When your alarm goes off in the morning, do you curse its very existence and hit the snooze button eight times before you actually pull yourself out of bed? If you’re not a morning person, there’s no way you could begin to understand how other people can wake up early and fit in an hour workout before getting ready and heading off to work. Yes, some people are just naturally perky in the morning and prefer sweating it out in the a.m., but then there’s the rest of us who make a point to work out in the morning because it’s the only time we can fit it in. 

If you find that you’re skipping out on exercise altogether because you’re too busy, have meetings, have family obligations, or are just plain exhausted, then morning workouts might be just the thing you need. How can a non-morning person turn into a morning exerciser? Learn a handful of ways to become an early riser when you read more.

1. Get to bed early the night before. Even if you’re one of those rare people who can survive on less than five hours of sleep that is not enough snooze time if expect to wake up and have energy for a morning workout. That means you can’t go to bed at midnight and expect to rise and shine at 5 a.m. Get into the habit of going to bed early enough so you get at least eight hours of zzz’s.
2. If you’re not sleepy at night, try limiting your caffeine during the day, and be finished with your last caffeinated bev by 4 p.m. Warm baths, a cup of tea, and ditching the TV and computer use before bed can also encourage you to relax and fall asleep more easily.
3. Creatively motivate yourself. When you’re cozy under your sheets telling yourself you feel great after you exercise will probably not help you jump out of bed. Get creative with your means of motivation. Make a new workout playlist, or get excited to wear your new sneaks. Conjure up the image of that cute guy you’ve seen at the gym lately. Get psyched about a tasty new breakfast idea. If you have something you’re looking forward to once you wake up, you’ll find it impossible not to get out of bed.
4. Make a date and set a time. You know you love Boot Camp and your gym only offers it at 6:30 a.m. Make an appointment with a trainer or plan to meet a fitness buddy at the park to go for a run. Scheduling morning workouts is a surefire way to get you there.
5. Reward your morning exercise efforts. Either give yourself a little treat after each morning workout or make a goal to exercise every day, Monday through Friday and on the last day, buy yourself a new fitness top, get a pedicure, or go to the movies with a friend. Rewards are huge motivators, and thinking about the pleasure that comes after your hard work may give you that emotional push out of bed.

Do you work out in the morning? Is it easy or hard for you?

Never let success get to your head,
And never let failure get to your heart.

“Sometimes we just got to ride the waves, let them take us wherever we’re meant to”

This weekend, listen to your body and listen to the signals it’s sending you. Kind of like the way the waves push against the shoreline. Wait until you’re hungry to eat. Figure out if you’re really hungry, or if you are actually really thirsty. Smile. Spend time with your family – not by going somewhere in particular and spending money, but by taking a walk together down the street, and bring the dogs too. Have a light cocktail by the poolside, but drink a bottle of water afterwards. Relax in the sunshine. Be thankful for what you have in your life. Laugh hard, even at the lame jokes your dad says. But most importantly, be respectful to your body for it is the only thing you can actually control.

So reach for the stars and pick a mountain to climb. You better dare to dream, but give yourself time. Remember, no matter how rough things seem, with faith, there is never an impossible dream.

Listen to…

• your intuitions
• what your body is telling you
• your significant other
• your parents
• someone older and wiser than you
• someone younger and more naive than you
• your heart
• your emotions
• your doctor’s orders
• animal sounds
• nature
• music of all kinds
• someone’s sad story
• someone’s happy story

We have all begun to underestimate what ‘listening’ really is. It’s not even about having all the answers, but it’s allowing someone or something to just BE. It’s allowing someone to get their emotions off their chest, it’s allowing someone to spill his or her guts and not be interrupted. Take time today to truly listen to someone – and not just “listening” to them while thinking about what you’re going to cook for dinner, but 100% pure un-divided attention. Who knows, you may hear something that you needed to hear.

Basking in the sun, dancing the night away, meeting new people, laughing, eating, spending lots of money, shopping, no checking of emails, drinking margaritas & frozen daquris (& not caring about the calorie count) = my trip to the Keys.

Now, it’s back to the “real world” – where basking in the sun is only done on weekends, dancing the night away & shopping is a rariety and emails are checked every five minutes. However, I am so lucky to be doing something that I love to do. So I guess that’s the key to being happy… when you go away to a place like the Keys, and you aren’t dreading the arrival back to your “real” life because frankly, it’s not so bad afterall.

Detox (verb): to eliminate, get rid of and/or cleanse from toxins

Our bodies have a built-in detoxification and cleansing system, a natural function of eliminating toxins through certain organs, the kidney, liver, intestines, lymph and blood. For many of us though our bodies are battling to eliminate the toxins as fast as we ingest them.

Our bodies become congested with toxic substances either through a short term over-exposure, bad lifestyle, diet, or excessive use of alcohol and drugs.

Detoxification refers to programs or steps taken to cleanse and purify. Of course we immediately think of the body, diets, colon cleanse and liver. Maybe alcohol and drug detox too. But if you think about it, every aspect of your life could benefit from getting rid or toxins. How about your primary relationships like with your significant other, your children, your parents. Ever think about cleaning up your attitude? Do your have an attitude that is lashing out at the world and attracting back more negativity to your life?

Today, with more toxins in the environment than ever, “it’s critical to detox,” says Linda Page, N.D., Ph.D., the author of Detoxification (Healthy Healing Publications). Page recommends detoxing for symptoms such as unexplained fatigue, sluggish elimination, irritated skin, allergies or low-grade infections; bags under the eyes; a distended stomach even if the rest of your body is thin; menstrual difficulties; or mental confusion.

