Getting To Grips With A Healthy Lifestyle

In a perfect world we would all be eating the right food, exercising, sleeping well and just generally enjoying life.

In the real world most of us manage a percentage of the healthy lifestyle and muddle through as best we can with the rest of it. Part of the problem is we are encouraged to think, mostly by the media, that we should be doing everything possible towards a healthy lifestyle, all of the time. For most of us this is just not possible.

Constant concern about what we should or shouldn't be doing causes our stress levels to go up and that negates any good work that we've done. Yes, we should certainly try for a healthy lifestyle, but the two key words are "moderation" and "balance". By applying these criteria to achieving a healthy lifestyle we won't be beating ourselves up for failing another diet or dropping out of the latest exercise regime.

A common mistake that many people make when they decide to adopt a healthy lifestyle is to try to do too much too soon. They then give themselves a guilt complex when it all falls apart. It is also easy to be influenced by others, when we should only be adopting a healthy lifestyle plan to suit ourselves.

Ah! Did I say lifestyle plan? Do you have one, or do you just try the next thing that is in your magazine or Sunday supplement? By all means read these articles and take them into account as you plan how you want your healthy lifestyle to take shape.

Leading a healthy lifestyle doesn't mean you have got to run a mile before breakfast, eat seeds and think pure thoughts. Great if that's what you want, but for most of us "healthy" means being in reasonable shape, eating our fruit and vegetables and generally having a feeling of vitality.

Decide on your definition of a healthy lifestyle, and then plan a strategy that works for you.

As part of my health plan I decided I wanted to walk in the mornings before breakfast, but there was no way I wanted to get up at the crack of dawn to do it. So I planned a ten minute circuit that includes a short flight of steps and a not too steep incline. I power walked that route every day and felt really good. Sure l wouldn't make the City to Surf marathon, but I compromised and made it work for me.

Today, much is made of organic foods, but the reality is that organic food is generally more expensive and well out of the range for most budgets. Yes organic is probably the best option, but it doesn't mean that if you're not eating all organic you are not eating right. If you're concerned about general produce, be a bit discerning when you shop. Look for fruit and vegetables that are fresh and unblemished. You should also buy product brands that you can trust. If you shop wisely, you can have a well-balanced healthy diet that won't break the bank.

Basically living a healthy life means looking at your lifestyle as a whole, it is not just about diet and exercise. It is not always necessary to make major changes. Most people know their weak spots, and are happy if they can make a few changes that show results.

A friend of mine was drinking several cans of soft drink a day. She was feeling tired and generally under the weather. When I read an article about the health risk of soft drink I copied it and gave it to her, whereupon she decided to give up the soft drink there and then. A week later she got back to me and said she couldn't believe the difference, her energy levels were up and she was feeling great. Just that one change was able to make a difference and she feels good about the healthy choice.

Sleep and leisure time play a big part in a healthy lifestyle, and for the most part people underestimate the value of good sleep. Our bodies aren't designed to operate at peak performance twenty four hours a day. Anyone in industry knows that machines that have to work continuously need a lot of maintenance. When we are sleeping our body is healing and regenerating itself and we should wake up feeling refreshed and revitalized.

We can go without sleep for extended periods, but we can't do it indefinitely. The amount of sleep an individual needs varies a great deal, and there is no such thing as the right time to sleep. Obviously most people sleep at night, but if you are one of those folk that comes alive in the small hours, you might need to catch up with your sleep during the day.

A big part of healthy living is being comfortable with yourself. Don't be pressured into trying to attain a certain look, or push yourself down a career path you are not suited to. Constant worry about what you are doing will only have the opposite effect on your health. Don't get paranoid about your diet, about what toothpaste you should use or about expensive exercise equipment you need to buy.

Allow a common sense approach to dictate when you are making lifestyle choices, and remember, there is nothing wrong with compromise if it means your healthy lifestyle plan will work for you.

