How to feel better, mentally and physically, without spending a lot of money or going to the gym

Tell yourself that you will succeed no matter what obstacles come your way!  Do this every day before starting your day and every night before going to bed. And none of this--yeah, I guess I’ll do something good tomorrow, garbage.  You need to get up and let yourself know that you will not allow yourself to fail!  It sounds silly, but by telling yourself over and over again that you will succeed, your psyche will pick up on the message and pass it on to your brain.  Before you know it, you will be succeeding because your brain will be working in that mode!

A new chance to make things better; a new start without the curse of yesterday.  Even if yesterday was a good day, today can be a better day if you start it right!  Remember, yesterday is done and can’t be changed; so you have to concentrate on today and how you can make it better than yesterday.

This will not only make sure you are fully prepared, but it will build the anticipation for the trip as well.  Remember, during this trip there will be no access to e-mail; no referrals to work; no discussions about how unfair the boss is; no talk of bills and money due; and no discussions of how stupid a teacher is.  Nothing that will remind you of work, school, and/or home stresses!

Try natural sleep aids such as chamomile tea or a supplement called melatonin (a supplement that is naturally occurring in the body and tells the body it is time for sleep-start with 1 mg and work your way up-be careful not to take too much right away or you might not want to wake up the next day). If these items don’t work, try speaking to your doctor about things you can do.

Check with the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for your age group.  There are many sites out there that can give you information.  I have listed some below, but there are so many more.  Look before you leap into vitamin and supplement support.  Also, if you have specific health issues, additional supplements may help relieve many of the problems.  For instance:  for excessive feelings of being tired, you might want to add a Vitamin B Complex to your regime.  With the right supplements, you could be on top and reaching for the stars!

Take a look at yourself in the mirror.  Is your hair nice?  Is your suit neat and clean?  Are you dressed nicely?  Is your makeup on and right?  Did you take the time to make sure your shoes match?  Is your tie straight?  By taking a few moments to make yourself look nice, you actually give your morale a big boost.  When you go out knowing that you look good, your psyche will tell the rest of you that you look good and you will feel good as a result.

Try eating healthy snacks like carrot or celery sticks.  Not quite what you had in mind?  Try pouring those potato chips into a small bowl and limit what you eat to what’s in the bowl.  When you snack while doing another activity, you tend to continue eating until the snack is gone.  So that large bag of chips will be gone before you even realize you opened the bag.  By pouring a little into a bowl, you are limiting what you eat.  Most people won’t get up to get more because that requires moving again.  If that doesn’t work, then try not having the snacks in the house at all.  If they aren’t there when you go looking for them, you are more likely to get something else; or, even better, go without.  For a healthy snack without much calories, try popcorn-air popped with only a touch of salt and very little butter can add a great deal of fiber to the diet with less calories than those greasy-salty chips.

Try getting up and dancing to the commercial music.  Try getting up and dancing during the show.  Try just plain getting up!  Your body can tell when you are not moving much and will slowly shut down the ‘fuel fires’ until they are needed.  When the body does this, it stops burning the sugars and fats in your system and stores them for later use.  So, when you eat a big supper and then sit on the couch, your body takes all of the food you just ate and stores it away.  If you get up and keep moving, your body needs to break down the food for the energy it needs to move.  Remember, that your body needs fuel for anything that it does.  That means it needs energy to keep the heart moving and the blood flowing.  But it only needs small amounts for these things to function.  If you move, it not only needs the basic fuel but now it needs much more!  So move, move, move!

The more you move, the better.  Does that mean that you have to go to work all day long and then come home and exercise for several hours before bed?  NO!  What it means is that you need to keep yourself more active during your day.

• Park your car further away from the building so you will have to walk further to get inside.
• Fix a lunch and lots of healthy snacks in a large lunch bag so that you have to carry the extra weight on the way to work.
• Use the stairs and not the elevator.
• Drink water instead of sweet drinks and get up to get the water instead of having extra bottles at your desk.
• Take only 1/2 hour for lunch and then walk for the other 1/2 hour (or climb stairs or go window shopping).
• If you need to talk to someone in the same building about something, get up and go to their cubicle (instead of using the phone).
• When multi-tasking, keep in mind how much you need to get up and move.  So when you need to get copies made, get up and go get them done right away instead of stacking them all for later.
• Move at your desk!!!!!  Stretch now and then.  Move things to the far edges of your desk so you have to ‘reach’ for them.  Get up when you need to get something out of the file cabinet instead of rolling your chair there.  Stand up and pace to the end of your cubicle and back now and then to get the blood flowing again.
• Set a small timer to hourly intervals (or whatever interval you like) and every time it goes off; do something different.  For instance:  get up and walk around your chair and sit back down.  Anything to move.
• Try not to do the same thing all the time.  Once your body gets used to a certain movement, it becomes routine for the body and it no longer has any benefit.  By doing different things, you trick the body into thinking it will need more energy to do whatever it is you are doing.

• Cigarettes--not only do they fill your lungs up with nicotine and tar, they turn your skin and your eyes an awful yellow AND they age you prematurely.  Try talking to your doctor about a prescription medication to help; try using nicotine gum; try using herbs; try using a support group. Whatever it takes, try it until you finally kick the habit. Your lungs, your heart, your skin, and your family and friends will thank you for it.
• Alcohol--Ok, I know, you like to have a beer now and then, right? Or that mixed drink during the wild party at the club? Yes, alcohol in moderation seems to be an OK thing, and might possibly help to relax you a bit and maybe even help you to sleep at night. However, there are consequences to drinking. Each time you consume alcohol, you destroy brain cells by dehydrating them and reducing brain fluids. Over time alcohol will affect the kidneys, liver, and eventually all of the organs as well. Moderation keeps the damage to a minimum.

Also, when the body can’t break down the sugars as quickly as they are being ingested, the body will store the sugars in the form of fat for a later time. However, if you continue to consume the sugars, there is never a later time and the fat builds up in the body. Excess fat will slow the body down and raise your heart rate and blood pressure as the body struggles to keep up. After a time, the body runs out of places to safely store the excess fat and it will start storing it in and/or on the organs themselves.

http://vitamins.lovetoknow.com/RDA_Chart