When you’re just waking up, it’s easy to drag your feet and want to get right back into bed. That’s why I created a winter wake-up self-care routine that actually inspires me to get moving in the morning. Whether you incorporate all of these tips or just dabble in one, you will start your day feeling pampered and ready to tackle what’s ahead. Promise!

Start Oil Pulling.

There are countless studies that tout the overall health benefits of oil pulling – an age-old remedy rooted in Ayurvedic medicine that uses natural substances to clean and detoxify tea and gums. GuruNanda’s Oil Pulling Mouthwash takes all of the guesswork out of which oils to use and makes it super easy to incorporate this natural wellness exercise into an everyday routine. Another result? Whiter teeth. I’ll take it!

Use a facial cleansing brush.

Brushes aren’t just for hair and teeth. With this two-speed rotating cleansing brush, you can effortlessly exfoliate dead and dull skin, leaving your skin looking vibrant and fresh all year round. Bring on that summer glow all year round!

Give yourself a good blowout.

Who doesn’t love a good blowout? Get similar salon results at home by purchasing a great hairdryer. There are so many good options out there that help protect your hair from heat damage and create less frizz for those of us for whom humid weather is enemy number one. It’s an absolute must-have in your beauty tool kit.

Indulge in a great tea.

Who doesn’t want to indulge, guilt-free? I know I do! That’s why I was so excited to discover Pinky Up’s line of dessert tea. With organic flavors, you might even trick yourself into thinking you’re soothing your soul with a delicious red velvet cake. Go ahead and brew it right in Pinky Up’s gorgeous ceramic and gold mug, leaving you feeling indulged from the inside out.

Get an essential oil diffuser.

It’s important to awaken all of your senses in a soothing and calm way when you start your day. This diffuser aromatically delivers pure essential oils to your space, with many “mood-enhancing” options. One of my favorites is a citrus oil that instantly brightens my morning.

Nikita Chopra is a beauty and lifestyle expert who inspires readers to discover and celebrate their own inner beauty. Read more about Nitika at nikitachopra.com.

Photography by Constance Mariena

This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2018 issue of The Inspired Home Journal, titled “Winter Wake Up.”

Looking for more self-care tips?

• How to Create Your Own Fitness Journey
• Improve Your Sleep Health By Adding These Four Things to Your Nightly Routine
• How the 80/20 Rule Can Set You Up for Self-Care Success

The post Self-Care Tips for Your Best Morning appeared first on The Inspired Home.

While everyone is in a drastically different situation right now, I want to remind you that being kind to yourself (you’re trying, you can’t do it all- so do what you need to do to reign in your stress, keep positive, work through emotions and stay healthy). You’re allowed to feel the feels and you’re also allowed to use this time to start a new project. People cope in different ways and no way is necessarily better than the other.

With that said, I’ve seen a few repeating themes pop up that you may want answered too. Remember, for the latest recommendations on COVID related information, visit resources like the CDC website and the WHO. Let’s dive in.

“I still want to make sustainable choices in my grocery shopping, but how do I make sure my reusable bags and groceries are clean and sanitized?”

As someone who believes making sustainable choices is extremely important, I hear where you’re coming from. I always have my reusable bags with me. While many people need to be reminded to wash their reusable bags in normal circumstances, I must highlight the importance of washing your reusable bags EVERY TIME now.

You’ll want to wash your bag in the highest temperature allowed for the item with soap. If your bag has a wipeable surface (the ones I use do), use a sanitizing solution to wipe the inside. Remember also to disinfect the surfaces the bag comes in contact with once inside your home and WASH YOUR HANDS after.

It’s also okay to not feel comfortable using a reusable bag now too. That’s part of caring for your mental health. If your region is experiencing a spike in cases, know it’s okay to use a store bag right now and dispose of it responsibly. In fact, some localities have temporarily banned the use of reusable bags altogether.

When it comes to groceries themselves, follow all standard food safety protocols, even more truly than you maybe did previously. Wash the exteriors of melons or loose fruits or veggies that may have been handled in the store before cutting into it. This is something you should be doing anyway! Continue to follow all food safety temperature and storage protocols.

