How to eat for wellness in 2020

Tags

a fruit and veg smoothie, avocado smash, bananas, blueberries, body, caffeine and fizzy drinks, calm, cancers, cereals, chocolates, Christmas, cocktails, crash and burn, curries, dried, dried fruit, drink more water, Eat breakfast, energy drink, faddy diet, feel better, five portions of fruit and vegetables, five servings, fresh, Frozen, fun, goal, healthy, heart disease, homemade date bars, hydrate, indulge, Iron Man, juiced, low impact exercise, marathon, mash, meat and dairy free, mind, nuts, pasta, plant-based, porridge with banana, rice cakes, rich food, run, sausage rolls, skin, slice of cake, soups, spice, strokes, sweet potatoes, swim, take away, tinned, varied diet, vegan diet, veggie, Vitamin C, wake up, well-balanced, White bread, wholegrain alternatives, Wholemeal toast with peanut butter

Too many sausage rolls eaten?

Too many cocktails drunk?

Too many chocolates picked from the box?

Christmas is a time for fun and we all like to indulge, but all that rich food and sugary drinks can play havoc with our waistlines as well as our skin, teeth and mood.
Eating a healthy, well balanced, varied diet is key for good health and well-being and it can also help keep things like heart disease, strokes and certain cancers away.
We aren’t going to tell you to try a faddy diet or starve yourself because that won’t do anything for anyone, but we do have some ideas of how you can change what you eat and drink, and feel better for it.

Eat breakfast
We know this isn’t for everyone, but eating breakfast is the best way to start your day. Don’t load up on cereals packed with sugar or knock back an energy drink when you wake up, because you will crash and burn. Wholemeal toast with peanut butter, a fruit and veg smoothie, porridge with banana and blueberries or avocado smash are all perfect morning starters and they will see you through the morning.

A starter for five
Old news maybe, but eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day is the goal. It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh, frozen, tinned, juiced or dried, but get in the habit of having five servings and if you can go further, you are winning.

Drink more water
It’s clear… drink more water if you want to feel good. The advice is to drink between 6 and 8 glasses of water a day and this will impact you mind, body and skin. You might also want to cut the caffeine and fizzy drinks and switch to herbal teas which will help hydrate and calm you.

Keep snacks in your bag
Dried fruit, nuts, rice cakes, bananas and home-made date bars can be kept in your bag, car or desk drawer and not only will they fill you up, they are so much better for you than a bar of chocolate or slice of cake. Yes, have treats, but now and again and not every day.

Make switches
White bread and pasta aren’t going to really do much for you, so why not switch to wholegrain alternatives? Sweet potatoes are a brilliant source of vitamin C, so leave the mash for another day, and a bowl of berries will beat a bag of sweets any day.

Go plant based
This isn’t for everyone but cutting animal products out of your diet isn’t a bad idea. If a full vegan diet isn’t right, maybe think about being veggie or if this is still too much, go meat and dairy free a couple of days and week and let natural plant goodness fill your plate and your tummy.

Exercise more
We aren’t saying that you need to train for a marathon or become an Iron Man candidate but moving your body goes hand in hand with improving your diet. The weather might still be cold, but a run around the park will warm you up, a swim is a low impact exercise many of us can do and if you want to spice up your life, how about a salsa class with a friend? Don’t sign up for an expensive gym membership in January that you won’t use, but do look for something you will enjoy, because then you will want to do it, and you’ll be glad you did. Do remember, that going for a job doesn’t mean you can then eat a massive take-away, but you can make curries and soups from scratch that will nourish your body for longer.

Got a tip for us, let us know as we are all for a happier, healthier 2020.

Team Pure Beauty

How to get your life together this summer

Tags

ability to thrive, alcohol, amazing benefits, anxious, blood flow, body, bottle of water, boundaries, boxing, brain, burnout, cook, dawn to dusk, debilitating, demands, draining, easy, eat and drink, energised, energy, exercise, family, feel good endorphins, feeling, focus, friends, fruit and veg, glowing, good for you, GP, health, health and wellness, healthier, healthy skin, hormones, ideas, just say no, lash out, life, longest day of the year, marathon, meal planning, more organised, natural stress reducer, people pleasers, perform, pressures, priorities, rampant, Relax, rested, sacrifice, screens, shopping, shortcuts, sick, sleep, stress, stress levels, suck, sugar, support, take-aways, taste great, trainers, under control, wake

As we are fast heading to the longest day of the year, how are you feeling about your life?

