Rodrigo Rodriguez personally understands the stakes of Albuquerque, New Mexico’s longstanding problem with youth homelessness and police violence. He grew up in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods ― the International District, once known as the “War Zone” ― and says that as…
Read more on This Group Wants To ‘Feed The Hood’ To Steer Kids Away From The Streets at I Am Herbalife.
The face of nutrition is ever changing, and 2018 has the potential to be a historic year driving new trends forward and providing a foundation for greater health among consumers. At Herbalife Nutrition, I consider myself incredibly fortunate to work…
Read more on Herbalife Nutrition 2018 Wellness Trends Forecast at I Am Herbalife.
It’s party season! This party survival guide will help you stay beautiful and confident no matter what life throws at you.
‘Tis the season to get glammed up and visit friends and loved ones. But all that rushing around can sometimes result in beauty disasters—from lipstick on the teeth to frizzy party hair and more. Luckily, a little bit of preparation can go a long way towards preventing beauty mishaps. Try these beauty tips before and during your party to look your best all night long.
This season, try preparing a mini “party emergency kit” that you can stash in your car, or tuck it into your handbag in case you need it. By preparing a kit ahead of time, you can be confident that you’ll be able to face any potential beauty disasters head on.
My personal party emergency kit contains:
When you’re trying to rush out the door to get to a party, the last thing you want to do is add unnecessary steps to your beauty routine. Here are three easy tips that will make you party-ready without having to add too much additional work.
Face – Prevent lipstick on your teeth by applying extra lip balm to the center of your lips, towards the inside. This will add just enough slipperiness that lipstick won’t be able to adhere to the surface of teeth.
Body – Add a little oil to your moisturizer for smooth, radiant legs. Adding just a little drop of olive oil to your normal lotion will help add a subtle sheen to legs, reflecting light and distracting from any potential blemishes, stretch marks or veins.
Hair – Wait until your hair is dry before using product. With the exception of products meant to be used on wet hair, such as leave-in conditioner, most hair products just don’t work effectively on damp hair. Wait until your hair is completely dry before styling.
Sometimes beauty emergencies pop up that even your party emergency kit can’t handle. Here are a few of my favorite creative tips to solving beauty problems on the fly.
The most important thing is that you feel confident and beautiful when out and about. If you follow my beauty emergency tips, I think you’ll find that no party snafu is too much for you to handle. You can focus your attention where it belongs—on having a great time!
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Does your energy sag in the afternoon? Here are some tips to help you avoid the afternoon energy crash.
Afternoon crash. Siesta time. After-lunch slump. The two o’clock droop. Whatever you call it, most of us have experienced it from time to time. It’s that point at which your energy level simply takes a nosedive in the middle of the afternoon.
You may feel more than just a crash in your energy level. That after-lunch slump can make you feel a little irritable, too. Maybe you’ve got a mild headache or feel as if you’re not thinking very clearly. And it’s almost certain that your energy crash is causing some serious sugar cravings, too.
Your body’s natural internal clock is partly to blame for the afternoon energy dip. Everyone’s energy level ebbs and flows during a 24-hour period. For most of us, the strongest drive to sleep comes on a few hours after midnight. Another dip, although not usually quite as powerful, also naturally occurs early or mid-afternoon. By that time of day, most people have been up and alert for about 6-8 hours, and the natural need for sleep is starting to build. And you feel the crash coming on.
Since these internal rhythms can get disrupted or accentuated when you don’t get enough sleep, establishing a healthy sleep schedule is really important in helping you maintain your energy all day long.
What and when you eat are important factors.
If your energy regularly droops in the afternoon, it’s time to take a closer look at your eating habits. That afternoon energy crash could be due, in large part, to you simply not providing your body with the proper fuel at the proper times.
Let’s look first at the carbohydrates that you eat. The sugar in your bloodstream (your blood glucose or blood sugar) is what your body relies on to provide the energy you need to get you through your day. Your blood sugar comes almost entirely from the carbohydrates that you eat in your diet. But different carbohydrates have different effects on your blood sugar.
When you eat sugary foods or highly refined carbohydrates like soda or white bread, they’re digested relatively quickly, releasing a surge of glucose into your bloodstream. While this energy surge might sound like a good thing, it generally doesn’t last very long. That’s because your body prefers it when sugar trickles more slowly and steadily into your system.
So, when you dump a load of sugar and refined carbs into your system and your blood sugar shoots up, your body sort of “over-corrects.” And that sends your blood sugar plummeting. When your blood sugar drops, that’s when you might start craving unhealthy sugary snacks to bring blood levels back up.
Many people get an energy slump in the afternoon because they’re eating the wrong carbohydrates. They’ll start the day with something like a sugary cereal, which causes the blood sugar to shoot up, and almost as quickly back down again. That might trigger a sugar craving, which some might satisfy with a pastry or some candy. And the cycle repeats. Since they’re not providing their body with a slow, steady fuel source, their energy levels might feel like a roller-coaster all day long.
On the other hand, when you get your carbohydrates from foods like vegetables, whole fruits and whole grains, these take longer to digest. Instead of causing a big spike in your blood sugar, eating these foods allows glucose to slowly enter the bloodstream and help provide more sustained energy over a longer period of time.
In order to keep your energy levels up and avoid the afternoon energy slump, you need well-balanced meals and snacks—and you need to eat every few hours. People who skip meals just can’t keep going all day long. When you don’t eat at regular intervals, your blood sugar is going to drop and take your energy level along with it.
Just as not eating enough can sap your energy, eating too much at lunch can make you feel sluggish in the afternoon. Unfortunately, some people do both. They skip breakfast then eat an enormous lunch because they’re starving, and then wonder why they’re out of steam most of the day. When you eat a big, heavy meal, a lot of energy is required to digest it. As blood gets diverted towards your digestive tract to help the process along, you’ll start feeling the need to take a nap.
