Health Archives - Page 2 of 2 - With love from Lou

5 Effective Ways to Treat Pesky Coughs and Colds

17/01/2017 by Louise 37 Comments

Over the last couple of weeks pretty much everyone I know has come down with awful coughs and colds, my own little family included. Oscar had a runny nose and complained of feeling poorly for a few days, and then Stacey came down with the flu and ended up having most of the last week off of school.

As I’m sure lots of other people up and down the country are suffering the same fate, I thought I’d share 5 effective ways to treat those pesky coughs and colds that I absolutely swear by with you guys today. Some of them might sound a little strange, but why not give them a try anyway? You might be surprised by the results …

01. CUT AN ONION IN HALF AND LEAVE IN YOUR BEDROOM OVERNIGHT

If you’ve fallen ill from a cough, flu, fever or cold try placing a peeled white onion cut in half in a bowl in your bedroom overnight. It will immediately begin to absorb any bacteria and you’ll find yourself feeling better in no time. I’ve been doing this for the last couple of years now, and although the onion smell is a bit annoying to start with, the results more than make up for it. It still amazes me how this one works now. And I’ve even noticed that the more poorly a person is the more wizened and horrible the onion looks the next morning. It’s as if it has a magnet inside that pulls all the illness from living people! I’d be interested to hear if any of you guys have tried this at home and found it worked?

02. RUB VICKS ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FEET TO PREVENT COUGHING

It’s a well known-fact that we always cough more at night time when we’re ill. But believe it or not, if you rub Vicks Vapour Rub on to the bottom of your feet and then cover them with a pair of socks before you go to bed it will actually prevent you from coughing all night! For some reason, this only works at night time (crazy, right?) but as there’s nothing worse than lying in bed coughing, I’ll take it! Oh, and if you have any hard skin on the bottom of your feet the vapour rub will soften that right up as well. Bonus!

03. DRINK PLENTY OF HOT FLUIDS

Whenever anyone is ill in my house I’m constantly dishing out hot drinks to help relieve nasal congestion, prevent dehydration and soothe sore throats. Some of our favourites are warm milk, hot water – boiled and then left to cool, not straight from the tap, tea – sometimes with a little of the best Manuka Honey to sweeten it, and even hot chocolate.

Lemsip is also a popular choice with many of my friends, although I don’t like the taste myself. If you’re not a fan of hot drinks though, you might find them a little difficult to stomach. In which case, I’d suggest making sure you stay hydrated by drinking plenty of cold water throughout the day.

04. GARGLE WITH SALT WATER 4 TIMES A DAY

Now, I have to admit that this is my least favourite way of treating a pesky cough or a sore throat. But it does work. All you have to do is dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in a glass full of warm water, gargle for a few seconds and then spit it out. It’s nasty but it will bring some much-needed relief from your symptoms for a few hours. I rarely use this method, but when I do I do it 4 times a day for maximum impact.

05. GET PLENTY OF SLEEP

And finally, try to get plenty of sleep when you’re feeling under the weather. I always find that I get well quicker if I can just sleep while I’m ill. If you’re someone who finds it hard to nod off though then I highly recommend giving a lavender scented pillow mist a try to help you relax. My favourite is the Deep Sleep Pillow Spray from This Works. It really is amazing stuff!

If you find you’ve got a blocked nose and it’s preventing you from sleeping, you could also try a nasal spray like these here: https://serp.co/best/nasal-spray/. Nasal sprays are liquid medicines you spray into your nose. They are used to help relieve congestion in your nose and are really effective.

And there you have it – 5 effective ways to treat pesky coughs and colds.
Do you use any of these methods? Or do you have other ways of treating them?
Let me know in the comments below!
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The Benefits of Office Yoga

19/10/2016 by Louise 2 Comments

Most of the time, working from home is an absolute dream come true. I can pretty much work when I please, wherever I please. And for me, that’s amazing! Recently, however, I’ve been suffering with a lot more health problems than usual. In the last 6 months alone I’ve had a hell of a lot of lower back pain (not related to my scoliosis), repetitive strain injury, and sciatica.

I was telling a friend about it over coffee one morning when she admitted she’d had the same problem. She said that working long hours in an office 5 days a week had had a serious impact on her health. But after attending a workshop on something called ‘office yoga‘, and putting what she’d learnt from it into practice, she found that some of the aches and pains she’d been getting miraculously disappeared!

SO, WHAT IS OFFICE YOGA?

I was intrigued to find out more about office yoga, and a quick search online brought up loads of different poses to try. Each designed to help with different types of aches and pains. And the best part? Well, they can all be done while sitting at your desk!

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying out some of the poses for myself. And I’ve found that I’ve been a lot less achy than I usually am while I’m working. How fab is that?!

