Many of us have strange ways of thanking our bodies, especially considering everything they do for us. We actually tend to treat them very badly. After exercising, many will reward themselves with dessert or food. After carrying a child for 9 months, many will go months without sleeping (like they have a choice, hah!). After drinking too much, we will eat really greasy foods as a supposed “remedy” to avoid being hung over. If we gain weight, we’ll pick up smoking. In order to lose weight, we’ll do whacked out diets, take diet pills, starve ourselves, or worst of all, even resort to expelling our food through vomiting. I can keep going, but I’ll stop here.

Health and well being should be a top priority, so why do we put everything else first? I think it’s easy to neglect our bodies’ needs. We expect so much from our bodies – we work them overtime, we don’t get enough hours of sleep, we eat too fatty / salty / sweet, we don’t get all our vitamins, we don’t drink enough water, we perm / straighten / wax / laser / bleach / color / botox, we get too much radiation, we strain our backs, we ruin our eyes by staring at screens all day, and we destroy our skin by over-tanning. Wow, again, I can just keep going and going…

Anyways, regardless of why we do all of the above (and more), I say we stop dwelling and analyzing the cause of all this abuse, and we just make a point to do something nice for our bodies, TODAY.

Here are some ideas of ways to thank your body (I won’t include the obvious, like getting enough sleep. If you want the obvious, just do the opposite of everything I said above):
-Take a nice, long, warm bubble bath. (Bonus: Light some scented candles)
-Look in the mirror every day and tell yourself one nice thing (physical or not)
-Spend some alone time (without a to-do list, chores, or errands). Do something you enjoy, such as reading or gardening
-Chose a favorite body cream and moisturize yourself from head to toe (You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t moisturize at all! Your skin will thank you)
-On a hot summer day, pop some fresh fruit in the freezer (grapes & sliced banana are the best) and enjoy a cool and healthy snack a few hours later
-Wake up an hour early and take a stroll, bike ride, or jog. You will appreciate the peacefulness of the early morning, you will notice more nature around you than you knew existed, and your day will feel so much longer (Do this only once you’ve mastered getting enough sleep)
-Pick up a new hobby, or rediscover a hobby you may have let go of.
-Fly a kite
-Make a bucket list (a list of things you want to do or achieve before you die)
-Go online and find a new healthy recipe you would like to try out. Then buy the ingredients and execute (Careful: Make sure it’s healthy for real. Some websites offer nutrition information – be sure to check the “portion size”!)
-Go a week without watching TV
-Plan a picnic with family and/or friends
-Play with a kite, frisbee, skip-rope… or blow bubbles! (I did that a month or two ago, and it was so unbelievably fun)
-Give yourself a foot massage (Or better yet, find a close friend to give you a foot massage, and give him/her one in return)
-Eat some watermelon (Great source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and antioxidants)
-Ban make-up a day or two (This may be difficult for some) – let your skin breathe!
-Boycott the hair dryer, curler, straightener, and styling products for a little while. Also, a home-made (or store-bought) hair treatment couldn’t hurt!

Do you have any more ideas? If you do, I welcome you to reply to my post and share!

I’m off to bed – I must try to get my full dosage of sleep (oops, I think I’m already a little late for that!)

Take care of your precious body – you only have one!

Ask anybody who knows me and they would agree – I am the queen of optimism. I can take almost any situation and point out the good side. I am so happy it is almost nauseating. However, believe it or not, even the happiest of people have “blah” days.

Let me define this expression.

“Blah Day” – A day, or sometimes a few days (anywhere between 24 and 96 hours) when things just seem randomly out of whack thus leading an individual to feel unnaturally strange, though not in a positive way. One’s mood can thus be measured as being anywhere in between “neutral” and “down”. The cause of a “Blah Day” is often inexplicable and unknown.

Here are some examples:

1. Every day you wake up to the sound of the birds chirping but one day you wake up late because the birds are silent. The birds are having a “Blah Day”.

2. The receptionist in your building greets you daily with a smile and a “good morning”. One day she ignores you and then scowls at the phone as it begins to ring. She is having a “Blah Day”.

3. The cafeteria lady, who normally has your breakfast ready for you because she knows exactly what you order since you take the same thing all the time, not only has not prepared your breakfast in advance but she also doesn’t have a clue what you want and thus asks for your order. She’s really having a “Blah Day”.

Today, I am having a blah day. Actually, this “Blah Day” has lasted practically all weekend. I swear I’m not lying… believe it! Let me tell you more about it, especially today: This morning, after snoozing my alarm about 20 times, I woke up and looked in the mirror and the first thing I thought was “Wow, you’re looking ugly today!” I then proceeded to drag my feet to the kitchen where my mother asked me if I got enough sleep, and my brother asked if I was sick. (No and No). I then opened the fridge and downed a quarter of a cake, which didn’t help me feel any better (any other day, it may have helped a bit). I then proceeded to dress myself and I changed my outfit about 10 times before I realized that I was going to be late for work. I then decided to run out of the house and I got annoyed immediately because it was drizzling outside and two cars had my car sandwiched. After going front and back in my car about 30 times I finally managed to get out of that spot and I realized my gas is almost empty, so “yay”, I’ll get to fill her up at the end of the day. Oh and by the way, I then realized that I have no cash on me and I forgot my debit card at home. By this point I was at the corner of the road, so I had to reverse all the way back to my house and run in to get my debit card. How fun! I ran into the house with my wet boots (yes, my mom yelled at me) because nobody wanted to come to the door and bring me my debit card. By now I had about 10 minutes to get to work (which is 30 minutes away in traffic, 15 minutes w/o traffic). I got there only 10 minutes late (if you do the math, it took me only 20 minutes, which is not bad actually), but as soon as I exited the car it began to pour. I ran into my office, had a training, and after the training I realized I hate my outfit. Luckily I had a plain black tank top under, so I threw off my shirt and threw a sweater on top of the black tank. Then I changed my boots and added a scarf. I liked that new look for a total of 5 minutes and I am now still contemplating if I should change back. Right now it’s my lunch break and I am feeling like a loner today so I opted to eat at my desk and write my blog! 

