Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Because you can’t write without it.

Health has to come first.

It is the fundamental truth of adulting and life which nobody really tells you out loud until you’re already sick and flailing.

Well.

Nobody explicitly told me, which I think is a pretty common feature for Gen X. ‘Work’ was the priority in the household I grew up in as a child – not surprising in a working-class household situated in the North of England in the 1970s and 1980s. Maybe kids today get a different message given the predominant influence of wellness all across social media.

What does putting your health first mean? For me, it means focusing on the following:

Food

Or rather nutrition. What you put into your body matters. It is about the nutritional value of the food consumed. Am I getting the right amounts of protein, fibre, carbs, good fats? Is there a good vitamin and nutrient mix across the food?

Fruit and vegetables can be a bit of a nightmare with my chronic conditions as digestive issues are common with fibromyalgia. I avoid some fruit and veg completely, while others can be fine some days and not on others.

However, changing up a diet is often the way to feeling better. Whenever I’ve had a low vitamin issue, it is my go-to fix. I’ve been borderline for low-iodine or low-iron and have typically fixed those through diet. If my method also enables me to avoid swallowing tablets so much the better.

Making sure food is enjoyable is also a factor. Outside of food triggers such as above or food I just do not like to eat, nothing is banned in my pantry. I just try to eat a balanced diet, and I try not to view food as ‘bad’ or ‘good’ even if my upbringing and societal brainwashing has pushed that kind of messaging into my brain for years.

Cooking also takes energy so I have to ensure that I have strategies for when I’m too tired. Meal planning, easy options for when I am tired, and thinking ahead so thinks are already done on days I know are going to be busy is vital to success on my food goal.

Water

Returning to what you put into your body matters, water is an absolutely necessity. It essentially runs our physiological functions, which is why our bodies fail if we do not have access to water. Health problems can often be traced back to a lack of hydration.

Ensuring I’m drinking enough water through the day for my body size, the climate, and my activity levels is my second health goal. Luckily, I’ve never had an issue with drinking plain water.

Sleep

This is a huge challenge for me as both my fibromyalgia and my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have poor sleep as one of the key issues.

The usual advice to practice a slowdown bedtime routine has never really worked to enable sleep or get a better quality of sleep for me.

These days I focus on a set bed-time and having a minimum six hours to rest (and hopefully sleep) before I get up. At the weekends, I try not to have an alarm if there is no need and give myself permission to simply sleep for as long as my body wants.

As part of having CFS I am supposed to take rests (body still, relaxed, and eyes closed without actively dozing or sleeping) through the day to allow for the sleep deficit and restore energy. Hard when you are working although employers have usually been good about acknowledging the reasonable adjustment.  Typically, I try to do the rests post work although with my recent health challenges, I’ve had to incorporate them into lunch breaks and occasionally just stopping and resting during the working day.

Exercise

This is also a huge challenge as my fibromyalgia is triggered by physical stress. Pain post cleaning or simply travelling to a face-to-face workshop is typical.

I also really do not enjoy exercise. It has never given me the buzz or mental health benefit that other people talk about. I find it a necessity, a chore, and an energy drain. I can make some kind of exercise a habit for a while, but then I’ll have a flare-up of pain, stop, and don’t resume. It is a pattern of behaviour.

One of my main goals this month is to try once again to incorporate some form of exercise into my daily life, reaching the 150 minutes of recommended exercise per week that the NHS in the UK advises within three months.

What does this all mean for my writing?    

Getting my health back on track is my number one priority. Spending time with loved ones is next because life becomes meaningless if you’re isolating yourself from friends and family constantly to conserve energy. Then, I have commitments for my contracted work.

Only then am I focused on my writing.

What this has meant over the past two weeks is that I’ve had limited time to actually write.

Am I focused on the writing plan I set out in my last Writer’s Log? Yes.

Do I want to achieve posting stories this month and getting back to a regular schedule? Yes.

Am I putting words down every day to help me achieve a regular posting schedule, finding the ‘write’ time as a I talked about in previous logs? No.

Am I thinking about writing, plotting stories, considering character arcs? Yes.

Am I doing some writing? Yes.

I still have limited energy so writing every day is not a realistic goal for me right now. I just have to accept that. Last week, I plotted out a story in my head and started exploring book cover options again. They were my main achievements (along with this Writer’s Log!) and I’m proud of these steps forward even if they are tiny.

It is frustrating.

I’m not going to lie.

But tiny steps forward are still steps forward, and I know if I put my health first that it is going to pay off better in the long run. I’ll feel better and have more creative flow, I’ll be more physically resilient and able to write every day and, I’ll be able to balance working to earn money with my writing until such time as I’m earning enough through writing to meet my financial needs.

One day in the future this will be a reality.

I just have to keep believing.

End Note: Please like, comment or share if you enjoyed this writer’s log! If you would like to buy me a coffee in support of my original writing, check out my Ko-fi or my subscription/donation page.