Objective Secured

I’m not sure how to start this post… its likely going to be something of a ramble to start but I promise there is a point… but rambling is what we (or should that be I?!?) do well if you have been following us for a while.

With middle age becoming a reality for me, I’ve been trying to be more aware of myself in terms of lifestyle and health. I feel like its something we as gamers and hobbyists can easily overlook. Playing at a mate’s house and grabbing pizza and a beer, or at an event when energy drinks and fast food are king. Stack that with real life stress and how busy we all get in the real world and its easy to see how we can make some poor choices for our future health and wellbeing.

Well, what can we do? The first thing I did was see my doc – find out what needs to change and get some advice on how I can make those changes. I think its easy for people to put this off and not face the reality of the situation “what I don’t know can’t hurt me” sort of thing. The fact is though – it can.

So why this post? Why now? With Mental Health awareness month upon us (its May every year FYI) and June having Mens Health week – which has a theme of healthy habits in 2023! I decided that I would tie in our Charity event (which supports mental health services in our suburbs) and take a further step – by setting up some healthy goals and putting them into something resembling an accountability blog, and so I present – the “From Grot to Nob fitness challenge!”

Make no mistake the idea is a wholistic approach to fitness – incorporating both mental and physical health while also having the emotional support from my family and friends. So let me explain what I want to do… apart from going from a Grot to Nob!

• Drink at least 2 litres of water a day – I am shocking for not doing this and I need to change some habits around what I am drinking day to day.
• Reduce my sugar and caffeine intake – this ties into my water consumption. My plan is for the first half of my challenge limit myself to 2 serves of caffeine a day and then the second half reduce to a max of 1. Also – removing sugar from these drinks in all forms.
• Change my diet – be more aware of what I am eating and snacking on as well as when. Limiting my hours of eating to give my body time to fast as well as eating less junk and better more balanced meals. This will also incorporate a low/no starch diet to help make family meals easier to manage as one of the family can’t eat starch at all!
• Exercise – yes, I said it, that’s a dirty word I know! But the fact is we all need it. Be it the gym, the pool, walking the dog, taking a run or whatever – 45 mins a day is what I am doing.
• Hobby – “Huh?!?” I hear you thinking – “he said hobby?” yes, I did! Mental health is tied to many aspects of health and a hobby should be a stress reliever for us. For every minute I spend exercising I get to do hobby. That might be reading a novel, building, or painting – whatever. Just something to let me reduce my stress. I should add that watching Warhammer TV doesn’t count here either!
• Sleep – I am a night owl by my nature, and it hurts me from time to time. Being in bed earlier and disconnecting from mobile devices earlier in the evening should help me get more than 6 hours a night! Putting my notifications on do not disturb and not replying to PM’s at 2am would help as well!

I plan to document my Grot to Nob journey over the 70 days starting 1^st May 2023. I will be looking to raise money to help a not-for-profit health mental health service while I try and meet some goals – more on that in a future post including how you can get involved and join me in the challenge or donate to the cause.

Stay tuned for the updates in the coming days!