When it comes to our health levels, you’re always going to find that you need to focus on different things. Because there’s no one size fits all approach to your health levels. Of course, there are key recommendations that are going to help you to stay fit and feel your best, but as you go through life you’re likely to find that your needs change. And when your needs change, you have to tweak your approach to health a little. Whether we’re talking about growing children (such as your own) or old age (whether that’s yours or your parents’), everyone will need to take a different approach to health. But how do you know what your body needs?

Most of the time, it will be telling you. And while you may not be all that in-tune with yourself yet, you will be. Before long, you’ll recognize the signs and what your body is trying to tell you about what it needs the most. But until then, we’re going to break down what some of them might be. Because during different phases of your life, your body will want and need different things. So let’s take a look at what you need to know to help your health during them.

To Feel Good

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First of all, we’re going to talk over the things that your body needs right now in order to feel its best. And yes, we’re kicking off with some of the most simple, but also the most effective, tips.

Water

First of all, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re drinking enough water. This is the secret to feeling good. And yes, it’s really that simple. When you drink more water, your body will be energized and able to work at its best. Your digestion will improve, your skin will clear up, and your brain will function better – all because you started to hydrate your body better. So whenever your body doesn’t feel its best, load up on water!

Fuel

Alongside water, you have to fuel your body. Yes, it’s nice to be able to eat for taste or enjoy certain foods because they’re comforting, but when you want to feel good, you need to focus on foods that fuel. Things like salmon, walnuts, and eggs are great for you. Start to research different foods and see what will benefit your body the most.

Sleep

And sleep is the secret. There’s nothing else that can really beat the benefits your body will get from a good night’s sleep. You’ll find more details at SleepFoundation.org on why our bodies need sleep, but above all else, you heal. When you’re tired or achy, your body is going to work on repairing itself when you sleep. So make sure that you’re getting a solid seven to nine hours each night, just to ensure that your body can feel its best.

To Look Good

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And yes, of course, we all want to look our best. But we don’t always associate health with beauty – when the two go hand in hand. So if you want to start looking your best as well as feeling it, here’s what you need to focus on.

Your Diet

We’ve already talked about the foods your body needs to feel good, but you also need to realize that what you eat is reflected in your body too. You are what you eat! So if you want to look good as well as feel it, you need to focus on the foods that will help you to do that. And we’re not necessarily talking about weight loss (although this can help you if your weight is at an unhealthy level), but the foods that will improve your skin, give you healthy hair and generally help your health. So start to look into nutrition and what you need to be eating to look your best.

An Exercise Program

Again, we all tend to look to exercise as something we do to lose weight. But it’s so much more than that. When you exercise, you get your blood flowing, your skin glows, your circulation improves, and yes you do tone your muscle and lose fat too. But with the right exercise program, you will start to look your best.

Avoiding Stress

Stress is an incredibly dangerous toxin that will always show in your skin, your digestion, and even your mental health too. So if you’re serious about looking good, you need to work on keeping your stress levels as low as possible.

During Pregnancy

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It’s vital that you work to have a healthy pregnancy. While you may feel as if there isn’t a lot you can do to influence the success of your pregnancy and the health of your baby, there’s so much!

Nourish Your Body

During pregnancy, you really need to focus on nourishing your body and helping your little one grow. There are lots of great foods to eat when you’re pregnant and this list on HealthLine.com details most of them. When you load up on things like dairy, leafy greens, and berries, you’ll be doing what you can to boost your health.

Keep Active

Staying active as much as possible if going to help you to keep your body healthy during pregnancy – it can also aid with your labour too. If you don’t exercise regularly, then you don’t have to go to crazy with this, but things like gentle walks, doing your housework, and even gardening can help. If you don’t stay active, you may find it harder to stay mobile during the later stages.

Listen To Your Body

Above all else, you need to listen to your body. Rest when you feel tired, eat when you’re lacking in energy, and laugh when you’re feeling a bit stressed out. You’ll know what your body needs, when you need it, so do what you can to really be in tune with yourself.

As You Age

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As you start to get older, your body also has different needs. And you have to take a lot of care. These tips can also be useful for your ageing parents too.

Looking After Your Joints

The number one area that you’ll want to take care of as you start to age (and even well before that) is your bones and joints! You’ll want to keep them mobile and ease an onset of arthritis that could be coming your way. Things like joint supplements and products which you’ll find more at ArthritisHope.com on that can help. By looking after your joints as much as possible, you should find that you can stay mobile as you age.

