6 Effective Ways to Improve Your Mental Health

Published on: 06 February 2020 Last Updated on: 05 March 2022

Most people focus on building their muscles and abs to look good, but having a great body is not the only determinant of having good health. Another determinant is mental health which is often forgotten even though mental disorders are surging at a rapid rate for the past few years.

Therefore, we should spend time building the health of our brains, and to facilitate that, we have listed here six practical ways you can employ to boost your mental health.

1. Develop a healthy net of relationships:

Humans are made to be social animals, but loneliness has become the norm of modern times. We mostly have digital voices to talk to like Siri and Bixby.

Some reports in the United States have painted an alarming picture that loneliness has the same impact on the lifespan of humans as obesity.

Therefore, avoid isolation and prioritize your positive relationships, and even if you do not have any, look for such connections because they will help you in remaining sane in this insane world.

2. Develop the habit of exercising:

A growing body of scholarship has found a concrete relationship between exercise and reduction in mental maladies like stress, anxiety, and depression.

It is stated that exercise releases ‘feel-good hormones’ called endorphins, which relieve not only the depression but also improve the quality of sleep.

If you find yourself unable to hit the gym, take up some sport like football because it is a more entertaining way of achieving the same set of goals. Although, you are bound to get injured once in a while, but do not let that discourage you. Also, do not take head injuries lightly and get a Neuroquant MRI immediately if you suffer a traumatic brain injury.

3. Keep challenging yourself:

Do not get stagnant in your life, because nothing invites depression and anxiety more than monotony and depression. Therefore, even if you are at a good place in your life, keep setting new goals, and work diligently to achieve them.

4. Pay gratitude for all the things you have:

Nothing ruins mental health more than negative thoughts like counting all the bad things in your life and practicing self-pity. Instead, make a gratitude journal and jot down all the small and big things you are grateful for, like a good family, decent health, your own home, a fun job, etc.

5. Watch your sleep:

Sleeping is a crucial component of a healthy life, such that people suffering from sleep debt for a while tend to develop several mental disorders. Therefore, ensuring a quality sleep is paramount, but be aware that quality sleep is different from quantity sleep. For example, six hours of relaxing quality sleep are much better than nine hours of restless sleep.

6. Take care of yourself:

Take some time for yourself and indulge in relaxing activities like traveling with your best friends, sleeping well, eating healthy, and meditating on the beach. Moreover, indulging in activities like massaging also have multiple mental health benefits like partial relief from stress and anxiety.

You only live once; therefore, it is your responsibility to take care of yourself and live a life full of health, wealth, and wit, such that you are not left with any regrets.

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A Couple’s Guide To Celebrating Your Big Day With Cannabis

