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Why Start Nutrition Self Care AFTER Halloween?

Why start nutrition self care AFTER Halloween? The answer is simple, Halloween is the food awareness trigger for most self care conscious people. After many years of Halloween celebrations people are aware of the effects from a body loaded with refined sugar, preservatives, food colors and dies, and the other hard to pronounce ingredients in celebration fare.

The alcohol at costume parties and the other celebratory sugary treats sends the body’s blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. The massive infusion of refined treats and carbohydrate laden drinks disrupts the body’s metabolic balance. The effects of this disruption are felt on a physical level for instance with the experience of low energy and blah feeling. The effect is also on the emotional level with moodiness arising from bursts of energy giving way to irritable blue feelings.

So, now is as good a time as any to build a healthy response to this occasion and aftermath.

First, if you overindulged and wished you hadn’t, Give up the Guilt. Instead, acknowledge but don’t linger and get on with cleaning your palette. What’s done is done and right now you have a choice in how you deal with the sluggish irritable outcome. It happens with blood sugar spikes so let's move on.

Second, Sip some Soup. A good pot of homemade soup loaded with vitamin and fiber rich vegetables, legumes and complementary grains is a great way to apologize to your body and give it the protein, healthy fats, and fiber it needs to replenish.

Proteins are the building blocks for the body to replenish itself and help to stabilize mood.

Healthy fats, like olive oil, help to stabilize your blood sugar so you feel satisfied and not reach for Another piece of shiny wrapped candy.

Fiber helps keep digestion flowing with ease and attracts the unnatural chemicals from the overindulgence so that they find their way out of your body.

A good soup will include vegetables like onions, kale, carrots, and celery. Some garlic, ginger, and parsley add flavor and help detox the body. Legumes like chickpeas, kidney or black beans can be complemented with a grain like Quinoa to complete the protein. Olive oil is a healthy fat to add to the soup stock.

Third, Drink clean water with lemon. It’s important to maintain hydration in the body because water helps to flush the effects from all of the refined chemical (sugars, colors, preservatives, etc) residue from your body. The lemon not only adds great flavor and rich vitamin c to your drink, lemon also helps support the liver and kidneys.

And last but not least. Get rid of the candy laying around. It’s okay to throw it in the garbage. It’s where the wrapper will end up and besides your body will flush the contents out, anyway. So, why give your body extra work when you can just toss the excess?

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5 Easy, On-the-Go Holiday Stress Relief Tips

Here is an article found to be very helpful with approaching the holidays offering some common sense tips. This is not only enjoyable to read, it's very informative. You will find 5 Easy, On-the-Go Holiday Stress Relief Tips By Caroline Selfe a must read for today’s holiday business.

 It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Andy Williams must have had someone doing all his shopping, baking, decorating, wrapping and social commitments for him. Our patience can run pretty thin during this crazy time of the year.

It is sometimes hard to find the joy of the season. As you are going about your holiday preparations, try these five easy, on-the-go stress relief tips. They are as easy as using your five senses.

1. Experience holiday music. Really experience it. As you are doing your holiday shopping, listen to the music playing in the mall, shops and markets. Hopefully, it won’t be “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” Music can be one of the best stress relievers. How can one not be soothed by the voices of Nat King Cole or Bing Crosby? Music can also conjure up the Christmas joys that were more prevalent when we were children. And better yet, sing along to the songs that you know. It doesn’t matter if you know all the words. You can always hum instead.

2. Enjoy the beauty of holiday decorations. Lights, trees, ornaments, wreaths and even the giant blow-up Santa Clauses on suburban lawns are all the visual treats of the holidays. When someone decorates their house or business for the holidays, it is a gift for all visitors and passersby to enjoy. So, enjoy it. Let the sparkling lights, dazzling ornaments, festive trees and blow-up Santa Clauses bring a smile to your face.

