In Step 1 of My Gut Healing Journey and Step 2 of My Gut Healing Journey we talked about food. Food is so important, but the health of your gut is not just about what you eat.
It’s about what goes on your body. One of the first things almost anyone will tell you when it comes to eczema is to stop using products with fragrance on the eczema.
Fragrance is an irritant, but it’s also extremely bad for your gut health. Most fragrance (and we’re talking “fragrance” listed as an ingredient) contains phthalates which are endocrine disrupting chemicals. Your endocrine system produces hormones, and the majority of your hormones are housed in your gut!
That being said, it’s not only important to stop using fragrance on your eczema, but it’s also important to stop using it anywhere on your body! You can read more about that here.
Young Living is one brand in particular I trust 100%. I know there will never be synthetic or “natural” fragrance in their products. Anything that smells nice in their products is from clean essential oils made only with plant juice. It’s a wonderful thing.
Other brands may offer unscented or fragrance-free options. Apps like EWG Healthy Living and Think Dirty have helped me a lot in the store.
Makeups are also filled with ingredients that wreak havoc on your gut. To put things into perspective, Europe bans over 1300 chemicals from cosmetic products. The US only bans 11. Clean brands, while harder to find, do exist. Once again Young Living is my favorite for this one (they actually have a list of over 2000 chemicals they will never use in their cosmetics), but BeautyCounter is another brand I know that goes the extra mile to keep icky ingredients out.
Nail polish is another one I never thought I’d have to second guess. The big name brands are filled with harmful chemicals like Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, and Camphor. Look for 5-Free (even better is 6, 7, or 8-free!) nail polishes like Olive & June, Ella + Mila & Static.
The health of your gut is also directly related to your levels of stress. Your gut can only repair itself when it’s in rest and digest mode. If you’re in fight or flight all the time, that’s not good for your gut!
Taking time to relax, destress, breathe & just take time for you is so important. The main reason I started using essential oils (which I’m obsessed with now by the way) was to help me relax. You can read more about that here.
Getting enough sleep is important too! This is optimal rest and digest time! Taking your probiotic and then getting in bed to get 7-9 hours of sleep will do you SO much good.
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.
We live in a world of go, go, go. A global pandemic forced us all to take a pause for a little while, but a lot of us are back to being busy. A lot.
First of all, if you haven’t seen this said anywhere else yet: being busy is not a badge of honor. Being SO busy that you don’t have time to cook for yourself is not a badge of honor.
Being SO busy that you don’t have time to get 7-9 hours of sleep at night is not a badge of honor.
Being SO busy that you don’t have time to exercise or take the dog for a walk is NOT a badge of honor.
In fact, it’s a really great way to make yourself sick.
What do I mean by that? A state of constant stress wreaks havoc on your immune system.
Have you ever been fighting off a cold, but you have so much going on that you didn’t take the time to slow down and give your body the rest it needed to fight whatever bug off, so you ended up getting sick? Your immune system was under too much stress to do its job.
I recently learned that when a doctor performs an organ transplant, the patient is given a stress hormone that our bodies produce when under massive stress IN ORDER TO SHUT DOWN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM so the body doesn’t reject the new organ.
If that doesn’t paint a picture of the insane destruction stress has over our bodies, I don’t know what will!
Another saying you’ve probably heard is “you are what you eat.” Well, in health coaching I learned this saying should actually go “you are what you absorb.” If your body isn’t digesting properly, it won’t absorb properly.
In order to ensure optimal digestion, your body needs to be in a state of calm.
Your body is EITHER in “Fight or Flight” OR “Rest & Digest.” Can you guess which one you want to be in when you’re eating?
Fight or Flight is great if you’re being chased by a bear, but we don’t want or need that adrenaline rush when we’re eating.
In order to digest our food properly, our bodies need to be in Rest & Digest. This means making mealtimes sacred. This means turning off screens. This means NOT eating dinner in front of the TV or while scrolling instagram.
REST & digest. Give your body the chance it needs to calm down so it can function the way it was designed to.
