Busting Stress Has Become A Requirement, Not A Luxury

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Oh boy, 2020 has been a doozy so far, huh? And it looks like there’s no sign of it slowing down. For many, this can be somewhat of an unfortunate realization, but despite the difficulties we’re all going through, or how close you may be to certain issues, self-care has never been a more essential priority. Like any terrible moment, this silver lining has the potential to at least bring one ray of light to the encroaching darkness. This silver lining is the ability to functionally preserve ourselves and care for our families with kindness. It seems that busting stress has become a requirement, not a luxury. This can keep our mental health balanced and our motivations clear. It can help us avoid falling into despair or letting challenges get the better of us. This sounds like a primarily defensive form of self-care, but it’s also a means in which to grant ourselves some breathing room, and ultimately to grow.

But what habits and practices can help you bust stress in this way? With the following advice, we’d love to discuss that with you. Here's some good information about how to get help with stress-busting habits you can try:

Finding A Positive Habit

You can reduce your stress through one-off measures that often have great impact. For instance, visiting a spa and enjoying a massage are known to be some of the best ways to feel peace. But it’s unlikely you can fit one of those in each day, nor would you want to if you could. But a small positive habit we can practice anywhere, such as with the Tai Chi For Health Institute or practicing transcendental meditation can have growing and lost-lasting effects. What’s even more important is how low-cost or free these practices can be to integrate with your life.

Removing Unnecessary Stressors

Sometimes it’s not about limiting stress, but removing yourself from unnecessary stressful situations entirely. Does this mean you have to hide from the world? No. But it could be that you decline meeting up with a toxic parent after bringing your child to school, because all they seem to do is complain and gossip about others. Maybe you are tired of feeling so worn out all the time, so instead of working out so hard you focus on achieving a near-perfect sleep schedule, with the right time and monetary investment (such as memory foam mattresses) that you need for that great night’s sleep. This effort, and factors like this, can help you avoid encountering unnecessary stress in daily life.

Never Bottle It Up

Bottling up stress can seem important depending on how you usually approach these situations. Of course, breaking down in the office multiple times a day is unlikely to be a good strategy, nor is complaining about every little issue you encounter. But if something is truly weighing on you, it’s important to find the time to speak to those you trust, and allow yourself to speak your truth. This way, solutions can be found, and those around you will understand. This can also help you avoid falling into subconscious resentment.

With this advice, busting stress will become a hobby, not a simple luxury.

Oral Health & Hygiene Tips for All the Family

It’s important that your whole family looks after their oral health and hygiene. It’s one of those things that’s very easy to overlook, but that shouldn’t be the case. It’s about more than white teeth and nice-smelling breath. Oral health is serious and establishing good habits in your kids from an early age is really important. Here’s how you can start improving your approach and getting it right today.

Source: Pixabay

Get Into the Habit of Flossing

A big part of staying healthy and looking after yourself properly is getting into good habits. That’s definitely true when it comes to good oral health and hygiene, and it’s even more true when it comes to kids. That’s why you should get your kids into the habit of flossing a couple of times a day. It’ll ensure they keep up the habit for a long time to come.

Use Fluoride

Using fluoride, and the right amount of it, is really important when it comes to maintaining healthy and clean teeth. The easiest and best way to do this is to simply choose the right toothpaste product that’s capable of offering the fluoride your teeth need. It’s something you can talk to your dentist about if you’re not sure about it.

Find a Family Dentist You Can Trust

It’s vital that you have a family dentist in place that the whole family feels like it can trust. Places like Bowral Street Dental Practice offer top services and you should get to know a service before you commit to it. That way, you’ll always feel in safe hands when you head to them for check-ups and other routine procedures. It’s essential you have confidence in the dentist you choose.

Make a Dental Care Calendar

A dental calendar can be useful if you’re a busy family that often misses appointments and forgets to organize check-ups and things like that. We all know how busy and chaotic family life can be at times and having a dental calendar will at least ensure that you have those reminders in front of you of what you need to do and when. It’s harder to forget that way.

