Beauty Week: Health and Wellbeing

Hooray, it’s beauty week on Lady Melbourne! And what better way to start things off than with health and well being, specially in light of me coming down ill last week. Thank you for all your well wishes, it’s definitely helped.

Before I begin I thought I’d just make a few points. I take my health and well being seriously in that I try to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly as well as taking time for inner reflection to quieten the mind. I am not a gym junkie, I’m not preachy about fitness and I certainly break all the rules, all the time. After a few cocktails to celebrate a birthday last week my girlfriends and I ended up eating cheeseburgers for a late night dinner(perhaps why I ended up ill?!) which is a rarity but I’m human and not going to lie about it.

Fitness and Exercise

Back to the point, in order to counteract said cheeseburger I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill the next morning, so it’s always about balance for me. I’ve been a runner for about 10 years now with short breaks in between when I’ve been travelling, or just when life has got in the way and I haven’t felt I’ve had time. It’s a form of fitness I always come back to however because it works for me, so running for 30 minutes 3-5 times a week is my main form of exercise.

I also have been practicing yoga now for about 10 years because its gentle, great for your body and great for your mind. I ride my bike when I can so in the photo above I’ve got my yoga gear with me ready to ride to a class. You’ve seen my bike plenty of times before on the blog and it’s just an easy way to keep healthy without really thinking about it.

This summer I took up swimming too which was probably the most enjoyable form of exercise I’ve tried since I was a kid. Being in the water gave me time to clear my mind while I got a great work out. I can’t stand indoor pools and my local outdoor pool closes in winter so it may be something that I just do in summer.

Diet

As I have confessed above, break out sometimes but in general I eat a fairly balanced and healthy diet. This means avoiding fried foods, heavily processed food, take away and refined sugar. No soft drink, no KFC, no chips. But I do love pizza and as my friends will tell you never say no to a slice. Rather than outlet take away stores my local happens to be wood fired where you can get great fresh ingredients so it’s always about finding the best quality version of what ever it is I’m eating.

I take a women’s multivitamin and in winter I supplement that with daily vitamin C and echinacea tablets as well.

I’m not going to lie to you, you will pee. A lot. But I’ve talked about this before on the blog and it’s probably the only thing about health that I do preach about. I drink at least, at the very least, 8 glasses of water a day. It’s good for you in so many ways and it’s not a new thing so I don’t have to tell you why. As well as a healthy does of tea I am constantly drinking water. My friends think it’s hilarious, ‘Hold on, she needs the loo again!’ but I use my skin, nails, hair and general health as an example of why it’s just so good for you.

Well Being

Going hand in hand with yoga is making time for me to quieten what is generally a frantic mind that buzzes a million miles an hour. I regularly find myself awake at say, 3am my mind full of great ideas for upcoming work, projects, blog posts(this has resulted in a notebook with pens littered bedside so I don’t forget anything). I try most days to take 10-20 mins to sit and reflect and quietly meditate. I sometimes listen to Eckart Tolle, ‘Gateways to Now,’ which is fantastic for meditation.