in:  Life style   |   August 16, 2017 - 3:45 pm   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

Simple Lifestyle Swaps That Can Improve Your Health

 

So you want to lead a healthier lifestyle? When you decide that you’re going to make a healthy change, it’s highly likely that you’re thinking of going drastic. Wanting to lead a healthier life often makes you think that you have to go cold turkey, cut out the things you love, and suffer. But that’s just not the case. In fact, cutting things out of your life will never work. It’ll just send you crazy and cause you to give up. Instead, you need to make simple additions and effective swaps.

Although, over time, you may want to stop doing certain things or eating certain foods, trying to do too much too fast is a surefire way to fail. So don’t restrict yourself or think of your healthy change as a chore. Instead, embrace it and make little changes that will improve your life and make you feel better, but won’t make you miserable!

 

Get More Sleep

Yes, we’re starting off with something that you wouldn’t expect to hear, but it’s still an effective step that you can take. Good quality sleep is crucial to having quality health levels. If you lack in rest, your body won’t function properly, and you’ll have low energy because of it. So, as a part of your healthier lifestyle, you should aim to get more sleep and a better quality of it too.

 

Up Your Fluid Intake

Most of the time, we think about the kinds of drinks that we need to cut out. But instead of banning yourself from drinking the coffees and sodas that you love, increase your fluid intake altogether. If you’re not a fan of drinking water, by cutting back on the other hot and cold drinks that you love the most, you may be dehydrating yourself. So a add more in instead. You’ll also find tips on http://www.iksi.org that can help you to increase the amount of fluid that you drink.

 

Move A Little More

If you don’t exercise at all and you want to start, going to a bunch of new classes in one week, or trying to go on a 5-mile run when you first start is only going to put you off. Your body will be exhausted, and you may not stick to it. Instead, start off small. Move a bit more. Walk when you can. Try one new class. Go on a gentle hike. By doing something small, you’ll benefit your body immensely.

 

Watch What You Eat

When it comes to good, you don’t have to necessarily cut out everything that you love. If you want to lose weight, then you may benefit from just reducing the number of bad foods that you’re eating, or even making healthy swaps. Limiting yourself a little bit will help, but you could also still enjoy some healthier versions of your favorite foods, like pizza, fries, and burgers.

 

Replace Those Toxins

Then you might like to think about the toxins that you’re exposed to on a regular basis. If you smoke and you’re struggling to quit, but you want to make a change, think about using something like https://www.aspireeciguk.co.uk e-cigs instead. Likewise, with alcohol, you may benefit from switching drinks out for mocktails ever one in a while to help reduce your toxin intake.

 

Try The 80/20 Rule

Next, you may like to think about giving the 80/20 rule a go. With the 80/20 rule, you do something good 80% of the time and bad 20% of the time. It’s great to apply to your diet to help you find a balance, or even portion size too. But, it can also work well in life too if you want to use it to keep you on track with your healthy lifestyle.

 

Get Out More

Then, you should also think about getting out a bit more. Again, not everything about having a healthy lifestyle is about cutting back. Instead, it’s about adding in. And you should always aim to add in more fresh air and sunlight. Even if you just go for a short walk, you may find that walking around really boosts your mood.

 

Stay Away From Screens

Finally, you should aim to reduce your exposure to screen and swap it out for something else. Because being healthy is more than just diet and exercise. When you’re staring at screens all day and night, you’re not giving your eyes or your mind a break. It can often affect your posture too. But, if you try to limit your exposure and read more, start a new hobby, or just sit and talk, you’ll be able to give your mind a rest as well as your body for a healthier lifestyle altogether.

 

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in:  Life style   |   August 9, 2017 - 12:18 pm   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

Finding The Right Route To Become A Healthcare Leader

 

If you want to work in the profession of health care, but want to dive into patient care straight away, being a team leader is one of the best routes. However, if you also know in yourself, that you’re not a follower and want to have a greater impact on the ones in need, you could become someone that is the glue that keeps a team together. Many people around the world want to get into the profession of health care, but the reality of the challenging environment keeps them from making that leap. However, if you treat the industry as a chance for you to create change for the better, the pressure of people’s lives in your hands, subsides. You cannot get wrapped up in emotion if you want to give the best care possible because you need to be head strong. Getting into the industry isn’t as difficult as you might think because there are a plethora of avenues you could follow, which aren’t usually talked about in the mainstream culture. If you feel as if you’re ready to explore the possible options there are, you should consider some of the best pathways first.

