Archives For health
Seems there is a lot of talk about self-care lately. What it means, why it matters and whether or not you’re doing it.
Have you heard the hullabaloo?
One of the resources I stumbled across was at Seek Your Course where they are creating a list of 100 tips for nurturing your best self. I thought 100 tips would be great seeing as how when you’re at a low point the last thing you can do is think of something self-caring to do.
So I added seven of my favorite self-care tips. Do you do any of these? What would you add?
SEVEN SELF-CARE TIPS
- Take vitamins.
- Take supplements to boost brain activity or calm nerves.
- Listen to audiobook or audio Bible.
- Curl up with heating pad, hot cocoa and chick flick.
- Go through old photos and share them with others.
- Update screensaver.
- Update computer background.
LIVE INSANELY GREAT!
What are your top tips for how YOU care for yourself?
In an open letter to models featured in the Daily Beast, Tyra Banks speaks out on today’s modeling industry saying, “The truth is that if I was just starting to model at age 17 in 2012, I could not have had the career that I did. I would’ve been considered too heavy. In my time, the average model’s size was a four or six. Today you are expected to be a size zero. When I started out, I didn’t know such a size even existed.”
News of these unhealthy requirements shouldn’t come as a surprise to the general public since there has been a lot of backlash towards the industry about too-skinny models and eating disorders. All of this bad press has paid off apparently as the standards for models are changing, though perhaps slowly.
Proof of this improvement was shown when earlier this May, 19 international editors of Vogue magazine pledged to abstain from featuring models who are under 16 years of ageor appear to have an eating disorder.
Banks, 38, describes her beginning years in the industry, “In my early 20s, I was a size four. But then I started to get curvy. My agency gave my mom a list of designers that didn’t want to book me in their fashion shows anymore. In order to continue working, I would’ve had to fight Mother Nature and get used to depriving myself of nutrition.”
The model states that the the support of her mom, Caroline, was what made the biggest difference saying, “As my mom wiped the tears from my face, she said, ‘Tyra, you know what we’re going to do about this? We’re going to eat pizza.’ We sat in a tiny pizzeria in Milan and strategized about how to turn my curves into a curveball.”
This is the kind of attitude toward their health that women and girls everywhere should take up! Tyra writes of how this has impacted her life, ”In a way, it was my decision not to starve myself that turned me into a supermodel, and later on, a businesswoman.”
She also created a new term that helps women and girls embrace their beauty,
“It’s you + your flaws + awesome = ‘flawsome’ . . .
Never forget that you are fabulous,
you are fierce, you are flawsome.”
We’ve heard of so many great artists ending their lives early… either with conscious intention or unconscious recklessness. Depression can seem synonymous with artists.
Is depression inevitable for artists and creatives?
Arnold Ludwig, a professor and researcher at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, wanted to answer that question. So he performed a study of 1004 men and women over the span of ten years. His test group was a variety of accomplished people in art, music, science, business, politics, and sports.
The Research Proves…
- 59-77% of creatives (artists, writers, musicians, etc.) suffered mental illness especially “mood disorders”
- 18-29% percent of less “artistic professionals” suffered from the same mental illness or mood disorders
Other studies have demonstrated increased rates of depression in creatives as well.
Two Key Points…
- If you suffer from depression, even a mild form, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
- THERE IS NO SHAME in getting help and support even for “mood disorders” or depression you can’t seem to shake.
There is already a wealth of information about depression, how to identify it and where to get help, so I won’t repeat that information here…. other than to say DON’T IGNORE IT.
If you need more reason to not ignore it in yourself or someone you love, watch this 12 minute video about depression, suicide and survival. Do it now. It could save a life.
Take the time to watch this video. You may not suffer from depression or suicidal tendencies, but you may know and love someone who has, is or will. Increase your awareness.
I’m a writer, photographer, designer. I spend most of my day in front of the computer. In fact, I get so lost in my work at times that I can be designing or editing, look up at the clock and 3 hours will have gone by without me noticing. Ever happen to you?
Well, it’s killing us. Literally.
You may have seen the Sitting is Killing You infograph on multiple blogs, maybe even scanned the fascinating information, then promised yourself to make a change. Did you change?
Probably not. I didn’t.
I saw this infograph, downloaded it and saved it in Evernote on July 24th. It’s now December and I admit that while I remembered the infograph and how bad sitting was for me, I haven’t changed anything.
So here are 5 little known facts you may not have read. Tomorrow I’ll share some simple steps you can take to prevent these issues from killing you!
Sitting is Killing You
!!! Sitting 6+ hours per day increases risk of death up to 40% (even if you exercise)
!!! Your body goes into meltdown the moment you sit down.
!!! Enzymes that help break down fat drop 90% when you are sitting.
!!! 30 minutes of activity a day is NOT ENOUGH.
!!! Calorie burning drops to 1 per minute (the same as when you’re sleeping).
Aargh! What do we do? Feels like a no-win situation. We have to sit for our jobs… or do we?
Tomorrow we’ll cover some tips for how you can reverse or prevent sitting from killing you. Until then, take a look at this infograph… really read every section. It’ll inspire and prepare you for change!
The heat wave is hitting Atlanta again. As temperatures soar outside it seriously limits our options for outside activities… no long walks or picnics in the park. My ever-innovative son decided to make the best of the situation and create his own picnic in the living room… just a blanket, lunchbox and his trusty basketball and he was set.
Of course, nothing beats an afternoon nap for completing the picnic experience. While he was playing quietly and pretending to be on a picnic, I left to get some work done. About 15 minutes later, I went back to check on him and this is what I found…
75 DAY SPRINT TO THE FINISH UPDATE
It’s 55 days now. Where is the time going? I’ve been focusing on my health and weight. Here’s what happened so far…
- Consistent on my diet plan with approx. 1200 cal/day
- Consistent on my exercise with burning 500 – 750 cal/day at least 5 days/week
- Weight loss so far = 6.5 pounds
- Going to bed much earlier (not always falling asleep early though)
I’m very pleased with the first two. I’m a little frustrated with the actual numbers on the scale seeming to be stuck. Not sure how they can get stuck when I’m not cheating on the diet and working out so much. Holding out hope that the scale will soon budge and show a big leap downward. The fourth is probably the most frustrating… even when I go to bed by 11 pm which is a huge improvement over 2 am, I sometimes take 3 hours to fall asleep.
I think it’s all about retraining my body and mind to this new routine so I’m going to stick in there and keep it up with hopes that my body will reward me with results I really want to see.
If you took the challenge, how are you doing?!?
