12 Ways To Take Better Care of Yourself

September 28, 2017September 28, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha21 Comments

Do you ever forget to take care of yourself? We are all so busy rushing from A to B that sometimes finding the time to take proper care of ourselves can seem impossible. Being so focussed on the big goals can mean that we often forget to take care of the little things. We need to make sure that we are looking after our physical, mental and health wellbeing. If we don’t take time to care for ourselves we can end up exhausted and running on empty. Taking better care of ourselves today, will help us in the long run. Here are 12 ways you can help yourself.

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Take a yoga class. Yoga is not only good for you physically but it can really help you mentally. A yoga class can help relieve stress and calm you. It can also center the nervous system.

Take time to enjoy the beauty in the everyday. Get outside and marvel at how amazing nature is, watch the sunset with a loved one or go for a long walk on the beach.

Prioritize your health needs. Make sure you get regular dental treatments and that you go to the doctors for health check-ups. Regular trips to the doctors and dentist should mean that any problems are found before they start.

Join a dancing class. Going dancing will not only improve your physical health but it will also make you feel great.

Eat your greens. Make sure that you are giving your body the best possible start by eating fruit and vegetables on a daily basis. If you aren’t keen on your fruit and vegetables then try it in a smoothie instead.

Declutter your house. Living in mess can make us feel stressed. Taking time to declutter the house can be very therapeutic and living in a nice, tidy house can help us feel calm. Marie Kondo has lots of useful tips on decluttering and organizing the house.

Pay it forward. Donate anything you don’t need to the thrift store. You are helping others and this is great for your self-esteem!

Read a novel. Taking some time to read a novel can help focus the mind and reading is also really good for your mental health. Look on Amazon for their top sellers.

Get an early night. Sleep deprivation can cause serious health problems. It can also make us feel sad and we can find that we start craving junk food. Getting an early night will help us feel great and make us happy. Don’t stay up late watching Netflix, get that early night!

Unplug and get out. Shut the laptop, put your mobile phone down and get outside. A digital detox is good for all of us and can help us recharge so that we are more productive when it comes to working again.

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Cuddle a loved one. We all love a good cuddle. Giving a loved one a good squeeze can help reduce stress and even make us feel happy.

Run your way to happiness and better health. Running can help clear the mind, reduce anxiety and improve our health.

By making some small changes we can really make a massive difference to our health and mental wellbeing. It is really important that we stop juggling those balls and show ourselves just how important we are. What small change can you make to your life?

Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Itty-Bitty bits of my week – Echoes of My Neighbourhood.

February 2, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha26 Comments

No two days are the same in my life and I believe most people as well. I’ve had a calm week going about my various responsibilities as usual. One rule that I’ve made is to always find something to highlight and smile about each day. To find little inexpensive ways to reward/treat

One rule that I’ve made is to always find something to highlight and smile about each day. To find little inexpensive ways to reward or treat myself each day or weekly.

Echoes of my neighbourhood, photographs — As usual cooking for my family is a daily occurence

Treating myself to a Ferris wheel ride as reward for sticking to my goals

Enjoying the ambiance of my surroundings

Humming to my music and catching some exercise

Creative Writing · Everyday People · Photographs

Bandit or not Bandit?…Every day beautiful people # 39

May 11, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha13 Comments

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it, we go nowhere.” Carl Sagan

The sensible part of me knows that the bicycle rider had the scarf on his face to keep out the fine desert sand, but the nosy, imaginative busy mind of me, created another scenario, to which he’s now an accomplice in a story.

It just couldn’t get any better, with the band on his face, the cap, the knapsack and a bicycle for a quick getaway 😉

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

Never leave me lonely

With words left unsaid

You walk away into the dark

Like a mist, that melts away.

Family · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · The Daily Post · This Is My Life

The Dear Diary Day’s…

January 26, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha31 Comments

Of course there was life before the computer and there will still be life after the computer.

It’s called ‘Living and The Dear Diary Day’s.

Before I started blogging, my dear diary took the brunt of my words and my dear Himself’s ears were perpetually hot from lending his ears to my nattering.

Now he can flip through the channels in peace while my gleaming eyes are dancing as I mumble and mutter over the clattering computer.

I still scribble a lot in dear diary, though not everything anymore and sometimes, I do get the feeling that she feels disenfranchised because at times, I feel her giving me the cold shoulder when I want to write those personal tidbits at the end of the day.

My typical day starts at 4.30 am on school days, when the alarm shrieks to wake me up. I groggily waddle to the bathroom to take care of business with eyes at half-mast so that the sleep can be retained for a little longer.

I then lie back for a few more minutes and just either read the Bible or pray quietly, going through things in my head. I enjoy that part of the morning when everywhere is quiet.

With school age kids, I prepare their breakfast and a meal that they take to school. On a lazy day, I slap a sandwich together. They have a canteen, but I am not particularly enthused with the offerings especially since my younger son has allergies.