3. Feel the warmth of physical contact. People are naturally more affectionate during the holidays. We get holiday hugs from friends, family and coworkers. Hand shakes and good wishes are exchanged by everyone. Even for foes, the holidays bring out commonality as opposed to differences, embraces instead of bitterness. We get a handshake and a smile from our boss when all year we are ignored. Instead of being resentful about it, appreciate it. Thinking and expressing good cheer towards others will decrease your stress level tremendously. So, the next time you are at the market, put your arm around the bagger and wish them happy holidays.

4. Take in soothing aromas. The scents of the holidays are all around us. We cannot escape the pine fragrance of Christmas trees or the spicy smell of gingerbread cookies this time of year. Bayberry or cinnamon candles are other scents of the season. Researchers have found that certain aromas trigger our memories to surface. Perhaps the smell of fresh baked cookies reminds you of a pleasant childhood memory. Breathe in (deeply) those scents and let them take you away to your happy memories.

5. Taste the gift of seasonal delicacies. This stress relief tip is perhaps the easiest to use. There is no doubt that a huge part of the holidays is enjoying food. Yes, we will gain a few pounds. But, can you think of the holidays without getting together with family, friends, coworkers and feasting on holiday goodies? Many shops, businesses and your workplace are usually filled with treats to grab while going about your tasks. You may also receive a gift of food whether it be sweets, nuts or a bottle of wine from a friend or coworker. Savor the flavors and let them fill you with gratitude. Be grateful that you have more than enough food to enjoy and friends and family who care about you.

These holiday stress relief tips are all based on being mindful of the beauty of the season. You don’t have to do or have anything special to use them. You do have to slow down, be present and change your perspective. Use your mind and senses to distress and find joy. The holiday season will be over quickly, take advantage of the radiance and good cheer all around you.

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Best Benefits of Exercise that You Should Know

Benefits to Exercise

Some of the benefits to exercise are:

stress reduction

improved attitude

sharper focus

flexibility

weight loss

benefits your brain

Exercise for stress relief

Exercise has many benefits – the main one to me is exercise reduces stress. I’m reading a lot of studies stating that stress is the cause of 85% of diseases (dis-ease).

Feeling better from the inside out can change your entire outlook on life. Exercise helps build a solid foundation to a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise can help you to release those pent-up frustrations

Let’s say that you had a trying day at work. You missed a deadline you forgot about and your boss chewed you out. You scrambled all day to make up for it and by the end you couldn’t handle another thing.

Now, add an exercise class to that. Spending time performing aerobics, kickboxing, boxing or some form of martial arts can help you let out that stress. Stress is mostly pented up energy. Exercise provides you a healthy way to burn that energy up.

Exercise releases endorphins in the brain.

Whenever you want to improve your attitude, go for a walk, a swim or lift some weights. You are not only working your body and getting healthy but you will notice how much better you feel after.

Exercise clears the mind and sharpens your focus.

The brain utilizes more oxygen than any other part of your body. As you exercise regularly, your lung capacity will increase as you learn to breath.

This puts more oxygen into circulation in your bloodstream. That clarity combined with a change in mood, can help you arrive at a solution to a problem that has been causing you stress. You didn’t see it before because you were foggy with emotion and tenseness but you see it now.

Exercise increases your productivity.

Maybe part of your stress was stemming from being unhealthy. You were always tired and couldn’t meet the demands of your day. Now that you are working out on a regular basis, you have more energy. After a day at work, you can still come home and help with dinner for your family or sit and enjoy time together instead of falling into bed.

Stress increases the amount of cortisol, a stress hormone, released into your body. Cortisol leads to weight gain. Exercise can limit cortisol production and help you lose weight also.

Are you shying away from exercise for various reasons? One really important reason (or rather four) to get moving is how much better you will feel and handle stress.

Yoga and Pilates increase flexibility

Yoga and Pilates both increase your flexibility. Even just moving around in your chair gently or touching your toes will help with your flexibility.