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in numerous states nationwide, weed weddings have become increasingly popular in recent years. If you and your partner enjoy imbibing marijuana, you may want to include it in your special day. From cannabis-infused cocktails to a designated smoking area, there are many ways to incorporate weed into a wedding celebration. A marijuana-friendly wedding can be a unique and memorable experience for couples and their guests alike. However, it pays to follow a few tips to help ensure the big day goes smoothly. Investigate State Laws To avoid legal troubles, you must investigate state laws around cannabis so you don’t have a dampener put on your event due to police investigation and fines and charges. Find out if recreational marijuana purchase and use is permitted in your location, and remember that some states have only made medical cannabis legal. You can find helpful information on state government websites or marijuana-specific blogs, and the like that break down details state by state. Ensure you read credible, updated data to protect yourself and your guests. If you learn that you won’t legally be able to have cannabis as part of your wedding day in the area where you live, you may want to have a destination wedding somewhere it’s legal instead. Do your research before paying any non-refundable venue or other deposits to avoid losing money. Ask Venues if They Permit Weed Use Speaking of venues, it’s also vital to check with any place you plan to hire for your nuptials or reception if they allow marijuana on the premises. While it may be legal in the state, this doesn’t mean the wedding venue you pick won’t have a problem with it. As you’ll see from your research, business owners can forbid the possession or usage of cannabis on their premises in many states around the country. The sooner you ask about this topic, the better, so you don’t end up with an issue on the big day or before it. Select Weed Types and How You’ll Present It Another tip is to consider the best type of weed you want to make available at your wedding. As a regular user, you know it comes in numerous forms, such as edibles, like gummies, cookies, brownies, etc., or rolled-up joints, bongs, and so on. Some people just like to serve one particular style, while others opt for numerous options. Presentation is key, too. Think about how you want to show that weed is available and whether you want this to be a big feature. For instance, you could set up a dedicated marijuana bar where attendees can come and choose what they’d like to imbibe, or you could create a chill-out zone designated for consuming cannabis and relaxing. Alternatively, include weed into your party favor bags or even go all out and add it to design elements of your wedding, such as on the invitations, in the event décor, the menu, etc. Ensure that Children and Pets Will Stay Safe This may not be relevant to you, but if you plan on having any children or pets present on your big day, it’s vital to ensure they stay safe and don’t accidentally consume any cannabis and get sick. You’ll need to position cannabis somewhere that pets and children can’t see or grab it and have someone supervising them at all times. They could potentially find some on the floor or on a table that guests absentmindedly leave lying around, but if they’re supervised and, hopefully, kept in a separate area once the weed has been brought out, you can rest easier. Consider Putting Weed on Your Registry List Lastly, if you have a restricted budget and want to utilize weed at your wedding or on your honeymoon but are worried about the cost, why not think outside the box? You could add the purchase of cannabis to your registry list and save yourself some money. People could contribute money towards purchasing it for the event or buy it themselves and bring it along. You could provide guests with a list of places where they can buy it, to help them out with this, such as dispensaries for cannabis concentrates in Phoenix or stores selling marijuana gummies in Los Angeles, etc. Hosting a marijuana-friendly wedding can take a little more planning and thinking, but it can be a fun way to add pizazz to your memorable day and help you make the occasion truly authentic for you and your partner. Consider how much you want cannabis to be a part of your wedding and work back from there as you design the special occasion. Read Also: The Most Popular Cannabis Strains And Where They Came From What Are Tarpenes? How Do They Work? – Cannabis Guide How To Make Your Own Cannabis Topicals?

