Bored with Water? Add Some Flavor!

In a recent blog, I discussed the benefits of drinking water. I discussed how water helps with fluid balance, improves kidney function, clears skin, and helps control calorie intake.  However, several people shared with me that they get bored with water and crave flavor.  You may be surprised to know that adding fruit and veggies to your water can not only help your taste buds but adds to the ever growing list of benefits of drinking water. Adding a few slices of whole fruits and vegetables heightens minerals and vitamins that our bodies can easily and quickly consume. It's also so delicious that we may find ourselves tricking our mind into drinking more water than we have in the past.

Infusing Flavor

Spas around the world serve outrageously expensive infused water to their guests. The great news is that you don’t have to go to a fancy spa to enjoy those same benefits and pretty beverages, you can create your own in the comfort of your home. Creating healthy and delicious, vitamin infused water is inexpensive and economically friendly. Infusing water is as simple as adding your favorite fruit or veggie slices to your water before drinking. Popular water infusions include: cucumber, mint, basil and citrus fruits. But feel free to use your imagination to produce a flavor to suit you!

When you add your favorite fruits, veggies, and herbs to water seal it in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before enjoying so that the fruit and veggies have time to release their nutrients into the water. For the best results make sure you are using purified or spring water to avoid the intake of contaminants. You can also make your own infused ice-cubes. Use the ice cubes when you can’t wait 30 minutes for a nice cool drink, just simply add them to a glass of water for an instantly healthy, refreshing and tasty drink.

Benefits Galore

There are endless benefits of not only drinking plain water, but infusing your water.  Here are some benefits of the most common water infusing ingredients.

Cucumber

Cucumber is not only cool and refreshing when snacking but when added to water the benefits include:

•  Increases hydration resulting in increased energy levels
• Vitamins A and C
• Helps regulate blood pressure
• Contains silica which contributes to the growth and maintenance of connective tissue throughout your body
• Promotes healthy skin

Mint

Fresh mint is an herb that is super easy to grow. Adding mint to your water will:

• Promote healthy digestion
• Quickly ease headache and nausea
• Assists in clearing nose, throat, and chest congestion
• Natural stimulant - can boost your mood and energizes
• Freshens breath, with a natural germicide that promotes oral health

Basil

Basil is another herb that is easy to grow. When not in season, you can easily freeze for year round use. Benefits of basil include:

• Boosts the immune system
• Acts as an anti stress agent
• Vitamin A which leads to improved vision
• Decreased acne - the oil on basil leaves help clear bacteria from pores
• Improved kidney function

Combinations to Try

To get the most flavor and health benefits, try these combinations to mix it up a bit!

Orange, Lemon, Ginger

Oranges aid with healthy blood circulation.

Lemons help aid digestion and freshen breath.

Ginger is a notorious immune system booster.

Cucumber, Raspberry, Grape

Cucumber is hydrating and flushes out toxins.

Raspberries have anti-inflammatory properties.

Grapes contain cancer-fighting and cleansing compounds.

Rhubarb, Apple, Cinnamon

Rhubarb contains vitamin K to help with blood clotting.

Apples have a slew of benefits including maintaining bone and tissue health.

Cinnamon is one of the most efficient boosters of metabolism.

Strawberry and Lime

Strawberries are jam-packed with antioxidants.

Limes are an excellent anti-aging weapon due to its restorative properties for hair, skin, and nails.

Pineapple and Mint

Pineapple is an anti-inflammatory that helps relieve joint pain and arthritis.

Mint supports the digestive system by activating salivary glands and digestive enzymes.

No Excuses!

Even though excuses can be an easy habit to form when it comes to health, with these fun alternatives to boring water you have no more excuses!  I challenge you to make drinking water an everyday priority. And I encourage you to infuse your water with fresh ingredients to make it more enjoyable. 

Lace Up Your Sneakers… Let’s Walk!

When it comes to walking for good health, most of us have good intentions. I can relate because I’ve had spurts where I start a good routine of walking. I physically feel better and feel a sense of accomplishment after my walks and then life happens which leads to excuses that I’m too busy and stop. It’s something I know almost all my friends deal with, I think I will go on a walk today….but:

• I have had a long day
• I am tired
• I need to run an errand
• It’s getting dark outside

The list of excuses continues to grow and the light of inspiration is diminished. I made a list of benefits will help keep all of us motivated and stop with the excuses. Lace up your sneakers…Ready… Set… Go!

Heart Health

Walking is a great cardio exercise that lowers levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and increases HDL (good cholesterol). Controlling cholesterol levels is important in maintain your blood pressure. According to The Stroke Association, a brisk thirty minute walk every day helps prevent stroke and reduces the risk of stroke up to 27%. Want a stronger heart? Walk!

Lose Weight

In addition to a healthy diet, adding thirty minutes of brisk walking to your daily routine can help you burn about 150 calories a day! The more intense your walk, the more calories you burn. Walking is not only great for weight loss, walking can tone up your legs, tummy, and behind. Simple adjustment to your posture and you can tone your abs, so remember to keep your back straight!

Bikini and six pack abs, here we come!

