SHAKE THE WEIGHT OFF!

 Simple ways to maintain a healthy weight

Losing weight is one thing but keeping it off is another issue entirely. To help make sure all your hard work pays – and stays – off, I've put together some simple but effective strategies for keeping your body in the shape you worked so long to achieve. 

1. Motivation is a key to maintaining a healthy weight. Remind yourself of your motivation daily.

2. Set a maximum weight for yourself: a weight which you will not let yourself go above. Then weigh yourself weekly or monthly. If you are nearing your maximum weight, increase your focus on portion sizes, food choices, exercise and attitude.

3. Don't deprive yourself
Not eating enough calories in a day is a one-way ticket to overeating later in the week. You may have been on a strict diet that limited the amount of calories you consumed, but it will be next to impossible to maintain that level of commitment once you've reached your goal weight. Never let yourself get to the point where you feel like you're starving – once you're that hungry, every healthy eating tip and strategy you've ever read or heard will go straight out the window as you settle for any available heaps to gulp down.

4. Treat yourself in small doses
If you love chocolate, sweets or ice cream but you've sworn it off for good, at some point that self-imposed ice cream-chocolate embargo is going to cause a lot of problems. The longer you go without allowing yourself a treat, the greater the risk of breaking down at some point and eating three pints of the cold stuff. Everything is OK in moderation. The point is to never feel like you can't have something – because we all know that eventually we all want what we can't have.

5. Eat less, more often
To avoid feeling deprived you need to eat less food, more often. Small meals don't work for everyone, but if you want to feel satisfied (and not starving) all day, then spreading out your meals is a great tactic. Eating five or even six smaller meals can really make a big difference in your energy level and how you feel overall. Larger, heavy meals are harder to digest and often leave you feeling sluggish, whereas you'll feel lighter all day eating smaller meals, and be much more able to control cravings.

6. Stay hydrated
What feels like hunger can actually be thirst in disguise, so if you find yourself contemplating a stroll to the vending machine, make sure you're adequately hydrated before you give in to a snack attack. It's easy to forget about drinking water when you're busy, whether it's meeting deadlines, in meetings, or wrangling small children – but drinking enough water is a great way to avoid eating when you're not really hungry at all. Keep a pitcher on your desk filled with water and an inviting dash of berries, cucumbers and slices of orange to give yourself more incentive to sip.

7. Snack fruits
We all snack, and snacking isn't a bad thing – it's the snack choices that can get us into trouble. Sugary stuffs and white flour (cookies, cakes) does not help your weight in anyway instead when that cravings come, just reach out for the next available fruits shop and grab a bite.

8. Rethink your plate
Your plate is a good indicator of whether you're going to have trouble maintaining your ideal weight or not. If it's filled with simple carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes) and meat, you might have some trouble keeping the weight off. A better-looking plate would be divided into vegetables, whole grains and protein.

In conclusion, aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week and a minimum of 20 minutes of strength training twice a week. Also 45-90 minutes walk per day and small chunks of time for work out daily is recommended.

All the best as you adhere to this and you will be on your way to that desired weight.
Tchau! 

YES! I CAN - A "MANLY" statement!

At some point in life, low self esteem is a disease you get infected with and you need your inner strength to be able to scale through. I have summarized below some tips on how to build your self confidence:

1. Recognize your insecurities. 
What is it that makes you uncomfortable, ashamed and less of yourself? All these could be attributed to issues arising from regrets, past traumatic or negative experience. Whatever is making you feel unworthy and inferior, identify it, give it a name, and write it down. Tear these written into pieces and start feeling positive on these points.

 2. Bounce back from your mistakes. 
Like the saying, remember that no one is perfect; even the most confident people have insecurities. We may feel we lack something at some point in our lives, that is reality. We need to know that life is full of bumps down the road and that often these insecure feelings come and go, depending on where we are, who we are with, the mood we're in, and how we are feeling- in other words, they are not constant.

 3. Identify your successes. 
Everyone is good at something, so discover the things at which you excel, focus on your talents and give yourself credit for your successes. Inferiority is a state of mind in which you've declared yourself a victim. Do not allow yourself to be victimized. Express yourself, whether it's through art, music, writing, etc. 

