Tag: Health

Health · Lifestyle

Coach Yourself Back To Full Health

jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

The list of things that you could be doing to damage your own health could go on forever. Some things you know you’ll be doing wrong, but you’ll actively be ignoring. Others you’ll be blissfully unaware of. We’re so bad at damaging our own health because we believe we’re young, unbreakable and that nothing we do is going to damage our health as long as we give it all a rest as we start to really age. All of this is wrong, the earlier you start coaching yourself back to full health, the sooner you’re going to feel like a completely new person. Follow our life coaching advice below and you’ll be reborn in no time.

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Cutting Out Serious Habits

We might as well start with the serious things first. The sooner you cut out the things that might seriously be damaging your health, the better you’re going to feel within most likely a few weeks. So, one of the main ways both Americans and Brits are damaging their health is through alcohol consumption. One little tipple a night soon turns into two, two turns into a heavy drink at the weekend, and before you know it you’ve got a problem that you don’t like to talk about. One thing you could consider is a rehab facility. You don’t necessarily need to be fully addicted to alcohol, we’re talking having a drink in the office to get you through the day. It could just be an evening problem that you believe is getting out of control. Just a week or two away can change your whole life. Another serious issue that a lot of people suffer from is smoking, and it is highly addictive. The best thing you can do here is to purchase an E-cig pen. They’re the best way to cut out the majority of harmful chemicals from cigarettes that you’ll be putting into your system.

Finding Your Health Plan

This is essential. You should have a plan for pretty much everything in life, but none more so than with your health. Having a plan gives you something to stick to, therefore making more long-term results possible. So do a bit of research and find out what plan might work for you. If we’re talking diet, you want to ease yourself into it. Start with dieting for a few days a week, the increase it by a day until you’re ready to tackle it full time. As for exercise, you can follow the same sort of principle. Light exercise once or twice a week, then increase the duration, intensity, and frequency of your workouts.

Sticking To The Changes

The last thing you want to do is to relapse and fall back into your old ways. So, the best thing we can advise is to make sure you’re reminding yourself of why you started to coach yourself back to full health in the first place. Pinpoint the exact moment that you said enough is enough, and keep that in the front of your mind.

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Health · Self Help · Wellness

Dealing With Chronic Pain? You’re Not Alone

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According to a recent report, 11 percent of people suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain can impact a number of areas across the body, but it is typically common in the back and limbs. If you have RSI, you might have chronic pain in your wrists and arms. Whereas, individuals who have suffered an injury after lifting a heavy object may experience chronic pain in the lower back.

It is important to be aware that chronic pain can grow worse as time goes on. You might think that the issue remains constant, but this is not the case. It can also lead to further complications such as arthritis and difficulty with mobility.

Can Chronic Pain Be Cured?

It depends on the type of chronic pain that you are suffering from. Some chronic pain can be fixed with surgery. However, this can be both expensive and intensive. It can also be a coin toss as to whether or not the surgery actually has a positive effect. If you are thinking about getting surgery to deal with your chronic pain, you should consult your doctor. Make sure that you are aware of the possible side effects and issues that can be apparent even after the surgery is complete.

If your chronic pain can’t be cured, there’s still a good chance that it can be alleviated or indeed reduced. There are numerous studies exploring this possibility and researchers have seen good results with aqua therapy. Particularly, for patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Doctors may also recommend medication but this can be a slippery slope, and it’s easy to become dependant on the meds that they recommend.

How Does It Impact Your Life?

People with chronic pain may struggle to maintain their career because of an inability to concentrate on a job or task. For instance, people suffering from RSI will have difficulty completing typography work. This is an issue as typically the condition is caused by jobs that involve typing. As such, you could suddenly be unable to complete a job that you are trained for. It’s for this reason that people often find that chronic pain can impact their income dramatically.

That’s why you should think about the cause of your chronic pain. It’s possible that the pain was due to an accident that wasn’t your fault such as a work-related injury. If it was due to another’s negligence, you could be entitled to a large settlement that will help you in the future. Don’t forget, people with chronic pain often have large medical bills to pay.

