Health benefits of drinking water is probably one of the most overlooked healthy habits of all times.
Drinking water is not complicated, because everybody drinks something. The habit starts from an early age. And if you’re making the change now, it’s simply this: when you drink anything, make it one drink. Water. Always.
What we drink effects our health more than most people realize.
Drinking water isn’t only for hydration purposes. It’s also to keep us healthy and functioning at peak performance.
“Water transports all the foodstuffs to the cells, and the operations within the cells occur in a watery medium. Substances in the body have to be maintained in the solution, and secretions and wastes must be carried out of the cells by water. Water regulates the body temperature, adjusting to the water losses and the changes in the surroundings. Four quarts of water are constantly circulating in the body as part of the blood.” Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine.
Health benefits of drinking water start at childhood.
I was raised drinking water.
It was such a habit, that the idea of drinking anything besides water was mind boggling to me as a child.
I saw other kids drinking soda or juice mostly. I preferred water, (still do).
We are all adults now, and guess what? I still drink water, and they still drink soda, juice and other beverages that aren’t water.
What we do as kids, we do as adults.
So keep this in mind, parents, when you’re baby is coming off the bottle and transitioning to other drinks and foods. Introduce water.
Think about what you grew up drinking, and think about your taste preferences now. Does it correlate?
1. Water helps maximize physical performance.
If you are an athlete, dancer, singer, or any sort of performer or work an intensely laborious job, you need water for peak performance.
Weight training, running, or anything that requires some sort of physical performance, water is your ticket.
Water makes up a greater percentage of body mass than any other substance, including muscle, which is about 80% water. Water also helps fill the spaces inside our cells, outside our cells, and in all our major vessels.
With so much of our body being made up of water, it is important to keep it replenished, even when you don’t feel thirsty, in order to keep your body working at its best.
2. Water keeps things moving.
Constipation is a sign of not having enough water to drink.
Stopping health issues before they begin is always a much better choice because it is a lot less painful. Often times, literally.
Things are a lot more dramatic for kids, and when mine were small, I cured a lot of their little aches and pains with water. Still do.
Headache? You must not have had enough water. Can’t go to the bathroom? Drink water. Your eyes are dry? Got cramps? Tummy ache? Getting sick? Let’s start with water.
Most of the times when my kids came to me with these minor issues, it was not because they hadn’t had a cup of water in the past 30 minuets. It was because they forgot their water for the majority of the day. Sometimes even now, they’ll complain about minor aches and pains and I ask, “did you get enough water?” and they usually grin sheepishly and find a plethora of excuses as to why they hadn’t had any water that day.
3. Health benefits of drinking water and weight loss.
Photo by Lina Naas
I am not saying that all you have to do is drink a glass of water and watch pounds fall off.
But . . .
Let’s just do a little fun calculation.
Let’s go with the “typical” known amount of water one should drink in a day to stay hydrated and healthy. (8, 8oz glasses a day.) And let’s change this up with what most people drink instead of water, in a day, and see what we come up with in calories consumed daily.
8, 80z cups of liquid other than water:
One 8oz cup of tea = 2 calories. An 8oz cup of coffee = 1 calorie. A partial can, (8oz) of soda = 150 calories. Orange juice (breakfast perhaps?) 39 calories in just eight ounces.
And, maybe a glass of milk? Add that to your smoothie and you’re just looking at 103 calories without counting all the stuff you put in your smoothie. Now, head off to the gym and drink a large bottle of, let’s say, Gatorade, and you’ve added 50 calories with just 8oz, and nobody drinks just eight ounces of Gatorade during exercise. (At least, not typically).
I haven’t even reached “8 cups” here, and we’re at 345 calories in your drinks for the day.
Photo by Julia Zolotova
If you drink the entire bottle of Gatorade, add cream to your coffee, milk to your tea, include what you added to your smoothie, add Champagne to your orange juice and drink a glass or two of wine at night, you easily consume 1,000 calories in a single day’s worth of drinks.
Drink water and watch your waist shrink without even changing the rest of your diet, your exercise program or anything else. This one single change can jump start your weight loss simply by eliminating 600-1,000+ calories per day.
4. Water helps keep you from getting stoned.
Kidney stones, that is.
“. . . kidney and bladder stones . . . is one of the most common diseases of the urinary system. It currently accounts for approximately one hospitalization in every thousand in the United States.” Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine.
Dr. Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine.
In her write up about Kidney stone prevention, her number one recommendation was to drink water.
She says that, “Water drinking is not only the safest, but also the best treatment for urinary stones. It should be thought of first as it is imperative that the urine not become concentrated, encouraging stone formation. Patients who are stone formers should drink enough water to produce two to three quarts of urine daily. One quart of water should be taken during the night to maintain good urine flow at all times.”
5. Brain alertness and energy
Health benefits of drinking water even effect your brain’s clarity!
Don’t forget to think before you drink.
Or . . . No, better drink before you think!
Our brains are about 75% water. In order to think fast, be creative, focus and have clarity of thought, your brain needs to be well hydrated.
In order for our brains to function properly, toxic waste has to be removed. This happens with water. Water helps deliver nutrients to the brain that assists in the toxic removal.
Once this happens, our brains will be more alert, and concentration will be much easier.
A little bit of water can go a long way for your brain. It can go so far as to clear away the fog, energize you in the afternoon, ease strong emotions, (depression, anger, stress, etc.) and can also help to keep headaches to a minimum.
Happy (early) green drink Sunday! Yup – I’m already ahead of the week and almost through my weekend making that statement. Are you ready for a detox for your mind, body and soul? You don’t have to wait for Sunday.
I have a loose tradition of making green drinks every Sunday morning for the whole family. (I say loose because I don’t do it every week but I do it more often than I don’t). Sometimes I make smoothies, sometimes I juice.
I don’t do it with the intent of detoxing. I do it simply to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
If you’ve never known differently, I would imagine that the idea of a detox for your mind, body and soul sounds like a great idea!
It is. However, why would you ever need to detox? It is popular, so therefore it should be done?
I live in a great city that offers so many healthy options for restaurants and grocery shopping. Also, as a result there are several small businesses that advertise detox bowls, detox smoothies, detox juices, detox this and detox that, but have you ever just thought about why?
WHAT DOES DETOX MEAN?
Detox defined means: a process or period of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances.
Detoxing also goes so far as to reference ” . . . a period of medical treatment, usually including counseling, during which a person is helped to overcome physical and psychological dependence on alcohol or drugs. . .”
So detoxing can be quite a process, it isn’t always just as simple as a Sunday green drink tradition.
Our bodies are always dealing with toxic substances, so are our minds. Even our spirit, our soul.
Toxins just permeate the air, our foods, the clothes we wear, the homes we live in and the beds we sleep in. Toxic information infiltrates our social media, our conversations and our thoughts.
You would think that we’d need to detox regularly!
Photo by Truong Dat
Humans ingest about 5 grams of plastic per week. They drink an average of 9.5 alcoholic drinks per week. Over 80% of Americans eat fast food daily, and fast foods comes with a lot of toxic ingredients.
We also are exposed to toxins in perfumes, plastic bottles and containers, cleaning products, air fresheners, furniture, makeup, fabric softeners, non-stick cookware, bug sprays, canned foods, TV and game consoles . . . and guys, the list just keeps going!
TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY AND IT TAKES CARE OF YOU
The good news is, we have awesome bodies designed to get rid of these awful things that hurt us, and they’re designed to do this naturally!
Our lungs, kidneys, liver, and large intestines are our bodies natural way of getting rid of toxins.
Here’s the kicker guys! If you live a balanced lifestyle that includes a good night of sleep, sunshine, fresh air, water, proper nutrition, exercise, meditation and moderation in all things . . .
Guess what?
. . . You’re helping your body do what it is meant to do on a regular basis on it’s own!
This is how you live a lifestyle of detoxification, or prevention from toxic build up. This is balance8life.
SO . . . IS DETOXING BAD THEN?
Photo by Alina Karpenko
There are a lot of intense detox methods that can actually be harmful for our bodies.
Some things that are marketed as liver and kidney cleansers can actually strain the organs they are intended to help.
“If you’re thinking about a detox, think instead about the underlying problem,” Dr. Nancy Reau MD advises. “If you just want to be more healthy, good diet choices and exercise are best. And some symptoms, such as weight gain or fatigue, should be evaluated for causes that can be addressed.” ~ The Truth About Toxins.
Staying healthy is a very important part of a balanced lifestyle, and doing things that help our bodies stay healthy is essential. As I mentioned above, balancing all 8 methods of health is how you keep from ever needing to do some drastic detox to your body.
A detox for your mind, body and soul doesn’t have to be thought of as a yearly New Years resolution.