 

 

First aid course

First and foremost, basic first aid training is a great way to introduce yourself to stressful situations and thinking on your feet. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not as easy as it may seem, because even professionals, doctors, nurses and everyone in between, must be able to pass as first aid course to qualify for their roles. St. John’s Ambulance make available to anyone, first responder training so that you can deal with emergencies using tried and tested techniques. These techniques, are simple to execute, but the knowledge of why and how is something that requires a lot of studying.

You’ll learn the importance of clear airways and why this is, connecting both the windpipe and brain regarding ample oxygen supplementation. Professionals ambulance responders will be teaching you the proper way to give CPR to people who aren’t breathing, and how you should apply the right amount of force to the chest to kickstart the heart, back to life. Keeping patients out of shock and controlling their blood pressure, talking to them to remain calm is a skill in itself, that isn’t well known but vital to survival. You’ll also learn how to quickly control bleeding, giving the injured and or unconscious person a better chance of survival. Learning how the body responds to massive trauma and what kind of chemical reactions are happening in the immune system is something that you’ll be taught on such a course.

 

 

Mental health studies

In a fast-paced world, the battle to support the mentally ill has become even more important than before. If you want to become a leader in your community, fighting the hidden battle of depression, autism, schizophrenia and many other invisible diseases to the public is a great pathway. You can take online courses in mental health studies, which go into detail of many of the most common mental impairments that affect every community across the country. You’ll learn about the symptoms and how to spot signs of mental degeneration. Learning how the brain works and how it can malfunction will give you the skills to be able to work with children and adults alike. The importance of studying people as individuals will be reinforced in your mind, so when it comes to treatment and interaction, you’ll have the mindset of acutely handling treatment options. Communities, political institutions, charities, doctor surgeries and private health care are always on the lookout for qualified staff who are comfortable with helping the mentally challenged in becoming more positive and living healthier and fulfilling lives.

 

Becoming a Nurse

For many, this is a great introduction to the world of health care, as being a nurse, you need many shades to your personality. The NHS has many ways in which you can enter into certified nursing courses. Studying nursing is being given a greater priority in Britain since the political vote to exit the EU. The public’s need for more domestically trained nurses is being voiced louder than ever. You can opt to go to a university and learn professional nursing academically, but many have found that the route of apprenticeships is the ultimate experience and introduction to the environment. You’ll be working with professional nurses, on their daily rounds and responsibilities during the day. You’ll learn and earn, whilst also taking regular tests to monitor and track your progress.

You need to be head strong and deal with all kinds of patients who are in various stages of need. Additionally, you’ll be taught to be psychologically available to those who are feeling frightened or just want to talk to someone to relieve stress. Keeping track of multiple patients on your floor is a multitasking challenge, but it’s vital that all records, sudden responses, fluctuations and deterioration in health are constantly monitored.

 

Leading professionals

Becoming a leader that takes charge and keeps professionals on their toes is a role that some may veer away from. Once you’re a qualified nurse, you can enter into new job type. If you feel you’d like to captain a team of nurses, doctors, and surgeons, keeping them on track with services and protocols, then an occupational health nurse is a great way forward. It’s more of an administrative role than it is giving health care to patients, but it’s just as important. Without form to function, then there is no method to how nurses and doctors cooperate together.

There are many such roles for nurses & healthcare vacancies, with the successful candidate as part of a large team who performs managerial tasks. You’ll be making sure all practices are undertaken in accordance with correct policies and procedures as keeping standards high for each patient are a top priority. You’ll also be tasked with keeping staff up-to-date with the proper personnel training requirements for line management. Ensuring clinical case notes are kept organised, and each patient record is maintained in accordance with local policies is another great skill you’ll need.

 

 

Psychological support

Many communities around Great Britain and Northern Ireland, are in frantic need of mental health experts who can become part of their societies. Mental health has been largely a taboo subject over the previous decades, but the public mood has shifted enough that politicians are finally listening. Young and old, suffer from psychological problems, which are both chemical imbalances, and environmentally influenced disorders. Taking an online course in mental health can prepare you for the eventualities in the profession if you want to take a greater hand in diagnosing and treating the mentally ill. You can also take a course with NCC, studying in your own time at home in courses that specialise in counselling, child psychology, complex behavioral patterns, and triggers, as well as helping older people suffering from dementia. Studying and treating mental illnesses is much about being part of the social care industry as it is in the clinical or academic fields. If you want to become a leader in your local community, treating people with complex neurological disorders is an avenue which can lead you to a role of lifetime fulfillment.  

Getting involved in health care is itself a very noble and self-sacrificing act. It’s one of the most rewarding professional environments in the world where the currency of success is changing people’s lives for the better. It requires a lot of self-control to keep up with modern practices and study in your own time, but becoming a leader will allow you to enact positive changes in local communities.