Coping With Your Condition

If you are suffering from chronic pain and you are struggling to cope, a support group could be the answer. There are various support groups online for people who are struggling with the same issues as you. By talking to them, you can get coping mechanisms from people who have first-hand experience of your condition.

We hope this helps you deal with your own chronic pain and some of the life challenges that may come with it.   

 This is a collaborative post.
food · Health · Lifestyle

Feel Good Food For Everyday

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Food is absolutely fundamental to our lives. We eat every day, cooking different meals, sourcing new foods at grocery stores, trying recipes from around the world. Food brings us together around the table but it can also provide a moment of solitary bliss in the form of a quick one-pot meal alone at lunchtime.

The flavours we go for and the choices we make aren’t just about enjoyment though. What we eat affects every aspect of our lives from our health to our weight and from the money we spend to the times we can save. Food can give us momentary joy, later replaced by frustration standing on the bathroom scales, but it can also help us to get the healthiest body we can.

Understanding foods and the benefits they bring is key to having a healthy, balanced diet that takes in everything from a bit of chocolate here and there to a huge bowl of steamed veg whenever you like. These are the foods that make us feel good every day.

Steamed Vegetables

A completely unsurprising first entry: steamed vegetables are fantastic for your body and will always make you feel good. You can choose from a wide range of flavours so that you can easily eat something completely different every day.

A good rule to go by is to choose from a wide range of colours when you decide which vegetables to eat. Dark leafy greens tend to contain lots of iron, carrots with their vibrant orange contain vitamin A and pulses like peas and bean contain plenty of fibre and protein to keep you fuller for longer.

Steaming vegetables is a good way to cook them as you don’t lose any of the vitamins or minerals to the cooking water. It is also significantly better than frying or roasting because this method doesn’t need any fat.

Sauerkraut

Another way to enjoy vegetables is to pickle and ferment them, as in the case with sauerkraut. The fermenting agent is a bacteria that is particularly good for your gut, allowing you to take in more vitamins and minerals and making you feel generally more healthy.

As a probiotic, sauerkraut does seem to help people who need IBS relief as it improves the functionality of the gut. Though it’s often unclear what causes IBS in each individual, it does seem that an imbalance in your gut flora is a possible cause of the discomfort you experience. Sauerkraut and other foods like kimchi and miso help to restore the balance by introducing new ‘good bacteria’ which allows your gut to function properly again.

One final reason to eat sauerkraut is simple: it’s delicious.

Dark Chocolate

Though milk and white chocolate are often full of sugar and fat, dark chocolate is a bit more forgiving and a little bit each day can be good for you. Lots of people find that dark chocolate is an acquired taste and if you are used to eating the high fat and sugar stuff, anything about 70% cocoa is going to be a surprise with its depth and bitterness. However, if you do like it, there are lots of reasons to love it.

Dark chocolate can help to lower your blood pressure, improve your eyesight and even help to increase your metabolism. Plus as it is sweet once you get past the bitterness, it can be the perfect alternative to a calorific dessert your main meal. Dark chocolate has also been found to help with symptoms of depression, lower cholesterol and seems to help with cognition too.

So if you are feeling stressed, trying to study for an exam and wanting to lose weight, dark chocolate might just help you on your way.

Fruit

Though people with diabetes will need to watch out for eating too much high sugar fruit, for most people, eating fruit is a great way to pile in on lots of vitamins and minerals. Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and limes are ideal for gaining vitamin C. This is important because vitamin C is shown to increase the absorption of iron, making citrus fruits the ideal companion for green leafy veggies. If you are feeling fatigued or you are trying to work out harder at the gym, up your citrus fruits to really make a difference.

Fruit, like veg, is also a good way to increase the amount of fibre you eat. This will help your digestive system stay regular as well as keep you fuller for longer. Lots of fruits are also good for helping to increase your liquid intake. Though drinking a glass of water is always a good idea, fruit is a simple way to introduce more liquid into your diet, keeping you well hydrated throughout the day.

