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Summer’s here, break bad habits and shed excess weight. We show you how to free your mind…
Take advantage of summer to pare down your lifestyle and adopt healthy simplicity with these tips.
Find Focus
The first step to good health is a healthy mind. Here’s how you get it:
– Choose your direction: Take stock of your life and if things are not going the way you want, take steps to ensure they do.
– Lose the negativity: Psychologist Martin Seligman, has demonstrated that mildly deluded optimists have more successful careers, live longer, attract more friends and have more fun. So become an eternal optimist and you won’t just feel better off, you will be!
– Stick to your strengths: It’s obvious, really, we feel good when we’re doing what we’re good at. So, keep adding to your skills.
– Surround yourself with smiles: Don’t ditch old friends, but keep adding to a pool of positive people who inspire and excite you. Start saying ‘yes’ when people suggest new things. The more people you know, the more people you’ll meet and the more possibilities there’ll be.
Diet Revamp
Drastic denial doesn’t do it, but these simple strategies will.
– Gnaw on raw: Begin every meal with something raw like a kiwi, for example. Raw food is high in nutrients and good for digestion and energy levels.
– Go green: Green veggies have vitamin C and antioxidants that keep you young.
– Pack in protein: Eat more eggs and sardines. They’re high-protein food and also good for your grey cells, as they’re packed with choline, needed to make the memory messenger acetylcholine.
– Essentially oily: Eat food like fish that’s rich in essential fats and take a powerful antioxidant supplement daily. Healthy fats help your cells stay hydrated, which makes your skin look good.
Fitness Fiesta
Energise your exercise routine. Here’s how:
– Try new exercises: Variety is important. If you always do the same gym workout, try a new one, or you’ll get bored and give up.
– Relax with massage: Massage reduces toxins and lactic acid that accumulate in the muscles when you exercise. It speeds up recovery so you can train harder next time.
– Enjoy outdoor activity: Exercise outdoors at least twice a week. Running outdoors burns more calories than a treadmill.
– Exercise as transport: Provided you don’t live too far, walk, run or cycle to work. Exercising before work also boosts your concentration.
– Stay hydrated: No exercise is effective, if you’re dehydrated. So fill a 1.5 litre bottle with water and make sure you drink it all by the end of the day.
Lift Your Looks
Cop our five best (and fastest) beauty boosters.
– Eyebrow shaping: Well-shaped eyebrows give you a non-surgical facelift. It can make you look younger and less tired.
– Get rid of greys: If grey hair is obvious, and you feel the need to change it, go for a professional colouring job.
– Fix your smile: You can’t beat a 100 megawatt grin for making your face look younger. So get your smile fixed by a professional if needed.
– Lose the dullness: Loss of radiance makes you look older than do wrinkles, according to dermatologist Dr Neil Schulz. He advises, “Make-up to improve the loss of radiance by concealing, colouring and camouflaging the defects.”
About the Author
Diane Newman is a fashion and pattern maker based in London. She works closely with large brands and clothing manufacturers such as Wiseman Clothing producing and making garments in the UK.