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Anetha Sivananthan

Introducing Oui Juice and The Health Benefits of Juicing For Your Body

The chronicle of Oui Juice and Owner/Founder Hassan McCullough dates back to 1999, consequently, it is also the year he began training as a profession.

He is known to be a giver by nature. At this juncture in his life, he was attending nursing school in an effort to provide care for those, whom were unable to care for themselves. Amazingly, he found nursing to be a high stress occupation. As a result and to relieve stress, Hassan worked out daily at the gym after class. Ultimately, he learned what was needed comprised of a healthy balance of training the mind and the body alike. Noticeably, while working out, he witnessed many trainers with their clients in the gym. As a former division I football and track athlete, he understood himself to be in better shape than those doing the training. Why is that important, one may ask, well Hassan believed his most valued resource to be his body, which ultimately served as his temple as well as his best business card.

Securing Client Trust

In the meantime, he realized nursing was not his calling. Yet, he recognized his passion suggested he remain in an area inclined to help people. Then, he decided to partake in an activity he had participated and excelled in since age 5, he pursued a career in training. As with any true professional, Hassan achieved the necessary certifications needed to be the best trainer while providing the best service to his clients in an effort to help people so inclined to become the best version of themselves. Hassan garnered major experience afforded by Bally’s and followed by 24 Hour Fitness. In learning the interworking of “fit” life, Hassan came to understand the business aspect of what it takes to foster successful clients. He then knew it was time to go private!

In training people, Hassan learned, the relationships fostered grow to be intimate between client and trainer. As a collegiate athlete, Hassan believed that was the missing element. In conversing with his clients, he has come to know his clients trust his word. More importantly, he has conveyed with the proper intake of fruits and vegetables success will be paramount to sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Training without a proper diet is equivalent to “spinning ones wheels.” You go nowhere fast!

As a colligate athlete and now as a trainer, Hassan has observed many athletes and clients alike unaware of the correct food to stay healthy, strong, and provide right kind of energy necessary to maintain and elevate a healthy lifestyle. Seemingly, even when drinking a “healthy” smoothie, it’s usually more fruit-based and has a high concentration of processed sweeteners to make it palatable.

The Mission

For Hassan, a concept was born! He believed, he could enhance the physical lives of his clients while providing a holistic service for others in making healthy juices, full of fruits and vegetables that would also taste great. The mission and vision was set. He immersed himself in books regarding the basics of juicing. He studied and concocted different mixtures at home. In no time, he began noticing changes—his food tasted better, his skin looked healthier, and he had more energy. Finally, he knew he had a product he could share with others.

At the onset, he provided juices to his clients after training sessions to serve as a source of recovery. He would learn the juices were well received. Then his clients began referring the juices to their friends and family for purchase and consumption, it was then, he knew he had a good product. Oui Juice was born! For the past ten years, helping people get healthy and feel great while serving a real nutritional need coupled with a product the owner stands by has led to high praise and continue promise from the client base.

So, Why Juice?

Well, according the Centers for Disease Control, less than 10% of Americans eat enough fruits and vegetables each day (cdc.gov). More importantly, 90% of the remaining population is at greater risk for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and obesity. Incorporating a juicing regiment helps to meet 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. In turn, greater energy, weight loss, pH balance, immunity to illness, healthy skin, and productive digestion will be achieved as well as aiding in detoxification, recovery, and hydration.

Hassan and his clients alike have come to know juicing is a delicious alternative to a healthy life and meal replacement. When Hassan started juicing, he noticed changes right away. He had the energy of a young man and it felt great. One of the many aspects of juicing allows the body to know it is getting the proper fuel needed without having to eat poultry. At 45 years of age, Hassan is in the best shape of his life—he runs daily, he lifts weights, he operate two successful businesses, he is never sick, and he looks and feels great! If you’re looking for results like these, Hassan has a great juicing program for you–from weight loss to detox, from energy boosting to immunity boosting—whatever you’re looking for, you will find it in Oui Juice.

 

Created by a certified sports and fitness trainer, Oui Juice is designed to enhance your diet and exercise program for superior results. Our mission is to provide a way to incorporate healthy choices into daily life in a way that is enjoyable, nutritious, and suited to each individual. 

Visit Ouijuice.com to start your health journey, now!

