The Huge Importance of Self-Accountability
Most achievements require some degree of cumulative effort. If you are not consistent about following through with your plans, then you will not be able to maintain long-term success. This is especially true when pursuing more challenging goals. However, people aren’t automatons. You have to intentionally exert effort each day to hit your targets. You can’t expect things in your life to magically change just because you want them to.

So, how do people achieve their goals and maintain their success in the long run? Aside from employing smart strategies and making goals suit their needs, successful people know how to hold themselves accountable. Without accountability, you will have a hard time making your dreams come true, but what is accountability? This comprehensive guide will help you understand all of the most important aspects of holding yourself accountable so that you can more easily improve yourself and live a happier life.

What Does It Mean To Be Accountable to Yourself?When you make a promise, do you do everything in your power to follow through? If you’re like most people, then you probably do your best to stay true to your word. This is a good trait. Not only does keeping a promise mean that you’re honest, but it also means that you value the person on the other end of that promise.

Ideally, you also value yourself. Thus, you should also follow through with your personal goals. If you tell yourself that you are going to accomplish something, then you need to work hard to stay true to your word. After all, you are your greatest asset. You don’t only owe honesty to others, but you also owe it to yourself. This is the basis of self-accountability.

When you’re accountable to yourself, you work hard to consistently take responsibility for your own actions. Sure, some things are outside of your control. However, an accountable person will honestly acknowledge what is within their control, and they will do everything in their power to thrive under those conditions.

Why Is Accountability So Important?It’s easy to make excuses to other people. Even if you have the power to succeed but choose to fail, you can still blame most things on outside circumstances. Depending on the other person and the nature of the excuse, there’s a good chance that they’ll believe you. However, you’re with yourself 100% if the time.

You can distinguish between what’s real and what’s fake. You understand the limits of your circle of influence. When you lie to yourself, in most cases, it’s not a lie that you can believe. You know the truth, and you need to be honest with yourself. If you choose not to be accountable to yourself, then how will you make progress? When you elect to believe your own lies, nothing is holding you to your word. Such a habit makes it impossible to sustain long-term progress.

On the flip side, when you acknowledge your mistakes, you are more ready to face your fears with a reinvigorated sense of determination. Therefore, you should always be honest to yourself about your ambitions, limitations, and performance. Wellness and accountability go hand and hand, and you can only truly be healthy when you are accountable to yourself.

How To Hold Yourself AccountableSet Quality GoalsYour goals must be measurable and achievable. If your goal is to simply read more books, then how can your track your success? Is one book enough? What is the timetable for this goal? If you don’t ask yourself these questions and address them when setting a goal, then you will never know if you have succeeded, and you won’t make meaningful progress.

Instead, a better goal would be to read 12 books by the end of the year. You can further divide this goal into one book per month, a specific number of chapters per week, and a certain amount of time per day. By breaking your goals down in such a way, it's easy to hold yourself accountable with complete certainty. You can apply this system of thought to any other goal or ambition.

You know your limitations, so don’t craft goals that are way too ambitious. Otherwise, you are dooming yourself to failure, and consistent failure will make you want to give up. Continuing with the previous example, with enough effort and planning, most people can read 12 books by the end of the year, but setting a goal of reading 100 books per year probably isn’t reasonable. Unless you’re the fastest reader in the world, you will likely fall very short of this target, and you may give up after only a couple of weeks.

Adjust Your GoalsSetting goals isn’t an exact science. Sometimes, you will set the bar too high, and other times, you will set the bar too low. If you find that your goals are either too difficult or too easy, then you can always adjust them. It is better to adjust your goals according to your circumstances than it is to completely give up or hold yourself to a standard that is too low.

Of course, when modifying your goals, you must practice honest self-reflection so that you don’t set yourself up for failure or mediocrity. If you want to lower the bar, then you should only do so once you’re sure that you cannot reasonably hit the current target under your current circumstances. Similarly, before raising the bar, you need to know that you will have the time, willingness, and skill to succeed.

Track Your ProgressHow can you hold yourself accountable when you have no way to track your progress? To achieve your goals, you have to organize your thoughts and actions. It’s important to consistently write down your goals, make lists, and assess your progress every day. Otherwise, you will lose sight of your ambitions. Therefore, you should record all broad goals and include all relevant sub-goals and timetables with them. That way, you can easily visualize all of your progress towards a certain goal in a single place.

If you find it difficult to stay organized, then you may want to try a few different methods. For example, you may want to set alarms on your phone or mark your digital calendar to remind you to update your checklist. On the other hand, digital technologies may not be so helpful for you, so you might want to carry around a journal to constantly check your goals and make relevant updates. Everybody’s different, and there is no single correct way to stay organized. Thus, you should experiment with a range of different methods to find the one that works for you.

Plan Each Day With a ListYou should carefully plan out each day to ensure that you have enough time to pursue your goals while also fulfilling all of your responsibilities. To do this, you can write a simple list that details all of the most important aspects of your day. First and foremost, you should mark when you expect to wake up, go to work, and go to bed. Then, you should schedule any important errands. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time for meals, travel, and other everyday tasks. Finally, you can see how much free time you have to achieve your goals, and you will be able to plan the rest of your day accordingly.

Follow a RoutineYou will be more successful if you can do certain tasks consistently. This is especially true when it comes to sleep. Unless you work irregular hours, you should be able to wake up around the same time every day, and your bedtime should remain relatively consistent. Otherwise, you may feel groggy and suffer from insomnia, and both of these things can ruin your productivity.

Exercise can take a lot of willpower to carry out. Thus, if exercise is an important aspect of one or more of your goals, then you should strive to exercise at regular days and times. Once you’ve had a routine for a couple of weeks, you will find yourself waking up, exercising, going to bed, and carrying out other tasks with little thought or resistance. Moreover, you will waste less time, so fulfilling all of your goals will be much easier.

Practice Self-AffirmationSelf-accountability is only possible when you have enough self-esteem to know that you are worth the effort that it takes to be happy. You are important, so you need to regularly remind yourself that you deserve love and happiness. To accomplish this, you should set at least five minutes aside every day to practice self-affirmation. During your self-affirmation sessions, you should remind yourself of all of your good qualities and the reasons why you deserve to be happy. You can write these things down, or you can simply tell yourself these things out loud or in your head.

Do It All for the Right ReasonsWhy are you setting certain goals? Are you doing these things because you want to live a happier, healthier life, or is it all to please someone else? Above all else, your ambitions should be rooted in self-love. For example, there are plenty of positive reasons to lose weight. By losing weight, a person can reduce the risk of developing several painful or deadly diseases, improve their self-confidence, enjoy higher energy levels, and so much more.

However, many negative factors may drive someone to lose weight. Another person might have given them an ultimatum, or maybe they feel a deep sense of self-loathing when they compare themselves to others on social media. These reasons for losing weight are not rooted in self-love and self-respect, and they may lead a person to practice harmful behaviors in pursuit of their goals. External validation may feel nice, but it is fickle.

Other people can change their standards or disappear from your life in an instant. Once they’re gone, you won’t have any reason to maintain whatever progress you’ve made. Positive growth can only come from a healthy desire to improve yourself, so don’t base your goals off of what other people want. No matter what, you must do your best to stay true to yourself and maintain self-love in every endeavor.

Why Can Holding Yourself Accountable Seem So Hard?It’s easy to recognize the importance of self-accountability, but it’s also just as easy to fail to be accountable to yourself. This is because self-accountability requires consistent self-discipline, self-honesty, self-awareness, and dedication. While these traits are easy to adopt once you are determined to be as happy as possible in life, you should know how to face the following challenges when holding yourself accountable.

Fear of the UnknownLearning new things can be scary. If your goals require you to learn new routines or skills, then you may be afraid that you won’t be good enough. The fear of the unknown is one of the most common obstacles on the path to self-improvement, but you shouldn’t let it control your life.

As an example, let’s pretend that you have a goal to get a promotion at work by the end of the year. To have any hope of achieving this, you know that you need to learn how to use a particular spreadsheet program. However, this might seem like quite a daunting task. You may not know where to start. You may be afraid that, even if you can break the task down into smaller pieces, you just won’t be able to learn enough to succeed at your goal. Thus, you may decide that it’s not worth pursuing at all.

While it is important to set goals that you can actually achieve, you shouldn’t sell yourself short. Is a task really too difficult to complete, or are you just afraid of all of the hard work that it will take? You know your abilities better than anyone, so it’s up to you take a hard look at your goals and overcome the fear of the unknown.

Unwillingness To Face Reality“I’ve tried everything, but there is simply nothing that I can do.” It’s easy to say this to yourself when you’ve fallen short of your goals, but how true is it? Sometimes, people do legitimately put in the maximum effort and fall short. That is completely okay; it’s just part of the learning process. Nonetheless, more often than not, people come up with bogus reasons for their failures.

For example, Janine's goal was to practice creative writing for at least four hours per week. However, at the end of the month, she found that she had not accomplished this goal. Despite this, she told herself that it was okay because she simply didn’t have enough time to write.

That reason may be good enough for an outsider to believe, but upon closer inspection, such claims can easily fall apart. In Janine’s case, she was constantly hitting her snooze alarm in the mornings and watching TV for two hours every night. She could have easily completed her goal by waking up earlier or reducing the time that she spent on less important activities, but she chose to delude herself by claiming that she didn’t have the time to follow her dreams. Janine was lying to herself, and she stunted her own growth as a result.

To stay accountable to yourself, you need to be completely honest. You don’t like it when others lie to you, so you shouldn’t lie to yourself. You deserve love and respect, so don’t disrespect yourself with dishonesty. By having integrity, facing reality, and holding yourself accountable for all of your actions, you can show yourself that you deserve to succeed.

Comparing Yourself to OthersYou may feel like another person's achievements eclipse your own. As a result, you likely wonder why you should even try when others are so far ahead of you. Almost everybody feels this way about their goals at some point, but focusing on others' achievements is self-destructive. It doesn't matter what they're doing. This is your journey, and if you want to succeed, then you need to stop comparing yourself to others. Their achievements are simply irrelevant to your growth.

You Are Your Greatest AssetThere is only one person who is going to be with you for the rest of your life, and you can see that person whenever you look in the mirror. Therefore, you owe it to yourself to try your hardest to stay happy and healthy. The quality of your life depends on the quality of your choices, and you can only make good choices when you are accountable to yourself. There are roadblocks on any path to success, and you will fail from time to time. Nonetheless, when you practice self-accountability, you can easily pick yourself up and show yourself the love and respect that you need to move forward in life.

If you like this message and want others to succeed, then feel free to share and comment. Also, try your best to encourage someone else with a simple sentence of affirmation today. While it may not take much effort on your part, one good comment can completely turn someone’s day around. Finally, if you find yourself struggling with accountability issues or unhealthy behaviors, then consider booking a free consultation with us today.

Improving your appearance may be an important goal for you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. While you may wish to engage in cosmetic procedures and other treatments aimed at giving you just the right appeal, it’s important that you remember aesthetics is just one part of a holistic approach. Holistic means dealing with or treating the whole, so we hope that you’re enjoying our whole-body approach series to help you look and feel your best.

Once you have a routine for health and wellness, you start to notice aesthetics. As you become a healthier version of yourself, you’ll notice that your appearance is changing as well. In addition to toning up or losing weight, you may notice that your skin has a new glow to it and may be firmer and more elastic with fewer fine lines or wrinkles.

