Author: Fab Fernandes

Personal Stylist, Writer in the making, Reiki Practitioner, Yoga Breathing Coach, Yoga Enthusiastic and officially beyond 4.7.
Inspiration, Living Well

Today Is Earth Day

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And I am not gonna talk about how badly we all have been treating our beautiful and generous planet here and the side effects of it all. Instead, I am here to make a suggestion on this Earth’s Day: pick one thing you can do to help our planet and therefore our lives living here and add that thing as a regular habit in your life. It can be anything that you are NOT already doing, like recycling, committing to produce less garbage in your daily life, consuming products more consciously, not leaving garbage behind on the beach or camping or in that rock concert, planting some trees, engaging in helping cleaning public places (or keeping them cleaned), implementing in your house some form of clean energy like solar panels (if you can afford them) and there you may go. There are a lot of things we can do to change our relationship with this planet, treat it with more kindness, respect and gratitude. Because, look around… we, as humans, are very fortunate to have such an amazing place to live in, with plentiful of resources to live a good, calm and gorgeous life. And it’s up to all of us to keep this place as it is.

And it doesn’t matter if it’s a tiny little thing or a huge thing that you are committing to, just commit to it and make that commitment part of your life. I personally believe that will be those small actions done by everyone of us that will end up making the most difference in the quality of our lives right now and in the future. Because, in my point of view, improving the way we treat and interact with our planet is the key to keep on living here with some quality of life. Because it’s not this beautiful planet that is at risky, it’s our human existence that is.

So, let’s do our part and honor our beloved Earth! Let’s make everyday Earth Day in our actions.

Beauty, Living Well, Well Being

Dealing With Hair Loss Or Thinning Hair?

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And you are pretty sure your hair loss or thinning has to do with your Menopause status, then let’s talk. I had that same problem as well. To be honest, my hair has been kind of thin my whole life. But I had lots of it. So, thin hair was never an issue for me. However, at a certain point (when Peri Menopause hit me) I began to notice that my hair was falling way too much, way more than it used to and I also noticed that my hair was not full as it used to be. Every where I went, I left tones of hair behind. It was embarrassing to say the least.

I only noticed some improvement, when things seem to go back on the right track, after some years of walking through the Menopause hell. And here are the things that help me to have my glowing hair back:

Me and my normal hair. No more thinning nor loss. Just slightly damaged for daily swimming.
  • The most important thing in my opinion is to make sure you have all the nutrients covered and sufficient in your body. Sometimes lack of nutrients like Zinc, Iron, B12, Folate, Boron and others can trigger the problem. The same can be said about some health conditions like anemia, thyroid issues, diabetes etc. So, you better check with your doctor to see if they are a factor. Just a little reminder: if your problem is not caused by deficiency or insufficiency of any nutrient in your diet, taking it on your own is not gonna help at all. For me, that helped a lot because I clearly had an issue to be addressed. It might be your case too. Or not.
  • Other thing to consider is to give your hair a good, long break from chemicals like dyes or bleachers. Those chemicals make your hair weaker and that can have a bad impact in your hair’s health. Letting it rest for a few months can give your hair a chance to regrowth. And stronger.
  • And since the subject is hair itself, there are special shampoos and conditioners and a whole bunch of other products to address the thinning issue. I used and loved the Nioxin kit for thinning hair. It did help me a lot. I still use it from time to time but I don’t think I need it anymore. Just love it. (#notapaidad)
  • In order to address hair loss there are some specific products like Minoxidil (Rogaine) or even some laser treatments that can help. I haven’t tried any of those cause I didn’t need it, but it’s fair to register this option here because it is an option.
  • Do things that can help alleviate your stress level, because stress on its own can be a major factor. Exercise, go for walks, meditate, practice some breathing techniques… find something or somethings that ca help you with stress can be a treatment for your hair problem.
  • Ad of course, there are some hormonal imbalances due to Menopause that can be responsible. There are hormone therapies to address that, but you need to contact your doctor to see whether or not it’s a viable road for you.

And if you want to read more about Hair Loss And Thinning here is a good article on that.

Well Being

What Being Supportive Really Means

by Fab FernandesLeave a Comment on What Being Supportive Really Means

There you have it. A perfect illustration of what being supportive means.

Credit: @letstalk.mentalhealth

I know, many times I behaved like the ones in What people think support means. And I did, like may people do because back in my mind I wanted to lift the burden of a situation making it something lighter or smaller, not a big of a deal. But by saying so it’s not gonna ease the burden for anyone. Acknowledging the burden as it is and being there for the person in words and attitudes is what can do that trick, in fact.

Living Well, Well Being

Dealing With Memory Issues During Menopause

by Fab FernandesLeave a Comment on Dealing With Memory Issues During Menopause

It’s well known that one of the many symptoms of Menopause (Peri, Menopause or Post Menopause) is having memory issues. In my case it was one of the big side effects of my ordeal with Menopause since Peri Menopause started in my late 30s. Again, not so sure if it was Menopause to blame or my B12 deficiency or the mix of both, in any case my memory was hit badly. I couldn’t access memories from my childhood or teenage years, I couldn’t even remember what I had eaten for dinner… it was this empty void for basically any little thing… Sometimes it was really hard to find the right words to say simple, everyday things in my own language because words would vanish from my vocabulary. Retain information was another major problem for me. And of course, writing was one of my most difficult task. Actually up to this date still is. Getting better, but still not ideal. But comparing myself now from a few years ago I can say that I have a quite normal memory. Not a brilliant one but a normal one. And I am very grateful for it. And I do, because I refused to accept it as something that comes with aging. It is not. In my opinion, it comes from some sort of deficiency in our bodies. And we can turn its table. How? Well, I only can tell you what I did that had some great impact in improving my memory issues. Here I go:

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

I made sure I had all the nutrients I needed. Especially those to put my Methylation back o track. It is really important that you find a doctor that can evaluate whether or not you need extra nutrients and work with him/her to keep yourself functioning well. In my personal opinion and experience, as we get older we need way more nutrients to keep up and if we don’t get them that is when things get weird, off.

I also believe that Meditation can help to ease our minds and nurture it. Meditation and other Zen practices that work for you to release some stress and improve your quality of life. Even Breathing Exercises can do this trick.

Other thing that I did and recommend is to keep your brain busy and constantly working, being stimulated. And with that in mind I decided to learn languages, play some silly games that exercised my brain like Stop, Color Code and so many others. Everyday I played (and still do) a little bit (or a lot!). I also decided to start this blog, in another language, to do that as well. Everyone of those things have been very helpful. And over the years it has become much easier. At the beginning any of those tasks was extremely hard. But I kept up. And it paid off.

So, if you have memory issues as a Menopause symptom, give those things a try. But don’t expect that it get fixed overnight. It won’t be. It can take a little while till you see some improvement. But until then, don’t give up, just keep up.