All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!
Going Healthy, Health

Fix Your Smile So That You Want To Show It Off More Often

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man wearing sunglasses smiling, white teeth, clean teeth

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A winning smile is truly the greatest asset that anyone can ever possess. If yours is in need of some attention, it’s very likely that this problem has caused self-conscious feelings over the years. Whether you have always realised it or not, this can impact everything from careers to relationships.

Thankfully, an active effort to build a better smile or restore its former glow will transform your life for the better. Focus on the steps below, and you won’t go far wrong.

Quit Bad Habits 

If you think about fixing a leak, you have to stop the leak before you worry about removing the water or making changes to prevent future leaks. If you use this analogy for your smile, it’s clear that removing bad habits is the first step. Smoking, excessive coffee drinking, and nail biting are just some of the issues impacting your oral health and appearance. The sooner you quit them, the better. 

If you fail to do this, they will continue to cause problems. So, even when you subsequently make positive additions, you will struggle to see the full benefits. Conversely, removing the negatives will instantly put you on a smoother path to success. 

Seek Professional Treatments 

Many steps can be implemented to support your long-term oral health. However, the first step to success revolves around seeking professional support. The best dentist will identify the issues that are causing problems and find the appropriate course of action. This could mean teeth whitening, invisible braces, dental implants, or other procedures. Either way, this will get your smile back to where it should be.

The harsh reality is that nothing you do will only deliver limited progress unless it’s supported by professional care. After completing the initial treatment, regular oral hygiene checks will be needed to maintain the results.

Upgrade Home Oral Hygiene

toothbrush with toothpaste, clean teeth, whitener, brushing,

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A deep scale and polish service from a professional dentist will give you a whiter and brighter smile. However, you need to take care of it on a daily basis too. Home hygiene is the key to success. Finding the right toothbrush will make life a lot easier. However, you must also use floss and mouthwash on a daily basis if you wish to see the best outcomes. A solid evening routine after you’ve eaten your last food for the day is vital.

A strong oral hygiene routine will keep your teeth looking whiter and cleaner on a daily basis. Better still, it fights plaque to protect your teeth, gums, and general oral health for years to come. Start now, and you’ll never look back.

Stay Hydrated

A winning smile isn’t only about looking great in pictures. You want to feel confident when communicating with others too. With this in mind, your breath will play a valuable role. Bad breath will cause self-conscious feelings and impact the way others feel about you. In most cases, it is linked to bacteria. So, while scented mouthwash is great, staying hydrated is the key to success. Because it will literally wash bacteria away.

Of course, there are many other benefits to be gained from staying hydrated but this is one that can offer great motivation. For the best results, try to incorporate both tap water that has fluoride included and mineral water into your routine.

Boost Your General Health

Your oral health is closely linked to a host of other health issues. Blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity are just three issues that can influence your smile. Visiting your doctor to gain a diagnosis and treatment plan may be the key to building a better smile. Besides, the lifestyle changes linked to these issues will help you adopt a winning mindset for healthy oral health habits.

Even if it doesn’t achieve this goal, you should never overlook those health issues. Nevertheless, the fact that they can enhance your smile with stunning results should not be overlooked. 

Train Your Smile

When building a better smile, it’s not just about white teeth. Learning to use your smile in a more effective manner is equally vital. This guide to smiling better will provide many tips. From analyzing photos to smiling with your eyes and developing different smiles, each step in the right direction will serve you well. When combined with the steps mentioned above, you will see a noticeable difference.

It may feel a little strange to actively analyze your smile at first. However, it will be worthwhile once you have found the smile that works for you. In turn, you should feel more comfortable and confident in your smile and yourself.

Going Healthy, Health, Lifestyle

5 Essential Benefits of Doing Puzzles

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Most people will tell you that there are benefits to doing puzzles, and they aren’t only for the elderly to pass the time. Puzzles can help you spot greater details in everyday things. And they can also help increase your IQ. So, if you’re on the fence, here are some reasons for puzzles.

A Workout for Your Brain

The greatest overall benefit of puzzles is that they are like a workout for your brain. From crosswords and word puzzles to 10,000-piece jigsaws, puzzles are effective at making your brain much healthier over time. And this kind of exercise for your brain can help lower the chances of things like Alzheimer’s. Some are hard, though, so use things like Wordscapes cheats for some help now and then, so you can get back to work or your favorite hobbies.

Improved Ability for Details

Puzzles help improve your ability to spot the finer details in things, especially jigsaws. This is because there are many similar details in puzzles, and your brain must filter through a large amount of data to find what it needs. This can be hard and time-consuming at first, but you will get better at it. And it can help you in everyday life, such as spotting mistakes in your work.