First of all, if you haven’t seen this said anywhere else yet: being busy is not a badge of honor. Being SO busy that you don’t have time to cook for yourself is not a badge of honor.
Being SO busy that you don’t have time to get 7-9 hours of sleep at night is not a badge of honor.
Being SO busy that you don’t have time to exercise or take the dog for a walk is NOT a badge of honor.
In fact, it’s a really great way to make yourself sick.
What do I mean by that? A state of constant stress wreaks havoc on your immune system.
Have you ever been fighting off a cold, but you have so much going on that you didn’t take the time to slow down and give your body the rest it needed to fight whatever bug off, so you ended up getting sick? Your immune system was under too much stress to do its job.
I recently learned that when a doctor performs an organ transplant, the patient is given a stress hormone that our bodies produce when under massive stress IN ORDER TO SHUT DOWN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM so the body doesn’t reject the new organ.
If that doesn’t paint a picture of the insane destruction stress has over our bodies, I don’t know what will!
Another saying you’ve probably heard is “you are what you eat.” Well, in health coaching I learned this saying should actually go “you are what you absorb.” If your body isn’t digesting properly, it won’t absorb properly.
In order to ensure optimal digestion, your body needs to be in a state of calm.
Your body is EITHER in “Fight or Flight” OR “Rest & Digest.” Can you guess which one you want to be in when you’re eating?
Fight or Flight is great if you’re being chased by a bear, but we don’t want or need that adrenaline rush when we’re eating.
In order to digest our food properly, our bodies need to be in Rest & Digest. This means making mealtimes sacred. This means turning off screens. This means NOT eating dinner in front of the TV or while scrolling instagram.
REST & digest. Give your body the chance it needs to calm down so it can function the way it was designed to.
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.
Stress management is huge. It impacts your whole world. How you talk to others, how you talk to yourself, how your food digests, the overall health of your body.
A body with well-managed stress is a lot healthier than a body that’s in fight or flight all the time.
And if you’re having gut health issues (eczema, acne, anxiety, headaches, fatigue), it’s that much more important to get your body out of fight or flight and into rest and digest.
Not to mention you just FEEL a million times better when you’re managing your stress appropriately.
Here are some of my favorite ways to manage stress:
1. Meditation
This is something I’ve only just started doing, but I’m already a huge fan. I’ve been starting with a 10 minute guided meditation, and I notice a massive difference in my stress (and patience) levels. I’m less likely to be triggered by things that usually annoy the heck out of me when I’ve done my meditation that morning. And I’m only 4 days in.
2. Yoga
It’s the stretching and the breath work. I have a feeling of zen I carry with me when I finish my yoga practice.
3. Connect with the Earth
Take your shoes and socks off, stand in the grass & just feel for a few minutes.
4. Essential oils
There are the obvious ones like Stress Away and Lavender, but Palo Santo and other tree oils are very grounding. Frankincense is another one that’s earthy and grounding. Valor and Peace & Calming are great ones to use too. Diffuse them, rub a couple drops together in your palms and take the scent in, put a drop or two on your wrists - there’s really no wrong way to do it. As long as you’re breathing in the scent, it’s working.
5. Sleep
Sometimes, you just need a good sleep. Take a nap, get 8-9 hours in, or just get under the covers and rest your eyes.
If you can find a way to work these into your daily routine, you'll be much better off - I promise! Which of these do you see yourself working into your morning routine? Your wind down routine? What are some of your favorite ways to manage stress? Let me know in the comments below.
A body with well-managed stress is a lot healthier than a body that’s in fight or flight all the time.
And if you’re having gut health issues (eczema, acne, anxiety, headaches, fatigue), it’s that much more important to get your body out of fight or flight and into rest and digest.
Not to mention you just FEEL a million times better when you’re managing your stress appropriately.
Here are some of my favorite ways to manage stress:
1. Meditation
This is something I’ve only just started doing, but I’m already a huge fan. I’ve been starting with a 10 minute guided meditation, and I notice a massive difference in my stress (and patience) levels. I’m less likely to be triggered by things that usually annoy the heck out of me when I’ve done my meditation that morning. And I’m only 4 days in.