Your body can actually remain in a detoxed state of being when you take care of it properly.
A legitimately needed detox should be determined by a doctor and that is out of my expertise.
However, eating (or drinking) healthy foods that are labeled as a “detox” is safe and good for you.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DETOX AND DAILY HEALTH
I met a woman who was asking me for advice for her toddler who had a lot of trouble having consistent bowl movements.
As I began asking her what she was feeding him, it quickly became apparent to me that there was no fiber in his diet.
I suggested she add fruit to her sons diet. Her mouth dropped and she stared at me and said, “bad idea! fruit gives him diarrhea. He simply cannot handle fruit.”
Fruit became a detox for this child not because fruit is a detox, but because he was unhealthy. His body wasn’t used to a healthy, balanced diet that included things his little body needed to function at peak performance.
This is the same with adults who eat poorly, and then one day decide to have a green drink, or go through a juice cleanse. They may be in the bathroom more than usual.
This reaction is because the diet is imbalanced and the body is missing vital nutrients to function properly, and is reacting to the sudden change in nutrients.
This does not necessarily mean bad (or good) things are happening. This just means there is a lack of proper nutrition and the body has to go through a process of balancing out before it can regulate again.
If you take care of your body, there is no need to do a classic “detox” where you go to drastic measures to rid your body of toxins.
Instead, feed it healthy and treat it well. All the time.
DETOX SIDE EFFECTS
The side effects of detoxing are headaches, cravings, digestive problems, fatigue, nausea, etc.
Detoxing is a big deal to a lot of people, and for a lot of people it truly is very important.
Let me just remind you once more:
You don’t have to regularly detox your mind, body and soul if you live a healthy lifestyle and eat a healthy, balanced diet.
Instead of a yearly green juice cleanse, incorporate something like I have done, a green drink Sunday. Do this regularly as part of a healthy diet and your body will thank you.
You won't have side effects
if you're already maintaining a balanced,
healthy lifestyle.
ACCIDENTAL MIND DETOX
Monday morning I went to make an Instagram post and realized I had started to make a Green Drink Sunday post and literally forgot, midway through.
I set my phone down and didn’t even look at it for hours! It was great!
Photo by Zoo Monkey
Green juice detox is a fantastic way to turbo boost your body with an assortment of essential vitamins and minerals. But have you thought about putting any time into detoxing your mind?
Our bodies are naturally made to detox on their own when we take care of them properly, but our minds are a whole different ballgame.
We can’t just eat right for our minds to function properly. We also have to make sure we’re feeding our mind with good information.
For the average person, phones have become permanent extensions of our bodies.
Phones hold all our private information, the good, the bad, the ugly. And without them, most people have serious separation anxiety.
A mind detox has side effects, too.
Photo by Daniel Korpai
If I try to set my phone down for an hour during the week when the kids are gone at school, or my boyfriend is at work, I struggle.
At first, my mind goes into a scramble mode of not being able to focus on any one particular thing – almost as if it’s got a peculiar case of personal ADD.
We’re all so used to instant information, we don’t know how to slow our minds down.
I have children who struggle with ADD and when I started learning about how to help them deal with ADD naturally, I found that anything electronic (TV, gaming, computers, phones, etc.) should never be a part of their day. Period.
Well that is a complicated situation in todays society. No electronics equals being left behind.
So how do we detox our minds, set our anxiety at ease and truly allow our minds to slow down and detox from the constant need to always have instant information?
LET YOUR MIND BREATHE
Detoxing your mind from the constant information overload take conscious effort (sometimes).
Sometimes it’s almost like telling yourself to breathe, intentionally. You have to remind yourself that people survived without a permanent metal attachment decades. You can still survive without it today.
When the quiet sets, and I allow myself to be okay with the disconnect, my imagination kicks in and that’s when art happens.
That is also when my mind is given time to process my self. A lot of introspection and self evaluation time kicks in and things get a little better; clarity brings new perspectives to life.
A detox for your mind, body and soul includes introspective evaluation.
Evaluating your self is not selfish. Or – it shouldn’t be. It’s a time to think about all of the things you’re giving to others. Or all of the things you should be giving to others.
We all give off vibes that communicate many things to those around us.
How are you silently communicating to those around you? Have you ever thought about it? It can simply be a look. Body language. The lack of, or the presence of, a smile.
If you’re constantly on social media, checking emails or taking in other info that is flooding into your mind at 100mph, your personal evaluation time gets toxic and effects your vibes, your attitude, and effects how you treat those around you.
Photo by Taisiia Shestopal
We give gifts of kindness as well as uncaring, impatient gifts when we don’t care for anybody but our own self.
This happens when our internal evaluations become toxic and self centered vs. self evaluative and introspective in a way that looks to bless others.
Become aware of who you are and what you communicate to everybody in your vibe frequency.
Take some time to detox your mind and your body this week. Set a goal to lower your screen time. Hand write something and memorize it; a saying, a prayer, a Bible verse, a mantra . . . anything positive and up lifting. Something to remind yourself that you are amazing and there’s no reason not to share your amazing self to someone who needs a smile.
WAYS YOU CAN DETOX YOUR BODY
Photo by Monika-Grabkowska
Green drinks, as I mentioned, are an amazing way to give your body an immune boost, as well as help to rid your body of other toxic waste that might be hanging out.
Juicing is my favorite way to feel vitamin and mineral charged on a Sunday morning. If you do not have a juicer, green smoothies work, too.
Juicing is also a way to energize and minimize fatigue naturally.
There are an abundant amount of vitamins and minerals that are hidden within dark, leafy green vegetables.
When you make a juice or drink with these foods, you’re getting chlorophyll, which helps control inflammation, increases red blood cells, and more.
You’re also getting vitamins A, C, E, K, antioxidants, and calcium. Plus, your heart, will thank you.
One drawback is you are taking out all of the fiber (if your juicing). So be sure that you’re also eating your veggies, too.
Other ways to detox your body is exercising as well as drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of rest, getting out in the sun, fresh air, and staying on top of a healthy diet for continued, balanced nutrition.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT. LITERALLY.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao
Believe it or not, our brains need proper foods to work at peak performance, too.
A detox for your mind, body and soul is only effective if you eat to live, not to live to eat.
When you eat to live, your focus is on eating the foods that keep your bodily functions working at peak performance.
When you eat to live it also keeps your mind, your emotions, and your self-control in check. As a result, you can better control bad emotional eating habits and avoid late night cravings.
“Food as medicine should become a mantra of living.” Detox Your Brain by Center for Healing Neurology
Here’s a couple (non-scientific) basic examples.
Take someone you know that has been out partying all night long, most likely made bad food choices and had little to no sleep. In the morning, how likely are they to be bright eyed and bushy tailed? Are they going to be kind? Happy? Patient?
Not likely.
Let’s create another scenario. Your aunt, who’s had a full night of sleep, woke up and went running. She had a great breakfast before 9am. She will probably be full of energy, have a big smile on her face, and be a lot more patient.
The point is, what we put into our bodies and how we treat them also makes a huge impact on our brains. In turn, this effects how we act.
KEEP TOXIC INFO OUT FOR THE ULTIMATE MIND DETOX
Photo by Camilo Jimenez
I know that you know that we all know, that this is a thing. The social media onslaught of toxic information.
A detox for your mind, body and soul means giving the mind just as much attention as our body and spirit.
Did you know that there is such a thing as internet addiction disorder? And a legit gaming disorder?
“Problematic social media use, also known as social media addiction or social media overuse, is a proposed form of psychological or behavioral dependence on social media platforms, also known as Internet addiction disorder, and other forms of digital media overuse.”
“Video game addiction, also known as gaming disorder or internet gaming disorder, . . . results in significant impairment to an individual’s ability to function in various life domains over a prolonged period of time.
“Such disorders can be diagnosed when an individual engages in gaming activities at the cost of fulfilling daily responsibilities or pursuing other interests without regard for the negative consequences.” – Internet Addiction Disorder
Not only are there actual acronyms for legitimate social media, internet and gaming disorders, but now we have a problem that we didn’t have before the mid 2000’s.
The (easy?) solution is to put down the phone, computer, gaming consul, iPad, iPod, (wow, there’s a lot of devices).
It just isn’t easy. Let’s be real. It ain’t easy.
Photo by Halacious
I get anxiety when I put my phone down sometimes. I have asked myself why several times. My first thought is, someone special to me might need help and I may not be able to get to them in time and I’ll feel so guilty . . .
Funny thing is, I survived in the 80’s and 90’s and early 2000’s without a phone.
Experiment and test yourself. Give yourself a timer and turn your phone off for a set amount of time. Allow your mind to imagine and think without social media and the constant scrolling feeding your brain junk.