And for your sustainability conscience, remember that you’re likely making different choices in your day to day that help offset disposable choices you may be forced to make right now. If you’re working from home, that’s zero driving in comparison to normal.

“I’m overwhelmed with making sure everyone is fed healthy meals and snacks, especially with working from home and limited outings. Lately, I’ve been lenient, allowing lots of more ‘junk foods’. How can I get my family involved but make sure options are nutritious?

If you have a family with you at home right now, daily tasks are more exhausting than ever. Everyone is eating at home but on top of that you’re trying to work/virtual school/keep everyone entertained/etc!!! That’s mentally exhausting. Some nights, you’re going to have pizza. Maybe twice in a row. And you know what? It’s fine. Always think about this in terms of the bigger picture. There will be days or weeks when maybe there are choices happening that you wouldn’t prefer. It’s not going to be “perfect”.

Kids, and adults, are more invested in projects and more willing to try things when they help problem solve (and you might be surprised what they come up with!). Never be afraid to ask your family for help. This doesn’t need to be a ‘sit down family meeting things are changing discussion’ in fact, that might make everyone feel like things have been ‘wrong or bad’. When eating dinner or maybe going on a family walk, ask everyone what kinds of meals they’d look forward to eating and brainstorm together. If you’re only getting shout out suggestions that sound like a standard kid’s restaurant menu (you know the ones that don’t give kids any credit and only make beige foods) have an ‘either-or’ conversation to add veggies to the mix. “Would you eat that with green beans or would you eat that with zucchini?”

Repeats aren’t bad, so once you find a family favorite, consider making it a project with the kids (or your spouse) to make a family cookbook during this time. Creating a family “menu” reduces decision fatigue.

Still, lacking inspiration? Sometimes the solution is as simple as buying a new sauce or dressing for veggies or proteins. You don’t have to make everything from scratch! While making dressings or sauces at home reduces levels of sodium and sugar as well as cost, sometimes convenience reigns supreme.

“I’m cooking a lot at home still and my family still likes basic meat entrees instead of plant-based dinners. When I cook meat, how do I make sure my dish is healthier?”

While it’s a healthier choice to use meat as more of a ‘topping’ or ‘side’ to a base of vegetables, you can’t force people into eating the way you want. (No one wants a quarantine fight over ribs).

If you’re cooking a cut of meat that’s a bit higher in fat, use the drippings or liquid from the cooking process and separate the fat to make a sauce or dressing. Take the sauce and drizzle it over sheet pan roasted veggies and make that a large side! If you’ve got a family of carnivores, taking the umami flavoring from cooking the meat (and removing the fat) will help add vitamins and minerals and fiber to the mix.

Most people won’t opt in on plain veggies, so think of ways to take the flavors they love and work them into veggies.

The post A Dietitian Answers All of Your Pandemic Wellness Questions appeared first on The Inspired Home.

Your best sleep comes from a practiced routine, whether is one step or ten! These four steps have helped me find a place of zen before it’s lights out!

Lather up.

Putting on lotion gives me peace of mind before I hit the hay. Lathering up before bed creates softer, more hydrated skin the next day! Go to bed feeling refreshed and wake up fresh!

This Mother Nature body lotion is my go-to product at night! It’s filled with lavender, bergamot, and chamomile along with coconut oil to leave your skin feeling soft, not greasy! The scent is fresh and relaxing and creates a sense of calmness at first application! Add to your arms, legs, and décolletage each night!

Spritz your pillow.

Sometimes we all need a jumpstart and a natural pillow spray can be the key that revs that engine! A calming fragrance can help you to enjoy a deeper, more restful sleep! This Relaxus Aromatherapy Sleep Pillow Spray is made of a refreshing and spiritual blend of soothing pure essential oils to help you relax and get a good night’s rest! Spritz 3 to 4 times on your pillow/linens, lay back, and enjoy the relaxing scent as you take your deep breaths into your slumber!