Brush Off Your Midterm Woes: It’s World Sleep Day

Tired of reviewing for midterm exams on top of putting in extra hours at your campus job? Well, we have the perfect excuse for you to take that much needed break! Today is World Sleep Day.

Forget waking up or pressing the snooze button, you can dismiss the alarm completely (unless you’re heading off to a graded lecture). Here are our top tips for napping on World Sleep Day.

The power of napping: Improve cognitive processes, alertness and memory

Short naps, often referred to as power naps can amplify your memory and allow you to absorb information faster. Axel Mecklinger’s study published in his journal, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, observe memory retention rates in two groups of people.

One group watched a film, while the other took a short nap. Afterwards, both groups we asked to complete a learning task. Findings demonstrated that the group who had napped had five times better memory retrieval than the group who had watched the film.

A brief 40 to 60 minutes of sleep is an essential, especially during midterms when it’s likely that students are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep. Brief naps aid with improving motor skills, while longer naps over an hour enable the brain to make new connections and work to enhance your problem-solving skills.

Sleeping in the dark

Blue light reflected by our various digital gadgets—phones, tables, computers and laptops—have been shown to suppress the sleep regulating hormone melatonin. Sleeping in the dark, without any blue light pollution, is an essential way of insuring your sleep is undisturbed.

In a recent study by researchers at the University of Granada, melatonin was been shown to fight obesity and diabetes in rats, leading researchers to stressed sleeping in the dark to prevent obstructions in the body’s creation of this vital neurohormone.

Aromatherapy: Making sleep smell like paradise

If you’re into essential oils, two that are highly recommended for sleep in aromatherapy practice are lavender essential oil and cedar-wood essential oil.

In a study conducted by the University of Southampton testing the sleep patterns of 10 adults, there was a 20 percent improvement in the sleep patterns of adults sleeping in the room with lavender essential oil dispersed in the air, in comparison to the other adults sleeping in the room with the almond oil diffused air.

Other health perks of  diffusing lavender oil in your room include a decrease in anxiety, blood pressure and a more relaxed state of mind.

Cedrol, the key element of cedar-wood essential oil, on the other hand works to produce a gradual sedative effect, helping you fall asleep.

As well rubbing oils onto your wrists and hands before smelling them, essential oils can be dropped into your fragrance diffusers to allow the smell to gently waft into your room and slowly coax your brain into sleeping.

Image courtesy of Flickr

The art of bathing

Although, a quick shower before work or a lecture is usually the most common way of keeping clean, a warm bath with essential oils and massages allow you to achieve that quality ‘me time.’

Lowering your body temperature with a bath an hour before bedtime soothes the body and prepares you for sleep.

 

See also: Words of Wisdom on International Women’s Day

 

 

Three Celebrity Skincare Routines to Help Inspire Your Own

With skincare routines at the forefront of everyone’s minds these days, we rounded up the routines of our favorite celebrities including Victoria Secrets’ Kelly Gale, Grammy Award winning, actress and singer Zendaya, and Oscar-winner, Kate Winslet.

Kelly Gale

According to Harpers Bazaar, Kelly Gale, the Swedish Indian and Australian model for Victoria Secrets, uses a makeup removing cloth from Face Halo to remove all of her eye and face makeup first before she starts her routine. The make-up removing cloth has been hailed as ‘game changing’ by InStyle and adored by beauty brands for example, Refinery 29.

Gale follows this step with the Tata Harper’s Resurfacing Mask, that she applies four times a week.

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While the mask dries, Gale dry brushes her entire body starting from her feet to increase circulation and break down cellulite. Once the mask has dried and been washed off, she applies Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Serum from L’Oréal Paris to keep her skin hydrated, and then the routine is finished with Dermalogica’s Intensive Moisture Balance moisturizer.

Alongside non-abrasive alternatives to removing make-up and nourishing the skin, her routine uses products that have been promoted by esteemed beauty brands such as Cult Beauty and InStyle and revives a natural, holistic approach to skincare through the practice of dry brushing.

Zendaya

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Golden girl #TommyxZendaya

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The first step in Zendaya’s nighttime skin care routine, as per her blog entry is removing makeup and dirt from her face with Shea Moisture African Black Soup Facial Cleansing Wipes; step 2 involves toning her face with a rose water and witch hazel blend.