By setting your phone down for 1-2 days a week, it can result in a lower, total weekly screen time.
I choose to set my phone down on Saturdays and Sundays. Those are my creative days and I do much better not having my phone on me.
Try it.
Can you survive without it for a few hours in your day or a couple days a week? Let me know in the comments below, how you are managing the world of social media and internet addiction.
A DETOX FOR YOUR SOUL
Photo by Tamo Zhizhiashvili
The soul. Last but definitely not least.
A detox for your mind, body and soul cannot be complete without giving the soul equal attention.
Give your spirit a rest by getting away from it all and take some quiet time out in nature.
This is not just taking a break from social media and other media sources. This includes other people, and all other artificial stimuli.
Get out in nature and breathe.
Meditate on the goodness in your life, the things you’re thankful for, the people you are thankful for, and the life that you have.
I’m not talking about focusing on the things you hate about your life. I mean simply focusing on the fact that you have life!
Photo by Simon Maisch
There are a lot more things to be grateful and thankful for in our lives than we give credit to.
Somehow, the negative things always seem to sneak up into the center of our focus points and we forget that our focus has the ability to go in other directions.
Train your mind to focus elsewhere.
Give your spirit and your soul a detox by remembering to be grateful.
LETS CONNECT
So, now that we’re done talking about detoxing from social media, please follow me on my social media pages! Hahaha
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How to overcome late night cravings, the topic of the day. For days.
But, ohhh the cravings though! The need for a yummy snack at ten PM and then . . . the disappointment the next morning when you step on the scale.
And the vow that last night was the last night.
Again.
Photo by Edward Franklin
Why on earth do you keep going around and around, and around . . . ?
Because, emotional eating and stress eating are all about weakness, not logic or strength.
So let’s figure out how to build the foundation to a strong fortress of saying no.
I CAN TELL YOU HOW TO OVERCOME LATE NIGHT CRAVINGS BUT YOU HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF.
RECOGNIZE YOUR EMOTIONS
Once you understand that late night cravings really are just emotions nagging at you, not true hunger, recognizing this is step one.
Emotional eating is using food to make yourself feel better. You are eating to placate emotional needs rather than to satisfy actual real hunger.
Photo by Ash Goldsbrough
Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food. It feels good to eat in the moment, but the feelings that triggered your need to feed your face are still there. The worst part is, you make yourself feel even worse later, because you now feel guilty. It’s a vicious, vicious cycle that only you can stop.
There is a difference in using food occasionally as a reward, or to celebrate. That isn’t bad. When my kids get good grades, sometimes I take them out for vegan ice cream or a rare treat as a reward.
When eating becomes an emotional coping mechanism this is when it is a problem.
Once you recognize that you are eating simply to cope with stress, you can then take step two.
I recommend talking with your doctor and finding a good counselor to help sort out your emotions, if you are unable to do it alone.
Photo by Sage Friedman
DIG DEEP AND DEAL WITH IT
Journaling is somewhat of an old fashioned hobby I suppose. I used to keep a diary when I was younger. Now, with voice text and even with typing, slowing down with a pen and paper gets a little annoying. Buuuutttt . . .
When you slow down, it forces you to process what you are thinking, and in the process of slowing down, you can really start to assess your feelings and figure out the why behind what you are doing.
It also takes up time you would otherwise be eating.
Face your emotions, sort them out, decide what you want to do with them, and confront them.
Once you have done this, you can go about doing other things to fill the void.
A nutrition coach can also help. A nutrition coach is someone that can hold you accountable, as well as help you start new, healthy habits.
Photo by Mae Mu
MAYBE IT’S NOT EMOTIONS
There are also cravings that can be linked to bad food choices, food sensitivities and lifestyle habits.
“Some foods promote indefinite cravings. Unfulfilled longings or unrest cause cravings.” Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine
Doctor Agatha M. Thrash also goes on to say that, “Many individuals who are sensitive to various foods taken even in small quantities get their cravings aroused.
“Sugar is a very common offender in this regard. One innocent appearing teaspoonful can do much damage in the sensitive person.
“Milk and all dairy products represent a common source of cravings.
“Salty foods irritate the stomach lining and produce thirst. Much of the mechanism of cravings is related to unrecognized thirst, causing the individual to try to satisfy his thirst by indulging his craving. If the thirst is eliminated, the craving can be handled with much greater ease.”
Now, I realize this sounds a bit trite and boring.
At night when I want something to snack on, and when I am trying to break a habit of grabbing something to nibble on during a show or while doing something before bed, I make tea.
When you fill the void with something it makes it easier to overcome the craving.
The options for flavors are endless when it comes to tea. Which makes it so fun!
Just be sure your tea is white or red, not black or green. Black and green tea have caffeine in them and aren’t good for late nights.
Rooibos is a South African red tea, and it is full of antioxidants and naturally a bit sweet.
Chamomile tea is also a bit sweet and floral, and a great calming, night time tea.
Explore herbal, white and red teas and share with me in the comments below. Tell me what your fave herbal tea is!
When you’re making tea at night, leave out the sugar and milk. Learn to appreciate the pure flavor of the herb. Your waist will thank you later and your guilt will be set free.
WHAT BETTER WAY TO OVERCOME LATE NIGHT CRAVINGS THAN TO READ A GOOD BOOK!
Nope. Snacking during reading can’t be a thing anymore . . . but make you some tea and find a book that draws you in sooo deeply that you can’t even think about food.
Escape from your stress, drown your emotions in far, far away, and allow yourself to fall asleep dreaming in another world.
I would recommend a list of books here, but I write more than read, so I am going to let you list a few for me below in the comments! 🙂
If you prefer to write, like I do, it keeps your hands too busy to eat, and it works as well as reading for those who love to write.
Photo by Dan Gold
OVERCOME LATE NIGHT CRAVINGS WITH CHORES
I doubt there is a person in the world who does not have a tub that could use a scrub, a carpet that couldn’t use a vacuum or some laundry that needs to be folded or ironed.
Evenings are great times to get some small house chores done and curb the appetite at the same time.
Plus, you’re getting yourself off the couch, burning a few calories, and let’s face it, you can get your heart rate up if you’re vacuuming stairs, and also, who doesn’t love a clean house when you go to fix a bowl of granola at breakfast time? Clean dishes anyone?
Photo by Debby Hudson
OVERCOME LATE NIGHT CRAVINGS WITH BREAKFAST
If you’re truly in it for the long haul, ready to lose weight, gain self control, eat healthy and feel amazing. . .
Begin with breakfast.
With the right foods, you will notice less cravings.
Typical breakfast foods aren’t actually good for you. (Bacon, grits, white biscuits, donuts, pastries, etc.)
Photo Kawin Harasai
Breakfast needs to be filled with unrefined foods and should equal to a third to a half of your food and take for the entire day.
This results in a sense of well being, which will help with emotional eating!
A good breakfast filled with unrefined, low to no added sugar, and complex carbs, also equals better work performance. This “feeds” your emotions positively by fulfilling the need to feel accomplished.
When I say no added sugar I mean it literally. For example, grapefruit, don’t add sugar to it! Cereal, don’t add honey, sugar or any other sweetener. Add banana or fruit if you want more sweetener. Dried fruit is another way to add sweetness without adding extra sugar.
When your morning starts with a fantastic breakfast, you have less desire to over eat later on in the day and less need to eat between your meals. Which of course leads to better weight control, which results in less emotional eating as well.
OVERCOME LATE NIGHT CRAVINGS WITH SLEEP
It’s evening or night time. Go to bed.
As I have mentioned before when talking about weight management and losing weight/belly fat, eating at night adds fuel to your “car” just as you’re about to “park it in the garage.”
These are bad habits that put weight on fast.
I’ve used this scenario before, and I’ll use it again. When you’re about to go on vacation, you pull the car out of the garage and before you leave, what do you do?
You take it to the gas station and fill it up! ALL the way to the top.
Why? Because you don’t want to have to stop any time soon! It is a waste of time. You don’t drive it to the gas station, put $5.00 of gas in, then carry on down the road and do this your entire trip.
Imagine doing this, then arrive at your destination, purely exhausted. Then filing up and parking your car at the hotel.
What kind of logic is this!?
This is what most people do to their bodies. They start off in a hurry, grab a cup of coffee and maybe a pastry or a granola bar and go to work. An hour later, you’re starving but it’s not lunch time. So what do you do? You eat a snack.
This happens all day long until dinner. Then you consume the majority of your calories (or over half of what you should have your entire day) right before bed.
On top of consuming a too big dinner, an hour or two later, late night cravings set in.
