To Health

Towards the end of 2012 I finally stopped slacking, quit my complaining and began taking my health seriously. I’m only 26 and blessed to be perfectly healthy now, but I've seen far too many examples before me of women who neglected themselves in their prime ages only to suffer many ailments later on. Women are naturally more prone to many illnesses than men are. We take on too much stress, we birth children which takes a major toll on our bodies and mostly we put our health second until it becomes blindingly unavoidable. So, as part of my New Year's resolution here’s what I am aiming to start doing now:

Facials - I started getting them monthly beginning in mid 2012 which may be a bit hefty on the pocket but even a few times a year is completely worth it. I can feel my skin looking and feeling dramatically tighter/softer and skin tone evening out. I don't have many break outs anymore, but facials have been great at getting rid of blemish marks. I know my 40 year old skin will thank myself for the efforts made in my 20s. I plan to do this more frequently, if not at the salon then definitely at home. But, truthfully the 30-45 minutes of uninterrupted Me Time where I get to chitchat with my beautician and have someone else spoil me does wonderful to alleviate stress. Less stress = less frowning = less wrinkles = Fab at 40! Or so I keep telling myself!I bought some eye wrinkle cream too (it was a sad moment, eye wrinkle cream? Me? Waahhh!). All those years of neglecting to remove my eye makeup before bed and then scrubbing it off in the morning has definitely taken a toll on my under-eyes, I'm hoping this cream helps. I'll write more about it when I see results. 

Eating fish/cod liver oil pills - I have a history of heart disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis, and diabetes in my family. Some things no matter how hard you try to avoid them, they find you. But still, prevention is better than cure. I initially started taking these pills because they are rich in omega 3 and are known to help improve hair, nails and skin. I had serious postpartum hair loss and was desperate to try anything. I began using Argan oil and Argan shampoo in September 2012, which did help at first, but it didn't seem enough. I continue to use it now but I've added in cod liver pills. Now, after 2 months of daily consumption I can already see a huge change. So Glowing even skin + No more hair loss+ Stronger nails = Majorly Happy Sania! And the real benefit is that fish oil is ideal for safeguarding myself against all the diseases in my family. So, even if I lose this battle against my genes/heredity one day, I can say I did put up a fight.

Taking care of my spine-  Another joy of postpartum I experienced was back pain. It's been two years and I really have not done a thing to improve it. My excuse was, it wasn't so bad and only really hurt in the morning when I woke up. So, I kept blaming my horrible un-firm mattress (partial truth). I finally complained enough that my husband forced me to go for physical therapy. Sure enough I have some badly tensed muscles due to the way I sit at work, carry my son and lack of stretching/working out. Two weeks of PT did not do much so I gave up (too soon I know, but keep reading) and one night I took the suggestion of a friend and put a pillow between my legs when I slept (I’m a side sleeper). BOOM. No more back pain. It’s been over two weeks and I’m feeling a lot better than I have in months, actually years! So I'm no longer paying a ridiculous $30/session copay for PT and all it took was spooning with a pillow! Also, I was suggested to a great website about yoga for stretching, but I'll write about that in my 'Soul' section. 

Drinking more water- I've read that you should drink half your weight in water, meaning if you weigh 120 lbs then drink 60 oz of water daily. That's basically 8 glasses, which is not so difficult if you drink 2 in the morning 2 at noon 2 before dinner and 2 before bed. Water is so essential to regulating all the various functions and organs within our body and I definitely forget to drink even 1 glass some days! I'm thinking the worst that can come from this is that I'll be too stuffed with water and won't have any room left to over eat! Win-win. A well hydrated body leads to a well-nutritioned soul. 

These are just a few small changes I've chosen to make in my lifestyle to improve my health and they've proven to be quite beneficial in the past few months/weeks. I'm hoping that 2013 will bring added healthy habits. Seeing my grandmother suffer with awful arthritis and heart related illnesses, while my grandfather is in an assisted elderly care facility due to his Alzheimer's has really opened up my eyes to the grim reality of old age. I've also lost two grandparents to complications of heart disease. And now with my parents in their 50s and 60s, it pains me to think about them getting old too. If  I can take actions now that help me look and feel healthy 30 years down the line, then popping a pill, sipping on water and cuddling with a pillow are things I can willingly bring into my life.

*all images via google

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