Beauty is a part of holistic health
As a woman, you’re likely bombarded through media and advertisements with a barrage of images on what others think you should strive to look like. It’s unfortunate that this is still happening in the 21st century, but you should avoid trying to meet some impossible aesthetic ideal look. Rather, the focus should be on improving your health and beauty from the inside out.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be beautiful, but you need to look in the right places to get the results that you’re looking for, and that’s within. Sure, you could opt for cosmetic surgery, but quick fixes are temporary. You’ll still need to make lifestyle changes to keep up with any procedures you have done. Additionally, these changes only last for so long before you may find yourself needing repeat surgeries just to keep up your appearance.

Why not go for a more natural approach? After all, the goal is to improve health and wellness. It’s understandable that when you look better, you feel better. Fortunately, by taking all ten aspects of our holistic plan into account, you’ll be setting yourself up for a lifetime of both wellness and beauty.

Adding aesthetics into your holistic wellness plan
No matter how old you are or where you’re at in your journey, it’s not too late to begin taking care of yourself to look terrific and be the best possible you. A proactive approach is the best way to build a lifestyle focused on health, wellness and beauty, so it’s time to take it upon yourself to get started.

Our minds, bodies and spirits need upkeep just like our houses and cars. While all of the information we’ve given you can seem overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be. Just start incorporating one routine at a time to build overall health, and your appearance will follow.

Beautify your skin
You’ve probably heard the saying that beauty is more than skin deep. Although this may be used to mean that your personality is more important than the way you look, in our holistic approach it means that your outward appearance is affected by what happens inside of your body. The way you look is impacted by several factors.

What you eat -- Did you know that high-fat and high-glycemic foods, think pastries, soda and other processed foods, can actually cause wrinkles? These types of foods also impact your metabolism by affecting the way that insulin works in the body. A healthy, balanced diet helps your entire body, so try replacing some less-healthy choices with foods that will boost the health and appearance of your skin:

• Walnuts, sunflower seeds, soy, chia seeds, flaxseed and fatty fish contain healthy fats, protein, vitamins and other nutrients that keep your skin firm and supple, protect from oxidative stress and reduce inflammation.
• Deep orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, some bell peppers and sweet potatoes, help protect your skin from the sun’s damage.
• Tomatoes help to keep your skin smooth, boost collagen and protect from damaging UV rays.
• Berries like blueberries and strawberries help boost collagen production, strengthen the skin and are high in antioxidants.
• Citrus fruits fight free radicals that can damage your skin while boosting hydration and stimulating the skin’s protective barrier.
• Dark green vegetables, such as leafy greens and broccoli, are known for their anti-aging benefits and promotion of healing.

What you drink -- The same way the foods you eat can affect the way you look, certain beverages can help or harm your skin. Soda can cause your skin to age more rapidly and increase inflammation. Excess consumption of energy drinks, coffee, black tea and alcohol can all lead to dehydration, which will cause your skin to look dull and age more rapidly. Try replacing those beverages with these choices:

• Water is the number one choice for overall wellness along with healthier skin. Use a filter at home to reduce potential toxins. If you just can’t tolerate plain water, you can add flavor by infusing this beverage with fruits and veggies like berries, citrus fruits and cucumber.
• Green tea is known for its powerful antioxidant properties that fight off free radicals that can wreak havoc on your skin.
• Coconut water keeps skin hydrated and protects against environmental damage.
• Some juices, such as tomato, aloe vera and pomegranate, can help to prevent wrinkles while making your skin look more radiant and youthful.

How much you move -- Exercise is important for every part of your body. When you get enough activity in each day, your circulation is improved, helping to get vital nutrients to cells and removing toxins. Additionally, the appearance of your skin improves due to the increase in oxygen it receives during and after a workout. While exercising outdoors can provide an added boost, don’t forget to apply sunscreen even if it’s overcast.

Choices you make -- Your lifestyle choices can affect the health and look of your skin. Smoking dehydrates you and adds toxins that aren’t easily removed from the body, leading to more wrinkles. The same can be said of drinking too much alcohol. While it may feel good to lie out in the sun or in a tanning bed, this choice can lead to premature aging of the skin and may increase your risk of cancer.

The healthy choices you don’t make can also affect your skin, such as not drinking enough water or leading a sedentary lifestyle. Living with stress can also damage your skin.

Although breaking habits isn’t easy, it can be easier if you replace a bad habit with a good one. Here are some examples to get your ideas started:

• Replace unhealthy beverages with healthier options. Remember, our bodies need water to survive, and this beverage will help you to look good and feel even better.
• Instead of sitting in front of the TV, get up and move. If you don’t want to miss your favorite shows, get an exercise bike to get moving while you’re watching, or do your workout in spurts during commercials.
• Chew on carrot, celery or even cinnamon sticks when you have the urge to smoke. This can really help with the hand-to-mouth aspect of cigarette addiction while providing your body with vital nutrients.

Just remember to stick with it because it can take up to 30 days to change your ways.

Discipline -- No matter how many ideas you may come up with to make healthier changes, none of this will matter if you don’t actually do them. That’s what makes discipline so important. You’ll need to learn how to control and restrict yourself from the unhealthy choices that you’ve made in the past by integrating healthier options into your everyday life.

Start small, keep it simple and make time for yourself every day to reflect and plan. Put you into your schedule if necessary so that you don’t put off your self-care, which can be all too easy to do when you’re busy. Gaining control over your actions instead of just going through the motions of life can be difficult, but you can do it if you stick with it. Be sure to stay tuned for our next post on accountability for some great ideas on how to maintain discipline throughout your wellness journey.

Beautify your body

”The prime reason anyone should exercise is to become the healthiest version of themselves.”

A great side benefit is that you begin to look more aesthetically pleasing. Some self-proclaimed “experts” may religiously proclaim that exercise is the most important part in losing weight or looking healthy. However, you can easily eat your way out of the benefits of any workout. This is why we find it so important to look at all ten factors for holistic wellness.

Consequently, exercise is definitely an important part of getting and staying healthy and in shape. If you’ve been keeping up with all of the steps involved in our wellness plan, then you know what we’re talking about. Improving both health and appearance are the benefits of fitness and weight loss. When you build muscle and lose fat, you’re getting firmer and trimmer in all of the right places.

Both aerobic exercise and strength training are important facets to any exercise regimen. Aerobic activity helps you burn calories and fat. Building muscle will give you a shapelier appearance. What you may not know is that when you gain more muscle, you burn more calories. That’s certainly a bonus in our book. Additionally, you don’t want to use the scale as your sole means of success; it should simply be a guide. Muscle weighs more than fat though it has less volume. Instead, take into consideration how your clothes fit and how you feel.

If you’re not quite the mover and the shaker that you’d like to be, don’t be discouraged. It’s not too late to start now for a newer, healthier, more attractive version of you. However, make sure that you start slow and get your doctor’s thumbs up before you begin any exercise program, especially if you have health problems or if you’ve been sedentary for any length of time.

Addressing concerns when losing weight
If you’ve been holding onto quite a few more pounds than you’d like, you could notice a difference fairly quickly when you begin an overall wellness program and the fat begins to come off. Unfortunately, over time you may notice some concerns.

Weight loss might create sagging skin, especially if you lose weight more quickly than your skin has time to keep up with its natural rejuvenation process. Additionally, stubborn cellulite pockets sometimes remain in certain areas, which can impact your evolving figure.

So, what can you do? Skin and body contouring remedies are perfect to help with stubborn fat reduction. Still, these options should not stand alone or be considered a panacea for weight loss. While many facilities promote the sole use of these procedures, you won’t be able to maintain the results without changing your lifestyle. It’s best to wait to consider these options until you are within 30 pounds or less of your ideal body weight if you really want lasting results.

Our fat cell reduction technologies are modern, non-invasive and require no down time from daily life routines. SFATL devices have infrared laser and light therapies to break down fat cells. You might want to consider options such as the cryo shaper, CoolSculpting or cyropolis that expel fat cells out of the body through the lymphatic system.

Whatever choice you make, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Say yes to you! 
Studio Figura ATL is committed to helping you achieve overall body harmony with our customized wellness, fitness and aesthetics treatments to successfully help you reach all of your goals. We offer guidance on our ten-factor holistic wellness program as well as supplements and non-invasive treatments to help you to get where you want to be.

Share our posts with those you care about so that they can get started on a healthy new journey along with you. Consider subscribing to stay tuned when we add new posts.

Encourage someone else who may be struggling. All it takes is a single affirmation in as little as one sentence.

Comment on our posts. Not only do we want to know what you think, but your comments can help us to improve our content to give you more of a good thing.

Here's a crucial piece of fitness advice, one that many people don't hear often enough: Don't feel guilty when you need to take a day off.

If you work out regularly, rest is necessary for the muscles to repair and build new mass.

Even so, you might feel like you're being lazy when you're resting. On those days, you might be itching to go for a run or drive to the gym. But your rest periods allow your body to recover.

Yes, recovery is an important aspect of any exercise program. That's because the right recovery techniques help the body adapt to the stress associated with exercise.

Let's take a closer look at some different types of recovery — what they involve and what they could do for you.

Why Is Recovery Vital?

It might be hard to believe, but many fitness experts consider a recovery period to be the most important part of any exercise program.

Recovery gives your body the time and space to heal. It reduces the risk of major and minor injuries. And, with the right recovery program, you should see your stamina increase and your workout performances improve.

As a result, you can keep setting new fitness goals for yourself. You might lift more weight, do more repetitions of your favorite exercises, run a little farther each month, and so forth.

Indeed, you can make greater progress toward your fitness goals if you enhance your short-term recovery methods, which include cooling down after a workout, post-exercise meals, fluids, and supplements to replenish protein and energy.

To simplify matters, we can divide those recovery methods into two main categories: active and passive.


Active Recovery

As the name implies, an active recovery method is one that involves moving around. However, those movements should be gentle.

You can choose from a number of effective active recovery methods: Walking, swimming, stretching, and yoga are among them.

Whichever form of exercise you select, your active recovery will keep your blood flowing. And it will keep your muscles warm. That way, they can gradually transition from intense activity to a state of rest.

Nevertheless, if you're in pain or feeling extremely sore after a workout, it's better to skip an active recovery session. It's also wise to see your doctor if that pain is strong or suspicious in any way.

When it's done properly, active recovery can work wonders for your whole body. It gets rid of toxic substances. Plus, it makes your muscles suppler and more flexible, which further reduces your chances of getting injured.

On top of that, the improved blood flow has benefits of its own. To name just a few, it can strengthen your immune system, keep your brain as active as could be, and reduce your risk of heart disease.

Passive Recovery

For its part, passive recovery involves resting your body.

You might choose one of these passive recovery methods: taking the day off and sleeping, massage, meditation, reading, or binging one of your favorite TV shows.

Maybe you're used to always being on the go. In that case, passive recovery might sound a little unappealing at first. In truth, though, we all need a day of passive recovery here and there.

Above all, it gives our bodies the opportunity to heal when we've sprained, torn, or otherwise damaged a muscle.

Not to mention, if you're in pain — as opposed to just being sore — doing a workout or even an active recovery session is too dangerous. It could easily worsen an injury. At the very least, working out when you're in pain is needlessly unpleasant.

Passive recovery will also help you overcome extreme fatigue. And maybe it's not just your muscles that feel tired. It's also necessary to consider your mental health.

There are days when we feel unusually anxious, sad, or overwhelmed. At certain points, work projects, family duties, and other responsibilities in life can be daunting, and they can sap us of our strength.

Whenever that happens to you, it's great to just enjoy a day of passive recovery. It really recharges those mental batteries. Later, when you go back to your workout routine, you'll likely have extra energy and a stronger sense of motivation.