2. Yoga
It’s the stretching and the breath work. I have a feeling of zen I carry with me when I finish my yoga practice.
3. Connect with the Earth
Take your shoes and socks off, stand in the grass & just feel for a few minutes.
4. Essential oils
There are the obvious ones like Stress Away and Lavender, but Palo Santo and other tree oils are very grounding. Frankincense is another one that’s earthy and grounding. Valor and Peace & Calming are great ones to use too. Diffuse them, rub a couple drops together in your palms and take the scent in, put a drop or two on your wrists - there’s really no wrong way to do it. As long as you’re breathing in the scent, it’s working.
5. Sleep
Sometimes, you just need a good sleep. Take a nap, get 8-9 hours in, or just get under the covers and rest your eyes.
If you can find a way to work these into your daily routine, you'll be much better off - I promise! Which of these do you see yourself working into your morning routine? Your wind down routine? What are some of your favorite ways to manage stress? Let me know in the comments below.
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.
You have the power to change.
Every moment, you are consciously choosing your reality.
In order to have what you’ve never had, you need to do what you’ve never done.
A healthy weight is attainable for you. Looking in the mirror and liking what you see is attainable for you. Clearing up eczema is attainable for you.
Half the battle is mindset. Sometimes we self-sabotage. Are we scared we’ll fail so we never try? Are we scared we’ll succeed and go out of our comfort zone? Are we just plain feeling sorry for ourselves, and we don’t believe we can do it? Imagine what we can accomplish if we just let ourselves reach our goals.
We are the authors of our own stories. We let what other people have said about us dictate how we see ourselves or how we think about ourselves and what we are capable of.
The fact of the matter is other people’s opinion of you is none of your business.
And the other fact of the matter is that any time someone has something negative to say about you, they’re projecting their insecurities onto you. So not only is it true that other people’s opinion of you is none of your business, but it’s also not even about you. It’s about them.
It’s time to start believing in yourself. It’s time to stop self-sabotaging. You can do this. I believe in you. You are the only person you can depend on to truly and wholly take care of you always. You know what you need. You know your body.
So, if you haven’t started already, start taking care of yourself. If you have started, keep it going! I’m proud of you. Your body is a temple and it’s always talking to you. Honor your body, honor yourself. Shift your mindset from self-sabotage to self-care so you can live out your true potential, as you were meant to.
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.
Have you ever had such a busy weekend that you’re more exhausted than rejuvenated once it’s over?
Or when you get back from a trip and feel like you “need a vacation from your vacation.” Have you been there?
What about when you’ve had to put in HOURS of overtime at work and you’re just SO burnt out?
My suggestion to you…is not to just push through these feelings of overwhelm. My suggestion to you is to take care of yourself. Listen to your body. Take a personal day. Dedicate a day to doing absolutely nothing.
It’s okay to not have productive days. The funny thing is, having non-productive days can make you have more productive days. Knowing when to give yourself a break is self-intuition. It’s self-care. Self-love.
Your body is talking to you always. You just need to love yourself enough to listen and give your body what it needs.
The majority of health issues these days are stress related. Which means they’re lifestyle related. Which means we have the power to take back control!
If you’re not sure what to do on your “personal day” here are some of the things I do:
1. Clean. Sometimes I just need a day to catch up on housework. Dishes, vacuuming, laundry. This isn’t exactly “doing nothing” but sometimes it’s really just what I need.
2. Stay in your pajamas ALL. DAY. LONG.
3. Sleep in. Or take an afternoon nap. Or both.
4. Indulge in some Netflix binging.
5. Aromatherapy. Breathe in relaxing essential oils like lavender, stress away, orange.
6. Yoga. It’s awful but when life gets busy, self-care practices are the first to go. But this is when we need it most! When I fall out of my yoga routine, my muscles tense up. My neck, back & shoulders especially. And after my body has had enough of my ignoring of this need, it screams for attention via a massive headache and very stiff neck.
It’s okay to have days where you do nothing. Don’t forget to treat yourself like someone you love, take care of yourself & give your body what it’s asking for.
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.