Find the perfect pillow.

The MyPillow Premium is a great pillow that allows for adjusting when and where needed… and comfortably. MyPillow prevents head, neck, and shoulder pains that are common when you wake up. The interlocking filling gives your neck the support it needs so that you can continue through your REM sleep with every turn.

Finding the perfect pillow can be such a struggle — like finding the ONE pillow that checks all your sleeping boxes! The right pillow helps you relax and allows your body to melt in to the bed so that you can find that deep slumber. If not, you are tossing, turning and fluffing all night!

Get a weighted blanket.

Adding the right blanket to the mix is a strong element to your sleep recipe! Weighted blankets are therapeutic blankets that mimic extra weight as part of a therapeutic technique called “deep pressure stimulation”. The pressure helps relax your nervous system and can help lessen, but not limited to, bedtime anxiety.

This Sutton Home Fashions weighted blanket is designed to help relieve stress and anxiety to help you get a good night’s sleep — the blanket feels like a gentle hug! Not to mention, you can snuggle up with this weighted blanket to keep you warm and cozy during those colder months!

Looking for a better nights sleep?

• Sumptuous & Simple Ways To Get Much More Rejuvenating Sleep!
• 8 Simple Ways to Upgrade Your Bedtime Routine For More Rejuvenating Sleep
• Supercharge Your Bedtime Beauty Routine

The post Improve Your Sleep Health By Adding These Four Things to Your Nightly Routine appeared first on The Inspired Home.

Just like anything else, breaks are a good thing! If you find yourself on social media multiple times a day for work or just for leisure, taking a break will do you some good.

But how exactly do you take a social media break? And even when you decide to take a social media break, what else are you supposed to do?

Taking a social media break does not have to be dramatic. You don’t need to go online and tell everyone you are leaving and write a long dramatic goodbye. Just leave. Yep. I’ve found that for the most part, if you just take a break, people will catch on. You can also delete the apps or distractions off your phone and Facebook will let you temporarily deactivate your account so you aren’t tempted to jump back on.

Okay, so you’ve taken the break. Now, what do you do with all that free time? I’m glad you asked! Your social media break is the perfect time to practice things like mindfulness, setting goals, moving more, and getting organized.

Plan.

Social media is a great way to get inspired. But now that you are on a break, you have the opportunity to get inspired somewhere else. Visit some museums, a local market, travel to a different state, etc. Do something that gets you motivated and inspired to set some goals!

During my breaks, I’m always ready to do some planning for family and for my blog. So having a pen, paper, and calendar is a must. I love this planner and journal by See Jane Work! It’s the perfect way to stay organized and keep all your thoughts in one spot.

Read.

Social media can end up sucking hours of your time and not really produce any real progress. On your break, pick up a favorite book that you have been waiting to start or finish. Reading in a cozy corner of your room or apartment can give you all the feels. To really boost the mood, set up a diffuser.

Listen to a podcast.

I love podcasts! I listen to mostly educational and design ones along with wellness. Scroll through some and once you land on a favorite, put on a pair of headphones and listen to them at your desk, while you’re working out, or at night right before bed.

Try a new recipe.

More time on your hands means being more thoughtful about everything. Right now is a great time to make a new healthy recipe that you can add to your weekly meal plan. I like to look for things that are easy to make. This Grilled Cilantro Chicken recipe from my blog is a favorite right now! It’s delicious and can be made on the weeknight or weekend. It will definitely make its way into your monthly menu.

Purge and organize.

Pick an area in your home that needs to be decluttered and tackle it! Invest in a few different pieces like these from neatfreak! to keep things organized!

This closet organizer is great for your linens. It has drawers for pillowcases and shams and shelves for blankets and duvets and is so easy to put together.

The under the bed storage bag gives you extra storage that is tucked away out of sight and great for small spaces.

Are you ready for a social media break? What will be first on your list of things to do?

The post What to Do During Your Social Media Break appeared first on The Inspired Home.

You get to decide what to eat, when to eat, and how to get that food. Intuitive cooking honors your time, budget, lifestyle, and desire. It helps to make life a little easier in order to give you room to live it fully.

