Ways To Feel Lighter!

There are definitely days when I wake up not feeling my best. It may be that I’m extra tired, and just can’t seem to find the energy to start the day, or it’s that feeling of being weighed down. Often times caused from a heavy meal the night before, water retention, or simply because the body might not be up to feeling the right way. When we feel light, we feel good – about ourselves and the day in front of us. Feeling heavy and bloated is a quick way to send all self confidence out the door, and is also a reason for being lazy or procrastinating. Luckily, there are a few things you can do – in the morning and afternoon – to get you feeling lighter and better by night fall and into the following day.

Hydrate 

Your body retains water when you’re not supplying it with enough, causing it to bloat. Being aware of how hydrated you are throughout the day is the easiest way to start feeling lighter. I always try to drink a big glass right when I wake up in  the morning. The cold chill helps to wake me up, and I’ve realized that I’m more prone to drink it throughout the day if I immediately start in the morning. Water also helps to flush out the bad toxins and salt in our body which sometimes gives us that extra “puffy” feeling.

Add Some Lemon

If you want to go the extra step, add fresh lemon into your water, but make sure the water is hot! Hot lemon water helps to kick start your digestive system. Drinking a cup of this in the morning can help settle the stomach if you went to bed with a full tummy!

No Gum! 
If you think about it, every time you open and close your mouth in the process of chewing a piece of gum, you’re swallowing unnecessary air into the stomach. It sits in your gut, not moving anywhere which can make us feel heavier.  Gum also contains sugar alcohol, which causes bloating.

Snack The Right Way and Slow Down

Picking the right kind of foods to snack on is ideal when it comes to feeling lighter. Fibre rich foods, like avocados, raspberries, and quinoa are great to snack on. Quinoa specifically contains fibre that gets rid of unneeded fats and helps speed up the digestion process. And always remember to eat slowly, and allow time for your body to realise if it’s full or not! This helps to avoid overeating.

Exercise Early

Getting a work out in before the daily grind is one of my favourite things to do. Yes, I always have a hard time waking up a bit earlier to fit one in, but it feels so good to get it out of the way. Sweating out toxins early can help us feel lighter throughout the day, and getting your heart rate up in the morning can fight off grogginess! Knowing that you accomplished a hard physical activity that early in the morning is also a great mental start to the day.

Our Travel Tips!

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How you travel is surely up to you, but you will obviously be doing it in style! However that is not dependent on whether you travel first class, or having the latest Vuitton luggage, although most obviously help! 

So what will your travel choice be? The most uncomfortable? the tandem bike, then there is the most expensive - a private jet; the most romantic? the gondola; the most environmentally friendly - a glider or a sail boat. The decision is yours. There is always a car, coach and train, but why not jazz things up and look at a trip on the Orient Express, the Trans-Siberian Railway, or take the Eurostar. Sailing encompasses everything from canoes to cruises. Then of course there is flying, how about a private helicopter or a hot air balloon? Horse drawn carriages, elephants and camels are also options, but they are rather slow and have limited on board entertainment. 

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Now lets be fair the chances are you will be travelling by plane, and our travel tips mostly cover the airport! It is essential to arrive early at the airport, not only does it give you time to do all the necessary check-in and security rituals, but the early bird does baggeth the best seats. 

Upgrading is not an every day occurance but it is more frequent that winning the lottery. It is at the discretion of those behind the counter who gets the bulkhead and who gets the seat next to the toilets. (However with online booking you can also request seats so the early bird does get the worm!) Smile, remember that happiness is mainly dependent on the mood of the person at the check in desk, rather than the number of seats sold on the flight. Dress smartly, but not so smartly you look try hard and will be uncomfortable. 

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In economy the best seats are those next to the emergency exists, as they often have more leg room, although they can be colder. On long haul flights opt for the middle section at the front of the plane, as this is where the fold down area for travel cots and tots is and so there's a bit of extra room. The downside is that a screaming infant might be brought on to use the area. But if you have to be ousted to make room for the travel cot, there's a chance you could be upgraded. 

 

Try hard to have compact hand luggage. Take a rich heavy moisturiser (well buy one at duty free - remember liquids are now banned)  Face spray (same rules apply) a bunch of magaznes, note book, phone (obviously!) and a thick pair of socks. If you are smartly dressed for the airport then take something comfy to change into. Don't underestimate what can be found at duty free, and at great prices. (Just be aware on the restrictions - although they are secure and go through the checkpoints - some countries have rules on arrival so make sure you check them, it's pointless spending lots of Chanel No. 5 to then only get it confiscated at the other end!) 

For more advice on inflight travel check our flight tips! 

Do you have any travel tips?

 

You Will Be Judged

Seth Godin once said “You will be judged (or you will be ignored). Those are pretty much the only two choices.” What he’s saying is that you’ll either be judged for being different, new, or wrong… or you’ll be ignored for being the same, boring, or uninspiring. Your choice.

Sure, not everyone will ‘get you’ if you take a different route. They might not want to follow you online or go on to book your services. But your journey is not for them. Being the same as everyone else is boring. Being the same as everyone else means you’ll blend into the masses.

