Top Tips to be Fresh In The Morning

Oh, morning again ! You regret you need to wake up ?
You feel like you got hit by a truck ?
You look in the mirror and you have a puffy you ?
You just refuse to wake up ?
You have a hangover ?

Find out what are the reasons behind these questions and what can you do about it.

The thing is in the morning you need to change your “sleepy” mood to “sober” mood. It is indeed a transition and you should see it like this. There are many factors which can help your mornings. Also are different types of tiredness: could be something usual for you, or just after a party, or when you slept less than usual, or because of insomnias. First need to analyze which is really your case. We won’t discuss now about serious illnesses which can produce bad mornings, but about a generally healthy person who has this problem. After we identify the aspects involved we can start to see the solutions. Always for a better wakening you need to see the whole image, usual habits, day before, bedtime and morning behaviours.
I won’t tell you do all things I suggest below, but more is better, so try to choose what you can keep on a longer term. Every little change, kept for some time makes the difference. And like I keep on saying in my posts - experience, play with techniques, change them to be suited for you, some small efforts can make you find the best way to be fit and fresh in the morning. Remember – it’s your way not others, your own recipe !

In the morning

Get some cool air if you can, this refreshes you and it’s good for your lungs same as for your skin.
Don’t drink coffee every morning, at least try, we get used to caffeine and the effect goes away in time. Keep coffee when you really need it and try to not drink more than 200-300 ml per day. More will raise your blood pressure, raise your pulse and gives insomnia.
Drink water, this will activate your metabolism making it ready for the day. You can put a spoon of honey or lemon juice inside for detoxification.
Exercise, at least 10 minutes to remind your body that it’s the awakening time and need to get fresh. Plus your body will become more fit every day.
Eat cereals, this helps to provide the necessary elements for a good day. If not cereals than some other light breakfast, a healthy breakfast helps to have more energy during the day. You can cut your other meals, but not the breakfast even if you are not hungry. Just a small bite, ok ? Really it’s scientifically proven that who eats cereals for breakfast has a lower cortisol hormone level (cortisol being known also like the stress-hormone).
Get up straight away, don’t put your sneezer over and over again, this helps the body to react more promptly.
Get motivated, think about something really good you could do that day, or thing about any other thing which makes you happy.
Put some music, any kind of music you like but preferably with some more rhythm. This will help you always to get a better mood, why not using it in the morning ? Because you are so depressed to do it ? Exactly that’s why.

Bedtime
Our body needs a balance to work properly and same goes with sleeping hours, try to keep same hours for your sleep. Identify how many hours you really need, could be 6, 7, 8 or 9 in usual cases. When you have the best time than insert them in your 24 hours schedule and try to stick with that rhythm.
When you sleep you need comfort in every way, make yourself feel good in bed, don’t use any synthetic materials, adjust the temperature in the room, not too hot, not too cold, better more cold than hot. Let your windows slightly opened. In the night we intoxicate our room with our breathing literally, so a good ventilation will provide the necessary oxygen.
Maybe you need to change your bed: noisy mattress, too used mattress with shapes, both are indicators it’s time to buy a new one.
Take a hot bath before you go to bed, with bubbles and whatever you can find, music, candles, everything what makes you dream.
Don’t go upset in bed, do anything you can but until your head is on the pillow release your anger, stress or problems. Relaxation techniques, yoga could help.
Empty your bladder before going to bed, interruptions in the night will take good part of your quality sleep time.
Silence – this is very important for a good sleep, silence inside our brains and outside. Don’t think and don’t hear nothing. I know it’s hard, especially in the big cities to have silence. And ups, I also indicated open windows. But you could start to use earplugs, if you need to hear some noises you can get also special earplugs which isolates just some noises. First nights maybe it’s unusual until you get used to have something in your ears, but you will feel the benefits. Your snoring partner could also convince you to try them.
Darkness – any kind of light can distract you, use curtains, window shutter, panels or sleep mask to keep out the light.

Night before
Don’t drink coffee, wine or eat chocolate. All this are stimulants and won’t let you have a good sleep. A glass of warm milk can be a good alternative before going to bed.
If you were partying and drinking alcohol, having a hangover next day, than you should know this tips: drink water or fruits juices between your alcohol glasses, morning hangover is produced mostly by dehydration, so drink a glass of water to every 1 or 2 alcoholic drink. Try to drink 1 glass of alcohol per hour, this is the usual time for our body to handle 1 glass. Don’t mix medicine with you drink, even Aspirin or Tylenol can amplify your hangover and will slower down the elimination, don’t mentioning about the extra work our liver has.
Let at least 2 hours between your last meal and your bed time.

Everyday tips !
Massage – helps not just for your sleep, but also straightens your body, helps your circulation and relaxes you. If not 1/week then at least 1/month, shouldn’t be so hard. Massage stimulates serotonin and dopamine hormones which have effect on our happy and relaxed mood.
Drink a lot of water.
Eating habits - Eat fruits like: yoghurt, carrots, broccoli, juicy fruits (grapefruit, orange, peach). Eat fibers like cereals and apples. Never eat until you explode, eat many times but small portions, this stimulates you body to process easily anything you eat. Omega-3 fatty acids – not only helps your skin and beauty but makes your brain function better, makes you more active and regulates your blood pressure. You can find Omega 3 in : oily fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines, tuna; cabbage , soy, nuts, spinach.
Also the absence of ca, mg, flour can give insomnia.