If you aren’t familiar with Intuitive Eating, you can find a little background information in my article, Everything you Need to Know About Intuitive Eating.

While there is no equation or principles to follow with Intuitive Cooking, there are a few suggestions I have to get you started:

Acknowledge Comfort Foods

The biggest limitation I see to long-term success with Intuitive Eating and Cooking is when people try to ignore, change, or refuse to acknowledge their comfort foods. This plays heavily into dichotomous thinking about food, i.e. good v. bad food. Most of the time I see people struggle with going too far in either direction and they end up forgetting to honor balance, variety, or satisfaction.

On either end of this spectrum, comfort foods play a big role. My hope for you is that you feel empowered to cook meals that truly taste delicious, and make your feel great, mentally, and physically.

The point of acknowledging your comfort foods is to look at the thing that’s keeping you away from balance, no matter which end of the spectrum you fall on, and finding ways to honor your tastes and preferences with both comfort and “healthy” foods. Honoring comfort foods plays a vital role in Intuitive Cooking.

Acknowledge Your Schedule

Recognize the realities and limitations of your day-to-day. The bottom line is: don’t try to fit a square peg into a round hole. If you are trying to achieve “health” by creating drastic changes in your eating and cooking, but fail to acknowledge the realities of your life, nothing is going to stick. Plus, extreme changes won’t serve you in the long run.

Intuitive cooking is about serving your needs realistically with the time and energy you have. It’s about honoring nutrition through variety by making room for all types of cooking scenarios. It means making foods from scratch, buying convenience, and ordering takeout. It means playing and sometimes failing in the kitchen. It means baking and enjoying the pleasure of food.

The key is to recognize your schedule and brain space given your unique lifestyle. Then, realistically prepare with the tools to help you feel empowered to feed yourself and your family in a way that feels right.

Plan for Success

When it comes to Intuitive Cooking, you won’t get very far if you don’t have the tools you need. Your kitchen doesn’t need to be stocked, but it’s important to make the meals you desire as easy and accessible as possible. Cooking at home is so much more enjoyable when you set yourself up for success and take it from this chef, it starts with having the right tools.

A few items that are must-haves in any kitchen:

A sharp chef’s knife.

This should be your most used tool in the kitchen, and you deserve to have a quality knife. Take good care of it, sharpen it regularly, and make the job of chopping to much more pleasant (and safe!).

Quality cutting boards.

I always recommend Dexas cutting boards because they are well made and easy to clean. I like to have a few boards of different purposes. It’s not fun to cut melon on a board that you’ve recently chopped a bunch of garlic on — yuck! I try to keep a meat board for meat, a produce board for fruits and veggies, and a separate board for strong scented or colored produce (like garlic and beets!).

A big water bottle.

Okay, this might not actually be a piece of kitchen equipment, but it helps me plan for success when I have a nice drinking bottle. I find time and time again that I neglect water if I don’t have a bottle to carry around with me. I always make it a point to drink water in my Klean Kanteen when I’m cooking because the kitchen is an easy place to refill and remind myself to drink up!

Mixing bowls.

Go ahead and get a set of nesting mixing bowls. I find that most people have far too few mixing bowls in their kitchen. They can be used for literally anything, and I find that it’s much easier to breeze through cooking when I have plenty of appropriate sizes to pull from. Nothing kills the flow of cooking like having to stop and wash a high-traffic item. Having enough of these is surprisingly underrated, especially when they nest and store away so easily.

A high-speed blender.

I’ve recently changed my mind about this. I used to make the case that a blender was lower on the list of must-haves and above it was the food processor. And while it’s nice to have all the equipment to do all the things, it’s not totally necessary. Especially not with Intuitive Cooking.

I think the tool that will get the most traction is a high-speed blender. You can make simple smoothies, blend hummus, or cream soups. You can chop ice or pulse grains. It can do everything a food processor can, but more. I love the aesthetics of this Wolf blender, and it has a nice wide base to make blending easy.

