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Benefits of Listening to Music & Uplift Your Spirits!
Listening to music is a great way to enhance your well-being. Music is everywhere in our daily lives. In fact, it allows us the opportunity for emotional expression, to connect, and feel at ease. Studies have shown that music is beneficial to uplift your spirits, reduce stress, anxiety, improve mental health, and overall health.
Here are a few benefits of music:
1. Music and Stress/anxiety
If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, take a moment and pause. Give yourself a moment to relax and calm your mind. You should try listening to music. Listen to your favorite playlist, music artists, etc. Go for cheerful and calming music to lift you up or soothe your mind! Studies have shown that listening to both cheerful and calming music can relieve stress and anxiety by releasing dopamine, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, for example.
Though listening to music is a positive way to comfort yourself, you should always strive to talk to a trusted friend, individual, especially your loved ones. You’ll feel much better and comforted!
2. Music and Sleep
If stress, anxiety or sleep disorders are preventing you from falling asleep. Listening to music may enhance your sleep. Numerous studies have proven that listening to soothing music or classical music can be beneficial for people who have trouble sleeping. And these benefits include reducing stress, heart rate and respiratory, distract your worries, better rest, and more.
3. Music and Exercise
Listening to music while exercising is an excellent way to keep you motivated. Music with fast tempos have proven to make fitness enthusiasts feel energized and active! Therefore, boosting mood, increasing endurance, and reducing fatigue. Grab your favorite playlists and get moving!
Music preferences vary, but what matters is that it keeps you cheerful, relaxed, and at ease!
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2 Foods to Consider on Indulging and It’s Benefits.
It’s okay to indulge every now and then, whether it’s cheat meals such as sweets, or whatever it is you gladly enjoy eating. Food brings happiness to everyone. And it’s good. Indulging can actually be beneficial to a healthy and balanced lifestyle, as long as it’s done in moderation. Wouldn’t it be enjoyable to reward yourself after making a commitment to a healthier diet? So, take a moment to reward yourself for this reason!
Here are 2 foods to consider indulging on occasion (based on few benefits):
1. Ice Cream
Ice cream is indeed beneficial in keeping a healthy mindset. When eating ice cream our bodies release dopamine which is a neurotransmitter from our nervous system that brings us pleasure and happiness. The savory taste of an ice cream is in fact, a mood booster. The ingredients of ice cream can vary, but the main ingredients are the following: milk and cream. Milk and cream contains nutrients, calcium, riboflavin, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin D, for instance. And are all important in some ways, in helping our bodies to function. Just like calcium is important for our bodies to maintain healthy and stronger bones!
2. Dark Chocolate
Having dark chocolate as a treat can lead to few benefits to your health. Dark chocolate contains antioxidants and minerals such as Magnesium, Zinc, iron, and more. Studies have shown that it may reduce the risk of heart disease, blood cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, dark chocolate consumption can have benefits for skin, as stated by Kris GUnners from Healthline. By protecting skin from sun damage, improving blood flow in skin, especially hydration. Moreover, since dark chocolate is high in cocoa, it has the least amount of sugar and fat than milk or white chocolate.
Occasionally indulging in your favorite food can help you satisfy your cravings and maintain a healthy lifestyle but remember to consume them in moderation. Stay healthy!
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New Year’s Eve with Families!
New Year’s Eve is a memorable occasion for celebrations. Celebrations of lasting memories with family and friends. It’s the opportunity to reflect and look forward into the New Year of becoming better versions of us, planning your future, or maybe it’s about anything, you name it. As long as it’s positive and you’re happy, that’s all that counts!
How Do We Celebrate New Year’s Eve?
My family usually spends New Year’s Eve at my uncle and aunt’s house. It will be quite a gathering of family members. Most of whom are my uncle and aunt’s side of the family. We’ll get to meet our uncles, aunts, and cousins. And few who are distant family members. All in all, we had a wonderful time. Every family member brings in delicious foods and drinks. There will be a variety of dishes, most of which are traditional Mexican cuisine. For instance, tacos dorados, pozole, tamales, carne asada, and the list continues. It’s indeed a lot. Everyone’s having a good time chatting, younger cousins running around, some heading out to the backyard and playing soccer, others dancing, drinking, music playing in the background, etc. Once the midnight countdown begins, we all are gathered at the living room eating our 12 grapes of luck. We then wish each other a Happy New Year! Give each other warm hugs.
