1. Give yourself a home-spa experience to relax and take care of your body’s largest organ… your skin!

• Take a bath – You can add some Epsom salt with lavender to help sooth those muscles and relax your mind and body.
• Deep clean your pores – Treat yourself to a clay mask to help draw out any impurities that are lingering in your pores.
• Nourish your skin – Add some extra moisture to your skin post bath.  You can even exfoliate in the warm bath to help break away dry skin and create the most inviting environment for that extra moisture you apply.

2. Find an exercise routine that you can stick with for the long haul, one that can become part of your self care routine.

• Mix it up! – Doing a variety of different activities is good for your body, using different muscle groups and keeping you from plateauing.  It also makes you more apt to stick with it, by diversifying and keeping it interesting.
• Make it social – Having a workout partner can help keep you accountable and less likely to cancel on those days that are tough to get motivated.  If you chose to do it with a group of people, you can catch up while benefiting your mind and body.
• Don’t overdo it – For long term self care, we want to find something that you will stick with.  Start slowly and listen to your body.  Doing too much of something can have the opposite effect on your body… it can also cause you to burn out and ultimately quitting all together!

3. Eat a balanced diet to fuel your body and brain.

• Load your plate with fruits and vegetables – You should strive to make your plate as colorful as possible with fruits and vegetables.  This will help you get the maximum amount of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants into your diet.  These are things that help our bodies work at their highest level, as well as improving our cognitive function.
• Eat regularly – Food is fuel.  You need it to have energy and be mentally sharp.  Analogize it this way… does a car run well on bad fuel, or no fuel at all for that matter?  Eating small nutritious meals regularly will help you maintain peak performance.
• Increase your intake of healthy fats – Consuming more healthy fats (monounsaturated fats, Omega-3, and Omega-6 fatty acids) is crucial for your brain and heart health.  For years fats were labeled as bad, but all fats are not created equal!

Find YOUR Meaning of Self Care

What is self care to you?  Ask yourself what it is that you are looking to achieve and what it will take to get you there.  For example, I LOVE the outdoors and being active with my friends, family, and animals. 

The weather and environment can be tough on my skin, so having a good skincare routine is important to me.  When I feel good in my skin, I can do the things I love in the outdoors barefaced, and feel beautiful while doing it. 

Being active hiking, skiing, riding horses, swimming, and doing all of the other things that I love to do with my friends, family and animals, requires a certain level of fitness.  Therefore, having a good fitness routine is important.  Beachbody programs have become a part of my everyday life.  They are easy to follow, structured, and allow me to stick with my fitness routine no matter where I am.  There is something for everyone! 

Since my skincare is important to me and I have an active lifestyle, nutrition plays a big role in my self care routine as well.  Fueling my body to be able to enjoy the activities I love is an important element in my self care.  What I put in my body not only affects my energy level, it affects my skin’s hydration level, elasticity, and clarity.