This blog post will give you 10 practical tips on how to eat smaller portions. Everywhere you look, something new is blamed for America’s obesity crisis. “We are eating too much and moving too little.” “It is due to our stress and our lack of sleep.” “We are dining in our car, eating on the run and choosing foods from a box or a fast food restaurant over healthy, homemade meals. Then all the diet advice Keto, Paleo, Pescatarian, Soup only… lots of advice out there on what to eat.

Set a reminder to check your posture. Many of us may have the intention to keep a good posture, but we usually forget about it after like 5 minutes.

We can take care of our mental, physical, and emotional aches and pains, our physical hunger and thirst; but do we pay attention to how we take care of our souls?

While sitting has been coined as the new smoking, standing all day in one position also has it’s risks.

Making a few adjustments can reduce pain, stress, and injury when your job requires you to sit most of the day.

Other habits that can be used to maintain balance are hobbies.  When we take time to do the things that bring us joy, not necessarily daily, we feel as if we have more balance. Maybe that’s photography, taking a hike, building things, gardening, time in a hammock or the workshop.  A painting class with friends, or a golf game with buddies.  Life needs to include time to just be, do things we enjoy and that build up our energy levels so that we can face work, family trials, tragedies, and other bombshells.

If you don’t want to get snapped in the face by the tension life brings…read on to get 3 simple tips to reduce tension, anxiety and elicit calm.

Gathering different ways to elicit calm or relaxation to balance the stress of daily life is key to emotional balance, resilience and effective coping skills that are practiced daily.

Two studies by Cho (one in the USA and one in Korea) and her colleagues at NCSU explored microbreaks. These studies were aimed at improving our understanding of how people boost or maintain their energy levels throughout the day to engage with work even when they start the day already exhausted. The studies also examined which factors might play a role in determining whether people took microbreaks, or what they did during those microbreaks.

I recently held The Healthy Eating Habits Challenge which featured a month's worth of smart but totally doable habits, from adding an extra serving of veggies to your daily diet to focusing on eating a "rainbow" of colorful foods. Recipes and links to additional resources were included in the comprehensive tracking booklet.

Every day and every change are designed to make you healthier.

If you missed my challenge, here are a few healthy habits to try and get you started on better eating habits.

Snacks can temporarily fill the void, but they create a bigger problem later.  Check out my blog post on Noshing at Night for my top ten ways to kick the habit.

Shrimp have a moisture content between 70-79%; yogurt which is over 80% and cottage cheese which is also about 80% water.

The 2-minute rule brings clarity to the outcome you want to achieve. It brings your dreams into focus.

Some people are so toxic that you need to keep your distance, and love from afar. Forgive, but not forget, release them into God’s hands to be changed.

Love languages speak for us much like words and languages do. If we are speaking the language of Act of Service and diligently take out the garbage without being asked or warm up the car, but never say I love you or you look beautiful/handsome to the person who needs Words of Affirmation, your I love you because I have done X,Y,Z can fall on deaf ears.

This blog post compares the love languages to burritos and tacos!

Jesus gave us a great example of setting boundaries, and how putting God first is important.  He also demonstrated self-care. 

Once in a comfortable position, think about changing a shallow pain breath to deep diaphragmatic breathing. Breath out all the chaos, anxiety, or pain as you shut your eyes. Inhaling as deeply as you can and then relaxing your shoulders (which can become tense with pain) and exhale with noise through your mouth.

The relaxation response was coined by Herbert Bensen, MD at Harvard Medical school. He’s written a book on it, “The Relaxation Response” and urges people to practice the relaxation response 10-20 minutes a day. Curious? Want to get started? Read on!

When we meditate on something we are simply focusing our thoughts. To understand what it means to meditate on God’s Word, let’s read Pastor Rick Warren’s description. He says, “Surprisingly, if you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate on the Word of God. Worry is when you take a negative thought and think on it over and over and over. When you take a passage of Scripture and think on it over and over and over, that’s called meditation.”

One of the great benefits of perseverance is the ability to bounce back from the down times and not let them discourage you or make you quit. But perseverance is only half of it. You've got to back that up with faith and courage. Let the Lord give you the strength to see things through.