What Are the Things I Want to Do Next Year?
There are many things I would love to do in the upcoming year. First as I’ve previously posted on one of my posts, planning a summer family vacation to San Diego, California. We haven’t taken a family trip in quite some time. It would be wonderful to visit my grandma in Mexico. I haven’t seen her in quite some time, even though we talk on a daily basis through phone calls. I miss her warm hugs and kisses!
May you and your loved ones be healthy and happy!
Happy New Year!!
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A Wonderful Traditional Christmas with Family and Friends!
It’s the time of the year when we celebrate Christmas! A holiday that is filled with bright colors, feasts, a Christmas tree, lights, decorations, gifts and more. More importantly, a moment to cherish and spend time with family and friends. A holiday celebrated by many cultures and adapted to their traditional customs. Indeed, a special Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus.
In previous years, we’ve been invited to my uncle and aunt’s house for Christmas Eve. There would be a huge gathering of families, most of whom are my uncle’s side of the family, including friends and colleagues. It was a great time that brought happiness and memorable moments. We danced, sang, prayed, dined, exchanged gifts and did all sorts of activities.
How Are We Celebrating Christmas?
We are celebrating Christmas at home this year. Recently, my mom’s baby Jesus arrived from Mexico from my grandmother’s home. In her early teens while in Mexico, she always dreamed of having one of her own because visiting nearby families all had a baby Jesus. Everyone in her community will walk out with their baby Jesus and head to a local church for it to be blessed, in which people will sing and pray together. Children, especially adults are welcomed to their nearby neighbors and families homes to visit their baby Jesus nativity scenes. At their visit, food is prepared for anyone to eat, especially candies are given to children who come by their doors. It’s indeed a marvelous day for both Mexico and religious traditions.
Throughout Christmas, we are going to spend it the same, and it will be our first experience. Well, our first experience at our home. We invited a few friends, and family members. My father, brothers and I own acoustic guitars and will be playing while we all are singing, praying, and my younger sister will be gentle rocking baby Jesus, and give him a loving kiss.
Wishing you all a Precious Happy Holidays!
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A Special Day for Gratitude & Family!
Thanksgiving is a special holiday to express gratitude, reconnect, and share wonderful memories together. It’s the opportunity for spending time with family, families, and friends. Of course, each family has their own way of celebrating thanksgiving, particularly through their distinctive cultures and traditional feasts.
How Was Our Day? & What Did We Do for Thanksgiving?
Well, our day went like this. We all woke up and said good morning greetings to one another as usual, followed by our daily morning routine. My father was required to work, but lucky enough his boss allowed him to leave two hours early. My brothers and I had the day off from work and school, especially my younger sisters. My bros and I took our furry companion for a stroll in our local nearby park about 6-8 minutes from our home. We had a great early morning, taking our dog for a stroll in the park and running, which is something we rarely do together. Therefore, my sisters were aiding my mother in preparing for the afternoon holiday feast. Though, I’ll love to continue, but here was a bit of an overview on our morning.
This Thanksgiving, we are celebrating alongside our aunt, uncle, and younger cousin. And we’re looking forward to spending time with them!
My family is from Mexico, and my mother, sisters and aunt prepared a variety of delicious traditional Mexican dishes. For instance, pozole, roast pork (with added potatoes, carrots, some add in juices for flavor) types of salsas, tortilla chips, tostadas, mexican rice, to name a few. For desserts, we had homemade chocolate brownies, caramel flan, and Mexican rice pudding with cinnamon. Our furry pals also had tasty meals too!
We enjoyed a wonderful night of sharing memories, expressing gratitude to one another, playing board games, and listening to music in the background while communicating and sharing moments of laughter and happiness!
Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!
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Feel Free to Dress to Your Personal Preference!
Personal style can be expressed in various ways. But, more importantly they represent the individual’s inner self in terms of self-expression, comfortability, and confidence. Its why different styles create uniqueness among individuals in their own ways. And especially to their liking. There’s been studies that what you wear enhances your mental well-being. For instance, improving anxiety, boosting confidence, and moods. You are free to choose whatever you want to wear, in addition to experimenting with clothes that embrace your personality and makes you feel good!
