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!
*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!
If this was helpful for you, join my Facebook group where you can find more wellness tips – free of charge. <3
Pregnancy cravings led me straight to the Starbucks line where I spent $5 on a single Matcha Latte or Peppermint Mocha. If we know anything about Starbucks, we know it’s not budget friendly and usually not very healthy. God only knows how much sugar goes in those drinks.
I knew this wouldn’t be a sustainable choice for my bank account, but the questionable ingredients also weren’t good for baby (or me!) so I started trying to figure out how to make my own warm, frothy drinks from home.
I ended up getting this Milk Frother & Hot Chocolate Maker, and it’s been a game changer!
I’ll preface this by saying you do have to get used to the flavor and texture a little bit, and some milks froth better than others. This definitely isn’t an exact comparison to the Starbucks drinks. In fact, when I made my first matcha latte I remember thinking it wasn’t as frothy or sweet as Starbucks, but it was good enough to keep me from going back for a while!
Because I was well aware the Starbucks drinks were filled with sugar, I started making my matcha lattes with vanilla soy milk. Vanilla because I know that’s the kind they use at Starbucks (which contributes to the sugar load) and soy because that’s the milk I like best from Starbucks.
I knew eventually I’d be able to work back down to unsweetened milk, but for now I just needed to switch to the homemade stuff even if it had more sugar than I liked to admit! Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
I’m at the point now where I use unsweetened almond milk, and I don’t miss the professionally made drinks at all!
Matcha Latte
(Pour directly into Frother milk jug)
- 1 cup milk (I’ve been using Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk)
- 1 tsp matcha powder (make sure the only ingredient is matcha powder - a lot of them have added cane sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (my favorite is from Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup (bonus points if it’s local, EXTRA bonus points if you can work to minimizing or even eliminating the sweetener!)
Hit the button on the Frother ONCE and wait for it to turn itself off.
I totally eyeball all of this other than the amount of matcha powder because I don’t want to overdo the caffeine — and I definitely fill the milk jug past the max fill line.
Next I needed to find an alternative for a Peppermint Mocha. I had zero clue that the only difference between a Peppermint Hot Chocolate and a Peppermint Mocha is the espresso they put in the mocha, but now I know. Good thing too, because I definitely wasn’t ordering it for the caffeine. In fact, even pre-pregnancy I barely ever had caffeine. So I went to Pinterest to find a healthy hot chocolate that actually tastes good.
Healthy Hot Chocolate
(Pour directly into Frother milk jug)
- 1 cup milk (I’ve been using Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk)
- 1 tbsp raw cacao powder (NOT cocoa powder)
- 1-3 dashes of cinnamon
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup (bonus points if it’s local, EXTRA bonus points if you can work to minimizing or even eliminating the sweetener!)
Hit the button on the Frother TWICE and wait for it to turn itself off. Enjoy!
Once I found out my eczema was gut health related, what did I do?
The VERY first thing I did? I honestly don’t remember. I think I just let it sink in. I may have started taking a probiotic again, but I wasn’t sure what the right steps were. I was in limbo for a little while.
A series of divine interventions led to me finding a free workshop my soon-to-be Health Coach was offering on gut health. I remember the flyer saying “eczema” and “gut health” and that’s all I really needed to be on board!
I went to her free workshop and then enrolled in her program. It was several weeks long during which time she educated us on different topics each week.
She talked about food. Grains. High glycemic versus low glycemic. Some things have stuck with me since going through her program like white rice and white potatoes versus brown rice and sweet potatoes. The first couple are high glycemic. The latter couple are low glycemic.
When you’re on a journey to heal your gut, low glycemic is easier on your digestive system. I still choose brown rice over white (in fact, I don’t even buy white rice and I cringe when it’s my only option eating out) and I order sweet potato fries over normal fries when I have the option.
Brown rice, quinoa & sweet potatoes are my easy go-tos when I’m trying to formulate a healthy meal.
Some easy (or no so easy?) things to cut out (or cut waaaaay back) are the super-inflammatory culprits. Gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol. Processed foods can also be very inflammatory. A lot of them are also filled with addictive chemicals so you keep overeating and buying more. Ideally you want your food to COME FROM a plant, not be MADE IN a plant. See the difference?
