How to Stop Self-Criticism in 6 steps

As women we tend to be very critical of ourselves. It’s easy for us to sincerely praise and validate others but when it comes to valuing ourselves, we tend to be very critical and unforgiving. We need to quiet our critical inner voice as this will be one of the best self-love things we’ll ever do.

How to Stop Self-Criticizing

I have listed six steps to help quiet your inner critic. Go through the steps and you’ll discover a more peaceful and happy existence.

Follow these steps:

Step 1 – Acknowledge that self-criticism can be damaging. It destroys your self-esteem, confidence and prevents you from going after your dreams. Not to mention wreak havoc on your mental wellbeing.

Step 2 – Write down your criticisms and go through them one by one and ask yourself, “Is this really valid?” chances are it’s NOT, now cross it off your list.

Step 3 – Look at each criticism that you wrote down and figure out when that narrative began. Take time to resolve why you feel that way and forgive yourself.

Step 4 – Now it’s time to release the negative remarks from your repertoire because they simply hold no validity for you now. Create a list of positive remarks that way when a self-criticism pops in your head you have a positive to quickly replace that thought.

Step 5 – Replace your critical voice with the kind, supportive, caring voice you use with loved ones.

Step 6 – Stay focused, keep working at achieving your desires. You can challenge the validity of any criticism simply by continuing with your efforts.

Your got this, you are worthy of all that you desire. If you fall back into old habits of self-criticism just redo that steps. Now go and be the most confident, successful being that you were meant to be.

Remember your status may be Single but you’re not alone!

What to do Daily for Self-Care

The Daily Self-Care Challenge

Ladies now more than ever it’s important to take care of you! During these stressful times we need to make time for ourselves, I know it’s hard to think about yourself with work, home schooling due to lockdowns, dealing with other people’s energies, all while trying to maintain your sanity. These self-care rituals will help you soothe your mind, body, and soul, reduce your stress, and hopefully remind you that you also need to be a priority.

Let’s make next week, the week of self-love, each day do the ritual listed. I want you to journal about each activity after you have completed it, write down how you were feeling before and how you feel after. At the end of the week due a self-check on your emotional wellbeing and share your journey with us.

Weekly list of self-care Rituals

Sunday – Take time to do something you really love to do. Maybe you love dancing, find a dance class on YouTube or if you live somewhere without lockdown restrictions take a class.

Monday – Meditate to clear your mind, strengthen your focus, and gain peace. As I stated in my previous post give headspace Guide to Meditation a try on Netflix.

Tuesday – Go outdoors to re-acquaint yourself with nature. Take a walk in the park, go for a hike, or drive to a body of water and just watch the waves. Listen to the sounds, feel the breeze, be present

Wednesday – Write out your feelings put all your stress down on paper. Stay in touch with your feelings and let go of anything weighing you down.

Thursday – Exercise to relieve your stress and rejuvenate both your mind and body. Exercise dose not need to be intense, go for a walk, do stretches, try yoga. Do something that gets you moving and out of your head.

Friday – Pamper yourself with a facial, pedicure/manicure. I love steaming my face, I find it very soothing and relaxing.

Saturday – Take a luxurious bath or shower set the mood with candles, soft music, essential oils for relaxation. If you’re taking a luxurious bath read a book, listen to a podcast or just lie there with your eyes closed and feel your tension slipping away.

At the end of the week make a list for other rituals that you can do to keep the self-love momentum going and please share with us.

Remember your status may be Single but you’re not alone.

Meditation = Well Being

I have been suffering from insomnia the last few months and decided I need to do something to stop my brain, I feel consumed with thoughts. I have also found myself getting caught up in the office drama. Their bad days were becoming my bad days just because I was allowing their negative energy in.

I had to find a way to block the negative energies and to not get let my thoughts be consumed with the office drama and the bad behaviors of others especially during these trying times.

How was I going to get through this without further distress on my mental health?

Meditation is a practice of training your mind to focus and enhancing your awareness. It’s not about turning off your thoughts, it learning to observe them without judgement.

The benefits of meditation:

• Gaining perspective on stressful situations
• Builds skill to manage stress
• Helps keeping focus on the present
• Reduces negative emotions
• Increase patience and tolerance

I found my answer but where do I start? Thankfully, Netflix was there to help me out. They have teamed up with Headspace and created a series of guided meditations. Just what this beginner needed. There are 8 guided mediations in the series and each one is about 20 minutes long. Andy from headspace talks you through it. His voice is very calming, and he will tell you that it’s ok if your mind wonders that’s normal.

I felt calmer after the first episode, I did one guided meditation nighty for 8 nights. I felt my anxiety subside, I was sleeping a little better (this is a work in progress) and I did not get caught up in the office drama. I now do guided meditations daily and I feel like I am more mindful of my surroundings it just kind of happens, I can deflect any negative thoughts a lot easier, and I have an overall sense of wellbeing. I am now a promoter of mediation and I understand why people who have been doing it for years seem so grounded and together.