This is a very bad habit that adds so much weight to your waist for no good reason.
No matter how much you want to just sit and snack, if it is too tempting, and you know that you’re tired, just go to bed. A good night of sleep on an empty stomach is the best night of sleep you’ll ever have.
Balance8life is actively engaging 8 expressions of health to our daily routines for true completion. It will always be in motion, and you will never stay in one place for too long, or the balance will slip away. So don’t get discouraged when you can’t maintain for one day. It is the overall daily routine that makes the balancing act go ’round!
For more on where to start begin your health journey, visit my blog!
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There are several ways we can stay healthy naturally, and do our best to keep sickness from entering our homes and bodies. Waiting until you think you might be getting sick is not the time to figure out how to keep from getting sick though.
6 in 10 adults in the US have chronic disease. 4 in 10 adults have 2 or more chronic illnesses.
Heart disease, cancer, lung disease, diabetes, kidney disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, are some of the top diseases that are the most common.
The biggest cause of these diseases are lifestyle. Lifestyles that regularly use tobacco, excessive alcohol, poor nutrition and are sedentary, are the lifestyles that can cause the above mentioned diseases.
Lifestyle choices effect our health for good and for bad. To try to avoid getting the common cold, the flu, or even more life threatening diseases it is good to follow a healthy lifestyle of wellness.
This is not to say you will never get sick, but the healthier you live your life, the less likely you will be to catch something, or for it to hang around long, if you do!
“Older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness.” Center for Disease and Control and Prevention.
If we take care of our bodies and keep them in great shape, we are living a lifestyle of health, strength and wellness.
Photo by Bara Buri
HEALTH BEGINS FROM CHILDHOOD
Mental, physical and spiritual health all starts when we’re kids. How we are raised shapes our future.
When we take control of our own health as adults, or even as teens, we can alter our health destiny by changing how we live our lives, and the lifestyle choices that we make.
One of the top lifestyle choices that can alter our wellness and health is our nutrition.
SET YOUR CHILDREN UP FOR SUCCESS
If you have kids, what are you doing to set your own children up for success with a healthy lifestyle?
Are they eating fruits and vegetables or mostly sweet, fast or fried foods? What are they drinking? Have you been able to get them on an eating schedule loaded with a rainbow of colorful fresh foods?
As a server, I have personally witnessed parents sitting down to eat with their children. I’ve seen these parents order junk for their kids, while they sit there and have a salad.
Children can eat salad, too. If their taste buds are used to good, wholesome food from the very beginning, they will love healthy foods.
I’ve got 5 of my own children, and from the first time they ate food until they were in their pre-teens, they never tasted a soda, any kind of meat, any sort of pastry or pre-packaged food. I made everything from scratch, whole grain and vegan, and that is what they ate, and still prefer. (Mostly).
What is the future of your children? As an adult, what habits will they have developed from childhood?
BREAK THE CYCLE
Parents raise their children the way their parents raise them. It is a cycle that goes on for generations and it can be a set up for success or failure, depending on the habits taught and developed from childhood.
I am extremely blessed. I was raised a vegan and I am 40 now and have never once had meat.
I’m very grateful for how my parents raised me. And I remember as a kid, them catching a lot of flak for it, too. It wasn’t easy! Especially in the 80’s. I had juice on my granola because soy milk wasn’t readily available.
I feel lucky though, because I never had to give up anything on my plate or change my diet to lose weight or combat years of health problems.
My mom set me up for success, and because of her and how I was raised, I have never had to deal with excessive weight or health problems.
This is what we do for our children when we set them up with healthy habits starting at babyhood.
As adults, if we were not raised with good habits, and want to be healthy, we have to change ourlifestyle habits and it will not be easy.
I know that not everybody knows what to do or where to start to make lifestyle changes. And that is why I am here. I want to be there for you as you start your healthy lifestyle journey!
(See below for beginners guides on how to start your healthy adventure!)
Photo by Debbie Ducic
1. STAY HEALTHY NATURALLY WITH WATER
Water cleans us out on the inside. If you leave the inside “unwashed”, the likelihood of getting sick is higher. For best results, drink at least 8-12 glasses of water a day. Not fluids. There is a difference. This needs to be actual water.
Let me just give you a quick example of a few health problems that can be turned around with just 96oz of water in your day: Kidney stones, fatigue, lack of energy, bad breath, poor sleep, urinary tract infection, dry splotchy skin, lackluster hair, sore muscles, muscle cramps, elongated sickness, digestive problems, weight gain, and so many more pain in the butt problems, can be kept at bay simply by drinking plenty of water.
If you think drinking 96oz of water a day is impossible, I’ve got a few tricks for you right here! How to Drink 96oz of Water a Day. And if you don’t like water and can’t stand the taste, here’s a little help with that, too. Five Ways to Yummy-Up Your Water.
I am not a doctor, and of course, as always, if you’re not sure, it never hurts to ask your doctor what he/she advises for your daily water recommendations.
Photo by Brooke Lark
2. STAY HEALTHY NATURALLY WITH HERBS
“Herbs such as milk thistle, bilberry, hawthorn, evening primrose oil, garlic, Siberian ginseng and ginkgo are some of the most powerful food grade items medicine has ever seen. These herbs and others are entirely safe and very effective.” Dr. Agatha Thrash M.D. Preventive Medicine.
When I was in high school, I lived in a dorm, and for some reason this one particular year, I remember getting sick. A lot. Unusually often. One thing that the dean always made for us girls when we got sick was the shot of death. I hated it, but now, I use it for my kids.
It is a combo of grapefruit juice, fresh cloves of garlic, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, honey, and ginger. You blend this up into a shot, and literally shoot it. It burns, but it will take away a sore throat fast.
I grew up on herbs, they do actually work, and a lot of times, in my past experience, are a lot less invasive than going to a doctor and work even better.
It is important to be well educated when using herbs. I suggest doing a lot more reading on the use of herbs if it is something you want to use more of.
3. STAY HEALTHY NATURALLY WITH NUTRITION
One of the best ways to stay healthy is to eat a lot of fresh foods. Not just when you’re feeling yucky, and not just here and there. This needs to be a daily habit.
The saying prevention is better than cure is one I take seriously. And nutrition is the best way to put that saying into action.
Green, leafy veggies are on the top of my list, which is why I have “Green Drink Sunday” almost every Sunday! Habits like this make green things easy, fun and tasty. Even when my kids have friends over, they all get green smoothies or juice. It’s just how we roll!
Stay away from sugary foods like pastries, candy, ice cream, sodas, sweet tea, etc. (This doesn’t include fruit).
Sugar kills white blood cells which are our disease fighters. Increase fresh foods like citrus fruits, red and green bell peppers, kale, broccoli, kiwi, pineapple, spinach, etc. because they are high in vitamin C and they also help to increase production of white blood cells.
Photo by Logan Nolin
5. STAY HEALTHY NATURALLY WITH SLEEP
Proper sleep is essential to keeping your immune system strong and healthy. As soon as you start having late nights, disrupted sleep schedules, and then over sleeping, you’re creating the perfect playground for viruses to grow.
Getting too much sleep and not enough sleep are equally bad for your body. An adult should get at least 7-9 hours of rest per night.
I realize this is no quick or easy fix, but it has to be done for healths sake.
Weight control goes hand in hand with exercise, nutrition, and wellness. People that are overweight are more likely to have heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and depression. These are some of the very same diseases I listed in the beginning of this article.
Excessive weight causes so many problems. Aside from disease, it is hard on your joints, your mental health, and your ability to enjoy life.
Sometimes weight loss is just something you need a little extra help with, alongside your nutrition and exercise program. I highly recommend the PhysIQ System, in combination with the Nrf2. I am a vegan so I myself won’t use the whey protein in the PhysIQ System package, but you can purchase the Fat Burn and Prebiotic separately and replace the protein with the Nrf2 for a complete package!
7. STAY HEALTHY NATURALLY WITH EXERCISE
Getting exercise has to happen. Exercise keeps us younger longer, keeps our weight in check and presents aches and pain. It can also help keeps us healthy from disease, depression, and many other things that nobody should ever have to deal with.
“As exercise is increased, degenerative diseases of all kinds are decreased, life span is extended, various minor infections such as colds are reduced . . .” Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine
When you exercise, you’re breathing deeper and this helps to flush out your lungs and helps make you more resistant to respiratory infections. Do this outside and it is a win-win!
Exercise also increases white blood cells. Remember earlier how I said white blood cells are our disease fighters?
Exercise balances out our hormones. Including stress hormones. Stress makes us more susceptible to disease. So exercising brings us to a better, balanced state.
Photo by Kayla Duhon
Below are some resources for beginners on how to change your lifestyle to one of wellness and health.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more info.
