As the summer draws near many of us will be dusting off the barbeque or maybe thinking of getting away for a while, even if it’s only for a long weekend. Summer vacations are something we all look forward to – they are a reward for all our hard work and a special time for all, and it’s only right you should take the time to indulge yourself a bit.

However, at the same time you should keep your health in mind because it’s easy to get carried away and be tempted into going overboard. Vacations and barbeques mean family and friend togetherness which usually equals lots of snacking and appetizers and big meals. Also, don’t forget all the sweets and treats! Can you eat all of these things? The answer is yes, but only in moderation.

Follow these tips to help you stay in control of your fork:

• Go in with a Plan. Before you put yourself into temptation, tell yourself how much you’re allowed to eat. In the weeks leading up to your vacation, why not cut back on items such as the appetizers or the dessert – you can make up for it while you’re away!
• Don’t Be Too Strict. While you may be tempted to be tough on yourself during other times of the year, the holidays are a time you should allow for some relaxation from strict behavior. Don’t try to get through entire evenings without enjoying any of the food. The starvation diet only works for so long until you fail and over-consume. Work on your moderation skills instead.
• Don’t Punish Yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. If you do slip up and overeat one day, in the long run it won’t make much of a difference. Just tell yourself that you’ll try harder next time. Don’t be tempted to just give up and continue the poor eating decisions. It’s when you have many bad days in a row that you can ruin a good diet plan.
• Watch the Alcohol Intake. It’s true; alcohol often flows freely at relaxing holiday events. You can indulge yourself here as well. While you may be able to get away with having a few drinks spread out over the evening, remember that the calories add up. Consider alternating between alcoholic drinks and pure, refreshing water.
• Wear Tight Fitting Clothes. If you think you may have some issues controlling your holiday behaviors, consider wearing some tight fitting clothes. Don’t make yourself too uncomfortable, but at the same time you’ll want to feel the reminder if you begin to eat too much.
• Plan Healthy Meals. If you’re hosting any of the holiday events, consider going with some healthier alternatives to some popular meals. Healthy doesn’t always mean bland or unappealing. Get creative and try some new recipes.
• Remember to Take Breaks. During a long evening with family and friends, sometimes you’ll lose track of your eating habits. Make it a point to take breaks where you know there isn’t a plate or a drink in your hand. Concentrate on the conversations you’re having instead.
• Eat Before You Go. If you’re off to a holiday event at someone else’s house, eat something healthy before you leave. This is especially important if you know you’ll be tempted by all the unhealthy treats that’ll be available. If you aren’t particularly hungry when you show up, you won’t feel such an urge to begin eating.

Just remember to have a good time! You won’t miss not getting to eat everything that you want if you concentrate on all the other aspects of the holidays. There are many other fun activities to engage in that don’t involve eating!

Learn to Love Yourself Inside and Out

Do you struggle with your body image? When you look in the mirror do you think you are looking at a disaster area? How you feel about your body affects your confidence, overall self-concept, and personal value. All of these things will affect your ability to motivate yourself to do anything, and will certainly affect your ability to get motivated to lose weight!

It’s difficult to feel okay about what you look like when you’re constantly presented images on TV, the internet, and magazines that depict people who are too thin or even digitally enhanced to mask flaws. It’s just unrealistic!

You should already know that it’s important to love yourself for the person that you are. Everyone is made differently, but beautifully, in their own way. Sure, your beauty may be different than that of a fashion model, but you’re still beautiful! Once you accept yourself, you’ll be a happier person.

Focus On Yourself

When you’re learning to love who you are inside and out, you first need to start with the inside. This probably means that you need to work on changing the way you think about beauty. Let me tell you this: No one is absolutely perfect. There may always be something that you don’t particularly like about yourself, but it doesn’t negate your beauty, and it’s certainly no reason to have an unhappy life over it. Shift your focus onto the things that you do like about yourself.

Try having a little faith in humanity. If you people watch in a public place, are you constantly pointing out everyone’s flaws? Chances are that you’re not. You probably don’t judge your friends about their imperfections, so why should you be so hard on yourself?

