Working out has many valuable benefits, it clears our heads, gets us in shape and makes us feel great about ourselves! (Even if it also makes us suffer with aches and pains for days afterwards). Whether you are an avid sportswoman or a Sunday jogger, here you’ll find our advice to get active. And to think of all those times we complained about playing sport in high school!
Whether you're an athlete, a die-hard sportswoman or a weekend warrior, we all need to get moving to feel good about ourselves. Here, we'll give you our latest victories, advice and encouragement. No, we're not top athletes but we try to have fun and after all, that's what counts, isn't it?
Do you jog on Sundays and hang out on the couch? Well, thanks to our advice, you'll might want to run around the block!
'All progress takes place outside the comfort zone'
- Michael John Bobak
It's still dark when I open my eyes, and my heart is pounding out of my chest. In any case, phew, because I'm still alive and kicking. That man who was chasing me through that abandoned house wasn’t real, and I haven’t been chopped up into hundreds of little pieces. It was all just a bad dream... Like many people, I often have nightmares and have decided that I want to get to the bottom as to why. Let’s take a look together at what causes these disturbing dreams and traumatic events. 😱
“You know you told me your life story last night?” Of course, telling your partner what you’ve been up to is pretty cool. Except if you do it in your sleep… Some people can talk in their sleep! So if you live on your own, no problem, but if you sleep with someone, it immediately becomes more annoying. Why do we talk in our sleep? Is it something that can disturb our sleep? What can we do to stop it?
Working out is supposed to have a calming effect on us, but for me, the opposite is true! In fact, when I imagine myself going to the gym, I become awash with anxiety. The thought of squatting, doing weights, or even just running on the treadmill scares the life out of me, and unfortunately I know I’m not the only woman to feel this way. Despite being fairly in shape thanks to my discovery of home workouts during lockdown, I just can’t muster up the courage to head to the gym, and here’s why.
I didn’t think about it, but sleeping naked is a topic ripe for debate. There are those for whom the question does not arise, those for whom pajamas are essential, and those who daren’t yet take the plunge: for fear of being cold, of being surprised during the night, or having trouble accepting their body. Whatever the obstacle, the good weather is on its way, and I’m going to reveal to you the 5 advantages of leaving your pajamas in the wardrobe.
For many years, I was pretty good at sports: I went to the gym several times a week, I ran, and I swam. Even though I never took pleasure from it, I was aware that I had to be active, especially being overweight. However, since I finished my studies, there’s something I’ve been lacking horribly in order to do sports: time! And this is the case for many adults, as 95% of the 18 to 65-year-olds don’t do enough sport.
That’s it, it’s decided! I am going to take up a sport and stick to it this time round! If you've made this brave decision, congratulations, because once you’ve uttered those magic words, the hard part is over…well almost! The blood, sweat and tears will still come afterwards. To give you the best chance of following through with your plan, you are going to have to follow some advice to help you achieve your aim and make a habit of working out. If you follow our advice, soon your body will be begging you to become more active.
Sleep is one of the most essential functions for our bodies and minds because it gives us the rest necessary to recharge our batteries. Whilst many of us struggle to get enough shut-eye, drifting off isn’t a problem for everyone, and lots of people often find themselves snoozing throughout the day. Now, you have probably heard of narcolepsy before, but what does it actually mean? Well, it’s a disorder that causes uncontrollable and sudden sleep attacks and in certain cases can leave sufferers unable to move or speak. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the symptoms related to this disorder before the Sandman makes a visit.
I’m going on vacation soon, I’m really looking forward to it, but there’s one small problem, I’m unable to sleep outside my home. Between the fear of the dark and the fear of the unknown, far from my usual cocoon, my nights turn into a nightmare, without me even closing my eyes!
I have never been disappointed with a slice of Nutella on toast, it's always there during both bad and good times in my life. To me, food is a sort of emotional outlet, a pleasing solution to my problems. Even if I’m not hungry, I can’t resist the urge to go and raid my cupboards to look for food. Is this due to my love for fine food and drink? Do certain foods act like a drug on me? Why does eating feel so good?
What with my eye bags that seem to get bigger by the day and my spots that remind me of my teenage years; stress has definitely had an impact on my skin. Looking at my face, I get the impression that it’s shouting 'stop'; especially when it comes to my relationship and work issues. Here's what happens to my body when the stress, worry and anxiety build up. After all, who doesn't want to look amazing 24/7?
