Your Complete Mind and Body Plan | Women Lifestyle, Fashion, Health, Beauty and Personality

Your Complete Mind and Body Plan
Category : Women Lifestyle, Women Health, Women Personality

This summer, make a resolution to relax, take stock and learn to enjoy your life. Follow part one of our three-month plan to find out how.

When it comes to being good to myself, I’m a bit of a world-beater - or so I thought until I decided to complete the following exercise
1. Of 168 hours in a week, work out how many you’re awake.
2. Add up how many hours you devote to looking after yourself, relaxing or totally enjoying yourself. Things carried out in the line of duty don’t count.
3. Get a calculator and work out what proportion of your time you spend being nice to yourself.

And you? You might think you look after yourself, but do your actions belie it? The odd holiday, weekend away or facial isn’t enough to make a lasting difference in your life.

When it comes to caring for your partner, friends or children, most of us know instinctively what to do. But what about caring for yourself? That’s what our three-part plan, starting this month, is designed to do: make self-care a habit. We’ll be asking you to make tiny changes to your routine with the potential of a huge pay-off. Before you start, get a new notebook - ticking off completed tasks gives you a great sense of achievement. And enlist a friend-comparing notes will keep you both motivated. Simply making time for yourself will boostyourhealth, attitude, confidence and self-esteem. Surely it’s time you started tending to your needs?

Love Yourselft
Goal 1: Learn How To Stop And Truly Relax
Maybe you were good at relaxing when you were young, but with age and responsibility you lost the knack. Over the years I’ve found it harder to stop, and when I do, it’s to slump in front of the TV. But relaxation should be energising not soporific. Only by rediscovering things that de-stress me without sending me to sleep have I started to relax properly.

• On a fresh page in your notebook, write down 10 activities that will relax you, such as taking a bath, giving yourself a manicure, reading or just gazing at the stars. Television doesn’t count, but listening to music or the radio does - as long as you don’t do anything else at the same time.
• All your relaxing ideas should be easily achievable in your own home.
• Get your diary out and look at the week ahead. Decide what you’re going to do to relax and when you’re going to do it. Mark these relaxation periods in your diary. A regular time each week is good - then it’s more likely to become a habit.
• Within reason, you should try to be alone without interruption - what you are aiming for eventually is to be totally quiet while you relax. What techniques such as meditation, yoga and tai chi offer is a quiet mind -and that’s when you are likely to have your best ideas and wisest insights.
• Gather some “props” together - investing a little money in them will motivate you. For instance, buy a new novel, a fragrant bath oil or a special candle that once lit signals the start of your relaxation period.

Goal 2: Eat More Healthtly
You probably “take care” of yourself by denying yourself things. But this month, love your body as you would love it if it belonged to a child in your care. You wouldn’t deprive a child of a treat, or starve it of nutrients, so enjoy a handful of Twisties now and then - but add five servings of fruit and vegetables a day and eight glasses of water.

To have energy, as well as a healthily functioning body and a sharp brain, you need to be hydrated, and water is the easiest fluid for your body to process. Drink a glass every time you go to the loo. Keep a bottle on your desk at work. Alternate water for every alcoholic drink at the pub. The bonus? You’ll find you automatically cut down on other drinks-the less healthy ones.

Your best chance of avoiding cancer and heart disease is to eat a varied mixture of fruit and vegies each day. It takes seconds to steam broccoli boil frozen peas or tear off a few leaves and add them to the pasta ch cken or steak you were about to eat. Or to quickly cut some carrot sticks to nibble while you re sitting at your desk.

Start with five servings of fruit and vegies, but by week four aim for more, say up to nine. A portion is equal to a piece of fruits (such as plums or mandarines), one slice of melon, a matchbox-worth of dried fruit, a cup of vegetables, a small bowl of salad.

Goal 3: Exercise Regularly
If you exercise at least three times a week and enjoy it, skip this bit. If not, read on. Exercise is a must for anyone who wants to take care of themselves now and in the future. The evidence is overwhelming that without a certain amount of activity our bodies will crumble. We are more sedentary than previous generations but have longer life expectancy, so by not exercising we’re sentencing ourselves to a long old age blighted by chronic ill health.

I know one can eventually come to enjoy exercise. After all, I do, and I bring a whole new definition to the term “couch potato”. The secret to getting going is to exercise a little - very little - but to do it regularly until it becomes a habit. Once you’ve got over your (natural) resistance, you’ll find it easy to build up the time you spend exercising.

We’re starting with three exercises that build up strength and flexibility (pictured below). The routine takes just minutes, so everyone has time to do it. By the end of the first month you will have turned from a nonexerciser into an exerciser. From there, you can build up to exercises that will transform your body and protect your health.

Goal 4: Enjoy Life More
Just as you can’t be a relaxed person without actually relaxing, you can’t enjoy life without doing stuff mat you actually enjoy. Should you need further persuasion to indulge in shameless hedonism on a regular basis, then remember - without fun and enjoyment you will certainly have a miserable life and quite possibly a shorter one.

As therapist Thomas Blakeslee comments: Many people think of feeling good as a luxury, but it’s a vital necessity for good health and a long life. When you’re not enjoying yourself and thus not feeling good about life, vour immune and cardiovascular systems are compromised.”

Also, consider this: in 1973, a German research study involving 3,000 people showed that those who actively made an effort to enjoy life were a whopping 30 times more likely to be alive and well 20 years on Here’s how to get started.

Make a list of 10 activities that you used To really enjoy when you were younger and devoid of responsibility. These can either be similar to the things you listed earlier or they can be completely different and more involved: a night out with girlfriends, a walk on the beach, a massage, pedicure or facial, a pile of brochures and a whole night to plan your next holiday, a day to yourself shopping for shoes.

From your original list of 10, select the three that appeal to you the most right now and plan to make them happen (you’ll return to the others in the future). If your plan involves money and you don’t have it, think of a cheaper alternative (and start saving for the most expensive version); if it involves childcare, organise that now; if it involves another person, call them right away and coordinate your diaries.