5 Steps to Living a Healthier Lifestyle

Eat healthier to achieve a healthier lifestyle!

Living a healthier lifestyle isn’t always easy, but it is possible with the right tools and mindset in place. Commit to changing your habits and you’ll have no choice but to experience better days ahead.

Accept that you have control over your actions and are the one person who can successfully turn your life around for the better. Take the following steps seriously and you’ll be on your way to creating a happy and healthy path for yourself. Put in the hard work now and then enjoy all the benefits that come from your efforts and commitment to improving yourself.

1.   Cut Back on Processed Foods & Alcohol

You can live a healthier lifestyle by cutting back on processed foods and alcohol. Sometimes these types of changes aren’t as simple as they sound because foods and alcohol can be addicting. If you or someone you know needs help cutting back or has an addiction problem, then check out rehab for alcoholics. Change your diet for the better and your mood will lift and getting in shape and losing weight will be easier for you.

2.   Take Breaks from Technology

Another step you should follow to live a healthier lifestyle is to take breaks from technology. It’s good for your health and wellbeing and will help you to refocus your mind and concentrate on your goals. Technology can be addicting, and there are so many other ways you can be spending your time such as going for a long walk in nature or connecting with your loved ones. Too much screen time can have an impact on your physical as well as your mental health, so be sure to set limits.

3.   Avoid Toxic People & Relationships

You may not be enjoying your life much lately because you’re involved with toxic people and relationships. You want people in your life who lift you up and aren’t always negative and bringing you down. Live a healthier lifestyle by being choosy about who you allow in your life and trust with your feelings and emotions. Surround yourself with individuals who you look up to and you know have your back through thick and thin.

4.   Proactively Manage Your Stress

Another step to living a healthier lifestyle is to proactively manage your stress. Too much stress and worry can take a toll on your wellbeing and cause more strain in your life. Find ways to keep your feelings in check such as meditation or practicing yoga. You’ll be able to handle your responsibilities and schedule better when you aren’t feeling so overwhelmed by racing thoughts.

5.   Practice Work-Life Balance              

Working too much has the potential to cause you to ignore your health and not have any time for self-care. Practice work-life balance so that you spend enough time with your family and can also make a good career for yourself. Set boundaries both at home and at the office and say no to certain obligations if you know you don’t have time for them.

Can't Remember the Order of the Planets? Make a Solar System Necklace!

Let me start by saying that I'm sure you can find a cheaper way to do this project! On Pinterest, there are projects like this where you can buy wooden beads in different sizes and paint them (check out this post for that project and here's another solar system necklace just so you don't think I came up with this idea on my own).

I was NOT going to do that, and one reason is because I'm a Professional Procrastinator and I was tossing this project together the day before Homeschool Co-op Astronomy class for Fifth and Sixth graders. I normally need Quick and Easy! I was originally looked up ideas for a hanging mobile, which is neat, but I wanted something smaller since I'm in Tidying Up mode and my friends are too. Something small they could learn from but put away easily hit the spot.

I went to Hobby Lobby for the beads and my oldest son Joel helped me pick them out. I looked up a picture of the planet colors and just went from there and did the best I could. It drove some of my kids insane that the sizes of the beads don't reflect the sizes of the planets, but that wasn't the point :-)

It helped that these string beads were 50% off that day because they can get pricey ... $3-7 per string. I spent a total of $39, but that included a $2 bead keeper and the string. I found a 40% off coupon online using my phone, and that made the stretchy string cheaper (40% off $7.50).

I also get a class fee of $10 from each kid, so that helps to offset anything I'm going to spend out of pocket this semester. I don't mind going out of pocket a bit because (1) my Eva is in the class and (2) these are the children of my friends and I love them :-) This year we are also going to do marshmallow/toothpick constellations and galaxy slime!

I got them all organized (okay, Callie helped me) in this bead-keeper in the right order.

Then I put one of each bead into a baggie, along with a length of stretchy string.

I put all of the individual packets in a larger baggie, along with scissors in case we needed to cut anything, and clear nail polish for securing the knot once we had the necklace finished.

SUN
My (Mercury)
Very (Venus)
Easy (Earth)
Method (Mars)
Just (Jupiter)
Speeds (Saturn)
Up (Uranus)
Naming (Neptune)
Planets (Pluto) ... we will debate whether it is a planet or not, but I am keeping it!
MOON

I think that's a halo above my head. WOW!

