Crack of Sparrows - 10 tips

Well I have two alarms set with a 15 minute interval so I must hit the snooze button about 4 times.  By this time I have lost the will to live and have to mentally shout at myself to make sure I get up before I fall asleep again and make myself late for work.

Sound familiar?
               

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Everything after this is now going to be rushed.  Get up, go to the toilet, lean against the wall whilst I clean my teeth as I haven't got the energy to hold myself up, put the kettle on, put the toast in, start making my pack up for lunch, turn the television on and watch the news because it shows the time at the bottom of the screen.     HELLO! HELLO!  No, it's no good she is still on autopilot.  Oh! My! Goodness!  I just remembered I haven't ironed my uniform.

If you are saying to yourself "What a way to start the day!" you are absolutely right.  So let's find a better way to start the day.  Apparently, we should be taking on some water before we add all that caffeine and craziness.

So a few suggestions from me.

Just pick one from the list and do it religiously for 3 weeks.  3 weeks is sufficient to break a habit.

1.     Drink a large glass of water before you eat or drink any of your breakfast.
2.     Stand on one leg when you clean your teeth, improve your balance and make sure
        you are awake.
3.     Don't ever press that snooze button - you are setting yourself up for low esteem for
        the day.
4.     Prepare your lunchpack the night before.
5.     Drink milk (dairy/coconut/almond etc) for breakfast instead of tea or coffee.
6.     Iron what you are going to wear the night before.
7.     Put on some favourite music to energise yourself instead of watching the television.
8.     Always have some protein for breakfast.  Meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt,
        beans, soya.
9.     Go to bed 5 minutes earlier.  There is a correlation between more sleep and gradual
        weight loss.
10.   When winter is coming on, for a warming breakfast try some porridge or a home
        made soup with added veg.

Want to do some healthy cooking?

Water and Drinks

Your body needs water or other fluids to work properly and to avoid dehydration.

This article explains how much we need to drink, how to spot the signs of dehydration and how to choose healthier non-alcoholic drinks. For advice on alcohol, see our Alcohol section.

Water makes up about two-thirds of the weight of a healthy body.

Most of the chemical reactions that happen in our cells need water in order to take place. We also need water so that our blood can carry nutrients around the body and get rid of waste.

How much should we drink?

To stay healthy, it's important to replace the fluid we lose when we breathe, sweat or urinate.

We get some fluid from our food but most comes from drinks.

The European Food Safety Authority recommends that women should drink about 1.6 litres of fluid and men should drink about 2.0 litres of fluid per day. That's about eight 200ml glasses for a woman and 10 200ml glasses for a man. 

However, the amount a person needs to drink to avoid getting dehydrated will vary depending on a range of factors, including their size, the temperature and how active they are. So, for example, if you're exercising hard in hot weather you'll need to drink more.

All drinks count, including hot drinks such as tea and coffee, but water, milk and fruit juices are the healthiest. It is best to avoid alcoholic drinks.

Try to avoid sugary, soft and fizzy drinks that can be high in added sugars. These can be high in calories and bad for teeth.

Signs of dehydration

When our bodies don't have enough water, we are said to be dehydrated.

One of the first signs of dehydration is feeling thirsty.

If you think you may not be getting enough fluids, check whether you have any of these other common signs of dehydration:

• dark urine and not passing much urine when you go to the toilet
• headaches
• lack of energy 
• feeling lightheaded 

To read the original article please go to:- http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/water-drinks.aspx

So What About the Belly Dancing

Well, there is a lot to tell but here I would just like to mention NADA, Northern Arabic Dance Association, and MADN, Mosaic Arabic Dance Association.  They both run insurance schemes for Belly Dance teachers who are their members.  They are "block" insurance schemes whereby all the teachers are on one policy so economy of scale is possible, i.e. it's cheaper.

To find out about these two associations please visit
http://www.nada.uk.com/
http://www.mosaicdance.org/

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRY BELLY DANCING both these sites have a teacher directory.  Get that body out there!!

Shira's website has a seemingly unending array of information on all aspects of belly dance. 
 http://www.shira.net/