Staying well hydrated is important, too. When you become dehydrated, it can affect your mood and your ability to think clearly. Keep water and herbal teas handy and sip on them throughout the day. Some people rely on caffeinated beverages in order to stay perky. This isn’t necessarily a problem, unless caffeine interferes with your ability to get a good night’s sleep. If you’re sensitive to it, best to stick with caffeine-free beverages.
Protein foods help to make meals more filling and satisfying, which is why one of the defenses against the afternoon slump is a good offense. You’ll get that in the form of a balanced lunch that includes some lean protein. Make sure your lunch includes some low-fat protein to help fight hunger, and a supply of good carbs to provide you with a steady energy source. A mixed vegetable salad with some grilled fish, a chicken and veggie stir-fry with brown rice, or a protein shake with fruit can all fill the bill at lunch time.
A mid-afternoon snack that includes protein should also be part of your overall plan. A lot of people try to get by without snacking because they feel it adds extra calories to their day, but they usually just make up for it by eating a really big dinner.
Protein shakes work great as a mid-afternoon snack. Or you can also try a protein bar, a carton of yogurt with some fruit, some raw veggies with hummus, or a can of tuna with a handful of cherry tomatoes. Again, the combination of lean protein and beneficial carbohydrates will help keep the afternoon slump away and help keep you satisfied—and energized—all afternoon long.
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Exercise for a wide range of health benefits.[/frame_left]Are you struggling to find some fitness motivation this week? Is the idea of squeezing into that outfit or adjusting your belt buckle to a smaller hole not giving you the motivational push you need? If you’re looking for some reasons to get in shape, here are 12 winners to get you motivated today.
With the holiday season upon us, we may all need a bit of extra fitness motivation to help us stay focused with our health goals. I talk a lot about the internal health benefits associated with leading a healthy and active lifestyle. Improved health is the primary reason we need to exercise and consume a nutritious diet. We are often easily motivated by our external appearance, but that’s always changing—especially as we age. It feels like we have to work twice as hard and be twice as disciplined to get the same results that came so easily when we were younger. Change is something we all have to accept. Your body may be continually changing, both internally and externally, but your desire to be healthy should never change.
Engaging in cardiovascular activity is good for your heart. Your heart is a muscle, and pushing it to work hard a few days each week may help to improve your cardiac output. If you engage in cardiovascular activity on a regular basis, you may lower your overall resting heart rate, which is good for your health long-term.
When you exercise, you increase the blood flow around your body. Your post-workout glow may not last all day, but you’ll look more radiant right after your session. If you’re lucky, the healthy glow will make you look and feel great.
Exercising on a regular basis may make you become more aware of your posture. As you gain body confidence and movement awareness, you become more conscious of what feels right for your body. Slouching may become a bad habit of the past. As an extra bonus, good posture makes you look taller.
If you have sore and stiff joints that are caused from sitting down all day, moving more often will help to alleviate that stiffness. Joints that are immobile tend to get sore. Once you’re moving on a regular basis, you improve the range of motion, and movements of everyday living become easier to perform.
When you make exercise a part of your lifestyle, you’ll start to notice changes in how you look and feel. You may lose excess body fat and gain lean muscle mass, which is great for your appearance and it also helps your body to become more efficient at burning calories. Having a high percentage of lean muscle mass requires more calories just to sustain itself than someone of the same weight who has a higher percentage of body fat.
Performing physical exercise can make you feel happier in your daily life. One of the reasons for this is that your body releases an increased amount of endorphins when you’re active. Endorphins are your body’s natural happy hormone. You may also feel happier because you’re taking good care of your body. This sense of accomplishment can often make you have a greater sense of well-being.
Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain and help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn.
Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. When you exercise, your body must deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues to help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. When your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy to go about your daily tasks.
Working out on a regular basis may help to improve your brain function. Various studies have shown that cardiovascular exercise can create new brain cells (neurogenesis) and improve overall brain performance. Studies suggest that a tough workout may also increase levels of a brain-derived protein (known as BDNF) in the body. BDNF is believed to help with decision-making and higher learning.
Exercise may act as a temporary diversion to daily stress. When you’re exercising or having fun doing activities, you’re generally not thinking about the things in your life that are difficult. Taking time out of your busy day to focus on yourself can reduce the feeling of stress. Less stress can also help with weight loss, because many people eat unhealthy foods to combat stress.
Exercise provides an opportunity for social interaction that may otherwise be lacking in your life. Starting a new activity can help you find a new circle of friends or provide you with a healthier opportunity to reconnect with old ones. So often we go out to eat to socialize, but doing an activity is much better for your waistline.
Being active can help to improve your sleep habits for several reasons. Exercising raises your body’s core temperature. As it cools back down to normal, it can help you to feel relaxed and ready to sleep. Because activity can help reduce your stress levels, drifting off at night may become easier.
There you have it—my top 12 fitness motivation reasons.
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The Herbalife Nutrition Dietetic Advisory Board (DAB) is made up of 16 dietitians and nutritionists around the world whose mission is to educate our independent distributors on the importance of good nutrition. Ana Cristina Gutierrez is on our DAB…
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Read more on 6 Delicious & Healthy One-Bowl Meals at I Am Herbalife.
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Read more on How Mindful Eating Can Help You Avoid Packing on Those Pesky Holiday Pounds at I Am Herbalife.
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Not all workouts are created equal — especially when it comes to burning calories, building muscle, and losing weight. But sometimes we’re not looking to make big changes when it comes to our body. Instead, we’re merely looking to tone…
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