Month: August 2016

Fitness, Health, sleep, Uncategorized, wellness

Wellness Wednesday: Habits

Beth

Have you ever decided to establish a new habit? We all have thought about habits we want to change or add to our lives. We tell ourselves that we are going to start a habit of going to the gym or of going to bed at a certain time. For me it was establishing a new self-care action of playing the guitar daily. While this may seem silly to some but I decided that it was important to me. For me I made a SMART goal about how this was going to happen. I made it my plan to spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day playing my guitar everyday. What would you like to establish as a new habit? Is there something that you want to see changed? Are you wanting to establish an exercise habit? Are you wanting to establish a habit regarding your sleep routine?  Once you find out what you want to change, make that decision and stick to it. However, establishing a new habit is hard right? Sometimes you make a mistake and you feel like a failure. Just because you missed a day in the process does not mean that you have to start over but you do have to keep working on it.

I have other things that I would like to establish as a habit but another key thing in establishing habits is that you should not have so many things you are trying to change at once. So as you begin to think about what habit you want to establish, remember to be patient with yourself. Let me know how your process is going! Do you need guidance feel free to comment or send a message!

Fitness, Health, sleep, Uncategorized, Water, wellness

Wellness Wednesday: Appreciation 

Beth

This week I spent some time driving on a road trip about 10 hours. I drove to Salt Lake City Utah from southern CA. The drive was completely amazing and because I was not feeling in a hurry or rushed I took time to appreciate the beauty all around me and I realized that often we forget to do this and we spend our lives in such a frenzy that we completely miss out on the beauty that surrounds us. 

I have heard it said that people that are grateful are happier and healthier. I believe this to be to. When we stop and enjoy the view and become grateful of what we have be given. So what can we do to appreciate? Be mindful of your surroundings because you never know when you will have the opportunity to see something of beauty. A note though, while I was driving I was surrounded by beauty and I wanted to capture it all on my camera but I couldn’t so I just had to enjoy the view. 

So where do you have opportunities to see and appreciate beauty? Take some time to stop and enjoy the view. Or in other words stop and smell the roses! Let me know what you see 🙂

Fitness, Health, sleep, Uncategorized, wellness

Wellness Wednesday: Sleep

Beth

Did you wake up this morning and think, is it really time to get up already? Do you feel like you did not get enough sleep? No need to feel alone, most people I know are in this predicament. They want more sleep but for some reason sleep alludes  them.  So how do we fix this?

There are many recommendations for how to improve your sleep. Sometimes this is referred to as sleep hygiene. How do you improve your sleep hygiene? First off we need to look at what the sleep routine looks like. Do you have a sleep routine? Or, do you just pass out when you are tired? Do you fall asleep in front of the TV while eating a bag of chips or some other snack?

So now that we have looked at what our sleep routine is we can see where the changes need to be made. If you discovered that there is no routine, that is the first step, start by making a routine. Do you go to bed and get up at roughly the same time? That is usually a good thing to start with. If possible, set your bed time so that you will get 8 hours of sleep at night. This might be a slow and gradual process but if you prioritize getting 8 hours of sleep whenever possible you will find yourself less tired.

Now that we have some basic parameters set, what else is in your routine, for example I brush my teeth and take out my contacts right before I go to bed. I also wash my face and put on a nighttime moisturizer. Some people may take showers or baths before they go to bed to help unwind, if you think this might help you give it a try.  Do you have pajamas or do you fall asleep in your clothes? Having set clothes just of sleep may help.

What does your room look like? Is your TV on all night long? Are you playing on your phone until you fall asleep? Experts say to not watch TV or play on your phone because the light could be interrupting your sleep. Set a time limit for yourself in which you will not play with your phone, leave your phone face down do the light does not interrupt you. I always put my phone on do not disturb at 8:30pm. This also is my bedtime so I know that unless it is an emergency no calls or texts or alerts will wake me up but I still am able to use my alarm.

So this is a start, and expect that sleep will come up again soon, possibly next week because there is so much to talk about. For now start making your routine and see how it goes. Try outs some new things to help improve your sleep. Let me know what is working for you!

 

Fitness, Health, sleep, Uncategorized, wellness

Wellness Wednesday: Self-Care

Beth

So here we are back for another Wellness Wednesday. This week the topic is on self-care and how to manage stress. If you work in the field of mental health self-care is a phrase that we use all the time. However, self-care is important in every aspect of your life. If we do not use self-care we are likely to burn out on whatever we are doing. We also are going to have poor overall health. What does self-care mean? How do we use self-care?

Self-care is the ability to take care of yourself and ensure that your needs are being met. What do you do to take care of yourself? Are you doing anything for yourself? Are you feeling stressed? Are you feeling drained? Do you not care about things that you used to?

If you are looking at those questions and thinking I feel stressed and drained. Maybe it is time to look at what you are doing for yourself. What are some ways to improve your self care? Well here are just a few suggestions.

  1. Get enough sleep. Last week we talked about sleep and how to improve your sleep but really sleep is important and is key in self-care. Without sleep you are not able to function and you are draining yourself physically and emotionally.
  2. Eat healthy, without proper fuel your body is going to fail. If you make sure to eat regularly (you know meals and snacks in a routine) you will find that you feel better. We have termed the phrase “hangry” when people get so hungry and angry because they are hungry.
  3. Exercise regularly. We have all heard that experts recommend working out or exercising 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
  4. Do something you love! Find something you love and do it. Make it a priority to something that you love for yourself. Do you play an instrument, write, draw, dance, volunteer…. Find something that you love to  do and do!

Those are just a few things to help you on your way to better self-care. I am sure that there will be another post on self-care soon. Let’s talk about how your are doing with this and what you are doing that you love.

Fitness, Health, Uncategorized, Water, wellness

Wellness Wednesday Water Round 2

Beth

Hello again,

Last week we talked about how important it is to add more water into our daily routines and I have had some great comments about how people are working to add water into they routine. So I thought this week we would once again talk about our friend water. There are many many health benefits to drinking the right amount of water. Its not just doom and gloom if you don’t drink enough water but there are positive rewards for drinking more water.

First benefit comes for those (like myself) that sometimes eat because you are bored. Sometimes I drink water in large amounts when I am driving long distances (for those that know me that means everyday). I drink water because it gives me something to do while driving or stuck in traffic besides eating snacks. The benefit is I eat less food that is not as good for me. Thats right I eat less bad calories! Are you trying to lose weight and having a hard time with snacking in the car? Drink water, or give yourself a challenge that you can’t eat any snacks until you drink a bottle of water. Help yourself train to drink more water and eat less bad.

Second benefit comes with your skin, when you don’t drink enough water your skin can look old. What I mean by this is dry and more wrinkled. When you drink enough water your skin has what it needs to stay hydrated. Not that drinking water will get rid of wrinkles but it might stop you from getting them premature.

Third and final benefit today is that drinking water helps your body get rid of toxins and waste from your kidneys. People often lose weight when they first start this because their body actually starts to get rid of the stuff that has been there that was not moving. Getting rid of toxins and waste will also help you feel better and more energetic.

This is just a short list of positives that come with drinking water. Will you get enough water in this week? What are you doing to increase your water?