Spatulas.

Okay another random one, but again, I’m always shocked at the number of people who don’t have this tool. Or if they do, it’s broken, too small or too big. I like to have a classic spatula on hand like this one from Swissmar because it’s a perfect size and is really high quality. It can be placed in the dishwasher and is multi-functional. A spatula will make your life so much easier so you can cook without a second thought.

Wooden spoons.

I find wooden spoons to be so romantic. They remind me of a grandmother cooking her Sunday sauce, wearing an apron, and humming over a bubbling pot. And while that vision is sweet, the point is that they are a timeless, all-purpose kitchen tool. They are softer than metal, thus gentler on the food and your cookware. There are a million options out there, but I think nothing beats a classic size and shape.

Dutch oven.

An enameled cast iron pot is a wonderful cooking vessel. It is so multi-purpose and can last a lifetime. Make soups and stews, fry, bake bread, use it on the grill, cook rice, beans, grains. The power of this Tramontina pot is in the fact that the heavy bottom of cast iron creates an even cooking environment, while the enamel has a gentle touch for a nice non-stick surface. Luckily there are so many options that you can pick what best fits your budget and style, but I like to have one anywhere between 5 and 7 quarts.

Measuring cups and spoons.

Don’t forget to check your drawers. Do you have a full set of all measuring cups and spoons? If you are missing one or two and try to follow a recipe, you may be setting yourself up for disaster. Measurements are very precise and it’s best to always have what you need to measure accurately. The more you can empower yourself in the kitchen the better. Mistakes are always welcome (even if they are annoying!), but I don’t want you discouraging yourself altogether.

Storage containers.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have storage containers to fit your needs. It’s kind of like the goldilocks of kitchen equipment because it can take some trial and error to find the kind the works best for your lifestyle.

Maybe you need plastic so it travels to and from work without adding too much weight. Or maybe the glass is better so you can reheat it in any way necessary. Maybe you need more jars than classic storage containers because you freeze a lot of soups or grains. Maybe you need a diversity of sizes to store bulk and pantry items.

I am loving this Botto Design storage container because it adjusts size, squeezes out any extra air, just fit your needs at any given moment. That has intuitive cooking and eating written all over it.

The beauty of Intuitive Eating and Intuitive Cooking is that the sole point is to help you put yourself back in the driver’s seat of your life. It’s about acknowledging your unique life and body and finding ways to serve yourself first, without too much noise. It’s meant to be imperfect, and it’s meant for you to make it into your own. Happy eating, friends!

Looking for more healthy eating tips?

• Everything You Need to Know About Intuitive Eating
• 3 Easy Steps to Weekly Recipe Planning
• Everything You Need to Know About Flexitarian Eating

The post How to Cook with Intuitive Eating in Mind appeared first on The Inspired Home.

If this article is finding you at just the right time, welcome. If you are familiar with my work in the fight against diet culture, thanks for being here. The biggest thing that I want to say in all of this is, I am in no way against the dieter, I am, however, against the systems that keep us on the yo-yo diet train. I believe Intuitive Eating is the answer.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive Eating is not another fad diet. It’s actually the opposite of a diet. Intuitive Eating is a framework that helps previously stuck dieters break free from the diet mentality and move into food freedom and body autonomy. It’s about respecting your unique body and your unique life.

There are 10 principles that help guide each individual away from Diet Mentality and into a place of food freedom. These principles include: honor your hunger, movement — feel the difference, and honor health – gentle nutrition. But they also include: reject the diet mentality, challenge the food police, and discover the satisfaction factor.

Intuitive Eating has absolutely no counting, tracking, restricting, or anything that relies on external cues in Intuitive Eating. It is a self-liberating mindset that puts you back in charge of your life and your happiness.

Why We Need Intuitive Eating

Diet culture has become the air we breathe. It’s all around us and it’s almost impossible to recognize until you remove yourself from it. But it’s harmful to us none-the-less (hence my objection to the culture, and not to the people who participate in it), and I want to take a moment to explain why:

Did you know that weight-cycling (aka yo-yo dieting) is more harmful to your health than weight stability? Even if your weight is higher while stable? Or that there isn’t a single valid study that shows long-term dieting for weight-control works?

