I was not the laziest person in the world and I was certainly not overweight at school, however I was not athletic and had no appreciation of just how important exercise and fitness is for quality of life. I had little or no level of fitness, when I got a rude wake up call that ended me in hospital. I wish that I had made sure that I had good exercise habits before I left school and learnt to enjoy keeping fit. It is so much more difficult to start later in life.
If you have not participated in team sports at school, there are still opportunities later in life, no matter what your fitness level. If you are not into team sports there are also many choices that you can take to improve your fitness. Some are free and some may have a cost, but all will improve your health and well-being in the long run.
Obesity and diabetes are huge problems in our society. Exercise and eating well, even if you are on a budget, are important lessons that I wish that I had appreciated more. I have learnt that even 30 minutes of exercise a day is vital to your health and aiming for 10,000 steps a day can improve your health even more.
The Queensland Government has helped fund the 10000 steps program from CQUniversity in Rockhampton, which has a free app and is free to join. It helps you keep a step log and participate in challenges that will assist you in getting to 10,000 steps each day. When I first started, I found it difficult to get to 7000 steps, but I have now included a 20 minute walk in my lunch hour, and am finding that tracking my steps has kept me motivated and challenged.
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Budget, Budget, Budget
When I left school, I was so keen to leave home and move out on my own. If I had known what costs were involved, I would have waited another year or two before I did.
I had a job from as early as I could remember. I had a paper round, then when I was 14 and 9 months I started working for Target. If I had realised just how much that first job choice matters, I might have made a different choice, however this one worked out well for me.
Having a paycheck early was important. My parents weren't wealthy by any means. Even though we seemed middle class, I now realise just how much my parents scrimped and saved in order to make our lives comfortable today. Father Christmas always bought one special gift and my school books and uniform for the next year, and left overs from dinner were always breaksfast or lunch the next day. Dad's specialty was "Dad's Suprise" dinner, whoch generally meant raiding the pantry and throwing a few ingrediants together. There were some specaular successes and failures, however we always knew that we were loved. Mum's specialty was Lasagne which we would end up eating for a number of days. Some of the Home Economic's that I learnt then, saved me money when I went out on my own. That paycheck was the only way that I was able to have extra items, in those important teenage years. I wish now that I had saved a bit more early on but hindsight is always perfect.
The key to success to survivng out there in the real world is budgeting. For the life of this blog I will post tips, tricks and links to other websites that will be useful in helping school leavers and others to budget and find a little extra in the pocket at the end of the day.
I had a job from as early as I could remember. I had a paper round, then when I was 14 and 9 months I started working for Target. If I had realised just how much that first job choice matters, I might have made a different choice, however this one worked out well for me.
Having a paycheck early was important. My parents weren't wealthy by any means. Even though we seemed middle class, I now realise just how much my parents scrimped and saved in order to make our lives comfortable today. Father Christmas always bought one special gift and my school books and uniform for the next year, and left overs from dinner were always breaksfast or lunch the next day. Dad's specialty was "Dad's Suprise" dinner, whoch generally meant raiding the pantry and throwing a few ingrediants together. There were some specaular successes and failures, however we always knew that we were loved. Mum's specialty was Lasagne which we would end up eating for a number of days. Some of the Home Economic's that I learnt then, saved me money when I went out on my own. That paycheck was the only way that I was able to have extra items, in those important teenage years. I wish now that I had saved a bit more early on but hindsight is always perfect.
The key to success to survivng out there in the real world is budgeting. For the life of this blog I will post tips, tricks and links to other websites that will be useful in helping school leavers and others to budget and find a little extra in the pocket at the end of the day.
What I wish....
Looking back over the past few years, there are many things I wish I had known before leaving school and going out into the big wide world. I realise now, just how unprepared I was, and wish that many of things I had learnt were dealt with in a course at school. Then again, like all 18 year-olds I was confident that I knew it all.
This blog will follow some of the things that I wish I had known and will revolve around the topics of
- Mind
- Body
- Spirit
- Money
This blog will follow some of the things that I wish I had known and will revolve around the topics of
- Mind
- Body
- Spirit
- Money
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)