by The Lovely Refinement Team | Jul 7, 2019 | Dealing With Emotions, Finding Motivation, Happiness Tips, Self-Confidence, Self-Esteem & Self-Love, Self-Improvement
Mindful eating is the key to maintaining a healthy weight, feeling amazing and keeping off any weight you’ve lost. Learn these top 6 tricks that will send you towards more mindful eating. Let go of the dieting mindset and take over the mindful eating practice instead.
Mindful Eating Tips and Tricks for Long-Term Weight Loss
Do you want to lose some extra pounds? Ever wondered what strategies may help you lose weight quickly?
Namely, according to research, adopting a more thoughtful way of eating can help you solve your weight loss issues and apply a healthy diet without processed food and unhealthy choices.
That is, mindful eating is a new alternative method used to help people lose weight. The Buddhist concept of mindfulness is used as the basis of this approach.
This concept implies that one should be completely aware of everything that’s happening within and around at a specific moment.
But that’s not all! The Buddhist concept of mindfulness and its techniques are also extremely beneficial for relieving stress and some health issues like chronic gastrointestinal problems or high blood pressure.
Related: 8 Things Foodies Want As A Gift
What is Mindful Eating?
When it comes to eating, mindfulness refers to being aware and noticing food flavors, smells, colors, and textures. Plus, mindful eating suggests that one should chew slowly and solely focus on eating.
In other words, you should eliminate any distractions when eating such as TV, speaking, reading, or listening.
Also, if you want to enjoy the benefits mindful eating has to offer, you should learn to deal with the guilt and anxiety caused by food.
How are the Mind and Gut Connected?
Surprisingly but true, there’s a robust mind-gut connection. To be more specific, digestion isn’t such a simple process and consists of many different and connected parts.
It involves a complex chain of hormonal signals sent between the gut and the brain, i.e., the nervous systems.
And, the brain will note satiety only after 20 minutes. So, if one eats too quickly, the brain will record fullness only after the person has overeaten because the brain didn’t convey the message before that.
Plus, as we already mentioned, you should get rid of distractions when eating. But why? The answer is quite simple scientifically speaking.
If we eat while we are distracted by another activity, digestion will slow down or stop, and as a result, our bodies won’t get all the nutrients from the food we’re consuming.
Mindful Eating as a Treatment for Binge Eating
According to several studies, mindful eating is quite helpful and beneficial when treating certain eating disorders like binge eating, or trying to meet weight loss goals.
One study on 150 binge eaters, conducted by researchers from Indiana State and Duke University, compared two treatments (mindfulness-based therapy and a standard psychoeducational treatment) and a control group.
Both therapies resulted in reduced binge eating and depression. However, the treatment based on mindfulness suggested that people enjoy food more and stress less about controlling their diet.
The participants who practiced meditation at mealtimes and during the day got more benefits from the study.
Basic Mindful Eating Tips and Tricks
It may really seem that mindful eating is something difficult and challenging. But, on the contrary, you can get started and apply mindfulness to your diet by following some quite simple tips and tricks.
If you don’t want to get overwhelmed, you can start gradually applying mindful eating. For example, in the beginning, practice mindfulness at one meal a day for a week. Then, you can gradually add more mindful meals to your daily diet.
So, here’s a starter kit for mindful eating:
- Before you sit down to eat your meal (a normal-sized one) set a timer to 20 minutes. It will tell you when to stop and wait for the brain to record satiety.
- Try eating with your left hand (this applies to the right-handed people), or with your right if you are left-handed. In other words, eat with your non-dominant hand.
- If you don’t usually use chopsticks, try using them to eat slower and allow more time for the food to digest and for the brain to notice fullness.
- Dedicate the first five minutes of eating to silence. All you should think of is about the food, from what it took to produce it to the farmer, the grocer, or the cook.
- Think about your bites and their size. Try taking as small bites as possible. And, of course, focus on chewing well and slowly.
- And, last but not least, think about whether you’re really hungry before going to the kitchen and grabbing some food. Even better, occupy your brain with some other activity apart from eating.
by The Lovely Refinement Team | May 4, 2019 | Dealing With Emotions, Finding Motivation, Happiness Tips, Self-Confidence, Self-Esteem & Self-Love, Self-Improvement
You may be wondering how to live a healthier life. Whether that’s through eating better, exercising more, or even improving your mindset and feeling better about yourself.