There’s Only One You

Once you’ve worked on your inner feelings, you can then move on to loving yourself on the outside. Unfortunately, in today’s society, some people feel ashamed of what they look like to the point of having all sorts of procedures and surgeries. Don’t be fooled! You don’t need this in order to feel good about yourself!

Sure, if you have a problem like acne or weight gain, you will probably want to make changes, but there are also things that you can’t change, like having wide hips or freckles. The best thing you can do is embrace yourself for the unique individual that you are. Remember, there’s no one else on this planet quite like you.

Making Changes in a Healthy Way

If you wish to make changes in your appearance, that’s fine, but make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. Perhaps you need to lose weight in order to get back into a healthy weight range. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change your hair color every now and then either. Variety is the spice of life. But some people are tempted to go too far and do things like losing too much weight. They convince themselves that even a healthy weight is “fat” and they strive to be underweight.

It’s important for your health to avoid these types of problems. If you’re stuck in a situation like this, you need to explore the reasons why you feel this way. You also might want to discuss your concerns with a professional.

Passing On a Healthy Body Image

One thing you can do for the world is to help pass on a healthy body image to others. The way the media portrays beauty truly is outrageous, and everyone should be doing their part to promote health and beauty in an undistorted form. If you have children, teach them that they’re beautiful just the way they are. Since children learn by example, try to ensure that you never put yourself down in front of them. Avoid complaining about your own body because they might overhear and you might inadvertently teach them something you never intended to teach.

A healthy body image is something we can all strive toward. You’ll make yourself and others feel better by complimenting your friends and family. Everyone likes to get a compliment every now and then. You just might make someone’s day!

Look out for an upcoming post about Overcoming A Distorted Body Image.

Well, it just goes to show that even when you think you have everything covered it can all go wrong….

I owe all our readers a big apology for the lack of new content over the past few weeks. Unfortunately the cover I had organised didn’t work out…. What can I say? No excuses, it was my responsibility to arrange it and it’s my fault it didn’t work out.

Anyway we’re back now, and I only hope you can forgive my abscence. The next week or two will see the arrival of two or three posts about how you see yourself. By way of a token of my appreciation there is a small free gift to all my readers. Simply click on the link below to get a free copy of our short report ‘Love Your Body Love Your Life’. This report goes hand in hand with these posts.

Just click the link to download your copy – no strings attached! The file is in .zip format. Just unzip it to read the report.

Download here: Love Your Body Love Your Life

It’s easy to forget the importance of everything we put into our bodies. While you can’t always eat a completely balanced diet, you can reduce your stress levels simply by choosing stress-fighting foods. 

Since everyone is different, some stress-relieving foods might work for you while others may not. Your best bet will be to try them all and then incorporate the ones that work for you into your regular diet. 

Here are some foods that can help alleviate your stress: 

Green Leafy Vegetables. Leafy greens contain a lot of magnesium. Magnesium is an important mineral that has the power to relax muscles.

Fish Oil. Fish oil contains essential fatty acids that help with serotonin uptake in the brain. Serotonin makes you feel good mentally and enables your brain to better cope with stress. You can get your fish oil from certain kinds of fish, such as salmon, or from supplements.

Milk. There is a reason that milk is sometimes referred to as a “wind down” food. The proteins in milk can help reduce anxiety while the calcium is another mineral that can help with muscle relaxation.

Chocolate. A small piece of dark chocolate each day can actually provide you with many health benefits. Chocolate has a stimulating effect. The caffeine also helps to increase serotonin. It’s okay to indulge in chocolate in small amounts!

Red Wine. Many experts believe that a glass of red wine each day provides health benefits. The only drawback is that it’s easy to overdo it when drinking alcoholic beverages. Wine is packed with beneficial antioxidants and can temporarily lower blood pressure and help you relax.

Oatmeal. Oatmeal and other carbohydrates also help increase serotonin levels in the brain. In fact, your brain needs carbohydrates in order to function normally. This is why it’s essential to include good carbohydrates like oatmeal in your regular diet.

Lean Meats. Lean meats can help you combat stress by providing a good source of protein. Turkey, eggs, chicken and fish are all good choices because they contain necessary amino acids for healthy brain function. Remember not to eat fatty meats because the fat can interfere with proper digestion of the amino acids.

