4 REASONS SPENDING ALONE TIME IS REALLY GOOD FOR YOU

We live in a truly exciting world of constant interaction with either the physical people around you or the people you converse with online. The constant interaction is not only fascinating and eye opening but it can also be draining, exhausting and destructive to your mind and body. While I love spending time with my family and friends and building connections while perusing social media sites and blogs – I know that every now and then my mind and body needs some alone time. Everyone’s definition of alone time varies and the length we each need will also be different.  My alone time is not very long because I do not feel like I need to completely detach myself for long periods of time – my alone time is usually between 3-4 hours every month or so. Some people find that detaching themselves from everything and everyone is more beneficial if they do it say once a year for a couple of days and take a quick solo getaway. Whatever strategy you think works best for you is the one you should try.

Recharge

Time alone is great opportunity to recharge - as mentioned above the constant interaction we have nowadays is exciting, eye opening and fun but it can also be exhausting. And I truly believe that in order to be fully present during your times of interaction it is super important to allow yourself some alone time to re-charge and re-group your mind and your body by slowing all of the everyday craziness down.

Creativity

Some of the best jolts of creativity have come to me while having some alone time while listening to good music, doing laundry, cleaning or even running errands. Alone time gives your mind a chance to wander off and think freely which will always invite our dear friend creativity to come sweeping in!

Balance

Again, with so many things going on in our lives at any given moment it can get a little crazy and hard to keep things in perspective. Time alone allows me to take a step back and re-prioritize and re-strategize the things that need to get done and the things I want to get done. This is a great way to keep yourself in check and not overload yourself with things you need to do and want to do. Learning how to balance out your life will probably be one of the best gifts you can give yourself!

Productivity

When I spend time alone doing things, like running errands, I get so much more done than if I were to do the same things in the company of other people. While, yes, it is a lot more fun and entertaining to do things with others, sometimes time is of the essence and doing things alone will not only tremendously boost your productivity it is also really healthy for you too!

Are you spending quality time with alone? If yes, what activities allow you to recharge, find creativity, find balance and become more productive?

MY FAVORITE EASY AND HEALTHY SNACKS TO STAY ON TRACK

Let’s admit it – eating healthy is hard and it takes a great deal of dedication and planning- but as with many things in life it is not impossible! With a little bit of creativity and planning we can set ourselves up for success. Over the last few years my diet has drastically improved – I think back to my high school days and just really wonder how I survived those years! My diet consisted of chips, pizza, ramen noodles and soda – it was not cute, it was not healthy and it was definitely not smart to eat that way but at the time I was truly not aware of the harm I was putting my body through. I really wish the school system did a better job at educating students on proper nutrition but that’s a topic for another day!

I began to educate myself on nutrition in college and slowly began to incorporate healthy foods into my diet and also began to exercise a couple of times a week. Over the years I have come to realize that while I can prepare healthy meals that I really enjoy my downfall is snacking. When I get hungry and do not have time to cook a healthy meal I tend to reach for an unhealthy snack. Which is usually (fun fact alert!) something chocolatey – I am a total sucker for anything chocolate!

In order to resist the ever present chocolate temptation I try to make sure I do not feel hunger in between meals so here is my list of my favorite easy and healthy go to snacks. Also, in addition to eating a healthy balanced diet I cannot stress enough how important it is to drink water throughout the day – I wrote a post on this topic – The Do’s and Dont’s of Keeping Your Body Hydrated – check it out for my top pieces on advice on that topic!

Roasted Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

This snack probably takes the most time – no more than 2-3 minutes - to whip up and it is incredibly easy. All I do is grab a handful of pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas) and a handful of sunflower seeds and throw them onto a pan set on medium-high heat for a few minutes and mixing the seeds around to roast them on all sides. Important note: they both need to be in their raw form no added sugar and not pre-roasted.  Now, if you want to add some sea salt you can (I usually do) but you do not have to – this snack is super delicious even without the salt.

Clementines

Clementines are my favorite type of citrusy fruit I find them to have the perfect amount of natural sweetness and a great bite-sized snack. These little fruits are packed with great sources of minerals and nutrients like calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C. All the elements that make up this fruit are great for the immune system, your skin and your digestion.

Coconut Chips

I came across some coconut chips in the checkout line at TJMaxx last year and decided to give them a try on a whim and boy I’m glad I did, they have the perfect crunch and what is even better is that the only ingredient in these is coconut, that’s it. The specific brand I have purchased these coconut chips in is www.thenutbox.com in case you are interested in checking them out.

Raw Cashews

Being allergic to many fruits and nuts I am limited to the type of nuts I can intake and cashews if one of them. What I cannot have (in their raw form) are almonds, pecans, pistachios or walnuts as long as these are roasted I can have them but I always proceed with caution. I really love to have raw cashews on hand all the time as I like to eat them by the handful and are always very filling. Also, cashews are a great source of copper, phosphorous, manganese, magnesium and zinc.

Coconut Vanilla Macaroons

These have been yet another TJMaxx checkout line find! Again they looked very good and I bought them on a whim these macaroons are vegan, raw and gluten free in addition to being made in small batches (I love anything and everything that is made in small batches!). Of course my all-time favorite macaroons are chocolate macaroons but these vanilla coconut ones definitely give those a run for their money. If you are interested in these coconut vanilla macaroons you can check them out at www.emmysorganics.com.