I’ve been so impressed with the results from doing office yoga, that I thought I’d share some of my favourite poses with you guys today. So, whether you spend your days sitting on cheap office chairs or curled up on the sofa with your laptop, these 5 office yoga poses are sure to help you with any nasty aches and pains you may have. I hope you find them helpful.

01. CHAIR CAT COW STRETCH

What does it do?

Improves posture and balance
Strengthens and stretches the spine and neck
Reduces lower back pain

How to do it:

Sit on a chair with your spine stretched and both feet flat on the floor
Inhale : arch your back, look up, push your belly forward and shoulders backwards. This is cow position
Exhale : round your spine, bring your shoulders forward and look downwards. This is cat position
Continue moving between cow on the inhalations and cat on the exhalations for five breaths

02. CHAIR RAISED HANDS

What does it do?

Improves posture
Opens shoulders
Strengthens core

How to do it:

Sit on a chair facing forwards with your feet flat on the floor
Inhale : raise your arm toward the ceiling
Hold this position for a few breaths
Exhale : slowly sweep your arms out to the sides

03. CHAIR EAGLE POSE

What does it do?

Loosens wrists and shoulders
Releases tightness between shoulder blades and across sacrum
Strengthens legs

How to do it:

Cross your left thigh over your right thigh. If you can, wrap your left foot all the way around your right calf
Bend your elbows and bring your palms forward until they touch
Lift your elbows while dropping your shoulders away from your ears. Hold for three to five breaths

04. CHAIR SPINAL TWIST

What does it do?

Relieves back pain and stiffness
Opens the chest and increases the oxygen supply to the lungs
Loosens the hip joints

How to do it:

Sit sideways on a chair, facing your right
Twist your torso toward the right, holding onto the back of the chair
Lengthen your spine on each inhalation and twist on each exhale for five breaths
Move your legs around to the left side of the chair and repeat the twist for your left side

05. SEATED DOUBLE HAMSTRING

What does it do?

Stretches out hamstrings and lower back
Improves circulation
Eases leg tightness

How to do it:

Sit near the edge of your chair and place your feet on the floor
Place a towel around the balls of your feet
Lengthen your back and lift your sternum. From the hip crease, lean forward
Only go as far forward as you can with your back and knees straight

I’ve also included a cool infographic below incase you decide to give office yoga a try and want to see how to perform each of the poses I mentioned properly …

So there you have it, 5 yoga poses that will really help ease those aches and pains, improve posture and circulation and even help strengthen your core!

And please don’t forget that it’s important to take regular breaks from sitting at your desk as well. It’s recommended that you take 5 minutes every hour to get up and move around.

Enjoy this post and are looking for more poses to try? Then check out this hilarious video from the guys at Furniture at Work. There are some great ideas here that I’m yet to try.

Have you ever tried office yoga before? Or is it something you’d be interested in trying?
Why not let me know in the comments below?Thanks for reading guys.Happy posing!

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Is Your Sleeping Position Harming Your Health?

11/05/2016 by Louise Leave a Comment

Did you know the way you sleep at night could be having a huge impact on your health? Whether you already suffer from a back-related problem or you consider yourself to be in pretty good shape, how you position yourself in bed each night could be setting you up for a whole host of health troubles further down the line. So that you can get the sleep you need without harming your wellbeing, keep reading.

The truth behind your sleep stance
From your back, to your shoulders, to your neck, to your hips and knees, the way you lie could be having a damaging effect on your whole body, causing stress and strain on your muscles and limbs and resulting in you feeling pain and discomfort. With this in mind, you might want to consider rethinking how you position yourself once you slide between the sheets.

The solution to the problem
The good news is, there are a variety of ways you can keep your health in check while you snooze. In the first instance, you may want to assess your bed setup. If your current bed makes it difficult for you to get settled and maintain a comfortable position while you sleep, you may be due an upgrade. While you could simply invest in a new mattress, you may want to take this one step further and replace your entire bed. To make it easier for you to stay in a certain position while you sleep, you could go for a model that helps you do this. For example, the adjustable beds from http://adjustablebeds.co.uk/ use innovative technology that enables you to manoeuvre and tilt the bed until you find the perfect position.

You may also want to try changing your sleep stance by yourself. For instance, you could adopt a position that enables your lower back to rest in itself natural curved shape. To achieve this, you can try placing a pillow or rolled up towel under your knees if you prefer to snooze on your back, or between your legs if you like to lay on your side. If you tend to rest on your stomach, you could try placing a pillow under your hips.

Making a few alterations to your sleeping position will not only improve your health and wellbeing, but it could also help you to get a good night’s sleep every evening.