It’s all very unlike me, but I guess this happens to the best of us.

So here’s to blah days! Hopefully tomorrow is better!

Plastic Surgery; many people, when asked about the subject, are either completely “yay” or completely “nay”. I’m part of the crowd of people who have mixed feelings, but I will explain why.

I think plastic surgery is an option for some only if the risks are carefully assessed and understood. Also very important, is if the person is suffering from an insecurity problem, thus seeking plastic surgery to gain confidence. Remember, if you are not content with who you are on the inside, fixing your physical appearance will not help your psychological problem.

People who have reason to condier plastic surgery:

-Individuals who have a very major / strange abnormality that is not only seen as “imperfect” to them, but also to others. For example: very huge ears, an obviously crooked nose.

-Individuals whose “imperfection” causes physical side effects. For example: A woman may need a breast reduction because her large breasts cause her to have back aches.

-Individuals who have lost large amounts of weight, thus causing their skin to sag, should be able to get their extra skin “removed”.

There is a lot of risk involved and plastic surgery is not a quick fix for your problems. Some of the risks below may be worth it for you, and some may not be an issue for certain individuals. Nonetheless, they are still worth reviewing:

-The risk that the final result will not be exactly as anticipated.

-The risk that you may need touch-ups.

-The risk that as your body changes/grows/after pregnancy, the area that had plastic surgery may change.

-The risk of potential health complications, either while under the knife or in the long-run

-The risk of death (in some cases)

-The risk of addiction

-The risk of looking “fake”

-The risk of offending people

-The risk of family / friends / co-workers / bosses finding out

-The risk of being negatively viewed / judged.

All this taken into consideration – plastic surgery is a big deal. Whether or not to go under the knife is something that should be carefully thought out because it is very important to make an informed decision. This is a subject not to be taken lightly, regardless of “how many people do it” or how acceptable it is.

In light of groundhog day yesterday, I thought it would be a great day to talk about the joys of winter. In Montreal, winter starts in September and ends in May. Actually, that’s a lie, but most people who live in Montreal would agree that winter is definitely the longest season, and that summer starts June 15 and ends Aug 25. Sometimes this can be a little depressing. However, we have to always remember to be positive and look at the glass as “half full”, right?

Bringing me to my next point – there are actually a few positive things about winter.

To name a few:

-Winter can be pretty, especially when the snow has freshly fallen.

-There is no better way to enjoy hot chocolate than to drink it after playing outside in the snow.

- Without such a long a hard winter, we wouldn’t truly appreciate summertime.

- Snowflakes are sometimes fun to eat – well some people enjoy them.

- Winter-wear can be sexy. Boots are fashionable, that’s for sure. Layering is in.

- As long as it is not too cold out (unless you like the cold… to each his own), there are many fun winter activities to be done in Montreal.

Obviously I can go on and on. But I want to be more specific here. The beautiful city of Montreal (and its surrounding cities too!) has tons to offer, especially during the winter. If you are sitting at home one weekend and you are not sure what to do, here are a few suggestions:

1. Ice skating at the Old Port (Monteral High Lights Festival)

2. Ice skating at Atrium Le 1000 (in case you’re more into the indoors)

3. Snow tubing at Mount Royal

4. Going to the “Cabane à Sucre” / “sugaring off” (any one is fine!)

5. Show Shoeing at Mount Royal

6. Building a snowman in front of your house

7. Shovelling snow (good exercise!)

8. Enjoying a nice nature walk at Mount Royal

9. Hitting up “Fete des Neiges” at Parc Jean Drapeau

10. If you like dancing – hitting up “Igloofest”

11. If you feel like taking a small trip: do some “Carnaval” activities in Quebec City

12. Cross Country Skiing at Mount Royal

13. Chill at the Ice Hotel in Quebec City (again, if you are willing to take a trip)

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any to add!

I hope the rest of your winter is filled with fun!

xoxo,

A proud Montrealer

I obviously don’t wish this upon anyone (although maybe some people maybe would like to know?) – knowing the day that you will die.

Imagine having that bit of information. Some people have an idea (because perhaps doctors have warned them, and/or their last day is coming soon), and I wonder how they deal with this. All we have ever seen has happened throughout our lives, so it must be quite emotional to know which day all we know is going to end – and then the unknown comes into play. Anyways, what happens after death is a whole other discussion…

But seriously – what if you knew you were going to die soon? Would you live your life any differently? Since we don’t know when our last day will come, shouldn’t we live as if every day is our last? How come sometimes we pay so much attention to planning for the future that we simply forget to live in the moment? Personally, I believe I live my life with a good balance of enjoying the present and planning for the future.

Some people create a “bucket list” – a list of everything they want to do and achieve in life before they die. I think that is an awesome idea, and I don’t think one must wait until they know their date of death before they start thinking about such a list.

Live life to its fullest – you never know when your chance will be gone!