Flax Seeds

There is a lot of research into the benefits of flax seeds including whether they might help to prevent cancers, lung disease and cardiovascular disease. While this research has not provided any conclusive evidence just yet, there is a wealth of optimism that the flax seed could be ideal for improving your health.

What it certainly does contain is plenty of fibre (a theme is developing with fibrous foods!) as well as omega 3, an essential fatty acid and lignans, which are what researchers are looking into as they may help to protect against cancer.

The foods we choose to eat are vital for our health and well being and finding the best foods can be difficult. As the science around what we should eat changes all the time, it can be confusing to follow the best advice as it changes so frequently.

One thing you can do is listen to your body. Think about how you feel after eating certain foods. Do you feel good and energised? Do you feel happy? Do you regret what you ate? All of these questions will help to indicate the types of foods that you should be going for. And if you are really committed to your quest, keeping a diary will help to isolate the foods that really bring you joy.

Health · Lifestyle · Wellness

Living a Peaceful Life Is Easier Than You Think

jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

Have you ever just wanted to throw all of your worries out of the window? Perhaps you just want to settle down peacefully, free of drama and worries and live out the rest of your life in peace and harmony with your surroundings? It might seem like a lot to ask for especially if you live in a busy city environment. Just take a look at this post from Time.com and you’ll find that by just living in the city, your brain could actually change for the worse. However, it’s important to remember that you can achieve virtually anything assuming you’re willing to put the time and effort into it. First, let’s take a look what why you’d want to live a peaceful life in the first place, then we’ll dive into some deeper considerations on how you can achieve a peaceful life.

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Why live a peaceful life?

First, let’s examine why you’d want to live a peaceful life or how it even differs to your current life. You might be perfectly content with how you live now, but here are some advantages to a peaceful life that may entice you to change how you approach the world.

  • Peaceful living helps you remain calm and collected. The first major advantage is being able to remain calm and collected no matter what the situation is. By living a peaceful life, you’ll be able to find inner peace with yourself to prevent inner struggles from affecting your life. You’ll have clarity when making decisions and living your life, and you’ll no longer have to suffer from thinking about too many irrelevant things.
  • You’ll always find the silver lining no matter what happens. Misfortune happens to everyone at some point in their lives and we have to learn how to deal with it. As explained in this helpful article by PsychologyToday.com, there are ways to deal with unfortunate events and learning to live peacefully can assist this process by helping you find the silver lining during unfortunate events.
  • It helps you become more tolerant of people around you. If you’ve ever lashed out at someone because they just seem to annoy you or if you find it difficult to make new friends because you judge them too quickly, then living peacefully can help you settle that inner critic so that you’ll become more tolerant of everyone around you.
  • You can learn to seek forgiveness for your past mistakes. Maybe you’ve done something in the past that was really rude or hurtful to someone that was close to you, or perhaps you often get frustrated and argue with almost anyone. Using steps that are similar to the ones from TheHopeLine.com, it’s possible to seek forgiveness so you can atone for past mistakes. A switch to living a peaceful life will help facilitate this so you can get rid of struggles and conflicts to make way for a new beginning.
  • Being peaceful can help bring joy to your life and those around you. A peaceful life is a life of happiness. With no struggles to worry about and no negative emotions to cloud your judgement, you’ll bring happiness not only to yourself but to those around you who will be entranced by the calm and collected way that you approach life.
  • There are many others around the world that seek peace and you can be part of it. You aren’t alone on your journey to becoming a peaceful person. Online communities such as the one at Reddit.com will help you in your journey to live a simple and peaceful life that is free from conflict and struggles. They can offer advice and you can share your experiences as well.

Now that we’ve gone through the advantages of living a peaceful life and what it involves, let’s go deeper into the subject by explaining some important fundamentals that will help you live a more carefree and enjoyable lifestyle.