The relationship we have with ourselves and our bodies has a big influence on our behaviors. If you self-sabotage yourself, it can make it really difficult to see the value you have.
Which can lead to unhealthy behaviors, like drinking more alcohol or overeating. And any time you are under a large amount of stress this can trigger these unhealthy behaviors.
So, what I want to talk more about is how to start living a healthier lifestyle.
And this sounds like an overwhelming thought, right? If you think that you have to completely change your life within a day, then you might not even want to start.
But, this is a part of the self-sabotage. Believing you don’t deserve to live a healthier and happier life, or thinking you don’t have the power within you to achieve these goals.
And as I go into this list I just want to remind you that you right now have the power within you to make a change. To live whatever life you’re currently dreaming of.
All you have to do is just believe this and then we can move forward on the HOW to do this.
How to Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle
Bring in New Habits Slowly
Whatever changes that you want to make, it first starts with breaking up with the bad ones, and creating new better habits.
And honestly, it takes a bit of time for your mind and body to adjust to a new habit. So let’s say you want to start working out more and everything you read on the internet says “workout at least 5 times a week for 45 minutes.”.
This is a BIG commitment to start making out of the blue. And I know for me personally, dealing with anxiety and depression makes it really hard to randomly pick up a new habit like this.
Instead what you want to do is start adding in a work-out routine slowly. Begin by setting aside 5 minutes a day for a week or two. You can even do the same workout, the point of this is to start changing your habits.
Once your mind and body are more in the habit of working out you can then begin to make it more challenging for yourself, and increase the time until you reach your end goal.
Drink More Water
This is so obvious but SO important. Especially as a health coach, I see people often who do not drink enough water.
It just doesn’t feel all that important, right? But, water regulates a lot of what is going on in your body. It helps with digestion and it balances out your blood sugar levels.
Aim for half of your body weight in ounces. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you’ll aim to drink 75 ounces of water a day.
I used to be terrible about drinking water and only drank Diet Coke. But, I completely curbed this habit by buying 40oz water and always having ice-cold, clean water by my side wherever I go.
Now I crave water over any other drink! In the US water is the second most popular drink, behind soda. Obviously, this isn’t good and if you find that you aren’t drinking enough water, start turning this into a habit!
Set reminders on your phone and make water easily accessible to you. You can even add a fresh-squeezed lemon or lime to add a little flavor.
But if you find it difficult to drink enough water, you can also consider taking an IV hydration in Atlanta area, which is a quick and effective way of hydrating your body.
Spend Time Outside
I like to focus on a mind-body balance. When you benefit both, you will become the healthiest version of yourself.
Making sure to get time outside in the sun will help to improve your mood. If you suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), then you know how important it is to get sunshine.
On top of improving your mood, your body needs movement every day. If you work at a desk all day then it’s even more important for you to get up frequently and get outside.
If you have a dog, get into the habit of taking them out twice a day so you can both get some exercise and fresh air.
Again, start with just 5 minutes of being outside and work your way up to 15 minutes twice a day. It feels small, but it will make a huge difference!
Reduce Sugar
Now I know how amazing sugar is and how good it tastes. Honestly, for a while as a teenager I would only eat sweets. And I became so hooked on candy and cookies that if there was any of it in the house, I would only eat that.
I had to cut back on buying the stuff because I knew that I wouldn’t eat anything else besides sugar. I’m not saying to completely stop eating sugar, because again I want you to improve your mood as well as your body.
Sometimes we need some ice cream or want to enjoy cake at a birthday party. And it should be enjoyed! The tricky part is it’s so easy to overdo it. Sugar and highly processed foods begin to taste way better than fruits and vegetables. But, they also cause heart disease, weight gain, fatigue, and a whole list of other problems.
So, work on reducing your sugar intake. White sugar has zero vitamins or minerals and when you consume it, your body has to find those vitamins and minerals elsewhere in your body.
But, if your body is lacking in those vitamins and minerals, then you fall into a deficit. Making your body and mind struggle and causing unnecessary issues.
This just starts by making better choices. If you’re craving sweets, go for a banana or some berries instead. Look for items that are reduced in sugar.
And if you can get into the habit of replacing sugary drinks and food with fruits and vegetables, you won’t crave sugar nearly as much. You’ll also be able to have sugar on occasion without overindulging in it.
