Feb-o-mania! Catch the Bug
Welcome to February! Remember 31 days ago, when we were estatic about January, well, clearly we are over that now! Sayonara, January! February is here, the month of heightened flirtations, torrid redezvous, weirdly shaped candies and all that good stuff!
However, before we get carried away with February's red-panic and the crazy frenzy, we need to start off the right way......I'm going to ask you a question which you are required to answer, a question you probably weren't expecting me to ask; a question you would be glad I'm not there to ask you in person because it would be weird, the air would get heavy and we'd both be very uncomfortable. Ok, are you ready? Here goes..........
'Do you love me?'
I'd appreciate if you answer honestly and out loud.
Just in case you didn't know, you ARE supposed to love me, just like you love yourself, but then you already knew that. It's the greatest power that ever will be, not to mention the most difficult and the most unnatural human trait. Love is a higher become-a-better-me kinda calling but it's worth it in the end because it always protects you!
It makes us immune to evil, it protects our minds from getting easily hurt and jaded. It keeps us sane and helps us get through the most tumultuous of situations.
However, most of us know love in theory but fail in its practicals. We fail to actively, creatively and intentionally love the people in our lives the way we should.
So, since I'm the largest culprit of all (guilty face and rosy cheeks), here's what I'm doing for the whole month, I'm taking my phone contacts, starting from the first person with the name beginning with "A" and I'm finding ways to love everyone uniquely. I'm calling it the Feb-o-mania! Love is not a one-size-fits-all, it's deliberate and tailored. Let's love, just as such.
Have a great February ahead.....and don't think I didn't hear you mumbling "Yes" to that question. **Blush** I love you too!
Feb-o-mania plans? Share! How would you show you love to friends and family? What do they appreciate the most? How does this fit into your love techniques for them?
Eat Your Way to Creativity: 15 Foods That Light Up Your Mind!
According to this study, your creative ability is closely linked to a little seahorse-shaped structure in the brain, known as the hippocampus! The hippocampus is that bad boy in charge of your learning, long-term memory, organizing and storage of past knowledge and experiences.
Take a moment to recall your most thrilling moment as a 7 year-old, as you buried your face into that awesome piece of birthday cake, pause, then take a moment to remember your worst memory- that silly bully on the playground with no front teeth. Remember? Yup, that's your hippocampus working. Now, mentally locate yours (it's close to the center of your brain) and thank it for a job well done. Amazingly, studies also show that this sea-horsey structure is closely related to our ingenuity and the backbone for creative thinking. In fact, this study shows people with damaged hippocampi lose their ability to imagine.
Gasp!
Imagine if all writers, painters, artists, musicians, art-enthusiasts, mums(the most creative of the lot) lost their imagination! Imagine if the writer of Game of Thrones lost his!! I honestly, I'm close to tears right now at the thought, then we'd never know what happened to Jon Snow! (Now we know *updated August 2016)
Ok, the real reason you clicked on this post: the food.
The hippocampus is a fitfam-ish kind of structure. It remains healthy as long as you feed it with foods that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E, Zinc and Flavonoids. Here are 15 foods packed with all these creative juices (in no particular order):
1. Fish
High in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, D and E. Fishes are so amazing they deserve their own post (coming up soon).
2. Flax seeds
Rich in Omega 3. Sprinkle some ground flax seeds in your smoothie before blending!
3. Green tea
High in and catechins! Don't steep with boiling water, use moderately hot water and add some lemon juice for better absorption of nutrients!
4. Liver
Rich in Vitamin A and iron! To be consumed in moderation, over consumption could lead to toxicity! Limit to 10, 000 international units daily.
5. Cocoa
Rich in flavonoids! SHOULD BE EATEN IN MODERATION. Cocoa is 50% fat and has a high sugar content.
6. Blueberries
Rich in vitamin A, C, potassium, manganese, anthocyanins and flavonoids! Divine in smoothies!
7. Mushrooms
Hold your breath for what mushrooms pack; Vitamin B, Zinc, Copper, Niacin, Phospholate, Folate, (Mushrooms aren't kidding here), Iron, Thiamin, Selenium, Panthothenic Acid. #HappyHippocampus
8. Almonds
Huge source of Vitamin E and B complexes just like mushrooms. Grab a handful a day, in between meals and chew away (I tried it with garri once, not too bad, i must say).
9. Avocados
Avocados = Super-uper food! They provide about 20 essential nutrients and are very rich in Vitamin E, Vitamin B and folic acid!