Prevent Dementia

If you are older in age, walking six miles or more per week can reduce brain shrinkage and preserve memory as years pass. Dementia affects one in fourteen over the age of sixty-five and one in six over the age of eighty. For any age, a daily twenty-minute walk cuts the risk of future dementia by 40%. Daily walks help keep healthy people healthy and help protect patients with degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, from experiencing further symptoms, such as tremors, motor impairments, dementia, and memory loss.  

Boosts Vitamin D

Being outdoors in general will boost your Vitamin D intake. Vitamin D affects important things like bone health and our immune system. It can also fight against mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Walking is a great way to get your daily Vitamin D fix.

Increase in Energy

Do you ever get home from work and feel so tired that you could go to sleep and not wake until the next morning? But then you feel riddled with guilt because you have other tasks you need to accomplish before hitting the pillow for the night? Go for a walk! A brisk walk is one of the best natural energizers around. It boosts circulation and increases your oxygen supply which helps you feel more alert and awake. Ever get tired after lunch and dread clocking back in after your lunch break? Taking an afternoon stroll around the office can help boost your energy, clear your mind and help you accomplish more in the afternoon.

Smile and be Happy

Exercise improves your mood. A walk can be just as effective as antidepressants in mild to moderate cases of depression by releasing feel-good endorphin's while reducing stress.

For positive mental health, walking is a must.

Within 5 minutes of cardio exercise, you will feel a smile forming. Increasing body strength and improving your cardio fitness makes life feel easier. Unloading groceries won’t be such a hassle on your body and getting on the floor to play with your kiddos won’t be such a chore to your joints. In return, your life will be more joyful.

Let’s Recap

During a thirty-minute walk you are:

• Strengthening your heart
• Burning at least 150 calories
• Toning muscles
• Reducing risk of dementia by 40%
• Boosting your vitamin levels
• Wakes you up
• Makes you happy 

These benefits are enough motivation that I am already planning daily walks into my calendar! Make sure to drink plenty of water when walking and remember to pace yourself. Overdoing it can increase your risk of soreness, injury, or burnout. It’s time to lace and pace!

Feeling Stressed? 5 Ways to Unwind!

The top three causes of stress are pressure from work, financial problems, health problems. Stress occurs when you are faced with mental or emotional strains that often leads to physical and mental symptoms. Unfortunately, our culture accepts stress as a normal way of life. It is my mission to let everyone know, life doesn't have to be that way!

Take action!

Stress affects us because we let it. Now it is time to take action and start to live a healthier lifestyle. We all handle stress differently some keep everything bottled up inside and silently suffer the impacts of depression. Others tense up so much they develop knots in their neck and back and live with the pain. There are several ways you can manage your stress through physical activity, diet and positive distractions.

1. Make a Playlist

Research shows that listening to soothing music can lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety.  Music provides a distraction and invites calming emotions.  It is a great aid to help induce a meditating state by preventing your mind from wandering.  Start incorporating music into your busy life by playing CD's in the car, stream soft classical music from Pandora while at work or play your favorite iTunes music while you soak in the bathtub.

2. Reduce Caffeine & Sugar

The temporary adrenaline rush caffeine and sugar provide often end with a crash in both your mood and energy. Reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, will make you feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better. Getting a full nights sleep is the best way to fuel your mind, as well as your body.  Feeling tired increases stress because it often impairs our judgement.  

3. Be Thankful

Keep a journal of gratitude.  Journaling reduces stress due to its meditative and reflective effects.  Making a daily list of what we are thankful for can really put your life, worries, stresses into perspective.  You don’t need to write a novel, just jot down a few of your daily events, your feelings, and what you are thankful for.  Documenting life events and feelings can also provide a way for you to reflect on events and gain a new perspective while you are in a calmer state of mind. Reading through journals of your past months and years can show you how much you’ve grown as an individual.

4. Go Outside

Sometimes simply walking through nature and smelling the fresh air can help put your mind at ease and give your brain a break.  Whether it’s walking, running, or sitting on a blanket in the grass; studies show that time outdoors can:

• Spur Creativity 
• Increase Concentration Levels 
• Increases Vitamin D Levels  

Vitamin D improves seasonal depression, anxiety, boosts your immunity, is critical to bone health, and heart health.  The healthier your bodies, the less likely you will experience negative stress.

5. Get a Massage

Massage is more than an occasional luxury. Getting a massage on a monthly basis:  

•  Alleviate physical strain and pain
• Improves your mood
• Increases circulation
• Reduces stress related pain such as headaches and muscle tension

Once your stress level is reduced, you can reclaim the energy you once enjoyed, and experience a refreshed body and mind.

Don’t Worry…  Stress Can Be Good!

Stress is your body's reaction to harmful situations whether real or imagined.  When you feel threatened, your body produces a chemical reaction that allows you react and protect yourself.

 Not all stress is bad. In small doses, stress can help you accomplish tasks and protect you from injury. For example, stress is what makes you to slam on the brakes to avoid getting into a car accident. That's a good thing!  

The key is knowing what kind of stress you are feeling. 

• Is your stress good or bad? 
• Is it negatively affecting your everyday life and activities? 
• Defining your stress helps you take action on how to get rid of it. 

It’s time to take charge of your life and tell stress to go away!

This holiday season give the gift of massage! Go online or call me to order your gift certificate.