Coffee. Yes, caffeine is a stimulant and there is also a risk of developing an unhealthy habit. However, moderation is the key. Coffee can help stimulate the brain into working with more energy and efficiency, helping you feel more motivated and less stressed.

Nuts. Nuts help you maintain your proper blood sugar. They also contain plenty of the vitamin B complex, which combats fatigue.

Spinach. Spinach is one of the world’s super foods. It contains many vitamins, antioxidants and omega 3’s. This means it would be hard to eat spinach and not feel good! 

Vitamins & Supplements 

Of course, it’s always best to get your nutrients from the natural source. If this isn’t possible, or if you can’t stomach a certain food, it’s best to look for vitamin supplements so you can still derive some benefits from it. 

Vitamin supplements help your body get the nutrients it might be missing. Once you start consuming these necessary nutrients, you’ll be on your way to feeling healthier and stress-free.

There are certain health-offending foods out there that are so bad for your health that they can do some real damage, even in small quantities. While it’s true that everything is okay in moderation, you’ll be doing your body a good service by keeping some of the worst food to a minimum. 

Chances are there are healthy food alternatives that you can introduce into your diet that you’ll actually enjoy. While you may still miss some of the offending foods, you can save them for special occasions and, instead, indulge in some new healthier foods. 

Here is a list of some of the top offenders:

•  French Fries. French fries are everywhere. While some fast food places are currently offering alternatives to French fries, for the most part they’re still served as a standard. Potatoes can be healthy when cooked in certain ways, but you should avoid deep-fried potatoes, like they are in most restaurants. If you enjoy potatoes, consider eating a baked potato or opt to enjoy mashed potatoes. Also, try to have more sweet potatoes as they’re packed with even better vitamins and fiber.

• Donuts. Donuts can be delicious treats, but the calories and fat content add up quickly. While it’s okay to have a little treat, most people end up eating more than they should. If you’re looking for a good alternative to this popular morning treat, consider a plain whole grain bagel and some fresh fruit. You can also try banana, pumpkin, or zucchini bread.

• Ice Cream. Ice cream can be a popular way to end an evening, but definitely save this treat for special occasions only. The fat content is high and bedtime is the worst time of day to eat high calorie foods. The good news is that there are some healthy treats similar to ice cream that you can enjoy instead. Try some low fat alternatives like Italian Ice or Tofutti.

• Fruit Smoothies. Fruit smoothies make the worst offender list because they’re a health food in disguise. Sure they are made of fresh fruit, but there is often added sugar and/or cream. They’re also often served in large portions. This means that one smoothie may even eat up all of your calories for the day. You can combat this problem by making your own smoothies out of lower calorie fruits, or you can opt for smaller portions or diet smoothies.

• Pie. Pies are another dessert item that’s best left for a special occasion. They’re packed with extra sugar and, often, large amounts of trans fat. One slice of pecan pie can actually top the 500 calorie mark. You can attempt lower calorie pies by using more fruit and less sugar, cream and nut additives.

• Chocolate. Chocolate is certainly a tough one to give up! It tastes great and can even make you feel better. However, it’s high in calories and fat and, therefore, should be limited. If you must have chocolate opt for dark chocolate in small quantities because it actually has the health benefit of antioxidants.

• Margarine. While margarine was once advertised as a healthy alternative to butter, it’s actually not. It doesn’t contain cholesterol, but many cheaper varieties contain trans fatty acids. Data is coming back about the health risks of consuming trans fats, so they’re best avoided all together. Your best bet is to use smaller quantities of butter when necessary, or opt for margarine that is labeled as trans fat free. 

Low Fat Alternatives 

You’ll find that most of the offenders have lower fat alternatives. While they may not taste as good to you at first, it’s best for you and your health in the long run. Keep in mind that you can indulge yourself every once in awhile, but control is key.

You already know how important it is to make healthy food choices for you and your family. But how can you fit the best choices into your busy life? 

You’ll be pleased to discover that a hectic life doesn’t mean that every meal has to be fast food on the run! Sometimes it’s difficult to make healthy changes, but with a little planning and know-how, it can be done. 