Another not-so-fun guideline was to avoid eating out at all costs. The bottom line is you don't know what goes on in the kitchen. The sourcing of the meat, the vegetables, how much salt or sugar is added, etc.
Speaking of sourcing of meat: organic, grass fed beef. organic, free range chicken. wild caught (rather than farm raised) seafood. As far as vegetables, organic is preferred. In season and local is even better.
Let me emphasize right now that a restrictive diet is NOT something I recommend long term. (Although cutting out processed foods and sticking with organic meats is always a good idea.) On a journey to heal your gut? Sure! But only eating 5-7 different foods all the time is NOT good for your health.
Variety is the spice of life, and variety in your diet is actually essential!
This was a “detox” for us in the program. A “reset” for our bodies. We would not follow these “rules” long term, but for these several weeks we did the best we could. We just ate a nice, clean diet filled with high quality whole foods. Although - like I said - a lot of these practices stayed with me and would be good for you as well!
Vegetables were a huge part of that. Fruit too (organic green apples and berries have the least sugar), but vegetables more-so. Making sure your plate is at least half veggies is really important.
CHEWING is also really important! One week Jackie challenged us to chew our food 30 times before swallowing. Try it! It’s difficult!
This just begins to scrape the surface of my journey, so hang on tight for part 2 next week.
The VERY first thing I did? I honestly don’t remember. I think I just let it sink in. I may have started taking a probiotic again, but I wasn’t sure what the right steps were. I was in limbo for a little while.
A series of divine interventions led to me finding a free workshop my soon-to-be Health Coach was offering on gut health. I remember the flyer saying “eczema” and “gut health” and that’s all I really needed to be on board!
I went to her free workshop and then enrolled in her program. It was several weeks long during which time she educated us on different topics each week.
She talked about food. Grains. High glycemic versus low glycemic. Some things have stuck with me since going through her program like white rice and white potatoes versus brown rice and sweet potatoes. The first couple are high glycemic. The latter couple are low glycemic.
When you’re on a journey to heal your gut, low glycemic is easier on your digestive system. I still choose brown rice over white (in fact, I don’t even buy white rice and I cringe when it’s my only option eating out) and I order sweet potato fries over normal fries when I have the option.
Brown rice, quinoa & sweet potatoes are my easy go-tos when I’m trying to formulate a healthy meal.
Some easy (or no so easy?) things to cut out (or cut waaaaay back) are the super-inflammatory culprits. Gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol. Processed foods can also be very inflammatory. A lot of them are also filled with addictive chemicals so you keep overeating and buying more. Ideally you want your food to COME FROM a plant, not be MADE IN a plant. See the difference?
Another not-so-fun guideline was to avoid eating out at all costs. The bottom line is you don't know what goes on in the kitchen. The sourcing of the meat, the vegetables, how much salt or sugar is added, etc.
Speaking of sourcing of meat: organic, grass fed beef. organic, free range chicken. wild caught (rather than farm raised) seafood. As far as vegetables, organic is preferred. In season and local is even better.
Let me emphasize right now that a restrictive diet is NOT something I recommend long term. (Although cutting out processed foods and sticking with organic meats is always a good idea.) On a journey to heal your gut? Sure! But only eating 5-7 different foods all the time is NOT good for your health.
Variety is the spice of life, and variety in your diet is actually essential!
This was a “detox” for us in the program. A “reset” for our bodies. We would not follow these “rules” long term, but for these several weeks we did the best we could. We just ate a nice, clean diet filled with high quality whole foods. Although - like I said - a lot of these practices stayed with me and would be good for you as well!
Vegetables were a huge part of that. Fruit too (organic green apples and berries have the least sugar), but vegetables more-so. Making sure your plate is at least half veggies is really important.
CHEWING is also really important! One week Jackie challenged us to chew our food 30 times before swallowing. Try it! It’s difficult!
This just begins to scrape the surface of my journey, so hang on tight for part 2 next week.
If this was helpful for you, join my Facebook group where you can find more wellness tips – free of charge. <3
You can also grab my free guide on 3 Easy Steps to Lose Weight and Feel Amazing here.
There are different kinds of eczema. It doesn’t look the same for everyone. But it’s embarrassing and painful. That much is the same across the board.