Life can be a bit of a rollercoaster, and whilst I'm sure we'd all agree that at times we are lucky enough to experience dizzying highs, at other points, we all go through gut-wrenching lows that really do bring us crashing down. Feeling good about ourselves 365 days a year is certainly a big ask, but it's definitely not impossible, and I'm proof of that! 💪 Psst, lean in, I want to let you into a secret! Whenever I'm feeling down or when my anxiety spins out of control, I take a look at my self-love checklist for inspiration and decide that it's time to make myself feel better about things. Plus, you'll often find me repeating a few of my favorite affirmations to myself.
Perfectionism is a paradoxical trait, and it's for that precise reason that it has ruined my life for such a long time. On paper, it may seem like a positive quality to have and implies meticulousness, however, in reality, it is closely linked to anxiety and can cause huge problems in our professional and personal lives. In my personal experience, my need for everything to be faultless meant I'd spend hours and hours working on projects and worrying that nothing was ever good enough. The truth is, by putting in so much extra effort, I was wasting my time and making myself ill, whilst neglecting other important tasks. I eventually realized that something needed to give, and that's where the 80/20 rule for perfectionism came in and saved the day!
Stop smoking, start meditating, get up earlier, etc. Personal development gurus promise to change our habits in a record time of 21 days. Are three short weeks really enough to change patterns that have sometimes been in place for years? We investigated for you.
For the past 5 years, I’ve suffered from crippling anxiety, which often spun out of control and left me feeling like a prisoner in my own body. My condition was so detrimental to my mental health, that it was at the root of my losing friendships, boyfriends, and even a job. Although, one day I suddenly decided that the invasive, irritating voice in my head needed to be silenced! Now, no one ever really recovers from anxiety, but the symptoms can be alleviated with a simple morning routine, for example.
I’ve never made a secret of not being a huge fan of work, but my opinion on the matter certainly doesn’t make me immune to the chronic stress of a job burnout. Ever since the Covid-19 outbreak, I’ve been working from home and have completely lost my work-life balance. Back when things were ‘normal’, I went into the office every day, did my time, left and didn’t think about the day’s problems again, no matter how big they were. Now, things are totally different, and I’m suffering from intense fatigue, insomnia, plus emotional and physical distress. What I want to get across is that anyone can experience burnout, which is why I want to share with you the symptoms to look out for and discuss what you can do to get better.
When a friend of mine died in an accident, I was devastated. I felt immense grief, but I wasn’t there to see the drama of her death. Some people unfortunately witness the death of a loved one… This makes them feel a huge weight on them, as they feel guilty for being alive when the other person wasn’t as fortunate. This feeling, called “survivor’s syndrome” (or Lazarus syndrome) isn’t trivial and can have many consequences. How can you overcome it? All will be explained.
Anger, sadness, melancholy… We all experience negative emotions, but when we’re depressed, we feel them more intensely. Suffering then gradually invades the person suffering from depression. Then it becomes so complicated to manage that it prevents the depressed person from living normally and fulfilling their social, family, and even professional obligations. How can we detect depression? What are the symptoms to alert us? Let’s explain.
To find happiness, everyone seems to have their own recipe. For some it’s sport, for others it’s therapy. But happy people seem to all have something in common. Clearly, the universal recipe for happiness does exist. To be happy, we should imagine the future through the lens of our failures. This speaks to me, but it seems contradictory. And yet, the recipe for happiness is just one letter: The B in plan B promises you more optimism and fulfillment.
For years, I put incredible pressure on myself to “succeed in life”. In my eyes, I had to be financially stable, be in the perfect relationship, have a certain number of followers on social media, have a nice house, be able to travel as I wished, etc. But actually I was wrong. I’d never taken a step back and looked at this concept, but now I’ve finally understood what it meant. Believe me, we’re all fooling ourselves!
Do you have no energy, trouble sleeping, no appetite and a feeling of apathy? Then you may be suffering from depression. You shouldn’t be alone in this distress. You need to talk about it, and as your general practitioner (GP) is often the first person you talk to, he or she will be able to make a diagnosis and suggest treatment. Yes, but how do you talk to your doctor about it? How do you put into words the unhappiness that’s eating away at you?
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
- Oscar Wilde