When to Take a Rest Day

For sure, you don't need an excuse to take a rest day. Any time you'd like, you can opt for a little recovery and relaxation.

However, here are some telltale signs that a rest day is definitely in order: You're agitated or moody, or you have a hard time sleeping, a loss of appetite, stress, or depression.

These issues are often connected to exercising too much. For instance, when your body is overtaxed or you're dealing with too much stress, your delicate hormonal balance can be thrown off. Consequently, it can lead to crankiness and moodiness.

Then there are the stress hormones. When we work out at appropriate intensities, we lower our levels of cortisol and adrenaline, two of the body's main stress hormones. However, overly intense workouts actually boost the amount of cortisol in the bloodstream.

Overexertion can also lead to adrenaline spikes. And those higher amounts of cortisol and adrenaline can make it more difficult to fall asleep and to stay asleep.

Further, excess cortisol and adrenaline can increase your stress levels when you're awake. They sometimes bring about depression as well.

Appetite also comes into play here. Many people think that the more they work out, the hungrier they'll feel later on. And that might be true — up to a point.

However, when you exercise too strenuously, it can prevent your stomach from releasing the ideal amounts of ghrelin. Ghrelin is a hormone that can activate the appetite, among other digestive functions. Therefore, overexertion is sometimes responsible for a loss of appetite.

Of course, the problems above can lead to problems of their own. Researchers have linked a lack of sleep to higher blood pressure, for example. And, if your appetite is suppressed, you might not take in all the nutrients that your body needs.

Those issues can then lead to further health problems. The situation can quickly turn into a vicious downward spiral.

As you can see, rest days aren't merely relaxing. We can't do without them. If you view them as indispensable, you might enjoy them even more.

Plus, since your muscles will be in better shape overall, you'll be better equipped to stick to your fitness plan over the long haul.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Rest Days

Rest days aren't for doing whatever we want, however. Rather, there are certain ways we can maximize this precious time, helping our bodies to fully recover.

For one thing, your diet is important. It's good to, on rest days, eat protein and smart carbohydrates, which will help muscles repair, grow, and restore glycogen.

Smart carbohydrates, by the way, are carbs from healthy foods like whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. Obviously, such foods will provide you with many other essential nutrients as well.

Be sure to drink plenty of water on those days, too. Among many other benefits, that water could keep your muscles from cramping.

Moreover, you can reduce inflammation and soreness with spices and foods like turmeric and pineapple. Or take bromelain and turmeric supplements if you don't usually have such foods in your home.

Omega-3 fatty acids — which are found in many types of nuts, seeds, and fish — also have anti-inflammatory properties. The same is true of leafy green vegetables and dark berries. Such anti-inflammatory foods make it easier for our muscles to repair themselves.

Another advantageous thing to do on a rest day is to use compression garments or recovery systems similar to those garments.

A compression garment is a special tight-fitting outfit that narrows your veins when you have it on.

When your blood vessels are momentarily narrower, your blood travels through your body faster. Therefore, your muscles get more of the oxygen they need, and they'll heal faster.

Another idea for your rest days is to use CBD and THC creams, salves, oils, tinctures, and patches on sore muscles, joint ailments, and injuries. These products come from cannabis plants. "CBD" stands for "cannabidiol," and "THC" is short for "tetrahydrocannabinol."

Such topical items are safe to use, and they're usually mixed with curative herbs for even more powerful pain and soreness relief. If you're not sure which CBD or THC products would be right for you, consult your doctor or physical trainer.

Dealing With Lactic Acid

We should say a special word here about lactic acid. When you exercise vigorously, your body probably won't be taking in enough oxygen to make glucose. And, when it can't make glucose, it makes lactic acid instead. That organic acid will then build up in your muscles.

Pools of lactic acid are temporary, and they shouldn't cause any serious health issues. They do, however, cause muscle cramps and pain.

The good news is that the right rest and recovery methods will get rid of lactic acid buildup. In fact, active recovery methods have the greatest impact on lactic acid in most cases.

While your muscles are recovering, your body can break down and flush out your lactic acid. And, since your muscles receive plenty of oxygen during recovery periods, your body doesn't produce any additional lactic acid.

You can further reduce your lactic acid buildup by taking in magnesium during your recoveries. Magnesium is a mineral that facilitates hundreds of enzyme reactions in the human body. When you consume a healthy supply of this nutrient, it improves your body's energy flow. With an optimal distribution of energy, your muscles will get more oxygen during your workouts. Thus, less lactic acid will collect.

Similarly, doing simple respiratory exercises when you're working out and when you're resting can improve your oxygen flow. One such exercise is to just inhale deeply through your diaphragm. A second example is breathing in slowly through your nose and then breathing out slowly through your mouth.

Rest Well, Rest Often

In the end, you should aim to rest one day every seven to 10 days. But listen to your body if you need more rest.

Indeed, if you know the symptoms of exercise burnout to avoid injury and demotivation, you can take a rest day whenever you need one.

In fact, listening to your body is the key to any successful wellness program.

For example, do you often feel hungry? If so, you should try to consume more calories throughout the day. Do you feel especially uncomfortable when you do a certain exercise? You could reduce its intensity or avoid it altogether.

When you listen to your body, you position yourself for effective workout recoveries. Your muscles will thank you for it.

At Studio Figura ATL, we understand how rest and recovery are essential parts of holistic wellness. That's why our studio contains a Wellness and Recovery Zone to help you rest and recover while maximizing body and muscle rejuvenation. And you can book a free consultation with us at any time.

If you enjoyed this piece, please consider sharing it with your friends and family. You might encourage them to subscribe and share as well. And feel free to comment below; we'd love to hear your thoughts.

Most of all, please find someone in your life to encourage today. All you have to do is give that person a simple yet strong sentence of affirmation. Those words could resonate and make a positive impact for a long time to come. 

It is essential take a physical holistic health approach. Fitness is an important aspect of life. However, there is more to exercise than losing weight. Participating in a regular workout routine can have positive effects on your mind, body, and spirit. Besides being able to improve body image and self-worth, participating in physical activity brings a number of advantages.

Improve Mental Health

One of the biggest benefits of exercise is heightened mental health. When exercising regularly, you get a sense of positive well-being. You find that activity boosts your energy. In fact, if you suffer from sleep problems, exercise can deliver a better rest. This improves your mood and leaves you feeling happier.

In many cases, exercising on a regular basis decreases depression and anxiety. In mild cases, exercise is medicine for a person's mental state. For example, one study performed by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported that walking an hour each day lowers the likelihood of developing depression by 26 percent. Also, it helps depression symptoms become less bothersome. The reason for this is that exercise has a positive effect on the brain. It encourages neural growth, lowers inflammation, and increases the release of endorphins, which are hormones that make you feel good. Endorphins are the body's natural way of relieving stress. When you participate in physical activity, your body feels more relaxed and exhibits less signs of tension, including tight muscles, tension in the chest, and heartburn.

Keeps the Body Strong and Healthy

Regular exercise prevents and helps many health problems. It lowers the risk of death and injuries. Specifically, exercise brings many benefits to your heart. It helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. For example, it may lower your blood pressure. When your heart is healthy, it can push out more blood, which increases efficiency. In other words, less stress is placed on the heart. In this manner, it lowers the risk of developing heart disease and stroke. If you are taking medication to control your blood pressure, regular exercise may eliminate the need for the drugs.

Also, exercise lowers cholesterol. Many studies show that regular activity increases levels of good HDL cholesterol and lowers bad LDL cholesterol by as much as 10 percent. If you have diabetes, regular exercise can help as well. Exercise decreases blood glucose levels and increases your sensitivity to insulin, which counters insulin resistance.

When you exercise regularly, your blood flow improves. It delivers oxygen and nutrients to your body's tissues more effectively. When blood flow is improved, your workout efficiency is heightened. Also, it raises circulation in small blood vessels around your heart. This keeps blood flowing through blockages of fatty deposits, which can prevent heart attacks.

Regular exercise lowers the chances of developing atrial fibrillation as well. AFib causes a heightened risk of stroke from a blood clot. The American Heart Association explains that regular exercise should blend normal and high-intensity workouts. This can lower the chance of developing this particular condition.

For women, being active can prevent bone loss and fight off osteoporosis. Also, it can help to maintain muscle mass. Osteoporosis is a dangerous condition that makes bones brittle. This can lead to serious fractures and disabilities, especially after menopause. Weight-bearing exercise causes muscles and tendons to exert pressure on bones. This stimulates bone cell production. Regular activity at a younger age builds strong muscles. As you age, performing muscle-strengthening activities can help to maintain your muscle mass and strength. Also, exercise boosts balance and coordination. This helps older people avoid injuries. Everyone benefits from exercise regardless of age sex or physical activity.

Exercise Improves Sleep Patterns

There are countless people who suffer with insomnia and other sleep issues. Even if you get the required amount of hours each night, you may still wake up groggy. Activity helps you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. Indeed, moderate exercise improves sleep quality by lowering sleep onset. In other words, you fall asleep faster and do not have to worry about laying awake in bed for hours. Also, exercise can keep you feeling more energized throughout the day. Studies have shown that up to 80 percent of people who engage in exercise enjoy better sleep quality than people who do not.

Exercise Improves Sex Life and Libido

Many times a man or a woman does not have the energy for sex. Also, he or she may feel embarrassed by his or her body. Exercise can improve your sex life in a number of ways. To begin, working out makes you feel sexy. When you have heightened self-confidence and self-esteem, your libido improves. Also, exercise enhances your performance. A study performed at the University of California found that men who exercise on a regular basis enjoy more frequent intimate activities and more satisfying orgasms. When your body is fit, your heart rate, breathing, and muscle activity allow for enhanced sexual performance. Since exercise lowers stress, it produces a higher libido as well. When you are stressed to the limit, your body produces cortisol, which lowers sexual interest. However, exercise releases endorphins. These increase a person's sex drive. As exercise increases blood circulation, it helps men avoid erectile dysfunction as well. Keeping your body toned makes you more flexible. This helps to participate in various sex positions. In the end, physical activity plays an important role in your bedroom activities.

Exercise Helps to Maintain a Healthy Weight

Nothing shapes the body like exercise. Of course, exercise helps control weight gain. It can provide a beautiful shape to your figure. To be sure, regular activity raises the amount of calories that your body burns each day. When this is combined with a sensible diet, it is possible to lose unwanted weight. Unfortunately, everyone has a "cheat day" that includes items of sabotage to a diet plan. Being fit allows you more grace to indulge and have foods you love. As long as you do not eat and drink more calories than you expend, you will continue to lose or maintain a healthy weight. When you want to look your best, focus on fitness before body contouring or sculpting. Exercise is a natural way to keep your body looking good.

What to Wear When You Workout

Many people understand the importance of regular exercise but do not know what to wear during a workout. You do not have to fill your wardrobe with expensive gym clothes to reap the benefits of physical activity. However, there are a few items that will make your feel good when you exercise.

