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A Daily Rx for Active, Healthy Living - For Now & Far Into the Future

It's seems nearly inevitable that once you pass a certain age you will rely on a handful of medications to manage whichever disease or chronic health issue(s) impacts you most severely and diminishes your quality of life. For better or worse, it's how our health care system is set-up - cure disease rather than prevent it.

However, we're also fortunate to live in a time where increasingly more information is being pieced together on how to prevent diseases that often present themselves as we age. Large gaps in the wellness and prevention puzzle are being filled in and hopefully promising us an increasingly active, healthy lifestyle not limited by age.

At Inspired by Dawn we're big believers in how we eat, sleep, exercise and interact with the world around us on a daily basis can, and will, have an impact on our future health and wellness. We have choices everyday and those choices add up. And those choices don't always have to be a bummer. It doesn't have to be ice cream or spinach! It can be easy, healthful and often tasty trade-offs that we decide to make to feel better now and for a long time to come.

So, we're going to rededicate ourselves to sharing easy, helpful changes that we can all make to help prevent diseases like cancer, alzheimer's disease, diabetes, heart disease, and others, and hopefully live more healthful and active lives for much, much longer.

Here's to health!

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4 Simple Ways to Make the Most of Your 3-Day Weekend

Everybody loves a 3-day weekend. A little more time to unwind, recharge or even plan a little getaway. What's not to love? So it got us to thinking - how can we make the most of those three precious days to give us an extra dose of rejuvenation? Here's a few easy ways to help you make every one of those 72 hours count!

• Plan a getaway but don't go too far - Try to make your destination within two hours travel time so you can start your mini-vacation as soon as possible
• Focus on something you've been wanting to do - Take the time to research and plan your real 7+ day vacation or to work on a hobby that you love but never have enough time for
• Plan one indulgence - Book a spa appointment, enjoy brunch with friends, do something that you normally don't have time for on a regular weekend
• Give yourself permission to do nothing - If you've been burning the candle at both ends, don't book anything. Plan for a weekend of binge-watching, reading and take-out

However you choose to spend your weekend, have a great one!

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Show Your Valentine Some True Love

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Are Probiotics Perfect for the Pill Box?

Probiotics are all the buzz. They have been for awhile. Scientists are just beginning to scratch the surface but their health benefits have already been widely touted. But like so many other things, is taking them in pill form just as beneficial as getting them from whole foods? And even if there are benefit trade-offs, does the convenience of a pill outweigh those trade-offs and the option of not supplementing at all?

We set out to find out. After all you want to take care of yourself, and if you can do it by tossing a probiotic in your pill box, then all the better! As expected, like most things, most doctors and dietitians recommend the real thing - yogurt, sauerkraut, miso soup, pickles, olives, etc. However, most science points to probiotics are helpful for overall health so while whole foods are recommended, supplements are also supported for most people after checking with their doctors.

So do check with your doctor and then find a probiotic that works for you. Fill up your Style Rx pill box case and make a probiotic part of a daily habit for your health. To get you started check out these guidelines on what to look for in a probiotic. And if you still need a Style Rx, pick one up here...

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Forget Deprivation - Small Steps to Positive Change in 2017

There's still a few days left in January. The month that we often commit to unreasonable resolutions to eat better and / or lose weight and put unrealistic pressure on ourselves to stick with them. So what it you haven't quite stuck with the program? How can you still use this month of revitalization to your benefit? The key is to start with small changes.

This Huffington Post article stood out because it doesn't advise starving yourself to reset yourself in the new year. Instead it focuses on positive ways to help you reset your mind, body, health and wellness. It's about giving yourself permission to create positive change in your life without deprivation. Here's just a few of our favorites...

If you want to reset your:

• Schedule - Make time for the “fun stuff” -- It's just as important as all the other stuff!
• Creativity - Try a dream journal --Make it easy so it's not a chore but truly a release
• Imagination - Give up on that book you’ve been lumbering through -- It's okay. Give yourself permission!
• Energy - Go to sleep earlier -- Take care of you and your health
• Diet - Focus on adding one thing in -- Love this! It doesn't have to be about deprivation

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4 Immunity Boosting Foods to Fend Off Colds & Flus + 1 Food to Avoid

Reports that that flu is coming on strong so far this year got us thinking even more about how to boost our immunity. Like you, we wanted simple, natural, healthy ways to make sure we got the vitamins and nutrients needed to give us a fighting chance. Here's what we found. Simple, whole foods that can give us the immunity boost we need.

• Olive oil - Such an easy, tasty switch to make. Supports the building blocks for white blood cells - the immune system's front line
• Citrus fruits - Always interesting how nature's growing cycle coincides with what our bodies need. Prime citrus months equal prime cold and flu months. Coincidence? Absolutely not!
• Fish - Not eating fish yet? It's really time to start. Try to eat it at least once a week to help reduce inflammation and get your dose of Omega-3s
• Mushrooms - Research has shown mushrooms support the body's white blood cells in fighting bacteria and infections
• Avoid sugar - Sugar seems to undo the good that the above foods do for your immune system by impairing white blood cells so try to minimize sugar especially during cold and flu season

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3 Easy Kitchen Change-Ups for Healthier Eating in 2017

You're a multi-tasker, right? Aren't we all? Even though the "data" says there's really no benefit to doing two things at once. You still do. You want to maximize your time and get more done, hopefully so you can enjoy more down time.

This thinking is why this article from Real Simple caught our eye - especially at the start of the new year. Clean up, declutter and eat healthier? We're in!

The article highlights 9 tricks to changing up your kitchen for healthier eating but they boil nicely into these 3 buckets...

1. Clean off the counters - get rid of old newspapers, mail, appliances you don't use daily or don't support healthy eating (toaster vs blender); go ahead and leave a fruit bowl though!
2. Downsize your dinnerware - eat dinner off your salad plates, pour yourself a drink in a tall skinny glass and leave the large serving bowls for special occasions
3. Portion and snack control - make a big pot of something but freeze half of it right away, stash warehouse food purchases and snack foods in locations other than the kitchen so they're not easily accessible
   
   

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6 Do-Able Tips for Forming Healthful New Years Habits

The new year often comes with promises to ourselves to live differently, to start anew. Whether it's about giving up a less then desirable habit or trying to create some new healthful ones, it seems to always be a challenge. So we're sharing some tips from an old LifeHacker article we came across on how to help yourself create some of those healthful, good habits for the new year. We're in it with you!

1. Make sure your life is in order - Forming a new habit is hard enough. Don't try to do it when your life is already especially hectic
2. Focus on one good habit - Don't overwhelm yourself. Choose one healthful habit at a time and focus
3. Work yourself into it gradually - Set mini-goals for yourself. The first week I'll cook two meals at home, the next week three.
4. Piggyback it with other, already-formed habits or routines - Tie taking a multivitamin each day to something you already do every day, e.g. put your daily pill box on your keyboard so you take your vitamin when you sit down to check emails in the morning
5. Get an accountability buddy - The right, like-minded friend makes everything easier
6. Give it time - It can take awhile to truly form a habit, so set yourself up for success with the above suggestions to keep yourself motivated and focused

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New Year's Eve Style Inspiration for Ringing in 2017

Ringing in 2017 Saturday night with friends or family? In need of some style inspiration for greeting the new year? Look no further than our Pinterest board for festive and glam styles perfectly suited to you and wherever your night takes you.

Cheers to 2017!

Want to see more ways to Live Life Inspired with a focus on style, health and simplicity? Sign up to receive Inspired by Dawn's email newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Wishing you and your family a very joyous holiday
and an Inspired New Year!