10. Spinach
Rich source of Vitamin A and C
11. Cod-liver oil
Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, D and K!
12. Dairy/ Dairy Alternatives
High in Vitamin D.
13. Broccoli
High in fiber, very high in vitamin C, potassium, B6 and vitamin A and protein!
14. Sweet Potatoes
High in Vitamin A and C!
15. Bell Peppers
Rich in Vitamin A, B, C and E!
Treat your body right as you create and change the world with your wonderful creative mind; exercise and feed that brain! It goes without saying that we have to protect the hippocampi of our creative people in the world (think Jon Snow). Send this post to as many as you know! (By the way, we all create. Being creative is not exclusive. This applies to you too! Eat your way to creativity)
The Hot Granny Goals
“Respect your body. Eat well. Dance forever.”
I just got in from the grocery store and the cashier who was checking my stuff out kept saying she wished she could eat this healthy. I tried to encourage her to eat healthy but my eyes kept landing on the rapidly increasing total amount on the register. She grabs a sweet potato from my items and nods, saying she will change her diet. Note, by this time, my bill was already sky high and I was cringing with every beep of the scanner. Arrrrgh, eating healthy is so expensive! But I know it pays off eventually. Like when I'm 87, I'll be doing triathlons!
My goals for 87 are reliant on one of my friend's granny. She is the coolest grandma that ever liveth. She's so healthy too! The last time I saw her was in 2007 I think. She was about 87 years old, I remember because she told me how old she was. How rare is that? An 87 year-old who remembers her age. It gets better, she had no dietary restrictions. Amen to that at 87! Oh, it gets better, right after she had a juicy meaty meal, she picks up her glass of the most delicious glass of orange juice with ice-cubes bobbing around in it and she hollers to her daughter, "Bring my ice- cream o. Bring my dessert."
I think I passed out in my head. Lol!
So she had a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Something tells me this woman made very good lifestyle choices when she was younger. Exercising and eating right so she could eat whatever later! This is my plan. Eat whatever later!
Oh....... then it got better than better.
We were left together by ourselves, me and granny-goals granny. I think everyone went to sleep after the meal and my mum and granny's daughter were talking outside. So there we were lounging in the sitting room and I remember we were watching the news; she turned to me, gave me a very concerned look and said, "Did you hear about what happened to Britney Spears?"
Passed out in my head...again! Lol.
It was one of those moments I know I'll never experience again.
The Nigerian 87 year-old who asked me about Britney Spears.
She proceeded to tell me that Britney Spears had shaved her head for some reason and that people were being judgmental.
You'd agree that this is a pretty rare granny. I should look for her and get her to be PGI's July Girl! Surely she has a greatly compassionate heart, definitely made great nutritional choices earlier on in life, invested in healthy meal choices and was definitely with in tune with pop culture!
So, as I arrange my leaves (aka salads),my low fat dairy, peppers and Salmon into the fridge and pat my wallet, I know one day I'll creep out some teenager when I'm 87 while eating a mean bowl of cookies and cream ice cream and updating her on the Justin Beiber's of the time.
What life changes have you made in preparation for fab 87?
4 Reasons You Should Try 'Naked Thursdays'
It's time to eden-ize those Thursdays (or whatever your favorite day of the week is)! The scientific benefits of shedding your clothes and just air-bathing for extended periods of time are pretty great. I mean, God knew what he was doing when he plopped Adam in the garden naked and leafless.
Guy or girl; married or single; embracing your naked self is the way! Here are four reasons why you might want to toss them garments into the wind.
(1) Gets you closer to Bae
Being naked had to have had its benefits with Adam and Eve. Right?
Studies show that couples who cuddle or sleep naked experience an increased amount of oxytocin in their neural system. Oxytocin is the hormone which creates that feeling of vulnerability and trust. It also might be the key to exclusivity in relationships (i.e no cheating). According to this study, men who were given doses of oxytocin seem to crave their partners and showed mildly aggressive reactions to strange attractive females. In their words and i quote, the men "....preferred keeping a significantly greater distance between themselves and the temptress....." Ain't God fab? Made us naked, so we could cuddle and get flooded with oxytocin and be committed; everyone's happy.
Naked couples probably fight less too, yet again because they feel vulnerable and it's just not possible to take an angry naked person seriously.
(2) Makes you self-conscious (which is NOT a bad thing)
Being naked often, makes you body-conscious; it helps you appreciate those parts of you that have been hidden under all that fabric! It also nudges you 'to drop and give twenty' or for some people, tells you to eat a little more.