Taking Care Of Your Skin

Next, you need to think about taking care of your skin that little bit more. Because when you are, you see the visible signs on your skin. Make sure that you’re avoiding too much sun exposure, that you’re wearing SPF, and that you’re taking care of your skin with the right beauty regimen too.

Keeping Your Brain Active

And finally, you’ll also want to make sure that you keep your mind active as you age too. It’s so easy to believe that as you get older, it’s just natural for your mind to get a little bit rusty (along with your body). But that’s really not the case. Our minds and bodies only become less active because we use them less. So keep reading, write, do puzzles, learn more, try new things, and just generally look to make the most of your mind to keep it strong and healthy.

To Grow

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Now, this final point is aimed mainly at your kids. But it’s safe to assume that you won’t want all of these tips and tricks for yourself. So let’s take a look at the primary health needs of your small children.

Vitamins

Children have different nutritional needs to us. They need so many more vitamins and nutrients in order for their bodies to grow and their minds to develop. So make sure that you’re looking to feed them a mix of lean meats and proteins, leafy greens and vegetables, and whole grains. Also add in a good all-round vitamin supplement, just to make sure that their levels stay topped up.

Energy

It’s easy to think that children just have endless amounts of energy, and it probably seems that way, but you will need to nurture it. Along with a healthy diet that will help to fuel their bodies (which will be very similar to your own), you’ll want to make sure that they’re doing activities and classes that will push them to workout out and exercise. Lots of different sports will be great for this.

A Healthy Mindset

And finally, above all else, you’re going to want to make sure that you encourage a healthy growth mindset in your children. We all want to raise happy and healthy children, but it’s so easy to just think that their minds will develop themselves, or that you don’t need to do anything else to nurture them. But focusing on a positive and healthy mindset will allow them to grow into healthy adults.

Forty….

April 18, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha33 Comments

Forty! It’s Sheila’s birthday and she’s not particularly enthused. Her thoughts were adrift and disjointed. She had no desire for a big do and wanted to spend the day quietly.

Her introspection made her sad. Her thought was that every line should have fallen into place in her life by now. Babies, her own successful interior decor business, and all the works.

Rather, she’s still stuck in a job that went nowhere. A succession of miscarriages dogged her marriage that it seemed her own baby was not in the books. Ray was distracted; working harder and coming home late.

Queasy stomach emptied of its content, she sat on the toilet lid and stared at the stick. Positive. Her heart jumped in excitement. Could it really be? However, she decided to keep the news to herself in the meantime.

Ray came home later with a gorgeous haute couture gown and silver sandals. He insisted on taking her for a dinner after helping with the zipper of her dress and the buckle of her sandals.

He had organised a surprise party with their close friends in a newly outfitted interior decor store meant for his wife.

Inlinkz

In response to the photo prompt, provided by Barb. Thank you, Barb and thank you, Priceless Joy, for this enchanting story platform.

Fiction · Short story

Just whose type are we?.. A short Story

June 9, 2015September 19, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

Meera dipped the second stick into the collection of urine and within minutes the line appeared again. The instant pregnancy test read positive a second time.

Her suspicions were firmly confirmed. Butterfly flutters of excitement filled her stomach. She couldn’t wait to tell Kevin her good news. It would be a nice surprise, she hoped. He would be back in two days from his visit to his hometown – New Orleans. He went to see his ailing mom. It was not news that she wanted to share on the phone. His expressions mattered. Apparently, their excitement at graduating summa cum laude and having jobs already lined up at the prestigious Texas medical center has yielded dividends. This was a bit unplanned, but that is the likely result of getting carried away.

She fretted a bit over how it would affect her new job. She wondered if she would make a good mother. For some reason, she felt sure Kevin would make a great dad. For a huge guy, he was very gentle and caring. Meera daydreamed. She could visualize the adorable bundle of joy. The baby’s features would be a merge of Kevin’s dark handsome looks and her delicate Asian look. For a moment, she paused a bit on how her baby would be classified, but she did not ponder seriously on that question. This is America, where everything is almost possible. Her child/children would have the best upbringing that they could possibly afford to give them; and they would be loved very much – that was the most important thing.

They had dated secretly for a while but she was tired of pretending that he was just a friend in front of her friends and family. Their love affair had blossomed from their respected friendship as two medical students studying together. They were both very intelligent and supportive of each other. They found they shared a whole lot in common except their race, and religion, but Meerah felt that these issues were not insurmountable.