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Commitments don’t necessarily mean what’s important

First, let’s talk about what it means to commit yourself to something. Commitment means that you are dedicated to a cause or activity. For instance, you can be committed to your partner and faithful because you won’t cheat, or you could be committed to your company so that you do everything in your power to make them more successful. Commitments are, for the most part, defined by you. You are the one that chooses to marry or stick with a company and you have the power to control that decision. As explained in this post at ThoughtCatalog.com, there is such a thing as being afraid of commitment. However, it’s much better to understand why you feel afraid of committing than doing it blindly and regretting it later in the future.

However, commitments don’t always imply that something is important. Just because you feel committed to your work, it doesn’t mean that your job is the most important thing in your life. Many people work jobs that hardly pay anything, but they find meaning in the work they do and that’s what keeps them going. Others find that they feel committed to their children, but until you realise what’s important about your children, you’ll start to feel like your commitment and sacrifices are just becoming a chore. If you’re not sure what commitments you should be investing in for your kids, then take a look at this article from AhaParenting.com and you’ll come across some fantastic advice that can teach you to become a better parent.

In short, learn to distinguish between a commitment and what’s important. Until you realise why you’re committing yourself to something unconditionally, you won’t get any sense of satisfaction or fulfilment from sacrificing other things to feed your commitment. Once you can tell the difference, you’ll find that you have a lot less stress on your mind and you’ll be far more productive throughout the day.

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Take it slow and go easy on yourself

Another important thing to remember is to go easy on yourself. Sleep a little do nothing once in awhile and remember to indulge in your own hobbies. Sure, work can be difficult and time-consuming, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to take holidays off. It’s important to give yourself plenty of time to relax, and you can achieve that by focusing on your comfort. It’s the small things that count when you want to live a peaceful life, so look at articles and resources like Mattress-Guides.net to help you pick a great mattress to sleep on at night. You’d be surprised at how much better you feel after a relaxing night of sleep. Other factors can also affect your sleep quality such as your body temperature and what you eat before you go to bed. In short, try to focus on giving yourself more relaxation time and you’ll learn to appreciate taking life a little more slowly.

Spend more time with loved ones

You should also focus on giving yourself more quality time with friends and family. By planning trips together and indulging in enjoyable days out together, you’ll improve your relationships and find new ways to connect with the people that matter in your life. If you’re finding it difficult to have a stress-free day out with your family, this article at ACookingPotAndTwistedTales.com will give you plenty of fantastic advice that will show you how to reduce the stress of planning a day out. A day out can be a slow and relaxing event that doesn’t need to be stretched out. It doesn’t need a purpose either, it could just be for the sake of meeting up with loved ones to relax together.

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Be content with your lifestyle

To live a peaceful life, you need to learn to be content with everything you have. For example, if you’re able to find little joys in everything you do, then you’ll be far happier than if you were to constantly think to yourself that you’re not good enough or that your environment isn’t good enough. Find what makes you happy and try to think positively about smaller things in life.

Just being able to sit down and drink a cup of tea after a long day of work should give you joy. Similarly, being able to sit down at your computer and chat with friends that are thousands of miles away should give you a great sense of joy.

Being content is all about looking at the better side of life. Small comforts should make you happy and frustrations should be dealt with swiftly and without much trouble. It doesn’t take much to completely change your life around so that you are more content, but if you ever need help then take a look at articles such as this one from ZenHabits.net to learn more about what it means to be content with life.

Living peacefully can seem difficult or even more stressful, especially if you aren’t used to thinking positively or if you have a job that’s incredibly stressful. Hopefully, these tips will give you a great start on your new lifestyle so that you can enjoy life in a new way.

This is a collaborative post.
Health · Lifestyle · Wellness

Stock Your Kitchen with These Medicinal Foods

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Health Food, Natures healing spices, Kitchen, Lifestyle

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You’ve probably heard a few people say that food is medicine in your time, and you know what? They were absolutely right. If you want to live a long, happy and healthy life, you absolutely do need to eat the right foods in the right amounts.

Obviously, there is always going to be a place for proper medicine and the use of pharmaceuticals, and a lot of people wouldn’t be able to get by without wheelchairs, bandages, CPAP Machines and some of the other medical supplies you’ll find at http://medsupplynow.com/, but when it comes to preventing illness and helping to heal from simple ailments, food can be pretty powerful!

