The Cost of Living

What is the first thing that comes to mind…money…right?  Well, that is part of the “Cost of Living”.  I see this phrase in a whole new way as in the choices I make with my life.  What I choose to think, feel, how I act, respond, do or not do all determines my “Cost of Living”. 

Happiness comes at a price and so does stress and struggle.  I know that when I feel at my best and happy about how things are going, the cost for me is a great day, feel on top of the world, confident, and just all together fabulous…right?  Just as allowing some injustice that has been thrown my direction to take over my whole persona, well the cost would be stress, anxiety, and just an overwhelming YUCK feeling in my life bank. 

Sometimes, it is difficult to always pay the right cost all the time in life to receive the right result.  Look at how the “Cost of Living” affects health and I will speak personally here…If I choose to sit around and do nothing active, then the cost would be that my body receives no benefit of exercise, no positive endorphins to flood my system…and boy do I love that feeling, and really puts a damper in my routine.  Let me hit up my nutrition using the same analogy.  If I choose to eat processed crap, overload my system with sugar, and do not pay attention to what I put in my face, the cost would be not feeling well, probably constipated (YUCK), low energy, and really not feeling mentally good about ME. In both regards, my health would suffer at the cost of my not taking care of ME.

The mental game comes with the biggest cost as it really determines how each day will unfold, and overall how life is lived.  If I walk around with an “I can’t” attitude, the cost for me would be “I won’t” which eventually leads to never will, and I would suffer not only emotionally but physically.  Can you imagine what kind of life that would be for me…bitter, depressed, judgmental, wanting it but not willing to work for it…feeling the victim in life…now that is a heavy cost of living.  Looking at the flip side of having an “I can” attitude, the cost would be “I will” and “I did”.  Putting forth some energy (cost) to reap the benefit of a happy healthy life sounds like the type of journey I would and will want to continue for a lifetime.

That is ultimately what I am trying to get across with the “Cost of Living”…YES, it takes a conscious effort to want a healthy life and I do want this for ME.  It does cost me time, energy, some money, planning, and caring and I am not saying that it is always easy, but I can tell you that it has been worth it.  So I do put money in my health bank in the form of exercise, healthy food, water, quality ME time, time with God and many things that are invaluable…money can’t buy my health, but the things that I do for ME can and do provide me with a life that is full, healthy, and happy.  

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATIONS 

 

Dedicated to My Mother ~ Happy Birthday

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

 

Have a FABULOUS weekend and upcoming week!

 

Stay Healthy!

Darla;)

 

 

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Type 2 Diabetes - Can Depression Affect Diabetes Control?

The end of December is a stressful time of year when depression can be a problem for even the healthiest of us. People diagnosed with diabetes can be particularly vulnerable. Diabetes and depression are often seen together, and depressed patients tend to have poor blood sugar control.

According to researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Offutt Air Force Base in the United States, depression and dissatisfaction with diabetes treatment can go hand in hand.

This particular study, published in the Journal of Diabetes and Metabolism, included 545 patients with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes. More than 35 per cent of these patients suffered from depression, which was associated with high HbA1c percentages and LDL cholesterol. As levels of depression went up, satisfaction with diabetes treatment went down.

From this information it was concluded although cause and effect cannot be proven, it is possible depression could lead to lower treatment satisfaction, which could lead to patients just not complying with good treatment plans. Noncompliance, of course, could lead to higher levels of blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

December can be a stressful time of year if you feel you need to spend your way into debt and use up all your energy baking and decorating. It can be a time of eating too much of the wrong foods, feeling guilty, gaining weight, and hurting your health if you let it. Instead...

• try planning ahead with a budget and sticking to it.
• make a list of gifts that are within your budget before you enter the mall with its giant Christmas tree and music luring you to spend more than you should.
• time your shopping so you are finished before ltnch-time or start out in the afternoon so you are not caught hungry in the mall food court.
• if you do eat at the food court, pick a veggie delight. All those Santa Clauses and elves don't mean you strictly have to eat the red and green sugary goo.