Limit Your Social Media Time
Technology is a great thing while also kind of a terrible thing at the same time. It allows us to connect to anyone in the world within seconds, and yet we are becoming more and more lonely because of social media and technology.
If you’re in the habit of checking your phone often throughout the day, posting to social media and feel more confident when other people like your posts, or just like to use technology because you often feel bored then it’s time for a social media cleanse.
There are plenty of apps out there that can track your phone usage and alert you when it’s time to put your phone away.
When you put your phone down and instead learn to be more in the moment, you will feel better mentally. And feelings of anxiety and depression will reduce over time.
At first, you may feel anxious not checking your phone but as time goes on you will become more used to it. And then you will begin to feel much better because you won’t have to compare yourself so much to other people’s lives.
by The Lovely Refinement Team | Apr 13, 2019 | Dealing With Emotions, Happiness Tips, Self-Confidence, Self-Esteem & Self-Love, Self-Improvement
If you enjoy finding new ways to relax your mind and calm down after a long day, this post is for you!
Yoga is a great exercise for anyone who struggles with anxiety & stress. It helps you develop a stronger mind/body connection and it also gets you to a calm mind quickly.
7 Yoga Exercises to Relieve Anxiety & Stress Instantly
I love adding these videos to my daily routine, especially at night when I’m winding down. I feel so much more relaxed and comfortable with myself after doing yoga.
And what’s nice is you don’t have to spend a ton of time doing this, you can even do it for as little as 7 minutes.
Yoga helps you stretch out your tense muscles and quiets your racing mind. Give one of the videos a try if you’re feeling really anxious!
Yoga For Stress & Anxiety by Yoga With Adriene:
Yoga With Adriene is one of my favorite Yoga YouTube channels. She is very good at guiding you through yoga exercises and provides a strong sense of calm.
She even motivates me to want to keep practicing yoga and has different alternatives based on your experience level! Here are some of her best videos on yoga for anxiety and stress:
1. Yoga for Anxiety & Stress
2. Yoga for Anxiety – 20 Minutes Practice
3. Yoga for Neck & Shoulder Relief
Yoga for Stress & Anxiety Relief by Sarah Beth Yoga
I really like Sarah Beth Yoga as well because she has simple videos that provide really relaxing music in the background. I recommend watching these videos at night time as you start to unwind to help you fall asleep better.
4. 15 Minutes CALMING YOGA for Stress Relief & Anxiety
5. Yoga for Stress & Anxiety
6. Yoga for Anxiety & Stress (15-Minute Yoga)
7. Yoga to Control Your Anxiety
by The Lovely Refinement Team | Apr 13, 2019 | Dealing With Emotions, Happiness Tips, Self-Confidence, Self-Esteem & Self-Love, Self-Improvement
Do you struggle with mental health? What if you had a specific go-to tool kit that you could use whenever you have a bad mental health day?
I personally love to use a mental health crisis kit because I struggle with anxiety & depression. They both come out of nowhere a lot of the times. I get a tightness in my chest from anxiety and feel uncomfortable just going to Home Depot. When nothing is wrong, and sometimes it really bugs me.
But, I learned what works best through a lot of research. And some of these things in this list are personal preferences, but a lot of them are generally what works for everyone.
How to Create a Mental Health Crisis ToolKit
Pick out the things you like and make sure to add them to your own mental health crisis kit! Be sure to leave in the comments what other things you like to add to help your mental health.
It’s so helpful to create your own mental health toolkit so you can better understand what’s really going on. And to help calm you down.
A lot of the times we try to ignore how we feel in order to get through the day. But, instead, you can actually focus on allowing yourself to feel better!
Some days you will have to take it easy and listen to what your brain is telling you. If you’re burning out, stressed, anxious, or depressed these things can be so tiring on your brain and body.
You have to listen to your body and pay attention to the cues. If that means it’s a mental health day, then use these items and put them in your toolkit.
So you can quickly overcome these awful feelings. Once you give in, take a break, and allow yourself to heal, you will feel better. Stop fighting the process, just focus on healing yourself, and don’t worry about how long this takes!
1. Essential Oils
Certain essential oils can help relieve anxiety symptoms. Lavender, Spearmint, and Rose are my personal favorites to use.