Here are some strategies to help you and your family make healthy choices: 

Avoid temptation. It’s so easy to walk into the store with good intent, but walk out with bags full of unhealthy foods. Unfortunately, our wills are weak, especially if we’ve trained ourselves over the years to buy junk foods. 

• Never shop when you’re hungry. This way you won’t pick out unhealthy choices because they look good at the moment.
• Get rid of the unhealthy foods in your home. If they aren’t around, you won’t be tempted to eat them.

• Think of healthier alternatives to your family’s favorite unhealthy foods. Rather than high calorie chips, try trail mixes or rice cakes. Low calorie puddings or frozen yogurts are better alternatives to higher fat ice creams.
  

Eat fast and healthy meals at home. When you’re tired at the end of the day and you realize you still have to feed the family, it’s easy to go to a fast food chain and throw fast food on the table. It may save some time, but it won’t save your health – or your pocket book! 

• The great thing is that there are many easy, fast, and healthy foods you can make at home. This takes some planning, but you’ll be more satisfied, save money, and be healthier as well.

• Look online for quick and easy recipes made with all natural ingredients. Many recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less and only have 5 ingredients. Taking the time to do some recipe research will save your sanity in the long run. Then once you find a “hit” with the family, store the recipe in a book or on your computer.

• When you cook, make large batches and freeze the leftovers. This way, you’ll already have meals in the freezer that you can just thaw, heat, and serve. No muss, no fuss! This is the opportune way to enjoy “fast” food at home.

Eat Slower. Since the brain takes about 20 minutes to get the signal that the stomach is full, if you eat too fast you’ll pack in a lot more food than you need. When you’re still thinking you’re hungry, it’s easy to make the wrong choices about food. If you slow down while you’re eating, you’ll eat less and you’ll still feel full.

• Set a calming mood before sitting down for a meal. Avoid having the television on or eating as you’re rushing the kids out the door to another activity. Sitting calmly at the table will allow everyone to relax and enjoy their meal.

Make dinner time a social experience. Dinner should be about enjoying your company and taking pleasure in the foods you’re eating 

When you begin to look at mealtime as a social experience, it becomes easier to make the right choices about healthy foods. Suddenly you aren’t so worried about rushing through and making it quick. 

Dinner becomes a great experience when you’re able to enjoy healthy foods together. Take time to eat as a family and enjoy a real conversation with each other. Talking will naturally slow down your eating pace, while also reconnecting you with your family members. 

Using these techniques will bring all kinds of healthy benefits to your family and teach your children a healthy lifestyle. Healthy food choices are a possibility in your busy life if you take the time to plan ahead and make dinner time a priority in your home.

The most common image of meditation is one of a monk in a religious experience. However, meditation is actually a practice that anyone can do to improve mind function and overall health. 

Meditation has been proven to reduce stress levels and it can even help with conditions such as high blood pressure. Once you’ve become more calm and peaceful through meditation, your life will open up to more opportunities and you’ll find it easier to make healthy choices. 

What Exactly Is Meditation? 

Meditation is a way of clearing the mind. Once you’ve gotten into a habit of meditating often, you’ll discover that it’s easier than you think. 

Some people sit in a cross-legged position when they meditate, but this isn’t mandatory. Another sitting position might be more comfortable for you, but the key is to maintain a good posture. If you slouch, you’re more likely to get tired and feel like falling asleep. 

To get started, find a quiet place and get comfortable. Then start taking deep breaths in and out. Pay attention to your breath. You might find it helpful to say a “mantra” to yourself as you breathe in and out. Your goal is to keep your mind clear of thoughts. 

Thoughts are inevitable though. The best way to eliminate them is to recognize that you’ve had a thought and then focus on your breathing and clearing your mind again. This will get easier with frequent practice. 

Stress Free 

When you focus on breathing and clearing your mind, you’re actually centered on the present moment. On the other hand, stress arises when you think about something in the past or future. 

Since you have little stress when you have a clear mind in the present moment, you exude calmness. When you practice this often, you can bring a calm, stress-free demeanor to your everyday life. 

Stress And The Body 

When you feel stressed, you put your body into overdrive. When it’s overworked, it’s more open to various diseases and disorders. Stress exists for a reason; you need to have the hormonal adrenalin rush and increased breathing and heart rate in order to escape threatening situations. It’s simply how you’re able to handle threats. 