For me, eczema looked like I was wearing gloves. Every single person thought it was SO odd that there was such a defined line right at my wrist. My hands would get beet red when I had a really bad flare up, and that was more often than not. This was so bad that I was asked it if was sunburn several times. Nope, it’s eczema. But it sure does burn.
If I was really lucky, the back of my hands, my knuckles, and even my fingers would crack almost like winter skin. But it was year round.
It was downright awful. And I had no idea what was causing it. The worst part? Neither did the dermatologists. They ran some tests and determined it was environmental. I was instructed to stay away from products with Fragrance, and I was prescribed a topical steroid ointment and cream.
The ointment and cream really did help a lot, but the eczema kept coming back. And those topicals were not cheap. So it came time for another prescription refill, and in an act of frustration and desperation, I decided to figure out for myself what was causing my eczema. Naturally I turned to Google: “Causes of eczema.” (And for the record, I do believe if one finds herself dependent on a prescription to cover up a symptom, she at least owes it to herself to try to find the root of the problem.)
Something came up that caught my eye. It’s called Leaky Gut. What they don’t tell you in western medical practices is that eczema is totally and completely related to the health of your gut. This blew my mind. This was a complete game changer. But this was just the beginning of the road.
This started my journey of healing my gut. For me, this looked like working with a Health Coach in her Gut Health workshop. I cut way down on processed foods, started changing out products in my home for plant-based options without chemicals, and took healing supplements like probiotics, hemp oil & detoxers.
I learned about the bacteria in your gut. How you have good bacteria and bad bacteria, and this is normal. But when the bad bacteria outweigh the good bacteria, that’s when you have issues like eczema, acne, infertility, anxiety, depression, fatigue. You know that saying about a “gut feeling”? There’s truth to that because your gut is truly your second brain. Some would argue it’s your first. When there's something in your body that feels "off," healing your gut will likely solve a lot of your problems.
I was mind. blown. when I found out everything gut health impacts. (I was also a bit upset - "WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE?") And like any health journey, it wasn’t quite linear for me. I still had work to do. There were still some missing pieces I had to pull together. But we’ll save that for next week.
For me, eczema looked like I was wearing gloves. Every single person thought it was SO odd that there was such a defined line right at my wrist. My hands would get beet red when I had a really bad flare up, and that was more often than not. This was so bad that I was asked it if was sunburn several times. Nope, it’s eczema. But it sure does burn.
If I was really lucky, the back of my hands, my knuckles, and even my fingers would crack almost like winter skin. But it was year round.
It was downright awful. And I had no idea what was causing it. The worst part? Neither did the dermatologists. They ran some tests and determined it was environmental. I was instructed to stay away from products with Fragrance, and I was prescribed a topical steroid ointment and cream.
The ointment and cream really did help a lot, but the eczema kept coming back. And those topicals were not cheap. So it came time for another prescription refill, and in an act of frustration and desperation, I decided to figure out for myself what was causing my eczema. Naturally I turned to Google: “Causes of eczema.” (And for the record, I do believe if one finds herself dependent on a prescription to cover up a symptom, she at least owes it to herself to try to find the root of the problem.)
Something came up that caught my eye. It’s called Leaky Gut. What they don’t tell you in western medical practices is that eczema is totally and completely related to the health of your gut. This blew my mind. This was a complete game changer. But this was just the beginning of the road.
This started my journey of healing my gut. For me, this looked like working with a Health Coach in her Gut Health workshop. I cut way down on processed foods, started changing out products in my home for plant-based options without chemicals, and took healing supplements like probiotics, hemp oil & detoxers.
I learned about the bacteria in your gut. How you have good bacteria and bad bacteria, and this is normal. But when the bad bacteria outweigh the good bacteria, that’s when you have issues like eczema, acne, infertility, anxiety, depression, fatigue. You know that saying about a “gut feeling”? There’s truth to that because your gut is truly your second brain. Some would argue it’s your first. When there's something in your body that feels "off," healing your gut will likely solve a lot of your problems.
I was mind. blown. when I found out everything gut health impacts. (I was also a bit upset - "WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE?") And like any health journey, it wasn’t quite linear for me. I still had work to do. There were still some missing pieces I had to pull together. But we’ll save that for next week.
If this was helpful for you, join my Facebook group where you can find more wellness tips – free of charge. <3
You can also grab my free guide on 3 Easy Steps to Lose Weight and Feel Amazing here.