You can imagine that you'll also be hair-conscious.
(No more wax day postponing. The more naked you are, the more Naked Thursday doesn't look like a Tarzan movie set. By the way, Tarzan is out next year, I can't wait! It's pretty star-studded too. Samuel. L, Djimon Hounsou, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz! Christoph Waltz is the villain again! He's like everyone's sweetheart villain!)
(3) Healthy Loins (hehe, loins)
"Breathe Again"(*in TONI Braxton's voice*), this will be your lower regions song to you! Being naked keeps you aired out and fresh underneath, and who doesn't love that?
Un-aired, musky loins can lead to an increase in testicular temperature, which in turn could cause a case of low sperm count, we don't want that. So, get rid of the clammy and let it go, let it go, don't hold it back anymore!
Women also stand the risk of UTIs and infections with dark, musky crotches and this can be prevented by sufficient aeration and healthy breathing. Woosa, anyone?
(4) No Laundry
You don't have to think about that day's contribution to laundry or you can plan Naked Thursday on a laundry day! Everyone wins; your clothes are clean, you are airy and healthy, bae is happy! Just chill on your non-leather sofa and watch reruns of your favorite show. Try to avoid going to the kitchen; making ogi or custard or starch; frying; ironing; extreme sports; fights. You are several levels of vulnerable, so respect yourself. Lol!
When last did you try Naked Thursday?
Thanksgiving Post- Grateful for your Breasts!
Some of us start wearing brassieres from the teeniest AAA cup and then as they get bigger, let's be honest, we get confused somewhere along the line and get stuck using B's and C's.
To add to our confusion, no thanks to rappers and r'n'b singers, we've also come to believe "double D's" are the ideal size for hotness. Of course, making E cups and anything above, cringe worthy, so we stuff our lovelies into D cups and tuck them and pop them and have them spill to the sides, providing little support for our twin girlies.
They deserve so much to be grateful for and appreciated, whether melons or limes. All sizes are magnificently designed by the great creator and all his works are blunder-free!
.....So if you are on your way to a thanksgiving dinner and you have no idea what to say when they start the round-the-table-tell-us-what-you-are-grateful-for turns, just say out loud and confident,' I am grateful for my G cup' and drop the mic!
Yup!
Let's learn to be proud of our bust (bust is so 1920's). Let's learn to love them and care for them. One great way to do that, is to wear the appropriate size of brassieres (1920's encore). Wearing the right bra size is like wearing the right shoe size, it's more comfortable and snug; it provides adequate support for your girls, which ultimately takes the strain off your back. Also, it looks way hotter wearing the right size, a lot like the girl in the photo above. Boobs spilling on the sides, bra clasping way too high just doesn't look that steamy. If you have the opportunity, please get a free bra-fitting in a store (M&S, Soma, V's secret, Rigby and Peller). Otherwise, you can get the chance to find out your bra size later on in this post!
Still on the breast-loving methods, remember to examine your breasts this month. There are a couple of things that shouldn't be done just once a year; ummm.....off the top of my head, thanksgiving and breast exams. They should be habits and those are two great healthy habits to adopt. Trust me.
xx
Never actually had a bra fitting?
Had a bra fitting and can't remember your size?
Had a bra fitting, remember your size but still in denial that you are a size H? 😏 Tuck all doubts away, get your size checked here and make someone uncomfortable at that thanksgiving dinner by being grateful for your size!
Happy Thanksgiving!
In Pursuit of Happiness' cousin- Joy
I have a problem with Happiness. She is very fickle, temporary and most problematic of all, subject to the environment. Stuff make us happy all the time; the weather, food, friends, Chelsea FC's new humble status(lol), a raise, your new car with 0% APR, that Zara spring jacket, a guy, your child, your pet, your spouse, a rerun of Back to the Future!
These things can make you happy, they truly can. They possess an inherent quality which evokes a feeling of pleasure within us; but watch this, a man can make you happy, friends can make you happy, the same way your child can make you happy and then in the next second can easily tick you off; the same way your perfect-10 jeans can make you happy, when those lunges begin to pay off. You feel great, you look great, everyone on the street thinks you are Joy-Girl(pun unintended); construction workers are falling in gutters, cabbies are gaping, commuters are slowing down, husbands are getting backhand whacks from their wives. It's a great top-of-the-world feeling. Then comes a week long of ice-cream, pizzas, some caramel stuffed nutty chocolate bars; temptation galore which you fell into gladly. Now those same pair of jeans no longer make you happy; the construction workers don't notice you anymore and those that do can't take their eyes off your new tummy ( aka "the flabster.")