Cucumber Slices with lime

I have been eating this snack since I’ve had any recollection of memory. My mom used to make this for my sister and I as children and it has become a huge staple in my diet. All you need to do here is slice up as much or as little cucumber as you‘d like (I usually go for a regular sized cucumber) I then add lime juice from an entire lime and then add some salt (optional). AHHH my mouth is watering from just writing that! I know that not everyone likes sour foods but if you are like me and you do this snack is a must try!

What are your favorite easy and go to snacks to keep your food intake on track? Share below!

5 TIPS TO GET BETTER SLEEP AT NIGHT

Our lives can get kind of crazy and when that happens there are two things that in my experience tend to go array very quickly and that is eating habits and sleeping habits. There are a few simple habits we can create in our everyday lives that will help us get a better night’s sleep. As always, creating new habits takes time so I suggest incorporating these into your lives one at a time and putting your best foot forward in terms of sticking to the habit. You will be glad you did once you have reached your goal!

set an alarm to go to bed

Yep, you read that right! I know (from firsthand experience) that we can get easily distracted in the evenings. Think: Netflix, Hulu, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. – you get the drift. My point is that if we are not conscious about it our evenings will fly by and before we know it its 10PM and time to prepare to the next day. So, setting an alarm to be in bed by will keep you accountable with how you spend your time in the evenings.

avoid exercising 4 hours before bedtime

Regularly exercising has amazing benefits on your body (and mental) wellbeing, BUT, exercising late in the evening can come in between you and a good night’s sleep. I have especially noticed this if I do some type of cardio workout but not as much if I do Yoga or light Pilates.

ditch the caffeine after lunch

This is a tough one for me during our extreme seasons (summer and winter) – on the (very few) hot summer days I will give in and have an iced latte and on the (very many) cold winter days I get the urge to drink a hot cup of coffee in the afternoon. While I have not solved for the summer days iced latte urge I have done a pretty good job at eliminating coffee in the afternoons during winter by replacing my coffee with a cup of decaf tea. I have never been much of a tea drinker; however, I am learning to appreciate it more and more these days.

spray your sheets

There are certain natural scents that are very calming and relaxing like lavender, chamomile, vanilla and ylang-ylang. My favorite is lavender or a lavender-vanilla blend. You can easily make your own calming mixtureto spray your sheets a few minutes before getting into bed by mixing a few drops of essential oils (can be found in pharmacies or grocery stores) into a spray bottle.

white noise

Having some type of white noise on at night can do wonders for your sleep because it will help tune out noises (cars, dogs and/or people) that can wake you up at night. I have a air purifier that not only purifies my air but also serves as white noise - double win! Another option is to search white noise on YouTube and you will come across videos that are 8-10 hours long.

 

The Do’s and Dont’s of Keeping Your Body Hydrated

In order for us to all lead happy and healthy lives we need to keep our foundation strong and healthy – that being our bodies. On that notem a few weeks ago I wrote a post How to Start Your Day Off Right which offered up some tips on things we can incorporate to our daily routine whichcan potentially improve our overall lifestyle. Back to water…I am sure you already know but just in case I will state it again – our bodies are made up of about 70% water. Yes! Way more than half of what out bodies are made out of is good old water. Now, we are always told to drink water all…the…time and don’t get me wrong I love water. My liquid intake consists of two things coffee and water – I do not drink soda (let go of that bad habit many years ago) and I have never been a fan of juice. Sometimes I’ll have natural freshly squeezed juice or a fruit smoothie but none of the processed juice we can find at the grocery store.

What a lot of people may not be fully aware of is that we can also hydrate our bodies from sources other than water. Below I will outline the foods we can have which will supplement our water intake along with a few things we should steer away from.

1 | Fruits

Yep – fruits. Fruits are a great source for fluids - fruits like watermelon (92%), oranges (87%), canteloups (90%) , pineapple (87%), strawberries (92%) to name a few have a very high water content. Note: a fruit whose water content of 80% + is considered to have high water content.

2 | Veggies

Veggies typically do not have as high of water content as fruits do but they do have a substantial amount. A few that are top of the list are: brocolli (91%), carrots (87%), celery (95%), spicnach (92%) and  cucumbers (96%) – quick side note on that, I always tought that they were a fruit!

3 | Tea

Drinking a warm cup of tea may not seem like it’s a water source but it is! I am not a huge tea drinker (I usually only gravitate towards it when I am under the weather) but if you do enjoy drinking tea consider upping your intake.

Just as there are things we can do on a day to day basis to make sure our bodies stay hydrated there are also things that we may be doing that lead to dehydration. A few examples of those are:

1 | Hunger

If we allow ourselves to get hungry our body will start getting to our water source to regain some energy. This is why is is so, so important to have healthy snacks on hand if you are ever too busy to have a healthy meal.

2 | Stress

We allow ourselves to feel stressed out from everyday pressures of life and work but many of us do not see the correleation between the stress and the harm it can cause to our health. One of the direct side effects of stress is dehydration.

3 | Drinking Alcohol

But you already knew that, right? Yes, alcohol dehydrates the body. Ever notive when you drink alcohol your body immediately responds by having to use the bathroom? Im not saying you hae to nix alcohol, but I am saying to follow one simple rule – for every alcoholic drink you have drink a glass of water.

My main message here today is to take care of your body. After all it is the only one you have. Pay attention and listen to it, realize what it needs and does not need. Your busy will repay you with good health and abumdant energy. Stay healthy!

Do you already follow the do’s and how do you deal with the don’t’s? Share your approches to staying hydrated below!