I know this looks weird but I had to cover up the face of a photo-bombing student for privacy just in case! Mine is missing the sun because there are 8 students and the sun beads only came in a string of 8.

My precious Eva wearing her necklace!

How did we do it? So easy.

I had each kid tie a double knot at the end of their string so the bead would not fall off while they were making their necklace.

Then we put the beads on in the right order and tied the necklace together at the top. If you use stretchy string, the key is to stretch it over and over at the knot site after you tie the knot. Double or triple tie and stretch, stretch, stretch (not too hard).

Then we put a dab of clear nail polish on the knot.

One kid made hers a bracelet, which is actually brilliant. One was going to take hers home and make it into a choker.

Top Family Travel Topic Ideas For Your Mom Blog

There are many truly rewarding benefits to running a mom blog.

But at the same time, coming up with topic ideas is also one of the most challenging aspects of being a blogger, and especially when you want to come up with ideas that have been written about very rarely by other mom bloggers so your own blog will stand out better.

Here are the top family travel topic ideas for your mom blog:

Your Biggest Family Travel Failures

One idea is to be vulnerable and open up about any family travel failures you’ve encountered in the past and how you could have. Of course, don’t assign blame to your other family members in the trip, and only focus on things that you personally did that you could have done or handled better.

For one thing, other moms and people reading your blog should probably appreciate your honesty, and you’ll appear much more genuine. For another thing, you can give ideas to other m moms on family travel mistakes to avoid.

Your Biggest Family Travel Successes

On the flip side of things, you can also write articles about your biggest family travel successes. This type of article will serve two primary purposes to readers:

For one thing, it will inspire them to actually take their own families out on fun trips and vacations if they’ve been on the fence about it.

In addition, the article could also serve the purpose of teaching other families on how to travel successfully and properly by listing out and describing everything that you did.

Many people may have an idea that a family trip is certain to be an all-out disaster due to the myriad of things that could go wrong, but writing a positive article on your family’s biggest travel successes could easily help to convince them otherwise.

Your Favorite Things To Do In Different Locations

Anyone can research the best places to visit in any given location online, but writing about your family’s personal favorite things to do in any given location will be much more unique.

You can even take things a step further by turning the article into more of a story. If you write an article about taking your family to a specific location, such as ‘Taking The Family To Myrtle Beach’ or something along those lines, the article would be much more interesting in the form of a story rather than a listicle type of article where you simply outline and describe your favorite locations.

How You Keep Your Younger Children Entertained En Route To Your Destination

This could actually be a fun article to write about. It’s no secret that younger aged children especially can be very difficult to entertain while traveling, such as during long flights or on road trips.

The article, at the very least, could help convince other parents that all is not lost in regards to keeping their younger children busy and happy during longer travel experiences. Your pieces could focus on strategies that you have used to keep your own children entertained, and again, it would no doubt be more interesting to read if it were told in the form of a story from your personal experiences rather than simply outlining and discussing the different strategies that you have used before.

How To Save On Family Travel

This is a big one, because family travel is one of the biggest expenses that any family will incur beyond paying the mortgage, car payments, health insurance costs, and setting aside money for college for the kids.

This is why many other moms, especially those who will be on a budget, are always on the web searching for strategies to reduce the cost of family travel. And while there are undoubtedly many other mom bloggers talking about the exact same subject, you can nonetheless make your article or articles unique by focusing on unique money saving tips that you use.

Top Family Travel Topic Ideas For Your Mom Blog

In all honesty, there’s really no shortage of family travel topic ideas that you can write about on your mom blog.

The challenge is in finding topics that haven’t already been written to the point of repetition by other mom bloggers, but fortunately, any of the above topic ideas should be unique enough to your blog.

Life-Saving Advice Every Professional Writer Should Know

If you follow my blog on a regular basis, then you’ll know that I work as a professional writer and blogger. Each month I have articles published in a range of magazines. As a writer, I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the years and wanted to share some of the advice that has come in handy.

So without further ado, below is a list of life-saving advice every professional writer should know.

Photo source

Organization is everything

As a mom, life can be extremely busy - even if you’re not a parent life can be busy. This means that if you want to excel as a writer, you need to be organized about it. When you’ve got a million and one things to be getting on with, it’s far too easy to forget about an important deadline. So you need to have something in place that will ensure that you don’t ever miss a deadline. In most professional media outlets, there is a whiteboard with articles that need writing and deadline dates next to them. This is an organization method that you can easily adapt and use at home. You could also set reminders on your phone so that you’re alerted to any looming deadlines in plenty of time.