Kevin, made her feel very cherished, and most times, in the duration of their relationship, he deferred to her a lot. His handsome, calm and confident demeanor had left her tongue-tied at the onset of their study, but his dogged, and positively infectious attitude had finally managed to draw her closer. She knew she had found her soul mate.

It was time to introduce their love to the World. She hoped her parents would grow to love Kevin as much as she did. Especially when their grandchild arrives. Her parents are enlightened and educated. Her father is a talented surgeon whilst her mom who has been a home-maker all through was quite abreast with the changes in time.

Kevin’s reaction was as expected and more. He was ecstatic but expressed his concern about her family. Assuring him that her family would come around, she advised that they break the news to them as a team over the weekend.

Saturday evening’s dinner ended in a fiasco. Kevin had been to the home of the Misra’s before, but that was in a party of other friends. They had come for Meera’s birthday as well as the festival of light – Diwali and the festival of colors – Holi. Now seated as the only stranger in their midst was not a very comfortable feeling. Meera’s mother did not appear quite as warm as before and Dr. Misra was very polite to the point of distant.

He liked curry, masala and all the Indian dishes that he had tasted in the past, but tonight he could hardly swallow a bite. The meal was barely over, when Meera decided to break the news of their engagement to her parents.

Her mom flew up in surprise, knocking over the flask of black tea, her brother flew into a tirade and the situation went downhill very fast. Tears, table banging and hot invective exchange of words in Hindi flew up and down the room. It was chaotic. Kevin could not understand what was being said but knew that it did not sound good. Dr. Misra asked him to leave and out of respect he left with a lot of unease.

The heated argument went on with a lot of acrimony and blame passed from one end to the other. Mrs. Misra chided her husband for not supporting her proposal to find a husband for Meera earlier than now. Now she was about to lead them into a mess. How would she live it down, she wondered.

”You cannot mean to marry him?” she queried her daughter harshly.

”I do mama, I love him” Meera replied.

”No you cannot”, she continued. ”We always marry our own”.

”What is wrong with him”? ”Just who is our own”? Meera wailed. This was not the reaction she had expected. She knew they would be taken aback but not this difficult.

”Deepak, please talk to your daughter”, Mrs. Misra implored her husband.

”Well, I am pregnant and I would like to marry my baby’s father”, Meera declared adding fuel to the fire.

Her mother squeaked very loudly and sank in the couch in a half swoon.

Her brother promised to kill Kevin.

The dog ran and hid behind the big potted plant.

Sanjay’s wife Amira shrank into her seat like a frightened mouse, her kajal darkened eyes standing out starkly in her face.

The only person who seemed to maintain a semblance of control was Dr. Misra, the only sign of his distress was the increased tick of the veins by his temples.

Meera stormed upstairs to her room. She fumed as she thought through the whole scenario. She had never really liked the clannish, caste systems of her people, where the discrimination even amongst her people was so visceral. Their caste system was so wickedly divisive that she still could not understand why some people were considered ”Dalits – untouchables”.

She hated the arranged marriages of two strangers; her brothers marriage was a case in point. Amira, her sister in law never looked happy and never spoke much. She suspected that Sanjay was being too overbearing towards his wife. She suspected that he beat her, but nobody said anything.

She could not understand her parents, especially her mothers vehemence towards Kevin. They got on fairly well with their African American neighbors and the handsome Sudanese couple that taught in the school district. She was glad her orientation was not like theirs. It would be a rough path to take, but if running off to be with Kevin would be the answer, then so be it.

Mrs. Misra calmed down and started plotting. She knew that antagonizing her daughter would probably incite Meera’s rebel heart into eloping with that black boy. If it was a nice white boy, maybe, it would be easier to condone. But this! It was unacceptable. Now she could see why Meera always took her recent supportive stance against the police for what she perceived as a persecution of the black race. The whole situation was still incredulous but she had to thread with caution. She still felt angry with Deepak for failing to heed her advice, but as a mother, she had to take charge and correct things before they got out of hand. They will be off to Mumbai as soon as she can make plausible arrangements.

There was an uneasy calm in the house. It seemed as if everyone including the dog tip-toed around each other the following day. Having thought through her plan, Mrs. Misra made her daughters favorite soup, which was strongly laced with herbal condiments to stimulate uterine bleeding and take care of business. She knocked on Meera’s door, waving a flag for truce and invited her to come and eat with her.

Thankfully and mindlessly consuming the steaming, tasty bowl of broth with chapati, Meera listened to her mothers chatter.