Greetings! 

 In today's economic and social climates, many of us fail to look after our physical and mental health, leaving us susceptible to undue stress, illness and poor energy levels.   The result is that we are less effective than we can be and life is a lot less enjoyable.I hope this article is helpful.   

I can hear the cries of, 'but I haven't got time!'   But the truth is, we always find time to pay attention to what we really want to do.   The simple fact is that eating nutritious foods and physical activity of one kind or another keep our minds and bodies working well.   But not only that, getting physical and eating well can be great fun and open new social opportunities!

This Thursday (10^th March), I'm running the second in my series of FR*EE monthly webcasts entitled '10 Foods & Activities That Keep You Healthier & Happier'.   All you need is access to a computer and half an hour of your time!   To learn how you can be happier healthier AND perform better, register now on www.brighttalk.com/webcast/24424.   I promise it won't be the 'run of the mill' diet and go to the gym routine!!

Just to give you a taster of what's on offer, let's take a look at why it's wise to make healthy living a priority.

1.         Always Eat Breakfast

Breakfast is one of those meals that many of us either forego or eat very hurriedly, snatching whatever is easiest and quickest.   But did you know that missing breakfast actually contributes to weight gain and also affects our energy levels adversely?  We've just been asleep for 7 or 8 hours and our blood sugar levels are low.   Eating breakfast in the morning kicks off the body's systems.   If you don't eat, your metabolism slows down because your body is in starvation mode and holds on to the nutrients it has.  

Eating proteins for breakfast will boost your brain's levels of dopamine and make you feel alert.   For example, you can choose from eggs, bacon, cold meats, mushrooms or tomatoes, or sprinkle your yoghurt with nuts and seeds.

2.            Eat Plenty of Freshly Prepared Foods

There are a lot of foods available which look and taste great, but which may have lost a lot of their nutrients in processing, transport and preparation.   Many of them are also loaded with chemicals, colourings, preservatives, salt, sugar and so on.   When we haven't prepared them ourselves it's difficult to know just what's in the foods we eat.  

Of course, you want to enjoy your food and want to enjoy the convenience of 'fast foods' when you're busy, but the fresher the foods and the less processed they are, the more able our bodies are to digest them and process them healthily.  

There are lots of ways of enjoying really good, healthy and fresh foods which don't take long to prepare - fish for example cooks really quickly and is very nutritious and stir frys are excellent.   Sure, you have to do a bit of chopping, but it doesn't take long and

preparing foods can be fun.   Instead of a sandwich at lunchtime, eat a homemade or organic soup or freshly prepared salad, or try a jacket potato with tuna or beans.

3.            Move Your Way to Better Performance

As far as physical activity is concerned, this is a really important part of maintaining good health and efficiency as it :

-       Eliminates toxins

-       Reduces stress

-       Promotes the production of endorphins (the 'happy hormone')

-       Is an investment in your future health and wellbeing.   Recent studies have shown that exercise in youth and middle age usually means better health in your older years

-       Helps you feel good.   If you feel good about the way you look, you feel better.  

It's just a matter of taking care of yourself and directly affects your ability to perform and enjoy life to the full.   In the long run, you'll be doing yourself a favour.

The recommended rate of exercise for good health is 20 minutes exercise, 5 days a week, but this needn't be a drudge and can be good fun.   It doesn't necessarily mean going to the gym either.   It just means being active and that can be done in numerous ways from dancing to DIY.   So choose something that you feel good about, vary the routine and enjoy.  

Remember, every time you make a small step towards better health, you're investing in your long terms health AND your short term performance and enjoyment.   That means you get more out of life and so do the people around you, because you'll be more fun to be around.

If you genuinely feel constantly under excessive pressure and that you have no time to fit everything in, then something needs to change or you will eventually make yourself ill.   Battling on through for short periods might be necessary, but this cannot be sustained over long periods without damaging our health, enjoyment and efficiency.    If this is the case for you, you will need to ask for help from a manager, mentor or coach to help you identify what you can do to get back in control of the situation.   It is not 'weak' to ask for help, just a recognition that something needs to change.

Many people say they don't have time to focus on these aspects of their lives, but if we want to do something, we always make time.   The crucial question is, with so much being demanded of us in our full lives, can you afford NOT to make your health and wellbeing a priority?

To learn much more about Eating & Drinking for Better Wellbeing, Stress Relief Expert & Soul2Soul Coach, Annie Lawler is conducting a Webcast "Foods & Activities that Make You Healthier, & Happier" on 10^th March 2011.   This is part of a series of monthly webcasts which reveal the secrets of happy, effective and healthy living.     Register NOW on www.brighttalk.com/webcast/24424

With love

Annie x