Every now and then, I like to switch up my beauty routine, just so my skin doesn’t build up an immunity of sorts to what I’m doing. So, although my Homemade Morning Routine and My Nighttime Skin Reggie were working ok, I decided to change things up a bit.
I tried out some less than stellar makeup recently, and the ingredients made me break out a bit. After that, I noticed that the black soap I normally use seemed to be irritating my already enflamed skin. Time to find a more gentle cleanser.

After searching the web, I came across the Yes to Blueberries line. (First carrots, then cucumbers, now blueberries. Who knew?) Apparently blueberries are natural anti-oxidants, which are good for someone with skin in my…um…age range. ahem

One of my New Year’s Resolutions (like half the country) is to shed a few pounds. But another New Year’s Resolution is to stick to a budget! A third New Year’s resolution is to keep things simple. That’s means I’m not going to pay for a gym membership that I will barely use, I will take exercise seriously, but I’m not spending half the day doing it. What I have been doing lately is a combo of

As we get to the end of “Heart Healthy Month” I want to hit you with some sobering statistics.

• Men have the highest rates of heart-related illness in this country.
• 8 million women in the US are currently living with heart disease; 35,000 are under age of 65.
• 435,000 American women have heart attacks annually; 35,000 are under 55.
• 42% of women who have heart attacks die within 1 year, compared to 24% of men.
• Under age 50, women’s heart attacks are twice as likely as men’s to be fatal.
• Of all the nationalities of women who suffer from heart disease, women of African descent have the highest rates of coronary related deaths.

So here’s a list of 10 Things You Can Do to Help Your Heart By the End of This Week

1. Exercise 15-30mins a day- How many times have you skipped a workout because you “just don’t have an hour”. I bet you have 15 mins though. Try doing one exercise at a time. Like sit-ups when you get out of bed in the morning, squats in the shower, or push ups and lunges while you’re watching TV. If you get a longer workout in then great, but if not at least you’ve done something.
2. Eat more fiber, but less bread – Try eating more dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale. Eat one less slice of bread and 3 more vegetables today.
3. Avoid high-fructose corn syrup -Consumption of fructose causes a significant increase in the concentration of uric acid. An increase in uric acid can be an indicator of heart disease. It also increases lactic acid in the blood, especially in patients with diabetes. Avoid soda, and juices that don’t say “100% fruit juice on them”
4. Avoid Hydrogenated oils period- It doesn’t matter if it says soybean oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, or palm kernel oil. If the word “Hydrogenated” is attached to it, don’t eat it. Hydrogenation changes the very molecular structure of oil into a form that the human body cannot properly digest. It raises bad cholesterol.When cholesterol is too high, the insides of large blood vessels become narrowed or clogged. Stop eating microwave popcorn, cook more, eat more fresh foods vs. fast foods. Don’t eat Cool Whip.
5. Watch your sugar – It doesn’t matter if it’s brown or white, “raw” or refined, honey or agave. Although some of these forms of sugar are more easily digested than others, they are still sugar. And too much sugar causes problems like hypoglycemia and diabetes. Having diabetes can make your blood cholesterol level too high. And just like hydrogenated oils, your arteries can become clogged. Especially if you have a history of diabetes in your family. Try drinking your tea with sugar, don’t add more sugar to your cereal, eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
6. Take a break and get some rest – Take a few minutes in your day to just sit. No TV, no computer, no twitter , no Facebook no phone and just breathe. Set a timer for 5 minutes and just breathe. Take a nap if you can! Also getting more sleep really does help with achieving your weight loss goals. For more information on how sleep affects weight loss, check out Dr. Daemon Jones’ article “Not Getting Enough Sleep Can Make You Fat”.
7. Reduce Salt and Sodium in Your Diet- Did you know that the current dietary recommendation is to consume about 1 teaspoon of table salt a day? High-sodium diets are linked to an increase in blood pressure and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. Eat more fresh fruits and beans and less canned ones. cut back on eating anything that comes out of a package.
8. Limit Alcohol Intake – Doctors say a little red wine every now and then at dinner is fine, but drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure and can harm the heart. Alcoholic drinks also contain calories, which matter if you are trying to lose weight. If you drink alcoholic beverages, have only a moderate amount — one drink a day for women; two drinks a day for men.
9. Quit Smoking – Smoking injures blood vessel walls and speeds up the process of hardening of the arteries. This applies even to filtered cigarettes. If you smoke, quit. (I know this is much harder than it sounds) If you don’t smoke, don’t start. Once you quit, your risk of having a heart attack is reduced after the first year. So you have a lot to gain by quitting. Look into alternative ways to quit smoking like acupuncture. Take some time this week to do some research.
10. Know your blood pressure – Don’t wait for that annual visit to the doctor to find out your “pressure’s up”. A lot can happen in a year! Your systolic pressure is the top number and your diastolic pressure is the bottom number. The American Heart Association definition of normal blood pressure is less than 120 / Less than 80. In other words 118/78 is excellent. I bought a blood pressure monitor for my mom and dad and they now check their blood pressure regularly. When it starts risig above those numbers, they know they have to make changes in their diet, exercise more, or stop getting on each other’s nerves in order to lower it. This one’s really cool, because it just wraps around your wrist!

Sources:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4708

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4786

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2222