Beauty tips for beautifull mornings
Use your natural oil from the nose and chin area and spread it over your face and wrinkle areas. It’s natural oil produced by your body and it’s precious. Then wash your face with cold water – old trick but efficient, what maybe you didn’t know is to let the water evaporate alone, without using a towel, eventually just cotton balls. Don’t wash your face with soap, use just water.
Take a morning shower, not too hot, and if you can alternate hot-cold-hot-cold, finishing with cold water, especially on your feats. This helps your circulation a lot.
Milk: wet 2 cotton balls in milk and apply them on your eyes for 15 minutes. The milk proteins help to hydrate your skin and let that puffy look go away.
Inox spoons – keep 2 of them in the fridge for all times and use them directly from the fridge on your eyes with their concave face and moving them slowly up and down, right-left for 5 minutes. Pinch rhythmically your face with your fingers to train your muscles and bring blood in your cheeks, giving a natural blush as well. Same way, you can bite slightly your lips to bring more color and make them look more peachy.

You hair is a mess and no time to wash it ?
Don’t worry, here’s a trick to make your hair look like is freshly washed.
Wet cotton balls in alcohol and rub your scalp for 4-5 minutes than brush your hair from back to front. See the difference.

Curiosities: You sleep more, you loose more pounds. Cherie Calbom, author of “Sleep Away the Pounds” says that a person who sleeps less then indicated influences that persons weights even if keeps a strict regime. Bad sleep brings endocrine system malfunction with hormone disbalance, especially fluctuation of insulin resulting in huge hunger and bad sugar metabolism. Cortisol level is pumped up and like we learned above this produces stress but also helps fat to be deposited in the body, especially around our waist.
Now you have an extra motivation to find your own "recipe" for better mornings.

Hot to use your freezer - Simple guide for everyone !

Do you use your freezer wisely ?
Could you improve your freezer management ?
Do you use it at all ?
Are some simple questions but new studies identified some “funny” facts which maybe you knew about but ignored completely.
The study was made in Great Britain but I think more or less concerns us all. Hear this – 1/3 of the people with a freezer have no idea what they hide there. And those who have an idea about what treasures they're hiding don’t know exactly since when all that stuff is there or what kind of food is advised to be deposited. More than that, 12 million households are binning good food in the trash to make space for newly bought food. Imagine how much money you can loose per year doing this often. So the list of things we should discuss seams long.

1. First of all – should we use the freezer at all ?
Yes, at full capacity. Why ? First because if you have it and anyway consumes your energy than take full advantage of it and second because you can became even environment friendly since a fully filled freezer it’s energy saver. If it’s too much space or air inside, the coils are working more harder to do the job. If you don’t have nothing to put inside fill some plastic containers or milk cartons with water. At least you will have enough ice for your cocktails.

2. Should we respect labels ?
Not necessarily, if you freeze the food on the same day when purchased than can stay even for years like that, the only rule is to not defreeze it again. Another good tip is for a long time freezed food is to defrost it slowly in the fridge before cooking it, this will keep the quality better. But the dates on the label are more for quality purposes than safety ones.

3. What should I do with the food I defrosted but don’t wanna eat it that day ?
First, what not to do is refreeze it. Just in case it’s cooked. Or you can marinate it if it’s meat. But why not make a simple ready meal from it and eat it next day ?

4. What not to freeze ?
It’s a very small list: egg yolks.

5. What to freeze ?– Tips.
- Breadcrumbs - very handy for many recipes;
- Herbs, lemon grass, lemon slices, ginger;
- Leftover redvine for cooking – like icecubes;
- Peas and pastry;
- Fruits looking like it's not going to be eaten (used in juicer later);
- All kind of veggies;
- Fish fingers;
- Bread;
- Soupes ready prepared in portions;
- Milk;
- Reduced foods bought in supermarkets.

6. What about the freezed food quality and nutrients ?
Amanda Ursell's nutrition tips:
"The nutritional levels of minerals such as iron and calcium are not affected by the freezing process, neither are the amounts of supernutrients such as betacarotene in carrots, lycopene in tomato purée or the amount of protein, carbohydrate or fat that foods contain. It is worth noting that when it comes to cooking, foods that have been frozen tend to take up more fat once fried than fresh items.
If freezing takes place less than two and a half hours after harvest, vitamin levels in vegetables such as peas, broccoli and berries can be higher than in fresh versions. To retain these high levels, it is vital that frozen foods are transported as rapidly as possible to the shop and your freezer. And your domestic freezer should be set at minus 18C or colder.
The modern “blast” freezing technique involves directing extremely cold air on to food. The speed of the method leads to the formation of very small ice crystals that help to reduce damage to the look, texture and taste of the food. With fruit and vegetables, if this takes place within a short time of harvest, it ensures the best preservation of vitamin C and several B vitamins that are usually damaged through normal exposure to light and air.
Levels of vitamin C in vegetables that you freeze yourself will depend on the amount present in them before you put them in your freezer. According to my auntie, who is an avid “home freezer” of the produce that she grows in her garden, the old advice to blanche before freezing by plunging runner beans, for instance, into boiling water for a few seconds first, is not necessary for many vegetables. Avoiding this process will certainly retain more vitamins."

7.How to keep track ?
Put labels on anything goes in the freezer, if you forget it there for years you won’t recognize what it was unless you are a psychic. Your frozen food can be unidentifiable but eatable because ice has really magic powers.
Sorce: The Times

This all sounds very good for me to know ? Same with you ?

Cheers