As Summer wears on, we hope you’re taking some time to relax and enjoy yourself, perhaps even taking a weekend vacation or just some time to walk through the woods. If you are spending time outside, make sure to check out Sue’s Fitness Tip this week. Enter her contest to learn about our largest organ! And, as always, have fun!

Featured Weekly Tips

MENTAL WELLNESS: “Soul Food” by Golda

Being Perfect Is Overrated: Curbing the Desire for Perfection

Very often, we don’t even notice our own perfectionism. It shows up more as guilt, shame, and frustration at our inability to “measure up” to some standard or another. A lot of us get caught up in our future perfectionism, thinking that when we just get everything perfect and right, we can finally relax. If you’re waiting for things to be perfect in order to be happy, you can never be happy. This week, be more mindful of any perfectionist tendencies you may have. Where might more acceptance of who you are provide you with more peace? To learn more about this week’s tip and see what people really seem to want out of life, click here.

NUTRITION: “Feed Your Life” by Sara

Integrating Integral Theory: Embracing the Paradox

This week, I want you to do an exercise that will help familiarize you with Integral Theory. Write down three convictions that you absolutely hold to. Make sure that one is related to your health, perhaps even to weight. For example, “weight is the primary indicator of a person’s health” or perhaps the opposite, “weight has nothing to do with health.” Next to these convictions, write the Integral Theory approach, which acknowledges that both possibilities have some truth to them. For our weight and health conviction, it would be, “weight and health have some kind of relationship.” You can use any convictions you choose, but try to involve health if you can. Don’t worry about elaborating on your Integral Theory statements. Just start acclimating your mind to the approach. To learn more about Integral Theory and how we can use it to understand health, check out my first in a series of three posts on the subject.

FITNESS: “Fitness For All” by Sue

Moving Safely in the Elements - Read to Win a Fabulous Prize!

Do you know what your biggest organ is? After reading these tips, email me your answer to be entered in a drawing to win a $60 body-care product! When moving your body outside, keep the following things in mind to move safely and protect yourself from the elements.

Hats & Glasses  If the sun is out, wear UV sunglasses and a hat with at least a front peak to protect your face.

Clothing  Be comfortable and wear breathable clothing that’s not too tight. Consider elastic or belt-tight shorts so that your pants won’t fall down.

Products  Keep it breathable. Don’t put anything on your skin that can clog your pores and impede sweating, your body’s natural cooling mechanism.  Sun screen is important, but read products’ labels to ensure they don’t contain clogging agents.

Read Fitness For All this week to learn about more specific ways to care for your body in the elements.

Featured Blogs and Forum 

• Plus-Sized Weddings, Anorexia and San Francisco: An Interview with author Lynne Murray 
• FATshion Round-up: The Latest Plus-Size Fashion Events 
• I don’t think there is a diet I haven’t tried

 
Word of the Week: Relief, by Janet

Recently I had a terrible nightmare. I remember the extreme relief I felt when I woke up, when I realized that I was not in danger. Barely awake, I felt happy, and I realized that my relief was due to the contrast between my scary dream and my reality. So, what does relief teach us?

Quote of the Week:

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
                         - Mark Twain