In fact, the only thing we know for sure about dieting is that it is a predictor for weight gain. Yes, weight gain. The exact opposite reason that the majority of people partake in fad-diets. Not to mention the more time and energy we spend on trying to control our weight, the more dissatisfied we feel with our bodies, and the more we judge other people’s bodies, too. Both of those mindsets negatively affect mental and physical health. It sure sounds like a hamster wheel of problems to me.

But what about health?

The most common response I hear after I share the above information is, “but what about health?” And while the conversation about health, its moral role in our culture, and the ravaging issues of weight-stigma has to be saved for another conversation, I do have an answer for you.

First, of course, anyone who cares about you wants you to be safe and healthy. That includes the Health at Every Size (HAES) and Intuitive Eating (IE) movement. We care about you.

Second, diet culture has so heavily dictated to us what the pursuit of health must look like, most of us wouldn’t be able to recognize any existence outside of these cultural norms.

For example, you may be thinking, “but how will stay healthy without counting calories?” Or, “How can I stay fit without tracking movement?”. All of these concerns are valid, and the questions I hear from clients again and again. The common denominator in both of those questions is a reliance on external cues, i.e. counting, tracking, controlling, etc. I’m arguing that it’s time to look inward and learn how to trust your body and operate within it, for it.

Third, we still must think about the pillars of health.

The pillars of health are quite simple. And you probably already know just what to do. You know to move your body. You probably already know to drink more water and less alcohol. I know you know that it’s important to eat a wide variety of foods to help provide balance. And stress? Well, we could all be managing it a little better. These are all things that can be done without focusing on weight, and they can be done without dieting.

Ready to get started? Check out my Intuitive Cooking Tips.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Intuitive Eating appeared first on The Inspired Home.

Plan Your Meals

Carve some time in your week, maybe even add the time in your calendar, to work on building your menu for the week. I prefer to work based on the activities I have in my calendar and map out my dinners based on what I have time for each night. If I have a busy evening, I’ll add a sheet pan or slow cooker meal — this allows me to prep the night before or for minimal prep time that night.

Be proactive with your recipe planning and utilize a tool to give your planning more success. I love this jOTBLOCK combo planner. Not only does it give me a clean weekly view, but there’s enough space to incorporate other activities, notes, and a to-do list! The weekly view gives you the ability to focus on that particular week, and not get overwhelmed by planning for weeks to come. Bookmark or Pin the recipes you’ve selected so that can you return to them during another week.

Build Your Ingredient List

Your weekly meal plan will now serve as the foundation of your grocery list. Pull all the ingredients from your selected meals to start building your grocery list — most of your list will be a direct copy and paste from those recipe ingredient lists. For a more budget-friendly approach, select recipes that aren’t too complex and aren’t packed with special ingredients.

I’m old fashioned and love a good paper list — something that I can hold in the store and mark up as I toss items into my cart! This jOTBLOCK sketchpad is the perfect place for me to jot my weekly list in a vertical view. The sketchpad comes with a variety pack of pencils so that I can map out my grocery list by sections in the store. By listing the ingredient items by grocery section, you’re able to maximize your time in the store, be efficient with your shopping, and stay focused with that you need!

Prep Your Food

To truly maximize your time during the week, wash and prep your foods to allow for more time to yourself on weeknights! Start with something simple like washing and packaging fruit, or pulling kale from the vine and storing it to allow for more space in your fridge!

One of my favorite prep steps is to add these FreshGlow FreshPaper sheets that keep your produce fresh! You can add them directly to your food container or add them to a produce drawer!

By mapping out your meals for the week, you are giving yourself the comfort of knowing you’ve been proactive in your planning!

The post 3 Easy Steps to Weekly Recipe Planning appeared first on The Inspired Home.

