink water first thing
Cutting back on my caffeine intake hasn’t been a success. I did try! I have now decided not to grapple, like a tormented grizzly bear, with my coffee habit but instead to make peace with it and enjoy the two cups I drink most days. I am consoling myself with the information that recent research has shown that a moderate amount of coffee may actually be good for you – click here to read a recent New York Times article on some of coffee’s health benefits.
Making two small changes doesn’t put me in the gold medal let alone the bronze star category when it comes to a healthy lifestyle but I am happy that drinking water and eating more fruit and veg are now habits woven into my daily routine. Tiny steps, but hopefully something to build on.
Just Add Attitude 
Good for you, your avocado on toast with the tomatoes looks delicious and I commend you for your increased water consumption, with regards to the coffee, I am with you on that. I also have 2 cups a day, I do not consider it excessive and some say coffee is health food, I’ll choose to believe those people. Sounds like you have made some positive changes.
Thank you. I am pleased to hear that you too are a two-cups-a-day coffee aficionado. I agree two cups of coffee is not excessive and it’s great to see so many articles extolling coffee’s health benefits. I am glad I have made these small positive changes. I wish you lots of luck with your remaining Thanksgiving preparations. 😉
Healthy living decisions always come one step at a time! I’m terrible at drinking water even though I always feel better when I do. As for the coffee, we always need our indulgences 🙂
I so agree that we need our indulgences other wise life would be bleak. I have never found drinking enough water easy so I am really hoping that this time I have made it a firm habit. 😉
Sounds like you are doing really well with your lifestyle changes. Are you adding a squeeze of lemon or lime to your water? I am a two cup of coffee fan. I would drink more but it would give me the jitters and have me awake all night. Coffee is actually quite good for my asthma 🙂
I used to drink lemon juice in hot water until I read somewhere that the hot water destroys the vitamin C (I am not sure if this is true?). Would you believe, until I read your comment, I never thought about putting it in room temperature water. How dim is that? I am pleased to hear coffee helps your asthma. 😉
I don’t know either about lemon in hot water but it does make plain hot water taste good :). As for room temperature water, apart from anything else, a slice of lemon in the water makes it look pretty! I like to drink prettiness and in pretty cups and in pretty glasses. Helps me to take my liquid, which I don’t really like to do.
It’s amazing how much easier it is to drink either tea, water or coffee from a pretty glass/cup. One of my local cafes serves water in large glass jugs stuffed full of fresh mint and it looks so lovely and appealing and I agree so much easier to drink. 😉
Healthier doesn’t in any way have to be less delicious, clearly! Good for you; just finding what makes you feel your best and suits your tastes at the same time is a great path toward finding the health-and-happiness balance that’s right for you. 🙂
It’s funny how quickly I became accustomed to no sugar when I was at the Mayr and More and how delicious the very healthy food I had there tasted. I have had some sweet things since I came home but not as many as I would have in the past. I think the health-hapiness balance is different for everyone and mine will always include the occasional slice of cake. And, of course, coffee! 😉
That sounds like a good start. The avocados and tomatoes look delicious 🙂
Yes it’s a good start – I am pleased. 😉
Brava, B. !!!
Your avocado toasts look delicious but I would rather eat them for dinner. My breakfast is really Italian … I must have pastries and cookies. 🙂 Breakfast is the only meal of the day when I eat sweets. 🙂
I was taught that the ideal would be two liters a day. I’m pretty good with it during the hot season but I struggle a little bit during the cold season.
The most important thing is keep trying! 🙂
Hello Francesa,
It is harder to drink water in the winter and I agree the most important thing, in this as in so many other things, is to keep trying. 😉
I admire that you only eat sweets at breakfast that’s great self-discipline. I have a sweet tooth and my downfall is cake although I do try, in deference to my waist line, not to over indulge.
I hope your Thanksgiving preparations are going well. 😉
All the best B xx
Good for you to try a make small changes…every little bit helps.
Karen – thank you. I am so sorry for the late approval and reply to this comment, somehow I missed it when you submitted it. 😉
Keep taking tiny steps. I’ve learned, from experience (because tiny steps are all I can usually manage) that as long as I’m headed in the right direction, itty-bitty-steps eventually carry me to my goal, as long as I live by the motto “never give up.”
I’m going to be featuring you in my Europe blog party on December 7th. Do you want me to mention your name, or your initials, or just your blog’s title?
‘Never give up’ is a pretty good motto to live by. I agree with you about tiny steps in the right direction getting us towards our goals as that’s been my experience too.
I am intrigued by your idea of a Europe blog party – l look forward to reading all about it. I would prefer, if that’s ok with you, that you just mention my blog’s title and not my name. Thanks. 😉
Will do.
Thank you so much. 😉
Hi Tracy, I just had a thought about the European party you are planning this weekend and I felt I should let you know in advance. The thought was that I am sometimes a lazy blogger partic when it involves writing unscheduled posts or taking part in awards so you might prefer not to include me on your list. Anyway I am not sure what exactly you are planning I just didn’t want you to be disappointed. Over to you. With best wishes from B at Just Add Attitude
Dear B,
Well done! I love those avocado and sundried tomato toasts: I love all three ingredients and find them tasty and healthy. Great photograph, too! 🙂
Three liters of water a day sounds literally like drinking up an entire pond to me. 😉 I am not very good at drinking water either, but I have taken on drinking lots of tea, which helps in that regard.
And then I count on wine being approximately 90% water-based… 😉
On the caffeine front, forget it: I cannot do without espresso and tea, both unsweetened of course and untainted by milk. 😉
Oh well, what fun would it be to perfect anyway, right? 😉
All the best,
Stefano
Hello Stefano,
Thank you.
Yes, three liters of water sound like a monstrous quantity and I think I would have given up by now if I had aimed that high.
As for counting on wine being 90% water based I smiled when I read that. 😉
I am afraid I add milk to my coffee, and worse, usually soya milk. I am sure that addition is considered sacrilegious by an Italian! 😉
I totally agree a perfect life would be zero fun.
All the best and enjoy Thanksgiving. 😉
B
Amazing and Thank you for writing which is quite good and best wishes always, and greetings
Thank you.
Over the years I’ve cut down my caffeine intake to two cups a day (coffee or tea) plus one piece of very dark chocolate. It keeps me happy and adds a lot of pleasure to my life, and happiness improves our health. At least that’s my belief, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
I am with you on that belief. I am always beating myself up, metaphorically speaking, over my caffeine intake -which, in fact, is quite modest. I like my daily fix of two cups of decent coffee, it adds to my enjoyment of the day, so that’s surely a good thing. 😉