It’s National Dance Week. Studies show that dancing, just like exposure to light, dark chocolate, laughter and sex raises can raise your serotonin level to help you deal with moodiness, anger, depression, headaches, and some menopause symptoms.

Dancing is the best mood booster, it can be used for stress relief, and as an easy weight loss technique, anger management, so let us dance right now. And if you still need some motivation, here are some motivational dancing quotes for you:

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. ~Kurt Vonnegut

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze

You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart. ~Author Unknown

There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.  ~Vicki Baum

To dance is to be out of yourself.  Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. ~Agnes De Mille

Stifling an urge to dance is bad for your health – it rusts your spirit and your hips. ~Terri Guillemets

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...  ~Susan Polis Shutz

Next time you’re mad, try dancing out your anger. ~Terri Guillemets

Let us always dance to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

P.S. You can listen to my radio show for women “Feel and Look Fabulous with Irina” where we breathe, smile and dance at the end of each show.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Coach and Health Counselor

The beautiful fall season followed by the winter chill is the right time to balance your body with weight loss detox.  A natural cleanse and a few exercise secrets will allow you to enjoy the season with less stress and to be ready for the cold and flu season.

You can do an easy weight loss detox to reach your body or metabolic balance by changing your food and nutrition preferences based on your bio-individuality.

Winter Detox Cleansing Foods

As we know, processed foods contain chemically derived ingredients our bodies don’t know how to read. This creates a metabolic disaster-imbalance.

Coupled with chronic stress and low level of exercises empty nutrition food contributes to chronic inflammation, which can lead to imbalance in the female hormones in our body.

Toxic chemicals in the water we drink and the air we breathe also affect our metabolic balance and contribute to inflammation in our body, which can lead to all types illnesses.

Fall is the right time to start and easy fall natural cleanse detox with seasonal whole foods. To do so, incorporate as many seasonal, local and freshly harvested vegetables in your diet: greens (kale, dandelion, beet greens, etc.), vegetables (fall squashes, beets, carrots, cauliflower, onions, garlic, zucchini, pumpkin, etc) fruits (avocado, apples, pears, kiwi, watermelon, etc.) beans (mung beans, lentils, etc.) nuts (walnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds). They all are full of fiber and help elimination.

Don’t forget to enjoy local the harvest with  juices and smoothies you can drink in the morning or  as a snack.

You can always use some fruits and vegetables for homemade cleansing detox recipes or rejuvenating facials (tomatoes, avocado, grapes, watermelon, apples, pears, etc.).

Fall and Winter Exercise Shortcuts

We are moving towards Winter, and it means that the days are getting shorter and shorter following naturally after the many long days of light.  But there is no excuse for us to exercise less because we don’t have time. Why? Well, we always can find exercise shortcuts to burn some calories:

• park your car as far as possible;
• take stairs whenever you can;
• get up every fifteen minutes to stretch and deep breathe toh help reduce stress and detox;
• dance / move / jump / stretch in the kitchen while you preparing a meal;
• use more bending and stretching any time you clean the house, do gardening or talk on the phone (you can do the whole working out routine while text massaging).

We have to learn how to prioritize our health, our relationships, our jobs, etc., to sort them out and start a wonderful journey to wellness – a journey that will help us to get back our happy mind and healthy body.

Let us be smart, patient and full of a sense of humor if we want to feel and look fabulous this fall and winter season.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

©Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

If you don’t have time for exercises or it is too hot to do some walking or jogging outside, try a home workout.

How to Turn Household Tasks into a Fun Home Workout

Here are some healthy weight loss tips and exercise shortcuts to burn calories  while doing some boring work around the house. If you don’t like home cleaning but want to manage your weight, it may be time to reconsider some of your habits and add some fun to your daily routine.

1. Cleaning counters can help you burn more than 100 calories in 30 minutes. Start stretching and bending during this activity to detox your body from toxins and get more flexible. Detoxing the kitchen is number one step to a healthy weight loss detox.

2. Just cooking will help you burn 85 calories in 30 minutes. Try to dance around the kitchen and you will have an aerobic session in the kitchen. 

