Self care sunday 101

Today is self care sunday in my home.  Today is the day that we spend most of our time relaxing.  It is the day we like to stay in our comfy clothes, stay home, and catch up on tv or watch football (I catch up on shows and my husband watches football).  There are some chores that we may have to do like laundry but most of the time we relax.  

We all need some time for ourselves and some time to spoil ourselves, unwind from the week and prepare for the upcoming week.  For us, this is Sunday but maybe for you and your family it is a different day.  Regardless, I want to share some ways that I engage in self care. 

Managing time to prepare for the week
Ok, maybe this first one is like work but is the what helps make the rest of the week to run a bit smoothly.  I use my Sunday to prepare for what appointments I have coming up, I plan my blog and do some writing so I have less to do.  Yes, Sundays are for relaxation but the rest of the week I am busy, overwhelmed, and stressed.  While I am relaxing and watching my TV I do some double duty and sit on my computer and get some writing and do some planning. It helps make my time for the week be easier to manage, and hey is it really work if I am in my sweats and warm cozy socks? Maybe....but maybe not! 

Baking
Sundays are a time where I also like to bake.  Yeah I know...more work! Well if you enjoy baking then it is not work! I try to make easy things so that it is not daunting to do but this post is about self care and what is better self care than eating a delicious homemade brownie or cookie or some other delicious sweet comfort item.  Maybe sometimes I don't always want to bake but every time I bite into something soft and sweet, I remember why I do it.  This is part of caring for myself.  Yes, I know it is not healthy and maybe not the BEST self care but sometimes we need to give into our cravings a little.  Sometimes we need to do things that just brings us some mental health care and fresh homemade dessert on a relaxing Sunday is great mental health care for me.  

I recently made an apple crisp and it turned out so amazing! It is by the CincyShopper and you can find the recipe HERE.  It was easy to make and oh so good.  The warm goodness was pure comfort dessert at it's apple core!

Healthy eating
Maybe baking and desserts are going against your eating plan.  I understand, trust me.  I've been there and should be there now, but another way to provide self care is providing your body with some healthy nutrition.  Giving your body a healthy protein smoothie and a protein filled salad is a great option to provide your body with some care and even help with reenergizing yourself.  I have a protein shake smoothie that I use alot over on the blog so swing on over to read it if you would like.  

Skincare
A couple days a week, one being Sunday, I like to include some extra time for some skincare routine.  The pumice stone is great for the feet to get rid of the dry skin and dead skin cells.  It has done wonders to help keep my heels softer and get rid of those nasty cracks and extra dry skin.  I also try to exfoliate my skin.  I have been loving the body polish by Dove.  The scent is always a soft clean scent, there is a nice scrub but it isn't too hard that it hurts. It is nice and gentle enough.  I use it a couple times a week and it has kept my skin especially around my elbows and knees nice and soft.  Sometimes they can get a bit dry and rough but since I have been using this exfoliator I have noticed a big difference.  

Facial care
A couple times a week I try to do a mask of some kind but Sunday night is usually sheet mask night because I usually have to let it sit for a good 20min.  Sunday night relaxation night is the best night to allow this kind of time to relax with a nice mask.  I get alot of my masks from Walmart because they have good prices.  Some you can order from their J- and K-skincare lines for about $1.  I can find great ones at the store 2/$5 and they are just great quality! I want great quality masks but I don't want to spend alot of money.  Another great mask I found was the self heating mask by Biore.  It has a nice warming sensation when you put it on your wet face and it feels great.  I do feel like it works but for the 1 minute of warming relaxation, it is worth buying and using it.  It is such a great mask! 

Yoga or Working Out
I love yoga and used to do yoga every week when I used to be a member at LA Fitness.  They had a couple great yoga classes I loved, but I have recently ended my membership so I can become members of some more intense workout classes (OTF and a bootcamp).  I don't do a workout every Sunday because it depends on when I workout the rest of the week.  I try to give my body 1-2 days off a week for a rest but even on relaxation Sunday I still enjoy a good workout.  A. It makes me feel less guilty about lounging around all day and doing nothing.  Anytime after I do a great workout I feel confident, strong, and energized and so I am all for doing this any day of the week.  I love yoga though for some extra relaxation.  My body feels stretched, refreshed and my mind feels focused after anytime I do a yoga session.  Sundays and Monday nights  were always one of my favorite days for yoga because of how great I felt afterwards and these were the days I needed to feel that way.  Plus, after a long week of cardio and lots of strength training, it always felt good to end the week with a nice powerful stretch and to increase my flexibility to tackle on another week of training.  I need to do some yoga and I really have no excuse.  I have a few videos and go on youtube and you can find tons of yoga videos.  Maybe you prefer a meditation to just clear your mind and get rid of those unwanted thoughts.  Whatever you have to do to help provide yourself with some extra self care is right. My ways may not be the ways that work for you or maybe you are looking for some new ways.  I would love to hear your thoughts and tell me if there are other ways you try to provide some self care.