The more experience you can get, the better

Image from Flickr

When first breaking into the industry, things may well be slow. However, once you’ve built up a portfolio of work, you’ll find that you’ll become more and more sought after. The truth is the more experience you get, the more work you will be offered. So, if in the early days, you’re offered unpaid work, take it for the experience. It may be annoying having to work for free but the more experience you can get, the better.

Don’t undervalue yourself or your work

That being said, don’t make the mistake of undervaluing yourself or your work. While in the early days, you may need to work for experience instead of pay, once you’ve built up a portfolio, don’t undervalue yourself. Have a set price that you charge per word and stick to it no matter what. If you give work away for low prices, you’re making your pieces seem less valuable than they are. This can impact your future opportunities and mean that your work is always undervalued.

Look after your computer

Image credit

Computers have made professional writing much less time consuming. Thanks to programs like Grammarly, that make error checking easier, articles can be completed more quickly. They’re also fantastic for storing your work and keeping all of your old articles safe. That being said, a mistake that many writers make is failing to keep an online backup of their computer. The problem is that sometimes computers can crash, wiping everything off of them. This means that if you haven’t backed up, all of your previous work will be gone, including your portfolio of work. So it’s of the utmost importance that you backup your computer on a regular basis. It’s also wise to perform regular software updates and have suitable security software in place. That way, you can ensure that your computer is always kept in tip, top shape.

Proofreading is invaluable

There’s nothing that looks more unprofessional than sending an article over to a website or magazine with errors in it. Far too many writers fail to proofread their work and make silly mistakes. The problem is that by doing this, you make yourself and your work look unprofessional. You can also put publications off of using you for pieces in the future. It takes a couple of minutes to re-read your work and check for any errors, so make sure that you’re taking the time to do so. Don’t rely on Microsoft Word or Google Documents to highlight errors, take the time to check for them yourself. Check out these 17 techniques for business communication!

Good communication is crucial

Source for image

As a writer, it’s your job to communicate with the publication that you’re writing for. If you’ve got a question, you need to ask them. If you need to change the deadline, let them know. Just like you would tell your boss if a project was going to be completed late, it’s common courtesy to do the same when freelancing. Good communication is crucial when it comes to working as a writer. You need to be willing to not only email but also to discuss projects over the phone or via video chat. You might be a freelancer, but you still need to be a good communicator.

So there you have it, my life-saving advice for making it as a professional writer.

How To Look After Your Car

Pxhere Image Source: Photo of someone cleaning the interior of their car

A car isn't just a metal motor that takes you from A to B, it is so much more than that.
It's essentially your freedom. It gives you the power to go wherever you want to go,
whenever you want to, and that's something that plays a big part in your life. So the
least you can do is give back a little, and ensure that you're doing what you can to get
as much life out of your noble steed as you can.

Here's how to do just that.

Take it to the garage

So many people don't take their car to the garage until there's something visibly wrong with it,
but this isn't the way to do things. If you feel as if there was something not quite right within yourself,
you would go to the doctors - you wouldn't wait until it's too late. So the same thing applies to your
vehicle. It's important to take it into the garage for regular checks just to make sure that everything is
running as it should. These are professionals, so they may notice something that you would never
have even thought about, potentially saving you a lot of money in the long run.

Take the appropriate action

If ever you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in a car accident, it is so important that you do
what is necessary in order to get what you deserve. If the collision wasn't your fault, and yet you are
left with bills to pay, then you will want to think about finding yourself a car accident lawyer. A lot of
the time after an event like this, it's normal to want it to be over and done with. But if you can get
help, then you should. Having a lawyer on your side will allow you to have a case built, and as a
result, get all the compensation and care that you deserve, like the money to cover all damage costs.

Take care of it

When you first buy a new car, you make sure that you are always careful with it. You don't eat inside
it, you regularly check the tires to ensure they're full and safe, and you constantly clean both inside
and outside so that it glistens in the sun, and smells great on the inside. But after a certain amount of
time standards slip and you forget to do these things. You may not realize just how much it will affect
your vehicle though by neglecting it. Something as simple as leaving the dust to form inside can
damage your car, as a build-up can essentially clog up the filters and things will stop working.

So as you can see, it really isn't as difficult as you may have expected it to be, it's mostly just common
sense and paying attention to the little things. Sure, sometimes you'll get lazy, but just know that it will
all pay off in the end.