Moving on, today’s post will be about selecting clothes based on colors and skin tones.
Colors in Clothing:
Finding the right colors for clothes can probably seem complicated. However, no worries because using the color wheel can be your friendly guide. The color wheel is indeed a useful tool when it comes to coordinating colors and creating harmony. It involves three sets of categories which are primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors. In which mixing primary colors form secondary colors of green, orange and purple. And whereas the mix of primary and secondary colors creates a tertiary color of magenta (red/purple), vermillion (red/orange), amber (yellow/orange) and much more (MasterClass, 2021). With the understanding of the color wheel, you can then experiment with color hues and color harmony to create distinct combinations of colors pleasing to the eye. If you’re interested in learning more about the color wheel and matching your outfits, I recommend going to ivyandpearlboutique as they have a great article about it.
Colors & Skin Tones:
Finding the right colors that suit your skin tones may or may not be challenging. And it’s more of experimenting what works best for you. First and foremost, understanding your skin tone can be determined by your undertone, which includes warm, cool, and neutral.
For warm undertone individuals, according to Philippe Uter said to Instyle, recommends wearing warm colors such as orange, yellow, and gold. Therefore, adding bright colors could work well too. As well, as earthy tones recommended by Britt Theodora, told Instyle. For cool undertones individuals you could go for cool colors such as charcoal, blues, violet, pink, and green. Moreover, for neutral tones individuals you can experiment with neutral colors, for instance grey, white, or black. You can also opt for bright colors too! If interested in learning more about the skin undertones, I’ll highly recommend reading “Unlocking the Power of Colour: Dressing for Your Skin Tone” it’s a good read.
At the end of the day, you aren’t obliged to follow these guidelines. You are free to wear whatever you want, as long as it makes you comfortable and happy!
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Consider Your Intake of More Fruits into Your Diet!
It’s crucial to start thinking about eating more fruits and incorporate them into your diet. According to a study from the CDC not enough adults in the United States are eating the recommended fruits, especially vegetables intake on a daily basis. And as stated by Lauren Manaker from Verywell Health “only about 10% of adults…are meeting those recommendations” based on a 2019 survey (Manaker, 2022). Not too good, isn’t it?
Here’s why you should start adding more fruits into your diet and the effects if you are not doing yourself a favor.
What Are Positives of Fruit Consumption?
As we all know, fruits are key in maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle. All it takes is putting enough effort and consideration into adding fruits into your daily routine. You can start by trying 4-5 servings of fruits per day. To provide more information, heart.org presents an infographic on serving size by heading to their site. Fruits are high in fiber and low in calories resulting in the feeling of fullness. This allows you to lose or maintain a healthy weight, and reduce overeating, for instance. Furthermore, fruits with high fiber include avocado, apple, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, banana, tangerines, and the list continues. Consuming these fruits has been shown to reduce blood pressure, some cancers, heart disease, stroke, and more. Therefore, contain essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in keeping you healthy.
What is The Effect of Consuming Less Fruits?
If you don’t eat a variety of fruits in your daily diet, you’re at risk of developing chronic diseases. For instance, diabetes, vascular diseases, types of cancers, heart disease, weak immune system and much more. You’ll definitely be less energetic and unhealthy if fruits are not being consumed enough. And this is especially crucial as we age. Wouldn’t you want to live happily and healthier? Healthy enough to do the things you love?
To all dear readers, do your best and eat those fruits!
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Here Are Few Ways to Fight Off Food Cravings!
It’s common for everyone to experience food cravings. Though they sure can be delicious, whether it be sweets that are sugary or chips that are salty. However, the consequences if consumed too much may be unhealthy, for example weight gain. Therefore, stress, deprivation, hormone imbalance, and other triggers can all lead to food cravings too.
Even though consuming too much sugar and salt is unhealthy, you can still treat yourself every now and then. Let’s say for a while and consider it a reward for maintaining a healthy diet, like a cheat day or make it special to reward yourself on your birthday with a delicious cake!
Now to continue, discussing food cravings. What are some ways we can fight off food cravings?
Drink Water:
To avoid the desire for food cravings, drink water! By having a simple glass of water, the craving you’re seeking for will fade away. A glass of water will make you feel full, allowing you to control your appetite and prevent overeating. More importantly, we all should be drinking water to prevent dehydration, especially for our body to function healthy.
