Healthy Living in 2014

Below are some tips and tricks to help keep you healthy in the new year.

Online meal planning is easy with Emeals . Emeals.com is a great resource for weekly meal planning. You choose your meal plan based on your eating style, your family size, and your preferred food store. Emeals will send recipes and a grocery list right to your inbox each week. You can choose between vegetarian, low calorie, low carb and more. This is a convenient way to keep track of exactly what you and your family are eating.

Create your healthy recipe board on Pinterest for inspiration. Search for meals that are rich in flavor but light enough for your 2014 goals. Pin new ones each month to help keep you on track. Search for the pinners “Closet Cooking” for healthy new year recipes or “Self Magazine” for superfood recipes. Don’t forget your fruit and vegetable boards!

Getting a gym partner has shown to increases your motivation, improve weight loss results and make working out more fun. Team up with one of your co-workers or look for a like minded fitness enthusiast on meetup.com. Attending a weekly or monthly fitness class will also serve as motivation for you and your gym buddy.

Committing to a monthly regimen with your goals in mind will help create a happier and healthier you. When creating a monthly “to do” keep balance in mind. Don’t focus solely on eating healthy and exercising, although those are very important factors. Rather, think about your whole health. For example, consider your  sleeping habits, making time to yourself, and what you’d like to give back to the community. Think about your needs and wants for mind, body and soul to help develop a plan that works for you. Some examples would be to commit to getting 8 hours of sleep every night, drinking 8 glasses of water every day, going to the gym 2-3 times a week, cooking 3 healthy meals per week, getting one massage per month, and reading one book per month. This is a good mixture for your overall health and wellness. Develop things that fit your lifestyle and make a check list to help keep you on track. Hold yourself accountable and reward yourself at the end of each week or each moth. There are many smartphone and tablet applications to serve as daily reminders for your goals such as “drinking water” and “fitsby.” Or check out ‘Healthy Habits’ for all of your health goals in one place.

Sign up for wholesome and delicious snacks with NatureBox. With NatureBox, five nutritionist approved snacks are delivered to your door each month. These wholesome and delicious snacks include trail and nut mixes, dried fruit and bars, biscuits, wafers, pretzels and more! Their mission is to help you eat healthier without having to change your daily routine. NatureBox is also a company that gives back, helping to feed the hungry with more than 150,000 meals donated and counting. Read more at NatureBox.com.

Don't forget to breathe

Envision that the moment you've been waiting for all month has finally arrived. You climb onto the heated massage table, settle in, and wait for your therapist to deliver a massage that will surely melt your stress away.. You've already done your part just by walking through that door, and the rest is up to your Massage Therapist. That's the beauty of your time here at The Right Touch. It's all about you and your needs... but is there something more you can do to maximize your experience and benefits? There sure is. Just remember to breathe. Before your therapist even returns to begin the treatment, you can be on your way to a relaxed body and mind by taking a few deep breaths. Most of us use only a fraction of our lung capacity the majority of the time because we are rushing around or under stress. Test it out right now by taking a nice full breath. Breath in through your nose letting the air fill the space in your chest and then all the way down to your belly before breathing it all the way out through your mouth. Feel a difference? After a couple more of those you are sending more oxygen to every cell in the body, releasing more toxins, and balancing both mood and energy. Slowing down your breathing causes the brain to activate the relaxation response. When you add this to a massage that is already boosting circulation, improving mood, and promoting relaxation you're left with a peace and calm that readies you for whatever the rest of the day may bring. So, next time you find yourself on the massage table give it a try. Take three slow deep breaths to begin the treatment and initiate your own state of bliss. Another deep breath as your therapist focuses on a particularly tight area can make a big difference in your comfort and the physical release of the tension. Use this technique when you're stressed out in traffic or before a big meeting and you just might feel a little better between massages, too. See you soon, and don't forget to breathe!!