• Comfortable Supportive Athletic Shoes. If your feet aren’t comfortable while you exercise, you are sure to quit working out. There are a variety of shoes on the market that make exercise simpler. Depending on the type of activity that you are performing, it is possible to select the perfect footwear. Uncovering the correct shoes can protect you from injuries. Purchasing specific sneakers for exercise can heighten performance as well. Good shoes should cushion your feet so that heavy impact does not cause harm. Also, they should offer support so that your ankles and arches are protected. There should be enough room in the toes so that blisters and similar issues do not become problems.
• Clothing with Moisture Wicking Fabrics Instead of Cotton. Although many people believe that cotton is the best material for exercise, moisture-wicking fabric is better. Cotton absorbs sweat. However, it remains in the material. This leaves you wet and icky. Moisture-wicking fabric draws wetness away from your skin so that you feel fresher.
• Breathable Athletic Underwear. It is essential to have breathable underwear during exercise. When you participate in physical activity, you sweat everywhere. Since bacteria and yeast grow in moist places, you want to make sure that your underwear is breathable and dries quickly. This will keep infections to a minimum. Also, when there is not sweat bogging you down, you are more productive.
• Supportive Sports Bra. While you exercise, you want to make sure that you prevent your breasts from becoming harmed. During intensive movements, the ligaments around your breasts may stretch and tear. As a result, you will experience sagging and drooping. A solid sports bra prevents these issues. A sports bra keeps your breasts comfortably in place. Besides protecting their structure, you will not experience pain as you move. Also, a top sports bra will be made from a fabric that regulates sweat and controls your body's temperature.
• White or Lighter Colors SFATL Devices Have Infrared Light. When you wear white or light colors, it allows infrared light to penetrate. This type of light therapy is known to increase energy production and endurance. You can get the most from your exercise with less soreness afterwards.

Creating Strategies to Overcome Excuses and Barriers to Exercise

Want to feel better have more energy and add years to your life Just exercise. It is not always easy to get off of your feet and begin to partake in physical activities. However, when you stay active throughout all stages of your life, you will reap maximum benefits. Your heart health, sleep activity, sexual function, mental health, and over well-being will improve. Consistency is key! There will be days when you get discouraged. Don't give up! SFATL recommends aerobic and strength training for the best results. When you make physical activity part of daily life, you find that your emotional, physical, and mental health are raised. Start moving to improve health and reduce medications. However, it is essential to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.

At Studio Figura ATL, we want you to put yourself first! There is no better time to invest in your well-being. Our "Well Fit" membership will launch you into a new and improved lifestyle. It includes our "Feed Life" nutrition plan, cardio sessions with our innovative fitness devices, and recovery and relief on our wellness devices. Take a holistic approach to your health. Book a free consultation with us today!

If you enjoy the plan, please share your experience with friends and family. Encourage them to subscribe and share. Everyone benefits from exercise regardless of age sex or physical ability. Besides encouraging someone to increase his or her fitness, offer a single sentence of affirmation. This increases feelings of positivity.

We want to hear from you. Please offer some great comments! 

One part of holistic wellness involves eliminating toxins from your body. Your bodily systems naturally produce toxins in the way of free radicals just through normal functioning and metabolic processes. Additionally, whether due to your environment, lifestyle choices or the foods you eat, toxins can accumulate and lead to potential health problems. The choices you make can help to remove toxins and prevent future buildup.

Toxins affect your weight and health
Unfortunately, toxins can wreak havoc throughout the body. Your immune system sees these as foreign invaders, and typically handles the matter efficiently as long as you're taking care of your overall wellness. However, a toxin overload can lead to many health conditions, including heart disease, reproductive issues and even some types of cancer.

Toxins cause inflammation
Inflammation can be an acute response as your body works to rid itself of dangerous toxins. Consequently, continued exposure may lead to chronic inflammation that damages tissues at the cellular level. If you're body experiences long-term inflammation, you are at a higher risk of developing conditions that affect metabolism, the heart, the brain and your lungs. Some autoimmune disorders can be exacerbated by excess inflammation as well.

Toxins confuse hormones
You may have heard of endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, that negatively impact hormone regulation in the body. Glands that produce hormones, such as the thyroid and the pituitary, are especially affected by toxins. In order for your body's systems to work smoothly, your hormones need to be in balance.

Toxins increase fat cells
Whether due to hormone disruption or changes in metabolism, toxins have been shown to lead to weight gain. Additionally, fat cells tend to hold onto potentially harmful toxins, making it more difficult for your body to cleanse itself as it was designed to do.

Symptoms of toxins in the body
Your body will work hard to eliminate toxins through whatever means possible, so you might experience some signs that your body is experiencing a toxin overload. It's important to note that many of these symptoms are associated with other health conditions, so be sure to have potential issues ruled out by your family physician.

Skin problems
Your body may attempt to flush some toxins away through the skin by sweating. Depending on the toxins being removed, you may experience some or all of these symptoms:

• Acne
• Rash
• Oily skin
• Eczema
• Changes to body odor

Digestive disturbances
Perhaps the first system affected when you consume toxins is your digestive system. As your body works to remove these harmful invaders, you might notice some of the following changes occurring even if you hadn't experienced any of these in the past:

• Food intolerances
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Vomiting
• Indigestion
• Heartburn
• Excessive urination

Aches and pains in the joints and body
Many cases of chronic pain can be attributed to the inflammation that can occur if there's an overload of toxins in your body. Whether you experience frequent headaches,
muscle aches, joint pain or others, you should consider toxins as a culprit if there's no other medical explanation for your chronic pain. Additionally, gout is caused by a buildup of uric acid, which can be treated by reducing the amount of toxins that you bring into your body.

Frequent colds or viruses
As your immune system is working hard to remove excess toxins, this leaves you susceptible to other invaders, such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. A weakened immune system caused by toxin overload and inflammation can also result in slower healing of wounds, illness and injury. Consequently, as your body tries to expel these toxins, you might experience some of these symptoms:

• Frequent sneezing or coughing
• Sore throat
• Nasal congestion or runny nose from mucus overproduction

Other issues
Your body can only remove toxins at a certain rate, so some toxins can linger for quite some time if you're overloaded. Toxins and the ensuing inflammation can cause you to suffer daily and negatively impact your overall quality of life. SOme of the issues you may experience include the following:

• Fatigue and low energy
• Memory difficulties
• Brain fog
• Sleep issues
• Depression

How to detox naturally
When properly balanced, your body can do a good job of removing toxins withough too much effort on your part. Some toxins are filtered out by way of the kidneys and pass out of your body through urine. However, the majority of harmful substances are removed via the liver. Too many toxins may overwhelm this essential organ to the point where it doesn't function quite the way that it should. When you engage in all of the phases of wellness, all of your body's systems work more effectively.

Eat a nutrient dense diet
When choosing the foods that you put into your body, make sure that you consume those that are high in nutritional value rather than those that contain empty calories. One way to get vital nutrients is to eat more superfoods. While "superfoods" is basically a marketing term, these specially designated food choices offer a lot of nutritional value compared to their serving size.

Another way to ensure that you're getting a nutrient-rich diet is to reduce the amount of added sugar that you consume. Check product labels before you buy to ensure that you're getting sweetness from natural sources other than high fructose corn syrup or excessive amounts of cane sugar.

If you decide to eliminate sugar from your menu, be wary of artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners cause digestive issues because they negatively alter the delicate biome within your gut. You can learn more about the importance of keeping your digestive system in balance in our post regarding Nutrients and Gut Health.

Food that support the liver getting rid of toxins
Here are some food choices that may improve functioning of the liver:

• Citrus fruits and leafy vegetables are high in anti-oxidants that can fight free radicals in the body. Chlorophyll found in spinach, cilantro, dandelion greens and other dark leafy vegetables is a natural detoxifier.
• Cruciferous vegetables are high in nutrients and fiber; fiber binds to excess toxins and removes them in stool.
• Legumes and oatmeal are also high in fiber.
• Organic chicken, fish and vegetable-based proteins are necessary for overall wellness; protein is made up of amino acids aiding detoxification. Reduce the amount of red meat you eat due to large amounts of saturated fats.
• Apples have a form of fiber that can clear toxins from the bloodstream.
• Green tea, white tea and hibiscus tea are all high in antioxidants.
• Spices such as garlic, ginger and turmeric have cleansing properties.
• Asparagus is a natural diuretic that helps your body eliminate toxins through urine.
• Beets provide a nutritional boost to the liver, helping to regenerate and repair cells.

Drink more water
Since the average human body consists of approximately 60 percent water, it stands to reason that you should be sure to get enough. Water cleanses cells and tissues by picking up and carrying away toxins that then leave through the urine. Although you may prefer bottled water, it's likely to be tap water from somewhere else if it's labeled as drinking water. You can save yourself time and money if you filter your water from the tap at home to remove potentially harmful toxins and solids.

Try fasting
Fasting can be good for the body, mind and spirit because it lets the body spend the time focusing on detoxification instead of digesting and using newly consumed foods. Fasting should be done over short periods of time, and be sure to get plenty of liquids in to prevent dehydration. Because bone broth cleanses and reboots your system, try a cup or two throughout the day during your fasts to maintain hydration and energy levels.

Limit stress
It may be difficult to completely avoid stress, but make sure you take time to relax and unwind whenever possible. Stress produces hormones within the body that can cause inflammation and damage to cells if exposed too long to these chemicals. Whether you try meditation, yoga or some other form of de-stressing, make sure that you also drink plenty of water to flush to stress hormones out of your system before they can do too much damage.

Get a blood workup
Certain health issues, such as celiac disease, can be determined through a blood test. By going to your family doctor and having a thorough blood workup, you'll be able to determine if you have a digestive issue that could prevent proper cleansing. This will also allow you to make more effective choices to eliminate food sensitivities that could lead to a buildup of toxins.

Focus on sleep
It might surprise you to learn that getting enough sleep is imperative for toxins to be cleared from the brain. As you sleep, an increase in cerebrospinal fluid reaches the brain to effectively pick up and remove toxins that may lead to brain fog, fatigue and some mental health issues. To improve your sleep, reduce your stress, turn off blue screens an hour or two before bed and create a calm, relaxing atmosphere where you lay down at night.

Try sweating and sauna
In most cases, only water and some sodium are released when sweating. However, you can rejuvenate your body by using infrared sauna. When using an infrared sauna, it's been shown that users may produce sweat that contains up to 20 percent toxins, making your skin more effective at releasing these harmful substances than by sweating through other means, such as by exercise.

Take vitamins and supplements
Changing your diet and making other lifestyle changes can definitely cleanse the body. However, if you need an extra boost, you may want to consider adding supplements or specific vitamins to your regimen. Chlorella, dandelion root, milk thistle and burdock root are just a few supplements that help to detoxify the liver. However, you should check with your health care provider if you're on medications or have any conditions to make sure these are safe for you to take.

How to reduce inflammation
If you suffer from chronic inflammation, it's important to make changes to the foods you eat and to get enough exercise. When under high levels of inflammation, the body can't detoxify itself very easily.

Inflammation often begins in the gut, so be sure to eat foods that improve gut microbiome. Eat antioxidant rich and high prebiotic foods as well as those with probiotic benefits to help the beneficial microbes in your intestines to flourish and provide necessary cleansing.

Wheat, dairy and sugar are big causes of inflammation, especially if you have any food sensitivities or intolerance. Also, you'll want to significantly reduce processed foods, decrease salt intake, reduce sugar intake and limit alcohol and tobacco use. When you bring less toxins into your body, it can do its work better to naturally clear out toxins that are already present.

Eat and lead a healthy lifestyle
Lose weight and purify your body with diet and exercise. Be active. Find a go-to spot for delicious healthy food for those times when you don't feel like cooking yourself. If you have a couple of places in mind, you won't have to settle for less-healthy fast food choices when the time comes.

• SAY YES TO YOU!: Our Feed Life - Eat To Live Program is a lifestyle diet and nutrition program that includes access to our nifty Evolution Nutrition App that provides 4,200+ Meal Plans covering 21 diet category types. We also have all-natural detoxification products that help kick start your metabolism. Our  Infrared Sauna  is an excellent, affordable way to detox while improving circulation and blood flow. With commitment and determination, you will catapult into a new lifestyle of better nutrition, energy and ultimate body image. Are you struggling with motivation? Book a free consult with us today.