If it makes you happy to decorate for holidays by all means do so but if you look forward to it with dread, remember it's not strictly required you make your home look like an advertisement for Martha Stuart products. If other family members want decorations, ask them to pitch in and help you with them. The same goes for holiday dinners. It's alright to ask for help. Ask everyone who is coming to bring something so you do not feel overwhelmed. Guests like to bring food, especially if you compliment them on their great salad dressing or special dessert.

One way to save money and give yourself a break at the same time, is by making crafts. During the new year try learning to knit and make some warm scarves for friends and family. By next December you'll be ready with your beautiful work and you will have given yourself some restful time sitting with your knitting needles and watching your favorite television program.

Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. It need not slowly and inevitably get worse. Take control of the disease and avoid having poorly controlled blood sugar. This will help to prevent depression developing.

For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body.

The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

The Magic of Pain Free Good Health

Has the use of aromas and herbs, only recently been appreciated for their healing, and recuperative qualities? Most certainly not.

Aromas had been used for medicinal, spiritual, and magical purposes going back as far back as Egyptian times 3000 B.C. Even further back in time 5000 B.C. the Tassili cave paintings showed women wearing fragrant flower garlands. There are frequent mentions of the use of potions throughout history - Pliny the 1st century Roman historian, mentions in his Natural History narrative, 32 remedies prepared from roses, 21 from lilies, 17 from violets, and 25 from pennyroyal. Ancient Indian cultures used sandalwood for genito-urinary infections.

Nostradamus, at the age of 21 received a licence, having studied in Montpellier France, to practise medicine. One of the formulae which he used as a remedy for several conditions, has survived to this day, and was compounded of rose petals, cloves, lignum aloes, and the dried roots of iris and sweet flag.

The ancient Greeks also contributed to the origins of herbal medicine. Dioscorides, a military doctor was the author of De Materia Medica a book on herbal medicine, which was the foundation of all subsequent books for a further 1600 years. Galen another Greek doctor also wrote a major book on herbal medicine De Simplicibus in the 2nd century which was used up to the middle ages by the Islamic physicians.

The word of herbalism was carried to Europe via the crusaders, and the texts were translated into Latin, which when printing was developed, the information became more widespread, though only if you could read. So herbal folklore passed on from generation to generation, by word of mouth. In the 16th century John Gerard published in 1597 the "Herbal or General Historie of Plantes". He had been greatly influenced by the great medical scholar Paracelsus.

Now in recent time the medical fraternity is becoming aware of the benefits of some of these ancient methods, and in the United Kingdom some areas are becoming available on the National Health System.

Eight Ideas To Beautify And Simplify

With all of that you have happening, getting a faster plus more efficient method to look your very best is important. Think about the next eight guidelines to help you get gorgeous quicker and simplify the method regularly.

1. Stay hydrated. Very few things are much more helpful for you than plain old water. It powers you, fills you and also provides your complexion a healthy glow. Utilize it frequently to hydrate inside and out, and also to hold you over in between healthy meals whenever you might preferably be enticed into a little something devious. Consuming a minimum of eight glasses each day may have an instant effect on your appearance and also the elasticity of the skin.

2. Constantly put on sunscreen. As pleasant as basking within the warm sun might be, the harm it causes to skin could be extensive, also deadly. Safeguard yourself from the dangerous rays with a decent SPF which will last for very long and also be great for the skin too. You will find foundations with built-in sunscreen in addition to daily moisturizers. Select one that will fit your skin as well as individual lifestyle.

3. Unclutter your makeup. What is a great deal more impossible than getting ready each morning and never being able to find your best eye-shadow or lip-liner? Clean up the clutter and get rid of items you really do not use. Keeping make-up products for too much time is unhealthy as well as, they possibly can collect bacteria. Organize your beauty essentials for simplicity of use and dispose of the clutter.