We get ready for school and hopefully the morning goes sanely without looking for a missing sock, or pencil pouch or their glasses and what have you. It’s always a nice morning bustle.

After shooing them off to school, I try to get in some brisk exercise or lazy walk and just take in the fresh air.

Thankfully, for the past few months, I have not had to dash off to work like a headless chicken as well, but that might change anytime soon, when I get back to school myself.

The rest of my day follows with attending to Himself as well, planning the days meal, dashing out for xyz, homework’s, housework, personal business, reading, writing, listening to music and what have you.

Some days involve church work, charity work, this and that and those work, but life is usually full of odds and ends of things to do.

Now that I blog, I also fit it into my days schedule. Blog early. Switch off and get other things done, then come back to the blog later when the dust of the day has settled.

I keep pretty much busy without my computer, but please don’t get any ideas of coming to take it away.

I just got this new one when the old one gave up from exhaustion during Christmas, though I think my dear diary would be secretly pleased if you nick my computer.

The Daily Post Life After Blogs.

Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Musings · Writing

Wouldn’t you just love to have your own Jeeves?…

November 12, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha33 Comments

Let’s be honest with one another, if the truth be told, wouldn’t you want to have that magical Jeeves/Personal Assistant who will tackle those dreaded and impossible to delegate tasks that you are faced with?

Oh! I so would love me some Jeeves. Genie Jeeves would take care of my business in an efficient manner such as:

Exercising for me, and passing all the nicely contoured muscles to my body. He sweats it out while I shape up nicely and of course I would recline on a plush chaise-lounge like a rich Nabob eating whatever I liked without the repercussions of the weighing scale. How awesome would that be 🙂

My dear genie Jeeves, would write those bestseller stories and books running around in my head to a perfect T and as quickly as possible too, so that he can start selling and make me wads of money.

Genie Jeeves would read my tons of mail, weed out the unintelligent ones and pass the intelligent information that I need to know into my head.

All those boxes of knick-knacks that found their way into the house would be nicely sorted out, labeled, given away or whatever. Jeeves will take care of that mess.

Running all those distracting little errands that can cut into my precious “knowing me time’‘ would be up Jeeves alley.

…..Earth to Jacqueline, now stop the daydreaming and remember that wishes are not horses, so no ride for this poor beggar.

Let me keep staring out of the window as often as possible, hopefully, I just might catch a shooting star and make my wishes; you never know these things 😉

So, tell me, do you have any chores that you need sorted out?

I might just be in the mood to lend you my Jeeves when he arrives.

In response to NaBloPoMo – Thursday, November 12

If you had a personal assistant who would do your most dreaded tasks, which items from your to-do list would you assign out?

Inspiration - Motivation

Fit? So not…Fabulous? OH yes!..

August 3, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha33 Comments

Following my post of just a little nudge, I had to give myself a little nudge too. I weighed in a whooping 112kg from 98kg just a few weeks ago!

“What?” I shriek in alarm.

I gasp and swallow the lump in my throat.

I should have known from the extra waddle of my rump and the jiggle of loose parts coupled with the aches and pains here and there. These are my usual tale-tale signs even though my height tends to hide this ample splendor 🙂

I have fallen off my wagon and landed face down. But no matter, time to get back on the grind.

Getting fitter and cultivating a healthier lifestyle is one of my targets set for the year and I am no where near achieving that. Sob, sob 😦

Well the key word here is getting fit and revamping my nutrition. I am not on the verge of becoming twiggy, nor am I ready for any hocus-pocus, mumbo-jumbo weight loss magic. That is hardly sustainable and becomes dated pretty fast.

I just want to eat reasonable portions of healthy meals and exercise regularly.

At the start of the year, I jumped in with a lot of gusto and actually lost a good chunk. In retrospect, I think I got tired of counting calories and scaling every food that went into my mouth, coupling that with recent hectic changes made in my life, I comfort ate and threw away the scale. Not so sure that was a good thing 😦

Not to bore you with all the nitty-gritty details, I choose to expose myself by blogging my 30 day keep fit challenge, so that you can have the opportunity to tar and feather me when I fail. It also makes me feel more responsible, knowing that I have your support.

I shall log in once a week and give you a synopsis of how I fared and if I made the scale tilt a bit. I shall set incremental and plausible goals, so that it does not become too cumbersome.

I also belong to a group of very awesome, fit and dynamic ladies from different walks of life who are breaking the boundaries and achieving phenomenal things on this level. They can be found on Facebook at, Women Encouraging Women To Live Healthy.

It is a closed group for women and would require an invite, so just in case you are interested, you can give me a nudge.

They are a very fantastic support group of encouraging women (I am sure that am I one of the laziest of the whole lot) :), however, I hope that is about to change.

Worked out for 45 minutes today and had a good burn. I also ate very sensibly.