What matters most to you, today, right now?
There are a lot of things that matter to a lot of people right now.
But forget other people, what matters most to you?
Treating your body right never tasted so good! AXIO increases your desire to eat and feel better, provides focus, clarity and energy.
Step down from everything going on around you right now and dig deep. What do you want for your future, for your body, your mind, your health?
I specially want you to try to figure out right now, what is it that actually matters to you today. Get specific. And then try to imagine your future self. Will it still matter?
For me, my health
has always
mattered.
I not only like to feel good, but I also like the peace of mind that my good healthy habits provides me. Also, at 40 I can honestly say I feel like 18. I have no health problems, am happy with my weight, and have 5 children with zero health problems as well.
In all honestly, I can say that I can do whatever I want to do without aches, pains, low energy, headaches, fatigue, or lack of motivation.
What matters now, doesn’t matter at all, if you are not healthy enough to make what matters today, your reality tomorrow.
EVALUATE WHAT MATTER MOST
If you decided that your family, your job, your pet, your adventures, sports, hobbies . . . you name it . . . matter most, let’s look at them from another perspective.
Imagine how (insert what matters here) this thing would look in perspective of bad health. What if you were unable to walk without stopping every few seconds to take a breath? Maybe you already struggle with severe fatigue so much so that you can barely drive. What happens when you are too heavy to run and play with your children? What if you have a bad heart and don’t live to see your children get married? If you cannot enjoy your family and your hobbies because your health is bad, what comes first now?
Maybe you aren’t there yet. You might be young, thin, able to drink two gallons of coffee and feel great. Maybe you even go to the gym, but stop by McDonalds on your way home. You could even think that you don’t need to exercise because you’re already thin and feel okay, so why waste your time? (Looks can be deceiving, don’t forget about your heart.)
Whatever it is that you want in life, your health should be at the very top of your list of what matters today. Because if you are not healthy, you cannot function at peak performance. If you cannot function at peak performance, you cannot be your best you for those you care about. You will not be able to handle what matters most, if you do not make your health your priority.
EXCUSES ARE LOUSY JUSTIFICATIONS
“I’d rather enjoy my life and eat whatever I feel like eating.”
“I’m too tired to exercise after a long day of work. I’d rather just go home and relax!”
“One day I’ll do it, I’m just too busy right now.”
“I’ll wait until my kids are grown and then I’ll take care of my health.”
What are your excuses for putting off your health? Do you truly think you are enjoying life when you repeat these excuses to yourself?
If you have used (or do use) any of the above excuses, maybe you are chuckling quietly to yourself right now. Because it sounds familiar.
The excuse mentality
is all fine and dandy
until it isn't.
Excuses pile on top of each other like little believable lies that we tell ourselves on a daily basis. I catch myself doing it, too. We are all culprits of excuses. But don’t forget that, until you acknowledge your excuses and see them for what they really are – lies – you won’t really be able to give priority to what really matters today.
Excuses are illusions of the mind and can be changed simply by making the decision to make something different happen.
CHANGE YOUR MENTALITY. CHANGE WHAT MATTERS
The need to do nothing and have it all, mentality is great, in theory, until you dissect it and see what it truly is.
You think you’re doing yourself a favor by doing what you want and eating how you want. It’s fun. It feels good. You’re an adult. There’s nobody
Until you have hit that 200 plus pound mark and find it hard to breathe, bend over and tie your shoes, get in and out of the car, run with your kids, sleep without snoring, etc. Does that really sound like fun? Now you have high blood pressure, heart disease, you hurt everywhere, and have weight issues that are going to take years to set straight.
Sure you can do it, and I believe in you if you are there now! Until you are no longer in this world, it is never too late to make your health mattertoday.
Nobody intentionally decides to gain weight, have health problems, live half their life in a doctors office, and chug bottles of pills daily. But this is the result of not putting your health first. The result of not making your health what matters to you, today. And this is the result of over half the American citizens today.
It is so sad.
OWN IT
There are natural consequences to every choice we make in life, whether wise or unwise.
If you choose to disrespect your own mental, spiritual and physical health, understand that you cannot blame anybody, but yourself, for the outcome of your decision.
It is time FOR YOU to take control of your health today.
At 40 years old, I am just now at a point where I am seeing the results of my healthy choices. I am beyond grateful for my past healthy decisions. At this phase in my life, I am seeing people suffering from not making their health matter today. I know people my age that are suffering with life-threatening disease. As a result of their poor choices, they have lost their ability to work (and play) at peak performance.
People are throwing away half their life
by not making their health
matter today.
Don’t allow another day to go by where you are another victim of this way of living. Own your body, respect it and take care of it!
GET UNCOMFORTABLE
I don’t care if you are 16 or 61, ~ if you want to change your life and make better choices, your health should matter today! It is time to make a change.
The number one thing you have to face is change. Change can be
uncomfortable.
But what would you rather have? The discomfort of making a couple changes for the better? Or the discomfort of your body crying out by way of aching joints, tooth decay, headaches, too much weight, disease, etc.?
MY PURPOSE
My purpose in writing this is to bring you to awareness of how important your health is and why it should matter. I want to help you begin your health journey and your lifestyle change.
I know that it isn’t easy, but keep in mind that nothing good ever came easy.
ENJOYING LIFE
We simply cannot enjoy life if we are not taking care of our health. Heartburn, headaches, low energy, aches and pains, and a host of common ailments that the majority of the population carry around with them as baggage, is not enjoying life.
True enjoyment comes from feeling and looking the best that you can feel and look so that you have no limits in setting goals, accomplishing them and celebrating your successes.
BEGINNERS RESOURCES
If you are new to your health journey and really do not know how to put your health first, or where to start, read my Beginners Guide to Healthy Living! I break it down into baby steps for newbs. 🙂
And if you need help grocery shopping for healthy food, read my article, How to Grocery Shop for Healthy Food.It really isn’t as complicated as you’d think.
So now that you’ve thoroughly thought through what matters to you today, what do you want tomorrow, five years from now, ten years from now?
What change are you going to make right now? What are you going to do to get uncomfortable starting right now?
Please feel free to comment below, contact me on social media and follow me here! Tell me what matters to you and how you are going to make your health a priority!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more info.
Meditation can be a deep subject, and I will touch on a little bit of that, but this article is all about taking advantage of being quiet and taking a break, solo.
There is a lot going on in our world right now. First it was COVID-19, now the BLM Movement and all that is going along with that.
It really doesn’t matter which side you’re on politically, emotionally, white, black, young, or old. All to this is emotionally tiresome.
Meditation as a break from social media
Right now, I am finding that social media and the news is extra exhausting. The information coming at me and the tension in the air is mentally and spiritually draining.
Quiet time can be cleansing for the soul. It can be an escape from the onslaught of negativity and confusion entering our minds through social media, the news, and conversations that are concentrated on one single subject.
Meditation can offload the overload
I personally have spent a good share of my time educating myself on what is going on in our world right now. I’ve gone as far back in history as the 1600’s, trying to understand where people are coming from. I enjoy learning new things about our history.
Debating and talking, listening and learning, can turn into major overload at times, and we need to offload in other ways than by feeding the chaos. What I mean by feeding the chaos is, we need to give others a break as well. Stay off of social media and the intense political subjects surrounding us.
Quiet time is the perfect outlet for brain overload rest.
Meditation can help sort the clutter
I have recognized that my mind has been cluttered with information. My soul is emotionally hyper. Not only have I had a more difficult time sleeping, but overall, I feel like my spirit is discontented.
Educating ones self and being privy to what is going on around us is important, but it is equally (or probably more) important to be sure that we feed our spiritual health, especially when things are extra intense around us.
Quiet time is almost like feeding the soul. It is the vitamin that can bring balance to our imbalanced and troubled minds.
Just as we went through the Coronavirus pandemic, we also now have a mentally draining pandemic of chaotic opinions and strong emotions.
Friends are “breaking up”, blocking and deleting each other on social media, and not speaking to one another, all because of heightened emotions and differing opinions.
Meditation empowers us
To stay healthy and strong during this Coronavirus pandemic, we need to eat things that strengthened our immune systems to fight off disease. Alongside that, it is now time to be careful how we take care of our spiritual and mental health. It’s time to build healthy walls of protection around our emotions and make room for mental clarity.
Just like we need the right foods to keep us healthy during the Coronavirus scare, we need to allow our minds a chance to power up. This happens when we allow our minds to rest.
Meditation as a new and old concept
Meditation is a new concept to a lot of people, and to others, very familiar. There are several different types and levels of meditation as well. It can be an extremely deep topic and can be discussed and picked apart for hours. It can also be deeply religious as well as not religious at all.
