But, instead, you spend your days working, catering to the needs of others, running errands, paying bills, filing taxes and completing all of life’s endless obligations. There will always, always be tasks to finish. Putting them off for just a bit won’t hurt. They’ll still be there when you get back.

Check out these simple ways to indulge yourself for free, or even cheap, and enjoy a little ‘you’ time more often.

Movie Marathons or a Television Series

Snuggling underneath a blanket with a bag of popcorn, a few chocolates and your cat or dog, turning on a movie and staying put for a few hours is one of life’s simple pleasures. Do your best to block off one Saturday afternoon a month to spend reconnecting with your favorite movies, watching new ones, or going through a television series on Netflix or Hulu Plus. Watching TV and eating snacks for hours on end is incredibly fulfilling. It’s also nice to be spontaneous and spend time relaxing that you would’ve spent running errands or doing something responsible. The next time you wake to a rainy or snowy Saturday morning, skip your run or morning workout just this once, and enjoy life.

Baking Initiatives

Baking is a pretty time consuming task, and a bit of a luxury. You don’t have 2 hours in the middle of the day to make a pan of cream cheese brownies, right? Maybe not. Stock pile recipes that you’d like to prepare, and then spend an afternoon a month baking with friends, listening to music and sharing the latest gossip. You’ll be rewarded with plenty of delicious treats you can sit around and enjoy with a bowl of ice cream and a good movie. It’s a great, cheap way to spend time with friends on a personal level.

Crafts or DIY Projects

Crafting, much like baking, can be incredibly time consuming. Even for those who enjoy crafting and DIY projects, they often require an entire weekend, tons of supplies and a lot of energy. Choose a craft or project you’d like to complete around the house and then spend the month purchasing the supplies, getting things ready and arranging a weekend you can spend getting it done. Do the project with a friend or spouse for added fun, and buy delicious teas or hot cocoas you can sip on while you work!

Weekend Getaways

Nothing says, “I’m taking some me time,” quite like packing up a bag and getting out of town for the weekend. Pick a close place you’ve always wanted to visit, or a special spot you’ve been meaning to go back to and make it happen! Plan ahead or be spontaneous, whatever suits your style! Whether you travel alone or take a friend, you’ll come back feeling refreshed, renewed and ready to pick up where you left off.

Streamlining To-Do Lists

All of those little tasks you have to complete on a daily basis add up to make for one big headache. Anything you can do to streamline your list of things to do will give you more time to enjoy doing things you want to do. Services like automatic bill pay, online banking, grocery delivery, or laundry service can help save you valuable hours each week.

This year is the year where you should finally learn to carve out time for you. Every now and then, be selfish and lazy for a few hours. When you return to the ‘real world’, you’ll be surprised to find it’s just the same as you left it.

Megan enjoys cycling, blogging on behalf of MyGofer.com and spending time with her adorable Yorkie puppy, Alexa. You can find her on twitter (@thatgirlmegan) or online at www.thatgirlmegan.com

thatgirlmegan

Megan Brown is a social media networker at Slingshot SEO. When she's not at the gym attempting to multitask while on the treadmill, Megan spends her time cycling, cheering on the Milwaukee Brewers, blogging, and catering to every need of her yorkie pup Alexa.

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Ms. Bauer has and continues to dedicate her life to helping improve the health of others. According to her website, “Her mission is to improve the health of our nation; she believes it’s never too late or too early to reap the benefits of healthy living.” Joy Bauer’s long list of profession affiliations makes her advice easily accessible and highly credible.

These are just a few of Ms. Bauer’s affiliations:

American Dietetic Association: Registered Dietitian

New YorkStateCertified Dietitian–Nutritionist

American Dietetic Association: Sports & Cardiovascular Nutritionist Group

American Dietetic Association: Pediatric Practice Group

NBC’s TODAY Show, Nutrition and Health Expert

Contributing Editor/Columnist Woman’s Day Magazine

New York CityBallet, Nutritionist

I encourage you to visit JoyBauer.com and read her bio, quite an impressive woman!

Food Cures – Overview

Food Cures is written as a systematic approach to improving one’s health. Whether it is a medical condition, weight problem, or simply a desire to be healthier, this book provides the plan.

Joy includes a for step program for each chapter; 1 start with the basics, 2 grocery list, 3 going above and beyond, and 4 meal plans. For example, Part 2 is totally dedicated to weight loss. The chapter begins with discussion on personal evaluation, calorie information and calculations, and boosting ones metabolism. Then the four-step weight loss program is written, including flavorful and creative recipes to accomplish all of the above.

Pages are highlighted with FAQS associated with each topic. Every chapter includes information to overcome common struggles associated with the corresponding health topic being addressed. These two features are what make this book phenomenal, in my opinion. Knowing the author truly understands the struggles associated with a particular lifestyle change can be the factor that moves one to attain the goal.

Food Cures – Chapter Review

Part1 - Welcome. Two chapters dedicated to understanding the theory of good nutrition, and preparing yourself to make the change for a healthy lifestyle.

Part 2 - Weight loss. As a thin and petite person weight loss was not one of my struggles in life and for that reason I found this chapter to be very interesting.

Part 3 – Looking Great, addresses the skin, hair, and teeth. The chapter about skin was of special interest to me being a midlife woman. Want beautiful skin, think antioxidants! Not only do they help protect the skin from free radicals and the sun but selenium will also protect the skin quality and elasticity.  This is not one to get from a supplement. According to the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial, supplements increased the risk for cell carcinomas. This is just one tidbit of nutritional advice from Food Cures, so you can imagine the wealth of nutritional information written here.