Brush Your Teeth Together When Your Kids Are Young

When you have kids that are still very young, it makes sense to brush your teeth together as a family. When you do this, it helps to normalize the process for your kids and they’ll want to imitate you. It’ll also become a game and something that’s fun, and that’s the perfect way to establish good habits that should hopefully last a lifetime. That’s just what you want.

Each of these oral health and hygiene tips is really important and everyone should be looking to get these right if they want their families to have good dental health going forward. Don’t cut corners or ignore the basics because that’ll only lead to more problems later. Put the ideas above into practice as soon as possible.

How to love healthy eating and exercise even if you detest salads and the gym

For many people, the idea of going on a diet and committing to running five miles every day feels like a massive chore. You have to cut out many of the things that you love in life - like tasty food - in return for what you hope will be better health in the long-run. The problem is that sticking to significant lifestyle changes is hard. Virtually nobody loses weight on a diet and keeps it off long term. It’s just not what we’re biologically programmed to do. If there’s food available, we’ll eat it. It’s as simple as that.

Photo by Anupam Mahapatra

Modern habits, though, are creating a whole host of problems for our health. Sitting down all day and eating junk food is a one-two punch that wrecks our metabolism.

Your ideal biomarkers should be:

• Cholesterol 150 mg/dL
• Blood pressure 120/80
• Blood glucose 75 to 100 mg/DL

Unfortunately, a lot of people are way out of this ideal range, putting them at risk of a host of chronic diseases, like heart disease.

The solution, though, is quite simple - make healthy eating and exercise something that people can enjoy. Some people manage it, and you can too. Here’s what to do.

How To Enjoy Exercise

Enjoying exercise can be a challenge, but it can happen. It’s all about mindset.

Start With Achievable Goals

Don’t start your exercise regime by running marathons or doing two hours of cross-fit every day. You’ll knacker yourself and do whatever you can to avoid more grueling training sessions in the future.

Instead, begin with small, manageable goals. Make sure that your brain gets used to the idea that exercise is a pleasant experience first - something you enjoy - before ramping up the difficulty. Remember, there’s no time limit on this. If it takes you a year to work up to a high level, then so be it. As long as you’re active, you’re on the right track.

Notice How The Rest Of Your Life Gets Easier

As humans, we have an uncanny ability to adapt to the world around us. It doesn’t take five minutes before we’re used to something, whether it’s smartphones or ordering takeaways online.

The same goes for our fitness. When you start exercising, you induce profound changes in your body. All of a sudden, you have more energy to do the things that you want to do. It’s miraculous.

You can, however, adapt to these changes rapidly and, after a while, take them for granted.

Where possible, try to think back to situations before you began exercising that highlighted just how difficult life used to be. Maybe it was walking up stairs or carrying heavy bags of shopping. Whatever it is, try to link real-world experiences to your exercise habits.

How To Enjoy Healthy Eating

Most people can cope with exercise. But eating bland food day after day is intolerable. The good news is that eating things that are good need not be torture. Take a look at the following advice:

Use Fresh Herbs And Spices To Add Flavour

If you look at the types of food that most personal trainers recommend, you’ll see that it is dull and boring. Chicken breast, brown rice, and broccoli - not exactly appealing.

It turns out, though, that you can transform even the blandest of meals into something delicious with the right combination of herbs and species. What’s more, these foods may also contain compounds that help you move towards your weight loss and fitness goals faster. Unique chemicals plants produce supercharges your metabolism and foster whole-body health.

Eat Your Favourite Foods - Just Make Them Healthy

If you think that your days of munching on delicious burgers are over, think again. Even on the most Spartan diets, you can still eat your favorite foods.

Photo from Pixabay

Take pizza, for instance. You can easily make a whole spelt flour pizza base, add a homemade tomato sauce made with fresh or canned tomatoes, and then add veggies on top. You still get a delicious meal, even though it doesn’t contain any of the nasties you’d usually have to consume with pizza.

The same goes for burgers. You can make burgers from black beans, oats, and parsley, which actually tastes better than the real thing.

What you want to avoid is the feeling that you’re “going without.” You don’t want to feel like you lack anything in your life, or you might go back to your old ways.

The bottom line is this: eating healthily and exercising doesn’t have to be an ordeal. You can enjoy it, so long as you approach it with the right frame of mind.