4. Make use of a high-quality, low-chemicals moisturizer. Bite the bullet just a little for the cosmetics that help with your skin's nourishment and conditioning. Search for natural as well as organic components. Staying away from lots of ineffective chemicals could keep skin healthier and keep elasticity, so look at the labels or online reviews in order to locate a trustworthy product. Make use of your favorite moisturizer every morning and before going to bed.

5. Get the ideal color lipstick. When everything else fails, we are able to always rely on an excellent lipstick for getting us throughout the day. When you are short on time, in the middle of a poor hair-day, or perhaps caught while it is raining with no umbrella; stunning lipstick turns the main focus onto a little amazing color and winning smile. Make use of sample-sizes before you find the best shade, and ensure you are aware of the precise color title, in order to get more.

6. Enjoy lots of vegetables. Beauty resonates from internal health and you are not likely to reach that healthy glow living on chips and beer. You don't need to restrict yourself to the point of deprivation; just be sure you receive sufficient fruits and vegetables to your diet.

7. Get enough rest. An excellent night of sleeping will reflect within your face the whole day, and so will a night of being restless. Begin with a great mattress as well as set the actual environment in your bedroom so that it's totally favorable to restful sleeping. Have light scents in the air to get a calming effect and make certain the lights are appropriate.

8. Detox from stress, smoking along with other beauty dangers. Excessive stress can deteriorate pure beauty far prior to its time. Fine wrinkles and worry lines sets in, and also the constant unhappiness of dissatisfaction and anxiety can eat you up internally. Discover methods to reduce stress, and do not depend upon such things as cigarettes and alcohol for ease.

There you possess eight great approaches to look wonderful more quickly and keep healthy looks using quality measures. Integrate these pointers in your daily beauty routine soon to see an amazing difference immediately.

Medicine from Recommended Pharmacies

With prescription medicines, there are so many choices to choose from and it is not easy finding cheaper and effective alternatives. Does your Government pay for all your healths cost, or are you uninsured and you have the burden of 100% of the cost for your family's health care. If you have health care coverage, what percentage do you have to pay?

Once you decide what category you fall under, you need to decide which medicine is right for you. Trying to save money on your prescriptions may not be for you but for the vast majority of us who are not well off, we have to shop around for a cheaper source of quality prescriptions.

This brings us to the internet with even more questions. A recent Google search for the word "pharmacy" came up with over 29 million possibilities. So out of the 29 million WebPages. Which pharmacies have good quality prescriptions, which ones are fly-by night and which ones have good customer service? That is where an online pharmacy review site comes in.

A good pharmacy review site will first find quality online pharmacies. Do background checks on the medical pharmacies and contact them to see if they respond in a timely matter. Some good websites will go to the extent of ordering prescriptions from pharmacies to see if the right prescriptions arrive on time and as prescribed.

There are thousands of online pharmacies to choose from and an online pharmacy review site can help users to start choosing their prescriptions from recommended pharmacies. This makes it easier for online users and starts them in the right path. Not only can they find good pharmacies from such a review site, they can also find medicine that are competitively priced and within their budget range. How often do people take their friends' recommendations in trying out Lose Weight programs and medicine anyway?

Bobby Stark works in an established US pharmacy for 10 years and spends his spare time on his Online Pharmacy Review site to guide buyers in choosing their medical products

I Have Let Go of Being Hard on Myself

DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Believe me this has been a lifetime learning journey and it feels really good to be in this place…peaceful existence, balance with life and self, and overall feeling of AWWW…Life is BETTER than Great!

I can remember being caught up in the stuff that really does not matter in the BIG scheme of life…the house looking just right, what people thought, oh my…my body is not quite there…is that fat on my butt…really???  How many times am I going to give myself the outer thigh pinch test for crying out loud.  Oh…I burned this, and that food presentation does not look perfect, oh…am I saying that just right,  am I doing this right, and, oh no…my diet was not clean today and I have just ruined everything…REALLY?  Enough of that crap already…whew…like I shared earlier…I am so glad to NOT be there anymore. 

