Healthier Lifestyle Tips

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Looking after our bodies and minds is the quickest route to happiness, and you don’t need to make lots of huge changes to improve your health. There are plenty of simple daily habits you can adopt for a healthier body and mind.

 Foods that fight free radicals

Our bodies are prone to damage from oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when oxygen atoms split, resulting in unpaired electrons. These atoms are known as ‘free radicals’. Free radicals cause damage to our bodies and are associated with many diseases. Junk foods, tobacco, and alcohol all contribute to creating free radicals. On the contrary, there are many antioxidant-rich foods that can fight off free radicals, and prevent the associated damage. A few of these foods include fish, pulses, red peppers, spinach, and blueberries. Add these to your shopping list and you’re good to go!

Increase daily exercise

Increasing your daily exercise is the best thing you can do for both your body and your mind. Don’t worry if you don’t have the time to fit in a long exercise session. A brief walk in the park or a fifteen min aerobics video will make a world of difference. For those who prefer to work out at home, try applications like Nike Training Club, Asana Rebel, or Zwift. Dance workouts are especially effective for lifting your mood and feeling more positive!

Regular medical checks

Keeping up with your regular medical checks can afford you peace of mind and help you to take preventive measures. Eye tests and hearing tests are checkups which many people forget about, however, these are both important. Signs of hearing decline include struggling to hear people when there is background noise or experiencing frequent ringing in the ears. To learn more about hearing decline take a look at Sound Choice Hearing.

Reconnect with nature 

According to a study on nature.com, ‘ spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing.’ In the modern world, many of us tend to lose our connection with nature. We immerse ourselves in the world of work and tech, without spending much quality time outdoors. To boost your health this year, challenge yourself to reconnect. You can do this by trying foraging workshops, taking up hiking, freshwater swimming, or simply a regular stroll in the park.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy refers to a type of talking therapy, it is designed to help people cope with their problems by changing how they behave and think. The therapy is based on the concept that your actions and physical sensations are intrinsically connected with your thoughts. 

CBT is generally used for those with depression and anxiety. However, if you would like to improve your mental health, talking therapy is valuable whether you have these conditions or not. Talking openly about your emotions and problems can help you to achieve a happier mindset. Applications that offer online CBT therapy include ‘What’s Up’,  ‘Mood Kit’, or Happify.

 This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Personally, I’ve never faired well with restrictive diets. Coupled with always thinking in the back of my mind that there has to be a better way to lead a healthier lifestyle at home has helped me to ditch more diets I’ve ever tried than not.  Which is exactly the mindset in Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion.

I’ve already spoken the praises of this book here and here and shared an interview with the author, Joel Marion here, but today, I want to share how this plan can help others like myself reach out to small, obtainable healthy living goals at home.  This plan comes with over 70 mouth-watering recipes that include high-carb dinners, decadent dessert, and pre-bedtime snacks.

The Always Eat After 7 PM plan has helped me to rethink not just what but when I consume my meals. Actionable steps that have helped me turn the nourishment my body needs into the means to lead a lifestyle at home. A life full of energy and without the deprivation of diets I’ve tried in the past.

I love that this plan focuses on long-term progress, based on smart, strategic food swaps.  Utilizing a three-phase program that teaches you how to lose big by strategically eating big when you are naturally hungriest—in the evening, Always Eat After 7 pm. turns mealtime into energy- creating an oasis for your body. While this may sound too good to be true,  it is no gimmick. It’s simple strategic, and smart food swaps, the consuming of your favorite, family foods, in healthier ways. Its behavioral changing and goal setting at its finest. 

In the author’s words: In general, healthy fats can also help increase feelings of fullness and satisfaction because they regulate appetite through a number of mechanisms, including the release of appetite hormones. What’s more, combining a fat with fiber has been shown to further increase the satiating potential of fat. The satiating power of fats is often one explanation offered to describe why some weight loss trials have shown that low-carbohydrate (and higher-fat) diets tend to lead to greater weight loss than low-fat diets.

My takeaway from this plan? Consuming healthy fats, when added to meal planning and prepping at home over an extended period of time, helps Always Eat After 7 pm readers, induce feelings of fullness and meal satisfaction. A process that minimizes the body’s release of unhealthy hormones and excess fat reserves. This, over time, helps readers to have greater weight loss than low-fat diets alone. 

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase, here.  Friends, will you be trying the Always Eat After 7 pm plan at home? Share your thoughts below!

This post is sponsored by the book “Always Eat After 7 PM” and Joel Marion. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Another week following the Always Eat After 7 pm is in the books, friends.  This 3-stage plan,  including an introductory acceleration phase, along with revamped meal planning and meal prepping, and adhering to an after 7 pm meal consumption, has allowed myself and countless others to enter to new and better ways to live your best life while still eating your favorite foods.

