Need a Simple Health Kick? Try One of These Quick and Easy Tips…

The modern Irish woman is a busy woman. She has to juggle relationships, a career, kids, friendships and a host of other things on a daily basis.

We know that being a modern Irish woman, or ‘MIW’ if you will, is a tough job. We also know that if anyone can handle the responsibility of juggling so many things, it’s you (superstar that you are). But sometimes we tend to be so busy looking after other people that we actually forget to look after ourselves.

Here are 10 simple and easy health tips that even the busiest MIW can incorporate into her daily lifestyle. They’re quick, they’re helpful and best of all? They actually work.

Are you ready to spend five minutes looking after yourself? Yes? We thought so…

10. Banish Stress: After a long, hard day at the office even the best of us arrive home feeling grumpy, irritable and stressed out of our minds.

Try this: as soon as you get home, sit down and take ten deep breaths. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth slowly. After you’ve taken ten breaths, stand up and shake your body – shake the stress out of your limbs.

We guarantee you’ll immediately feel more relaxed and be less likely to launch into a rant about “herself from marketing!” when your other half walks through the door.

Cracking a cheesy smile can improve your mood immediately.

9. Improve Your Mood: When you wake up in the morning, before you even get out of bed, plaster a grin on your face. Even if you’re not particularly overjoyed at the fact that you have to get up so early, just keep that smile on your face for as long as you can.

Why? Well, you see moving your mouth into a smile can actually trick your brain into thinking you’re happy.

The result is a burst of feel-good hormones that are guaranteed to lift your mood and send you out into the world happy.

8. Switch it Up: If you normally eat white bread, switch to brown. If you normally eat white rice and pasta, switch to brown. Brown bread/pasta/rice pretty much tastes exactly the same as the white stuff and contains fewer calories.

Make this small switch and you could find yourself shedding a pound or two.

7. Stop the Stalking: Facebook stalking – we’re all guilty of it as some time or another. Does it improve our lives in any way? No. Does it make us feel a bit jealous/bitter/upset to compare ourselves to others? Eh…yes.

Set yourself the challenge of not Facebook stalking anyone for a week. If you make it the whole seven days, chances are you’ll have kicked your habit.

6. Speak Positively: It’s amazing how much your mental health can improve if you decide to inject a bit more positivity into your thoughts and words. Instead of saying “I can’t” say: “I’ll try.” Instead of thinking “I’m so fat!” think: “I love my curves!” or “Everyday I’m eating healthier.”

Make it a point to be positive for a day and see how brighter your perspective on life is.

It's important to stay well-hydrated throughout your day to stay on top of your game.

5. Drink Like a Fish: Drink water, that is. Did you know that the majority of us go through our days dehydrated? Make sure you always have a bottle of water on hand that you can sip from regularly.

Keep yourself hydrated and your concentration will improve, you’ll be less prone to headaches and the condition of your skin will improve majorly.

4. Get Colourful: When it comes to doing your grocery shopping, switch up your usual vegetable purchases and choose some colourful ones that you normally wouldn’t eat. Go for veggies that have rich green, purple and red colours.

According to health experts, we should eat a variety of coloured vegetables in order to take advantage of their antioxidants and the different vitamins they contain.

3. Slow Down: Most of us are so busy running around the place that we take very little time to enjoy our food. If you’re guilty of eating on the go, try this: make an effort to sit down at a table and really enjoy your food without any distractions. Eat slowly and chew slowly. Notice how your food tastes and really savour it.

People who eat slowly are more likely to recognise when they’re full, meaning that they tend to eat less calories than those of us who just wolf our meals down.

2. Switch Off: Instead of spending your evenings parked in front of the telly until you’re due to go to bed, switch it off an hour early and get into bed with a good book.

Reading will help you to relax and the lack of blue light from a television screen will help you drift off much easier.

1. Scrub it Off: Body brushing is one of the easiest ways to get rid of cellulite, keep your skin in perfect condition and gently detox your body.

Invest in a good quality body brush, use it for five minutes every day and we guarantee your skin will be glowing in no time.