Lessons From A Breather

Howdy y’all! 😉

I’m fresh back from a well-appreciated, 1 1/2 week holiday – which effectively gave me a break from everything 😀 I love it when this happens because I always come back with a handful of mini resolutions or mini challenges for better living 👍🏻 Like …

… increasing fiber intake:

Most often while on a holiday I allow myself to completely slack off on any fitness & nutrition guidelines I have set for myself. I’m not active & I eat everything I want.

I then get bloated and constipated and then become hyper-critical about my “self-consciously gigantic” midsection each time I catch a glimpse of it on any type of reflective surface. 😶 😶 (Come now, don’t tell me you haven’t done this yourself! 😊 😊)

Instead of countering this with mad eye-make up skills to bring everyone’s (imagined) focus up instead of on my midsection, of course all that’s really required (once I stop the exaggerated reaction) is to be mindful of my fiber and water intake.

Challenge #1: add more fiber to my life (interpret in more ways than one 😉)

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As usual, I buy a couple of books from an airport bookstore because, although I have a Kindle, nothing beats the high of burying my nose amongst the pages of an actual, physical book. (Yes, I don’t read it I just smell it!😆 😆). One of these books had this reminder/challenge #2 for me:

Increase movement throughout the day.

Also to be read as: beware sitting on your bum for long, uninterrupted stretches of time. (Calling out all fellow yarnies! 😆)

Because apparently, doing so significantly decreases our lifetime. In fact, uninterrupted bum time is more lethal than an addiction to smoking. Think about that!

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Coconut Oil-Will-Save-the-World

My mom is 69 years old. The last time I saw her was during the Christmas holidays, on this visit however, I was amazed. Her face was brighter, even toned with a hint of pinkish glow, and somehow less wrinkly (if that is at all possible) 💁

She truthfully looked younger than last I saw her, we all noticed! When I complimented her on it, she said she started using extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO) on her face upon advise from her sister.

I also had coffee with a good friend who, as it happens, carries a vial of EVCO in her bag wherever she goes. She poured a tablespoon of the liquid into her coffee without batting an eyelash and, at my surprise, rattled off the billion and one uses for EVCO, and credits it for her beautiful & abundant mane and flawless complexion.

Conclusion: the coconut universe is conspiring for me! 😄 😄 I’m reading up on the billion and one usages for EVCO right now and …

Challenge #3: … will use it to replace my 4-step nightly face cleansing ritual.

I want to see if it will work for me too 😀 I’ll let you know how it goes after a month or so.

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And that is all for now. (Yay!)

How about you, any healthy resolutions you’ve taken up recently? Let me know! 😀 😀

Flat Belly Made Easier 😉

Happy Monday beautiful people! ☺️

Sometimes (because most times I use music💃💃💃), when I need to get myself motivated to exercise, I scour the net for nutrition or fitness infographics. A few days ago I found this and thought you’d find it interesting too – might not be new information but a little reminder can’t hurt, right? ❤️ 😀

Oh and, I’m all for the dark chocolate advice. You too?! XD XD

Have a strong start to your week, peeps!

Workout Nutrition Simplified

Happy Monday y’all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend 🙂

Today I’m posting a handy infographic I found over at  greatist.com.  It’s basically a nutrition guide for people who exercise and clearly outlines what’s best to consume before and after a particular workout type to give us the best nutritional support we need.

After confiding to you my exercise woes in this post, I certainly found this infographic to be very timely!

I hope you find this useful too 🙂

 

 

Skinny Bitch And The 3.5 Easy Diet Tweaks I Made After Reading It

I just finished reading Rory Freedman’s and Kim Barnouin’s “Skinny Bitch” described as A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous.

I first became aware of this book sometime 2007 when photos of ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham carrying a copy made it to mainstream media.  But back then I wasn’t too concerned about my fitness or nutrition so I promptly dismissed it as one of those dime-a-dozen fad diet books that would give me nothing for my buck in terms of healthy diet advice.  I was wrong!

This book will indeed give you some tough-love about losing weight – and so much more. Consider a good friend bitch slappin’ you to your senses (wait, does a good friend ever bitch slap you?).  In 13 chapters the book dispenses in-your-face advise about such things as “The Dead, Rotting, Decomposing Flesh Diet”, “The Myths and Lies About Protein” and the fact that governmental agencies “don’t give a shit about your health”.  As a matter of fact, I’d say the authors have done a huge exposé on how the government and its cohorts (and you’d never, ever guess who’s sleeping with who!) literally poison the nation.

After reading the book I honestly do not know what to eat anymore and whom or what to believe.  I didn’t even know where to start overhauling my diet! Fortunately the voice in my head said I could start with something small but consistent.  Like these 3.5 tweaks I can do starting tomorrow:

1.  Stop drinking coffee.

I love coffee. My team even bought our own coffee maker as an official declaration of homage.  However, I did notice that coffee was affecting my sleep and my energy levels throughout the day.  So when Rory and Kim said coffee is highly acidic, causes a host of problems from headaches to an increased susceptibility to diabetes, I thought I’d make a serious effort to ditch the habit altogether.  (P.S. They also say that any study stating coffee is good for you is probably paid for by Starbucks).

1.5.  Drink caffeine-free herbal green tea instead. Organic.

I’m not fond of teas, really. But I need a substitute for my morning java. And since green tea has loads of anti-oxidants which fight cancer, combat allergies and lowers blood pressure, I figure I could probably learn to love it in time.  (Mind over matter!)

2.  Eat fruit alone, not with other foods, and preferably first thing in the morning.

When we eat fruit with other foods it cannot pass through our bodies as quickly.  So it rots and ferments in our stomachs.  This can cause burping, bloating and heartburn.

But why eat fruit to begin with?  Because it is high in enzymes, supplies carbs, fiber, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and cancer-fighting tannins and flavonoids.  It hydrates the body and aids in cleansing, detoxifying and eliminating.

3.  Have at least one completely plant based meal a day.

This book will make you want to puke your guts out after reading about the horrors that happen in slaughterhouses and how filthy and toxic meat and dairy truly are.  I won’t go into details but here‘s a good place to start if interested.

Because it’s practically impossible to go cold turkey overnight, I wanted to start with one meal that I could dedicate to clean eating right away.

I chose breakfast because it sets the tone for the day, and is easy to control since you’re not outside the house and subject to social/environmental pressures.

In conclusion, the book is a very relevant and engrossing read that will definitely bitch slap you into thinking for yourself about what you put into your body.  It’s a great eye-opener, and definitely encourages curiosity into food production and its marketing.