The oldest documented evidence of the practice of meditation are wall arts in the Indian subcontinent from approximately 5,000 to 3,500 BCE, and written evidence as far back as 1500 BCE.
Meditation is also mentioned in Psalms in the approximate year of 1063 BC.
Meditation has ancient roots, but it is also very popular in todays age. I know several people have a lot of hesitation when it comes to meditation and choose to steer far around the concept, but the people that I have spoken with that choose to omit meditation, I have found they do not know anything about it. They only feel like something is wrong with it.
Meditation and being educated
Before I go much further, I want to disclose that I am not a mindfulness teacher, and it is a good idea to thoroughly research the topic before you choose to go to a retreat, or participate in guided meditation.
For those of you who are wary of the concept, you are not wrong to proceed with caution. There have been studies that have shown negative effects of some types of meditation.
It is important, if you are going to truly dive deep into meditation, to do your research.
That being said, I want to clarify to you that when I speak about meditation, I am mostly referring to solo quiet time. Time away from the TV, from your phone, from noise, from social media, or whatever else it is that could be causing mental and emotional imbalance and turmoil.
There are a couple different types of meditation that I am going to point out here.
There is a Biblical meditation and a Buddhist meditation.
Biblical meditation engages the mind. Buddhist meditation can engage the mind but it can also empty the mind.
When you have time and if you are interested, read about the Eightfold Path and you will understand a little better, the path to mindfulness according to Theravada Buddhist.
Personally, I like to keep meditation simple and basic. Some people may not even technically consider my version of meditation, meditation. But – it is calming, I benefit from it, and I teach this to my children.
To me it is very important to take time to “meditate” or in other words, be quiet.
If you’re a beginner, or if you’re not wanting to dive deep into meditation, but do desire clarity and freedom from the clutter in your mind, look no further.
HOW TO MEDITATE
Just find a quiet place and sit or lay in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Breathe. Focus your attention on something, whether that be your breathing, an image, a verse, a sound, a shape, a color, a positive thought, etc.
Meditation can last anywhere from 5 minutes to several hours. I prefer 5+ minutes.
Annnnd . . . That is it.
Here are three easy ways to add meditation to your day. These are my favorite ways to meditate.
Music
Meditating with music simply gives my mind a calming background of sound to focus on. I have had it be the element that literally evokes mental freedom.
Choose music that creates a mental image of wide open space, calming images, or offers the privilege to envision something bright, natural and happy.
The purpose of this is to remove yourself from the thoughts that are cluttering your mind. It is not to solve problems or figure them out, rather to go somewhere else altogether.
I prefer music with nature sounds, and especially water. I am not sure if it is because I am a Scorpio and water is my sign, or if it is simply because it is soothing to me. Whatever it is, water is the most calming sound for me.
Nature
If you can go into nature, do it. At first it feels wide open and possibly even uncomfortable, or it cold be the complete opposite. Nature provides the perfect space to be quiet while focusing on the sounds of wind, birds, and other natural elements to escape with.
Breathe in the fresh air. Consciously allow your shoulders and limbs to relax as if you are about to fall asleep. This is when you find the sounds of nature to focus on. It is okay to think. The key is to think about what you hear in the moment. And then, find something to be grateful for aboutwhat you hear. Keep it simple.
Shower
You don’t have to leave the house or plan out your time for a 10 minute shower. I live in the city, so going outside to meditate sometimes can be tricky.
I need clean, neat and comfortable places where I can be quiet in order to fully relax. My bathroom is very clean, and taking a warm bath or a shower is not only soothing, but a place in a moms world where escape and quiet is just going to happen.
I use my Bluetooth speaker for meditative music, and with the door locked, I am rarely bothered. I find this the simplest and easiest place for me to go if I need uninterrupted quiet time.
This might not be the ticket for everyone, but I am 5 feet tall so sitting in the shower is easy for me. If you can do this, close your eyes and reach out with your senses and listen. Feel the water and then just breathe.
It is not uncommon for my mind to start wandering around and focusing on my day ahead, but when this happens to you, it is important to train your mind to return to your focus point. If you’re in the shower and focusing on the sound of the water, imagine it is rain. Imagine a puddle of water and paint a picture of something soothing and peaceful in your mind to focus on. Go there every time your thoughts wander somewhere not so peaceful.
Meditation takes practice
It takes practice and patience to learn how to relax, redirect your thoughts, and focus on something simple.
If you are a Christian and Biblically meditating, find your comfortable place, your verse of choice and repeat the words until you begin to go further than the words alone. Feel them, sink into the verse with your being until you almost feel one with the word.
Meditating isn’t necessarily about emptying your mind. It can be. But for me it is a redirection of thoughts. It is making space to find something good to focus on. It is a place to go away from the troubles and permission to focus elsewhere.
After meditating, I often find that the “time out” from the clutter really clarifies a lot for me and I often feel less tense. I also find that I start to see other perspectives on my own without having to discuss things with others. I also realize that often times, there are a lot of things I once thought were important that are not at all, and I can throw those thoughts completely out and start from scratch.
I wish all of you a peaceful moment or two in your day! (Hopefully more than two!)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more info.
It doesn’t seem like it should be so complicated just to figure out how to relax.
If you’re trying to figure out how to relax to better your health, you first need to figure out what it is that you need, to rest and relax. And even more, is it really necessary to relax and rest?
Short answer? For a healthy lifestyle it is absolutely necessary to sleep, to take a break, and to relax. For some, it takes deliberate planning just like it does to deliberately put a doctor appointment in your calendar. It isn’t always easy to get proper rest, whether that is actual sleep, or relaxation in some other way.
It is important for us to discover in which ways our bodies need rest in order to actively enable true healing rest and relaxation.
In our society today, we feel or think that if we sleep too much, we’re wasting away precious time; time is money. And if we take a day off from the gym, we’re losing muscle. If we take a day off of work we look lazy, and if we skip church, we appear to be struggling spiritually. If you set your phone down, you might miss a streak on snapchat. And what if you don’t eat a single morsel of food for 5 whole hours? Ohhh nooo! Your body is going to go into starvation mode.
These days, with all the “to-do” lists and notifications on our phones, the pressure and the demands coming at us are like a million things a second! It’s a no wonder that anxiety, (along with depression), is one of the most common mental health disorders in the world. It’s crazy out there guys!
For balanced health, our bodies need more than just a few hours of sleep here and there. We need total muscle relaxation and mental clarity.
Not to overcomplicated matters, but our bodies need more than just sleep, more than a day off from the gym, and more than a vacation.
Here are 5 ways our bodies need rest for balanced health:
Deep muscle relaxation
Rest for the nervous system
Fasting for the digestive system
Spiritual and mental rest
Sleep
DEEP MUSCLE RELAXATION
In the 1920’s, Dr. Edmund Jacobson, Director of the laboratory for Clinical Physiology at the University of Chicago, found that patients who came to him didn’t know how to relax. Their muscles were more tense than was necessary for what they were doing, like sitting with clenched fists without knowing it, or digging fingernails into the skin; so he started what is now known today as progressive relaxation therapy.
Progressive muscle relaxation is a non-pharmacological method of deep muscle relaxation, based on the premise that muscle tension is the body’s psychological response to anxiety-provoking thoughts and that muscle relaxation blocks anxiety. More here: Wikipedia
Benefits from progressive muscle relaxation therapy:
A decrease of anxiety
Decrease of anxiety related to phobias
Reduction in panic attacks
Improved concentration
An increased sense of control over moods
Increased self-esteem
Increased spontaneity and creativity
REST FROM EXERCISE
It’s not just your muscles that need a rest day from the gym. It is also the energy systems that fuel your muscles that needs a break.
The nervous system which fuels training, needs a rest day as well. Even if it’s arm day on Monday and not arm day again until next Monday, (giving your arms more than enough “rest”) your nervous system is constantly working to train all muscle groups, therefore needing that total day or two off.
I am one of those that “never” skips the gym. Sometimes though, I miss a day for no good reason, or – it feels like it’s no good reason. I actually missed two days in a row a week ago, and then felt like a horrible person for not going. But I was so tired. And I didn’t even go to bed that late!
When I did finally go back to the gym, I was amazed at how good my workout was. I felt stronger, upped my lifting weight by a significant amount on several of my sets! And I was so excited!
I posted about this on instagram and someone (hey Phil!) commented: “The fact that the first day back after some rest is so good, should tell us something!”
When we talked later on about it, he said, “. . . I hate not working out, but rest and recovery are super beneficial!” I am sure Phil and I aren’t the only ones who don’t like skipping a gym day. But knowing that a day off is beneficial and actually taking a day off, are two separate things for those of us who cannot miss gym time.