 

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in:  Life style   |   July 30, 2017 - 10:13 am   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

Smoking: Don’t Let Cigarettes Burn Your Health

 

Listen, we all want to take our health and well-being seriously, but everyone has bad habits. The trick is to drop them like a, well, like a bad habit and get your fitness in order. However, some are easier to quit than others. Of course, this is alluding to cigarettes and the people that smoke 20 a day. Now, the band The Chainsmokers might be popular, but that doesn’t mean you should take them literally. In fact, you should go in the complete opposite direction if you care about your health. So, for all you smokers out there, below are a few tips that will help you quit.

Because you have heard them all before, here at Live Like A VIP we thought we would think outside of the fag packet.

 

Bury It

Have you ever heard of burying your habit? If you have, the odds are that it was taken metaphorically. But, it shouldn’t have been because laying cigarettes to rest is a legitimate way to quit. The way it works is that the extreme measure of putting the packet six feet under stops you from stealing a sneaky smoke. So, the next time you feel the itch, you will need a spade to be compliant. Even for dedicated smokers, it’s a bit of a stretch. Oh, and just forget the fact that you can nip down to the shop and buy a new pack!

 

The Vaped Crusader

Okay, so vaping isn’t new, and it certainly isn’t a secret because people have been doing it for the past couple of years. However, the majority of vapers don’t do it right and end up back on the smoky bandwagon. Why? It’s because they make all the common errors. To begin with, you need an e-liquid that you enjoy taking back a couple and Beard Vape No. 32 is a great choice because it is popular around the world. Then, it’s vital not to treat the e-cig like a normal cigarette. Simply put, there is no need for a long, harsh inhale, and there is no reason to do it as often. Instead, opt for slow and soft tokes and try to limit the amount per day. Finally, make sure you have a goal and don’t replace cigarettes with an e-cig.

 

 

Make A Bet

Most posts tell you to swap your addiction for something else. Yes, it is supposed to be healthy, but there is nothing wrong with a cheeky flutter now and again. This is especially true when your future health is at stake. Humans are creatures of habit, and they will do anything to prove they are right. Sorry to say it, but you are the same. So, most smokers will attempt to quit just to win a bet. The mental aspect of it drives you on to do things that wouldn’t usually do in your everyday life. Of course, it needs to be big enough to stoke your interest yet not too big that you will be in debt at the end.

Now all you need to do is find a fellow friend that likes their odds.

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in:  Life style,Uncategorized   |   July 18, 2017 - 4:59 pm   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

Living With Psoriasis: Eating To Avoid Flare-Ups

Living with psoriasis is bound to make you feel powerless at times, and at one point you’re going to want to look at your diet. It’s the same with any skin condition – although doctors are unable to confirm the effect food has on your condition, many swears that certain products affect their skin more than others. A change of diet can help you in many other ways, too, so why not give it a go; with time, you might experience fewer flare-ups and better skin in general.

Eliminating them all at once from your diet makes little sense as it will be hard to tell which food caused the flare-ups, so try to cut one or two of these out and see if you notice any difference.

 

Alcohol

It’s the number one thing to cut from your diet if you suffer from psoriasis – and even light drinkers can notice a difference when they stop for good. It isn’t one of those things that might make the condition worse; it’s empirically proven and definitely worth a go. If you have a couple of drinks per week, make this month sparkling white and control the condition of your skin every week.

The increase in psoriasis was associated with specifically two to three drinks per week, so if you only have a glass once in a blue moon, it’s unlikely that stepping down will have an effect.

Fatty Foods

This is a standard advice, and something acne sufferers also have to swallow; although scientists are reluctant to admitting a clear connection between skin and diet, there’s a high chance that fatty food makes it worse. Your condition is inflammatory and saturated fats tend to promote the inflammation in your body; it makes sense to steer away from any food that does this.

Junk food is calorie-heavy food with little nutrients; it fills you up with fat that might increase the inflammation in your system, leaving little room for the foods with more nutritional value. To steer away from junk food means making room for the food that will do your body good, make you full, and give you the fuel you need to perform.

Weight problems are common for people with psoriasis, who are already more prone to heart disease. Eating fatty foods will only increase this risk, so even if you don’t believe it’s causing your flare-ups, you should consider eliminating it from your diet once and for all.

The Nightshade Family

Many people with the same condition as you have found relief by avoiding members of the nightshade family. To some, this is unfortunate news; the family includes well-known figures such as the tomato and aubergine, peppers and even white potatoes. If you have successfully eaten members of this family without experiencing increased flare-ups, we suggest you keep eating them.