3. Singing or dancing while vacuuming will help you not only manage your weight but also beat seasonal depression, anxiety and moodiness. Don’t forget to breathe, smile and have some water in between.

4. A boring washing dishes activity will help you burn 78 calories in 30 minutes. Combine it with a short washing dishes meditation to relax, reduce stress and lower your blood pressure.

5. In order to have a guilt free dessert, take some time for mopping the floor in the kitchen and burn at least 119 calories in 30 minutes. Be creative and add some dancing moves or yoga stretches and you will earn extra calorie free dessert.

6. Don’t forget about old fashionable dusting if you want to burn at least 80 calories in 30 minutes. Dusting with music will help you not only to lose some weight but also act as a healthy weight loss detox that can reduce risk of getting asthma and allergies.

7. Making beds will help you burn more than 110 calories in 30 minutes. Add some lifting and bending and you don’t need to go the gym.

8. Scrubbing the bath , one of unpleasant home cleaning tasks, might help you burn around 200 calories in 30 minutes. Add some music to make your experience more enjoyable. Don’t forget about green cleaning chemical in order to avoid harmful toxins.

Click to listen to our discussion with Diet and Weight Loss Coach Sandra Ahten on How to Create Your Own Diet Plan

Breathe, smile and keep moving.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor and Coach

Are you still in the mood for losing weight.  Did you keep your resolution to move around more to lose weight the natural way. 

Our bodies are supposed to move, we were designed to move, not to sit all day at the computer gaining weight and losing our vision. If you want to maintain your weight or want natural weight loss, you will need to speed up your metabolism, especially if you are in your forties and older.

Studies show that simply moving more during the day will help you burn calories, lose weight, and be healthier.

Did you know that if you get up from your seat during the day more often you can burn more than 300 calories, which can help you lose more than 30 pounds a year? Even simply ironing or washing your car will help you burn around 80 calories in 30 min.

Here are some great ideas, some of simple steps, from the government’s Small Steps campaign (www.smallsteps.gov) for you to start moving towards a healthier you one step at a time. Pick 6-7 you think you can do right now and let us start moving:

• Join an exercise group.
• Do yard work.
• Work around the house.
• Take the dog to the park.
• Wash the car by hand.
• Trot when running errands.
• Take the wheels off your luggage.
• Dance to music.
• Take stairs instead of the escalator.
• Carry your groceries instead of pushing a cart.
• Walk briskly through the mall and shop ’til you drop … pounds.
• Do sit-ups in front of the TV.
• Bicycle to the store instead of driving.
• Ask a friend to exercise with you.
• Exercise with a video if the weather is bad.
• Bike to the barbershop or beauty salon instead of driving.
• If you find it difficult to be active after work, try it before work.
• Take a walk or do desk exercises instead of a cigarette or coffee break.
• Take small trips on foot to get your body moving.
• Play with your kids 30 minutes a day.
• Keep a pair of comfortable walking or running shoes in your car and office.
• Choose activities you enjoy & you’ll be more likely to stick with them.
• Stretch before bed to give you more energy when you wake.
• Explore new physical activities.
• Stay active in winter. Play with your kids.
• You can break up your physical activity into 10-15 minute sessions throughout the day—it’s the daily total that matters. Aim for at least 30 minutes for adults, 60 minutes for children.
• Be active–Walk the dog, don’t just watch the dog walk.
• Walk to work.
• Walk during lunch hour.
• Replace Sunday drive with Sunday walk. Go for a half-hour walk instead of watching TV.
• Make a Saturday morning walk a group habit.
• Walk briskly in the mall.
• Park farther from destination and walk.
• Walk instead of sitting around. Take your dog on longer walks.
• Walk to a co-worker’s desk instead of emailing or calling them.
• When walking, go up the hills instead of around them.

So let us start moving instead of sitting if we want to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

P.S. Listen to my interview with Carole Carson, author of “From Fat to Fit to get more tips and ideas on ho to be fit and healthy at any age.

Breathe,smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Relationship Expert