8 Food That Don’t Go Down Well.

The majority of health articles always talk about foods that help your digestive system or are good for your body. Rarely do we get a list that specifically list foods that are tough to digest. I found this great article on MSN about  foods you should try and stay away from due to the fact that your body has difficulty digesting them. Below is the top 8 that I picked that I think everyone would want to know about:

1. Fried Chicken Nuggets
2. Beans
3. Broccoli and raw cabbage
4. Chocolate
5. Citrus Juices
6. Raw Onions
7. Ice cream
8. Mashed Potatoes

I thought some of these items like bean, citrus juice and broccoli would actually help the digestive system. The key thing with all these items is if your body is not used to them then it will have trouble digesting it.

Are you surprised by some of the food on this list?

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5 Foods That Reduce Stress

I am sure we all can use some stress reducers! I found this interesting article on MSN the other day about certain foods that help reduce stress. I was surprised to read Vitamin C is a stress reducer. It not only helps boost the immune system, but it is supposed to help normalize blood pressure and cortisol levels. I would think it would be Vitamin D because lack of Vitamin D can really alter a person’s mood.

• Sweet potatoes help overcome the carbs and sweet craving people get when they are under stress. It also is packed with fiber to help your body process the food.
• Dried Apricots are known a natural muscle relaxant.
• Turkey has L-tryptophan which is supposed to have a calming effect on the body.
• Salmon is packed with Omega-3 which helps keep the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline from peaking.
• Spinach is enriched with magnesium which prevents migraine headaches and  feelings of fatigue.

When I am stressed out, I don’t see myself eating more. I probably eat the same amount or less. My favorite stress reducers are exercising, journaling, talking to a friend, helping another person or talking a long walk outside by myself.

How do you reduce stress?

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Affordable Yoga

I started taking Yoga classes last year and immediately loved it. For all of my life I had been doing high intensity workouts. I thought if you weren’t moving fast and sweating  then you were not really getting a good workout. My trainer recommended I add yoga to my regimen, so I did. After the class, I could feel that my body had loosened up and I felt mentally refreshed too.

Yoga is a great way for me to get my mind of the daily stresses and really focus on something else. It’s like a one hour mental vacation that I really need to take more regularly. It definitely helps me feel less anxious and tense all the time.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to afford Yoga for the past 6 months. I was telling my friend about this and she mentioned Dirt Cheap Yoga. Classes are only $8 a session and or $55 a month unlimited access. They have 4 locations, Reverchon Park, Mighty Fine Arts, Exall Park Rec Center, and Kidd Springs Rec Center.

Dirt Cheap Yoga is non-profit organization on a mission to bring yoga to the masses.  They are just trying to make yoga feasible for those who can’t afford a regular class.

To find our more about class schedules and specific locations, visit DirtCheapYoga.com.

Have you done yoga before? If so, where do you like to take classes?

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Lookin’ Younger Made Easy. . .

I was talking to my sister the other day and she was complaining about how old she looked. I personally think she looks younger for her age, but she doesn’t see it. I sent her this article that I read this morning on tips that help you look younger.

I thought all the lovely ladies out there would find these tips very beneficial. I see women make these mistakes all the time. They try to look younger, but end up adding 5-10 years.

Below are my top 3 tips for looking younger:

1. Wear Less Makeup. This gives off a softer, younger look. When ladies wear too much makeup it ends up making wrinkles stick out more.
2. Whiten Your Teeth. Younger people tend to have whiter teeth. We don’t want your smile to give your age away.
3. Use products with silicone. Primers and serums with the ingredient temporarily fill in fine lines.

What other tips do you have?

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Natural Headache Cures

When I get headaches, I always try and bare the pain. For some reason I don’t like taking medicine. As the weather is warming up, I know my headaches will be more frequent. I have been doing some research on natural remedies to help rid headaches. The ones I have found that are most helpful are

• Applying pressure at the Union Valley. This is a pressure point between your thumb and pointer finger. This method really does work, I have used it before.
• Eating almonds helps with minor headaches. It has the same ingredient as aspirin.
• Valerian Root – Natural remedy known to help with headaches and insomnia
• Yoga – This can release the tension causing the headaches.

Have you used any of these methods? Or do you have any other suggestions?

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Getting Enough Sleep?