• SHARE: If you're enjoying our Big Picture of Wellness series, why not share it with friends and family who could use some well-being support?

• ENCOURAGE: Another way to share is to encourage someone else today with a single, simple sentence of affirmation.

• COMMENT: We're interested in knowing what you think. Please feel free to comment below.

We Need Vitamins and Minerals in Our Diet

Every human needs vitamins and minerals in their diet because they are vital nutrients. Vitamins and minerals work together to perform many different roles in your body. They support bones, heal injuries and reinforce your immune system. Vitamins and minerals also repair damage to your cells. Your body needs them to convert the food that you eat into energy that it can use. When you’re missing key vitamins and minerals, your body doesn’t work properly. For instance, it may struggle to make hormones. This is why it’s important to include vitamins and minerals in your diet.

Human Bodies are Complex Dynamic, Organic and Sensitive Systems

A popular analogy is that “food is fuel.” In fact, it’s something that many nutrition and wellness people have embraced as a catchphrase for years. However, the time has come to challenge this line of thinking because human bodies are complex dynamic, organic and sensitive systems.

Often, people attempt to lose weight by counting calories, which appears to make sense. If you give your body enough food, you’ll have the energy that you need to do the active things that you want to do. If you give your body more food than it needs, then it will develop love handles or other fat deposits.

The problem comes from attempting to calculate the right amount of calorie inputs and outputs. Calorie counts for food are often incorrect. A person may have eaten more calories than they thought they should and still lost weight, or they may have eaten a low number of calories and gained weight. When you follow the idea that “food is fuel,” this wouldn’t occur, but it happens to people all the time. Why does it happen? It happens because the human body is a complicated, dynamic, sensitive and organic system.

All Food Is Not Equal

Research has determined that all food isn’t created equal. What a person eats is not always absorbed by their body. A variety of factors impact how your body digests, processes and expends the food that you eat. This means that the calorie worth of something that is not in your body isn’t always the same as when it is.

It’s common to think of food as fuel, calories or energy, but when you focus on that element, you’re not considering the whole picture. Food is communication that tells our bodies how to perform, one that sends instructions that kick off a chemical chain reaction. While it’s accurate that macronutrients, which are the fats, proteins and carbs in food items, contain calories or energy, they also include phytochemicals, zoo chemicals, water, micronutrients and more. These substances affect your health and how your body functions.

Think of the substances in food as the supporting actors in a television show. They are not the main characters, and they don’t give the show energy or fuel, but they provide dynamic interactions with the main actors to help them create a spark. The supporting substances in food are essential for the functionality, mood and best long-term health of the human body. If they’re missing, then the show can’t go on. This is why it’s important to choose food that fuels.

Food that Fuels

Food that fuels features nutrients like:

• Calcium
• Folate
• Flavonoids

Calcium is a mineral that helps your body build bones, regulate blood pressure and clot blood. The mineral also keeps your heart beating and your muscles operating while supporting cell communication.

Folate, which is vitamin B6, helps your body generate energy from food, grow tissue and produce red blood cells. Folate also assists the functioning ability of the nervous system. This is especially important since it sends signals throughout our bodies.

Flavonoids, which are phytochemicals, protect your DNA from free radicals, lower your risk of developing heart disease, protect you from developing cancer and decrease overall mortality.

When you pay attention to the nutrients that you’re ingesting, you’ll be able to improve your gut health. While it’s easy to focus on counting calories and increasing your workouts, holistic health is multidimensional. It requires a comprehensive approach.

Phytochemicals and Their Benefits

To give your body the natural, health-supporting nutrients it needs, eat foods that contain phytochemicals. These substances are in plants, and while you can become deficient in key nutrients like vitamin C, you won’t develop a phytonutrient deficiency. However, they are important to your health.

When people eat a diet that’s high in phytochemicals, they generally enjoy better health. The right phytochemical combination triggers your immune system. They also improve how well your body can detox. These nutrients may even protect you from developing age-related diseases like heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes.

Additional benefits of phytochemicals include lower blood pressure, reduced blood sugar levels and a lower risk of developing cancer and diabetes. The best sources of phytochemicals are fresh foods that are whole like fruits, nuts, herbs and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables that are bright colors, such as purple, red and blue, usually contain phytochemicals, but there are also less bright foods that have them as well. Cauliflower and potatoes are in this category.

Zoo Chemicals Have Profound Health Effects

Zoochemicals provide your body with the same type of benefits as phytochemicals, but zoochemicals are in animal sources. Human bodies need them to obtain optimal health and to perform at a high level. Zoochemicals are made up of fats, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Some plants contain zoochemicals, but there are more of them in animal-based proteins.

Food Can Heal or Kill

While there are a number of factors that contribute to the formation of a malignancy, eating bad food is one of the top three. Cancer literally feeds and thrives on sugar. To prevent cancer and get your gut health in check, avoid:

• Refined and processed sugar
• Alcohol
• Burned or charred food
• Non-organic meat
• Canned food
• Processed meat

There are many notions about dangerous foods and toxins. Research is still being done to determine how much of an impact these foods and substances have on the human body. For instance, illness and weak immune systems also play a role. However, it is important to embrace the factors and behaviors that you can control. Processed foods often contain added sugar, fat and salt. Sugar is the devil, and it’s a good idea to avoid it as much as possible.

Bacteria Can be Harmful or Helpful

There are bacteria everywhere including your entire body. In some cases, bacteria are harmful, but certain types of them are important, and they help keep the human body healthy. The bacteria on the skin, within the airways and that’s part of the digestive system are one of the body’s main defenders against the kind of foreign pathogens that may cause infections or other issues. Add good bacteria to strengthen the intestinal barrier.

Bacteria helps the body’s immune system by making sure it’s properly tuned. A body’s immune system shouldn’t be overly sensitive or slow to respond. It needs to tackle infections quickly without overreacting. Every body features its own personal bacteria collection, which is called the microbiome. Humans acquire their first bacteria upon birth. Each day, the environment that you’re in exposes you to more bacteria. Some of these bacteria stick with you and work to create a healthy immune system.

Good bacteria set up shop in the respiratory and digestive systems. Once there, they colonize these systems and establish the immune system’s checks and balances. Bacteria also helps the body’s cells by performing some of the jobs that cells aren’t good at doing like breaking down carbs and toxins. Bacteria helps your body absorb fatty acids. Cells need these substances to develop. Bacteria also protects intestine cells from invasive pathogens. When a body has good bacteria, bad bacteria are unable to grow and form into diseases.

Bad bacteria may cause diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. Generally, these diseases only occur when a body’s normal microbiome is disturbed. However, the microbiome can be disrupted from a variety of sources including antibiotics. Bad bacteria can be present in your body at low levels without causing harm, or they can grow at an excessive rate and cause major issues.

Good bacteria aid good gut health. Keep in mind that poor gut health causes symptoms such as gas, heartburn, bloating and constipation.

How to Develop Good Gut Health

The average human body contains around 40 trillion bacteria. Most of the bacteria are in the gut. Your gut microbiome is extremely important to your overall health. There are many factors that impact the bacteria in your digestive tract, but food is a major one.

The good news is that you can improve your gut bacteria. One easy way to improve it is to eat a wide range of foods. A body’s intestines contain hundreds of species of bacteria. Each one participates in your health. They also need different nutrients to grow. A diverse microbiome is largely thought to be a healthy one. The reason for this is because when the body has more species of bacteria, they are able to provide more health benefits.

One problem is that the western diet tends to be limited and heavy in fat and sugar. To offset this, eat real food like vegetables, fruit, legumes and beans. Fruits and vegetables are the best options to develop a healthy microbiome. They contain a great deal of fiber, and while your body won’t be able to digest fiber, some gut bacteria can. This stimulates their ability to grow. To develop good gut health, don’t overeat. Also, eliminate any foods/drinks that cause issues.

Have a Dr. check nutrient levels to determine what your body may be lacking. To support your gut, you may need to add iron, vitamin C, selenium, magnesium, micronutrients B vitamins and omega-3 nutrients to your diet. Leafy greens include many of these substances. They also help control inflammation, which can support a healthy gut as well.

Digestion Impacts Mood Health and Even the Way We Think

The human body contains two brains, the one in your head and the one in your gut. Your gut’s brain is called the enteric nervous system, or ENS, and it is made up of two thin layers of 100 million nerve cells that cover the gastrointestinal tract from the rectum to your esophagus.

The main job of the ENS is to manage the body’s digestive system, which means that it has a big job. Managing the digestion system ranges from swallowing to releasing the proper enzymes that your body needs to break down food. The ENS is even responsible for controlling the amount of blood flow needed to help with absorbing nutrients and elimination.

While the ENS doesn’t develop thoughts, it does communicate with the brain in your head. In fact, researchers believe that the ENS may trigger major emotional shifts that people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome often experience. For years, it was thought that depression and anxiety contributed to gut problems like IBS, bloating, pain and diarrhea, but they are coming across evidence that it may be the other way around.

This is good news because it gives people new treatment opportunities. If you experience gut problems along with emotional ones, then you may be able to treat it with the right balance of food, exercise and supplements.

How to Use Supplements to Help Your Gut

If you are experiencing poor gut health, then it’s important to find the root cause. Some people develop a condition known as leaky gut syndrome. This is an ailment in which a person doesn’t have the proper coating to protect the intestinal lining, making it unable to prevent harmful substances from forcing their way into the bloodstream through the digestive tract.

You may have leaky gut syndrome if you experience food sensitivities, autoimmune conditions or mental health problems. Prevent gut distress with supplements like:

• Zinc
• L-glutamine
• Collagen peptides
• Probiotics
• Fiber

Zinc is important for a number of the body’s metabolic processes. It also boosts the body’s immune system. According to a 2001 study, zinc supplements helped strengthen the guts of those who suffer from Crohn’s disease.

L-glutamine is a critical amino acid. When it’s present in the digestive tract, it works to repair the intestinal lining, providing another layer of support.

Collagen is a helpful protein that is in most of the body’s tissues, but it may also be beneficial to your gut health. Collagen peptides are easy to digest, and a recent study determined that the supplement worked to prevent additional breakages of the intestinal lining.

Probiotics are a therapeutic way to manage and treat gastrointestinal diseases. Probiotics are live microorganisms that aid the gut’s microbiome.

Fiber works a lot like probiotics, and it improves the microbiome as well. Fiber is also a key element of a healthy diet.

A Comprehensive Approach

Obtaining the body physique that you’ve always wanted requires more than a one or two step approach. While a low-calorie diet or intense workout routine may help you tone up and drop a few pounds, maintaining the physique that you want requires nutritional guidance, supplements and exercise. It may even require sculpting and contouring help using aesthetic cosmetology services like electrical stimulation, cool sculpting and non-invasive fat removal techniques.

Create a Healthy Gut for a Healthier You

Recover and renew with sleep, stress management and exercise along with nutritional guidance, supplements and aesthetic cosmetology. Poor gut health will make you feel bad and not perform well. Consider a comprehensive approach to obtaining the body physique and mental health that you want and deserve.