Marathon Training Section. Breaking Through the Wall

Every runner knows what “to hit the wall” means and almost every runner lives in fear of it interfering with their race. During a marathon hitting the wall is the main problem, thus, breaking through wall is the number one priority as the success with the race depends on it. The wall is considered as the most difficult period in a marathon when things transition from being just hard to being really very-very hard. It is a specific runner`s condition of sudden fatigue and loss of energy. For most runners, the latest 6.2 miles (or 10-K) of the marathon are commonly the toughest part of the race when the legs feel like if they are made of cement, when the stomach is queasy, the head starts getting dizzy and negative thoughts flood the mind. The wall is hard to describe to a non-runner as it`s something that needs to experience to understand. Jerome Drayton, winner of the 81st Boston Marathon, said it best: “To describe the agony of the marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain the color to someone who was born blind.” Some athletes call it “wall”, some also call this state “bonking”. But it doesn't really matter how to call it, it`s more importantly, what to do about it, namely, how to break through the wall and reach the finish line first. The key to avoiding the wall or at least minimizing its impact on your race is understanding what`s going on in your body and preparing yourself for it with proper training, intelligent race management, right nutrition and appropriate hydration strategies. Prepare Your Body For The Race If you include the long training runs in your training program you'll be able to train your body for the marathon. Your long runs are the best training for avoiding the wall as they will condition your muscle for a marathon distance. By the way, they help you build your endurance and make your muscles more injury resistant. You have to experience and stimulate the exertion of the marathon every day, preferably 16 weeks before it. Your long runs should be done slowly (at least 2 minutes per mile) than the marathon pace. Remember, here your goal isn't a distance, here your goal is duration! For example, if you run training commonly lasts 4:30 hours, your long run should last 4 hours (it means 3 hours of long runs in the morning and an additional hour in the evening). Analyze Nutrition Matters When your aim is to win the marathon you have to draw your attention to the right nutrition strategy. If you prepare your muscles with daily progressive long runs that's great, but don't forget your muscles are fueled by using the combination of fat and glycogen. The harder you're pushing yourself, the more fuel your body needs. So you should eat before the marathon and during it! At least 300 calories you need to take in an hour before the race to raise your blood sugar level and help your brain concentrate on the task. Then every hour of the marathon you should consume about 200 calories. That can be candy, a banana, cookies, energy gels or an energy bar. It would be better if you work out what fuel is easiest for you to transport, use and digest before the race. Drink More Often It`s equally important to stay hydrated during the marathon. When you lose water through sweat, your overall blood volume is decreased and that's why there's less blood available to carry oxygen to your muscles. So dehydration also leads to the marathon wall. Try not to pass the early water stops even if you feel that you're not thirsty! By the time your body tells you it's thirsty, you're already dehydrated. You have to drink two 8-ounce glasses of water or sports drink 2 hours before the marathon and take in 6 to 8 ounces of water or sports drink at every water station every 15-20 minutes of the race (of course, depending on the weather conditions, your body size and sweat rate). This will help you avoid dehydration so your blood will move smoothly from your heart to your leg muscles, providing the oxygen to those muscles and shuttling waste products away. By the way, consuming enough fluids keeps sweat flowing that cools you down and helps you ease muscle cramps. Don`t be afraid to lose your precious time, just stop and drink. These few seconds will pay off further. Follow Proper Marathon Race Management The biggest and most common marathon race mistake is to start the marathon too fast. Of course, you feel so strong and full of energy early in the race, so you tend to run too fast. Don`t do that, in no case! If you want to cross the finish line you have not to overestimate your potential. Keep in mind that you have to save your energy for the last 6 miles. Use Head Games To Reach The Finish Line To make the last 6 miles easier you shouldn't focus on how your body is feeling or your fatigue, if anything, you can visualize yourself in another situation and try to dissociate. For example, don`t concentrate on the race you may imagine yourself by the sea or visualize achieving your goal. The main thing is to think of something nice and you'll cross the finish line before you know it! As you see with the right training program and racing techniques, proper nutrition, hydration and mental strategies you can easily make the last 6 miles of your marathon and defeat the wall once and for all. Read More : Why Jumping On Trampolines Is More Beneficial Than Running Or Jogging? How To Train Your Brain With Math Yoga For Pregnant Women Helen Rogers is an editor of http://thecrossfitshoes.com/ She helps people get stronger. She shares running and sports questions, beauty tips. All her stories are result-oriented and make her readers become healthy, wealthy and wise.

