That dreaded question on every medical form: “Do you exercise regularly?”
Oof. Is that convicting or what? This probably isn’t something that you’re thinking of on a daily basis, but when you’re flat out asked the question, you’re forced to reflect.
“Do you exercise regularly?”
Less than 1 in 4 people do.
I feel like a big reason for this is that we are simply not taking our health seriously enough. We’re not putting ourselves first, not making ourselves a priority. We “don’t” have time - but of course we know we’re just not making the time.
You make time for what’s important to you. Period.
The other reason I can think of is that it’s just plain daunting. You feel like you have to jump right into this routine of working out an hour a day, 7 days per week - but you don’t!
This is something I’ve been guilty of, I’ll admit. I fall out of an exercise routine for one reason or another, tell myself I need to jump back in (with a consistency of 5-7 days per week) & then I procrastinate until I'm sure I can get it perfect.
I’m a master procrastinator.
I procrastinate because it’s daunting to start a “routine”.
There’s a sense of commitment that comes with the word.
But here’s the thing: You don’t need to work out every day to say you exercise “regularly”. At least that’s how I see it.
What’s important is that you start. You can start with ONE day per week. Work your way up to 3. Maybe you’ll make your way up to 5. You might even find a form of exercise that you LOVE and you actually start to crave every day!
Or maybe you’ll find a few things you enjoy and you’ll spread them out throughout the week! Especially now that spring is upon us - thank you God for warmer weather! (Hello there, walks and bike rides!)
I love to do yoga at home. It’s not a huge commitment to just roll out your mat and follow a free 15-30 minute YouTube video. GOING to the yoga studio and committing to a hour long practice, yes, can be SO good for the soul, but it’s not something I can easily commit to in this season of life.
Something I recently started is Pilates! I’ve been loving that too. It’s not something that requires a supportive sports bra, tied up gym shoes or really even much of a sweat. And yet my whole body feels “worked” at the end of the 30 minute session. That's my kind of workout.
Pretty much any form of exercise I can do barefoot is more my vibe. I know this about myself, and I work with it.
If you don't know what your vibe is yet, I encourage you to try different things until you finally find what you truly enjoy! Or reach out to me and I'll help you figure out what your workout style is!
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there soon because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training this month!
Want to get a head start? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here!
I used to drive home from work feeling like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I had even convinced myself that I had asthma, and should probably see a doctor.
Then I realized I just wasn’t breathing properly.
It sounds so simple. Breathing is something each one of us is born knowing how to do. So why do I literally catch myself holding my breath?
Stress. Anxiety. Overthinking.
I’ve also learned that I’m not the only person who does this. This is an actual thing — we hold our breath because we’re stressed.
On these drives home from work, I would get in my head and replay scenarios that happened that day thinking of how I handled something. “I should have said this differently.” “I should have done that differently.” “What does so and so think of me now.” “Am I going to get in trouble for that?”
That last one is a side effect of being “the good girl” growing up. Following the rules. Being afraid of getting into trouble. This also falls into the category of people pleasing. Which is a whole other stress-inducing category!
I would stress over really silly tiny things. Still do sometimes (it's much better since using these tips), but I have to remind myself that I’m making things out to be a much bigger deal in my head than they are in real life.
I once heard that worrying is nothing but a waste of time. It’s stressing over hypothetical scenarios that have yet to happen. So you’re literally putting yourself through at least twice the amount of stress than you need to. More if you're replaying it in your head over and over.
If you know something is coming up that you’re worried about, not only are you putting yourself through the situation while you’re worrying — because your brain doesn’t really know the difference between something happening in real life and something you’re making up in your head — but you’ll be going through the stress of the situation all over again when it actually happens (IF it actually happens).
Your mindset is so powerful when it comes to your stress level. You can choose not to get upset over the little things. You can choose not to worry about what might happen. You can choose to see a situation through a different lens and not get worked up over it.
That’s what I invite you to do this week. Reframe your thoughts. Take control of your mind. If you can take control of your thoughts and your mind, you will have truly unlocked a new level of health.
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there soon because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training this month!
Want to get a head start? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here!
I will never understand how people make plans that START at 8pm on a Friday night..
First of all, aren’t you tired from the week?
Second of all, don’t you want to have a nice Saturday morning?
I truly love mornings, but mine, admittedly, are usually rushed. I don’t get in what I’d like to get in each morning. Saturdays are my days when I can have a nice, slow morning.
If I’m up until the wee hours on a Friday night, do you think I’m getting up early Saturday to have a nice morning? No way! I’ll be getting as much sleep as I can.
Maybe you’re reading this and you just think I’m 90 years old. Maybe you’re reading this and you actually relate to what I’m saying.
I imagine if you’ve gotten this far, it’s probably the latter. :)
You’ve probably guessed by now, that my answer to the question “When do you truly set the tone for your morning?” — The night before.
If I go to bed past 10, I am NOT going to have a nice morning.
Yes, I can wake up and “decide” to have a good day. I’ll drink my lemon water and hopefully get a few stretches in, but I’m not going to enjoy my morning as much as if I’ve woken up feeling refreshed.