Exercise helps with weight loss

Weight loss is usually one of the main benefits to exercise that actually causes us to finally exercise. We’ve all heard the more “muscles” you have the more calories you will burn. You don’t have to do heavy weight lifting to build muscle. Any kind of resistance on your muscles will help to build them. Even walking will help build your thigh, hip and leg muscles. The key is to finding something you enjoy. Then fitting it into your routine so exercise is automatic.

For me seeing the sun out and hearing the birds singing is a call to go for a walk and enjoy the day. What is your call to action?

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How to Identify the Causes of Stress in Your Life

We all have our “buttons” that make us crazy when they are pushed. Identifying these triggers can hold the key to eliminating their hold over us. Do you know your stressors?

A stressor is anything that can cause stress in our lives. It can be a particular situation, a comment being made, an action or a feeling. How do you know it’s a stressor? Your response to it can give you a clue.

Here are some common stress responses:

• Answering in anger or getting over emotional

• Muscles in the body tense up

• Nervousness

• Trouble sleeping

• Upset stomach or headache

• Procrastination

If you have experienced these symptoms and others, then you definitely have stressful situations going on in your life. When you think about it, some situations may be easy to identify – large workload on the job, lots to do around the house, unruly children. But, some responses are a result of how we aren’t handling stress well and those causes of stress may be harder to pinpoint.

Knowing is Half the Battle

For example when your sister starts talking about how your kids can do better in school you clench your teeth and every muscle in your body tenses up. That’s a stressor. Now, why does it bother you? Maybe you don’t want someone telling you how to deal with your kids.

So, you know the stressor. The key is to figure out why it is so. Then, figure out how you can deal with it. You can:

• Talk to your sister and let her know how much it bugs you that she makes these comments, or

• Decide that your kids are fine and ignore her responses

This is only an example but it shows how you can meet your stressor and overcome it so it can no longer stress you out. Think about it with a clear head. If the point that gets you agitated is not worth getting upset about, then decide to let it go. Resolve that you will not respond that way anymore but will let the comments roll off your back.

Try keeping a stress journal. Write down anything that causes a stress response. Don’t skip over your emotional responses. They are just as important as the way your body feels physically. How did you handle the stressor if at all? Write that down too.

You will begin to see patterns to your behavior and responses. Learn why some situations seem to persist. Avoidance of a task or situation until the last possible minute may be the root cause of the stress.

Knowing your causes of stress is not always easy. Keeping a journal can help. Once you can identify them, you are halfway there.

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A Quick Start Guide to Outdoor Storage Sheds

Space can often be at a premium for many homeowners. Often, the current home or other dwellings found on the property simply do not provide enough space. As a result, many homeowners find that they need additional storage.

One terrific option for this storage is a storage shed. These sheds can be easily constructed and provide storage for just about anything a homeowner has. Perhaps the shed will be used to store gardening tools, outdoor children’s toys, yard furniture or even a lawn mower. The sky's the limit. Some homeowners, while providing storage space, also incorporate space for other activities and purposes into the design of their outdoor storage shed.

Outdoor storage sheds can be easy to add to your property. Some come already assembled. You simply purchase the shed and move it onto your property. You might also decide to use a kit to put up your shed. The kits have pre-measured and pre-cut pieces. This makes it simple for a homeowner with limited tools or construction skills to put together. Also, other benefits to using kits are the amount of time that can be saved. Some homeowners opt for custom designed sheds or purchase blueprints. They then go about purchasing materials which they cut and fit together themselves.

There are many different materials from which storage sheds are made. Wood is a natural option that looks great in most outdoor settings. Wood storage sheds do require some maintenance. Wood composite materials are also used in building some storage sheds. These materials are made with wood fibers that have plastic resin added to them. These wood composite materials are a bit more durable while still providing the look of wood.

Another benefit to using wood composite materials is that they are less expensive to purchase than wood. If a homeowner wants an even less expensive material, they can select synthetic PVC vinyl. Not only is this building material fair inexpensive, it’s surprisingly durable and requires little maintenance. One drawback to building your storage shed from synthetic PVC vinyl is that it doesn’t blend well into the surroundings.