The best thing is you don’t have to buy any fancy equipment all you need is a quiet space. If you are a beginner like me, I would recommend headspace Guide to Meditation on Netflix, also there are plenty of guided meditations on YouTube.

With a regular meditation practice your will discover the following:

• Mediation allows you to sort out your feelings. It offers an opportunity to reflect on your current situation and gain insights into your experiences.
• Your concentration will get stronger as will your self-knowledge and awareness.
• Create a new habit by ending each meditation session with a specific action that will help you achieve your goals

So, what are your waiting for…a regular meditation practice can help keep your mind sharp. Devote time to thinking, learning, and growing. You’ll enjoy the results!

What Foods Can You Can Eat Every Day That Suppress Your Appetite

Are you currently trying to lose unwanted weight? Are you struggling with cravings and mindless eating? Are you feeling hungry, but you have reached your calorie limit for the day?

Try adding the following foods in your diet:

1. Ginger. Ginger has a strong, pleasant flavor, and helps you avoid overeating. I know ginger is a hard sell, but it has so many health benefits it’s worth getting use to. Start with Ginger tea, it’s mild and may help with you lose weight.

 I had the worst chest infection back in 2015 (Covid-15 perhaps?) I went through a round of antibiotics and that did not help. I fought this thing for 3 months; I could barely breath and every day was a struggle. Then one night while out, a friend could hear my labored breathing, she told me to eat a piece of ginger with raw honey 3 times a day. I did just that, it was hard at first but by day 3 I could breathe, and I have been a big promoter of ginger ever since.

• Add a little grated Ginger to your smoothies and meals. Make ginger tea or buy Ginger Tea bags. You can even eat slices of crystallized ginger.
  
  
  • Ginger is loaded with antioxidants, has fiber, amino acids, and helps your body ward off germs. Ginger’s antibacterial power helps keeps your mouth healthy. It’s a natural nausea remedy. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that help sooth sore muscles, eases arthritis symptoms, lowers blood sugar, eases menstrual cramps, helps lower cholesterol, and helps you fight off chest infections. Basically, Ginger is the bomb!
    
    
• Avocado. The avocado fruit (Yes, it’s a fruit!) has many health benefits. It has more potassium than a Banana. Avocadoes are loaded with fiber which make you feel full. They have heart healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (the good fats), which has natural appetite suppressant properties.

• Although there are many calories and fat in avocados, they are a healthier option than junk food and sugary treats.
  
  
  • Have avocado toast for breakfast, not only is it healthy but you’ll be one of the cool kids. Apparently, it all the rage with the hipsters. You can also add it to salads and smoothies or use it as a base for sauces and dips.

• Cayenne pepper. Spice things up with cayenne pepper it will help suppress your appetite and aid in weight loss. One study found that using cayenne pepper can makes you eat fewer calories, so why not try it.
  
  
  • The chemicals in cayenne pepper help boost the metabolism, make you feel less hungry and help burn fat in the body.
    
    
  • Add Cayenne pepper to your meals as you cook. It can be sprinkled on salads and added to soups. However, be careful to not keep it near your cinnamon, you may grab the wrong spice and load your oatmeal up with Cayenne, I can tell you it’s a rude awakening.
    
    
• Apples. An apple a day keeps the doctor and unwanted pounds away.

The fiber and pectin in apples can make you feel full, so you’re less likely overeat.

• Apples are crunchy, juicy and sweet! They can feed the craving for sugar and the craving for something crunchy without sabotaging your weight loss goals.

• Apples take more time to chew than other foods. This gives your body the time to process what you’re eating and send signals to your brain that you’re full faster.
  
  
  • The multiple varieties of apples also keep things interesting, however my favourite are the Pink Ladies.

Simply put… they’re juicy, they’re crunchy, they’re Delicious!

Enjoy these natural appetite suppressants as you diet. Keep in mind that exercise and a generally healthy overall eating plan are also important for losing weight.

4 Steps to help overcome Emotional Overeating

Has this pandemic become the battle of the bulge? Do you have love / hate relationship with the scale? Are you gaining weight that seems to stay around forever? The cause might be emotional overeating.

I am guilty of this, now matter what the emotion stress, depressed, anger and even when happy food is my comfort. When happy it’s disguised as a celebration, I’ve earned the right to eat whatever I want. However, I have noticed that different emotions have me seeking out different comfort foods. When I am stressed or angry, I tend to want sweet comforts. When I am sad its junk food like chips or take out. When happy its all the above.

What is emotional overeating?

Emotional overeating is a complex topic, but to simplify you are eating your feelings!

