The Simple Life

Life Style Choices. - Simplicity Is Key.

Ever looked in the mirror and realized you've put on a bit of weight, and then noticed your jeans are just a bit too tight and your gut is sticking out a little more than usual OR Woken up on a Saturday and been tired and unenthusiastic about life? Yeah me too.
Unfortunately for me, I lack in a minor (major) essential attribute required for success in life; Discipline (that in turn means patience). I have this strange way of dreaming BIG and forgetting the baby steps to the bigger picture, so I get really really addicted to something, but don't often see it through. So I did a bit of research on how to get healthier, progressively. Here's my conclusion.

If you're anything like me, you wake up in the middle of the night and opt for that quick late night snack and go back to bed, you set your alarm for 6am but find an excuse to stay cozy in bed instead of go for that early-morning run and you always, always make excuses when it comes to unhealthy luxuries- i.e 'This is the last time' OR 'Only one bite'.
Here are some simple and easy to follow guidelines on how to keep both mind and body happy, and HEALTHY!

FIRST
Forget your crash diets, and fat burning pills, your soup diets and your personal trainer. This isn't the biggest loser, no one will force your dieting and working out on you. It is not an instant makeover #InstaSkinny #NoSuchThing

SECOND
Get moving. No walking from your bedroom to the kitchen and back doesn't count, lazy. All it really takes is 20 minutes a day of getting your heart pumping... Go for a run/a bike ride/ do a boxing session, pick anything! Cardio is good for the heart and good for the mind. Stress does not help weight loss!

THIRD
Eating healthier. No, don't go cutting out all your favorite chocolate's and candy. Depriving yourself will not teach you anything about discipline, once you're off your diet, you will jump back on the fast food train and all your efforts won't be worth it. Portion control is key. The easiest way of watching what you eat is by increasing your intake of whole grain, fiber, fruit, veg and protein. By no means should you cut out all the things you love to eat, you should just condition your mind into thinking them of them as more of a treat than a go-to snack. Also, try your best not to eat fast food. It's full of trans fats which usually leads to high cholesterol and diabetes.

FOURTH
No more smoking and/or alcohol. Again, this doesn't mean you can't ever have the occasional beer with friends, but all either do is impair your judgement and condition you to think that you NEED an un-natural substance, to aid you in day to day life. They serve no good purpose, if you can, cut it out!

FIFTH
Sleep! A friend of mine not too long ago, stressed to me the importance of sleeping a minimum of 7 hours and a maximum of 9 hours every night. This isn't only good for your brain, it's good for your body too. Resting helps your muscles relax and repair after a long day. NO this does not mean you can oversleep and become a sloth, this means you sleep the appropriate hours and get back up healthier and in a much better mood. Sleeping in makes you more tired than sleeping less. Remember that.

LASTLY
Stress? What stress? No secret's here, there is stress in everything you do, typing this means I stress my mind and my fingers into taking action, but I can't stress to you enough - see what I did there?- the importance of de-stressing. The easiest way to de-stress is to talk about, and let go of your problems. But beware, the relationships around you shouldn't be a constant cause of stress for you, a friend who puts you down, or makes you feel bad, isn't a friend, they're a foe. Be wise in your decision making and make sure you always keep good, strong and positive people around you at all times.
To be honest, the only full proof form of stress relief I have ever participated in, was prayer and meditation. I think a lot of people have a big problem with accepting that there is a God who is in control of our lives, because we are so caught up in taking control ourselves. I find it rather comforting that the big guy in the sky is looking out for me, plus, I always know I''m not alone!

So to simplify,
FOOD = GOOD FASTFOOD = BAD

EXERCISE = GOOD SMOKING = BAD

SLEEP = GOOD DRAMA =BAD

I hope my guide lines helped, they sure as hell were a great stepping stone for me!

An Inconvenient Truth

Something that got my attention recently, is how easy it is for girls to compromise themselves, and their dignity. This isn't meant to come off as judgmental, so please don't take it that way ladies, but really, truly I've started to notice even amongst adult women, females are really compromising everything about themselves. They become disposable objects to men who will have a good time with them, and look for a commitment to someone else, and then these girls make excuses for them like "Oh but his great grandmother passed away three months ago."
Common ladies! Be better than that. You deserve better than that!
I know what I'm about to say may come off as a little bit controversial, but I'm going to say it anyway- Men (or really any human being) will only treat you the way you allow yourself to be treated. It's all about you, and if you let them get away with something once, they will inevitably make an attempt at getting away with it again OR they will take it a step further.
Now, this isn't a rant about girls who degrade themselves, and how over it I am, and how much it angers me - no. This is my message to girls who feel like they may be falling into this kind of lifestyle, or for girls who have a friend who may be, and want to know how to help them. 

I was only young when I heard this at a retreat when I was still in school. I can't remember the speaker's name, but he was absolutely brilliant, here's what he taught me.

Females ask themselves THREE main questions.

1. Am I beautiful?
2. Will anyone ever love me?
3. Will I always be alone?

Which leads me to my point. In asking yourself these questions what you're ultimately doing is looking for the answer. When looking for this answer it's important to remember a few essential things.

✓ Yes, you are beautiful
✓ Yes, someone will love you (people already love you)
✓ No, you are not alone (Face it you pessimists you can't be born without the contribution of two people)

Now I'm not kidding myself by believing that just because I said so, you will all read this and believe it. But here's the catch- It doesn't matter what I think, it matters what YOU think of yourself.

See this is how you land yourself onto the track of compromising yourself or your beliefs or your standards in a relationship girls. You ask yourself these questions, but you're so desperate to confirm that you will find someone who answers and reassures you of the answers to all these questions that you start to accept anything that comes your way, or worse, you start to force yourself into accepting the bare minimum.

My advice? Set your standards.

1. The non-negotiables

Ladies it's not that hard to figure out what you deem to be what you want in a man. So decide on three things that are non-negotiable and simply do not negotiate or compromise them. For example, my man has to be Catholic (enough so that I don't have to drag Him to church or to pray with me), intelligent (enough to hold a conversation with me) and  assertive (aggressive enough to argue with me but passive enough to let me have my own opinions)

2. The preferentials.
These are the things you prefer your man to be,  but you can live with him not being all of them and only some of them, set these too and prioritise them. I'd preffer him to be funny, down to earth, somewhat attractive, fit, and has a degree in a stable job...

3. The deal breakers.
These are the things that you can not, will not and do not accept from a man, ever. They aren't your non negotiables, they're the things you can not accept from any man, even if he meets the non-negotiables and all of your preferentials. No porn or strip clubs, No violence, and he can not be a tight ass.

4. For the Catholic girls; Pray!
I believe you should pray for your future husband, because chances are he already exists in the world. But I also believe that in saying that all the catholic girls would agree that they should start respecting their future husbands now, by respecting themselves. St Joseph is the perfect Saint to pray to, he was the most perfect and chaste spouse!

After you set your standards girls, remind yourselves of them every time you're considering a guy as a potential boyfriend. Ladies this in no way means that you don't date a guy, you date them and figure out wether or not they're real potential or just surface standard. Remember, girls don't necessarily choose the kinds of guys that approach them all the time, so when a good guy does, give him a chance. It shouldn't take more than a couple of dates to figure out you want him as a boyfriend rather than "a guy I'm kind of seeing."

Lastly, for the guys who are potentially reading this, my advice can and will apply for you too! God Bless :)