By always having your mind on past or future stressors, you keep your mind and body in a stressful state even when you aren’t enduring a stressful situation in the present. This is exactly why it’s important to give your body a much needed break from all the stress. When you learn to meditate often, you’re giving your body the energy and rest it needs to stave off exhaustion and disease. 

Improving Your Health 

The absence of overwhelming stress improves your health in many ways. You’ll likely enjoy lower blood pressure and a strengthened immune system. Stress can also lead to mental disorders, so when you strive to be stress-free, you’ll keep anxiety and depression away as well. 

When you meditate, you place your body in a kind of sleep state. You’re still awake, but your body can begin to repair itself in the same way that it does when you sleep. If you meditate in the morning or at night, you can help yourself transition from sleeping to wakefulness and vice versa. 

Meditation is the ultimate exercise for a healthy mind and body. You’ll feel refreshed and rejuvenated once you’ve given it a try. Who knew that “just sitting” could be so helpful!

What is it you want to do with your life? Lose some weight? OK, so how do you think you’re going to make it happen? If you’re not sure, then self-reflection is in order.  

Even if you have an idea where you want to go, you may want to consider doing self-reflection exercises to ensure that you remain on the path toward success. When you are on the right path, you can also find peace in your life.  

Here are 5 self-reflection exercises that you can use to put things into perspective. These exercises can help you to clear your mind, relax, and find that peace you crave: 

Compose affirmations. Write a list of at least 50 affirmations. These affirmations should embrace what you want to achieve and what you want to become in your life. 

• Write them in present tense and be sure to use the word “I” throughout the list. For example, “I am always good at my job.”
   
• It is important to focus on the things that are occurring now that will lead to your future success.
   

You may hear words in your head such as, “But you messed this up the other day” or “You weren’t as productive a few days ago.” If you are hearing things like this, then banish those negative thoughts. It can take some time to get used to positive thinking, but it’ll be time well-spent.  

• Repeating your affirmations aloud will enable you to reprogram your mind with positive thoughts.

Tap into your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is where your self-image is stored. All of your attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values are here. Your subconscious mind is the core of who you are and it’s a very powerful force. 

If you go inward and reflect upon what’s inside this storehouse within the mind, you can gain a better sense of self-awareness. Some may call this meditation. Regardless of what you call it, this process helps you to attain a higher level of consciousness.  

• Better self-awareness can provide you with many answers about yourself and your true beliefs.

 Visualize creatively. This is a fun way to self-reflect! Make yourself a box to show your hopes and dreams. Or you can create a vision board. Place pictures and words that represent you and your thoughts into your box or on your board. The more details you include, the better it works!

• Imagination is the key and the sky is the limit!

Ask yourself questions. Ask yourself questions about yourself. Write down your questions and your answers. Ask yourself questions about the present and the future and provide yourself with positive answers. You can be creative with your questions because only you know what’s inside of you. 

• Be sure to structure your questions to include details about your hopes and dreams.  

Write and reflect. Purchase a journal and write in that journal every single day. Each day, first write down something positive that occurred that day. Next, write down a question for yourself. Don’t answer that question then and there. Reflect on that question and write your answer the next day as a part of your journal entry.  

As you can see, self-reflection truly is an art. It involves tapping your inner being and using that to figure out what it is you really want. In time, your reflections will enable you to achieve the peace and serenity you deserve.   

Your well being should be a priority in your life, yet so many of us place our health on the back burner, leaving it unattended until it boils over on us, but maintaining your well being should be an excellent reason for being motivated to lose weight! 

Health seems to be something that’s largely taken for granted. We feel invincible until it fails us. This is clearly the wrong attitude. If you take preventative action, you’ll not only feel better, but your body will thank you by adding years onto your life! 

Improve your Health for the Right Reasons 

Nowadays many, many of us are overweight. As a result, more people than ever are trying to slim down. The problem is a lot of us aren’t trying to lose weight for the right reasons. If you need to lose weight, be sure to do it for yourself, not for anybody else. 

Losing weight goes far beyond the superficial. Don’t lose weight only in order to look good, but for your overall health and wellness. 