The routine is finished off with Vitamin E serum from The Body Shop. The serum has a five-star rating and an affordable price of $21.

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Outtakes

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 Kate Winslet

Vitamin E is favorite of Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet. In an exclusive interview with Vogue, she discusses her skin care routine, make-up tricks, travel beauty tips and, as a mother of two daughters, the influence of social media on beauty.

Kate Winslet describes her skin care routine as “pretty fast because it just has to be” and her product list starts with the Tracie Martyn Amla Purifying Cleanser, which she applies on a daily basis across her face and neck.

After cleansing, she treats her dry skin with Lancôme Toner Comfort and slathers up with Advanced Genefique Sensitive. “Shake, slather, done,” she tells Vogue.

See Also:

The Met Gala’s Best and Worst Dressed Highlights

The 10 Beauty Must-Haves That Every Girl Needs

Beauty Subscription Boxes: Birchbox vs. Ipsy

Painfully Pretty: Beauty Products That Go The Extra Mile In Discomfort

Our Must-Read Novels for World Book Day

From Modernism to Post-Colonial writing and Science Fiction, the literature canon has forever been evolving; however, today we’ll be bringing to you our top must reads from Penguin’s Classics for World Book Day.

1. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Image Courtesy of Flickr

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (1970) foretells the journey of a young black girl and her struggle to fit into the era’s dominant Eurocentric ideals of beauty. The protagonist, Pecola Breedlove’s inability to fulfil these ideals, which forms the titular “The Bluest Eye” paves her descent into madness and is chronicled by the novel. Her characterization is juxtaposed with other black female characters such as Claudia, who resist and repudiate the placement of these ideals onto them by mainstream culture.

The Bluest Eye is a must read for those interested in exploring Intersectional Feminism further or want to learn more about the internal effect of racism within families in the 1970s and today.

2. The Bloody Chamber and Other Short Stories by Angela Carter

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Published in 1979, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories promises a Gothic retelling of the original Brothers Grimm Fairy tales or as Carter puts it, ‘extract the latent content from traditional stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories.’

The Bloody Chamber itself plays upon the classic fairy tale Bluebeard, the story of a nobleman who murders his wives and places their bodies in an isolated room within his castle.

However, Carter’s analysis of the male gaze, female masochism and rejection of traditional fairy tale archetypes such as: the damsel in distress or the saviour Prince puts an eloquent spin on the story, accentuated further in the resolution.

The Bloody Chamber is an additional fantastic read for Women’s Day with its coming of age narrative of a young woman and evaluation of the panoptic, male gaze’s influence in society.

3Kindred by Octavia Butler

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The 1979 novel Kindred is a Speculative Fiction novel, whose publication following the Golden Age of Science Fiction, challenged and revolutionized the Science Fiction canon of predominately male writers.

In Kindred, the past is brought into discussion with the present as the Science Fiction genre enables the protagonist of the novel, Dana Franklin, an African American writer to travel to her ancestral past—a slave plantation in 1815, Maryland.

The novels share some parallels with the popular Spanish Netflix series, Always a Witch, known as Siempre Bruja to its Spanish audience. Both observe the practice of slavery; however, while the Spanish series is set in 17th-century and present-day Spain, Kindred takes place in 1970s California with the protagonist time travelling to save Rufus Weylin, her white slave master ancestor in order to ensure her own survival in the future.

4. Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis

The 1984 novel Money: A Suicide Note explores the effect of the neoliberal movement in the 80s defined by privatization, cutting down expenses spent on social welfare and deregulation, thereby placing all responsibilities on the individual.

Margaret Thatcher’s famous quote: “There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no governments can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first’ became a defining statement to describe neoliberalism..

The freedom given to the individual is observed through a cultural, pornographic excess in the novel. Pornography encapsulates the environment of the protagonist, John Self, from the tiles of restaurants: ‘Long Whoopers’ and ‘Big Thick Juicy Hot One’ to the description of his girlfriend, Selina Street, who looks like ‘a nude magazine’.

Martin Amis’ satirical projection of the 80s via the antihero, John Self, is relevant to topics discussed even today, for example the depiction of masculinity and the ‘crisis of masculinity.’

See also: Five Books About Climate Change You Need to Read Now