Because of the recent health crisis, people have realized that there’s a middle ground of eating. Accessibility, cost (no expensive specialty products for “approved” versions of breads, snacks, etc), and in some cases, a general realignment of some internal values have led people to adjust their diets.

The Flexitarian diet is flexible semi-vegetarianism that includes a moderate intake of animal products. The basic idea is you can get some of the benefits of vegetarianism without making a full commitment, thereby making it a more “acceptable”, lasting change for most people, and one that also happens to align with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines.

Basic Flexitarian “Rules”

• Focus on fruits, vegetables, legumes and pulses, and whole grains.
• Opt for plant-based proteins, but add animal-based products occasionally.
• Limit added sugar and sweeteners.
• Don’t rely on snack foods or highly “processed” foods (i.e. don’t be a ‘junk food’ Flexitarian).

In contrast, if you look at many rules for other eating plans, the lists are much longer and much more strict, often avoiding entire food groups. The benefit of Flexitarian eating right now is that it makes use of pantry staples (pulses, grains), supporting small growers and farmers (produce, animal products, etc) and is budget-conscious (not main feature dishes of animal protein). It also has a positive environmental impact, especially if you’re sourcing from local producers.

Flexitarian diets have good health benefits too.

• A focus on produce is something many Americans lack. With increased produce, as well as legumes and grains, fiber intake is boosted. This helps you feel more full and satisfied and also aids in digestion
• Higher intake of diverse vitamins and minerals.
• There’s also good evidence that indicates there are health markers that change with a flexitarian diet, including lower levels of blood pressure, improved metabolic health markers, as well as a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

3 Ways to Get Started on a Flexitarian Diet

1. Make small swaps. Mix mushrooms into your ground beef (it’s called “the blend” and if you look it up, you can find tons of information on how to do this with a variety of recipes!), or try walnuts or lentils.
2. Make meat a topping. Cooking steak? Slice it thinly and serve it over veggies. Take rotisserie chicken and toss it into a slaw or salad. Make less animal-protein-centric entrees.
3. Stock up on pulses. These inexpensive pantry staples that include beans, lentils, chickpeas, and split peas, are nutrient-dense and are super versatile.

You may come to realize you’ve really been eating a Flexitarian diet all along! There is no “perfect” when it comes to this diet. See if you can shift your habits and focus little by little for some health benefits.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Flexitarian Eating appeared first on The Inspired Home.

I tried to look at it from a different vantage point. I set two goals — one long term and one short term. The short term goals allowed me to cherish mini-wins and keep me motivated towards my long term goal.

Today I’m going to share a few easy ways to help you create your own fitness journey with three approachable steps.

Plan.

There is nothing better than a killer planner to help kick start your goals. I think it’s safe to say that for everyone, we all like to visualize a plan so that we can fully understand it’s scope, digest it and map out our next steps. Alleviate your weekly stress of finding time to squeeze in a workout, by dedicating 30 minutes each week to creating your weekly plan, and only your weekly plan. A seven-day plan allows you to build something more achievable and attainable — it affords you the opportunity to have those mini wins in the short term towards the long term.

RELATED: How the 80/20 Rule Can Set You Up for Self-Care Success

Pick one day (I use Sundays) and try mapping out your entire week from your work schedule, appointments, social gatherings, travel, etc. Once you have your large commitment items added to your week, you can start to see your availabilities throughout the week to start scheduling your workouts.

This is the first step in creating a proactive program for yourself. Start by setting your weekly goals (e.g. based on my schedule this week, my goal is three workouts). Once you have determined your weekly goal, add meeting invites to your calendar, or if you are a paper calendar person, add them in ink!

Execute.

Now that you have your weekly goals set, think through how you are going to execute that goal. What can you do to hold yourself accountable for the goal you set? If your goal was three workouts and you prefer to workout at home, map out what those three workouts will look like! If you are someone who finds motivation from an instructor, sign up for three classes and get them booked as soon as they are live!

There are also so many streaming apps that are available to help you so that you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home from Sweat, Obe Fitness and The Sculpt Society.