When you try to improve yourself for other people, you can lose sight of your motivation if your relationship changes. The motivation needs to be within you, not someone else. The deeper your commitment to your health, the more difficult it is to cheat on a diet or forego exercise. 

It’s also important to realize that you must love yourself first before anyone else will. People are drawn to others who have self-confidence and self-respect. When you care about your well being, not only will you take better care of yourself, but others will be more likely to do the same. 

Here are some ways you can put yourself first and take better care of your health: 

See your doctor. If you haven’t been to see a doctor in a while or are in need of an annual checkup, start by making an appointment to get your health evaluated. This will give you a good foundation for what improvements you need to make. 

Find an exercise routine you can incorporate regularly into your lifestyle. It can be as easy as going for a walk. Just put on your shoes and get outdoors. The fresh air and the walk will do wonders for your health. 

Make changes in your diet. Try reducing red meat, refined sugars and alcohol for starters. Increase your fresh fruit and vegetable intake. Be sure to start off each day with a healthy breakfast and don’t skip meals. Drink plenty of water throughout the day as well.  

• When you eat poorly, you’re doing a huge disservice to your body. You are what you eat, after all. If you eat unhealthy foods, you’ll likely end up unhealthy with chronic health issues like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, just to name a few. 
• The healthier foods you eat, the better you’ll feel and the stronger you’ll become. Whether you believe it or not, it’s the truth! 

Find time to relax. It’s imperative to take care of your mental health, also, by incorporating relaxation techniques into your lifestyle. Regular relaxation helps reduce stress and anxiety and recharges you so you can bring more energy and passion to all areas of your life.  

• Consider taking up yoga or meditation.
• Find time to pursue hobbies you enjoy to help bring you contentment and happiness.  

If you take good care of yourself, you’ll be able to enjoy your life to the fullest. Use these tips every day to improve your health and put yourself first. Following a good wellness plan will give you the motivation to lose weight,  help keep you fit and boost your energy!

Even if you look and feel great, there are always steps you can take, every day, to improve your body and mind. It takes constant work to improve your life, even when you have achieved what you believe is your personal best. 

So with that said, we all can use some healthy living tips to ensure that we are the best we can be every day. 

Healthy Living Tips to Improve Your Body and Mind 

It doesn’t matter if you are in perfect shape – or you have created your own unique “shape” over the years – there are always simple strategies that will continue to improve how you look, feel and think. After all, without constantly improving your body and mind, you won’t be able to reach greater heights and experience new things. 

The most essential mental and physical health tip is to enjoy quality sleep. Getting enough sleep will boost your health and productivity, and it will rejuvenate your body and mind. Some people may believe that sleep is overrated, but study after study has shown that those who get at least eight hours of sleep look and feel better than those who don’t. It can be tempting to skimp on the number of hours of sleep you get, but it isn’t worth it. Skipping sleep takes a toll on your brain’s ability to function, your appearance, and on your overall long-term health. So do yourself a favor and skip the late night talk shows and midnight snacks tonight! 

There’s another easier-said-than-done tip that I’m sure you’ve heard many times before. Any guesses? Exercise, of course! Whether you are trying to lose weight or you’re at your target weight, it can be tempting to skip exercise. No matter how you slice it, it’s not going to do you any good. Not only does exercise help you look good, but it also helps you feel good. Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel good from top to bottom and stress literally drips off you! 

It can be difficult to incorporate these healthy living tips into your life, but there is one tool that ties everything together: the power of positive self-talk. You can use positive affirmations to help remind you of your healthy living goals. Affirmations are short statements that encourage you to sharpen your mind and body while conquering your goals and improving on your weaknesses. Affirmations can help you focus on creating and maintaining the healthy body and mind you desire because it gives you the motivation you need to focus on your most important asset – you! 

Some examples of affirmations include, “It is okay for me to take care of myself first,” or, “I am healthy and deserve the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.” You can use these simple positive statements throughout the day to stay motivated and focused. After all, we all need some motivation from time to time. 

When you implement these strategies in your life, you’ll begin to realize just how easy it can be to lead a healthy lifestyle, especially once you have gained the right set of tools in your self-improvement toolbox!