From the author: “Always Eat After 7 pm is a three-phase program that teaches you how to lose big by strategically eating big when you are naturally hungriest—in the evening. This may sound too good to be true, but let me assure you it is no gimmick. It’s all about making strategic and smart food swaps, and you can still eat your favorite foods.”

What have I enjoyed the most this past week on this plan is my ability to better decipher proper meal planning techniques. That, if you’re eating the right things, become strategic about the times of day you consume your largest and last meal, the better you’re going to burn fat, have more energy, and perfect your digestive system at home.

Author Joel Marion helps readers figure out not only the best daily meal plan you need as well as single, scientifically-backed ways to better track your caloric intake at home. Tracking that makes it easier for people, like myself and others, to become more conscious of what I’m eating.

Better still?  Always Eat After 7 pm shares many, many easy-to-cook meals. This not only saves you time meal prepping and meal planning but helps busy folks enjoy the best of dishes at home.

Mouth-watering dishes including marinara sauce and spaghetti squash, Pomegranate Glazed Pork Chops, and one sheet pan meals like Lemon Garlic Sheet Pan Fish and Veggies recipe. Sure to please even your pickiest eater at home. 

My Goals with Always Eat After 7 PM has always been to help me fit back into my skinny jeans comfortably and to hear my love say I’m hot. Always a bonus, right? I wanted better results in there two above-mentioned dietary needs and self-care. Progress without having to be fanatic in seeing results. I also endeavored to best utilize this plan as a means to help me gain accountability over what I’m eating daily at home.

In past years, due to scheduling and busyness, I’d often rely on small, sugary snacks throughout the day or binge on junk food late at night. Using the  Always Eat After 7 PM to reset my eating habits has helped me better my success rates in both these areas alike. Similar issues are addressed in the latest  Q&A session by Always Eat After 7 PM author, Joel Marion, viewed below.

Always Eat After 7 PM falls in line with Marion’s six other works. He speaks of the book’s purpose below:

Always Eat After 7 PM Questions and Answers with Author Joel Marion

What inspired you to write the book?

After authoring 6 best selling books it was glaringly obvious there were 2 huge misconceptions about dieting that needed to be exposed. The first is that you can’t eat late at night or before bed, which science now shows is NOT true. And second, you can’t eat large portions that satisfy your natural instinct. This book solves both these problems by providing an evidence-based, enjoyable approach to dieting that can be used by any person to quickly achieve their weight loss goals.

What was the most surprising discovery when you were researching scientific data for the diet?

That almost everything my college education and certifications taught me was NOT grounded in published scientific research.

How difficult is the Always Eat After 7 PM plan to follow?

It’s not. And that’s exactly why I wrote the book. While any diet is never truly easy, it can be more enjoyable and much easier to adhere to when you understand how Always Eat After 7pm works because it caters to our bodies natural instincts.

So how is my overall progress been? With only two weeks in, and admittedly not always being able to follow the plan word-for-word due to limitations currently facing our nation and the world, I’m still pleased with my progress.

My biggest victory? Grocery ordering and meal planning with healthier, late-in-the-day-dinners in mind. Which for me, also translates into rollable, leftover lunches from the previous day’s dinner. Saving my time and money each week at home. Meals that keep me satisfied, nourished, and with sustained energy the following day, ingredients that are affordable to purchase, and easy-to-make during busy weeknights at home.  

Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Get your copy, here! Friends, will you be trying this plan at home? Leave your thoughts below.

Post Series:

Week 1: Always Eat After 7 PM: An Introduction To Debunking Diet Myths

Week 2: Author Interview: “Always Eat After 7 PM” by Joel Marion, Part II

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with cancer, no-doubt you’re full of confusion, questions, and more than your share of worry. The last thing you need is to be overcome with doubt and anxiety, however, when you’re doing all you can to fight off an illness. You need support, compassion, and the very best care you can get from experienced, knowledgeable professionals. 

Photo Credit: Miguel Á. Padriñán

For this reason, many cancer patients choose to begin treatment at a cancer treatment center. Cancer centers differ from traditional hospitals in that focus solely on cancer treatments and only see cancer patients. Because of this, their care is dedicated and focused, concentrating on the patient and their treatment and recovery. Often the treatment plans at cancer centers are much more streamlined to the individual patient and often include new technologies and alternative treatments that you might not find at your local hospital. 

There are things to consider when choosing the right cancer center for you. To begin, you need to make sure that any treatment center you choose is covered by your insurance and/or that you can afford it. You’ll also want to stay somewhat local, so you don’t have to travel long distances when you’re already sick and tired. It’s best to ask your primary care physician for a referral; they can steer you in the right direction by giving you information on a local cancer treatment center that might be a good fit. Make sure that any cancer center you choose is part of the NCI (National Cancer Institute) and that the doctors and staff all have appropriate credentials. 