Here are some other great essential oils to try to calm your mind:
- Vetiver oil
- Orange
- Peppermint
- Chamomile
- Jasmine
- Eucalyptus
- Lemongrass
I love to use this LagunaMoon set that has 6 essential oils. The Lagunamoon Essential Oils Top 6 Pure Essential Oils Kit can be used for:
Diffuser, Humidifier, Massage, Aromatherapy, Skin & Hair Care
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2. Mental Health Journal
Writing out what’s going on in your mind is a great form of therapy. That’s why I have multiple journals in different areas that I’m often in, like my nightstand, office desk, and even in my purse.
3. Self-Help Books
Books are great because they help you connect to someone else and make you feel less alone.
4. Yoga Exercises
Yoga can help center you and quiet your mind. And the beauty of yoga is you don’t even have to leave your house.
There are so many YouTube videos that guide you through an effective yoga practice, try this one below the next time you want to relax:
5. Grounding Techniques
Grounding techniques quickly help you come down from a panic attack, or even boost your mood if you’re depressed.
And once you learn a few of the basic ways to ground yourself you can do it anywhere.
It’s a helpful tool to have in your mental health crisis toolkit.
6. Meditation Exercises
I have another blog post entirely on meditation exercises, but here’s a helpful video to get you started. I like meditating when I’m in the mood for it.
I think it’s hard to meditate when you really don’t want to. And the yoga video or grounding techniques from above are another way to be mindful without practicing meditation.
But, here’s a great video that takes you through a meditation exercise:
7. EFT Tapping Sheet
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques and it works by tapping certain pressure points around your body while speaking affirmations.
I really like doing EFT tapping because I immediately feel a sense of relief and calmness afterward. It’s a different form of meditating and allows you to physically tap your body so it gives you something to focus on.
Use this EFT tapping sheet to tap the right pressure points of your body:
Watch the video below to learn how to do EFT Tapping:
8. The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook
This workbook is one of the best for anxiety. It has many different sections you can work on depending on what you’re struggling with.
There’s a lot of helpful information in this workbook and it’s definitely essential to have in your mental health crisis kit.
Try out this workbook for when you want to figure out what your anxiety triggers are. And to teach you more about yourself.
9. Weighted Blanket
Have you seen these weighted blankets? They can help with anxiety.
10. Have Your Therapist On Speed Dial
Did you know that with the BetterHelp app, you can talk to or text a counselor at any time? Someone is standing by to help you right now. There is no shame in asking for help, in fact, it’s what we all should do more often! Try BetterHelp for free right here.
Are you looking to take your mental wellness to the next level?
My Ultimate Mental Wellness Bundle has an entire course on how to stop feeling overwhelmed and improve your mindset!
by The Lovely Refinement Team | Apr 10, 2019 | Dealing With Emotions, Happiness Tips, Self-Confidence, Self-Esteem & Self-Love, Self-Improvement
These are my favorite TED Talks for your mental health. Watching these TED Talks is a great way to expand your knowledge of your own mental health.
I love watching the speakers talk about their own experiences that relate to struggling with mental health. It kicks the stigma to the curb about hiding how you feel and pretending to feel okay when you really don’t.
What I love about all of the TED Talks below is how the speakers talk about their own experiences with their mental health struggles. They are proof that you are not alone.
10 Best Ted Talks For Your Mental Health
Here are some great TED Talks for Your Mental Health anytime you need a reminder that you’re not alone.
1. The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown
Brene Brown is one of my favorite authors and speakers, and this Ted Talk has been viewed over 40 million times across the internet.
She talks about shame, guilt, and vulnerability in a way that makes you want to embrace all of them. And she’s not afraid to laugh at herself, which is one of the reasons why I love her. She’s real and knows what she’s talking about.
Check out this list of amazing inspirational Brene Brown quotes, too.
2. How to Start a Conversation on Suicide: Jeremy Forbes
This Ted Talk hits the uncomfortable things we don’t always want to talk about. Like suicide. And Jeremy Forbes breaks it down by using his own experience.
He opens up on how we can start a conversation on suicide, which helps bridge this gap we have with mental health.
The mental health stigma is where we don’t want to accept that tragic things happen because we don’t discuss mental health enough.
3. Don’t Suffer From Your Depression in Silence by Nikki Webber
I like this Ted Talk because it’s a quick watch, which is great for someone struggling with depression. Even if you don’t have a lot of energy or motivation right now, you can give this a quick watch.
So you can feel better about your own journey with depression. Nikki Weber gives a relatable speech on how to stop suffering from depression in silence, from denying her depression to being able to open up to people about it.