5 Ways To Lose Weight Fast Before Levelling Out At A Healthy Weight

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The harsh reality of life is that there is no magic cheat to gain the perfect body forever. If you truly wish to maintain your look and health, it’ll be necessary to adopt a sustainable strategy. Nonetheless, failure to see positive results in the first few weeks of a health kick can seriously damage your hopes of staying on track. Starting your transformation in style to gain quick weight loss before settling into a more sustainable long-term plan is key. Here are five simple solutions.

Opt For HIIT 

High-Intensity Interval Training is a great way to lose weight quickly. In truth, you’ll probably keep it in your workout schedule for the long haul too. For the immediate challenge, though, focusing solely on HIIT cardio is a great way to lose weight. Wearing a fitness band to track calorie burns and gain the right frame of mind is useful too. The competitive nature will inspire results.

The fun factor is a key ingredient in the recipe for success, and enjoying a range of activities is vital for the long-term situation. For now, shedding the pounds is where your fun starts.

Choose An Extreme Diet

Nutrition is a hugely influential part of any healthy living strategy. If you’re eager to lose weight fast, there are several options at your disposal. Meal replacements can work but may leave you feeling hungry. The carnivore diet, or an alternative low-carb plan, can work wonders. You’ll drop the pounds rapidly and can significantly aid your metabolism for the long haul.

Opting for this type of diet rather than meal replacements can allow you to maintain it for longer. Just be sure to replace any lost vitamins and nutrients.

Change Your Life Habits

Physical activity shouldn’t be limited to the gym. Increasing your exercise throughout the day can have a seriously positive influence. Cycling to work or walking to the gym can burn a few extra calories and keep your metabolism on its toes. Turning housework and other chores into a workout can also aid the cause. It may also increase your enjoyment.

It’s unlikely that you’ll be ready to keep this up for the long haul due to time constraints and the need for balance. Nonetheless, it can give you a serious short-term boost.

Target Water Weight

Water retention will increase your weight and size. While it’s not a huge problem, losing this can be a great way to promote quick transformations. Avoiding your food intolerances is a crucial step to consider while a morning coffee can support water loss too. Dandelion extract is another ingredient that’ll help you lose water weight at a rapid rate.

You could easily lose a few pounds and an inch or two from the stomach in this way. It’s arguably the easiest solution at your disposal.

Get Surgery

Finally, you could choose surgery or medical procedures. CoolSculpting, liposuction, and gastric bands are three of many options. If this is the route you wish to take, additional research is required.

4 Ways To Break Out Of Your Workout Rut

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It can happen to the best of us.

After weeks and months of trying to take our fitness routine to the next level, we get into a rut. It might be because of tiredness, especially if we have been pushing ourselves too hard. Or it might be because we are bored with whatever activities we engaged in. Whatever the case, we can get stuck in the rut, and once we're in it, we can find it difficult to get out of again. So, what should you do if this happens to you? Here are some useful suggestions.

#1: Ease your way back in

After taking a break, the last thing you want to do is anything too strenuous anyway, as you might do yourself more harm than good. Therefore, take part in those low-intensity activities that will cause you less strain and get you back into exercise. So, you might head to the leisure centre and take a swim. Or you could purchase some Pilates mats for your home, and practise these low-impact exercises in your living room. Or you could go for a gentle jog around your local park, working your way up until you can regain your usual speed and running distance again.

#2: Grab a workout buddy

If you are struggling to find the incentive to exercise on your own, grab (not literally) a friend who is (or was) keen to keep fit and do something together. So, you might go for a run or a bike ride, for example, or you might both sign up to local exercise or dance classes at your leisure centre. Consider engaging in a little friendly competition with each other too, as this will give you both the incentive to work harder. You might both purchase a Fitbit, for example, so you can see who has done the higher number of steps within a day. Or you might challenge each other at the gym by using one of the many exercise machines that are available to you.

#3: Hire a personal trainer

To give you some much-needed motivation (and probably some tough-love too), hire a professional to get you back into shape. They will encourage you to push yourself further, even when you can't be bothered to try, and they will also guide you on the best workout for you, so you might start to see more results during your keep-fit sessions. Be sure to pay for your training sessions in advance too, because as you will have paid somebody to coach you, you will be less likely to back out as you would only be wasting money if you did.

