To do the things we enjoy is our natural way to relieve stress, sometimes we found pleasure in doing simple things like going for a walk, talking with friends, watching our favorite TV show, reading a good book, cooking our favorite food and even playing games online.

When I was still working from home, and online. Things were very stressful, even when I don’t have a boss and I have my own freedom to do things I want to do, it wasn’t because of the many works I have to do back then, it was mainly because of my attitude towards work. I am workaholic and it was hard for me to stop until the things I am doing wasn’t done yet.  I woke up at nine o’clock in the morning back then and sleep at two o’clock in the morning the next day, trying to do many things I can do, or if someone ordered a WordPress theme, I will do it without stopping, until I perfected it.

Today, after many things have happened and me today working a day job, working eight (8) hours a day, I have noticed I still have the same attitude towards work, where there are times I forgot to drink water and if not of my co-workers reminding us to eat lunch, I won’t eat lunch just to finish what I am doing.  What make it a bit stressful today, is doing household chores at home after a long day at work or look after a mischievous kid, especially during the weekend when it should be my only days to relax and rest.

Just like before my only way to relieve stress is to play  games online, and recently I  came across this fun and very educational website with many cooking games that me and my niece can enjoy playing during the weekend when I am babysitting her.  Yep, she loves playing cooking in her play time, just like how she loves to play online , I even bought her food simulation toys and a cooking set, which she always misplaced every time she used them.

CulinarySchools.org aside from being an informative platform that allows you to discover all the available culinary schools and culinary trainings near your area, it also has a  useful collection of online tools such as the ingredient measurement conversion tool, body fat calculator, weight loss and workout calculator .

It also has a huge collection of smartly curated online cooking games that kids and kids alike can freely access and enjoy without downloading mobile app, because they are browser-based application,  and by playing you can learn so much about the food you are eating, how they were produced (farming), you can also learn hospitality, restaurant managements and some culinary arts technique that can be useful to you someday.

Here are the games my niece and I enjoyed the most.

Ice Cream Bar

A 20-stage timed simulation game where you have to serve the customers the exact flavor and  ingredients they have ordered, the ice cream has to be in order the way they want them, starting at the bottom and working your way up. As you progress through the game you unlock additional ice cream flavors, ice cream cones, drinks, fruits, and a juicing machine.

Can I Eat It?

Is a game for preschoolers and kindergarten students, which is perfect for my niece age.  To play the game, you have to identify whether the food is edible or not by clicking Yes or No, in  a limited time. So you have to think quick if the item shown can be eaten or not or else you have to start over.  The items that were shown includes fruits, vegetables, cheese, sausages, chocolates , arrow, socks, sticks, glass, batteries, bugs and more.

Coffee Shop

A simulation game where you learn about how to manage a coffee shop. The game starts by buying your own inventory or ingredients like cups, coffee, sugar and milk. In this game, you have the freedom to adjust the how much coffee, milk and sugar, you can put into each cup and even the price of your coffee . The demand changes as the weather changes, so it isn’t advisable to stock lots of milk when the weather is warm because it will spoil and you will loss profit, that is for sure.

Puzzle Farm

An easy puzzle game that my niece enjoyed playing because of the colorful  farm animals and other scenes from farm life.  The puzzle shows a gray scale outline of where the pieces go until they are filled in, making it ideal for students in second grade or below.

Well, these are some of the games my niece and I enjoyed playing.  Through this, I am relieving my stress and learning culinary techniques by reading helpful articles at culinaryschools.org, as well as on playing some culinary games.

How about you, how do you overcome stressful days?

Often, when you can’t sleep or don’t feel you’re getting good quality sleep, then you’re largely told it’s your fault.

Okay, so that’s quite a harsh way of putting it – but think about it. You’re told that you have to ensure your room isn’t too cold. That you have to practice good sleep hygiene, going to bed and getting up at the same time on weekends as you would during the week. You’re told that you have to ensure there’s no light in your room, or…

[Photo courtesy of Unsplash/pexels.com]

All of it amounts to the same thing: you’re causing your sleep problems, what you’re doing is responsible. It’s tough to take, especially if you have followed all of the above and you’re still spending your days yawning or your nights tossing and turning. Sleep is such a basic, fundamental thing – how have you managed to be bad at it? Why is none of the advice working?

You might be struggling for answers because… you’re not doing anything wrong. Your sleep hygiene might be impeccable. You might be doing all the things that you should be doing, in the right order, night after night – but you’re still not sleeping as you should be.

That’s not to discount the general insomnia advice you will see floating around. For a lot of people, the cause of their problem is nothing more than bad habits and problematic decisions. It could be drinking too much coffee during the day or just not having the right mattress to sleep on – simple problems with easy remedies. In these cases, the fix is relatively simple; all it takes is switching to non-caffeinated beverages or considering interesting advice from Mattress-Guides.net on next steps to take with your bedding arrangements. Sometimes, that is all it takes. On the other occasions (or if those steps haven’t worked), something else might be responsible: your health.

There are certain health conditions that can force insomnia to cross from a regular annoyance and into a chronic problem. Now, this isn’t going to be one of those infamous internet articles where you look up something benign and are immediately told your death is imminent. They’re no fun for anyone. All of the conditions below are lifestyle damaging, but they’re not going to kill you.

