Do you remember what it was like to be able to eat anything you wanted to? Maybe, if you’re very, very lucky, you still can! But if you’re like most of the 40+ year old crowd I know, myself included, your metabolism has changed substantially.

I remember waking up and eating a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast without a second thought. In between meals, if I felt like it, I might grab a handful of M&Ms or some potato chips. Pizza for dinner with the children was not an uncommon occurrence. When it came to food, I was bulletproof. I was living the nutritional equivalent of a life without consequences. Then, sometime after I turned 50 the bottom, or my bottom to be more precise, quite literally fell out.

I woke up one morning and found my breasts on my chest and my butt on my thighs. Equally frustrating, my clothes weren’t fitting me like they used to. Things that I used to wear with no problem were now tighter around my derriere and thighs. The sleeves were pulling around my upper arms. UUGH! Time was marching on. I was getting older and gaining weight. It was as though my formerly compliant body had developed a mind of its own.

My activity level was the same. My diet, including those bagels, pizza, and chocolate, remained consistent. I had learned how to manage healthy eating with splurge days. But something else was definitely going on.

There exists an absolutely indefinable relationship between stress and our physical health. Of course we always say that a ''healthy body is a healthy mind'' and vice versa, but today's rampant situation of stress which is mainly considered a mind issue, needs to be addressed maybe more on the physical aspect as well. In other words I'm actually trying to promote physical exercise.

Most people who are health fanatics and exercise freaks swear by their fitness regime as the ultimate stress reliever. I somehow being the lazy creature that I am, have almost grudgingly started agreeing with them. Watching this increasing focus on the importance of exercise, my own perceptions of its importance have changed. This is not only because I started enjoying my own personal fitness routine, but it has also given me a chance to research on the various benefits of exercise as a conscious stress reliever.

Open a magazine or turn on the television and you’re bound to see advertisements for lipstick, anti-ageing creams and other magic elixirs that promise youthfulness, beauty and radiance. But if you’re here, reading this article then chances are you’ve discovered that these ‘quick fixes’ don’t build the long-term beauty that you are seeking in a natural and holistic way. What does build beauty is a balance of daily diet and lifestyle choices and attentiveness to mind-set, outlook and self-perception. Real, beautiful results come from ordinary, everyday actions that have the power to affect a dramatic overall change in the way you look and feel.

I continually hear from women just how important there skin is to them and the concepts around beauty nutrition, that is, the foods and nutrients that directly support and enhance our beauty by defending, repairing and strengthening it – and healthy vanity or our innate desire to look and feel beautiful are so relevant in our lives today. Our skin can literally ‘sell’ us, as a first impression is often everything!

Take a moment to call to mind the sense of being cared about.

Who Has Cared About You?

The Practice:
Is Feeling Cared About Important. 

Why?

Everyone knows what it’s like to care about someone. Remember being with a friend, a mate, a pet: you feel warmly connected, and want him or her not to suffer and to be happy.

On the other hand, you’ve probably had the sense, one time or another, of not being cared about. That you didn’t matter to another person, or to a group of people. Maybe they weren’t actively against you, but they sure weren’t for you.

What fruits are in season in summer? And how can they benefit your health? Learn about summer fruits that are naturally delicious and bursting with benefits.

Ah, summer. The temperatures heat up, the days get longer, and activities abound. Fresh fruits can help you survive (and thrive!) all season long.

Summer fruits give you energy and nutrients your body needs, help cool you down and stay hydrated, and can even help protect you from the sun.

And overall, fruits have been found to be spectacularly effective in treating and preventing a variety of health conditions.

For example, they have been found to help reduce heart disease. The province of North Karelia in Finland convinced local dairy farmers to grow berries on some of their pasturelands to increase fruit consumption and improve the health of its citizens.

By replacing animal-based foods with berries, along with other healthful changes, in only one generation, the region went from having one of the highest rates of heart disease in the world to one of the lowest. In a population of 170,000 Finns, cardiovascular mortality dropped by more than 70% — an unparalleled achievement.

Impressive! But that’s not all… Fruits have also helped patients all over the world lose weight and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. And contrary to popular belief, fruits can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Not to mention, fruit is naturally sweet (no added sugar needed) and oh so delicious — whether enjoyed on its own or in a smoothie, salad, dessert, or another dish.

Why Eat Fruit That’s In Season?

Are you feeling unneeded pain?

The Practice:
Reduce painful experiences.

Why?

Painful experiences range from subtle discomfort to extreme anguish - and there is a place for them. Sorrow can open the heart, anger can highlight injustices, fear can alert you to real threats, and remorse can help you take the high road next time.

But is there really any shortage of suffering in this world? Look at the faces of others - including mine - or your own in the mirror, and see the marks of weariness, irritation, stress, disappointment, longing, and worry. There's plenty of challenge in life already - including unavoidable illness, loss of loved ones, old age, and death - without needing a bias in your brain to give you an extra dose of pain each day.

Yet as on a prior JOT explored, your brain evolved exactly such a “negativity bias” in order to help your ancestors pass on their genes – a bias that produces lots of collateral damage today.

Painful experiences are more than passing discomforts. They produce lasting harms to your physical and mental health. When you’re feeling frazzled, pressured, down, hard on yourself, or simply frustrated, that:

• Weakens your immune system
• Impairs nutrient absorption in your gastrointestinal system
• Increases vulnerabilities in your cardiovascular system
• Decreases your reproductive hormones; exacerbates PMS
• Disturbs your nervous system

The exact counterpart of stress is of course relaxation. There are so many ways to reach a level of relaxation so that stress isn't a bothersome issue in our lives.

In the daily humdrum business of our existence the stress response occurs naturally. During ancient times stress existed in a miniscule fashion of course compared to today's situation. It also had very different reasons. People were hassled and stressed mainly due to life threatening situations by predators, etc. In today's day and age stress is triggered through everyday situations at work, at school, at home, in relationships, or there could be a competitive situation in a game or even living up to the Joneses could trigger stress.