Where to begin?

1. Eat plenty of fiber, including brown rice and organically-grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Beets, radishes, artichokes, cabbage, broccoli, spirulina, chlorella, and seaweed are excellent detoxifying foods.

2. Cleanse and protect the liver by taking herbs such as dandelion root, burdock and milk thistle, and drinking green tea.

3. Take vitamin C, which helps the body produce glutathione, a liver compound that drives away toxins.

4. Drink at least 2 quarts of water daily.

5. Breathe deeply to allow oxygen to circulate more completely through your system.

6. Transform stress by emphasizing positive emotions.

7. Practice hydrotherapy by taking a very hot shower for five minutes, allowing the water to run on your back. Follow with cold water for 30 seconds. Do this three times, and then get into bed for 30 minutes.

8. Sweat in a sauna so your body can eliminate wastes through perspiration.

9. Dry-brush your skin or try detoxifying patches or detox foot spas / foot baths to remove toxins through your pores. Special brushes are available at natural products stores.

10. What is the most important way to detoxify? Exercise! Yoga or jump-roping are good. One hour every day.

There are many theories on why women love to wear lingerie. For women it isn’t about whether or not anyone else will see it, it is for themselves. How women perceive themselves helps their over all self esteem. If you think you look sexy in that camisole then you are sexy. Looking and feeling good is a big part our society today. Many people assume when a woman wears lingerie that is solely for a man’s pleasure. Even though lingerie has been worn for centuries for the pleasure of the opposite sex, it is not the main focus for women these days or in the past. Now it is more of a notion of self-image and feeling attractive for ones self rather than for anybody else. It is about feeling good about the whole you and knowing you are sexy even when you don’t readily show everyone else.

Interestingly enough, marketing approaches have also changed as well these last few years. Their message today not only promotes looking sexy for your partner, they also tell you to feel sexy for you as well and more importantly. Lingerie has always made to be exotic and teasing. Today, women can get just as much pleasure just from wearing it as they can by being viewed in it. In some cases they can get more out of just wearing it for them and not other. Some women are very shy and are not willing to immediately slip into something sexy for some one else’s viewing pleasure. This type of display can make them feel awkward or anxious. Just wearing the sexy lingerie when no one else knows can help spark self-esteem and desire in her self. Now designers are gearing this sexy wear for comfort, movement, and everyday practicality as well as sleek and sexy. Not only does this trend in design say a lot about marketing it says a lot about women in society today.

Back in the day of boned corsets that left women barely able to breathe or move, comfort was not the option. It was implied that proper women did not move all around and had no need to. It was also under the premise that women had no need to be out in the world. Their job was to cater to their husbands, home and families. Comfort was not in the equation. Not to mention that lingerie was not for the common women so it carried prestige and merit. But as the time changed and women became more active in political, economical, and the social realms of the world lingerie has taken a huge change. It is not geared towards the woman her self and the comfort and sexiness she needs. There for lingerie had to become modernized by being less restrictive. There is lingerie and intimate apparel for all occasions that are of great comfort and flexibility for every taste and body type today.

Lingerie designers are finally recognizing that beauty is not some standardized thing. Women are now demanding that designers make sexy and practical lingerie that is realistic and designed for all women, not just the standard. Women want to feel and look beautiful to them. That beauty and appreciation for their own body will permeate their personality and trickle into all areas of their lives. Women are tired and have no use to constantly try to fit into some impossible idealistic box anymore. It is now about being appreciated for the individual you. This has been proven with the burst of lingerie for fuller sized women today. The designs of today are now finally geared to the real size women and she can feel sexy too. So now fuller figured women can also feel and look as sexy too, no matter what their size is.

The wearing of lingerie for a woman can be as much sensual as it sexual. It has to do with self-image. The women today are strong, independent, and vibrant and should be free to explore their own personal sexuality. The shopping for and wearing of lingerie today is such a sensual pleasure for women today. It is not the lingerie that gives a women confidence it is the woman’s self-esteem created by feeling good about her self that gives her an air of confidence, beauty, and sensitivity.

As many of you may or may not know, I have been designing and constructing garments for about six years now. It’s definitely one of my passions. And I hope to get into the lingerie industry at least for a selection of garments because I think it would be extremely fun! Lingerie should reflect your inner-self. I encourage all of you girls (and boyfriends, husbands, best friends) to buy lingerie this season. I swear to you, it will make you feel like a million dollars underneath your clothes!

“I love to wear lingerie. The problem is that men always rip it off too quickly. When women are dolled up in lingerie they feel sexy. So let us wear it for five minutes.” >Karen McDougal

“I believe in pink, I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”

– Audrey Hepburn

If you know me pretty well, you’ll know that I am not a fan of rain. For some reason, I have it in my head that rain just ruins plans unless it comes at night time, which in that case, I have no issue with rain at all. If you’re faced with a rainy day (like us in Florida have been for the past few days) then perhaps you should do the following to make your time “worth it’s while”…

¤ Do the chores you’ve been putting off for weeks

¤ Cuddle up with a good book

¤ Pull out the board games

¤ Pump up the music and get in a workout (there’s so much you can do without using a machine, be creative!)

¤ Work on that scrapbook that has been collecting dust for months

¤ Try on all your clothes in your closet – and start packing away all of the ones that don’t fit or you don’t like, to give away to charity or to sell.

¤ Be carefree, go play in the rain (of course if there is no lightning or ridiculous winds)