The problem with these conditions is that they tend to be hidden beneath the surface. If the general symptoms are “tired” or “prone to headaches” when you look up a condition, it’s impossible to see a difference between that and normal life. And, to be frank, chronic insomnia might indeed be idiopathic. However, if there is something nestling under the surface, then it’s worth knowing about – at the very least, so you can get a good night’s sleep for once…

(As with all medical advice online, if any of these conditions really chime for you, then see a doctor. This is meant as a guide, not a diagnostic tool – be smart, everyone.)

Hormone Disorders

[Photo courtesy of WikimediaImages/pixabay.com]

There’s a tendency in the lay population to think that hormones are some mystical problem that besets women on a cyclical basis. It extends as far as well-traveled tennis players; the idea that hormones are a female problem. Well, nope. There’s a whole bunch of hormones for both genders and, to an extent, they control our lives. They range from estrogen through to testosterone and even adrenaline – in fact, there’s tens of them. Together, they make up the endocrine system.

The difficult thing about hormones is that they tend to work in balance with one another. It’s not so much about their individual level in and of themselves, but their levels relative to one another. If one of those levels is not playing ball with the rest of the group, then you can have a problem.

Some of the most common hormone disorders include:

• Underactive or overactive thyroid (hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism).
• Cushing’s Syndrome – an overload of the stress hormone, cortisol.
• Diabetes.

All of the above will cause problems with sleep patterns.

Thankfully, these conditions are easily diagnosed and well-managed with treatment – so don’t be afraid to speak to your doctor about them.

Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease

[Photo courtesy of Brett_Hondow/pixabay.com]

Often abbreviated to GERD, this ailment is surprisingly common in people of all ages. It’s caused by an overproduction of stomach acid, leading to a burning feeling in the chest and back as well as other gastrointestinal symptoms. One of the most recognized symptoms is heartburn, which can lead to an overreliance on lozenges – without any idea of how the problem is disrupting your sleep.

The way GERD affects sleep is through a mixture of discomfort and general restlessness due to incomplete digestion. One of the best ways to combat it is to raise your head position when you sleep; use a pillow beneath your upper back and let gravity help you keep the stomach acid where it belongs.

One note of caution: prescription-strength antacids called PPIs (protein pump inhibitors) are often prescribed for GERD. Evidence is suggesting these can actually make things worse, so do try simple methods like raising your head position before you resort to them.

Anxiety Disorders

There are a vast array of anxiety disorders, from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder through to PTSD. Or perhaps you have a mixture of them all in one, with the all-encompassing General Anxiety Disorder.

If you find yourself panicked or worrying on a daily basis, then it might be a sign of such an illness. Often, it’s just dismissed as ‘the way we are’ – so we think no more of it. But in reality, being highly stressed and anxious could be a sign of a physiological illness.

It’s worth running through the GAD-7; a standard, medically-sound test that is used as a diagnostic tool for anxiety disorders. This should give you some idea on whether your anxiety is within normal limits, or if it might be time to speak to your doctor about your treatment options.

[Photo courtesy of kaboompics/pixabay.com]

If you do find you have a concern, then the way it has been impacting your sleep could be total. When you are panicked or anxious, your adrenaline is firing on a constant “fight or flight” mode. This results in hypervigilance, which in turn makes it difficult to get to sleep at night. Even if you score low on the GAD-7, if any of the above sounds familiar, it’s always worth a brief chat with a doctor to see if there’s anything they can help with.

There’s a lot of things that we know are harmful to our families – bad food won’t help with health or weight. A lack of exercise is going to zap their energy and turn us all into couch potatoes. Too much screen-time can result in headaches. We know all of that.

While a ninja blender can cut up your fruit for a smoothy and a treadmill can get us running – there’s one piece of furniture that might be overlooked in our pursuit of health in the home.

It’s the bed. There are plenty of health benefits to owning a good bed, and on the flipside, a lack of sleep or interrupted sleep could be disastrous for the health of you and your family. BedTimes Magazine took a look at the benefits of a new bed:

“Through our research, we found that new bedding improved sleep quality by 62% and sleep comfort by 70.8%, and reduced back pain by 55.3% and back stiffness by 50.7% over a four–week period. We also found that lower back pain was much more prominent for those sleeping on cheaper beds and older beds. But regardless of their personal bedding systems, participants experienced immediate reduction in pain and stiffness and improvement of sleep comfort and quality when sleeping on new mattresses. The reduction in pain and improvement in sleep became more prominent over time, and participants improved regardless of age, weight, height or body–mass index. Moreover, when participants were assigned to high and low pain groups based on initial evaluation, both groups experienced a significant reduction in pain when sleeping on new mattresses. Even those who reported minor problems sleeping showed significant improvements in sleep quality and comfort—at levels similar to those who were poor sleepers.”

[Photo courtesy of Jennifer C./flickr.com]

They did the hard work, so we don’t have to, and it’s clear that new bedding or a new bed entirely is going to have immediate benefits to our health as well as our sleeping habits.

What do we look for in a good bed then? Firstly – it needs to be solid and stable. Your mattress needs a good support so it can support you! A creaky and shaky bed isn’t going to help, and you may feel like you’re napping on a sinking ship! As for the perfect bed? It doesn’t exist – you simply need the right one for you. A good mattress goes a long way, and this is the Best Memory Foam Mattress – a good mattress is going to gift you an hour of sleep that a lesser mattress will take away. Most mattress types have their cons as well, so try to get a mattress that you can try out as everyone is different.

[Photo courtesy of  Didriks/flickr.com]

Of course, you need pillows that keep your neck and head in line with your body for comfort and some breathable bedding is a good idea. A number of sets for different temperatures will help.

A good bed – it could do wonders for your health and for your bedroom!