#4: Take the routine out of your exercise routine

Once your exercise routine becomes chore-like, you are more likely to give up and do something more enjoyable with your time instead, such as playing Candy Crush on your smartphone or watching your favourite box sets on Netflix. Therefore, do something to liven up your routine. You might want to mix up your regular workout, so you aren't always focussed on the one thing. You could work out to music to make whatever it is you are doing more enjoyable. Or you could ditch your usual workout and do something completely different, perhaps by taking part in a sport or hobby that will max up the fun factor alongside your fitness levels.

Finally

So, if you're currently stuck in a rut, probably with your TV remote in one hand and the television guide in another, think about what you could do to get out of it, perhaps by using the ideas we have suggested in this article. You will feel better about yourself if you do, and you will start to get back on track with your workouts. Let us know what you think, and if you have any further ideas for our readers, be sure to let us know.

3 Health Changes To Make As You Reach Middle Age

Looking after your health gets so much harder as you get older. When you’re young, it feels like you can bounce back from anything and you don’t need to worry too much. It’s still important that you try to get into good health habits but you can afford to make a few mistakes along the way. But when you start to hit middle age and your risk of disease begins to increase, it’s so important that you start thinking more seriously about your health. If you don’t, you’ll struggle to manage it when you’re older and you’ll be far more likely to have serious health problems. If you haven’t thought about it much, these are some of the biggest health changes you need to make as you reach middle age.

Photo from Pixabay

Diet And Exercise

Diet and exercise are so important at any age, but when you start to get older, you need to prioritize it. Your risk of things like heart disease and strokes are massively increased and you need to make sure that you’re doing everything that you can to reduce that risk as much as possible. Diet is a good place to start because if you’re eating a lot of fatty foods and sugar, your heart health is really going to suffer. Drinking a lot of alcohol has a big impact too. You need to cut those unhealthy foods out of your diet and replace them with more healthy alternatives.

Exercise is so important for heart health as well and if you’re doing a good amount of cardio on a regular basis, your risk of heart attacks and strokes is massively reduced. Staying active will also help you to keep your joints in good working order so they don’t seize up as you get older. You don’t have to be an athlete, but it’s important that you stay active, even if you’re just walking on a regular basis.

Contraception 

When you’re getting older and you’ve already got a family, you might decide that you’re not going to have any more children. In that case, you might want to consider some form of permanent contraception so you can avoid any accidents. If you have good private medical insurance, the vasectomy cost will be covered, you’ll just have to pay the excess. It’s not expensive but it is worth doing for peace of mind. Having an unplanned child later in life can be really tough so it’s best to be safe.

Get Regular Tests 

When you’re young, there isn’t really much need to go for regular tests on things like your sight or your hearing unless you notice a problem. But as you start to get older, these things will start to go. However, if you can catch the problem early and get some glasses or hearing aids, you can limit the damage and stop the problem from getting worse. If you leave it though, you’re likely to lose your hearing completely and have serious vision problems in later life.

Make these simple health changes as you approach middle age and you’ll be able to manage your health a lot better as you get older.

Beating The Bloat In Time For Summer

Even the most in-shape of us can suffer from bloating from time to time. Bloating can be uncomfortable, make you feel heavy and affect how your clothes fit. Bloating can be caused by many things, but there are some solutions you can try to reduce bloating and feel great in your own skin. Here are some suggestions for beating the bloat in time for summer.

Photo by Joseph Greve on Unsplash

Pay attention to what makes you bloat

Bloating can be triggered by all kinds of foods. From starchy carbs to certain types of vegetables, you can soon start to recognize which foods are making you bloat. You can take a look at some common foods that trigger bloating and establish some patterns to help you work out what to avoid on the days where bloating isn’t an option.

Cut down on alcohol

Alcohol can cause many adverse effects, and one of them is bloating. Alcohol can cause the typical stomach bloating, but it can also make your face and body bloating as a result of the dehydration it causes. If you think you can cut back on your alcohol intake, consult the Stop Drinking Expert to get some help. Alcohol can lead to weight gain and problem skin, so if you want to look your best, then it doesn’t hurt to cut back.