As defined by the Mayo Clinic Emotional Eating is eating to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Major life events or, more commonly, the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts.

Food is a source of comfort for us emotional eaters. Sadly, the comfort doesn’t last it’s a temporary rush of feel good emotions then the guilt of overeating kicks in and then you are berating yourself for sabotaging your diet and weight-loss goals.

Try these easy steps to help with your emotional overeating.

1. Know your triggers. When you feel the need to eat your feelings it is usually triggered by an event, thought, or feeling.

If you are not yet mindful of your triggers start a journal. Start by writing out your feelings. Are you stressed, bored, sad or is this real hunger that you are feeling?

If you can figure out your triggers, then it will be easier to take control of them.

My trigger is work stress and now due to ‘The Vid’ and being in lockdown I am seeking comfort in food much more then normal. Your triggers may be the same or it could be family and relationship issues.

2. Eat when you’re hungry. Learn to listen to your body and pay attention to real hunger pangs. Make sure to also keep hydrated so an you don’t confuse being thirsty with being hungry.

3. Make alternative plans. For example, if you know that you are going to have a stressful day at work, and this causes you to stress eat then plan and try to prevent it. Try substituting a more positive action that also brings you comfort or reduces your stress like looking at dog videos on Instagram. Nothing better than watching a cubby French bulldog getting stuck in a box. Maybe dog videos aren’t your thing, but you get the idea.

– Take a long walk or workout after work to get rid of stress.
– Instead of running to grab that bags chips after an argument, watch your favourite sitcom to get you in a happier mood. Or get out of your comfort zone and call a friend instead of texting.

The plan is to find other ways to deal with your stress and negative emotions.

4) Find your tribe.  Surround yourself with people that your are comfortable with, that support and lift up. Create a support group to help each other with your fitness and health goals.

Your are not alone, many of us eat our feelings and most of the time without realizing it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of and we can change. Take small steps to create your new habits and reach out when you need help.

Do you need to break up with your food?

This blog post is probably not going to help my single status but I think this is something that needs to be shared. In the past couple of years I have developed food intolerances.

Food intolerance – Occur when the body is unable to deal with a certain type of foodstuff. This is usually because the body doesn’t produce enough of the particular chemical or enzyme that’s needed for digestion of that food.

My definition of a food intolerance would be uncontrollable passing of gas. Stomach bloating so bad that people will ask ‘So when are you due?’ thinking that you’re ready to give birth that second. Stomach cramps that have you doubled over in pain and praying that you will let rip the mother of all farts in hope of alleviating some of the pain. You smell like you’re a rotting on the inside. Granted anything coming out of your ass generally does not smell good but if you are having a reaction to your food it’s like rotten garbage sitting in the sun for weeks on end. Weight gain, some people are lucky and experience weigh loss but not this gal! You go from extreme bouts of constipation to 20 minutes bathroom sprints for a day maybe two. The bathroom sprints make you happy you are having a movement but by trip number 3 you begin to wonder just how full of shit you really are.

Two years back I was in my night school class studying Nutritional Symptomology when we started discussing the difference between food allergies and intolerances. As the teacher was going through the symptoms of an intolerance I realized he was talking about my issues. Finally it made sense, but the big question now was what am I intolerant to?

One way to find out if you have intolerances is to do an elimination diet. Eliminate the following foods Eggs, Dairy (includes cheese, yogurt, butter, chocolate), Soy, nuts, wheat and sweeteners; since they are the biggest culprits for food allergies and intolerances. Then slowly add them back into your diet and see if you have symptoms, remember you do not get an immediate reaction, you may feel symptoms the next day or even two days later.

Or you can visit a naturopath and get a get a blood test that specifically tests for food intolerances. Our doctors test for allergies not intolerances. This blood test can be costly but it’s a quick way to see what your issue are. This is the route that I went and I found out that I am intolerant to dairy, eggs, corn, kidney beans, almonds, and brewer’s yeast. I’m not gonna lie I shed a tear over this because this was going to change my life. Brewer’s yeast I love a cold beer on the patio in the summer sun with friends, DAIRY can anyone live without it!

When I eliminated these foods I felt great, got my will to live back (okay I’m just being dramatic) but I did feel like a new person. I even noticed that my skin looked better, I had more energy and my mood did not fluctuate. Hey when you are not walking around like a 9 month pregnant women waiting for the mother of all farts to be released; you are going to feel nothing but happy thoughts.

However I have relapsed, I am back to where I started and I feel awful. It’s hard when you’re single and a big part of your social life is having dinners and drinks with the girls every month, in the summer it’s about every two weeks. So YES I relapsed somewhere between the beers, poutine and nachos I hit rock bottom. I need to break up with my food once again. I know some of my friends find it hard to believe that beer and cheese  are my issues but it’s the sad cold truth. I also know it is hard to understand until you go through it. As much as I love those things I HAVE to give them up! It’s for my health and well-being.