How much is enough sleep? I hear some people say they need 4-5 hours and others say they need 8-9 hours. The key is to listen to your body; it will tell you what it needs. We are so use to pushing our bodies and ignoring signs of fatigue or hunger. There are 5 simple ways to tell if you are getting enough rest or not:

1. Simple decisions stump you. – This can include things like, what to wear, what you want to eat or if you want to go out tonight.
2. Do you stay hungry? – It has been proven that people who don’t get enough rest eat more because of a hormonal imbalance in the body.
3. Do you constantly get sick? – Not having enough sleep weakens the immune system.
4. Weird things make you cry. – Lack of sleep can cause you to react more emotionally than usual. Also, it also can cause an increase in negative feelings.
5. Can we say clumsy? – You keep dropping things, running into stuff or tripping.

For me, when I am rested I know I am more positive, alert, and energetic. Even caffeine can’t give me the feeling I get from a good night of rest.

How many hours of sleep is enough for you?

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Working Stress OUT

It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily chaos and get stressed out. I have had to find some ways to release this stress or else my sleep suffers.  Some of the activities I have started doing include:

• Speed Walking/Sprinting – If I can’t make it to the gym, this is a great way to clear my head from that days clutter and release the built up energy.
• Weight Train – This causes you to release endorphins. Also, the energy you release lifting weights is usually the stress in your body. I like to mix up heavy and light reps.
• Repetitive Motion Exercise – Doing exercises that you have to keep count keeps your mind off the things that are causing the stress.
• Yoga – This takes a lot of concentration and is a good distraction. It also helps you practice focusing your brain, so at night you can turn off all the noise in your head and get a peaceful night of rest.
• Exercise with Sports – This also acts like a distraction and diverts your thinking to something else. Also, it gives you a chance to interact with someone else and talk about what is going on.

When I need a good stretch and want to really quiet down, I enjoy going to a yoga class. I get lost in the movement and the way my body feels. When I need to just burn some raw energy I go boxing. When I box with my trainer, everything I was thinking about is out of my head and I am fully present in what I am doing. Both are  great ways to relieve stress!

How do you like to relieve stress?

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Catch your breath.

Life is always throwing us curveballs. No matter how prepared we think we are, something can always happen that really throws us. I know I’ve felt like this sometimes, but I always try to remember that it’s just temporary. Sometimes it’s not so easy to just say things to yourself in order to calm down, so here are 7 ways to catch your breath when things aren’t exactly going your way:

1. Run down your reserves. Use up that rainy day fund, or call in a favor to someone. There are times that doing this things are appropriate, and when you’re stressed it’s okay to indulge a little.
2. Lean on friends. rue friends are obvious in bad times. The best friends support you without contributing to the problems. Lean on them a little and show them that you trust them. If all you need is to catch your breath, you should not be hesitant to ask your friends for support (then be willing to do the same for them later).
3. Tear off half your to-do list. I am all about to-do lists, but when you’re feeling overwhelmed a list is one of the last things you want to see. Take off the tasks that don’t need immediate doing and ease the burden on yourself.
4. Ask for mercy. No matter where the waves are coming from there is someone, somewhere who can give you mercy if only you ask for it. You should not feel bad about asking for a break just to get you through a short bad patch.
5. Think long term survival first. Your problems will quickly escalate if you don’t know what to focus on. You must attend to your most important needs first.
6. Downgrade your expectations but mark your place. When you are in the middle of it, you may have to cut back on your achievements. Put your progress on hold for a couple of days and concentrate on catching your breath. If it is not essential, it can wait till you are back on your feet. However, before you stop doing something, mark where you are up to so that you can quickly get back on track later. Measure, bookmark, photograph, write down where you are today, so that you can pick up where you left off later.
7. Take one step at a time, do one thing at a time. Look at everything as individual tasks, and when they’re completed congratulate yourself. It’s impossible to do everything at once, and you’ll just get more flustered trying to do so.

If you find yourself “gasping for air,” I hope these ideas find you well. Life is good, but everyone is entitled to our bad days. Do you have any other helpful advice?

(photo courtesy of basykes on flickr)

Chocolate can save your life

According to recent studies, eating a little bit of dark chocolate a few times a week can actually help reduce the risk of having a

stroke. I knew something so good had to be good for me!

Antioxidants called flavonoids are found in high concentrations in dark chocolate. These antioxidants are thought to play a role in reducing the risk of stroke.

Not a chocolate person? Two glasses of red wine provide about he same amount of antioxidants as a serving of extra dark chocolate.

Of course I must stress that this could be beneficial if done on alongside a healthy diet. Exercise, eat, right, and occasionally indulge. It’d good for you!