Remember, this is your chance and your life. Take control of it. Do things to make yourself happy. Ignore those naysayers and traditionalists. You, and only you, have the ability to drive your business, your career and your life, in the right direction for you. The buck completely stops with whatever you decide is the right path.

It’s easy for someone else to tell you you’re doing something badly. They have no further responsibility over your career other than sharing their unwanted opinions. If I’ve learnt one thing since starting my own business, it’s that not everyone’s ideas are worthy of acknowledgement.

Would you rather be judged for standing out, or ignored for blending in?

Our Tips For Air Travel

If you are being totally jet set and crossing times zones, it will catch up with you sooner or later. Avoid caffeine, and alcohol, food you cannot identify, and try to adapt to the time zone you are heading to as soon as possible. 

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If you are travelling west it is best to arrive in the late afternoon then it is not too long until bedtime, and you will be fresh when you rise. If you are travelling east they try to arrive in the morning. Take the night flight, watch one movie and then lights out. Wake up when you land, and arrive in sunlight. Don't give in to the desire to nap as it will send your body clock into chaos. If you can't sleep on the plane put on some soft calming music and shut your eyes to drown out the sound of engine noise and screaming children - rest is better than nothing. 

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If you view a flight from London to New York as the equivalent time of watching two films and flicking through your favourite glossy mag the whole thing seems much more doable. If you have been on a long haul flight and want to remain stylist, well have a stylish handbag, don dark glasses, and pop on your heels and shimmy! 

 

How To Fill In A Tax Form

Oh taxes! Depressing and confusing but necessary. Now if you are someone that is working for a company where the PAYE and tax thing (yes I call it the tax thing) is automatically deducted as part of your wages then you can't miss what you never had, and also don't have to deal with the following nonsense! However if like me you run your own business, or are freelance, then you fall into this category. A lot of people don't realise also that if you are making money from blogging, selling online, or any other form of income you should be paying tax on your earnings, therefore this does apply!

The adverts do not lie, so honestly better to do it sooner rather than later. I don't know who wrote these forms but to me they sound like a foreign language. For example it says 'date of commencement' which means start date, and date of cessation means the date you finish. Whoever wrote them seems to have swallowed a thesaurus. This is the only form I have ever seen in the history of forms that will ask for the situation of your domicile, rather than where you live. (Seriously!) 

The absolute easiest way is to fill in your form online and send it via the site. It is also useful as if you use it year by year it remembers your details and saves you unnecessary pain. Good packages to use are which and intuit both which are approved by the inland revenue. For more help go to inland revenue and to calculate how much tax you have to pay go to www.taxcalc.com. The first payment has to be paid by January 31st (ruining Christmas) and the second by 31st July (ruining Summer) 

I would love to give you a ton of advice on how to do it, but to be honest it is a mine field. What I would say is that BE AWARE that you have to pay it, even if you are a start up running a full time job - and then there is your VAT bill (totally different ball game) if you run your own business. I have to say though the above resources are REALLY useful, and my tip would be keep some money aside each month (more than you think it will be, better to be safe than sorry!)

But if you love your job like I do? and love working for yourself? then it's totally worth the hassle! 

How to Deal With a Rubbish Day

We’ve all had terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Whether you have had an argument with your friends, a bad day at work, a crush who turns out to like your best friend, a fight with a loved one, the list goes on. So we decided to put together our tips for dealing with a really shitty day! 

Resist the urge to “treat” yourself. 

I know when I feel down the first thing I want to do is grab a bottle of dry white wine, and wallow. However half the time this only really makes us feel worse. I mean we all know alcohol emphasises our feelings, and when we feel like rubbish, we are only going to feel worse for it. It's the same with sitting there eating a bucket of ice cream, it can lead to feelings of guilt, and make everything worse. 

 Do something nice for someone else.

“Do good, feel good” – this really works. Be selfless, if only for selfish reasons. When we do nice things for other people, we feel better it's a fact. So get doing those good deeds! 

Distract yourself.

 Sometimes over thinking about things can just make everything worse. It's good to find things to do that take your mind off it, whether it is going to watch a film, putting on your favourite comedy show, a long walk or just reading a good book it really can help. 

Tell yourself, “Well, at least I…”

Just because you have had a terrible day doesn't mean everything has gone wrong. Even if you just say 'at least I went to the gym' or 'least I walked the dog' giving yourself praise for even smaller tasks is a good thing. 

Stay in contact. 

When you’re having a lousy day, it’s tempting to retreat into isolation. Studies show, though, that contact with other people boosts mood. So try to see or talk to people, especially people you’re close to.

Keep perspective. 

Ask yourself: “Will this matter in a month? In a year?” Most of the time things really do seem so much worse at that very time, but in the larger scheme of things you will probably not even remember this incident. 

Write it down.

 When something horrible is consuming my mind, I find that if I write up a paragraph or two about the situation, I get immense relief.

Be grateful. 

Remind yourself that a lousy day isn’t a catastrophic day. Be grateful that you’re still on the “lousy” spectrum. Probably, things could be worse.

Lastly look at this Kim Gif, I swear you will be smiling. 

Chin up chickens!