You can give it a week or two if you’re not sure – just remember that you need the nutrients these foods provide, so find some alternatives to keep yourself healthy. There is an abundance of vitamin A and C, specifically, in the nightshade family, so it’s a good idea to substitute them with other foods with the same nutrients; spinach, squash, and carrots, for example, are happy to help you out.

The Anti-inflammatory Diet

You can do a lot to make the condition easier on yourself, and to eat the right kind of food is only one step in the right direction. Your body needs to be treated right both on the inside and on the outside; find the best moisturiser for psoriasis on face, as well as the most effective lotion for your body. 

 

 

We’re talking an anti-inflammatory diet, rich in cold water fish, colorful fruit and vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes, and foods with a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. Potassium is also essential, so make sure you get enough of this even if you eliminate white potatoes from your diet – bananas, avocados, and even sweet potatoes carry a lot of potassium, so make sure you fill your fridge with these.

You can keep a food journal for the first month and note the changes as you go; if an evening of snacking and drinking makes you dry and itchy a day later, you’ll already know what to cut down on.Luckily, you don’t need to only think about the food you shouldn’t eat in order to be healthy; it gets depressing and makes you focus too much on the restrictions in your life. When you know the few ones to steer away from, enrich your life by thinking about the kind of food that might reduce the inflammation in your body.

Luckily, you don’t need to only think about the food you shouldn’t eat in order to be healthy; it gets depressing and makes you focus too much on the restrictions in your life. When you know the few ones to steer away from, enrich your life by thinking about the kind of food that might reduce the inflammation in your body.

 

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in:  Get The Look,Life style   |   January 19, 2014 - 4:37 pm   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

VIP Sexual Health: Rugby Players Talk Sex

International rugby players Danny Care (England), Sean Maitland (British Lions and Scotland) and Dan Biggar (Wales) have teamed up with Menarini to encourage health and sexual wellbeing amongst men and their partners. I think this gives an excuse to publish a photo of the gorgeous guys now, don’t you?

 

It’s a very brave thing for the boys to be involved in as Menarini were carrying out a survey into men’s sexual health, in which they discovered men’s sexual dysfunction was more common than expected. For example, premature ejaculation was thought to affect one in 10 men, whereas the figure is actually one in 5 men. Also, according to the survey, a man (who is not experiencing premature ejaculation) lasts just five and a half minutes before climaxing, even though most people guessing estimated it to be 10 minutes.

You may think this is a strange thing for me to be writing about on Live Like a VIP but I wanted to highlight the fact that if you’re not satisfied in the bedroom now then it is ok. You’re not the only one. Don’t be afraid to go to the doctor to get help for you or your man. It’s when you start talking about it you can solve the problem.

Now with the serious message out the way, I just couldn’t resist ogling another photo of Danny Care, I wouldn’t argue with anything he says, would you?!

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in:  Get The Look,Life style,News   |   January 16, 2014 - 12:15 pm   |  by:  Zoe Griffin

VIP Blogging Masterclass On London Eye

What are you doing on Saturday 18 Jan? Change it and come down to The London Eye! The eye is re-opening after a Christmas and New Year refurbishment and celebrating with an event called Lift London that we can all take part in. And I will be there – in one of the pods – giving a select group of people tons of tips about blogging.

Now you can blow the January blues away with some PMA – Positive Mental Altitude, with something for the mind, the body, or the soul.

If one of your New Year’s Eve resolutions was to broaden your horizons, you’re in luck, as four pods in total will have activities going on inside. I’ll be in one of them talking about my book Get Rich Blogging and taking Q&As and the others will be:

Body: Danai Kougiouli: Resident yoga and fitness guru Danai will help to shape the year to come with an invigorating yoga session set against the beautiful backdrop of the London skyline.

Soul: Melissa Scott-Miller, our official Lift London artist, will lead a group of budding artists as they take in the 360 degree views from the London Eye and get tips on how to create their own landscape works of art.

Mind: Expert advice in relaxing meditation techniques from the London based ‘Heruka Centre’ will guide guests on a journey of relaxation and contemplation on the London Eye using the uplifting experience of having a peaceful mind to bring a sense of calm to the group.

Career: Me! Start making money from your blog right away

All you need to do is get to the London Eye by 10am on Saturday 18 January to register. The experiences will be on from 11am-1pm.

Hopefully see you there. Tweet me @zoegriffin if you have any questions!

 

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in:  Entertaiment,Get The Look,Life style   |   July 27, 2013 - 10:43 pm   |  by:  Andrew Threlfall

Jessica Sutta – Pussycat Doll

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She was a member of the successful pop R&B group the Pussycat Dolls. Here she talks about how stardom enabled her to travel the world and experience some unforgettable events like Live Earth.

