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8 Ways You Can Care For Your Body

When it comes to taking care of your body, experts at Verywell Fit swear by these eight practices. Take a look at them and see what you may want to consider committing to in pursuit of ultimate health.

Eating Whole Foods

A whole foods and plant-based dietary pattern involves eating high-fiber, low-fat foods and minimizing animal-based products and processed foods. Studies have found that eating too many ultra-processed foods increases the risk of overall cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Examples of ultra-processed foods include candy, fried foods, and sweetened beverages.

Compared to non-plant-based diets, plant-based diets lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, says Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist. “Whole plant foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds offer a variety of benefits for mental and physical health."

Whole plant foods also are good...

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5 Reasons Why Rest and Recovery is Important

Taking a break is necessary so that you don’t actually break down. It’s the same with exercise. Getting enough rest after exercise is essential to recovery as well as performance.  Fitness expert JJ Virgin gives us the reasons why rest and recovery is important to one’s health.

Signs You Need to Rest 
Pushing yourself to your limit can be great, but pushing yourself too far can backfire. How do you know the difference? Your body offers clues. Feeling tired is one of the most straightforward signals you need to rest. Think of constant fatigue as a warning light on a car dashboard indicating low fuel.  

Soreness is another sign. After a challenging workout, feeling a little sore is normal. However, if that feeling lingers for an extended period, it's a sign that your muscles need more time to recover. Soreness is a message from your muscles telling you they need rest to repair and strengthen.  

Feeling irritable or easily agitated are...

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Different Types of Rest We Need

healthy lifestyle rest rise Nov 16, 2023

Our bodies need food, movement and rest. Rest, however, is not just about sleep. According to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, there are seven different types of rest your body needs to keep your energy levels and mental capacity high. They are:  

  • Physical rest 
  • Mental rest
  • Social rest
  • Spiritual rest
  • Sensory rest
  • Emotional rest
  • Creative rest

How do we know if we need more rest? Health expert JJ Virgin gives us the symptoms and breaks down the different types of rest we need.

Before we dive deeper into the different types of rest, let’s look at some of the symptoms you might be feeling if you’re missing out on any of the seven:   

  • Feeling tired, groggy, unfocused, or cranky throughout your day, even when getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night 
  • Stress from feeling like your life is non-stop action and hustle from the moment you wake up till the second your head touches the pillow at night 
  • Achy joints or random pain...
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The Worst Foods for Aging

Last week we shared an article about ways to slow down aging. This time health expert JJ Virgin shares the worst foods for aging. Here are the worst offenders:

1. Sugar
I’m sure I’m not the first person to break this news—there just isn’t anything redeeming about a diet high in sugar, especially as you age. There are a few different ways sugar works against your body to exacerbate the symptoms and physical signs of aging.

• It can create insulin resistance. After your body breaks down sugar into glucose and fructose, insulin delivers glucose to your cells to give you energy. But with a diet too high in sugar, your body starts to become resistant to the onslaught of insulin, or a condition known as insulin resistance. It will try to make enough insulin to overcome your body’s resistant response to the insulin it already has, which can lead to conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease—neither of which help the...

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Habits to Help You Live A Happier Life Part 3

The past two weeks we shared an article series about habits that will help you live a better and happier life. We’re wrapping it up with a list of habits that you can do on a regular basis. Let’s begin. 

Give back
If you find that giving daily compliments provides a needed boost to your mood, consider making a monthly routine of giving back on a larger scale. Maybe that’s helping out at a food bank on the third weekend of every month or offering to watch your friend’s kids one night per month.

Take yourself out
No one to go out with? Well, what rule says you can’t go out alone? Consider going to your favorite restaurant, taking in a movie, or going on that trip you’ve always dreamed of. Even if you’re a social butterfly, spending some deliberate time alone can help you reconnect with the activities that truly make you happy.

Create a thought list
You arrive for an appointment with 10 minutes to spare. What do you do with that...

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Habits to Help You Live A Happier Life Part 2

Here’s part two of the article on habits to help you live a happier life. Part one talked about daily habits you can start working on. You can read it here.