Here are some of the most medicinal foods you should consider stocking your kitchen with right now:

Basil

This delicious herb, which goes great with spaghetti bolognese, is known to aid individuals suffering from the discomfort of indigestion and stomach cramps and many people believe it can help with constipation too, which I’m sure you’ll agree are all good reasons to stock it in your herb rack!

Ginger

Ginger is a popular root, which you can find in many kitchens, in either its natural or powdered form due to it’s strong, exotic taste, but did you know that it can help relieve nausea? Many pregnant women drink ginger tea or chew on crystallized ginger when they have morning sickness that isn’t serious enough to require medical attention. You can use it to relieve nausea at any time, and there is a good chance that it will work.Of course, if your nausea is persistent, you should see a doctor because ginger might not cut it if you’re experiencing something more serious.

Cayenne Pepper

Have a lot of phlegm in your throat? Finding it hard to breathe with ease, if you haven’t got the time to wait for a delivery of decongestant from https://www.healthwarehouse.com/pharmacy or you can’t get out to the store to buy something that will bring you relief, you’ll be glad to have a jar of cayenne pepper to hand. Why? Because cayenne pepper, or more accurately the capsicum it contains, will clear everything out and make you feel like a whole new person.

Capsicum, when applied in a topical treatment to aches and pains, including backache, can also have a very relieving effect on the body.

Cinnamon

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There are lots of promising research papers that seem to suggest that cinnamon could help to lower the blood pressure and cholesterol levels in individuals who have diabetes. All you need to do is sprinkle half a teaspoon of the spice on your food daily to get this benefit. Obviously, if you have diabetes, you need to talk to your doctor before you try anything different or start meddling with your diet, and the science is, as yet, far from conclusive, but cinnamon is safe and delicious, so it couldn’t hurt to sprinkle it on your oats or bake some into your apple pie, could it?

Garlic

This pungent allium has long been known to have medicinal properties. Even registered MDs will quite often mention to their patients the benefits of taking garlic daily id they have high blood pressure, because of its ability to lower it, and most people will know that eating garlic when you have a cold can help to sort you right out, which is why it’s imminently sensible to keep a stock of garlic in your kitchen at all times.

Fennel

It has long been known that chewing on fennel seeds, which taste a little like aniseed, is a good way to get rid of trapped gas. Not only that but drinking fennel tea will aid with digestion if you have an upset stomach and some women swear by it when they’re having trouble bringing on breast milk to feed their babies. It may also help babies who have colic too!

Turmeric

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There is lots of interesting research into this yellow curry spice which claims it can do everything from preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s to ease arthritis and even protect the body from cancer, and although a lot more research needs to be done to confirm any of these claims, the fact that scientists think there is enough in them to be worth studying makes it a food worth adding into your daily diet.

Please Remember, you should always consult your doctor before making changes to your diet, especially if you’re sick in any way, and your doctor should always be your first port of call if you’re experiencing serious symptoms or symptoms that you can’t shake. That being said, using these foods as medicine, is sure to make your life easier and your body better!

Health · Lifestyle

Health and Wellness Through Nutrition

jacquelineobyikocha37 Comments

As we get older, we often complain about our knees cracking, being stiff or just feeling rundown. Aches and pains should not be a common occurrence. These grievances are usually the result of our sedentary lifestyle that includes lack of exercise, poor eating habits and being overweight. Do remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all standard, so if the pain is not going away and you dread it is something chronic, then seek medical treatment.

Aging, Health, Exercise, Lifestyle, Wellness, Taking Care of Yourself

So, when your body speaks, listen up! Being healthy is more than simply being pain or disease-free. It is about becoming attuned to your body, changing your lifestyle in order to develop and incorporate the highest level of wellness within. So, how do you achieve this? Sometimes, knowing where to start is half the battle. Below are some tips to help you on your way to healthier you!

