http://hestefotograf.deviantart.com/art/Happiness-472550306

I have been speaking about happiness in an emotional way because, besides our body, we are emotional beings and happiness is an emotion. The experts say there are several dimensions of happiness; for me there are only two: Emotional (already includes social, spiritual, etc.) and Physical. And it’s about this last one I’ll speak today.

First of all, spend time in nature. It’s healthy and relaxing. You can do lots of fun activities in nature, but if you are one of those people really hard to please, what about a simple walk? Walking clears the mind and boosts serotonin. Moreover, it is very good for your muscles and bones and improves blood circulation. Besides all that, it even reduces the will to eat “things you don’t need” and makes you lose weight. If you decide to walk on the beach, the sand will give your feet a pleasant massage and all this for free!

Exercise yourself. Like I said before, every day the body accumulates energy and it shall be spent. Once I read something like this “gym: the place where your head rests and your body works”. When your body is tired, you sleep better and in the morning you are as new again. All your organs, muscles and bones benefit of the exercises... you’ll lose nothing. There are so many activities you can do, it’s impossible to not like any. I am not a defender of gyms because 99% of people who go there are obsessed with their bodies. I don’t want you obsessed, I want you happy! A healthy mind in a healthy body! The most beautiful curve of your body is your smile! Never forget that!!

Medicines only if needed. When people break a leg, they usually use a crutch to lean on; the crutch is “substituting” their broken leg. Before the accident, they weren’t using it and that's what is going to happen as soon as they can walk again. What sense would it make to continue using it? Medicines are crutches! Except those special cases where people need to take them daily, the function of medicines is to obtain/repair health, but the most important task comes from you, from your behaviour. The doctor’s advice is to follow; the medicines only by themselves won’t do miracles! So, all the special cases aside, medicines don’t have a lifetime contract, they are just a crutch when you have a broken leg... almost all of them have secondary effects! Some of them cause dependency and the more time you take them, the harder it will be to stop taking them. I am serious my friend, people resort to drugs (well, that’s what they are...) for everything and for nothing, when most of times they could use some alternative therapies. I can assure you, they work! And sometimes they are even more effective than medicaments (and sometimes quite more expensive too). Here some examples: diets, herbs, massage, osteopathy, yoga, relaxation, meditation, spirituality, homoeopathy, reiki, etc. Remember, health has no price and it starts with you!

Hygiene. No, I won’t write to wash behind your ears! If I ask people if they brush their teeth (and no, it’s not of my business), I am pretty sure they will answer “yeah, sure, every day”. And what about dental floss, do you use it? Now the answer would be completely different. It’s important to use it! Flossing is an important part of taking care of your teeth and gums because removes plaque and little pieces of food between your teeth that brushing can’t or may have missed.
It’s easy and quick to do it and quite cheap, so you have no excuse from now on.

A while ago I read a curious headline “Fecal matter found on toothbrushes”. I thought what?! So I began to read the news.
The thing is that they advise to close the lid before you flush. It was something that I never did before, to be completely honest with you, but I've been doing it the last months and I am loving it. I love the idea of being more hygienic and those unaesthetic drops of water that always appear after we flush the toilet ... well, with the lid down they can´t appear. Some say that if you live in your home is not a serious subject, yet I liked the idea and will keep doing that. Here it is a similar article (mine was in Portuguese); it mentions a few more issues about hygiene that you already must know (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/germs-in-bathroom). So, tell your family and friends and everyone you care. And don't forget to floss your teeth every day (at night preferably). Dont eat after!

Alimentation. Starting with drinks, the best drink you can have is water. Not water with strawberry aroma, not "juices" or some other strange drink and certainly not wine or any other kind of alcohol. Your body is composed basically by water and not alcohol or juice. Water is vital! If you like aromatised water you can do it yourself at home. Then you'll know exactly what you are drinking. I am not saying to stop drinking what you like most; I am saying that water must be your main drink and the other drinks shall be exceptions and not the rule. You can buy "juices" since 0, 30€/l till 2, 3, 4€ here, now let me ask you something. Do you think that the juice you buy is pure? Let’s suppose you buy pineapple juice by 4€/l... can you imagine how many pineapples I have to buy to make the same quantity of juice? And mine would be pure, I can assure you! So, how can they sell a litre for 4€ if I'd be spending a lot more, huh? I will share two links. If you are passionate about health, please read, otherwise ignore them. The first one you can read in one minute; the second is a little bit longer, but interesting!

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4287/10-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Drink-More-Water.html

http://greatist.com/health/health-benefits-water

Time to tell you a (hi)story!

A young guy liked to drink coca-cola (in the morning, at lunch, at dinner and every time he was thirsty). I don't know whether he used to drink water or not. All I know is that after a few years he began to feel sick and went to the hospital. His stomach was hurting and the doctor assigned that fact to the coca-cola he used to drink. To explain better his situation, the doctor told him to put a coin inside a glass and cover it with coca-cola to see the effects of the drink. When he got home, made the doctor's "experience" and realized that the drink had corroded the coin. He never drank that again.

We are what we eat. I defend that we shall eat natural food (unprocessed) the most we can. Even if these have preservatives imagine what the processed food has... less is more says the old saying and food is not an exception! I may seem a 60 year-old woman speaking, but one day you’ll see that I was right. If you are thinking if I am fanatical or obsessed by healthy food, the answer is no, yet I try to eat the cleanest food I can. I could write lots of pages just speaking about this subject, however, I’ll try to not write much (I know people don’t like to read long texts...), but, PLEASE, read what I am about to write right now. Do you read the labels of the products you buy? There’s one ingredient called hydrogenated fat that’s very dangerous to your health, especially if you do sports (and if you don’t, avoid it too). Try to avoid everything that contains this kind of fat, please! It’s a real poison! Sometimes you’ve to look for different marks of the same product; with a little bit of luck you’ll find one that doesn’t have hydrogenated fat in it. If you don’t find any without it, stop eating that, in the name of health! Your body does not need that crap.