4. Find something you enjoy. 
Everyone is born with talents and strengths. Identify yours, pursue your passion, not only will it have a therapeutic effect, but you'll feel unique and accomplished, all of which can help build your self confidence. When you follow  your passion and also add a variety of interests to your life, it will not only make you more confident, but it will increase your chances of meeting compatible friends!

4. Be thankful for what you have.
A lot of times, the root of insecurity and lack of confidence is a feeling of not having enough of something, whether it's emotional, good luck, money, etc. By acknowledging and appreciating what you have, you can combat the feeling of being incomplete and unsatisfied. Finding that inner peace will do wonders for your confidence.

5. Be Positive.
Avoid self-pity and sympathy of others. Never allow others to make you feel inferior, they can only do so if you let them. If you continue to loathe and belittle yourself, others are going to do and believe likewise. Rather, speak positively about yourself, your future and your progress. Do not be afraid to project your strengths and qualities to others. By doing so, you reinforce those ideas in your mind and encourage your growth in a positive direction.

6. Look in the mirror and smile. Studies surrounding what's called the "facial feedback theory" suggest that the expressions on your face can actually encourage your brain to register certain emotions. So by looking in the mirror and smiling every day, you might feel happier with yourself and more confident in the long run.

7. Help others. Be kind to the people around you, make a positive difference in other people's lives (even if it's just being kinder to the person who serves you coffee in the morning), you'll know that you are a positive force in the world- which in turn will boost your self confidence.

8. Avoid perfectionism: Perfectionism paralyses you and keeps you from accomplishing your goals. Keep doing your best and your best will speak for you. 

As you go on in your day to day activities, I want you to be bold, strong, courageous, confident and face your fears. Always remember that F.E.A.R. has two meanings: "Forget Everything And Run OR Face Everything And Rise.. The Choice is yours.

Yes I Can!!!

Adeus!

PEOPLE PLEASERS!

Hello peeps! It's been a while you read from me last. I have been caught up with lots of work that got me off track. Let's get on with lots of educating, exciting, interesting and interactive write-ups! Enjoy!

Our discussion today centres on "People Pleasers". People pleasers are your friends, colleagues, sometimes relatives,  often times spouses and most times YOU. A people pleaser is anyone who turns around the second golden commandment. They love their neighbours more than they love themselves.They go the extra mile to please people at the expense of themselves.

Highlighted  are patterns observed in people pleasers:

• It is difficult for them to say No.
• they avoid getting angry.
• they try to be who others want them to be.
• It is hard for them to know what they want.
• they  avoid speaking their minds.
• they find it easier to go along with what others want as against their opinion.
• they often fantasize about a strong person taking over their lives and making it work.
• It is hard for them to express their feelings when they are crossed.
• It is hard for them to take initiatives.
• they try to be nice rather than express how they really feel.
• they want everyone to get along with them.

If these describes you in any way,  you might be a People Pleaser. Take conscious effort to notice when any of these symptoms raises its ugly head in your character. Often-times, people pleasers do not know that they are one. Work to develop a strong self esteem, create a friendly atmosphere around you, in a way that even you will enjoy your own company, learn and realise that saying NO does not demean your value and above all "Love your neighbours AS yourself".

Enjoy your weekend being a true friend and not a people pleaser!

Coping With Depression after a Break Up (2)

Hello peeps! How y'all doing? I'm sure we all had a fantastic week?

We started a topic last week on coping with depression after a break up. Here is the concluding part of it... Enjoy.....

9. Keep a regular schedule as best as you can. 

It's going to be hard at first, but you may have to force yourself to eat regular meals and sleep regularly. It might take time but be patient with yourself.

10. Get your mind off of it. 

The panacea for a broken heart is a busy mind and a tired body; so throw yourself into work (even though you don’t really feel like working), and focus all your energy into your professional life. Go out and do something you enjoy, like a hobby you have always loved, movies, walking, dancing etc Make sure you focus on the activity and the joy you derive from it, thereby distracting yourself. These activities will inspire you to concentrate on work and it signifies the beginning of the healing process.

11. Enjoy spending time with the people who are still in your life. 

Take time to spend quality time with  your friends, family and loved ones. Don’t hold back your tears or zip your lips about your breakup during this time. They will be your support system as you deal with the aftermath of the break-up and help you get through the feelings of depression and pain.