Diet

In 2015, the World Health Organization suggested limiting sugar intake to less 10% a day and to cut to 5% for added health benefits. Cutting down on sugary foods and beverages is not the only way to go. You don’t have to drastically overhaul your diet, a modest change will go a long way toward improving your health. So start by eating more whole grains, nuts, vegetables, fruits, and fish and avoiding foods with a high glycemic index, which cause water retention, swelling of the joints, and discomfort. Cutting back on processed foods and the consumption of red meat may also reduce the risk of premature death.

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So, swap sugary foods and beverages with a piece of fruit and a tablespoon of peanut butter. You will satisfy your sweet tooth and fill that hunger pang at the same time. Swap out a single daily serving of red or processed meat for a serving of nuts or legumes, and you will add years to your life. Adding dietary supplements is also an easy way to add nutrients and vitamins to your body. For our recommendations, click Research Verified reviews here. Stick to small changes that you will be able to commit to for a long time.

Exercise

Start your day by stretching and exercising. You will be glad you did since by doing so, you will ease your muscle pain and stiffness. You will also be able to maintain your body mass index within normal limits and avoid becoming overweight or obese, and avoid putting stress on your back, legs, and other body parts from those extra pounds.

Getting yourself to the gym is a good way to start and a great way to form a habit. Exercise should be a part of your day, like brushing your hair. If it is routine, you will be more unlikely to skip out on it. You don’t have to be a gym rat and live there, you can do high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts that are based on this “less is more” philosophy. Just remember to do at least 30 minutes of exercises, at least 5 days per week for a total of 150 minutes.

 

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Hydration

Staying hydrated throughout the day is crucial to staying healthy and maintaining the function of every system in your body, including your heart, brain, and muscles. A healthy person needs about 30 to 50 ounces of fluid per day, which can be derived from drinking liquids or by eating water-rich foods, like cucumbers, cauliflower, eggplant, red cabbage, peppers, and spinach.

However, drinking fluids is very important in order to eliminate toxic substances, produce digestive enzymes, maintain healthy skin, hair and organs, and to help your body absorb essential vitamins, minerals, and natural sugars.

Essential Oils

Essential Oils are not just nice for producing pleasant aromas. They are organic compounds extracted from natural plants (barks, flowers, fruit, leaves, seeds or roots) with tremendous healing properties and health benefits.

Aging, Health, Exercise, Lifestyle, Wellness, Taking Care of Yourself

Just adding some of the most common essential oils like lavender, lemon, peppermint, and tea tree oil can you fight colds and flu symptoms, improve digestion, alleviate pain, balance hormones and relax your body and soothe sore muscles, just to name a few things.

Whatever you do, you will greatly benefit and you will be closer to achieving health and wellness. Be good to yourself by taking care of your body and soul.

Health

Is Your Head Harming Your Health?

jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

Mental health issues are terrible. Thankfully, they’re now recognized by health professionals as chemical imbalances. As such, treatment and general approaches have changed in significant ways.

But, there’s less focus on the way a ‘chemically healthy’ brain can cause damage to health. While not a medical issue, negative outlooks can cause health problems. Yet, many of us suffer from negative thoughts in at least some aspects. It’s a real issue. Which is why we’re going to look at some of the negative outlooks which could harm your health if you aren’t careful.

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Lack of confidence

We all experience a lack of confidence at some point. You could argue that it’s a result of the competitive pressure we place on beauty. But, whatever the reason, lack of confidence usually starts in our teens and haunts us throughout our lives. As well as leading to issues such as depression, lack of confidence can lead to problems like anorexia, which can do untold damage to health.

If you’ve been fighting a lack of confidence, it’s past time you addressed the issue. You could choose to embrace some self-love practices and become more acquainted with your body. Or, you may want to take more extreme measures, such as cosmetic surgery. You could even opt for a less-invasive option like non-surgical lipo. If you think this is the way to go, you can contact Cosmetic Laser Dermatology and others like them for more information. Bear in mind that a step like this may not have the desired impact on your outlook. It may also be necessary to engage in the self-love activities mentioned above. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in the same position.