You’ll want to tour the facilities, meet with the oncologists and other healthcare staff, ask questions, and get a feel for the place. After all, they’ll be handling your treatment, so you want to feel comfortable with the staff and make sure you trust their care and guidance. Don’t be afraid to ask for their credentials or find out detailed info about their treatment plans. Many cancer centers have innovative and unique treatments, such as proton therapy and other forms of treatment; talk to them about these and what might be right for you. 

Cancer treatment centers have become more and more popular in recent years, helping patients with all types of cancers including breast cancer, colon cancer, diseases like non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and more. There are even cancer centers specifically for children. While most are outpatient, some cancer treatment centers even offer in-patient care, working around the clock to take care of your treatment and overall medical care. 

Cancer treatment centers have been helping patients for many years with innovative treatments, making them feel comfortable and cared for. Many people feel that these are a much better alternative to regular hospital visits, with concentrated, detailed care and support. If you feel that treatment at a cancer center is right for you, start calling around today to find the best treatment center for your unique case. You’ll be glad you did.

These days there are so many cool things happening with dental technology. No matter what issue you need fixing, your local dentist likely has you covered. From cosmetic to the more medical of procedures, you can get your teeth fixed quickly and easily, helping you put your best smile forward. 

Photo Credit: Anna Shvets

One of the more popular and sought-after cosmetic dental procedures that people are going for is getting dental veneers. Dental veneers are safe, durable, and look great; they can really improve your smile while providing an extra layer of protection for your existing teeth. Are dental veneers right for you? Let’s look at them in more detail. 

Dental veneers are usually made from durable, long-lasting porcelain that has the natural, beautiful translucent appearance that normal teeth do, making them look totally natural and realistic. The porcelain is a thin shell, fitted to the tip of each tooth, and is then securely bonded to the teeth. Veneers are very durable and long-lasting, adverse to stains and are not easily damaged. With the proper care, they can last a very long time, up to a decade or longer. Veneers can be removed at any time, if you so wish, with a quick visit to your dentist. 

Traditional veneers are not only perfectly fitted to your teeth, they are color-matched as well, so when you purchase veneers, you know that they will look completely natural and nobody will be able to tell the difference. The no-prep version involves less matching and fitting and therefore may not look quite as natural, but they still can look great. 

Veneers can generally be placed in just one appointment, for the “no-prep” style of veneers. For traditional veneers, you’ll need at least two, possibly more appointments to get the veneers matched, fitted and applied to your teeth. The process is reasonably painless and discomfort-free. You’ll likely be placed under general anesthesia and given numbing agents to alleviate any discomfort. Once the veneers are bonded to your teeth, that’s it! You’re done. The recovery type is very minimal. 

The cost of veneers can vary depending on which type of veneers you elect for. No-prep veneers (the type typically done in a day), usually cost between $800-2,000 per tooth and last for only about 5-7 years or so. The veneers that require more of a fitting/matching are slightly more expensive at $925-2,5000 per tooth and last for generally the same amount of time or a little longer, around 10-15 years.

As veneers are considered a cosmetic dental procedure, many dental insurances won’t cover the entire cost, if any. Some do, however, so be sure to look carefully at your dental plan, and be sure to speak to your dentist: they may be able to help you navigate the costs with a payment plan/financing, a discount for bulk pricing, and/or referring you to Care Credit or another option for financial assistance. Most dentists consider traditional veneers to be better value for money; though they are more expensive they last longer and fit your teeth better than the no-prep versions, which can cause issues. While veneers are considered very pricey, because of their long-lasting nature, many people consider them a worthy investment. 

Those with gum disease or genetically weak teeth are sometimes discouraged from using veneers, as they can cause further gum shrinkage in those people. 

Risks associated with veneers are quite low but can include allergic reaction to local anesthetic, cracking or damage to the veneers in severe cases, and occasional increase in tooth sensitivity/increased infection. However, these risks are very rare and most people enjoy their veneers with little risk at all. While some of these issues can be concerning, the truth is that wearing veneers can actually help protect your natural teeth, keeping them from further damage or decay. Veneers act as an extra layer of protection as well as a nice, new surface so you can put your best smile forward. 

For those who are embarrassed by the look of their teeth, veneers can greatly improve self-confidence, giving you that perfect smile you’ve been missing. Veneers can vastly improve self-confidence and boost self-esteem. If your teeth are damaged, cracked or severely discolored and you want to keep your teeth while still improving their overall appearance, a set of veneers could be the best bet for you. Make an appointment with your dentist today to discuss the pros and cons of veneers and see if they are a viable option for you. Improve your smile today!