12. Accept the end of the relationship. 

Remember that the relationship happened for a reason, and nothing is ever wasted in life. Experience they say is the best teacher, who knows, the valuable lesson learnt in your last relationship might be the key to a successful one. Accept the reality and move on with your life.

13. Don't rush into another relationship.

Expect that it will take a while before you are ready to date again. Don't jump into a relationship with the first cute guy/girl you meet, or you'll be rebounding- and that's not healthy for you or the new person. It's very easy to succumb to the feeling of wanting to be loved and get into another relationship too quickly and for the wrong reasons when you've just broken up. So take stock of your emotional state, know what you want in the aftermath of a breakup and give yourself time to heal in a healthy way.

14. You WILL find someone new.

No matter what you think right now, you WILL find someone new - there are so many people out there, and who knows if your Mr./Ms. Right is just waiting to be found. Just because you experienced a break-up does not mean that you are a terrible person or that you did anything wrong (neither is the other person is bad), you are just not right for each other. It may not seem like it now, but there are many others out there whom you would be compatible with. Give yourself time because someday, sometime soon you will meet someone else who is exciting, fun to be with and wonderful personality (believe it or not) and your memories of your ex will fade away. 

15. Take each day at a time

Time is the greatest healer, so don't look too far ahead into the future and worry about what it holds. Instead look forward to a new life, a new beginning, an exciting and fulfilling relationship ahead. Life is made up of these little moments that add to our well-being  and not just the larger ones that cause both immense happiness and unbearable pains.

It's not easy to get over a broken heart, but if you remain strong and keep your mind occupied, time does the rest.

                            Have a lovely weekend.

Staying Migraine-Free (Tips)

Hello Friends, I'm sure the week started really good for you? For me it's been pretty busy and productive though, hence the late posting.
Here are quick tips to stay stress-free and reduce our usual migraine that ends our day after the usual hustling and bustling:

Have a regular schedule for sleeping: In these extremely busy and  overly scheduled days, it is so easy to develop a crazy sleep schedule. Regular routine keeps your body in checks and balances, stress hormones are turned off and, body and brain are in restoration mode. Lack of sleep as well as too much sleep can trigger migraines, so try to make your sleep pattern as regular as possible. It's advisable to get at least seven hours of sleep each night and no more than nine.

Eat Regularly: If you suffer from migraines often, you are most likely sensitive to the effects of low blood sugar; that means you shouldn't skip a meal, take your tea break seriously and try to eat at least every five hours. Always have healthy snacks with you throughout the day to keep migraines away.

Maintain a Healthy Weight: Recently, it has been discovered that being overweight is linked to greater frequency and severity of migraine headaches in adults. Also, overweight teens are more likely to report getting migraines and headaches than their peers who maintained a normal weight. Excessive fat can create inflammation, which can contribute to migraines, hence the need for a healthy weight.

Exercise regularly: When you exercise regularly, it can help to reduce the frequency or severity of headaches by reducing tension. Although you need to be careful not to over strain yourself or do sporadic exercises, since it can also trigger migraines. Some brisk walking, gentle cycling, swimming, and yoga are some good options.

Stay away from alcohol and smoking: Drinking and smoking can increase inflammation and trigger migraines,  staying absolutely away from these could help reduce or avert migraines /headaches. 

Learn and practice relaxation techniques: Stress triggers migraines, so learning how to relax can help to prevent them. It could be as simple as swimming, listening to music, meditation or going for a walk. 

Address possible problems: Seek treatment for any underlying condition that might contribute to migraines such as depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, bipolar disease and other endocrine disorders. 

Don't rely on sleeping supplements: We live in a world where people are used to taking sleeping supplements to calm their nerves to sleep. Some of the drugs we used to induce sleep, encourage our brains to make less of its capacity thereby increasing the migraines pains when you wake up.

Pick your battles: People who stress only about things they can control tend to be the healthiest and longest lived. Live a stress-free and migraine-free life by living one day at a time.
Let's not forget that "Health is Wealth"

LOVE and JEALOUSY 'Two different tales'!

Hello peeps, hope you are all enjoying your weekend?

There has been controversies over the topics "LOVE" and "JEALOUSY". Some say there is no love without jealousy, others counter it! Can we discuss this, please? 

Coping With Depression After a Break Up (1)

Break-ups can be devastating, it's a rough transition from sharing every part of your life with someone to living without them. The depression that comes after a break-up can feel so heavy and difficult that no one else can possibly understand what you are going through, but there are ways to cope with this feeling without hitting your head on a pole. 