On the plus side I will lose the extra weight I have gained, my skin will glow, I will not look preggo and no longer will I be spewing toxic fumes from my ass. It all good! I’ll miss my cheese and beer but I will get over it, they are not things I have every day and I can switch to wine right?

If any of this resonates with you I highly recommend you take the next step and get tested for food intolerances. Remember when you start feeling better still avoid those foods, because the symptoms will come back. Sadly when we are feeling good we forget what is was like when we weren’t feeling so great. Maybe take a picture of your bloated, pimply self and stick it on the fridge as a reminder and motivation.

Good Luck and remember you are not alone!

 

 

 

 

 

Tips to keep you forever young…

The older I get the more I keep hearing act your age. What does act your age mean? I tend to hear this when I doing something deemed crazy (getting a black eye trying to snowboard) or silly (dancing in the grocery store singing the peaches and plums song to my mom). Does getting older mean we have to lose our sense of fun? Absolutely not! Being young at heart will also keep you young on the outside. Look at Diane Keaton at age 64 she is lovely, to me this women is ageless. Her agelessness comes from her attitude, she’s funny, charming, and has a great outlook on life. Getting older should not be a battle to look forever 21. Society should celebrate the beauty of age, not shun it because the harsh reality is you cannot avoid it.

Here are some tips to help us grow old with ease and agelessness:

• Think young. Develop an ‘ageless attitude about yourself and everything you do
• Act young. Do things that are fun. Find the fun in what you are already doing. I plan to learn to play the drums this summer
• Exercise regularly – exercise does not have to mean the gym, play with your kids, go for walks, go dancing with the girls, all movement is good movement.
• Rest often. Take ‘Power” naps everyday
• Drink 2 – 3 liters of water daily (this is the fountain of youth ladies)
• Start each day by drinking the juice of ½ a lemon added to a cup of warm water – to help cleanse the digestive tract, liver and kidneys.
• Consume organic foods whenever possible
• Make high quality protein a priority in your diet
• Consume fish regularly
• Avoid adulterated fats (e.g., margarine, shortening, hydrogenated fats/oils)
• Eat four cups of vegetables daily, preferably raw or lightly steamed – at least two cups which are greens vegetables.
• Replace white flour and white rice products with 100% whole grain counterparts
• Avoid tobacco
• Consume alcohol in moderation if at all
• Avoid concentrated and refined sugars of all kinds

Now if you have laugh lines be happy because that means you are always smiling. The little crinkles around the eyes mean you have a sense of mischief. Think about those lines differently because they tell the story of your life. Embrace them, love who you are and keep smiling no matter what life throws at you. Now go act your age, by that I mean take a pole dancing class, swing on a swing, dance until the wee hours of the morning, whatever makes you laugh and feel young at heart just do it!!

Cheers!

How to ease PMS

Have you ever had one of those months when you experience all the symptoms of PMS? Where you are so bloated people ask how far along you are, or your boobs are so sore that even wearing a bra hurts. Than there are the cramps that have you doubled over in pain and wishing death to all men. My favorite is the uncontrollable cravings for chocolate and fried foods because this just leads to zits. Oh joy, now we have been transformed into a pregnant prepubescent teen with french fry grease running down our chin. So naturally that just puts you in a fowl mood, and I pity the man that says ‘What’s your problem are you PMSing?” Word of advice for the men out there if you have made the mistake of uttering those words, run! Run fast, your life depends on it.
 
Now ladies we do not have to go through this every month, diet is the key to have a non-eventful period. Here are some steps that you can take to help ease these symptoms:

Foods to avoid

•  To prevent bloating a looking like you are in your second trimester, avoid sodium. Eliminate salt, red meats, processed and junk foods at the very least one week before your period.
•  To ease breast tenderness avoid caffeine. Caffeine also acts as a diuretic and can deplete many important nutrients.
•  Eat fewer dairy products. Sorry ladies this means you have to cut down on the cheese, at least for the week before and the week of. Oh while we are at it you should cut down on the wine (actually all alcohol) and sugars in any form. These foods cause valuable electrolytes to be lost through urination.

Foods and supplements to add:

•  Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, chicken, turkey and fish. Have high protein snacks between meals.
• Drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day
• Take a calcium/magnesium supplement this will help with breast tenderness
• Vitamin B complex this helps regulate moods and reduces stress
• Invest in a good quality multi vitamin

Lastly get regular exercise. Exercise increases the oxygen levels in the blood, which helps in nutrient absorption and efficient elimination of toxins from the body. It also helps keep hormone levels more stable and the men in your life safe.

Let me know if this info was helpful and if there is anything that you would like to see for future Nutrition/Health tips.

Cheers!