“It is no different in life. We are a society that thinks to succeed you have to work all the time. That’s not living . . . ” ~ Phil Del Rocco
Time off from the gym is a balancing act. A couple purposeful days off (or even a couple accidental days off) are completely fine and even beneficial. But more than that can be detrimental to our psyche. So just be mindful and aware of your body and actually give yourself permission for a short break.
FAST FROM FOOD
I missed lunch one day and I ended up eating later than usual. The next day something similar happened. I don’t usually eat dinner, it makes me feel sluggish the next day, and just overall, “fat”. It puts more “weight” on my tummy and I am not down with that. So I had to force myself out of that bad habit – which happened so fast! Ugh – after about a week ’cause I could feel that “bloating” thing happening and I knew exactly why I was “swelling up” and feeling “yucky”.
After the habit of eating at night is broken, the next few mornings feels amazing! Like – you feel like you can walk around in a bikini proudly and proclaim to the world that you’re a sexy human.
Most people freak out when they don’t feed their faces constantly, afraid they’re going to put on weight. (SRSLY – think that one through *mind blown emoji here*).
One common thing I hear, especially in the fitness world is: “You need to keep your metabolism going to burn calories and the only way you do that is by eating 6 small meals a day.” (I’ll go into this more another time, but I will just say right now that, unless you’re a very young, very active person with a body type that does’t put on fat easily, this in not a true statement).
Another common tale is that you will go into starvation mode and lose lean muscle mass.
We can address this strange (yet common) idea in more detail later as well, but just real quick . . .
“A lot of times people think they’re going into starvation mode when they skip a meal or fast for a day, and that’s truly not the case. Unless someone has a prolonged, dire lack of access to food or an eating disorder like anorexia, it’s very hard to go into complete clinical starvation mode.” Dr. Joy Dubost RD, CSSD Registered Dietitian, Board Certified in Sports Nutrition, Food Scientist
“Fasting is an excellent way to treat disease. A day or two of fasting each week would do most people more good than any amount of medical advice or treatment.” – Agatha M. Thrash, M.D. Preventive Medicine (Full article here)
Fasting allows the body’s enzyme system to focus on detoxifying. If you’re constantly eating, you’re not giving your body the proper time it needs to do eliminate toxins, and therefore your body is more susceptible to disease.
SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL REST
If you are a believer in a higher power, or if you are not, doesn’t really change the fact that we all need a mental and spiritual reprieve.
Take your focus away from yourself. Place your focus on the Creator, or something somewhere out there in “the universe”. This is important for spiritual and mental health. Even just focusing on your breathing can be a mental break from the things rushing through your mind.
This sort of quiet takes “me” out of the equation and reminds us that we are but a tiny, tiny spec on this planet; that the world does not revolve around just me. When we give ourselves permission to stop and be still and remember that we are here to give back, bless, and be grateful for what has been given to us, we allow peace to take the place of our anxiety and drama.
“You know I used to think that rest from anything i.e. the gym, writing a lesson or sermon or anything I have interest in, equalled laziness,” said Phil. “Then a friend was talking to me after a (meeting), and I was saying how much I love to be busy teaching etc.. He said, ‘how about the time you spend with God?’ I said, ‘I do spend time with Him while I’m working.’ He asked, ‘is that really spending time with Him?’ It was a revelation, because I suddenly saw that I cannot find rest in Him if I am busy working.”
This is what I loved. And again, if you’re not a believer in God, still think about this statement. If you can’t stop and still your mind and focus on a higher power, or something outside of your self, how do you ever have mental peace?
You cannot multitask while attempting to achieve mental clarity. This is a time when you must stop and be still. To be healthy in your mind, you need to be quiet. Give your mind a break from the lists, from work, people, TV, external entertainment and stimuli.
SLEEP
Symptoms of depression, high blood pressure, migraines, and other health issues and diseases, worsen, when our sleep cycle is interrupted. Even one night of missed sleep can create a prediabetic state in an otherwise healthy person.
Getting good quality sleep is important, and I have actually written about this in an earlier article. 8 Steps to Improve Your Quality of Sleep goes into a lot more detail on how to improve your sleep!
Everything from our muscles to our brain function, our nervous system, and our overall attitudes really suffer when we don’t get enough sleep.
In conclusion, rest is important, but most of us not only have a difficult time sleeping, but we also don’t think about other ways our bodies need rest and relaxation.
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Get healthy? What does that mean? How does a beginner even… go there?
I get it! Starting off on your health journey can be really hard when you don’t know where to start.
My article, Balance8life In Motion is a great example of how to incorporate all 8 methods of health into a single day without feeling overwhelmed.
But let’s just get started here with a few tips for beginners, because, if you’ve never in your life done anything particularly “healthy”, getting started is overwhelming!
ONE – YOUR MIND
Get into a healthy mindset. What does a healthy person think? Well, since everybody is different, I don’t know what everybody else thinks! But, I think self improvement, and self improvement means: learn, study, be open to change, set goals, ask questions, etc.
Ask yourself, “Is this a healthy choice?”
Even if you don’t know the answer, start by asking the question, then begin the learning process. You don’t have to go far, browse my blog for lots of great stuff for healthy thoughts, healthy food, exercise, how to get good sleep, how to set goals, etc.!
Meditation isn’t something everybody is comfortable with. If you are comfortable with the idea, take some time to search “meditation for beginners” on Pinterest or Google, and begin to train your mind to be calm.
TWO – YOUR DRINK
Replace sodas and all other drinks with water, and try to get 8 cups of water (or 4, 16oz water bottles) in per day.
THREE – YOUR PLATE
Eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies with your meals, not between. Try to begin the process of not eating anything between your meal times.
FOUR – YOUR MOVE
Get active. Depending on what you’re used to doing, this can mean anything from cleaning your house to bumping up your activity level to a 5K.
If you’re used to doing absolutely nothing, start by walking (walk quickly, as if you’re in a hurry to get somewhere) and just be active in general.
Clean your house – mopping and vacuuming actually gets your heart rate up. Walk the neighborhood. Swim. Get creative, do whatever it is that you can think of, that you might enjoy, that keeps you off the couch or out of bed.
Be active for 30 minutes total in your day. If you need to break this up into 10 or 15 minute intervals throughout your day, that is a fine place to start. But make sure you time it.
Whatever it is you’re doing, when you start feeling your breathing become slightly difficult, and you can’t talk unless you stop, that is where you need to be for as long as you can, while you’re doing your 10-15 minute intervals.
While your heart rate is high like this, never sit down. Just slow your walking pace until you can breath normal again before you sit. (This is called a “cool down”).
FIVE – YOUR SLEEP
In order to have a clear mind and a good attitude, and the energy it takes to make successful change, your body needs 6-10 hours of sleep. 6 if you’re older, 10-12 if you’re under 20 years old.
SIX – YOUR AIR
Fresh air helps with sleep, cleans your lungs, clears your head and makes things smell good. Air out your home and car. Let in all that fresh air. It’s good for you.
Better yet, get out in it! Meditate, exercise, eat, or just sit on your phone outside if social media is your thing and you’ve got a break at work, take a “social media break” outside.
SEVEN – YOUR SHINE
Sunshine is good for you. No sunscreen here! 10 minutes is all you need in an entire day to get your vitamin D. And you need vitamin D so that your bones can absorb calcium.
EIGHT – YOUR INDULGENCES AND ADDICTIONS
We all need a break, even from the things we love. And we all like things that aren’t exactly good for us.
Moderation is where it’s at. Moderation is great friends with meditation. It is good training for self-control.
Start practicing self control by limiting yourself to treats (whether that is a food, a drink, a TV show, an activity, etc.) to only certain times in the day or week. Start spacing the time out between your indulgences to once a week or month and then every other month, (depending, of course, on what it is you’re doing), until you have a good handle on your self-control.
The cool thing with self control is, the more you practice it, the stronger it becomes.
This way, you begin the process of moderation by only allowing yourself to engage in things that aren’t exactly good for you, every once in awhile. This is good training for your future fitness and health goals once you’re ready to take it to the next level.
This is also a great way to begin the process of eliminating the things that are really bad for you! Some things just have to go, if you truly want to be healthy.
But don’t worry – we’re not focusing on that right now.
IN CONCLUSION
It is always best to start small. Baby steps is the only way to begin. Read my article Six Steps to Setting Goals that Last once you’ve gotten a few days or weeks into what we just talked about! This will help you take things to the next level!
If you have any questions, I’m here! And if I don’t have the answer, I’ll either find the answer or someone else that can give you an answer. So please don’t hesitate to ask! I am on Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.