1. Time Factor.
It's going to take a while probably difficult for you to heal especially if the relationship was a long-term. Just give yourself as much time as you need to heal/recover.

2. Don't beat yourself up
Understand that the emotions you are feeling are normal and embrace them. Your feelings or anger/frustration and sadness are natural and normal.Cry if you need to, scream, feel miserable but just for for a while; It's okay. Eventually, you do need to pick yourself back up and move on. Life will go on, and believe it or not, so will you!

3. Understand what happened in the relationship
In order to move on to creating a wonderful life ahead; be extremely honest with yourself, do not blame your ex it will do you no good. Understand the dynamic you and your ex created together and clearly trace the threads of the events that led to the animosity or the cooling off in the relationship.

4. Understand why you chose your ex
People chose relationships for different reasons, the most popular is love or to be in love. Know why you accepted him/her and check out whether something has changed in your values or theirs or probably you need to upgrade your standards or criteria in choosing your partners.

5. Forgive your partner and forgive yourself
You need to understand that both of you did the best you could but it just didn't work out between you two. Even when you were doing things to hurt each other, it was still the best you could at that time. Forgiveness is a sure way to free yourself up to have a wonderful new life in the future.

6. Break free
The tendency to go back and beg your erstwhile partner to take you back will be so overwhelming, but remmber that it's just not worth it if you do so. They broke up with you for a reason, so you must protect yourself from further hurt by staying away from them and breaking free completely.

7. Don't play the victim
You may feel like but just don't play the part. The sooner you can claim responsibility for your life, the sooner you can change it. Take charge of your day to day behavior and you will go from rut to rocking. Don't forget "Life doesn't happen to you, it happens because of you".

8. Don't Ask
You don't need to know what your ex is up to, don't ask your friends or theirs. It's no longer your business what he/she does, where he/she goes to, who they are with or if they look happy or not? Spend your time building your life and not being curious  about your ex's.

(to be cont'd)

RED FLAG- SMOKERS!

Smoking is an ill, deep-rooted in our society today. The web of smokers is increasing, with new recruits adding to the list everyday. Once initiated, it becomes an addiction and there is no going back. It was considered a masculine "habit" but recently, women are taking the lead especially in the western world and some part of west African countries. Researches conducted over the years has shown numerous harmful effects which is no longer strange to us.  Despite the sensitization on the effect of smoking on our health, it is alarming to know that several thousands of people are still being killed every year from smoking-related-diseases and this keeps increasing every year.

Cigarette is filled with several chemicals that are harmful to health, included in the list are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, metals, cyanide, ammonia and other radio active compounds.These chemicals when exposed for a longer duration cause several bad effects on one's health e.g: heart, lungs, mouth, stomach and immune system to mention few.  See below, a few summary of the harmful effects of smoking on some of human internal organs.

HEART
Smoking temporarily increases the heart rate and causes stress on the arteries and heart. In smokers, the blood flow in the body slows down hereby  affecting the levels of oxygen in the blood. The heart will have to work much harder to pump the blood, the blood vessels becomes narrow which in most cases may lead to heart attack in smokers. 40% of men and 60% of women who smoke are at the risk of getting a heart attack and one out of five deaths from heart related disease is caused by smoking.

IMMUNE SYSTEM
Nicotine content in cigarette badly affects the immune system which makes smokers to fall ill frequently. They are susceptible to cold, bronchitis, pulmonary bronchitis and are prone to contract HIV because of their poor immunity.

STOMACH
When you smoke, the tar in the smoke leaves a residue in the mouth and this enters the digestive tract along with the food. As a result, the stomach produces more gastric juices and damages the stomach lining which in later stages leads to the formation of ulcers. Tar in the smoke may also become the reason for abnormal cell growth which leads to cancer in the mouth, stomach or rectal region. Liver also gets affected as it has to strain itself in eliminating the harmful chemicals that enter the body through smoke.

LUNGS
Smoking predominantly affects the lungs. Carbon monoxide and cyanide present in the cigarette badly affect the pulmonary cavity. The tar in the smoke will form a layer in the lungs like soot which may lead to cancer in the later stages. Smoking narrows the air passages of the lungs and their functioning gets gravely affected. Smokers are 10 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. Smokers are liable to develop respiratory infections, asthma and other respiratory disorders and another lung disease that affects smokers is emphysema.