Disinterest

We feel disinterest for a variety of reasons, some of which require medical help. Depression, for example, often leads to apathy. If you think this may be the case, it’s important to seek medical help. But, sometimes, the cause is more to do with our outlook. Secretly, many of us would prefer an evening on the sofa to a night out. But, if you pass up every opportunity, you’ll soon find that issues such as depression creep up on you. Not to mention that inactivity can cause weight gain and other health issues.

To get around the issue, find ways to boost your energy levels, such as healthy eating, or exercise. It may also be worth finding hobbies which peak your interest. That way, you’ll be more motivated to make an effort.

Destructive cravings

It’s not unusual to seek relief from stress. But, many of us satisfy the need through destructive behaviours such as drinking, smoking, or drug use. You don’t need us to tell you what these could do to your health.

Instead of giving in to destructive cravings, find a release which isn’t harmful, such as reading, or playing games. Evidence has shown that you get a chemical buzz from game playing, like that of an addict. So, why not give it a go and see how much better you feel?

Health · Lifestyle

Life After a Heart Attack- What Comes Next?

jacquelineobyikocha3 Comments

Heart problems are the biggest causes of preventable deaths in the western world, a frightening statistic. Heart attacks, heart disease and other cardiovascular issues are often a direct result of poor lifestyle choices. Eating the wrong foods, not exercising, smoking, drinking too much and taking drugs all take their toll.

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Thanks to great medical advancements, fast transport such as air ambulance services and the fact that heart attack can quickly be recognised these days, more people are surviving them. However once you have had one you’re at risk of another unless you change your ways, so if you’re wondering what comes next after a heart attack, here are a few things to bear in mind.

Understand Your Medication

Your medications will depend on what the cause for your heart attack was. You should learn what each of these medicines does, and know exactly when you should take them and how. For example, will you need to take them with or without food, at certain times of the day or in combination with other medicines? If for example your heart attack was caused by hypertension you may need to take additional pills for your high blood pressure. You should also ensure you’re not caught short without them in an emergency, so if you’re travelling, for example, you will need to bring extra in case of delays.

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Decide on Lifestyle Changes

Heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues are sometimes a genetic problem which is out of your control. However, if yours was due to lifestyle decisions, it’s paramount you make a change. Clean up your diet, and find out from your doctor what exercise you can do once you’re recovered. Swimming, walking and other low impact activities are usually good choices. Stop your drink, drug and smoking habits, get enough sleep and generally look after yourself. While a heart attack can be scary, but for some people, it’s what’s needed to shock them into action to make a change. Maybe you didn’t realise how bad your lifestyle was, or just thought ‘it will never happen to me’. Now that you know the consequences, you know what you need to do to live a healthier life in future.

Seek Support and Advice

Having people you can speak to about what happened, your fears and concerns are important. If you feel as though you can’t speak to loved ones, try a helpline or go on a forum for people in the same position. Those who have already had heart attacks will understand the situation you’re in and may be able to give objective advice as well as support.

Thankfully, many people go on to live a normal and healthy life after a heart attack. If you’re one of the lucky ones who survived, see it as a second chance at life. Use it as an opportunity to make a positive change. Eat better, make better decisions, spend time with loved one and don’t take life for granted.

This is a collaborative post
Health · Lifestyle

Boost Your Energy Levels and Boost Your Health

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We all lead busy lives. And even on from that, we can all make excuses not to take care of ourselves as much as we should. We justify that we’re busy or that we’re not able to go to the gym or we just had to grab a takeout. But then, should we be surprised if we find ourselves feeling sluggish, tired, and generally low? At this time of year, a lower immune system can be rather obvious. So here are some things that you can do to make sure that you keep your energy levels up to feel happy, healthy, and strong.

Tired, Stressed, Fatigue, Boost Your Energy Levels

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Eat More Magnesium Based Foods

We all know that we need to eat a balanced diet to stay at a healthy weight or even to lose weight. For energy, a healthy diet is of paramount importance too. But what does that really mean? One of the nutrients that we need to make sure that we are getting plenty of is magnesium. It can really play a part in giving our energy levels a boost. It has been found that if you’re deficient in magnesium, your body has to work harder to function normally, which in turn, will use up a lot of energy. So make sure that foods like almonds cashews, fish, and whole grains feature regularly in your diet.