Declutter
Decluttering sounds like a big project, but setting aside just 20 minutes a week can have a big impact. What can you do in 20 minutes? Lots.

Set a timer on your phone and take 15 minutes to tidy up a specific area of one room — say, your closet or that out-of-control junk drawer. Put everything in its place and toss or give away any extra clutter that’s not serving you anymore. Keep a designated box for giveaways to make things a little easier (and avoid creating more clutter). Use the remaining 5 minutes to do a quick walk through your living space, putting away whatever stray items end up in your path. You can do this trick once a week, once a day, or anytime you feel like your space is getting out of control.

See friends
Humans are largely considered social beings, and while the research is mixed on...

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8 Ways to Let Nature Heal You

Spring is here and nature beckons to us to enjoy it. It’s not coincidental that we celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd. We are made from earth and to earth our bodies will return. We were meant to be in touch with nature. In fact Dr. Will Cole, a functional medicine expert and one of our faculty at RISE, tells us that by making a conscious effort to reconnect with the earth we can experience the wide range of health benefits that go hand in hand with spending time in nature. Dr. Cole shares with us 8 ways to do this:

1. Try forest bathing
Known as shinrin-yoku in Japan, forest bathing and spending time in nature has been shown to help lower stress hormones like cortisol, calm inflammation levels, and improve a variety of other biomarkers involved in overall health. Since most of us can’t spend hours hiking every day, I recommend carving out 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time outside. For me, I take a walk during lunch without my phone or any other distractions. Even...

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8 Ways to Make Your Salads Stand Out

Salads can be fun and easy to make! They can also be full of flavor that you might just find yourself craving for them. Don’t think of it as “diet” food. Instead see them as exciting and interesting meals that can pack flavor and texture. If your salad looks the same and boring on your plate, well then you need to try these strategies by health expert JJ Virgin.

Strategy 1: Add Some Crunch or Chew
For fun salad recipes, the crunchy stuff is often the best part. It adds texture and makes the dish more interesting and enjoyable. Most of the time this is achieved with croutons, but you don’t need any high food intolerance (Hi-Fi) foods to get the crunch you’re looking for.

Instead, try:
• Chopped fresh veggies like onions, cucumbers, carrots, etc.
Slivered almonds
Raw walnuts
Beans and legumes (roasted or air-fried until crisp)
Gluten-free black bean chip

Strategy 2: Include Low-Sugar Impact Fruit
Don’t forget, you can...

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Six Ways to Start Eating Healthy

Healthy eating starts in the kitchen so learning food prepping skills can go a long way in building up a healthy lifestyle. Here are some brilliant ideas from our very own nutritionist Chef Jenny Ross. 

Batch Prep
Preparing in advance means you’ll be making larger batches of healthy proteins, grains, vegetables and salads than you may have done in the past. You’ll need a great storage option for larger batches of things like quinoa, rice and veggie mix ups. Nutritionist and chef Jenny Ross recommends storing your batches in glass containers with locking lids as a clean option that is easily reusable. Finding stacking containers that can nest for easy storage when not in use will save you space in the kitchen as well.

Veggie Noodles make a great simple base for lunch entrees on the run. Create fresh noodles from carrots, zucchini, cucumber or yellow squash. Top that base with a great plant based protein like avocado, mushrooms or tofu and then add your favorite...

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9 Ways to Create a Good Morning Routine

What does your morning routine look like? Do you go through it in a rush so you can head out the door to avoid traffic? Or maybe the first thing you do is look at your phone and check for messages and scroll through social media. Whatever your morning looks like, it’s important to start it with the right frame of mind. A good morning routine can help set the tone for the day so you can better control your schedule instead of your schedule controlling you. When you start your morning right, it can help you stay focused on what’s important not just for work, but for yourself and the people you care for. Here are some tips from Verywell Mind on how to do that.

1. Give Yourself Time

Don't hit snooze! It can be so hard, especially in the beginning, to not go back to old ways and hit that snooze button so you can lay in bed just a little longer. A good morning routine allows you enough time to actually enjoy—and benefit from—your routine!

The amount of time can...

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