Do you have any other tips for getting a healthy nights sleep?
If so, let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading.
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3 Reasons why having a mini garden at home is great

03/11/2015 by Louise 21 Comments

If you have some additional space in your backyard or some space at your home, you should totally make that space be your mini garden. You can grow all types of vegetables, herbs, and even fruits if you like and enjoy fresh, truly organic and yours ingredients you will love. Moreover, there are some more reasons why you should have it and bellow you will find three more of that. So, without any further ado – let me prove you why having just a small little garden at your home is so great.

Having a mini garden at home guarantees better mental health
And that is totally right! The recent study in Sweden showed that there is a significantly bigger chance to have better mental health for those people who work in their garden that for those who don’t. In fact, having a small oasis of calmness and peacefulness and being in a fresh air always worked as a remedy for your brains and as a run away from stress. Also, the satisfaction of seeing a small seed growing into a big plant that gives delicious fruits or vegetables makes you feel good and more confident about your actions too. So, to sum up – having a mini garden is kind of similar as having a psychological therapy. But this time it is for free!

2. Having a mini garden at home helps you save money
This is nothing new, and this is just simple logics. If you are making all your products by yourself, you won’t have to go shopping and spending money on vegetables, fruits and herbs. So you will save money at least on these products for the bigger part of the year. Or you can learn how to can, freeze or make these ingredients last fresh even longer and enjoy it for the whole year! Overall, having a mini garden also pays off financially too.

3. Having a mini garden works as an exercise
Moreover, if you couldn’t make yourself go to the gym and start working out, maybe you can start your mini garden and get similar results since maintaining and working at it equals real good exercising too! Since you are in the sun and the fresh air, your blood will flow faster – just like during a workout. Also, if you work hard in the garden and you dig, plant, and weed it from your heat, it will make your muscles work hard and make it stronger too. So, gardening is great for all people. Even for those who can’t take strong physical activity, because it works just like a few minutes of good exercising!

Where to start?
So if you do want to have your mini gym, therapist, and a piggy bank, let’s talk about where you can start it. There are a few places at your home. It can either be in your backyard or even at your home! In fact, a few containers with some houseplants can be quite a good décor element too. For example, a small plant of cherry tomatoes in your kitchen will make a splash of colour and also can be used as food too! For more inspiration what you can grow, visit various e-stores and don’t’ forget to visit ChameleonJohn.com This website will help you get even more inspired because it is full of thousands of amazing online coupons you can use to make your shopping cheaper. After that, you can start your mini garden from the scratch and enjoy all the benefits of working there!

Do any of you guys have a mini garden at home?
Let me know what you grow if you do – I enjoy growing my own veg in mine!

Thanks for reading.
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Celeb Vapers – Who’s Made The Switch?

28/05/2015 by Louise 15 Comments

If you’re looking to make changes to your wellbeing and health, you’ll want to start with the behaviours that are harmful to you: bad habits that are holding you back. Often the key to breaking a bad habit is to replace it with a positive one. By repeating the good behaviour in place of the bad one, you’ll soon be free of the negative habit entirely. Many dieticians, health practitioners and fitness advisers will advise you that creating good habits makes your resolve stronger and gives you the drive to succeed in your goals.

Habit breaking is part of the philosophy behind vaping, which uses electronic cigarettes to deliver the same nicotine hit and to replicate the action of smoking, but with none of the harmful qualities associated with tobacco.

By switching from smoking to vaping, users can avoid many of the consequences linked to smoking while still enjoying the process. Vaping is much more socially acceptable, and it’s a good activity when you’re hanging out with friends. It’s even safe to do indoors, and many places allow it. Vaping is growing in popularity among all communities and sectors, from friends in the local pub to your favourite Hollywood celebrities.

Vaping played a part in the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony, with guests allowed to indulge in the habit. The traditional goodie bags given to guests contained a state of the art e-cigarette and flavoured e-liquids. As celebrities try and kick the smoking habit for the sake of their health, many are turning to vaping instead.

One such supporter of vaping is model and actress Cara Delevingne, who can often be seen with her supermodel friends enjoying a vape. Great Gatsby star Leonardo DiCaprio can also be found often indulging his vaping habit during parties and social occasions. Ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik told fans how he has used the device to help him stop smoking, and Twilight star Robert Pattinson made no secret of the fact that e-cigs helped him give up tobacco for good. Actors and actresses from Isla Fisher to Samuel L Jackson can all be spotted vaping at times, and many more are joining the trend in a bid to stop smoking.

If you feel ready to ditch the cigarettes, something like a Vapouriz e-cigarette kit might just do the trick!

Do you know anyone who has switched from smoking to vaping?
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