Your body was not designed to become ill.
When we take care of our bodies, our bodies take care of us.
“Cold and Flu” is not a season.
High sugar intake is a season with buckets of Halloween candy, desserts on Thanksgiving, events surrounded by Christmas cookies, sweets at every holiday gathering, chocolates on Valentine’s Day & more desserts for Easter.
High stress is a season with family members who don’t get along, celebrations to coordinate among multiple households, perfect presents to find, money that shouldn’t be spent, food to prepare, shopping to do, places to be & schedules that are packed.
When we get busy, self care is the first thing to go. Morning lemon water, yoga stretches, regular sleep, nutritious breakfasts, veggies throughout the day, sufficient water intake.
70% of your immune system is in your gut. Nourishing your gut health is a top priority when it comes to maintaining a thriving immune system.
Probiotic before bed THEN 8oz lemon water right out of bed THEN protein for breakfast THEN morning coffee (organic, if you can). (This is my favorite probiotic and this is my favorite gut-loving coffee.)
Manage your stress with time carved out just for you. 10 minutes first thing in the morning before the day starts, 15 minutes before crawling into bed. However it works best in your schedule.
Quiet your mind. Read a chapter in a book for pleasure. Look up a video for some gentle yoga. Sit in stillness and pray or meditate. Go for a walk around the block. (This is my current favorite quick yoga video.)
Turn off your phone. Keep the screens off for a while. Don’t check your notifications first thing in the morning. Start your day slowly.
As tempting as it may be, limit sugary, processed foods as much as possible. These wreak havoc on your gut, which means they wreak havoc on your immune system.
Stay active during colder months. Make sure you’re getting at least 7 hours of sleep at night. Prioritize Vitamin D levels and water intake. (This is my favorite Vitamin D supplement and this is what I carry my water around in.)
And irony of ironies, worrying about getting sick makes you more susceptible to getting sick.
Okay so first let me say that a lot of my morning ritual has completely gone out the window since having a baby and that’s something I need to be okay with right now.
Health is a journey and we do our best in each season of life.
Right now my season of life requires late night and early morning feeding/pumping sessions. Now in order for me to keep my baby safe & not spill breast milk everywhere, I need to stay awake for those sessions.
This has resulted in coffee before protein in the morning and screens up until moments before I go to sleep — things I preach against for the sake of gut health.
Let me tell you from personal experience: your brain does not function properly on insufficient sleep. And your brain and your gut are connected by the vagus nerve which is vital to things like mood, digestion & immunity.
Yesterday morning I drowsily asked my husband to make coffee while I fed the baby. He reluctantly rolled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, he comes in to ask me “what vehicle” I wanted.
Excuse me, what?
I look at him like he’s crazy.
He looks at me like “how on EARTH do you not understand what I’m saying right now.”
“Um… if you mean what VEHICLE would I like my coffee in.. a mug please?”
Then he stomps away saying something about how I asked him to make breakfast and that’s what he was trying to do.
“No, darling. I just asked you to make coffee. I didn’t ask you to make breakfast. You’re not making any sense right now. Can I please just have a cup of coffee?” (Me- desperate for caffeine)
Later that day I reminded him of this silly question he asked me and he was like “yeah I don’t know what that was supposed to mean or where that came from.”
He also proceeded to tell me that when he went out to the kitchen, he got out a platter and some kind of supplement capsule. Which supplement? He had no idea.
Then this morning - after being woken up (too) early by a crying baby - I asked him, “can I have more phone?”
What was I trying to say? Two things: can I have my phone, and can I have more water.
The moral of the story is sleep is important. Your brain CANNOT function properly without it. So get your 8 hours if and when you can, and if you can’t - naps are your friend.
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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.
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.
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.