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About Trish Powell

Trish Powell For more on Life Coaching and Wellbeing in general, visit Http://wellbeing-information.com


And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Tips and Techniques To Detect Fraud Or Errors In Timesheets

Corporate governance laws, state/federal labor laws, and accounting regulations are making companies and their executives even more accountable for transparent, true and timely performance and financial reporting. Regulatory and oversight bodies such as the SEC (security exchange commission), demanding and extremely cautious audit firms and nervous shareholders, now point the finger directly at the company's senior executives and hold them personally and criminally accountable for the company's accurate reporting on operations and any control weaknesses.

This article presents potential timesheet-related compliance violation scenarios. It recommends a set of fraud and error detection reports that will help internal and external auditors, project managers, and company executives detect unauthorized or illegal activity and achieve sustainable compliance for timesheet management. Here are the timesheet compliance reports you need:

Time Entry Modification Audit

* Time entries that were modified (created or deleted) by one user on behalf of another user. For every time entry show new and old amount, modification time and date, the name of the person who made the original time entry, as well as the modifier, and any notes describing the reason for the modification

* Time entries that were modified (created or deleted) by one user on behalf of another user without providing a note explaining the reason for the change

* Time entries that were modified by a project or group manager. For every time entry display both the new and old entry, as well as any notes describing the reason for the modification

* Time entries that were modified after having been approved

* Time entries whose attributes were changed such as from billable to not billable, R&D to non R&D, from funded to not-funded

* Time entries whose cost or billing rate was modified

* Unapproved time entries in a specified date interval

Timesheet Approval and Change Audit

* Timesheets that are approved by someone other than the person that was designated to approve them

* Timesheets that have been modified after having reopened a period

* Timesheets that are approved by administrative staff (instead of project or group managers)

* Timesheets that are approved long after they were submitted (e.g. a few months later or another specified date interval)

Project Time Audit

* List of projects that exceeded time budgets

* List of projects that show a sudden jump in time allocation

* Billable time entries that have not been invoiced after period closing and at the end of every quarter

Unusual Project Activity Audit

* List of users (employees or consultants) that submit timesheets with hours that far exceed

* List of users (employees or consultants) that submit timesheets with hours that far exceed the business unit's defined timesheet period size

* Amount of time or number of employees working on a project (or allocating time against a business unit) changed by more than X percent in comparison to the previous quarter

* List of employees that required adjustments for X% of their time entries

* For non-exempt employees report on those who have done more than X hours of overtime over the last N weeks

How Software Can Help

The reports above would be very hard to produce if time is being tracked using spreadsheets, multiple disconnected systems, or a time entry system that lacks auditing and error detection capabilities. A compliance enabled timesheet management solution should provide:

* Definition and enforcement of timesheet policies and rules; validations should be performed by the system at the point of entry

* Lock down of approved timesheets and closed timesheet periods

* Auditing of every time entry change, all timesheet approvals/period closing and cost or billing rate changes

* Notifications when budget thresholds have been reached

* Reports and live analysis dashboards to monitor projects/operations and to detect inappropriate, fraudulent, or inefficient activity, misallocation of time, or other potential problem areas

Summary

Weak timesheet controls and manual processes make a company vulnerable to fraud and errors related to cost and budget allocation, and force the organization to expend considerable resources in preparation for a compliance audit. Ineffective time tracking can also result in revenue leakage, longer billing cycles, higher probability of payroll and invoicing errors, duplication of effort and extended correction cycles, project execution problems, and ultimately, a potential compliance-related audit failure.

The only way a company can ensure sustainable timesheet compliance and governance is for it to have the proper controls, reporting and auditing systems in place. Company's executives and audit committee must have real-time access to error and fraud detection reports. This article provided a set of recommended timesheet error and fraud detection reports that every organization should have access to and analyze on a regular basis in order to validate that its employees and consultants follow a consistent timesheet entry and approval policy, are working on authorized projects based on approved budgets and scope, and that costs are allocated to the right projects.

Tom Jacobs writes for http://www.superbtimesheets.info where you can find out more about timesheets and other topics.

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About Tom Jacobs

Tom Jacobs writes for http://www.superbtimesheets.info where you can find out more about timesheets and other topics.