In these days everybody is busy... so it’s easier to buy food than to cook it yourself. Thinking about your health and your happiness I will give you some tips. I am sure some of them can be useful to you...

Always have at home:

-natural food like fruit, vegetables and cereals. Some are easy to eat on the go and as you eat them raw, they are always ready; you won't lose time.

-yoghurts, in particular the healthy ones. The simpler, the better! There are a lot of varieties for every kind of diets. I make mine at home because I know exactly what is going into them and taste better. I rather eat them natural (okay, sometimes I add cocoa powder... guilty), although you can add anything you want, as fruit, for instance. They are practical to take anywhere, easy and fast to make and even faster to eat. You have no excuses from now on...
Note: If you like ice-cream, you can use yoghurt and fruit; it is delicious and 100% healthy. In this case, better to eat them at home...

-soup. I know I might seem your grandmother telling you to eat the most important meal and probably you didn’t find it funny at that time. Well, your grandmother was right! Don’t say you don’t like soup, because there are so many varieties that I could spend hours speaking about them... so please don't force me to. One of the best things about soup is that we can put everything we don’t like and when it’s finished we won’t feel its taste. I will give you one personal example: I can’t eat raw onion for several reasons, but in soup it gives a good taste and I enjoy its nutritional benefits (of course I don’t put 5kg of onions...:-D). When I speak about soup I mean healthy and simple soup. Lots of people put cream or bouillon cubes... My dear friend, I am an apologist for everything that is natural and those cubes are poison, like half of the things people eat every day...

Now, here it comes the most difficult part: time to make the soup. Let’s suppose you are busy 5/6 days per week and when you come home all you want is a shower, to eat something and go to bed. There are nights after work (and weekday lunches) when something rapid is an utter need. The solution? Pre-made soup (made by you); just have to let it boil.

First, choose a convenient day. You have two choices; do the base of the soup and then everyday you just add some new vegetable/s and let them cook or you can do it all at once. I only do the base, because I don’t like to see the same soup all week... but it’s up to you. Use a cooker pressure to make the soup instead of a normal pot, and your soup will be ready in 10 minutes or less (and you will have soup for a week or more...). Really cool, huh?

It is always a pleasure to eat a hot soup in winter or a warm/cold soup in the summer; they are nutritious, filling and packed with flavour.  It feels even better if you are enjoying people's company! A hearty warm soup warms the stomach and people snuggle the heart! A perfect combination, don’t you think? Never forget, the salt of life is love!

(After cooking I liquidize it, let it cool and then freeze in individual portions for a day). Some tips here https://cris1208.comunidades.net/some-tips

-cheese. Always opt for healthy cheeses. They aren’t all equals. Regardless of your diet, you can find a big variety that covers your needs. Do you want a delicious tip? Join some cubes of cheese in your soup (on the plate, not in the cooker). Sometimes I do this...

-bread. I guess I can say that 90% of bread people eat is pure crap! Just imagine that soft and delicious bread that you can smell kilometres away... Are you seeing? Well, a true poison! The same happens with all those kinds of soft bread generally sold packed (to make hot dogs, hamburgers, etc).

The ingredients of a basic bread recipe are salt, flour, water and yeast. You can add or substitute the ingredients, like when people make their bread with the yoghurt serum instead of water. Personally, I never tested...

Some years ago I tried to bake bread (had a machine) but it does not compensate. Plus, the place where I buy the bread is trustful, which means that they don’t use those things that give a “delicious” flavour, like oils, fat or butter. The bread shall taste as... bread!

The thing is that is truly rare to find people who still make simple bread... soft on the day that is prepared and on the day after a little harder. Supermarkets and cafes sell those breads pre-prepared... they only bake the bread dough... sometimes it’s cheaper and more delicious; it stays soft for a couple of days/weeks... but it’s crap! I don’t know about you, but I feel sick when I eat that bread and in my mouth stays the taste of fat.
The same happens with cookies and cakes you might buy... they endure fluffy for several days... let me say something to you. When I make (well, when I used to made, because I don’t make anymore... not in a good mood) a cake, it stays soft, but day after day, it loses “quality”. Cakes that are for sale tolerate days, weeks... and never lose their “good aspect”. Now, can this fact be a positive thing? Will let you come to a conclusion by yourself.

The thing is that because of money we “kill” our family, our friends, everybody. Who's the guilty? The governments (entities) that approve certain substances ignoring the negative effects they will have on people’s health... They don’t care, except for the money... money, money, money... All the same shit everywhere!
People only realize the crap they are eating when they start having health problems...

Take care of yourself because if you don’t, no one will. You may find someone who cares for you and I hope you find (and also hope you may care about him/her), however, generally speaking, nobody cares about anyone. So, if you eat bread, choose the simplest kind... it will taste like flour and water and not like vanilla, oil or sugar...

Do you want a tip? Add some pieces of toasted bread (cut the bread into little cubes and toast it) to your salads or soups... A quality bread, okay?

Summarizing...

I could give an endless list, but it seems that what is healthy today isn't tomorrow. So, do you want to know my best advice? Give preference to the most natural aliments and have a balanced diet. I think balance is the golden rule here; just because an aliment is good for health, we won't be eating 10kg a day... the same with drinks. I have been reading that some people drink more than 5 litres of water per day, just to keep their "amazing" figure. I am not saying it's wrong, but I am not also saying it's right. There has to be a balance; only then can people be happy.