How many hours should I sleep?

Have you experimented insomnia? I have. That nights without end, where the pillow becomes your worst enemy and your only friend. That scary monster that appears at night affects severely our normal activities, our work, our performance, our social life, our health.

If you cannot sleep well in the night, try to recover the lost sleep is not as simple as sleep more hours the next night. Sometimes try to force our body to sleep might provoke more insomnia.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation is linked to the following problems:

• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Negative mood and behavior 
• Safety issues
• Decreased productivity

The National Sleep Foundation also recommends the following sleep ranges by age:

No doubt, I'm not sleeping enough. Maybe this the reason I'm cranky in the morning. But, what should I do in order to sleep better? I compiled a list of all the recommendations I could find. I think that maybe some remedies work better for different persons.

• Relaxation exercises
• Implement a bedtime routine 30 minutes before sleep.
• Avoid caffeine
• Avoid heavy food
• Meditation
• Guided imagery
•  Avoid technology devices 30 minutes before sleep.
• Herbal teas
• Hot baths
• Warm milk and honey
• Manage stress during the day
• Do mental math
• Use earplugs and sleep mask.
• Use nose bands 
• Aromatherapy
• Change your old pillow
• Lower the thermostat two grades
• Use a soft pajama
• Massage 

Beginning today I will try some of these remedies...so... Sweet dreams!!!

 References

 National Sleep Foundation. 2014. Insomnia treatment.  Retrieved from https://sleepfoundation.org/media-center/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-position-statement-insomnia-treatment.

National Sleep Foundation. 2015. National Sleep Foundation recommends new sleep times. Retrieved from https://sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times

The anti-definition of happiness.

What is happiness? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, happiness is a state of well-being and contentment, a satisfying experience. According to Mahatma Gandhi "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Harmony? Happiness? There are so difficult to define, and to pursuit; it lasts a second, an instant.  Last time I remember I was especially happy I was cleaning the snow after a storm that lasts three days. However, it’s obvious that I don’t need two feet of snow to feel happy, but there were all the necessary ingredients for me to feel happy: companion, laughs, fun.

I have not enough knowledge, years, or wisdom to define happiness or harmony. Then, I will look for the anti-definition of my happiness, I mean a list of all the things that scare the elusive happiness.

I understand that the definition as well the anti-definition of happiness cannot be a unique definition that fits for every person; so I do not pretend my anti-definition makes sense to anybody else. I think each one should be the sherpa at the own pursuit of happiness.

Disclaimers are done, let's back to the anti-definition, and the question is "What things make me unhappy?"

I completed a list:

The absent of the different aspects that I listed do not ensure happiness, but without a doubt, I could not define me happy in the presence of any of them. Now my strategy will be focused on avoiding these aspects on my life. I included some activities that might help to avoid each aspect.

Looking these activities I will incorporate them to my personal objectives (If you have not read about them here is the link); but I also created a wheel with some activities that contribute to creating the appropriate environment to feel happy, the purpose is to spin the wheel and every day do something that helps me to be happy.

Happiness is elusive, but at least I will try to put the ingredients on the table, and maybe an instant of happiness would appear.


References

Merriam-Webster. Happiness. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/happiness

How many calories should I intake?

OK. I was looking information about how many calories a person like me should intake. I found a lot of information, but many of them contradictory.

Finally, I found information at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion that looked more reasonable. According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, this is the calories that a person should intake according to age and lifestyle.

A very important note! This table does not apply to pregnant women or breastfeeding!!

Now after this note, we need to determine how active is our lifestyle. The lifestyle can be determined depending on the miles you normally walk in a day.

If you on a normal day walk less than 1.5 miles in addition to the physical activity required to perform your normal activities, then you are sedentary.

If you walk between 1.5 and 3 miles per day in addition to the physical activity required to perform your normal activities, then you are moderately active.

 If you walk more than 3 miles per day in addition to the physical activity required to perform your normal activities, then you are active.

Now, we do not have excuses!!!


References

ODPHP. 2015-20 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/

Objectives: Looking for a new direction. How to set new (but integral) goals? (Part 2)

Have you created your goal wheel? If not go to the first part of this post.

Now that you have created your goal wheel, it is important to define a goal and objectives for each aspect.

Sounds complicated? It is not!

Let define first our goals, for each aspect of your goal wheel, write what do you want happen to this aspect. The following table shows examples:

 Now is time to define objectives! An objective could be defined as that steps that contribute to the goal.

According to Doran, an objective should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. If well, Doran wrote it thinking on business, this methodology can be applied also to the personal goals.