We really can be our own worst enemy if we let ourselves.  Thoughts of “not good enough” swirling around in my head years ago are thankfully gone, praise God that is for certain.   As I reach almost 50, I have to say that I have let go of being hard on myself…I mean what the heck would be the point.  I do not need the acceptance or approval of others to be ME, although as I shared earlier, I know how that feels to be in that ugly place.  Also, coming from a position of fitness competition, and featured here and there, I admit, I felt pressure to look a certain way, be a certain way, always on guard to public scrutiny and needing to be THAT GIRL…always in shape…perfect as some say…but…even then and now…I was and am FAR from that YUCK word.  As I have shared many times…PERFECT DOES NOT EXIST except in fairy tales and photo shop…what a mind @%#& life can throw a person if you let it. 

Moving to the NOW Darla…I do not “Sweat the Small Stuff” and I will certainly leave a few dishes in the sink and not worry about the pillow arrangement on the sofa when family and friends come over…I mean are they coming to see my dishes or me…taking that pressure off myself for years now feels FABULOUS and I really enjoy the precious moments of Life.  Am I saying that I do not take pride in my home and self… of course not…I am NO piggy.   What I am saying is my priorities have changed and I have a happy lived in home.  When my time comes to leave this life, will my regrets be…I should have made sure the dishes were done all the time, the house was spotless, and all the streaks off the mirrors, work more…NO WAY…in fact, I do not want any regrets…I want my life to be full of meaningful moments with my family and friends, and helping people adapt healthy lives.  What does this have to do with maintaining a healthy ME?  Let me tell you…STRESS relief plays a big role in feeling great about who I am and life in general.

Not stressing over things that do not warrant attention and giving attention to those things worthy of my attention are important to living a healthy life in my book.  I am not going to bash myself for hours on end for eating a splurge meal for example and thinking that I have ruined my life and health.  I am living life for heaven’s sake.  One or two splurge meals are not going to make or break my fitness health bank as the old ME would have thought.  NOPE…not going to sustain my body on boiled fish and broccoli as a lifetime routine…YUCK …not realistic and truly not sustainable for a lifetime of healthy eating.  My body definitely needs all the variety that comes from a variety of healthy foods…and I LOVE food to taste good…did I mention the spicier the better:) 

Taking a deep breath each morning and being a thankful woman for my health, my hubby, family, this body,  home,  job, and so many other things that often  get taken for granted like the beauty all around me is what fills me with absolute happiness.  Am I saying that I do not take care of myself physically and through my healthy foods…now that would be ridiculous…I have not gone rebel on you and saying that this is not important.  I live an example of a healthy life through my fitness and nutrition and share that with you as much as I can. I would be a hypocrite and not even be able to represent myself as a trainer and motivator if I did not live a healthy lifestyle.

 I have relaxed so much with acceptance of whom I am, loving my body as it is with all the changes that come with the aging process,  and knowing what is important as I have shared before…Being the BEST version of ME given my genetics and medical issues.  Genetically, I would have to say that I have my father’s long, lean look, and I have had to work hard to put muscle on this body to add the curves that I like.  So, I will no longer be a slave to society’s view of what Darla should look like, and I have let that go for years now, and celebrate the fact that it feels so good to NOT be hard on myself.  What I will say about myself is that I am a dedicated woman when it comes to being a healthy person and take the time and effort to ensure that my body is exercised and fed healthy food on a consistent basis…but being over the top obsessed to the point that my life is negatively affected…NO WAY!  Life is about beautiful balance, health in the physical, nutritional, and I can’t stress enough how important it has been for me to really key into my emotional and spiritual life.  Talk about feeling carefree, and open to sharing my life and being REAL…that is what I am all about.  

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATIONS 

Newly Added to the In My Kitchen Page!

Rosemary Crusted Grilled Salmon with Peppers

Me with My Fabulous Daughter Hope

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

 

Have a FABULOUS weekend and upcoming week!

 

Stay Healthy!

Darla;)

Receive My Stay Healthy Nutrition Guide as a Free Gift and Thank you when you donate to Stay Healthy Fitness...