The Benefits of Doing Puzzles Include Memory

Your memory is one of the first things to be impacted when your brain is in poor health. But puzzles can help strengthen the neural pathways that form to create and store your memories. This can also speed up your thinking and reasoning skills too. It is believed that the visualization skills needed for completing jigsaws, word puzzles, and math problems affect the same part of the brain for memory and therefore exercises it. It is especially useful for teen-level homework.

Increasing Your IQ 

Intelligence Quotient, or IQ, is a general measurement of your brain’s abilities. But for the most part, standard IQ tests measure how quickly you can solve a problem. Of course, a high IQ is a great thing to have and can advance your life in many ways. Studies by some top universities have shown that 25 minutes per day completing puzzles can help increase your IQ by as many as 4 points. This includes word games, math puzzles like Sudoku, and, of course, jigsaws.

Better Work Relationships

Anything that can help you at work is always a good thing, right? Puzzles have been shown to help increase productivity that carries into work. This is because of the improved levels of concentration. But you can also greatly improve your teamwork and collaboration skills at work by solving puzzles together with co-workers. This helps strengthen bonds for increased problem-solving. And this also helps improve the mental effectiveness of the team as a whole.

Summary

There are many benefits of doing puzzles. These include giving your brain the workout it needs to stay sharp. But it can also help improve memory and extend into making you better at work. It is recommended to do puzzles from an early age, but it’s also never too late to start the fun.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Tips

Safety and Comfort: The Role of Medical Supervision in Detox

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Detoxification involves removing toxins from the human body to enhance recovery after substance abuse. It is among the first few steps in the long journey to recovery and sobriety. Unfortunately, detox is a dangerous process that triggers withdrawal symptoms, from pain to Delirium Tremens, a life-threatening condition.

Complete weaning off from drugs or substances typically sends the brain into overdrive, making a person crave alcohol or drugs. These withdrawal symptoms vary from one individual to another, making it hard to predict the extent or intensity of their manifestation. Therefore, medical supervision is critical during detox to minimize discomfort, pain, and the chances of life-long complications. Here are more benefits of medical supervision during the detoxification process.

Improved Health and Safety

Medical supervision can improve safety, especially for people with chronic drinking history, mental health issues, and previous detox history. The medical supervision team helps patients alleviate discomfort or pain and prevent health complications.

If health experts notice signs of health complications, they address the problem immediately, making the process safe and comfortable. This is because the patients’ vitals and body responses are monitored 24/7 to keep tabs on their progress and avoid sudden turns of events. Besides, medical detox involves regularly assessing the physical and mental health, thus preventing withdrawal symptoms-related emergencies.

Timely Intervention to Manage Withdrawal Symptoms

Under medically supervised detox, patients are monitored by different healthcare professionals. These professionals have the knowledge, skills, and experience to mitigate or manage withdrawal symptoms. This means a patient does not struggle with the symptoms alone since the team is dedicated to ensuring the recovery process is safe and smooth.

Safe and Conducive Environment

What would happen if a patient develops medical or mental conditions and switches from the recovery center to the hospital and back for treatment? Medically supervised detox offers detox, treatment, and monitoring in a safe and conducive environment. This makes it easy to prevent access to alcohol or drugs, eliminating triggers and reducing the chances of relapse. The temptation to drink alcohol or abuse drugs is reduced into cravings until the patient recovers fully and can resist the urge.

In most cases, detox is one of the first steps of a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program. Therefore, the patient will continue the treatment process until they achieve sobriety after detox. Medical supervision helps identify causes of chronic stress, triggers, and ways to manage body responses that might compel the patient to relapse. The medical professionals also offer aftercare support and medical follow-up to ensure patients are back on their feet.

Enjoy Medical and Psychological Support

Mental health stability plays a significant role in enhancing the rehabilitation process. Therefore, health professionals strive to address medical and mental conditions during detox to ensure the patient recovers fully. Healthcare workers pay attention to signs of mental disturbance and provide holistic care that improves the detox process and its outcomes.

But how do detox programs facilitate holistic detox and recovery? The recovery process involves the collaborative efforts of medical doctors, therapists, and counselors. Therefore, each case is referred to the relevant professional for coordinated diagnosis and treatment.

Detox and substance withdrawal are dangerous since they can cause pain or life-threatening conditions. However, medically supervised detox helps monitor progress and respond to medical or mental complications associated with the detox process. This enhances safety and improves the outcome of the recovery process.