Move More

It might sound ridiculous, but moving more can actually help you to feel like you have more energy. It isn’t necessarily anything like a five-mile run or a weights session. But a walk around the block or to the park and back could be just what you need. It will lift your mood and make you feel invigorated and refreshed, rather than feeling low and lethargic.

Reduce Stress

If you are feeling stressed, then it can naturally drain you of energy. It can be often as a result of anxiety, which can really zap the energy out of you. It can leave you feeling physically exhausted as well as mentally exhausted. And if left to spiral out of control, then it could trigger other things like depression or bipolar, as mentioned by the site Bipolar Lives. So you need to be monitoring things closely to see how you react to it all. Timeout, exercise, therapy, and dealing with the stressors head on can all help. So, find out what works for you and then go from there.

Avoid Sugar

When you feel tired, then it can be tempting to reach for a bag of candy or some chocolate. These things will give you a short burst of energy (well, a boost in your blood sugar). But after that, it will leave you feeling more tired than you ever were before. So refined sugar, and processed foods, in general, should just be avoided. Keeping your blood sugar level steady will be what helps you to feel energetic and have a steady burst of energy.

Is there anything that you find helps you to stay on top of our energy levels or gives them a boost?

Lifestyle

Make Health An Effortless Part Of Your Lifestyle

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Blueberries, Apples, Melon, Carrots, Vegetables, Fresh, Food, CookingImage via PXhere

Everyone wants to be healthy and happy, but many people go about it the wrong way. Instead of focusing on making health into a natural and effortless part of their every-day lifestyle, they try to use sheer willpower to force themselves through different, painful practices that they’ll sooner or later be tempted to quit.

But people are driven more by habit than by incredible efforts of will. Here’s a look at how to introduce some good, healthy habits into your life starting today.

Get physically active every day

Setting yourself the goal of spending an hour in the gym every day may work for a while, but there’ll be the inevitable day when you find yourself too busy, too tired, or just too distracted to follow through.

Instead of setting yourself a specific exercise goal, set yourself the goal of being physically active every day. This can mean anything from taking a short walk to jogging on the spot to going to the gym for 3 hours or running a marathon — though if you’re running a lot, you might want to click here for some good anti-blister supplies.

The key is that it’s an easy habit to stick with every day, even when you don’t feel like it. Being physically active in one way will also make you feel motivated to be more physically active in general.

Prepare all your food from scratch

People argue a lot about different diet styles, and which one might be the best. One thing that all experts and scientists agree on, though, is that processed food is by and large terribly unhealthy, filled with potentially harmful additives, and at the heart of many modern health problems.

An excellent health-habit is to cut out all processed foods — anything you buy “ready-made” — and to prepare all your own food from scratch. That way you’ll know whether or not there’s a teaspoon of sugar in your dish, instead of being tricked into eating large amounts of toxic high-fructose corn syrup.

Eat foods that leave you feeling energetic

Energy is one of the most important things for good overall health, because the more energetic we feel, the more active we’re likely to be, physically and mentally, and the happier as well.

If you find that you’re always falling asleep right after each meal, this not only means that you probably struggle to be productive and positive each day, but it also means that your food is too heavy on your body and is taking a lot of energy to digest.

Save the heavy meals for special occasions, and try to eat foods that leave you feeling energetic on a daily basis, instead of ones that seem to drain your energy.

Read something uplifting every day

The mind is just as important as the body when it comes to health, and like the body, the mind is affected by the kind of “fuel” we give it.

While the body is fuelled by food and drink, the mind is fuelled by the things you read, say, watch, and hear.

If you want to promote healthy, positive and happy thoughts, it’s essential that you give your mind something positive to reflect on every day. A great place to start is by reading something uplifting every day. This could be an upbeat fable or a real-life story of someone succeeding against the odds.