Part 4 – Living Long and Strong, includes six chapters. Here cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and osteoporosis are discussed in depth. Much of my family has been touch by all of these diseases. A supporter of holistic treatment/medicines and natural remedies I firmly believe that food does play an important role in controlling and even in some cases overcoming these diseases. Memory and vision is also included in the part of the book. After reading these chapters, both my knowledge and opinions were strengthened greatly.

Part 5 – Feeling Good – Mood, Migraine Headaches, Premenstrual Syndrome, Insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Celiac Disease, and Cancer Prevention. This part could be a book in itself! Suffering from migraines in the past and more recently insomnia, I can tell you for sure Joy Bauer offers factual information.

Did you know… dehydration is a common migraine trigger? That Chamomile tea may be helpful for PMS.  Lavender calms the nervous system and aides with insomnia. This midlife woman can attest to this fact! These are just a few of the food facts found in part five.

Part 6 – Resources – Here you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about about nutritional labels plus find all of the references used in this wonderful book.

Food Cures – Opinion

When the book Food Cures arrived, I read parts one and two straight through and in just one sitting. That is a darn amazing statement coming from me. I’m ashamed to admit with the internet so readily available, I haven’t read an entire book in years. This book is amazingly inspiring and I read it cover to cover less the resource list. Perhaps even a healthy new years resolution will come about after my reading Food Cures…

Not only is Food Cures easy to understand and packed with recipes but Joy Bauer expresses a level of understanding that makes you trust what she saying. She believes what she teaches and I get the distinct impression she truly does want to help others. If you are looking for inspiration to move to a healthier lifestyle or overcome a weight problem this is the book for you!

I would like to thank JoyBauer.com for providing me with a copy of New York Times Best Seller Food Cures.

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Kathleen

Hey, there I'm Kathleen. My friends call me Kathy; to my kids I'm Momia. Life has afforded me many hats: Mom, wife, sister, friend, business owner... and most recently a midlife blogger. From college to marriage and babies, in the midst of business and wealthy boomers, midlife retrospection validates this extraordinary journey called life.

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We start from the time we start pre-school by telling mom we’re too sick to go color and eat graham crackers. Then we get older and find excuses to cover our late homework. Then we get older and find excuses to skip class. Then work. Then working out.

The funny thing is, excuses don’t fool anyone. They only come back to haunt us later and then, ultimately lead to more excuses down the road.

If you’ve been thinking of working out, but keep making excuses, here’s a clear message: Stop. Whatever you’ve been continuously telling yourself to get out of working out is probably more work than the actual exercising itself.

1)    “I am way too busy/tired/stressed!”

Exercise is proven to reduce stress, increase energy, get your heart pumping and keep your brain functioning at optimum performance throughout the day. Even the distress you feel over not working out melts away once you hit the gym.

And, while exercising can take a lot of time, you don’t have to spend 2 hours at the gym per workout. Save longer workouts for days when your schedule permits, and otherwise just do what you can. Even if you only have 30 minutes, a half-hour workout is far better than nothing. If you don’t have much time, just pump up the intensity of your session to get the most out of every workout!

2)    “I just moved to a new city!” or “My gym closed!”

Relocating can be a stressful experience and wasting time finding a gym will only add to your stress. Look for a gym at the same time you’re looking for a new house and movers. As you’re planning your entire move, think about things you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

In the same fashion, if your gym closes or moves, don’t waste time finding a replacement. You could sit around for weeks making the same excuses, but in the end you’re only hurting yourself. Be proactive about finding a new gym after a move or in the even that your old gym closes. You’ll be much happier you did!

3)    “I can’t afford a gym membership!”

Yes, gym memberships can be ridiculously expensive and a monumental waste of money, especially if you never use it. That being said, people sometimes forget that gyms aren’t the only way to get exercise.

Take advantage of the warmer months by getting outside and taking advantage of nature’s treadmill. Walking or running outdoors is far more exciting than working out in a gym. Biking is also a great way to get out, see the world, run errands, get form point A to B, and get exercise in the process. Swimming, hiking, roller blading or even playing whiffle ball in your backyard are fun ways to enjoy being outdoors and stay healthy in the meantime.

Intramural sports leagues are also awesome avenues for exercise and meeting new people during winter months.

4)    “I’m not in good enough shape to exercise!”

Believe it or not, people often avoid exercising because they feel they aren’t in good enough shape. And, while health and fitness experts advise staying within your bounds when starting an exercise regimen, there are workouts for people at every fitness level. A person new to exercise should certainly not try to run a marathon, but walking at moderate speed to build muscle and endurance is great exercise for a beginner. As long as you’re within your target heart rate for your age and maintain it for 30-60 minutes, your body is getting the workout it needs. Regardless of your fitness level, there’s always something you can do!

So, save your excuses for something else and go take advantage of the gym membership you’re already paying for. You, your body and your decreased stress level will thank you for it!

thatgirlmegan

Megan Brown is a social media networker at Slingshot SEO. When she's not at the gym attempting to multitask while on the treadmill, Megan spends her time cycling, cheering on the Milwaukee Brewers, blogging, and catering to every need of her yorkie pup Alexa.

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