Eat More Fruits & Vegetables
Consuming fruits and vegetables are the best way to go and reduce the urge to food cravings. When having the urge for sugar cravings, you should consider eating fruits. Fruits are sweet and can fight off that sugar craving as they contain essential nutrients and fiber to keep you healthy and fuller. Go for strawberries, blackberries, mangoes, cherries, tangerines, for instance. Furthermore, consider green leafy vegetables high in fiber and low in calories, allowing you to feel fuller.
Reduce Stress:
Stress is experienced by everyone for different reasons. Being stressed may lead to overeating and as a result increase food craving. It’s in fact, difficult, but try your best to distract yourself. Give yourself some time to take a small break and go outside and take a walk. Listen to music, music that can calm you down and ease your mind. Try exercising, it is a great way to curb your cravings while improving your brain function and cognition.
These were a few methods to prevent food cravings. Stay healthy, dear readers!
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Good Hygiene is Extremely Important
Why is Good Hygiene Important?
Hygiene is an important component to reducing disease, according to the World Bank. Good hand, face and body hygiene is important. It helps keep the germs at bay for everyone involved. If we don’t like getting sick, we must keep ourselves clean. But, what areas of hygiene are there?
What Areas of Hygiene are There?
There is a plethora of hygiene that we have to maintain. Hand hygiene, for one, is one of the different areas of hygiene that we are taught earliest. Face and body hygiene are also important areas of hygiene. Face and body hygiene also goes beyond the simple act of showering. Covering coughs and sneezes are also a form of hygiene
Hand Hygiene
Death by diarrheal bacteria is not a nice thing to imagine. It is extremely preventable though. All you have to do is wash your hands. Contaminated hands cause a large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks and respiratory diseases. It is best to not touch your eyes, nose, mouth, and prep food with dirty hands. Don’t know when to wash your hands? Here are some tips. Effectively washing your hands is very simple.
- With warm or cold running water, wet your hands. Then turn off the tap (don’t waste water) and apply soap.
- Now that you have soap in a palm, bring both hands together and rub every single square inch together. Make sure to get between your fingers, the backs of your hands and under your nails.
- You should keep scrubbing with soap until you’ve counted twenty seconds. Do not count to just twenty. Count twenty legitimate seconds as they would happen on a stopwatch.
- After those twenty seconds are up, rinse your hands really well under running water until all the soap is off.
- With a clean towel, rub your hands dry. If you don’t have anything clean to dry your hands with, let them air dry.
Remember, keep them your hands clean.
Facial Hygiene
According to the CDC, the average person touches their face a total of 23 times per hour. Your face is where most diseases can enter easily through your eyes, mouth, nose and ears. Keeping your face facial area clean can prevent germs from entering your body. Also, remember discussing washing our hands in the above section, well, washing your hands can also prevent germs from reaching your face. Facial hygiene includes washing your face, cleaning your teeth, mouth, eyes, contact lenses and ears.
Some diseases that can be prevented by washing ones face include:
- Cold
- Flu
- Pinkeye
- Trachoma (the number one leading cause of preventable blindness in the world)
Effectively Showering
Effectively showering your body includes washing every crevice of your body, especially parts of your body covered in hair, which brings us to hair hygiene.
Hair Washing
Hair hygiene means finding a shampoo that’s good for your hair type, applying an appropriate amount, and then scrubbing away at the extra sebum(oil you produce naturally, but too much is not good) and nasty things you collected throughout your day. Did you know that washing your hair can help prevent scalp related ringworm and head-lice? Neither of those sound pleasant to have right? Well, you can wash your hair.
Feet Washing
Please keep those grippers clean. They are nasty at the end of a sock and shoe wearing day. They need to be washed individually and thoroughly. The whole foot needs to be lathered, especially between the toes. Trim your toe nails, too, bacteria can gather underneath. Don’t wear your socks for more than one day and if you do happen to go to a salon, pick on that is clean and licensed. You don’t want athlete’s foot, now do you? Nor would you want fungal nail infections or hookworm. Keep your grippers clean.
Keep Your Hands and Body Clean
That being said, keep yourself clean. Wash your hands, take thorough showers, keep your nails trimmed, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, etc. This will help prevent you from getting and spreading germs. Do you part to respect yourself and others.