Self-care and do you actually do it?

Here is a question for all of you. Would you rather

1. Service your car regularly so that it keeps running smoothly and have very little problems

OR

2. Wait until the car starts to leak oil on the ground and there is that funny noise and some smoke coming from the engine and the list goes on

What about if your car is that little bit older and is costing you more to fix it than what it is worth. We can experience that new car feeling, upgrading it to the latest model and have all the bells and whistles that you want.

So now you’re wondering why I am talking about cars and upgrading it to the latest model. It has nothing to do with self-care and if you do it. Think again.

The car you should really worry about is your body. It takes you through your lives journey. You don’t have the luxuries of upgrading to the latest model if you start break down and not function properly. So for you to be able to continue to go through life smoothly and only have that occasional problem you need to start having regular self-care.

So what is self-care?
Self-care is something you do for yourself on regular bases to keep you mentally, physically and spiritually fit. Self-care should be done daily and you can spend as much time and money on it as you want. You should take 15 minutes to a 1 hour out of your day to practice it.

Here are some of my top self-care activities that I love doing

  • Having a cup of tea and sitting down and really enjoy it
  • Going for a walk
  • Getting a massage (like this idea click on the link)
  • Having a hot bath
  • Listen to music
  • Watch a movie
  • Meditate
  • Solving puzzles (I like Sudoku)
  • Meet up with a friend for coffee (or hot chocolate)
  • Drive to somewhere you love
  • Go shopping
  • Pretend to be a photographer, find cool textures and angles
  • Read a book
  • Binge-watch your favourite TV show
  • Cook something nice
  • Plan your next holiday
  • Spend time outside playing with your kids (and/or fur-babies)
  • Get a pedicure/manicure
  • Go to the beach.

So RECAP!

Our body is a car and we need to start taking better for it as we can’t upgrade it to the latest model.

Regular self-care is important to for you mentally, physically and spiritually.

You should take 15 minutes to a 1 hour out of your day to practice it.

Self-care is something that makes you feel relaxed and calm. After completing your self-care you feel energized and ready to achieve anything.

Beach
Go to the beach and chill

Lastly some homework for everyone!
Make a list of all the things that you love doing and everyday pick one thing off your list every day and actually do it.

Have fun,

Emma

Water, Water, Water

Everyone knows that drinking water is important part of keeping us alive. FACT: Did you know that you can survival 3 days without water before you perish! Our body is made up of about 65% water. So why don’t we drink enough of it?

When it comes to it we have a taste for sugar. So we are able to drink the cordial, soft drinks, coffees, juices, “natural” flavoured waters and the list goes on without thinking about it. But when it comes to water it’s just too hard.

Growing up in Australia nearly every house hold had soft drink in the house. We were allowed to have it on special occasions or have it as a reward if we have done something good. Then it turned into you can have it once a week, to twice a week, to every second day to 1 can of soft drink a day. When I moved out of home I had no restriction to how much soft drink I could have. At my worst I could drink a 1.25L bottle of brown creamy soda in a day. I was having no water at this time. The effects that it had on my body was terrible, this is some of the things that happened to me

  • Going from a healthy weight to being over weight
  • Headaches
  • My body was always sore and “tight”
  • Chronic lower back pain
  • High Cholesterol
  • Addicted to sugar
  • This was all because I wasn’t putting the right food and liquid in me.

Everyone has their own excuses on why they can’t drink water and they see it as a chore, while developing countries are dying for clean water. Here are 10 reasons why you should drink more water (https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4287/10-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Drink-More-Water.html),

  1. Increases Energy & Relieves Fatigue
  2. Promotes Weight Loss
  3. Flushes Out Toxins
  4. Improves Skin Complexion
  5. Maintains Regularity (number 2s)
  6. Boosts Immune System
  7. Natural Headache Remedy
  8. Prevents Cramps & Sprains
  9. Puts You In A Good Mood
  10. Save Money!

Now it’s all up to you. You already know all of this information but you have to make the change yourself. I will be honest it’s not going to be easy transitioning from the sugary drinks to water. But once you have gone through the sugar withdrawal you will notice the difference and wonder why you didn’t do it earlier.

Thanks for reading

Emma

Top 10 excuses people use when asked “how’s your water intake?”

Everyone knows that drinking water is super important for our bodies. If you don’t, have you been living under a rock lately? But back to the point. During every treatment you have I ask the same question “How’s your water intake?’’. I hear excuses left right and center so I am going to tell you my top 10 excuses I hear daily.