And now she gives speeches on depression, and explains how you can’t just “shake it off”.
4. There’s No Shame in Taking Care of Your Mental Health: Sangu Delle
Sangu Delle talks about how he felt like he should be strong and deal with his problems instead of admitting he struggled with mental health.
It’s no surprise that by repressing his emotions, his mental health ended up getting worse.
And he discusses what we went through during this process, and how he made it through to the other side.
5. What is Depression? Helen M. Farrell
Helen M. Farrell accurately describes what depression is like, and this is a good video to show someone who might not fully understand what you’re going through.
The video also discusses what causes depression, which could be nothing at all. And what you need to do to get the proper help so you can feel better again.
6. How to Stay Calm When You Know You’ll be Stressed: Daniel Levitin
If you’ve been feeling particularly stressed lately, check this Ted Talk out.
Daniel Levitin talks about a story when he was super stressed out, and leads into how this affects other parts of your life.
I like this video because it teaches you how to stay calm when you’re stressed, and it’s also proof that bad things happen to everyone.
No one is perfect and you will hit bumps in the road sometimes, but you can learn how to control your stress levels.
7. The Bridge Between Suicide & Life: Kevin Briggs
Another captivating Ted Talk on suicide.
I don’t recommend this video for someone really struggling right now, instead, you should call the Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
But for people who are interested in learning more about your mental health, Kevin Briggs talks about suicide and how it affects so many other people.
This is one of my favorite TED talks because of how he explains it so well and isn’t afraid to talk about the difficult things that we need to be talking about.
8. The Voices in my Head: Eleanor Longden
Eleanor Longden talks about how things on the outside don’t exactly represent what’s going on on the inside.
If you ever feel afraid to tell people about your mental health, definitely give this video a watch.
So often we feel like we’re going crazy if our minds are out of control. And yet, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
And as she will tell you, when you try to hide what’s going on, things get worse. Once you learn to embrace what you’re going through, you can then start to heal.
9. A Tale of Mental Illness, From the Inside: Elyn Saks
Elyn Saks goes into detail about her experience with mental illness.
This Ted Talk provides a deeper look into how mental illness can prevent us from functioning properly in everyday life.
Even when she thought there was no hope left, she found hope and persevered.
10. A Simple Way to Break Bad Habits: Judson Brewer
We all develop bad habits in our lives, from eating too much sugar to sitting on the couch instead of going for a run.
This Ted Talk explains how to break out of those bad habits and improve your life.
by The Lovely Refinement Team | Apr 10, 2019 | Dealing With Emotions
Top 15 Quotes About Mental Health. Do you ever feel totally alone when you struggle with mental health?
Like when your anxiety prevents you from leaving the house or your depression keeps you from taking a shower?
Our mentality can make it feel like we are the only ones suffering inside. As if no one understands.
And yet, most people do suffer from mental health challenges. We just don’t feel comfortable enough to talk about it with others.
The idea of going to a therapist feels like defeat because only “crazy” people go to a therapist, right? WRONG!
15 Mental Health Quotes That Make You Feel Less Alone
The good news is the mental health stigma is slowly starting to change in society.
More people are beginning to understand what an impact mental health has on each and every person.
Related: Strong Woman Quotes For When You’re Having A Tough Day
And to help you continue to move in the right direction, I put a list together of some mental health quotes that will make you feel less alone.
Just remember, you are NOT alone. No matter what anyone says, there’s nothing wrong with you and you will pull through this.
You can even reach out to an online therapist and even chat via text message these days.
Source: mentalmentalhealth.tumblr.com
Source: Lifehack
Source: healthyplace.com
Source: arealhumanbeing.co
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Be1bdGuj7Dw/
Source: themindsjournal.com
Source: Healthyplace.com
Source: healthyplace.com
Source: boomsumo.com
Source: spiritbutton.com
Source: miss-mental.com
Source: https://twitter.com/teamnotashamed/status/771502950216761344
Source: healthyplace.com
15 Mental Health Quotes That Make You Feel Less Alone
I hope you found this list of mental health quotes helpful.
For more motivation and mental wellness tips, watch my video below about building your inner strength to get you through the tough times.
This video is part of a larger training course. If you want to learn how to move from feeling lonely, unconfident, and stuck to feeling empowered, achieving your goals, and reaching your highest potential, click here to access the full course.
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