Making time for youself

One of the most important things we need to do in order to live a healthy lifestyle is make time for ourselves. Even if it is fifteen minutes, everyone needs to be able to decompress. I think is most difficult for women to do because as women we tend to put a little too much on our daily plate. When things are left undone stress occurs and stress can lead to poor eating habits and poor eating habits can leave you feeling a lack of energy to get through the day.

So my advice is to make a little 'you' time everyday, even if it is a cup of coffee and some quiet time. Allow yourself to decompress and rejuvenate in order to keep on going. Always allow yourself a healthy diet with all of the food groups present and never forget your water!

Here's to your health,

Nico

Benefits of Yoga

So I have been doing my own personal version of yoga for a little over a year now, due to the fact that I was unable to pay for classes or memberships. This last Friday I went to my first yoga class, a friend of mine brought me as her guest. It was amazing! It was an hour long and there were people of all ages and sizes, doing poses that I think are a bit crazy. I was definitely pushed to my limits during this hour and was pleasantly surprised how I felt at the end, which was amazing! I have taken the things I learned from this class and have been incorporating some of the technique in my own home. I will however start to make time and money to do at least one class per week, at least until I can learn enough to create my own program. I personally prefer working out and doing yoga in the privacy of my own home.

I think the main benefit of yoga is relieving stress and relieving stress can assist in overall body health, making things run a little smoother. Not to mention the fact that it helps build core muscles and when the core muscles are stronger, they can take on more and create a more stable back. In that note, people with back problems should give yoga a try, they may see there back pain go away!

I am a huge advocate for yoga and think it is good for all ages and sizes of people. The stress relief alone should make it more appealing for people to give it a go. Even if people just try a little stretching and some deep breathing, that's all there is to it!

Here's to your health,

Nico

Thoughts of cleansing--mind and body

A friend of mine recently went through a month long cleanse, involving eating only raw. It got me thinking about how good or bad this can be for different body types.

She has explained to me that it has improved her sleep and her energy level and on minimal levels has it effected her negatively. Prior to the cleanse she was a vegan, so going from that to raw was not a complete difference.

My questions with this stem towards people who are not already vegans or vegetarians for that matter. I wonder if it can negatively affect someone who has meat and dairy in their diet. Can someone get really ill from something so drastic or can the cleanse be beneficial to anyone?

I think taking steps into cleansing would be best. Gradually taking 'bad' things out of the daily diet. For example, an easy cleanse would be to eliminate alcohol and sodas, some added sugars and meats. Start cleansing on a week by week basis and if you can handle a month of a mild cleanse maybe getting into a more intense cleanse would be something to do. I think it is very important to research any cleanse, especially an intense one.

I myself have just started my own cleanse, I am starting by eliminating alcohol and soda. I do not drink much soda as it is but I do usually have at least one alcoholic beverage a day, mainly wine. Like I said before, since I am not already a vegan or vegetarian I am going to proceed with caution and take it slow. Week by week I will slowly add more elements to the cleanse, charting the differences I see and feel.

Along with cleansing I will be adding more yoga to my weekly routine and chart the differences there too.

Here's to health,

Nico