Women

Being a woman is hard. Women often wear many hats, and feel judged or criticized no matter what path they choose to go down. So how can we make sure we are practicing self-care and being kind to ourselves? Psychologist and Care Pastor Dr. Merry Lin gives her best advice to women.

Fitness and Healthy Eating

Healthy eating and exercise is one of my New Year’s resolutions again this year, because I want to practice self-love. I can honestly say that I don’t want to change a single thing on my body. I want to practice self-care by giving my body what it needs. My body does not need botox, perfect abs or whatever else I’m supposed to strive for. My body needs nutritious food and exercise to be strong and healthy. When I was younger beauty was my main motivation for working out, today I only want to be healthy.

I was struggling with eating disorders and anxiety about how my body looked for most of my twenties. It wasn't a fun way to live. Our world is obsessed with looks and beauty, take a quick look at Instagram and this becomes obvious. No matter how much the beauty ideal changes, the result is the same. We are still told that looks are very important. Imagine how much world change we could accomplish together if we spent that same energy on something else than our own faces and bodies. The obsession with the self in our culture is astonishing to me, it’s not making anyone happy.

We live in a world where much of a woman’s worth is based on how she looks and because of that I’m not a fan of book titles like “The Bikini Body Guide”. That said, I understand why Kayla Itsines is a popular personal trainer, she does her work with excellence! I don’t like the book title, but I love the recipes!

Kayla’s new book is filled with yummy healthy recipes and I love the pictures of the food! I personally don’t like cooking books without pictures. I’m also a big fan of Kayla Itsines’ workout programs so I was very happy to buy her new book this month. The book is exactly what I needed to find some new inspiration for healthy eating and exercise this winter! Thank you Kayla!

It's Friday!

All dressed up for Date Night with the man in my life on Monday.

Good coffee + a good book = Self-care

The week started on a good note with a fun Date Night with my hubby on Monday evening, then the rest of the week was mostly difficult, painful and included a lot of sadness. This is life, sometimes it’s wonderful and sometimes it hurts. My main goal for this weekend will be self-care. After a hard week I won’t make any big plans for Saturday and Sunday, I just want to rest and be kind to myself. I plan to spend some time at a coffee shop somewhere in the city this weekend, enjoying a latte and taking the time to read “Find Your Brave” by Holly Wagner. I’ve only read half a chapter in the book so far and I already love it! I wish you all a fun and relaxing weekend!