So picture this: it’s 11:30 at night. You’ve been up all day, you spent several hours running around, doing laundry, cooking dinner, helping [insert relative/friend/other] accomplish [task]. You have an appointment at 9:00, so the roundabout starts again in approximately 8 hours.

You can feel your exhaustion weighing on you: your eyes are tired and feel almost like they burn every time you blink. You’re beginning to get emotional over the littlest things. You want to fall asleep every time you sit still, and the idea of having the chance to just relax is like a siren call. Finally, you crawl into bed 15 minutes later, teeth cleaned, pajamas on, and all you want to do is sleep.

And yet, when you go to set your alarm clock, your hand hovers over it. 6am, you think, You need to set it for 6. Remember that run? When was the last time you did that? Yeah, I can tell your weight loss efforts are very serious. How can you expect to lose weight if you don’t exercise. You think the magic weight fairy will come and disappear it?

But your hand hovers. You’ve been through this routine before — you know for a fact that you cannot function properly without 8 hours. Come the morning, the alarm will go off and you will continue to snooze it until you have to get up anyway — only that hour and a half of sleep will be a lot less restful. But the run! You think. The guilt eats at you…

So today: Abandon it. Particularly in regards to sleep. Sleep is essential. Sleep is good. Sleep helps your body repair itself and stops you from getting sick. Feeling guilty about not fitting everything into your day? Stop.

Some facts about the necessity of sleep (from About.com):

• Sleep keeps your heart healthier: if you regularly get between 7 and 9 hours sleep a night, your heart will be healthier than if you don’t.
• Sleep may help prevent cancer: People who work night shift have a higher rate of breast and colon cancer. (Researchers believe this is linked to the varying melatonin levels of people who work at night.)
• Sleep reduces stress. Conversely, if you don’t sleep, you increase stress. Your body produces are hormone clled cortisol, which can actually make you gain weight. Yep, not getting a good sleep can make you fat.
• Sleep reduces inflammation.
• Sleep (duh) makes you more alert.
• Sleep improves your memory. When we dream, we go through a process of memory consolidation, as we input memories and make links. Ensuring you get enough sleep will make sure that you process things better.
• Sleep makes you lose weight. Ahuh. This is because if you don’t sleep, you a) crave sugar as your body wants energy and b) your body has significantly more difficulty telling when you’re full.

So today, go to bed earlier and let yourself sleep in a little later. Show your body some love, because it needs downtime too.

Currency

Time: 1 hr 30 minutes.
Money: Nothing
Points: 0

(Yes, this post was supposed to be up yesterday, but I was practicing what I preach, haha)

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Posted at 7:35 pm | No Comments »

Day One is easy: Nails. Personally, I’m a nail-biter. Have been since before I had teeth. So nails are an often neglected part of my body. And how often do we really take care of our nails? Cut them, file them, give yourself a manicure, get our nails ‘done’?

So today is about taking care of our nails and hands — parts of our bodies that spend so much time taking care of us.

Today’s tips for nail care come from Woman Junction and Cosmopolitan.

Tips for Nail Care:

1. Put nail polish in the freezer to keep it smooth.
2. For dry, brittle nails, give them a coating of Vaseline, which helps to moisten them.
3. When painting nails, you should have clean, oil-free nails (which means allowing the Vaseline to sink in i.e. either doing it in the morning and painting nails at night, or swiping your hands with nail-polish remover to clean the slippery surface) and a base coat.
4. Use a base coat under nails to prevent them from turning yellow, as well as giving your polish something to hold onto, which will make it last longer.
5. Apply 2 thin coats of tinted polish, letting the first one dry thoroughly before applying the second one.
6. To apply: wipe any excess polish from the brush to the inner rim of the bottle. Paint a stripe down the center of your nail, followed by one on either side. Finish with a thin strip across the very tip.
7. Wait for first coat of nail polish to dry before applying the next, in order to prevent bubbles.
8. Finish with a clear top coat and reapply every other day to protect polish.
9. If you want nail polish to dry faster after painting your nails, dip your nails in cold water.

Currency

Time: 10 - 45 minutes
Money: Varying –

• Manicure Sets start from about £6 or $12 (AUD).
• Nail polish is around £4 or $8, depending on the quality.
• You can buy Vaseline lip rub in easy portable tins for about £1.50 or $3.

Points: 0

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Posted at 9:49 pm | 1 Comment »

So I’m pretty sure that no one reads this journal, although I don’t have access to any statistics. But that’s okay, because this is mostly for me. Still, if anyone stumbles across this and wants to take part, leave me a comment and bolster my pride.

We, as people, spend so much time thinking about others. Is she alright? Does he really like me? What will he think? What with Mum/brother/husband think? Will they like this? It’s almost constant. Women, mothers in particular, are guilty of putting themselves last again and again and again. How many times have you not gone for a walk because you needed to do something for someone else instead? Or had that piece of pie because others made you feel guilty about trying to put yourself first?

With the recession here, everything gets harder, including a diet. ‘Cost’ applies not just to money, but points and time as well. The cost of going to the gym? a $50/month gym membership and 2 hours of your time. Cost of eating an icecream? 5 points, several hundred calories, $3 and 10 minutes. To cut back on spending one denomination, we spend another. The constant compromise can wear anyone down, make you feel like nothing can ever go right, and feel as if you need to compromise yourself.

30 Days of Love is about just that: finding ways in everyday life to shower yourself in love. It’s a reaffirmation of your own self worth. It’s 30 days of finding cheap and simple ways to show yourself love, ways that do not involve eating. It’s about feeling sensual and attractive, about listening to yourself, about improving how you talk to yourself and how you think about yourself as a person.

So for the next 30 days, I’m going to post with tips and ideas for easy ways to work on your relationship with yourself. And work on mine at the same time.

30 Days of Love

1. Nails

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Posted at 9:38 pm | No Comments »