Hello there, time for a guest post and this time it will be in English by Lisa Smalls. I hope you enjoy this one! 5 Healthy Habits to Develop this Summer Does your mindset change with the seasons? Mine does. I am constantly surprised by how the weather and time of year impact my mood, motivation, and mindset. As spring turns to summer, I find myself ready to breathe new life into areas of my life that haven’t received as much attention as others. I’m ready to tackle that next big project I keep moving to the back burner. For me, summer is a time of rest and rejuvenation. It’s a time of reflection and looking forward to a new and better version of myself. If you can relate, join me in developing these five healthy habits  to reshape the second half of 2019. Practice Mindfulness The fundamental concept of mindfulness  is understanding that there is nothing you can change about what has already happened and also understanding that you don’t know what ...

This is the third part of my self-care series. Before reading this, please read part 1 and part 2 . As I mentioned before I have been interested in studying more about recovery and especially recovery moments in every day life. I think no one can deny how important it is to chill down after work. Because my days at work as a teacher are quite hectic and scheduled, I couldn't live a busy scheduled life after work every evening, for instance having many commitments in hobbies. Instead I need some kind of recovery moments every day after work. These are just simple things which I will share with you. Below are some of my tips how to recover every day. And by recovery I don't mean recovery from an exercise. Instead recovery is your me-time, the moment when you can relax a bit. Have small breaks during work day and after work. Don´t wait until in the evening. I used to think that I cannot sit on a sofa after work because it would make me feel sluggish. Now I now h...

Time to talk about healthy habits. Who doesn´t want to live healthy? Right, I thought so too.. I did some research on how healthy people live. I found following healthy habits of healthy people. 1. Move Your Body on a Daily Basis Don´t forget to strength train! As you age your muscles will get weaker so it is important to train them actively. Work out as much as possible so you will get fresh air and vitamin D. 2 . Have Breakfast Healthy people always have breakfast. I hope you do the same. It makes a lot of difference. 3. Invest in Your Recovery and Sleep Read my previous post about sleep in here . 4. Don´t Drink or Smoke I don´t drink at all. However, if sometimes I drink a glass of wine while eating out, the next morning reminds me the reasons why I don´t do this. After a few drinks the quality of your sleep will be poorer, which will make you feel even drowsier the next day. No matter if you slept 8 hours, the alcohol will reduce your deep sleep and keeps ...

This is the second part of my self-care series. Before reading this one, check the first post here .  Below are tips how to practice more self-care. Choose to implement one new idea every new week and you are on a good start! ❤  Go cloud watching. ❤ Do a mini meditation. ❤  Do one thing today because it makes you happy. ❤  Do a mini-declutter: recycle four items from your wardrobe. ❤  Unplug for an hour. Ignore your phone and internet. ❤  Plan yourself a pampering day. Book a massage, a hairdresser or a manicure. ❤  Take a bus ride. Watch the scenery and enjoy the road. ❤  Put your favourite tune on and boogie. ❤  Be still for 5 minutes. Just sit down or lie down and breath. ❤  Get 15 minutes of sun. ❤  Have a good laugh. ❤  Take a power nap: 15 to 20 minutes is enough. As December is a bit quieter time in blogs in general, I will skip one week and be back to posting on my Christmas ...

108 million Americans are on a diet at any given time. Americans spend 65 billion dollars each year on weight-loss products. When it comes down to losing weight, there are millions of guidelines and diets which will tell you what and how to eat and which foods to avoid. However, in my opinion if you want to have lasting results you should never just be on certain "diet"for a certain period of a time. Instead you should choose a diet which is sustainable, healthy and based on some dietitians' recommendations. And this diet should last forever. It is called a healthy lifestyle and learning how to eat healthy for the rest of your life. If you have problems in this area, I would recommend you to see a nutrition specialist who could help you individually. My online Nutrition Packages are available here if you are interested. There are many studies which indicate that the fact which matters the most is the calorie content and not the proportion of macro-nutrients that ...

I had a really tough week the other week. It came to me as a surprise how tough it actually was.. I was busy at work (no time for drinking tea or sitting on a break 😅) and after work I had errands and schedules every day. Besides this I was solo parenting a lot, which puts my son in a weird mood.  This is not how I usually live my life because I try to plan my weeks so that I have time to just relax after work and literally just be at home. When you are busy at work, it helps, if you know that by the time you get home, you are not busy anymore and you don´t need to rush anywhere.. When I had this busy week I was wondering that do young couples with kids live like this every week? Anyway, as I was having this crazy week, I figured I could write about tips how to relax on a days like these when you don't have a lot of time to relax.. Here are my tips: Go to a sauna or have a warm bath. Sauna always makes me feel relaxed and sleepy.  Swim in a lake (cold water ...

In my opinion what makes a person successful in losing weight is the person's motivation and determination. If you are determined to succeed you will succeed. No one can decide on your behalf, the initiation must come from you. After that comes the methods which you will choose. If I were to say what is the most important thing when trying to lose weight, it would be meal prepping . This really is the key to success. When you plan before hand all your meals, you have no choice but to succeed!By choosing healthy ingredients and preparing dishes over these, you don't need to count calories. At the end of the day what it comes down to is to eat basic nutrient dense food. It might sound boring but it's the truth. You don't need expensive superfoods, protein supplements,"magic pills" or weight loss drinks. Moreover, you don't have to think about your macros or how to divide them through your day. Planning your meals so that vegetables and whole food grains...

