Wednesday 6 October 2010

How to keep mentally alert

Does your mind tend to wonder from time to time? Do you forget what you were doing or why you went into that room of your house? There are many reasons as to why you may not seem to be as ‘with it’ than normal and many of them have little cause for concern.

When you are feeling a dip in your day there are some small techniques you can use to help keep you mentally alert.


When able take a power nap, having a half hour to hour nap in the day can help improve your concentration levels. Thus making you more productive than you would be if you had kept going through the day.

To prevent the need for power naps it is vital to make sure that you get adequate sleep in the night. Giving your body the right amount of sleep helps to restore your body and refresh you. A rested body includes a rested mind.

On a daily basis you should stimulate your mind, this can be in the form of small activities, mind games and most importantly socialisation. Interacting with other people is a key tool to keeping your mind alert, you require the communication to provide stimulation.

Exercise provides a release of chemicals to your brain and gives you a general feel good vibe, a little everyday will give you a great boost.

If all else fails and you feel that none of these work or your mind is more than just not alert, take a trip to the doctors to check yourself out for underlying conditions. Chances are however, you are like most and just a little forgetful and distracted.

5 Tips to a Healthy Body

Having the perfect body shape is not the easiest thing in the world, however, you can make a good start by treating your body right with some basics. The effect this has will gradually improve all aspects of your life.

- Eat well
Having a healthy and balanced diet is key, you are allowed to treat yourself on occasion however. Eating a decent amount of fruit and vegetables, maintaining a balanced meal plan and eating in moderation will provide your body with all the nutrients it needs.

- Vitamins
Should your body not be able to get all the vitamins it needs from your everyday diet, it is ideal for you to take a supplement. A multi vitamin will top up your body with what is required, if you happen to be feeling sluggish go check yourself out with a doctor for some blood works.

- Rest
Getting the right amount of rest is something that many take for granted. Although people vary with what they need from 6 to 10 hours, the general rule is to try and get 8 hours sleep every night. Having a set bedtime will help you to build a routine that your body becomes used to allowing the sleep that you get to be most beneficial.

- Exercise
Everybody should try and get some exercise every day, being mobile will keep your mood lifted and in turn give you more energy. When it comes to actual keeping fit it is advise to try and do 20 minutes of activity that raises your heart rate, three times a week and complement this with muscle toning exercise also.

- Water
Although the required amount varies based on who you ask, generally, people are under drinking where water is concerned. It is wise to have a glass before each meal at the very least, also ensure to hydrate yourself adequately during exercise.
These basic tips will allow you to have a good foundation for a healthy body.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Benefits of a healthy mind

Your mind is with you forever, no matter what state it is in from the beginning to end; it functions all the time, even when you are sleeping. It processes all the information and feelings that you have come across on a daily basis. It suppresses some of these, helps you to remember others and generally keeps you going mentally speaking. Therefore having a healthy mind is essential.

For all the information that is processed by our minds, maintaining a healthy mind is the key to ensuring that we, as people continue to function as we should.
What easy methods can we use to assist us in this mammoth task?

Primarily we must ensure that we confront any issues and thoughts as and when they arise. By allowing problems to fester within, we are putting an unnecessary stress on ourselves. It may not be that everything should be addressed immediately or it may not be appropriate to confront a situation head on. In cases like these it is wise to talk to another person, someone who is not involved in the situation.

Partly as a method of gaining opinion, but mainly as a way to release any tension or stress that may be involved. Not doing this could mean that you are taking all these thoughts, tensions and sometimes even aggression to bed with you, thus affecting the quality of your sleep whether restless or dream filled.

Having an active mind will also be a huge benefit; this activity should be in the form of interacting with others, reading and challenging yourself. By regularly completing tasks like these you will stimulate your mind, improving the amount of knowledge that you can retain and preventing against some medical conditions including dementia.

Alone time is equally important, although much of your day is processed in your sleep, where all the information is processed; you rely on waking hours to allow you to personally to make sense of situations. Everyone needs to have a moment of time each day to gather their thoughts, prepare for the days ahead and assess the days gone. Allowing them to make choices going forward, be they work related, goal related or simply planning what food needs to go in your fridge.

Having a healthy balance where your body is concerned helps in ensuring you have a healthy mind, but balance is primary focus. As mentioned, your mind remains with you, so it is best to make the most of the one that we have.

Monday 4 October 2010

More than 3 meals a day

It has been a long standing tradition that every person should have three meals in every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner; while this is true there should be those three meals in a day, there should also be many smaller snacks.

The idea of having larger meals spaced out throughout the day is relatively new; traditionally the larger meals would start at the first meal followed by a smaller lunch to keep you going until a larger meal at the end of the day. Recently however, many experts have found that the best way to retain your size or lose weight is to in fact have up to five smaller meals throughout the day. This gives your body a chance to digest, not register as being completely full and in turn assists with losing weight.

Many people tend to think that by skipping a meal you are more likely to drop a few pounds, when in fact it is practises like these that help you gain those added pounds. When you starve your body of nutrients that it needs, it then goes into overdrive and you will find it harder to put good food and only good food back into your body. A person who is hungry is more likely to have a treat based snack to fill a gap, especially if out and about as many of the convenience foods to not tend to be on the healthier side. It is then that you are packing your body full of sugars, processed foods and fats that you could well do without. By having more than three meals a day, raising it to five eating three smaller meals and two sensible sized snacks, it helps your body stay regulated.

When considering the five meal option it is only necessary to reduce your main meal sized by a small amount and then replace this with the smaller snacks which could include fruit, nuts or vegetables.