Is everything great, or could things be just a little bit better?

A bit healthier?

More organised?

Could you sleep better and feel more energised?

Well, we have put together a few ideas that we hope will let you be the very best version of you, from dawn to dusk.

Nutrition
How often do you sacrifice meal planning and cooking from scratch, for taking shortcuts and getting take-aways? It is so, so easy to get caught up in the pressures of life and the demands of everyone around you, but the truth is that won’t do anyone any favours. But, we do get why it happens. The key is to figure out what to eat each week, ensure you have the shopping organised so that you can then cook recipes that don’t require a massive amount of preparation but taste great and are good for you.

Try to eat foods that nourish your body, support your life, and make you feel and look your best! Keep sugar and alcohol down and fruit and veg high.

Keep stress under control
Stress is totally debilitating, draining, and can have massive damaging implications on our health, energy, and ability to thrive. Let’s face it, stress can stop us from achieving lasting health and wellness, so it is important to look at how we deal with it so that we don’t burnout, or lash out. If we don’t monitor stress levels, we can age before our time, get sick more often than we should, and feel anxious all the time as hormones run rampant around in our bodies.

Think again about what you eat and drink. How much time you work and spend at your screens, and consider how best to get good sleep at night so you wake feeling rested. Make time for you and relax. If you are worried about your stress levels, speak to your family, friends or GP and get some support in place.

Exercise
We have said this before, but it is key to take exercise because it has so many amazing benefits. It’s a natural stress reducer, it gets the blood flowing through your entire body, including your brain, and this can help you focus, think more clearly and allow you to perform better. Exercise gives you glowing, healthy skin and can help improve your immune system.

We aren’t saying that you need to train for a marathon or start boxing for England, but find something you like doing and in time, you will love it and all that it brings to you.

So, grab your trainers, get some funky workout gear, a bottle of water, and let those feel good endorphins racing around your system, making you feel fab.

Just say no
This isn’t easy, as so many of us are people pleasers, but it is important to have boundaries in place so you are OK saying ‘no’. Yes, you want to be able to help others, but if you don’t put yourself from time to time, you won’t be able to help anyone else. Look at what you have to do day to day, work out what your priorities really are, and if you can’t take anything else on, don’t.

We hope you have a great summer and that some of these steps will ensure you are on the right path to being the best you.

Team Pure Beauty

Getting your first home in shape

Tags

abode, achievement, bathroom, blank canvas, boring, box, brand-new property, budget, bugs, charity shop, colour, Congratulations, conservatory, costly, decorations, dirt, disinfecting, donated, dust and cobwebs, Dusting, embrace, essential furniture, family and friends, garage, glamorous edge, gold, gold frame, High Street, home, home owner., hoovering, house, instant life, keys, light, list, marathon, mirror, mortgage, moved, mustard, new, new kitchen, paint, pale grey, pink, polishing, pop of colour, pots and pans, property, property shows, replace, rooms, save, simple steps, small fortune, social media, soft white, sold, sprint, striking statement wall, strong blue, TV, unpacked, walls

Congratulations, you are a home owner.

There is something special about taking possession of the keys to your first home and it is certainly a huge achievement.

Turning a house into a home however, can be a costly exercise, but fret not, we are here with some simple steps that will allow you to make your abode your own without doubling the mortgage.

Clean out the dirt
Even if you have bought a brand-new property, we would suggest you go in and give your new place a thorough clean before you do anything else. Dusting, hoovering, polishing and disinfecting will rid your home of any dirt and bugs and give you a totally blank canvas for the next step of your life.

Don’t blow the budget on day one
Heading straight to the High Street the moment the last box is unpacked, isn’t the best plan. It might be boring but making a list of exactly what you already have, costs nothing and could save you a small fortune. Ask yourself whether you need everything you have already got, what can be moved into other rooms and anything you don’t need can be sold, given away or donated to the charity shop.

Paint the walls
A quick lick of paint is a super easy, pretty inexpensive way to give your home an instant lift and to give it your own stamp. We would suggest going for a soft white or pale grey that can run through the entire property. If you want to make a splash in one or two rooms, go for a striking statement wall in a strong blue, mustard or pink which will offer not only a pop of colour but a glamorous edge too.