The thing about happiness is that it's subject to external forces, THEY own the power.
Joy, on the other hand is your personal decision to be full of delight whether your waist hangs high or low. I once met a homeless guy who honestly might be the most bubbly person I know. Even though he had no shelter and lived off the charity of others, he was such a riot! We might have talked for over an hour and honestly, when we were done I was tired, he was still roaring with energy! I'm like this guy though....even though he's homeless and lonely, he's full of an infectious, albeit exhausting joy.
Here's something even much more stable than happiness; Joy. It resides deep inside us. Situations and issues try to affect it but can't, not unless you give them permission to.
Remember, you are the sole protector of your own joy on earth. God does his bit and then you do yours. Do not let anyone or anything steal your joy. No one; nothing, not your jeans, not the construction workers, not even yourself.
xx
Don't forget to enter for the give-away!
The Green-Eyed Monster (featuring Kermit and Thor)
Envy stems from a dissatisfaction with the present circumstances of our lives, in light of the progress of someone else's.
One minute, we love our jobs, our cars, our engagement rings, our apartments and houses, the next minute not so much, because that other girl's job is so much more glamorous, it takes her to places with names you can't pronounce, her engagement ring breaks your screen when you see it on Instagram, her boyfriend looks like Thor, her car looks like the Jetsons', her apartment must have been fork-lifted off of @InspireMeHomeDecor. Suddenly your stuff looks so raggedy and ancient. Suddenly, your boyfriend looks like Kermit.
Envy starts with that subtle conscious or unconscious comparison of what we have with what belongs to someone else. Then we begin to wish it was ours. We wonder what makes her so special. We wonder why we are so unlucky. You wonder how a girl like that gets all that stuff and a girl as hardworking and morally superb as you gets.....this.
Why in the world do we spend time comparing our lives with that of others? Why do we let the good fortune of others so easily upset our state of contentment? Why do we let it ridicule all we have obtained and worked so hard for? We let it exhaust our effort and cloak our accomplishments.
One thing I know is that envy needs your permission to do all these things. Another thing I know is envy puts a cap on your capabilities! I can't decide if that is a corny line or if it sounds good. Lol. It's the truth though, it puts a cap on it, air-tight and all. It limits your achievements to the standard of the person you envy. You'll never do better than that person. Think about it, what if we are destined for more than what that person has? What if we are destined for an amazing ever-after with Kermit-bf or a way more fulfilling job? What if Kermit-bf hooks you up with a nicer ring eventually? What if?
In Ancient Greece, envy was frequently associated with illness. The Greeks compared envy and jealousy with liver disease, during which bile is overproduced in the liver, turning the patient a little green. They may have found envy so ailing and debilitating that they came up with the expression "green with envy".
I agree that envy is a disease. Your immunity to it, however, is contentment and realizing your path is unique; that your life's plan which God drew out is the most optimal plan, any other plan would be substandard.
So do you have that friend who has it all together; great job, smart, talented, stylish, Thor-Idris hybrid of a boyfriend and all the things you wish you had? If you don't, you should get one. It's a great opportunity to learn to be delighted for another person's good fortune, a chance to overcome the green fluorescence of envy. When you finally do, you'll be a better person than you ever were.
Have you hacked envy? Please tell us how!
Don't forget to enter for the give-away!
My First Give Away!
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Pages by Ike is over a month old! Thank you for sticking around, for the likes, shares and comments. It's time to celebrate and abuse exclamation marks in excitement!!!
One winner gets to win a Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity and Sleep tracker!
Yup, it's time to be a doer and not just a reader. Don't wait until 2016 to start to get your physical activity habits right, trust me 2016 has fitness challenges in store for you already, so get a head start by tracking your activity with the Fitbit! Your Fitbit is stylish and makes your lifestyle adjustment to #fitfam a lot more trendy!
To win, all you have to do is hit the adorably blue subscribe button (or click here) and once you are all registered, let us know by commenting below. The winner will be contacted and together we'll draw up a plan to get your fitbit to you.
Entry closes November 14th! (UPDATE: The winner has been sent an email)
(Open to residents of the US, UK, Canada and Nigeria. Delivery time might vary for locations.)
Previous subscribers will be automatically considered for the giveaway but have to comment below as well.
All the best!