Learning to Be Hardy

Half the time, I find myself unable to control my responses to certain situations life hurls at me. This happens whenever troublesome events arise suddenly, or problems avalanche, leaving me helpless and miserable. Sounds like you? Do not despair.

Not all of us are born with hardy personas—stress-resistant personalities, but we could work hard to acquire some, if not all of its qualities.

• Staying committedBeing commited is having a purpose. Having a purpose defines our reason for living. Whether this involves making ourselves and loved ones happy or achieving excellence in our chosen fields, any kind of purpose suffices to motivate us to put our efforts, time, and abilities to good use.
  
• Taking controlNone of us could be in command of everything all the time. However, having a sense of control implies that we know how to take charge of ourselves, especially in handling our stressors.
  
• Living up to the challengeSeeing life as a challenge that needs to be overcome instead of a burden is what differentiates a hardy person from his weak counterparts. Hence, he acquires a positive outlook in life, enabling him to bounce back and stay rooted in his values despite adversities.

Written By: Maris Modesto

The Good and the Bad

Stress: you can neither have too much of it nor too little. The minutest inconsistency in balancing between these two extremes could spell a big difference in how we would fare in the face of life's daily challenges. Stress is as innate to living as breathing. Basically, since we can't keep ourselves from reacting to the events that confront us, there is no way we could prevent stress from setting in. But despite the negative connotation, stress is not always bad. In fact, in the right doses it could even be good for us. 

Good Stress

Instances like avoiding accidents causes an adrenaline rush, giving us the needed faculties to react accordingly and effectively. This adrenaline rush, also referred to as the flight and fright response, is stress—good stress to be exact. Activated in milder forms, good stress can push us into doing what needs to be done, even performing astounding feats we didn't know we're capable of, to steer us toward the right direction. 

Bad Stress

If adequate stress is good, too much automaticlaly means bad. Stress overload, especially when chronic, could turn our overall system upsidedown. Left alone, this could result to many kinds of health problems. 

Written By: Maris Modesto

Harnessing Your Emotional Resiliency

Saying that you can always stay in control of your emotions is one thing, but living up to it is another. If like me, you find it hard to stay tough when confronted by emotionally taxing situations, then harnessing your emotional resiliency is compulsory. But before you proceed, be reminded: being emotionally resilient does not give you an immunity from life's hassles.

If it has to rain, it would rain. There is not much you can do about it since staying alive means being exposed to problems time and time again. But the benefit of emotional resiliency you could definitely not do without would be having that presence of mind and positivity to help you react advantageously and bounce back should you get knocked down.  To help you develop your emotional resiliency, try out these tips:

Do not shy away from strong emotions. Let yourself experience them so as to get familiarized.

But do not leave yourself vulnerable to them when your spirit is down. Their combined forces along with your already stressed out self spells trouble for you in the end.

Face your challenges.

But know your limitations and give yourself enough time to recharge your spirit and energy.

Written By: Maris Modesto

Health Trivia That May Boost Your Health

Trivia is a wonderful distraction. But it can also be handy at times. Look over this collection of health trivia for bits of wisdom that can improve your health and reduce your risks of infection and diseases.

Dentists recommend that you store your toothbrush at least six feet away from the toilet. This reduce risks of airborne particles from flushing coming into contact with your toothbrush.

Sleeping burns more calories than watching TV. If you want to lose weight but aren't in the mood to exercise, snooze instead of turning on the TV.

Moisturize if you are allergic to dust. Why? Most dust particles in your house are made of dead and dried skin cells.

Here's a good reason to wash your pits and dry them well: The skin of the armpits can harbor up to 516,000 bacteria per square inch, while drier areas, such as the forearm, have only about 13,000 bacteria per square inch.

Enjoy your food while you still can. The average human has about 10,000 taste buds located in the tongue, its underside, and insides of the cheek. However, most people lose half of their taste buds, hence, compromising their sense of taste by the time they reach 60.

Written By: Kristine Gonzaga

Laugh, Snicker, Giggle: It's Good For You

Laughter is the best medicine - there is a truth to this cliché. You see, stress and anxiety are usually the cause of many disorders and illnesses - causes that can easily be relieved and remedied by some laughter. 

There are several other benefits that laughter can do for you that you might have overlooked like:

• Stimulate body organs
• Trigger your stress response
• Soothes tension and aches
• Boost your immune system
• Relieve pain
• Improves positive outlook

Here are some tips on getting more laughs in your life without being crazy:

Make humor part of your routine. Subscribe to an online comic strip that makes you laugh or put a collection of funny pictures on your desk so you can easily get a laugh into your daily routine.

Think silly. A lot of people are afraid of making a fool of themselves that they get so uptight about things. Aside from increasing anxiety and stress, they also miss out on the humor.

Look for jokes. Deliberately scan through copies of joke books in your local bookstore. There is a high chance that the jokes are corny, but the stupidity of it all may be just enough to get you cracking up.  

Written By: Kristine Gonzaga

How to Fight Mid-Day Sleepiness

If there's one thing that distracts me from work the most, it's feeling sleepy. It's kind of hard focusing on work when you're feeling dizzy because of sleepiness.

How do you fight sleepiness anyway?

The best way is to get enough sleep at home. Eight to ten hours of restful, undisturbed sleep should suffice to provide you with enough energy to go through the day.

But since it's impossible for most people to get at least eight hours of sleep, let's try the next best thing - the power nap. The power nap is the more popular term for a 20-minute nap that seems to works wonders in re-energizing the body.

Go with time-tested caffeine. Coffee is guaranteed to help us snap out of sleepiness. Just be careful not to drink too much coffee past 3pm, because it may make it difficult for you to sleep in the evening.

Wash your face. For some people, splashing their face with cold water jolts their minds back to consciousness. Although this may be true, the effects don't really last very long.

There you go, some tips on how you can fight off mid-day sleepiness. 

Written By: Abbey Grace Yap

Cooking Tips That'll Help You Lose Weight

Many have jumped the fitness bandwagon and have chosen to follow fad diets left and right. Many of us think that by limiting our menu choices, we actually take ourselves one step closer to our goal.

But is it really just the food we eat? Why don't we take a look at how we prepare it?

Let's start off with meal choices. Instead of cooking on the fly, why not plan the menu at the start of the week? This way, you'll save time thinking of what's good and healthy to prepare for the day.

Start choosing lean cuts. Be it beef, pork, or chicken, make sure that most of the fat is removed from the meat. This allows you to get the protein your body needs, but less the fat and calories.

Go with simple recipes. Don't choose menu entries that take too many steps to prepare and cook. Example of simple dishes are baked, steamed, or broiled meats.

Remember that even the healthiest of food can turn bad when it's prepared the wrong way. So before you start thinking of which foods are healthy, go back to the beginning and think of healthier ways to prepare your food instead.

Written By: Abbey Grace Yap