And if it’s a Saturday morning, by the time I’m out of bed the morning is almost over. (Yes, I realize this won’t be the case once baby is here — I’ll just be downright EXHAUSTED. Another blog for another day. :) )
For me, it really is true that no matter how much sleep I get, I’m going to be tired the next day if I’m in bed past 10.
So — how to do ensure a good night’s rest?
#1: Go to bed at a decent hour.
For me, this is SLEEPING by 10. BUT I’ve noticed I get especially good rest if I …
#2: Read before going to sleep.
Not on your phone. Not on a kindle with a light up screen. A book. A magazine. Something that’s not electronic. Because not only does the blue light make your brain think it’s still daytime and therefore not time to wind down and go to sleep, but also the EMFs disturb your quality of sleep. Which leads me to…
#3: Keep electronics out of the bedroom.
Get yourself an actual alarm clock rather than setting it on your phone and putting it on your bedside table. Not only will you be tempted to scroll through your phone until you fall asleep, but any notifications will likely wake you up as you’re drifting off to sleep. If you have a TV in your room, turn it off at LEAST an hour before you shut your eyes. If the router is in your bedroom, unplug it.
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. In there, you'll even find Make Mornings Lovely: A 7 Day Challenge, so hop in there now and start loving your mornings.
For the past couple weeks we’ve been celebrating my stepdaughter’s birthday. This means planning a party with foods I don’t normally keep in my every day diet. This also means baking (and eating) a cake, and then one week later baking (and eating) cupcakes.
Thankfully there was very little cake left over after her birthday party, but when we made two dozen cupcakes for just the three of us - there were a lot of leftovers.
And speaking of leftovers, while there wasn’t much cake left after the birthday party the week prior, there was definitely plenty of “party food.”
So here’s what happened - for a couple days after the party, my husband and I were eating party food leftovers. Then a couple days after that we had even more cake 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
If you haven’t heard me say it yet: Inflammation is the root of all disease.
Also, if you haven’t heard me say it yet: A food is either fighting disease or feeding it, there is no in between.
Some inflammatory foods are individual to a person. Others are true for all. Gluten, refined sugar, GMO corn, dairy. Those are some big ones.
In the case for anyone with eczema - this is an inflammation issue. And it starts in the gut.
An anti-inflammatory diet is one that consists of foods that LOVE on your gut - that DON’T contribute to inflammation in the body.
This is always something I have in the back of my mind, especially as someone who is very sensitive to inflammation in the body (hello, eczema. But also - hello, daytime fatigue!).
Cupcakes and “party food,” I’m (kind of?) sorry to say, are inflammatory.
I had to get those cupcakes out of sight so I’d stop eating them. Yes, I know my will power is weak sometimes, but that’s why those foods usually just don’t make it in my house!!
Treats that are still yummy and won’t make me feel cruddy:
- Fresh cut fruit and plain (NOT vanilla - look at that sugar content!) almond milk yogurt
- Celery or apple slices with almond butter (peanut butter is, unfortunately, inflammatory in nature)
- 70% dark chocolate- yes, this is considered a health food at 1 oz per day! Add some almonds in there to make it more filling! Or maybe melt it and dip your fruit in it?
- A homemade tea latte! Add a bit of frothed milk to your favorite tea 🫖
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there soon because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training in a couple weeks!
Can't wait that long? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here to get a jumpstart!
*Updating on July 1, 2023 to mention I'm divorced now, because I feel like that’s relevant 🙃*
Thinking back on my wedding day, I'm reminded of my motivation to eat cleaner & avoid eczema triggers. I knew there would be a LOT of pictures of my hands, nice and up-close. The last thing I wanted was for red, scaley skin to be in every picture from my wedding day.
I do not advocate for unsustainable, majorly restrictive diets. That’s not what our bodies were made for, but sometimes it’s necessary for a short period of time for your body to recalibrate.
Leading up to the wedding, I was restricting most fruits including fruit derivatives - palm oil (in most gluten free breads, crackers, baked goods, peanut butters, etc.), vitamin A palmitate (in most store-bought dairy alternative milks), grape-based vinegar & anything with avocado, olives or coconut. Anything with garlic or onions was out too.
I didn’t come up with this list on my own. I was tested for food sensitivities by a naturopathic doctor. That didn’t make this list any easier to follow.
And you bet your bottom dollar I indulged like crazy on the honeymoon - eating the foods I had been depriving myself of for so long.
That list of food sensitivities is not a fluke. When I eat too much of certain foods on that list, I’m destined for a flare up. But I’m learning my boundaries.
A year later, I'm able to eat some of the foods on my trigger list without having a flare up.
The trick is to know what your body can handle, and not to overdo it. And if your body starts to rebel whether in the form of an eczema flare up or an unsettled stomach, you know you need to pull back.
The moral of the story is I was desperate for clear skin on my wedding day, and for me that meant restricting for a bit. But not forever.
Variety is the spice of life. Your body craves variety. Feeding it the same 3 foods all the time is not only boring, but it’s not good for your body systems - including your immune system.
Your immune system depends on a healthy gut, and a healthy gut is made up of a diverse microbiome. A diverse microbiome is nurtured by a variety in diet.
So just remember - if you need to go on a special diet for a special reason for a short amount of time, that’s totally okay. But don’t forget to keep some variety in your diet, and your life for that matter!
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