Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Just A Cup Of Water….


Hey, Special!...How have you all been?...Taking care of yourselves, I hope........Now, let's talk about how to take care of ourselves with one of the most popular essential commodity...WATER!

Water, as they say popularly say in Nigeria, " no get enemy"..
Literally meaning: Water does not have enemies...which basically means, with water, you can't go wrong…. 
There are many posts online about the benefits of drinking water on an empty stomach(more like, first thing in the morning). Benefits like,  being a cure/prevention for cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight loss, clearer skin etc are yet to be scientifically/medically proven, however.

 Some school of thought even recommends not to brush your teeth before drinking water and/or not to eat until 45 minutes after drinking water to allow water to "wash out toxins”. 
I have been "practicing" drinking water first thing in the morning for a couple of years now because I thought…why not?... but I am not strict about the brushing teeth before or after, or about the 45 minutes wait before eating. I drink at least a cup (8oz) of water, sometimes 2 cups first thing in the morning. 

Personally, what I have found beneficial about drinking water in the morning is that my craving for sugar/grease has reduced.
Even though the popular weight management advice is that  breakfast is the most important meal of the day (here is the post about breakfast/meals, if you missed it), I would recommend, in addition to that, being well hydrated with water before the first meal of the day to everyone ,( including children), your body will thank you for it.

P.S:There are complaints of nausea, stomach ache resulting from drinking water on an empty stomach, my recommendation would be: Add a few drops of lemon or lemon/lime slices to the water and drink/sip slowly.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Don’t Rest On Your Oars….


Happy New Year, people!…We made it!!
It’s a new year, a fresh start, new goals , continuing goals….
We are all at different stages of our lives, with different expectations….as we embark on this journey together, I pray for more  peace, grace and wisdom. 

We human beings are wired to “achieve goals” and I guess that’s what keeps us functioning…but sometimes we get hung-up on our achievements, …..We tend to stop “growing” and  stop ‘improving” ourselves at that stage. 
So, as we approach that place in our lives when "all” the goals seem to be met…..When we have the degrees, the spouse(s), the children, the car(s), the house (s), the desired body weight/ dress/shirt size , the relationship with God etc….Then, what’s next?…

…….Stay Motivated...Stay Inspired…..Keep learningCount your blessings...
Here is a short story that  illustrates this well :
A young man, for the first time in his life, found a $2 bill on the side-walk . From then on, he kept his eyes on the ground , hoping to find another dollar bill. After so many years of spending most of his time doing nothing else but comb the streets for another     “ lucky find”, he had picked up  29,516 buttons,  54,172 pins,  and  7 cents.  In addition to his “finds”, he got a bent back and a miserable disposition. … He never really got to appreciate the sunlight, skies,smiles from friend and neighbors...He lost focus of  better opportunities to earn a livelihood because of a one-time lucky find...