Although I hate to admit it, fall is coming and summer will soon be behind us. But if you think positively,  fall is a great time to check your healthy habits and acquire new ones. Here are my 8 Tips how to improve your well being in this fall. 1.Consume less coffee or stop drinking it completely I did this again when my work started. During the summer time I enjoyed coffee maybe four times per weeks and in some weeks even every day. As school started I cut down coffee entirely and as a result my sleep has been soooo good. I wake up feeling refreshed and most importantly I don´t wake up during the night. Here is my dedicated post about  How I quit drinking coffee and it changed my life . 2. Reduce the amount of sugar you eat Needless to say sugar is aging us and giving a lot of troubles to our bodies. I wrote about the harmful effects of sugar in  here . 3. Drink one juice per day By this I don´t mean orange juice or apple juices sold in the store....

This post idea came to my mind when I was quite exhausted of my weekend which consisted of three football games in consecutive days. As I wanted to improve my recovery, I went for an evening swim in a cold lake. Side note, this was in early June so the water was quite cold. First it wasn’t quite tempting to swim in a 13 degree lake but after I rose from the water it felt SO good. My body didn’t ache anymore and I truly felt empowered! Therefore this is my tip for you how to recover from a hard workout:  Swim in a cold lake! Or if this isn’t possible for you take a really cold shower or a bath. I guarantee you that after the first shock you will feel amazing!! Lots of love, Jennikatja Previous post: A Day in a Life Read more: 💗 11 Tips How to Optimize Your Recovery 💗 Recovery Weeks: When and What to Do? 💗 My Experience with Over-Training 💗 How to Recover from Pneumonia?

We all know how important it is to be present on the moment and not worry about tomorrow or all the undone chores that are waiting for you. So how to practice being more mindful? How to silence your thoughts for a minute before thoughts about your to-do list start to emerge? I know all too well how in the midst of family life you cannot seem to find any time or space to practice being mindful. On the other hand, isn't mindfulness what family life really is all about? Being present each moment with your child, answering all kinds of questions from "Mom, look what I made!" or "Mom, guess how many Donald Ducks I have?" 😁 OK, in my opinion it is.. But what I would like to practice more is how to quiet down my mind after a busy work day.  Our minds are hard at work all day long and this continues when I come home. Here I will share my tips which have proven to be quite OK  5 Tips how to more mindful: Try to have 10 minutes to yourself (me...

I decided to briefly update you about what is going on in my life. I finally finished my Master's degree so now I am able to start my Fitness Nutrition studies. I am so excited to be a Fitness Nutrition Specialist! These studies are a continuation to my ACE Personal Trainer studies. Instead of exercise, I will focus on nutrition which is a topic I am so passionate about! I chose these studies because they are a part of ACE program. These days anyone can study and become a PT and there are a lot of courses available. However,  initially when I was pondering about available PT courses I wanted to do a high quality course so I was recommended ACE by my friend in Malaysia. This course consisted several in-depth analyses, training sessions, multiple exams and case studies, intense study weekends and a big final exam. The final exam was like the matriculation examination in Finland. Quite tough to pass but I did it! Being allowed to call yourself ACE certified personal trainer you a...

Summer is arriving and many people are starting to think about how to get in shape for summer. So, I am going to give you two simple tips in how to reach that goal ☺ 1. 12 h rule This tip has to do with the time that is between your last meal in the evening and your first snack in the morning. There should be at least 12 hours in between your dinner and breakfast in the following day. By not eating for 12 hours, you will give your digestive system enough time to rest and detoxify your body. Your body will give a signal to start to remove toxins from your body when it has been about 8 hours since the last meal. And this detoxification process requires at least 4 hours. All this detoxification happens naturally in your body when you are not eating or drinking. If you constantly "overload" your body by snacking all the time and not ensuring required break between dinner and breakfast, you are doing harm for your body. Let your body heal you. This is good fo...

It happens to all of us.. And yesterday I was having one of those moments as I was about to freak out. I felt so stressed as my head was filled to do -lists. I felt annoyed and I snapped at my family. Also, lately I have had difficulties in falling asleep although I feel tired and what fears me the most is that I will lose my hair, as I have been ripping my hair out of my head when I sleep 😟 Accordingly, I decided that it is time to slow down. This means that I have to concentrate on my English courses, work and family. But as my motto is "Listen to your body" I will listen to it and after my courses are finished (at the end of March), I will have more time to create content here and be creative. The best of my posts will come up when I have rested well and had good work outs 💗 Below are my tips what to do when you are feeling stressed. When stressed out Go for a walk in the forest. Fresh air and trees decrease my blood pressure. I believe that Nature will heal ever...

"Abs are made in the kitchen" is a common sentence you hear nowadays and I couldn't agree more.  Having said that, exercise and working out is also very important if you want to have a flat belly. By exercising you will make sure that your metabolism keeps on going through the day. However, in this post I will present you tips in how to shrink your tummy in the kitchen. Flat belly tips: Number one rule is to eat regularly and enough so you will manage your cravings. It is so much easier to resist temptations when you are not hungry. You have to give up all sugary sweets, on the exception on your cheat meal- days or other time when you allow yourself something "unhealthy". Chew your food properly in order to have better digested food. Undigested food can cause bloating and we don't want that. Moreover, this way you will have to eat slower so you will be able to notice when you are actually full. Speaking of bloating, avoid foo...