So why you should keep reading

1. You stop using the excuses and drink more water and feel fantastic

or

2. Make up new excuses that I haven’t heard before so they can go on the list.

So pick a reason and just keep going. And by reading you will find out one of my BIGGEST SECRETS!

So with every excuse I will list a very simple solution. My solutions are calculated from common sense, past experiences and knowledge I have learnt over the years. These solutions might be blunt but at least they will be straight to the point.

I JUST KEEP FORGETTING TO DRINK WATER
Solution: Everyone has a smartphone know days (except for my mum she has a flip phone so this won’t work for her) but download a drink more water app and it will send you a reminder to say drink more water every hour or so.

OR

If you find that challenging set a timer on your phone for every 30-45 minutes and that is your reminder.

OR

Worst case scenario if you can not use your smart phone place a water bottle on the bench and every time you walk past it have a glug of water.

2. I’M USUALLY PRETTY GOOD. TODAY ISN’T MY DAY!

Question: What is so different from today than yesterday and from last week?

Today is no different than yesterday other then you got a myotherapy treatment.

Solution: Get into a routine and drink the dam water. You are only kidding yourself and you are worst off by not doing it.

3. IF I JUST HAVE A WATER BOTTLE WITH ME I WOULD DRINK MORE!
Solution: This answer might blow your mind, get ready for it here it comes…

Pick up a water bottle fill it with some water and take it with you. WOW such a REVELATION.

Your next excuse will be the bottle is too heavy to carry around. Guess what water bottles come in different shapes and sizes. So find a 300ml or even 500ml and put it in your handbag. DONE!

4. I FIND IT HARD TO DRINK WATER WHEN I’M AT “WORK/HOME”
Solution: Similar to solution number 1 so here is a recap

Download a drink more water app, Set a timer for every 30-40 minutes or have a bottle of water somewhere that is visible and you walk past it often.

5. I DON’T LIKE THE TASTE OF WATER
Question: What does water taste like?

Solution: For the people who find water too bland why don’t you add some flavour to it.

Here are some ideas

Berries
Lemon
Mint
Aloe vera juice
Ginger
Herbal teas (no added sugars and try and get the caffeine free teas)

6.I DON’T LIKE TAP WATER BECAUSE IT TASTES YUCKY
Question: Where does tap water come from? and What’s in it to make it taste yucky?

Solution: Get a filtering jug or if you’re real fancy get one of those taps that filters the water for you before it comes out of the tap. And if you can’t handle that get some bottled water and drink it.

7.I GO TO THE TOILET TOO MUCH (this is my favorite excuse of them all)
Question: What is wrong with going to the loo? It’s a great way of getting you moving.

Solution: This does get better. I found after about 2-3 weeks of constantly of drinking water your body gets use to it and you aren’t just rushing off to the loo every 5 minutes.

8. I’M NOT THIRSTY
You have heard the saying if you’re thirsty it’s means that you’re already dehydrated.

Solution: Let’s figure out what sort of drinker you are. So do you like to sip your drinks or take big glugs?

People who like to sip- Have a water bottle with you at all times and set a time for when the bottle needs to be empty.
People who like to take big glugs- Have a water bottle and put times on it with a permanent marker (eg 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am etc until you go to bed) and drink to the times.

9. I DON’T LIKE DRINKING WARM/COLD WATER
I understand that for some people they have sensitive teeth and find it hard to drink extreme temperature waters but there is a way to get around it.

Solution: If you don’t like warm water put some ice blocks in. If you don’t like cold water don’t put it in the fridge.

10. IT COSTS TOO MUCH
It only costs you money when you buy bottled water and it costs very little to nothing to get it from the tap. Side note whoever thought of selling bottled water is #killingit!

Solution: Reuse water bottles and refill them with tap water. Or if your a real cheapskate go to a friends house and drink their water.

Congratulations on getting this far I will let you in on my secret. I warn you its a pretty big secret.

The secret is………..

I have this special superpower that allows me to know if you have had enough water. You might say bullshit but I want you test it out. Drink 2L of water every day for the 2-3 weeks and put my superpowers to the test.

Thank you for reading and next time your in for a treatment and I ask “How’s your water intake?”, I want to hear that you are drinking a bucket load of water or have a dam good excuse why you’re not.

Thanks Emma