Specific means that the objective should be strategic for the goal. Look for the activities that contribute directly to the aspect. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, your objective should include activities that contribute to your goal, as running, avoid saturated fats, etc.

Measurable means that each objective should be measured. Examples of measuring could be miles, pounds, times.

Achievable, if an objective cannot be achievable, the goal cannot be achievable, and then need to be redefined. You can define difficult goals, yes, but try to define a goal that can be achievable in this year.

Relevant, the objective must contribute to the achievement of the goal. Sounds obvious? It is better to be sure the objectives contribute to the goals.

Time-bound, you can define to lose 10 pounds, but this objective will not be effective until you add a time to achieve it. It is not the same to lose 10 pounds in 4 months than 10 years.

Define your objectives might require to think about them several times, or well discuss them with others. For example, if you are planning to call your siblings every week, you will need to check with them if they are available.

The following table show some examples:

Now try to define your goals and objectives!



Doran, G. T. (1981). "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives". Management Review. AMA FORUM. 70 (11): 35–36.

Goals: Looking for a new direction. How to set new (but integral) goals? (Part 1)

January. OK. I have still almost 350 opportunities to have a worth year, 360 different angles for my next step. It's easy to feel lost, but that is a mood that we need to avoid.

Then it's time to set the goals for this year!!!!

First, let talk about you. You are an integral person with different interests, edges, and moods, then it is normal to not have a unique goal in your life. I know there are people who put a single goal in their lives as entrepreneurs, inventors, writers, philanthropists; however, we need to recognize that they abandoned other aspects of life in order to pursue a single goal.

I divided the different aspects of a common person (as me) where I would like to improve myself. I am considering four basic aspects of my life: Me, Family, Work, and Community. Each of this aspects can be divided into more specific aspects. After thinking about it, I created my goal wheel as follows:

Now for each aspect, I will define a goal for this year. For example In the family aspect, extended family I want to strengthen my relationship with my siblings. That is not an easy goal, we all live in different countries, but today I will not worry about the how; I just going to think in my goals and contemplate them with a nice cup of tea.

How much should I weight?

OK. I know. It is January, and you are trying to avoid the scale... The fourth day of the year and I found great reasons to bath in the guest room.

But, I need to found the courage and step on the scale... Now I got a number... so?

Let's discover where I am. According to  National Institute of Health's, you can check if your weight is healthy using the following chart.

The x-axis indicates the height, while the y-axis the weight.

We need to remember that there is no accurate formula for an ideal weight because it also depends on the density of your bones, your structure, and other factors. However, if your height is 5'4'' and your weight is over 160 pounds... it sounds like you have to do changes in your habits.

Let's just think about it.

Drinking water. How much water should I drink?

OK. I know I should drink more water...Everybody tells you that you should drink more water, but why? 

According to the Mayo clinic, drink water helps to keep the body temperature, protect sensitive tissues, lubricate joints and get rid of wastes.

How do you know if you are dehydrated? 

• Your eyes are dry
• Your urine is not clear or light yellow. If you are not sure what is light yellow, the picture shows the color.
•  You have a sticky mouth
• Your skin lack elasticity.
• Constipation.
•  Other symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle cramps or lack of sweat

But, even you are not dehydrated, you need to consider drink enough water to be healthy. Then, how much water should I drink?

 The WebMD recommends to drink between 48 to 64 ounces every day, but you should consider drinking more water if

• You are pregnant
• You are exercising 
• You want to lose weight
• The weather is hot
• You are sick, such as with the flu.

 Drink water it is not easy, (at least for me), I divided the water I should drink in eight-ounces glasses, and create a schedule:

If you find difficult to remember, create reminders at your phone! 

If you prefer to measure the water you drink in a different way. Look this conversion table.


One note!!! Drinking too much water its dangerous!!! It can dilute the sodium and provoke health issues.

References:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256 

https://www.today.com/series/30-seconds-to-know/are-you-dehydrated-9-symptoms-lookout-t93151

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tc/drinking-enough-water-topic-overview#1

Begining a new life!

OK. A new year arrived, you look in the mirror and you know you should do changes in your life. Me too.

But it is not easy, at the beginning the enthusiasm is great: a new diet, exercise, a new routine.  However, as the days pass your courage seems to diminish and one day disappears.

I have the same issues, but I think that one day at a time we can do it. The purpose of this blog is to collect what practices work, tips, and anything you consider useful to have a more tasty, healthy, and easy life.

Would you try it with me?