Make sure you hydrate yourself

Bloating can happen easily when you’re dehydrated. Your body will retain water easily, leading you to feel bloated and uncomfortable. Staying hydrated is the answer, so make sure you drink plenty of water - especially if it’s hot or you’ve been working out. Soda drinks can make bloating worse, so try to avoid carbonated drinks if you’re having a flare-up.

Keep moving

Exercise can help relieve bloating, even if it feels like the last thing you want to do! Regular exercise will help digestion and make sure you keep things ticking over. If you don’t feel like going for a run or doing some cardio while bloated, take a look at some empowering strength training instead. Some exercise will soon have you feeling better and help keep you regular too.

Get checked out

If your bloating is recurrent and causing you pain, you should make an appointment with your doctor. Bloating can be caused by conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other conditions, which can leave sufferers suffering regular, painful bloating. Getting a diagnosis can help you get the treatment you need to manage your condition and soon help you feel better.

Bloating affects most people, and while it can be a misery to deal with, you can learn to manage it with the right approach to your health and well-being. Eat the right foods, get moving and make sure you don’t do anything that exasperates your symptoms. In most cases, bloating will pass quickly, allowing you to enjoy your summer wardrobe while feeling relaxed and comfortable.

[Review] Aroma Naturale Essential Oils Diffuser

If you're new to essential oils and want to try it out first without shelling out too much, then this product is for you. I'll cut to the chase and say that this essential oils diffuser is probably the best starter kit for EO newbies like myself. It's only ₱899 if you buy the diffuser and 5 essential oils as a bundle. Individually it's around ₱500 for the oils set and ₱600 for the diffuser. Just look around Shopee for Aroma Naturale diffuser.

Move over, Muji.

There's a similar diffuser from Muji that sells at a ridiculous price of ₱3,500. It would've been okay if it's bigger or something but what the heck, IT'S EXACLTY THE SAME. Same size, same light and mist settings, same buttons, same everything, except for the bottom part. What a shame right? So don't let yourself be scammed.

I know there are tons of other diffusers out there but I chose this one majorly because it's cheap, looks simple and classic, and the branding is cute. Other diffusers have ugly light settings, lakas maka-cheap sorry haha, this one only has warm light in two modes. I know you can turn off the light but wala lang ayoko yung iba-iba yung kulay ew hahaha.

Moving on...

The Premium Essential Oils set has 5 scents: Tea Tree, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Lavender, and Lemongrass. They're 10ml each bottle. Again if you're starting out, this set is a good choice. EVERYTHING SMELLS SOOO GOOD.

If you want the specifics on this product, Muji can cover that for you here. Seriously hahaha I think they got the same Chinese manufacturer. Grabe the power of branding no? Anyway,

• Capacity is 100ml
• Good for small rooms only like the bathroom or if your bedroom is between 9-12sqm.
• Has 4 timer settings: 30, 60, 120, 180mins (then it will auto-off)
• Has 2 light settings: a dim and bright warm white
• It's not rechargeable so you have to keep it hooked to a power source
• Power source input: DC to USB

Here's how the water tank looks like

 And this is how the underside looks like

Like any diffuser, be cautious when using it. There's a manual in the box that tells you of basic do's and don'ts to preserve the quality of the product. Important things to note are:

• Do not open the tank when it's running (I did this once and it's a mess)
• Do not turn on the diffuser if the water level is below minimum
• Careful about water drops entering the side of the tank as it could reach the circuit
• Do not put too much oil drops, recommended is 4 drops per full tank (I don't follow this though, I put ~10 drops most of the time and the product is still okay? haha)

That's pretty much it! It's a great product, I've been using it for more than a month and so far so good. I'm only in for the aromatherapy for now and not much for the ~healing~ properties of the oil but yeah maybe we'll get there someday? This tita is new to the EO realm.

Where to get one?

I bought mine at Shopee, just search for 'Aroma Naturale diffuser'. There's also a store in Greenbelt 1 called Technopop that sells this (found them through Shopee), but you have to inquire if they have stock. :)