It’s time to say yes to you! With our Feed Life – Eat To Live Program, you’ll be embracing a lifestyle diet as well as a nutrition program that gives you access to our helpful Evolution Nutrition App. With this app, you can view 4,200 plus meal plans that fall under 21 different diet category types. Commitment and determination on your part will send you into a wonderful new lifestyle, one that includes better nutrition, more energy and the body image you’ve always wanted. To learn more, click here at Feed-life-membership.
​
• Share: If this is something that works for you, be sure to share it with your loved ones. Encourage them to subscribe to our program and share it with others.
• Encourage: Inspire someone today with a kind word or simple affirmation.
• Comment: Stay in touch with us and comment today. 

Nutrition is just one part of the multi-dimensional plan that we offer for holistic wellness. Did you know that every food choice is an opportunity to directly shape and remake your health? The foods you select to consume today can directly impact how you feel tomorrow. Eating healthy benefits the mind, body and spirit, allowing you to experience life to its fullest.

HEALTHY EATING
Let's get motivated with a few healthy eating quotes.

"Every time you eat is an opportunity to nourish your body." -Unknown

"A little nudge in a new direction leads to a vastly different food destination." -Sarah Pullen

"I can't control everything in my life, but I can control what I put in my body." -Unknown

Even if you've made poor choices on the types of nutrition you've put into your body in the past, it's not too late to choose healthy habits for your future self.

Why is nutrition important?
As just one aspect to improving your overall well-being, the nutrients you put into your body can help to reduce stress, let you sleep better, reduce the number of toxins in your body, improve your workouts and even help you to look better.

You've probably heard the phrase eat to live don't live to eat, but what does it mean? All food isn't created equal. No matter what we choose to put in our bodies, food is communication that tells our bodies how to perform. Food can make you feel good or bad or happy or sad. The healthiest foods will enhance your life performance while less nutrient-rich options can actually produce harm with consequences that can truly affect you for years.

The food we eat sends signals throughout our bodies to make hormones, which can be beneficial or harmful to our overall wellness. For example, processed foods or those high in sugar or trans fats can elevate cortisol levels in the body. Although this fight-or-flight stress hormone has some benefits, high levels over a long period of time can lead to chronic health issues such as cardiovascular disease, weakened immune function and metabolic disorders that could lead to an early demise.

On the other hand, healthy eating benefits your body by producing necessary hormones that help with many bodily functions, such as your ability to sleep well and metabolize fats while nourishing your organs to work the way that they should. Food also triggers immune system function, helping to reduce harmful inflammation and allowing your body to fight off microbial invasions and infections.

Benefits of Healthy Eating
Eating the right foods can benefit your body, especially when you use these foods in combination with our other holistic methods. Eating a healthy, balanced diet can help you to lose or maintain weight, fend off cardiovascular disease and diabetes, reduce your risk of developing certain types of cancer and prevent nutrient deficiencies. You'll look better, feel better and have more energy to complete your daily tasks.

Here's just a little bit on how nutrition fits in with the other aspects of our multi-dimensional program that will improve your overall health:

• Stress management: When you eat too much of the wrong foods, your stress levels increase along with cortisol levels. Alternately, excessive or long-term stress can lead to emotional eating, which may cause you to binge or choose unhealthy foods. When you manage your stress, you're more likely to select and prepare foods that a re more beneficial to your body.
• Good sleep: Eating foods high in fat, sugar or caffeine or those low in fiber can dramatically impact the quality of your sleep. You might find yourself waking up regularly during the night, which can cause you to feel tired and fatigued the next day. Likewise, when you don't get enough quality sleep, you're more likely to gain weight because hormone levels may cause you to overeat and even crave less nutritious, high-calorie foods.
• Water: Drinking enough water is crucial to a nutritious diet. Water carries the essential nutrients from the foods you eat to the cells where they're needed. There are times when you may think you're hungry, but it's actually your body's way of telling you that you're thirsty. Before grabbing for an unhealthy snack, try drinking a cup or two of water, and see if that does the trick.
• Nutrients and gut health: Science is proving that there's a connection between the gut and the brain as well as other systems within your body. When your gut is unhealthy, intestinal flora sends instructions that kick off a chemical chain reaction that causes you to crave unhealthy foods that these potentially harmful microbes need to survive. On the other hand, a balance of beneficial gut flora causes you to want to eat healthier foods that better sustain them. When you make better food choices, you can starve out harmful microbes and increase the levels of beneficial flora in your gut biome.
• Toxins: Your body stores toxins from unhealthy food and your environment. When you make healthier choices in the foods you eat, the nutrients can help rid your body of these toxins. A buildup of toxins in your body can make you crave the wrong types of foods as well.
• Fitness: The right workout regimen can help you to lose fat, get stronger and improve your health. However, you need to eat the right foods to get the most out of your exercise. Remember, it's easy to out eat your workout, which can be a waste of your hard-earned efforts. A fit body will allow you to do the things you enjoy with less effort and for sustained periods of time.
• Recover: Whether recovering from an illness or injury, the right nutrients from the foods you eat can promote healing so that you recover faster.
• Aesthetics: Even if you're undertaking multiple beauty treatments, it's true that beauty comes from within. A healthy diet helps your body composition, provides antioxidants to counter damage from the environment and even helps the body to to produce collagen to slow the signs of aging for a glowing complexion.
• Accountability: No one's going to make your choices for you, so you need to be accountable for your food choices along with the other measures we listed. When you stay accountable to what you put into your body, you can take pride in knowing that you're caring for yourself in the best way possible.

FOOD AND CHRONIC DISEASE
Although genetics, lifestyle choices and environment have an impact on whether or not you develop certain medical problems, science is now finding a definitive link between diet and health. Food can heal or kill.

Food as medicine
Because your body needs certain nutrients to thrive, it's no wonder that food can be useful in the management, treatment and even the prevention of certain diseases and conditions. Healing foods nourish your body with essential nutrients to reduce problem-causing inflammation and prevent you from becoming deficient. One of the benefits of healthy eating is the possibility to live a longer, more fruitful life.

Junk food and earlier death
Research shows that eating an unbalanced diet that's high in processed foods, sugar and fat can decrease your life span. If you choose unhealthy options over food that fuels your body, you're at a higher risk of developing health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, obesity, coronary artery disease, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.

Meal planning
We firmly believe in the power of meal planning to help you reach your wellness and weight-loss goals. You'll enjoy the benefits of eating healthy without the hassle of wondering what to eat day by day. We prescribe professionally created meal plans to Studio Figura ATL clients.

Our individualized meal plans aren't just a single step in your overall wellness journey. These plans are designed to work in concert with the other aspects of our program. If necessary, we'll recommend supplements to enhance your diet for the long-term wellness benefits you expect to receive.

Snacks
We don't want you to suffer with hunger while you're losing weight. Where applicable, we can even include snacks in your meal plan. Eating in between meals can be especially beneficial if you suffer from metabolic issues, such as diabetes, to keep y our energy levels up and your blood sugar stable. However, you must choose your snacks wisely.

We know how difficult it can be to cut out sugar all at once, so you might want to try adding more fruits to your diet. The natural sugars found in fruits can trick your taste buds, giving you a sweet treat while providing essential nutrients and fiber.

Here are some of the best fruits for weight loss:

• Berries are low-calorie, nutrient-rich power bombs. They can help you to feel full while providing you with lots of vitamins and can reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and inflammation. Berries can even help your skin to stay younger looking.
• Almost three times as filling as typical bars of chocolate, apples are high in fiber to help you stay satisfied between meals. Natural compounds found in apples can also lower cholesterol and help your body to burn fat.
• Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can help you to feel fuller, eat less and lower cholesterol. If you're taking certain medications that prevent you from having this fruit, we won't include it in your meal plan.
• Another power bomb comes in the form of kiwi. This high-fiber fruit is stock full of vitamins and keeps your gut healthy, helping you to shed fat.
• Pineapple has lots of vitamins and minerals, making it a nutrient-dense choice for snacking or including in meals. Great for weight loss, pineapple also helps to lower blood pressure, helps with diabetes and improves the condition of your skin and hair.
• Watermelon is full of fiber to help you feel full while giving your body essential nutrients. With a high water content, this fruit can fill in the gap a little if you're not keeping up with your fluid intake.
• If you're looking for a fruit that can help with weight loss, with better sleep and against the damaging effects of stress, tart cherries fit the bill. With high levels of antioxidants, tart cherries also help balance your metabolism and reduce cholesterol.
• Twice as filling as processed granola bars, oranges are full of fiber to help you stay full for longer. Choose the whole fruit over the juice to enjoy the weight-loss benefits.

Are you ready to get started? Since health is wealth, now is the time to begin. Studio Figura ATL is your nutrition coach to help you become the healthiest fittest strongest version of you.

• SAY YES TO YOU!: Our Feed Life -  Eat To Live Program is a Lifestyle Diet and Nutrition Program that includes access to our nifty Evolution Nutrition App that provides 4,200+ Meal Plans covering 21 Diet Category Types. With commitment and determination, you will catapult into a new lifestyle of better nutrition, energy and ultimate body image. Learn more?
• SUBSCRIBE & SHARE!: If you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and sharing with friends and family, and encouraging them to subscribe and share.
• ENCOURAGE: Go encourage someone else today with a single, simple sentence of affirmation.
• COMMENT: We want to hear from you.  Please feel free to comment below! 
  Stress management and good sleep are two of the most critical components of a healthy lifestyle and keys to wellness. Stay tuned for the next steps in our Big Picture of Wellness Series!                                                       

Many of us have a picture of wellness that is incomplete. We often think about diet and exercise as the keys to health; however, we forget that wellness is a compilation of multiple factors. One of the often overlooked components of overall wellness is drinking enough water throughout the day. Therefore, step three in our Big Picture of Wellness Series is water.

As a society, we often write off water for more “fun” drinks that are full of sugar. However, plain old boring water is such an essential element of wellness, and we are harming ourselves by casting it off! Water makes up a majority of our body and is necessary for our body to function healthily and without issue. There are countless benefits to drinking water, and being more mindful about water intake is crucial for health and wellness.

Why Is Drinking Water Important?

With a busy schedule, it is often easy to forget to drink water and go about the day while being dehydrated. Often, we do not even notice when we are dehydrated as we have gotten so used to ignoring the signs. Unfortunately, we are a chronically dehydrated society and cant even tell the difference between hunger and thirst any more. On top of our many daily tasks, it is difficult to remember to drink water and pay attention to what our body needs, but it is necessary.

Often, when our body is telling us that we are thirsty, we may confuse it for hunger, meaning that we are bypassing our body’s needs. Additionally, there are hundreds of drink options now, many of them containing large amounts of sugar, so when we do pick up a drink, it may not be what we need, causing us to stay dehydrated. All of these factors make it crucial to be mindful of our water intake throughout the day.

Benefits of Drinking Water

Water is critical for our body’s function. Without water, the body cannot perform necessary functions and maintain a healthy operating state. Drinking larger amounts of water also has several benefits for increased physical and mental health. As a result, water is a strong contributor to our overall health and wellness. Overall, the drinking water benefits are countless.

Water is Helpful for Weight Loss

Water is often one of the most powerful and most underrated weight loss tools. We know that water is 100% calorie-free, but we often do not know that it also helps you burn more calories. Water helps to activate your metabolism, meaning that it helps your body use more calories for energy.

Drinking water consistently keeps your metabolism going throughout the day, making your body more efficient at burning calories. You should always consume before meals as it will help jumpstart your metabolism and aid your body in digestion. This makes your body better at using more of the food you take in for energy instead of storing it as fat.