MOUTH AND THROAT
Smoking affects the health of your mouth and throat. More than 80% cases of mouth and throat cancers occur in people who smoke for a long period of time. The risk of mouth and throat cancer increases with the length of time and the amount of tobacco one smokes. By quitting smoking, you are not only reducing your risk of mouth and throat cancer significantly but can quash other harmful effects of smoking.

ORAL CAVITY
Smokers usually face problems related to mouth, tongue, gums and oesophagus. The tar in the cigarette leads to the discoloration of teeth. Cigarette and Cigar smokers are likely to experience bad breath also known as Halitosis, more dental problems than normal people, their tongue may lose its taste sensation, mouth ulcers, and harmful disease like cancer can develop in the oral cavity.

PASSIVE SMOKING
Smokers are not only affected by smoking but it also affects those present in the smoking environment. Like smokers, these passive smokers face several health hazards for instance, Infants are more susceptible to pulmonary diseases like asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia. 

You cannot stop smoking if you are one of those who believe in the following:

• I'm not a heavy smoker
• I don't smoke as I used to
• I'm only a social smoker
• I'm so stressed and only smoking relaxes me
• My grandparents/parents smoked all their lives and never had problems

There is no safe level of smoking please beware!

Tips on How to Stop!

• Desire to stop
• Decide to stop
• Set a date
• Tell everyone around you that you are quitting smoking
• Get rid of ashtrays, lighters and all cigarettes
• Take one day at a time
• Be positive
• Be aware of the smoking influence/situations e.g: parties, clubbing, drinking alcohol, friends etc
• Find the therapy that will work for you (no smoker quits in a day or even a week)
• Try Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT): which comes as gums, nicotine patches, sprays, tablets and inhalers
• Be prepared for some withdrawals symptoms like, headaches, nausea (feeling sick), anxiety, instability, craving and awful feelings. This is caused by the lack of nicotine that your body is used to but not to worry it will ease off within 2-4 weeks

Finally always remember the 4 "Ds"

Delay: the worst cravings only last for a few minutes and will become less frequent as you stop

Deep Breathe: this helps you to relax and focus your mind on something else

Drink Water: this helps to flush out nicotine and toxins out of your system

Do something else: take a walk, go to the movies, snack fruits like apples, chew gum, brush etc all these would in help in distracting you from smoking.

"Smoking won't make you look cool, it only destroys; make up your mind today that you can and you will!"  Happy Quitting!

ARE YOU A TRUE FRIEND?

What type of  friend are you? 

A friend:

• is sincere
• will not betray you
• will not judge you
• does not care whether you are rich or poor
• learned or unread
• always there to share your happy and sad moments
• does not pity you but helps you
• is always frank and sincere even when it hurts
• might not be known until you have a need
• supports you
• trusts you
• kind and respects you
• shows loyalty 
• sticks around when things get tough
• makes you smile
• always listens to you
• wipe your tears when you cry
• faces problems with you
• gives out regardless
• really cares deeply
• makes time out 
• communicates effectively
• accepts each other
• genuine
• compromises for you
• believes in you
• maintains realistic expectation
• keeps promises and
• stays in touch

To have a true friend, you have to be one! Life is a function of relationships, if  you have one cherish and nurture it. 

Have a Blessed week!

Be Encouraged!

Hi peeps! Guess we all had a fantastic and productive week? 
Perhaps your week was stressful and you didn't achieve all the goals you set at the beginning of the week. Don't despair He is right there to strengthen you. 

He is your father, His role is to protect you
He will comfort and guide you
He will feed you, when you are hungry
He will carry you, when you feel weak
He will seek you out, when you go astray
He will help you in times of trouble
When you fall, He will pick you up
When you don't understand, He'll always understand
He will encourage you, when you feel discouraged
When you feel sad, He will lighten your spirit, 
When you feel unsafe, He will be your safety,
When you need advice, His ears are always opened to you
When you feel burnt, He will make you beautiful
Where you hurt, He will heal you
When you lack support, he will support you
When you feel lonely , He is right there with you.

Be lifted! Be encouraged! you are closer to your dreams. This song is dedicated to you. Have a fabulous weekend!