We’re What We Eat: How Eating Habits Affect Our Well-Being

Eating is not just about dumping fuel into the tank so we can drive another twenty blocks. Multiple psychological and sociocultural factors also dictate how, why, when, and what we eat. Varying eating habits around the world can have a significant effect on our well-being. This post aims to shine a light on some of these habits to examine them more closely. Habit One: Is Breakfast The Most Important Meal Of The Day? Cereal manufacturers are keen on the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Is it true? According to researchers Tanya Zilberter and Eugene Yuri Zilberter, recommendations for breakfast eating behavior remain categorical but at the same time scientifically unsound health guidelines. If we look at the science and ignore cereal marketing, there are many benefits to eating at the start of your day. The following scientific information is extracted from the materials provided by the National Library of Medicine: Breakfast eaters tend to get more nutrients over the course of the day. They are also more likely to intake a wider range of nutrients. Breakfast has been associated with improved weight control and health indicators of cardiometabolic risk. This applies to adults and children. Studies have related breakfast eating to improvements in attention and better cognitive function, regardless of age. Remember that breakfast means different things around the world. Eating a pain au raisin in Paris is not the same as eating bratwurst in Berlin. The nutritional value of a full English breakfast is not the same as a continental. Attempting to run the first few hours on an empty tank is generally not as healthy as providing your body with some fuel. What’s important, however, is to start the day with food and supplement your nutritional intake during the day. According to the researchers whose statement has opened this section, skipping breakfast is not necessarily a big deal. People need to consider the below points: how long they’ve been without food (if two people eat at midnight and one eats breakfast at 5 am and the other at 10 am, the different fast lengths will impact their bodies differently), and whether they make up the “lost” nutrients with their eating habits during the day. However you do breakfast, take a holistic approach to diet. Consider what you eat over 24 hours. Habit Two: What Are The Consequences Of Eating Before Bed? Just as skipping breakfast is seriously frowned upon, eating late at night is typically considered a bad habit. Science suggests that eating late at night correlates with higher incidences of medical claims. While Tanya Zilberter and Eugene Yuri Zilberter found that research on skipping breakfast and studies on eating late often fail to consider how long the participants fasted, they did find solid evidence regarding the potential risks of eating late, including the following eating behavior pathologies: Elevated insulin and glucose levels, characteristic of metabolic syndrome; Distortions of body image and mood disorders; Implications on circadian rhythm. Harvard agrees. Late-night eating is bad for health. A recent Harvard study found evidence that eating late may increase hunger, which can increase the risk of obesity. If you suspect you’re about to see yourself in a statistic, you might be right. About forty percent of the US adult population is obese. More study is required on the role late eating plays in calorie intake, calories burned, and molecular changes in fat tissue. Until that verdict comes in, it looks like avoiding late-night meals may reduce incidents of cancer, diabetes, and other conditions. Habit Three: Is It Okay To Let Kids Eat In Front Of The TV? Eating in front of the television can lead to a lack of attention, which in turn can lead to missing cues regarding fullness. This habitual overeating could then cause obesity. And there’s another interesting angle to consider regarding television, what we eat, and how we feed our children. A fact-filled study into television viewing and unhealthy eating made the research-backed observation that television and food advertising influence children’s food preferences. Studies have demonstrated that child TV watchers are more likely to prefer unhealthy food in early adulthood than kids that didn’t watch television. To help kids stay healthy and become adults who make healthy choices, monitor kids’ TV intake and defend them from unhealthy, unsolicited dietary influences on screen. These tips may help you form your kid’s eating habits: Kids’ food preferences develop by age three and tend to remain stable throughout childhood. Repeated exposure increases the chance that your kids will start liking a new food. Information that a new food tastes good will increase their willingness to try it. Kids are less interested in hearing how nutritious things are. The availability of food in the home will affect food consumption. Your food access controls will influence consumption and food preferences. If your diet is healthy, your kids will be more likely to eat healthily. As kids reach middle school age and adolescence, external influences – including peers and the media – are likely to have a detrimental effect on their food choices. Conclusion We are what we eat. You knew that. Still, it’s worth delving into research to back it up. It’s easy to forget. Many of us have busy lives and take eating for granted, treating our bodies as if they weren’t some of the most sophisticated machinery on the planet. While this post provides helpful information that may confirm your healthy eating habits or inspire you to eat differently, a health professional can help you put the best into your body to get the best out of your life. Put your health in safe hands by visiting The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics or Leadar websites to find a professional nutritionist who can help you, your loved one, or your team improve your health and performance. Your eating habits have a massive effect on your well-being. Change how you eat to change your energy levels, your mood, your potential for health risks, and your life. Read Also: How Can A Cardiologist Save Your Life? Easy Breakfast Ideas For Type 2 Diabetes 5 Types Of Cancer Prominent In Women

6 Effective Ways to Improve Your Mental Health