Additionally, water suppresses hunger and appetite. Drinking water can take up space in your stomach and signal to your body that you are full. You should also drink plenty of water as a person can think that they are hungry when they are actually thirsty, so it helps to avoid unnecessary snacking. Drinking water also helps to replace drinks that contain a lot of sugar. This is a great way to avoid unnecessary calories and support your body’s function all at the same time. Altogether, you should drink plenty of water for a healthy weight.

Water Supports Your Body’s Internal Processes

Water is a necessary element that helps to carry out many processes in the body. We are made up of 70% water, so it makes sense that we need to continue to drink water to sustain ourselves. The body uses water for almost all of its essential processes. We are all made up of cells that make up tissues, carry nutrients and reproduce throughout our bodies. Water plays a key role in keeping cells alive and flourishing as it carries nutrients to the cells in your tissue and gets rid of toxins and dead cells.

Water also helps to flush toxins away from your organs. It helps to cleanse the kidneys and expel toxins from the body through urine. Without enough water, the body has to work overtime to carry out the toxins. By drinking enough water, it reduces your risk of kidney stones. If there is not enough water to break down the excess minerals and toxins in the urine, then kidney stones can develop and cause extreme discomfort. Similarly, drinking water prevents constipation and allows your body to function appropriately, carrying out toxins to promote healthy organ function and prevent health problems.

Water also increases oxygenation in the body. This is the process of your cells carrying oxygen from your lungs to the rest of the tissues of your body. This process is crucial for healthy physical function and is especially helpful during exercise when your body’s tissues need oxygen quickly. Altogether, water is necessary for supporting the components of the machine that is the human body.

Water Has Numerous Physical Health Benefits

Water plays a key role in your physical health and prevents everything from discomfort to long-term health problems. Maintaining a sufficient water intake is key to avoiding a lot of very common health problems, even more than we might think. For example, staying hydrated allows you to avoid the discomforts of headaches and heartburn. Drinking water is great for both the prevention and relief of headaches. Water is often the simple solution to nagging health issues. Before considering over-the-counter medications, always ask yourself if you have had enough water.

Water plays a large role in our physical movement as well. Water is lubrication for the body. If you dont drink enough water your joints can experience more friction during movement leading to pain and discomfort. Water also helps your body carry necessary nutrients to your muscles and tissues to function, which is particularly necessary after using them extensively. As a result, drinking water can reduce pain and inflammation, providing your body with the hydration it needs to support joints and repair muscles.

Water also reduces fluid retention and associated swelling that comes with it—staying consistently hydrated means that your body does not need to hold on to large quantities of water. This will help you feel more comfortable and allow you to worry less about bloating or swollen feet. Staying hydrated is key to feeling great and avoiding negative health effects.

Drinking Water Helps You Look Great

On top of the many health benefits, water is also great for your appearance because it helps you to maintain healthy muscle tone and reduces the effects of aging on your skin. Dehydration can reduce muscle tone by preventing muscles from contracting. When dehydrated, muscles also take longer to repair themselves and rebuild, so even if you are putting a lot of time into your workouts, they may not be helpful if you do not drink enough water. A lack of water can also affect your workouts by leading to muscle fatigue or cramping, which prevents you from making the most of the exercise. Drinking enough water is necessary for building and maintaining healthy muscles.

Water also helps to keep your skin looking young and fresh. Staying hydrated allows your skin to maintain its elasticity. People who drink a healthy amount of water experience fewer wrinkles and scars. Whether it is for your skin or muscles, water is great for your appearance, helping you look younger and stronger.

Water Benefits Your Mental and Cognitive Health

Water is integral for all of your body’s processes, including your brain function. Water helps to support the chemical processes in the brain, which are necessary for stabilizing your mental health and function. Drinking enough water allows your brain to function better for a balanced mood, improved concentration and sustained memory function. A hydrated brain also helps regulate stress and anxiety. On top of it all, you also experience better sleep - water increases blood flow to the brain. Water plays a key role in your mental and cognitive health.

How to Drink More Water

At this point, it is clear that you need to keep your body consistently hydrated. Keep your body properly hydrated by drinking sufficient quantities of water throughout the day. The amount of water that everyone needs will be slightly different, but the best practice is to drink about a gallon a day. This also depends on your exercise and activity for the day. More activity means you should be drinking more water. By being mindful of your water intake and making better habits, you can take the right steps to stay hydrated.

Drinking water should be a thoughtful process. Try carrying around a refillable water bottle everywhere you go so that you are always thinking about drinking water and always have access to it. There are also water bottles you can buy that have markings on the side telling you how much water you should drink by a certain time of the day. These are a great way to remember to drink water, especially during a busy day. Whatever may work for you, it helps to be constantly thinking about drinking water throughout the day so that you intake your necessary amount.

It becomes even easier to stay hydrated if you replace sugary beverages with water. By replacing sugary drinks, you are drinking more water, and you are avoiding a drink that will often dehydrate you more than it will hydrate you. Try setting goals for yourself to put down your other drink choices and replace them with more water. Overall, taking a step towards drinking more water has numerous positive effects on health and wellness and is part of an overall picture of wellness.

Take the Steps Toward Holistic Wellness Today

Here at Studio Figura ATL, we want to help you take the path toward genuine health and wellness. We work with you to address the multi-dimensional nature of health so that you can live a more rewarding, more complete lifestyle. Join us by taking some key next steps:

• SAY YES TO YOU!: We find ourselves in an unhealthy place when we do for others what we can do for ourselves. We stand in the way of our happiness, our path to greater love, success, and joy. We sabotage ourselves, often without realizing it.
  
• SUBSCRIBE & SHARE!: If you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and sharing with friends and family, and encouraging them to subscribe and share.
  
•  ENCOURAGE: Go encourage someone else today with a single, simple sentence of affirmation.
  
• COMMENT: We want to hear from you.  Please feel free to comment below! 

By drinking water, getting good sleep and managing stress, you can take huge strides towards increased wellness and health. Holistic health is a journey. To stay on the right track, stay tuned for the next seven steps in our Big Picture of Wellness Series!

There is no such thing as a fast track to holistic health. Wellness is a product of many different factors, which is why our Big Picture of Wellness Series is focused on changing the perspective of how to attain proper holistic health. One of the essential tools to a long and comfortable life is healthy sleep. When striving to be your best self, sleep plays a vital role in recharging your mind and body, and there are plenty of steps that you can take to ensure that you are maximizing your sleep and prioritizing your health.

Why Sleep Is Important

Sleep is a scientific mystery in many ways, but we do know that we need sleep to refresh the mind and body. Sleep provides your mind the opportunity to consolidate memories, reconcile thoughts and recharge. It also provides the body a chance to repair muscles and fight infection. Sleep is a powerful force in maintaining your mental and physical wellness.

It is crucial to get enough sleep to get your body refreshed and rested to take on your daily activities. A lack of sleep is associated with adverse health effects, and missing out on sleep can be detrimental to your body, even if you are conscious about other areas of your health, like diet and exercise. Therefore, sleep is a necessary component of an overall healthy lifestyle.

Getting good sleep also correlates with a lower risk for health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. It also helps to improve memory, reduce stress and strengthen the immune system. Many people may not realize there is a minimum amount of sleep needed for brain function, and not getting enough can be very harmful. Sleep has an abundance of direct and indirect benefits for your health.

Although sleep can often take the back burner for those on a busy schedule, it is a crucial component of wellness. Going through your day with not enough or no sleep is very challenging. Without sleep, it is more difficult for the mind to concentrate and the body to operate at its best. Regardless of your commitment to your current diet or exercise routine, their benefits can be erased if you are not getting enough sleep.

How Much Sleep Do I Need?

The amount of sleep that a person needs depends on each person. Adults typically need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, while teenagers require 8-10 hours and children require even more. However, these numbers are based on recommendations, and you should only use them for guidance. Every person is different, and you may need less or more depending on the state of your health and your lifestyle.

It is important to be proactive and considerate about the sleep you need and take precautions to avoid being sleep-deprived. Lack of sleep can begin to take a toll on your mind and body. If you are experiencing, or start to notice, any sleep deprivation symptoms, you should start to be more conscious about your sleep schedule and take the necessary steps to improve the amount of sleep you are getting. These symptoms include lack of focus, irritation, delirium, headaches and more.

Having an occasional night of lousy sleep happens, but you may face various lack of sleep side effects if you are regularly missing out on good sleep. Everyone will be slightly different, and there is no perfect formula. Still, everyone needs to prioritize sleep to avoid the discomfort of lack of sleep headaches and other adverse health effects. Sleep deprivation effects can quickly take a toll, so making time for sleep is key to your health.

How to Improve Sleep Quality

Sleep hygiene means having consistent and uninterrupted sleep by following a stable sleep schedule in a comfortable environment. There are plenty of great tips and tools to help you have the best possible sleep hygiene for your overall health and wellness. Many factors can affect your sleep patterns and several routines, and you can easily consider them each day to improve the quality of your sleep and improve your overall health.

Being mindful of some important sleeping tips can play a key role in putting you on the path to more restful sleep. Here are some of the best ways to improve your sleep quality:

Create the Right Environment

Setting a solid and thoughtful routine can do wonders for your sleep habits. Strong sleep hygiene includes providing yourself with an environment conducive to rest and mindful relaxation. Not being mindful of your bedtime surroundings can make it more difficult to fall asleep or get restful sleep. This is why it is important to have a comfortable and peaceful space along with a calming nighttime routine. This includes being in a comfortable bed and a room with cooler temperatures that are lower than usual since cooler temperatures make for a more suitable sleeping environment.

At night, before bed, you should find ways to turn your brain off and wind down. Try to find calming activities to do before laying down so that you are more relaxed and able to fall asleep easier. Try to avoid using your phone too close to bedtime. The constant light from staring at your phone pushes your brain to be more alert and makes it more difficult to sleep. You should also resist urge to look at phone or do something if you wake up in middle of night.

Similarly, when you are ready to go to sleep, ensure that there is no light in the room so that you are able to maximize your rest. Even if you are asleep, light in the room can be bothersome and negatively affect your rest. If it is too bright in your room, you may prevent your body from feeling rested and waste your slumber.
When setting your bedtime environment, you should also determine if noise or no noise is better for you, as everyone is different. For some, it is easier to fall asleep with calming white noise, like the sound of rain, a beach or a waterfall. For others, any noise at all can be disruptive and make it more difficult to rest and fall asleep. Ultimately having a comfortable and calm environment can go a long way toward maximizing the benefits of your sleep.

Incorporate Exercise

Having a daily dose of exercise is not only great for keeping your body active but also helps your body rest better at night. A good moderate to intense work out each during the day will help you sleep at night.

Although it is a good idea to incorporate exercise into your daily routine, it is important to be conscious about when you do it. The best practice is that you dont exercise within an hour or two before going to bed. If you exercise too close to the time you plan to go to sleep, it will be harder to fall asleep, and it will not be as restful. Exercising raises your heart rate and gives you an alert state of mind, which is, of course, the opposite of the desired effects when you are trying to sleep.

Give Your Body the Right Nourishment

Providing your body with the correct fuel and nourishment can go a long way. Food is powerful, and diet can play a significant role in your ability to rest appropriately. Fortunately, there are plenty of options for food for good sleep. Some of the best foods to eat at night include:

• Milk- Milk contains naturally occurring melatonin, which is a hormone that plays a large role in sleep.
• Fatty fish- Salmon and other fatty fish contain vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, which are present in foods that help you sleep and help the body regulate serotonin and rest.
• Nuts- Nuts also contain melatonin as well as essential minerals like magnesium and zinc, all of which contribute to reducing insomnia.
• Rice- Rice has a high glycemic index and has related to improved sleep for individuals.