With minimal gym equipment like a mat, balancing ball and jump rope, you can execute your weekly workouts through your phone or computer! What I love most about a few of those streaming services, is that they are mainly 30 min MAX workouts, making them easier to apply to your weekly schedule.

Recover.

Personally, I find this next step to be the hardest of the three. Finding time to plan my workouts and act on them is one thing, taking more time from my week to recover, is another. BUT you don’t realize how important it is to you and your journey until you do it! Recovery is as simple as taking a bath in the evening with an herbal soak or adding pain-relieving lotion to areas of pain post-workout.

Recently I discovered a tool to help me in my recovery process that also allows me to multi-task. The Myobuddy Massager Pro is the perfect tool to use to alleviate stress from your body while you are watching a show! The Myobuddy provides instant relief to the areas that need it so that you can continue to build and grow because you can’t have power without recovery. It’s a mini win for me and my weekly goals to add this to my overall regiment.

The post How to Create Your Own Fitness Journey appeared first on The Inspired Home.

This is not a piece on coping or attitude or dealing with emotions that hold an underlying place in fear or worry. This is a piece on what you can do with yourself to keep busy and productive and look forward to something. In essence… what to do when it’s winter and you’re waiting for spring… but emotionally.

As a health professional, I can’t move forward without touching on COVID-19 and your wellbeing briefly. If you are struggling emotionally, seek help. Reach out to friends and family and check with your doctor or wellness center to see if virtual counseling is available. There are also resources like Talkspace, an online therapy company. It’s okay to not feel okay and to work through those emotions.

But for those seeking actionable tasks that feel refreshing, here’s what you can do.

Bring the outdoors in.

I don’t think anyone has realized until now how much we take the outdoors for granted. Whatever kind of space you have, ordering a plant to add nature inside brings all sorts of health benefits (and air purifying benefits). If you want to take it one step further, you can also grow food inside (no matter you natural light situation).

The Veritable Exky Garden is a French product that takes care of its light and water needs after you plug it in and occasionally refill the water tank.

You can purchase different seed inserts from culinary herbs to edible flowers or even strawberries. If you or even your kids need a nature-related project, especially in an apartment, this could serve as both a learning opportunity and a dose of happy.

Just make sure you have a European power converter since this company is French! If you’re not looking to grow anything inside just yet, and you’re lucky enough to have a yard, get to planning your outdoor garden. Use Pinterest, garden websites, watch Monty Don on Netflix (a British garden expert) and start dreaming.

Tackle an indoor project that’s been driving you crazy.

Our dirty little secret in our house was our spice drawer. You can see in the before pictures, we have LOTS of spices (we essentially cook for a living so it kind of makes sense). The mismatched sizes drove me crazy and this didn’t give me the opportunity to just buy refills to decant as needed. The labels…ugh! You can see in the photo how mentally distracting it is to look inside.

But these glass and stainless steel jars (with shaker tops!) Are sleek and perfect and come with labels you can write on the bottom. *Sparks joy* and makes cooking even more relaxing than it already is for me.

Pull out your warmer weather wardrobe pieces.

Put your favorite on display. I know there may be a handbag or dress or sweater you love but feel like you can’t use around the house right now in ‘no-go’ socializing mode. But if it makes you happy, pull it out and put it on your dresser or a hanger like a boutique. You can appreciate the beauty and memories of things you have, regardless of where you’re going or not going.

If you live in a climate where it’s still brisk, put in some spring wardrobe and pull out the coldest weather clothes to store in storage bins in the meantime. This will give you more space to see what you truly need to see as you get ready each morning.

Swap what you see daily.

Be it bedding, flatware, glasses or dishtowels, the products you use every day can be seasonal too. It makes each interaction with a daily item more enjoyable. I have beautiful, heavy and green glasses in my kitchen for fall and winter, but in spring I want things to feel crisp and light.

So I swap out my drinking glasses and store them like I do my cold vs warm-weather wardrobe. Same with flatware. It takes up about a shoe box’s worth of space to swap them out and it brings a small moment of beauty and joy to everyday dining.

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