Balance8life in motion is simply that. It is always changing, evolving, moving, shifting, and never is one position of balance maintained for a long period of time before another one comes in to take its place.
Balance8life is actively engaging 8 expressions of health to our daily routines for true completion. It’s a dance. It’s a touch and go. It will always be in motion, and you will never stay in one place for too long, or the balance will slip away.
Balance8life is an orbiting cycle of balance and harmony within our minds, our souls, and our bodies as well as our emotions.
REST
It doesn’t seem that important, especially to teenagers, who, ironically, need more sleep than adults. There are so many things that distract all of us from getting the recommended 6-8 hours of sleep.
To name a few: caffeine, alcohol, eating too heavy of a meal too late into the evening. A new relationship, sports, TV, partying, school, worry, anxiety, health issues, snoring, poor air quality, light, noise, or lack of, etc.
Read this article for tips on how to have better quality sleep.
Once you’ve truly had a good night of sleep, the next thing to do, the first thing in the morning, is . . .
WATER
Start on your first 32 ounces of water as soon as you get up. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can get through that much water in the morning.
EXERCISE
Some people have a very difficult time hitting the gym first thing in the morning, so this is only an example schedule, but not the only way to work this.
My boyfriend and I head to the gym before the sun is up, and really enjoy it as an energizing start to our day. When you hit the gym in the morning, you don’t need coffee!
NUTRITION
When I get home from the gym, I eat. And breakfast is supposed to be the biggest meal of the day. I admit, I don’t always make it the biggest, but I do always have a nutritious meal. It’s simple and definitely not overly complicated.
I typically have granola with soy or almond milk, topped with berries or other fruit. I make my own granola and load it up with nuts and seeds. Oats are great for lowering cholesterol and for keeping it in check.
My typical breakfasts look a little like this: granola with soy milk and fruit, and maybe a bagel or toast. Scrambled tofu (vegan egg substitute), homemade muffins, pancakes or biscuits and gravy. All whole wheat, all low in sugar and very high in protein, fiber, and carbs for energy. (You gotta have carbs y’all, it’s a total must!)
MEDITATION
This is my weakness and simultaneously one of my favorite things to do. The reason is, I have a difficult time just being still. I feel like if I’m not doing something productive, then I am being lazy. So I probably need this the most out of all of these. The others, for some reason, just aren’t that difficult for me to do on the daily.
The thing I have to keep in mind, is meditation is being productive. It is being productive in the way of strengthening and rejuvenating the spirit and emotions.
Meditation centers our self in a way that protects our thoughts, our emotions, and our positive vibes!
I don’t know about you, but I really need this a lot. When I do meditate, my day always goes so much better, uplifting, and all around I tend to be more focused on the good in others rather than the negative.
Something else that I love about meditation, is that it doesn’t take long, and you can do it along with the the next two components of health: sun and fresh air
SUNSHINE
We need our vitamins, and we get these in our veggies and fruits, but vitamin D comes from the sun! And vitamin D is what enables our bones to absorb calcium. We kinda need that; I like the idea of being up in the gym still well into my 70’s and beyond without broken hips and such.
So while you’re meditating, all you need is 10 minutes in the sun to get all the Vitamin D you need in your day. That’s it!
Fresh air is calming, it cleanses our minds and gives us perspective, plus it cleans out our lungs and our homes. Fresh air is the perfect setting for elevated meditation. Combine meditation in the sunshine and fresh air, and you’re accomplishing 3 things at once without much effort at all.
MODERATION
At the end of my day or week, or both, I like to do something for me. This is when I do lazy, or indulge in a cheat day, activity or food. Or whatever it is that I normally wouldn’t do.
Moderation has to be applied to everything in our day, all day long. Work, (ehem… talking to me here) the amount of food we eat, the treats we indulge in (and when we indulge), the people we are around, the thoughts we have, the amount of time we sleep, and how much we play. Without moderation, we simply can’t have a balanced lifestyle.
And this, my friends, is balance8life in motion.
It doesn’t matter how you go about fitting these things in your day. You can exercise in the sun and fresh air, you can sit and work in the sun and fresh air, you can exercise in the later part of your day, the point is, all 8 elements need to be incorporated daily for the ultimate balance experience.
And keep in mind, it is a dance; a touch and go experience. You will have perfect balance in a moment, and your next moment could be complete chaos. But the more you incorporate these 8 methods into your day, the more you will find yourself in moments of balance, and the moments will last longer, the more you bring them back around.
Have fun, don’t stress. Stress will break the momentum. Just do it.
I’d love to hear how you make this work for you! I’m a real person and I like real people, too! So hit me up on any of the social media platforms you enjoy the most. I’m on (almost) all of them. . . Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.
Today I am trying real hard to be real (positive)! But it is a real struggle!
The thought crossed my mind . . . “How does positive equal negative?”
Let me re-word that.
How is it possible for "positive" things to turn
your in-ward thoughts negative?
This was a thought I had (and processed for some time) when I was laying lazily on my bed thinking negatively about my day. (I was on Instagram, just FYI). I thought that all I had focused on was (mostly) positive, so I was puzzled as to why I was feeling so negative!
As I pondered this weird thought, I realized that I had attached the word “positive” onto things that weren’t. . . real.
For example:
A girl with an airbrushed face, (or filter) in a professionally taken photo at just the right angle, wearing the perfect outfit, with a huge smile on her (perfect) face, writing, “positive vibes” in the sand. . . and I feel. . . inadequate!
Why? Because I suddenly feel like I need that face, that body, that outfit and that sand, to feel positive vibes! *You can fake gasp here*.
Sometimes when I read all these “positive” quotes, see pictures of perfect bodies, see other people’s positive encouragement on instagram, and read blogs about how positive of a life the blogger has, I start to wonder if it’s real and, “what’s wrong with me?”
But this is where positive and fake are friends but shouldn’t be. (Didn’t anybody teach positive how to choose friends wisely!?)
Positive thinking equals positive feelings and vibes and people dig that st**f! But. . .
. . . positive has to stay real!
Your body and actions follow your mind and thoughts. Everything we truly ponder and think about somehow shows itself in our actions – on our face. There is a reason why they say that if you think it, it will be so.
If you say you can’t, you won’t. If you set your mind to something, you will find a way to do it. Say “I can do”, whatever it is you’re wanting to do, but how real were you about that “can do”? And when you “couldn’t”, did you stop? Or did you figure out another way to accomplish the “can do“?
I see this all the time with my kids. “I can’t get good grades”, and they don’t. Why? Because they don’t care, and don’t put forth the effort to study. It has nothing to do with what they can or can’t do. I took away some pretty important privileges and we’ll see how those grades change soon. (I’ll have to report back later, this is still happening as I write.) But it’s not about can or can’t here, it’s about where the mind is focused.
Here are a few tips on how to stay focused on the positive and keep it real!
1. BE REAL (POSITIVE)
Positive thinking has to be realistic. You can’t tell yourself you’re going to lose 50 pounds in three months when it took you 3 years to put it on. “I can lose 50lbs!” Is real positive! “I can lose 50lbs in 2 months!” is turning a positive thought and attitude into a quick negative when it doesn’t happen.
Be real with yourself when you see or read positive vibes in a perfect world. There’s no such thing as a perfect world, but there is such thing as positive thinking in an imperfect world! It really makes it a lot easier to deal with, trust me! It isn’t easy, but it is possible! (Tell yourself you can do this! *wink*)
2. ACT IT OUT
Positive thinking has to bleed into your actions. You have to act it, feel it, fake it till you make it. Allow your thoughts to seep into everything you do, and you will eventually feel it even when you didn’t to begin with.
3. TAP INTO YOUR P0WERS
Humans are power packed beings filled to the brim with strength. Mental, physical and spiritual strength. But, just like muscles, strength grows with practice, repetitive behavior, endurance and consistency.
Tap into your powers, the mind strength, and override old, negative habits of thinking you can’t! Then, once you say you can do, believe you can, then you start going on a scavenger hunt within the labyrinth of your mind to find the open doors and windows, channels and alleys, that are the “can do” freeways.
You are stronger than you think you are. We are all stronger than we give ourselves credit for.
It’s all about the focus and belief. You can’t half way do this.
4. FIND THE FIRE
If you can’t get motivated, find out what it is that will put fire under your donkey. It’ll buck and get mad, but it’ll move! Go with it!
5. SHARE
When I am having a bad day and I walk into Walmart (that’s enough to put anybody in a worser bad day) and some stranger smiles. . . I don’t mean one of those fake things. I mean one of those big, genuine, real deal smiles, it kinda does something to me! What about you?
Share a smile, give positive vibes even if you’re not feeling it in the moment, and watch out. Positive vibes actually start to be real!