Probably my sexist dance came with my biggest break when I appeared as a dancer in Beyonce’s Crazy in Love; that was such a hot video.

My nickname was always “Pin Up Doll”. I’ll let your readers work out why? As a Pussycat Doll I always tried to keep my clothes on when we make music videos but the management didn’t always agree!  And it was the same scenario when I first acted in a Swedish TV soap opera Ocean Avenue. It was shot in Florida so a load of hot Swedes running around in humid weather meant it got very hot and steamy! It’s nothing new to me though, when I joined the Miami Heat dance team in 1999 and became their captain in 2001 you should have seen the sexy routines we did!

If Beyonce’s video was my big break the big highlight was performing at the Live Earth concert at Wimbley. So London will always be a special city to me.

We had  a few guest dancers up on stage with the PCD: Britney was the biggest disappointment though! To me Britney was this huge world wide star, who I thought was going to be the next Madonna. I wanted her to be well inside herself and I wanted her to succeed but I still think that she has the potential to have a brilliant career, but she obviously has deep personal problems.

I try to stay away from that whole scene that Linsay, Britney and Paris were on. Especially in Los Angeles. It is a lifestyle to become apart of. Fortunately I was really busy with the PCD, I don’t think Britney any of this stuff on herself but definitely going out in LA with out any knickers is definitely not a good thing. I know that we had a lot of young girls who were PCD fans so I was a lot more wary than Britney in the example we set. I’m not sure if any of the PCD would have gone out without underwear like Britney. I still do tend to go out wearing panties most of the time! Lol

You guys in England always wanted to know the most intimate things about PCD. Like who is the most flexible member of PCD. Well, I’m going to reveal that it was Kimberly. In the show she did lots of crazy stuff. I’m pretty flexible too!

There was no jealousy in the PCD which might surprise you because Nicole always got the lead vocals.

Jessica’s Ideal Night Out in Los Angeles  

There was nothing crazier than when I and the girls from PCD would go out in Los Angeles. It happened about once a week and we’d even go out and celebrate the birthday of one of the girls’ boyfriends.

There were usually about six of us and we’d take the poor fella to somewhere like the Laugh Factory, a comedy club on the Sunset Strip. It’s brilliant for group bookings and the open mid nights are scary because you always think someone is going to talk about you and point at you in the crowd.   http://www.laughfactory.com/clubs/hollywood

Then after we’d laughed ourselves silly we’d usually end up in a place called Teddy’s a nightclub where things can get really hot. It’s actually probably known also as 

Teddy’s at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.  http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/la/hollywood-roosevelt/drink/teddy’s

 

The hotel itself is such a iconic part of Hollywood’s history. When we’d go out together people often take a double take – they couldn’t believe that we are all out together. I think they wanted us to start dancing down Hollywood Boulevard real sexy like in our videos. But we all did our own little things to be really sexy and too dress hot and sexy.

Jessica’s guide to getting papped (or not) in LA:

I’ve been up to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansions a couple of times and I usually go to the big Halloween party he throws. I’m really glad I got to meet Hugh and he lives his life just the way he wants to. I don’t think I would ever do a nude photo shoot though. You kind of have to be invited but look at http://www.playboy.com/casting-call it is a way of putting yourself forward and who knows maybe getting invited to a party.

The paparazzi did follow me around in Los Angeles but it didn’t get really as bad for me as it did for the likes of Paris(Hilton), Lindsay (Lohan) and Britney (Spears). I still see Lindsay now and then in clubs like Hyde

https://www.facebook.com/HydeHollywood?directed_target_id=0 and that’ll set the peps into frenzy if I or anyone really goes up and gives the poor girl a kiss! I feel sorry for her because she has got sucked into a certain lifestyle. She’s so talented really.

Getting the Hollywood Popstar look:

The only thing I have in common with Paris Hilton is that I have a tiny Pomeranian dog called Star who weighs just 6 lbs. I like to cut her hair quite often too like Paris. Try somewhere like http://dogpetboutique.com/p4/D.O.G-Pet-Boutique-Los-Angeles/pages.html

Nicole Scherzinger is still a remarkably beautiful girl who has no end to her talents. She can do absolutely everything and I was sure that one day she’d go solo and become a huge star. But her pop star look only came one way, sheer hard work.

ESSENTIAL INFO

Nearest Airport: LAX International Airport (10.5 hours approx from London)

Airlines: British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines

Currency: US dollar. £1 = $1.54

Time Difference: -5 hour

 

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