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A Guide to Shopping for Home and Garden Décor Items

Planning on decorating your home? Decorating a home is not as difficult as some people make it seem. Adding some new accent pieces or accessories may be all you need to do in order to create a more up to date appearance.

Shopping for home furniture and home accessories can be tedious task if you do not know a thing about it. On the other hand, if you know what you want and what you need, shopping can be an exciting and fun adventure. The easiest way to do this is online shopping. Online shopping is all about comparing prices and finding the best deal possible. This can easily be done by visiting a large number of online shopping stores quickly and easily, without having to leave the comfort of your house.

Those who enjoy shopping and selecting home décor either find it relaxing or are excited over the idea of finding great deals on decorative and functional home décor items. When you make a few changes and achieve the look you desire, home decorating will become more satisfying and will become a source of pride.

The first thing you should remember when decorating is that there are no rules except those that you set for yourself. However, having a plan is always a good idea and will help you to keep on budget. Below are a number of tips that will help you get started.

1. Trust yourself

Remember, you will know more about what looks good for your home than you think.

2. Focal Points

Select the most important element in a room, say a fireplace, and make this the focal point. Then place furnishings and objects around it to draw a person’s eye towards it. You could, if you want, direct the person’s eye towards, say, a window, which then directs them to look outside into the garden.

3. Themes

Provide each room with a theme. You may just decide on a color, or it may be a particular style, say French Country or Italian Tuscany, for say the kitchen. Doing this will give you a starting point, and will help to guide you through the decorating stages.

4. Planning

When planning your design, work from the largest area of the room to the smallest. For instance, start with walls, windows, floors, furnishings and then finish with accessories. It is important to remember the larger the decorating surface, the more impact it will have on the finished design.

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Best Tips for Eating Cheap while travelling

If you're going to splurge at an expensive restaurant, lunch is a good time to do so. You can often get the same famous food at a significantly lower cost. Since most health experts agree that eating the largest meal of the day in the afternoon is a good idea, you'll be doing more than your pocketbook a favor.

Many hotels in countries other than the US, and all B& B's include breakfast as part of the room price. Take full advantage of this and fill up so you won't have to buy food until lunch (or depending on your personal metabolism, dinner).

Eat where the locals do. Casual restaurants with a large local clientele are like to be high quality and low cost.

Eat in ethnic neighborhoods (this tip works in the US or abroad). You can get some first class feasts for very little money in ethnic neighborhoods. Using my hometown of Los Angeles as an example, travel to Korea Town, China Town, Little Tokyo, Thai Town, or in nearby Orange County, Little Saigon for incredible food at coffee shop prices. Do I detect an Asian theme here? Don't worry, there are Mexican neighborhoods all over the City of Angels serving dirt-cheap but delicious authentic South-of-the-Border cuisine. There are also plenty of Ethiopian, Cuban, Argentinean and Moroccan eateries along with just about every other ethnic group under the sun. That's one of the things about living in a large city that's so wonderful. Take advantage of the ethnic neighborhoods in whatever cities you visit for great food at bargain prices.

Carry snacks. Having some snacks like granola bars, trail mix or even fresh fruit along can help save a lot over buying them from street vendors and convenience stores.

If you're traveling by car, stock up on bottled water and other drinks at the supermarket or discount store. A six-pack here will often cost the equivalent or even less than the price of a single bottle from a convenience store or street vendor.

Drink water with meals. Even without alcohol, soft drinks, coffees and teas can add a substantial amount to your check (especially in countries like Japan). Drink free water with the meal (as long as you're in a country that it's safe to do so). Buy soft drinks at markets instead.

Carrying along an immersion heater is great for making coffee, tea or instant hot chocolate in your hotel room. It can also heat instant soup or boil water for other purposes. This inexpensive travel accessory is sold at anywhere travel good are sold.

Have picnics! You can save a bundle by having impromptu picnics. Whether they be a late night snack in your hotel room or a full romantic meal against a spectacular backdrop like the Grand Canyon or the Eiffel Tower, picnics are a boon to the budget conscious traveler.