Eating sleep-inducing foods is a good idea to add to your routine. Another option to help your body get to sleep is taking a melatonin supplement. However, overeating can be harmful to your sleep patterns. If you are too full, it will be harder to get comfortable at night and get more restful sleep. Finding the right balance can play a great role in improving your sleep patterns.

Another good way to help your body gain more restful sleep is to drink something soothing in the evening. For example, chamomile tea has been shown to have calming properties and improve sleep when drinking it before bed. Reishi mushrooms are also a great supplement to help improve sleep when consumed regularly. Reishi mushrooms can be taken through capsules or tea. Drinking tea also encourages you to sit and wind down before bed.

Explore Cannabis Products

Cannabinoid (CBD) products can also be useful sleep aids. Smoking marijuana or ingesting THC tinctures can help to improve sleep, especially for those who experience heightened stress or sleep disorders. Benefits of cannabis tinctures and marijuana products include a state of relaxation, restored sleep schedule and tamed insomnia.

When using CBD products to improve sleep, you should always start slowly and pay attention to your reactions. CBD products can have a variety of effects, and you may react differently to them than others. There are also different levels of products, including Delta 8 THC, Delta 9 THC and Delta 10 THC. Each type of product has different effects, with Delta 8 THC being used most commonly as a sleep aid. If you plan on trying cannabis-derived products, make sure to do your research and take time to determine how your body reacts to each one before going all in.

Consider Your Body’s Hormones

If you have a hard time falling asleep, it may not be an issue with your routine, but it could be an issue with your hormones. For women, estrogen levels can have an impact on sleep quality and patterns. Menopause and sleep troubles can often go hand-in-hand. Menopause affects every woman differently, and the side effects may vary, but the change in hormones can make it more difficult to get restful sleep.

If you are experiencing sleep issues due to hormones low estrogen symptoms, you should reach out to your doctor to see what options are available to cope with menopause. Generally, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reducing stress can lessen the impacts of menopause on sleep, which makes it even more important to act on the many tips to improve your sleep.

Clear Your Head, Literally

An often-overlooked sleeping tip is the importance of comfortably breathing while you are asleep. A clear airway will allow you to comfortably breathe while you are asleep and give your body plenty of oxygen to recharge throughout the night. The best way to do this is to ensure that your airways are clear before bed. It helps to take steps to reduce mucus and eliminate diary and mucus building goods. Clearing nasal passages or using a nasal rinse before bed will help keep your nose and throat clear for comfortable breathing throughout the night.

Take the Next Steps

Getting good sleep is a crucial foundation for your overall health and wellness. For more information about taking control of your health, come see us at Studio Figura ATL. Wellness is a multi-dimensional process. Here at Studio Figura ATL, we help you activate your mind and body so that you can be your best self all around. Join us in our movement for holistic health!

•   SAY YES TO YOU!: We find ourselves in an unhealthy place when we do for others what we can do for ourselves. We stand in the way of our happiness, our path to greater love, success, and joy. We sabotage ourselves, often without realizing it.
 
•   SUBSCRIBE & SHARE!: If you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and sharing with friends and family, and encouraging them to subscribe and share.
 
•   ENCOURAGE: Go encourage someone else today with a single, simple sentence of affirmation.
 
•   COMMENT: We want to hear from you.  Please feel free to comment below! 
Stress management and good sleep are two of the most critical components of a healthy lifestyle and keys to wellness. Stay tuned for the next steps in our Big Picture of Wellness Series!  

This was going to be your year. It still can be. Now more than ever, health and wellness are vital to maintaining your overall wellbeing. But, how can you maintain your health when the world seems to be falling apart everywhere you look? If stress has you feeling down, read on to learn about stress management from the team of holistic professionals at Studio Figura ATL.

Health and Wellness 101
Contrary to popular belief, you cannot achieve the journey to complete health by focusing on changing one habit alone. We don’t want to be the bearers of bad news, but your life won’t stay healthy because you ran a marathon, went vegan, or finally fit into your old jeans. Optimized health is only part of a lifestyle change, after all.

Additionally, there is no one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter solution for anyone’s individual wellness needs. What works for one person may not work for you, and that’s okay.

Sure, it’s a step in the right direction if you change up your exercise routine to include weight lifting or cardio. It’s also a remarkable accomplishment if you eat clean for months on end. Did you run your first marathon? Have you dropped all the excess pounds you wanted to shed?

Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? It isn’t.

While you should be proud of any positive lifestyle changes, there’s still something missing from your health and wellness plan. So, what is it?

You need a well-rounded plan for physical, emotional, and mental health. A well-rounded approach to health includes:
Stress management
Good sleep
Water
Nutrition
Nutrients and Gut Health
Toxins
Fitness
Recovery
Aesthetics
Accountability

How Stress is Getting in Your Way
Could it be the effects of stress that are blocking your path to optimum mental and physical fitness? In this essay about stress, you’ll discover more about the stress effects on the body and what you can do to optimize your overall wellness through stress management.

Life’s pressure can stop you from accomplishing everything you need to stay healthy throughout a lifetime. Stress causes you to overeat, gain weight, and lose sleep. It is also known that stress can cause physical barriers to health, such as heart problems, obesity, autoimmune diseases, mental illness, and more.

If you can’t sleep, you’ll need more food to maintain energy throughout your daily activities. If you’re eating more, you’re not likely to lose weight while keeping your sanity.

Worse? You may eat processed, unhealthy food because you feel too exhausted to enjoy the activity of cooking a healthy meal. Consequently, exercise is not even on your schedule. As you can see, stress can lead to an endless cycle of anxiety.

Stress Causes
The world doesn’t need to be crumbling for you to feel stressed out. It’s entirely normal for stressors to vary from person to person. Some individuals are only stressed by chaotic or traumatic events, while others may find it stressful and anxiety-inducing to make a phone call.

Whatever the cause of your stress, it’s imperative to know that there is hope to help you cope. Studio Figura ATL’s whole-you solution will guide your unique journey to optimum health with personalized treatment tailored to your needs and specifications, including individualized stress management techniques.

What is Stress Management?

Are you falling short of your health and wellness goals? Do you find yourself multitasking too much and always saying yes? If you struggle to control the signs of stress, you’re far from alone.

Don’t beat yourself up over emotional stress symptoms. Instead, try to remember that emotional regulation is complicated for everyone. It takes great self-control to manage emotion no matter your age or life stage. So, what can you do to help regulate manifestations of chronic stress? The answers might surprise you.

How to Reduce Stress

You can’t reduce stress simply because you will it gone. Nor can you self-care life’s stressors away. Beyond taking a long soak in the tub as part of a self-care regimen, our holistic whole-you approach to relieving stress includes:
Nutrition
Meditation
Exercise
Emotional regulation
Hormone balance

Put Yourself First
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” It may sound cliche, but it’s true, particularly involving stress management. To fill your cup, it helps to say no to others and yes to yourself.

Of course, it can be difficult at first to understand that saying not to others is saying yes to yourself. However, with practice, it will be easier to handle the impact of psychological stress if you say yes to you above all else.

Society often trains us to put the needs of others above our own. There is a time and a place to be selfless, but your health is not compromisable. After all, without you, there is no you for anyone else to love.

We know that simply putting yourself first is far easier said than done. What if you have children? Or are you in charge of a team at work? What if you’re in the position to care for family members or if your responsibilities include managing a household?

No matter your circumstances, it can be increasingly difficult to say no more often. Doing so may cause you to feel guilty or neglectful. You may even feel as if you’re letting other people down.

The good news? If everyone’s immediate needs are taken care of, there should be no burden to carry if you put your needs on the front burner. Yes, it’s okay for you also to experience relaxing hobbies for a change. Yes, it’s perfectly okay to put the kids to bed early and sleep in late. Take that evening stroll. Lounge in your pajamas and read that novel. Your needs and desires are no less and no more important than anyone else.

What is Stress Eating?
The overall essence of stress eating is somewhat self-explanatory based upon its name; eating when stressed. It also involves eating even when not hungry or eating when feeling sluggish or tired. Sadly, social media tends to oversimplify emotional eating problems in a stress eating meme, but it is more complicated than most readily believe.

This severe and common coping mechanism of stress eating comes in different forms, including night eating syndrome or other habits that can be severe enough to border on eating disorders.

Other manifestations of stress eating may involve using food as a reward system, eating as an avoidance technique, or eating even when full. If you suspect emotional eating is part of your daily regimen, don’t feel ashamed. This common stress reaction is manageable with care and attention.

What Does Cortisol Do?
Stress hormones, like cortisol, can spike or rise depending upon the levels of cortisol stress experienced. Too much or too little cortisol hormone can put your fight or flight mode into overdrive, further causing varying glucose levels in your blood. When your glucose and cortisol levels aren’t level or within optimal range, you may experience high cortisol symptoms.

Consequently, you may feel sluggish, tired, or as if you are lost in a haze. Additional symptoms of unsteady cortisol levels involve rapid weight gain, joint pain, weakness, bruising easily, mood swings, and high blood pressure.

Lowering cortisol may take some effort, but finding ways to handle your anxiety is one way to make it happen. Other methods include better sleep habits, relaxation techniques, exercise, and improved nutrition.

Can Stress Make You Sick?
If you’re experiencing unexplained illness, stress may be the cause. Unfortunately, physical symptoms of stress can be difficult to pinpoint if there is another diagnosable basis.

Indications of stress can include Cushing syndrome, stress weight gain, headaches, heart problems, or joint pain. Stress can also cause various other physical ailments you may not immediately recognize, such as auto-immune disorders and emotional disturbances.

Anxiety often manifests itself as something else. If one doctor doesn’t link your symptoms of stress to your illness, other specialists can help figure it out. Reach out to Studio Figura ATL for a consultation if you feel strongly your ailments are stress-related.

Stress and Exercise: How Does Exercise Reduce Stress?
As part of your stress control plan, fun stress relieving activities can involve exercise. Through exercise, you’ll feel stronger and sleep better. You may even shed a few pounds or gain additional muscle, depending on your exercise regimen.

The mental benefits of exercise are also endless. Not only will you enjoy the physical benefits of exercise, but your brain will release heaps of the happy chemical dopamine to boost your mood. Dopamine can also improve your memory, capacity for learning, and motor system function. Added benefits of exercise include:
Improved circulation
Emotional management
Boosted libido
Speedier digestion
Better sleep
Weight loss

Good Nutrition: Nature’s Stress Reliever
We’ve all heard the importance of nutrition a million times over by now. However, the importance of eating stress-relieving foods and cortisol lowering foods cannot be understated.
After all, you can’t out-exercise or out-think a lousy diet. The following foods can help to lower stress and minimize high levels of cortisol.
Salmon
Avocados
Chia seeds
Flax seeds
Herring
Mackerel
Olive oil
Oysters
Nuts

Positive aspects of good nutrition don’t end there. Your skin, hair, and nails will grow faster, stronger, and healthier. Your energy will spike, and your body will have the proper nutrient-based support to handle the most challenging aspects of life. You’re likely to live longer with a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer with the proper nutrients as well.

Don’t let anxiety and fear get in the way of living your best life. Managing stress will allow you to stop your body’s fight or flight response so you can get back to doing the things you enjoy. Get started today and discover precisely how to relieve stress quickly.

SUBSCRIBE & SHARE!: If you enjoyed this, please consider subscribing and sharing with friends and family, and encouraging them to subscribe and share. 

ENCOURAGE: Go encourage someone else today with a single, simple sentence of affirmation.

COMMENT: We want to hear from you. Please feel free to comment below!