Add light with mirrors
If you want to add bursts of light to your rooms and shimmer to your walls, mirrors are the perfect solution. Strategically placing mirrors on walls will add depth and light and also give an air of sophistication if you choose ones with a gold or wooden frame.

Call in favours
If this is the first home of your own, call in the favours when it comes to essential furniture, decorations and even pots and pans. Make a list of what you need and while it might not be perfect, you will be amazed at what family and friends have in their garages and shed gathering dust and cobwebs. Start asking around, put posts on social media and go to garage sales and boot fairs and you’ll have all you need in no time and can replace with new when the time is right.

Take it one room at a time
When you are ready to do some work, take it one room at a time. As you will have seen from the TV property shows, renovation projects can be costly, stressful and often take far longer than expected. Whether you need a new kitchen, the bathroom need replacing as the current one is a ‘70s shade of avocado or the conservatory needs taking down, start at the beginning and don’t take on more than you can achieve – this is a marathon not a sprint.

Relax
Last but by no means least, please relax. You only buy your first home once, so make sure you enjoy it and realise what a massive milestone this is. One of the best parts of buying a new house is the freedom to do what you like with it, when you want, so embrace it and have fun.

Team Pure Beauty

Walk or run?

Tags

accountable, apps, burn, bus, club, dog, endorphins, energy, exercise, fresh air, friends, fun, gadgets, gear, healthy, hydrate, marathon, park, rambling, run, trainers, walk, weekend

Are you a runner or walker?

Do you ever wonder which one is better for your health?

Whether you like to walk or run, getting out of your chair and doing some exercise is good for you.

It is when you have specific goals, such as running a marathon or shedding pounds, that one might be better for you then another.

There is no doubt at all that running is becoming increasingly popular and seen as the fail-safe way to get fit. Go outside on your lunch break or stroll through the park at the weekend and neon clad runners will go whizzing past at a rate of knots.

As well as being free, running comes with a multitude of benefits including weight loss, freedom, time to think, stress release, and sleeping better. However, it certainly isn’t for everyone.

Despite all of the excellent benefits, running is a high-impact exercise and one that can be tough on our joints, which can make it a no-no for some people.

Runners’ legs and knees receive greater impact force than walkers and injuries can, and do occur. When you walk you keep one foot on the ground which means walking is gentler and slower paced.

Experts recommend people run no more than five times a week if they are working at a moderate-intense level, and that you stretch before and after any session.

If you’re worried about injuries, or already have one, then the best plan is to keep clear of running and walk instead. If you suffer an injury or are in ongoing pain check in with your GP but don’t suffer in silence as it can cause more harm.

Running also burns more calories than walking, even fast walking, making it a good way to losing weight and tone up. If this is your goal then consider running with a friend and having a plan. You can find these on running and fitness websites and can also get apps to help keep you on track.

Whether you are running in January or July, in Australia or Austria, make sure you wear the right gear. Go for layers made of breathable fabrics and always wear a pair of trainers that fit well and support your feet and ankles. It might seem like a big investment but you are working to improve your health not damage it, so buy the best you can.

Along similar lines, if you are running on a regular basis, it is vital to refuel your body with protein-rich foods and don’t over eat as a result of exercising and thinking you deserve lots of treats!

Keeping hydrated is vital, especially when during the summer when you sweat more. Water is the best thing to drink and lots of it. You might think energy drinks will give you a boost but many are packed with sugar and chemicals that you can do without.

If you simply want to keep healthy and don’t have any burning ambitions to break records or win medals then the good news is that walking could be just as good as running.

It can help reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Both can help keep your BMI at a healthy level with is really important. Of course being outside ups your levels or Vitamin D and increases those natural happy endorphins leaving you feeling more sparky.

Making small changes to everyday routines means it is pretty easy to increase how active you are and you will soon start to see results.

• Walk to work.
• Get off the bus one stop early and walk the rest of the way.
• If you don’t have a dog, offer to walk your friend’s, as this is a brilliant way to get fresh air and exercise.
• Run around in the park with your kids and burn off some energy as you connect and have fun.
• Take the stairs rather than a lift or escalators.
• Include a walk in your family’s weekend activities.
• Tell people about what you are doing, as this will make you accountable and give you a sense of achievement.
• Track your steps each day. There are loads of apps and gadgets, and try to increase the total week by week.
• Join a rambling or walking group if you are keen to make new friends at the same time as exercising.

Whether you run or walk, simply being more active will benefit you in many ways. So start today and see a fitter, happier you in no time.