Don't Let the Sun Ruin Your Summer Fun!

Aloha,

As spring is already here and summer around the corner, I find myself outside more often. The last few years I have been more conscious of protecting my skin during the summer months and applying sunscreen whenever I am outdoors. From when I was younger, I have many freckles (I call them ‘sun kisses’) that are turning a darker brown. Eventually, they could turn into moles which doesn’t surprise me at all after the amount of time I spent in the sun.

I started to think what we can do to prevent more wrinkles, sun blotches, and sunburns while in the sun. I put together a list of things I use before and after a day in the sun:

• SPF 15 (or higher) Sunscreen & Reapply Often

• Zinc, Aloe Vera, Glutathione

• Maui Babe After Browning Lotion

• Hat, Sunglasses & Umbrella (for lounging)

• Lots of Water

• Cold Cloth & Bath

• Apple Cider Vinegar

• Swim Shirt or Rash Guard (for those who burn easily)

There is no reason we can’t enjoy the sun during the spring and summer, we just need to protect our body. During the day between 10am and 4pm, be sure to always have sunscreen (reapplying frequently), drink lots of water, and wear a hat to avoid unnecessary damage. As you pack your bags for day trips or vacations, remember to include all the essentials to protect your body from the sun (avoiding those nasty sunburns) while soaking up the sun rays this year!

Keep Smiling!

Melissa

How Swimming Can Change Your Life

Aloha,

One of the most important parts of my healthy lifestyle choices I owe all to my mom. She was a high school swim coach and put me in the water when I was only two weeks old. However, my mom’s example goes far beyond just teaching me to swim.

My grandma suffered from strokes and had a hard time walking. I can remember my mom and aunts would take my grandma to the pool to re-teach her to walk. It helped with her coordination, balance, and posture. They would walk up and down the pool which showed me how water buoyancy not only benefits our health at any age, but also how it can be used to heal various injuries.

Suffering from neuropathy after chemotherapy has been one of my biggest physical struggles. The pain of walking along with stiff muscles, I used the same low-impact workout my grandma as I would swim or walk in the water. From the water buoyancy, the gravity on your bones and muscles are reduced creating less pressure on your body’s injuries and a stress-free workout to relieve pain.

What are the other benefits of swimming?

• Elevates heart rate up but relieves impact stress on your body

• Builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness

• Helps maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart, and lungs

• Tones muscles and builds strength

• Provides an all-over body workout since majority of muscles are used

• Induces a relaxing and peaceful form of exercise

• Alleviates stress

• Improves coordination, balance, posture, and flexibility

• Provides good low-impact therapy for some injuries and conditions

While swimming, your entire body is getting a great workout. Unlike other cardio workouts, swimming use both upper and lower body muscles at the same time. According to a Time article:

“Your body is working hard when you’re in the pool. Water is denser than air, so moving through water puts more external pressure on your limbs than out-of-water training, studies have shown. Even better, that pressure is uniformly distributed. It doesn’t collect in your knees, hips or the other places that bear most of the burden when you exercise with gravity sitting on your shoulders.” (Heid, 2017)

My mom would tell me how she swam every day during her pregnancy with me since it is the best low-impact workout during pregnancy. She always said swimming was what made childbirth and recovery so much easier while making her muscles healthy and strong.

If you don’t feel like you are a strong swimmer, remember to relax and be patient. Practice makes perfect and remember you can always walk or join a water aerobics class. There are many ways to incorporate this great exercise into your lifestyle. Start small and work your way up, you won’t be disappointed with the workout you can get and how amazing you will feel! It's my way to rejuvenate, heal, and get a killer workout!

Keep Smiling,

Melissa

Achieving Your Health Goals

Lately, I have seen many people jumping into action to lose weight with their New Year’s resolutions without knowing how to measure their success. Today I would like to share how my sisters and I have been vigorous in our approaches and how we determine our progress. I find it challenging to find what works best to lose the weight I am looking to get rid of as all of our bodies are different. Since my sisters and I all have different body types, I want to give you the inside details of what seems to be working best with all our different body types.

For years now, the United States has struggled with obesity. The BMI (body mass indicator) scale was developed in the 1830s by Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, who was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician and sociologist. Since the 1830s, society and technology have changed dramatically, however, the scale has not changed leading to it becoming very outdated. When I used to look up my BMI when I was younger, I felt terrible about myself and my self-perception suffered.

For this reason, I think society has experienced a mindset change to measure how you feel and how your clothes fit instead of relying solely on scales and measuring indicators. As I lose weight, I look where I am on the chart since most health professionals use it. However, I adjust my goals of where I would like to be on the chart based on my body type.

I have seen this mindset change happen in my family as we measure our progress differently while losing weight is our ultimate goal. Three of my sisters purchase meals through Optavia and receive coaching to help with quick weight loss. Currently, no exercise is recommended during the first phase of this diet plan and I have seen how successful this strict plan can be for those who can follow this type of diet and while affording it. Another sister of mine uses ’30-day challenge apps’ to increase her activity. The apps she uses include 30 Day Fitness, MyFitnessPal, Daily Yoga, and Yoga. With her body type, by moving more daily she has made great strides in losing weight already this year!

For me, I try to be more conscious of what I eat along with portion control. I meal prep all my meals for the week, so I don’t go out to eat as often helping me eat healthier. My workout regimen consists of weights twice a week and swimming for cardio on the weekends. I use a water app that reminds me every two hours to drink water. Although I always record my water intake on the app, it has helped me drink more water throughout the day.

Many people I know, including my sister, use MyFitnessPal to track their calorie intake. I have used this app a few times, but I have not been successful logging every calorie. However, it has helped me check labels and become more aware of what I eat.

So many options exist to help you lose weight and become healthier, but you need to find the right solution for you! Simply set a goal of where you want to be or how you want to feel, then find the best path to make that goal a reality. I would love to learn what has helped you the most in the comment section below!

Keep smiling,

Melissa