The Winter season can be busy and exciting. With so many events like family dinners, holiday parties, and the preparation and planning for gift giving, we have plenty of distractions to keep us from focusing on our health and taking care of ourselves as we would normally.Furthermore, once the holiday season is over, many people experience a lull in their motivation to stay active. Some people begin to experience depression or feelings of anxiousness over expenses that accumulated throughout the holidays. Others let diet and healthy eating habits fall by the wayside. Often, given the weather, exercise is sacrificed for warm nights spent indoors on the couch.
Keep the following tips in mind:
- Drink the optimal amount of water. With the winter season here, it’s more important than ever to consume the right amount of water for your health.
- Keep stress to a minimum. Studies have linked high stress levels to making a person more susceptible to catching colds and flu. Minimize your stress by working reasonable hours at your job. Aim for at least one night per week to spend with friends and family. If your stress is out of hand and you feel like you need some help, let me know. Frequently, I work with people who have stress or emotional challenges and utilize to bring their emotional health back into balance.
- Eat a healthy diet. Maintaining a good healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables and minimal amounts of organic meats is another way to keep your body clean and in good working order. Try eating an extra piece of fruit or veggie every day too!
- Do your homework to find the best supplement for your health. Even if you eat “perfectly” all the time with loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, you still need to boost your nutrition with a supplement. What supplements you will need will depend significantly on your lifestyle. If you’re not sure whether you need them at all, read this post on why we need supplements . Let me help you choose the best supplement program for your lifestyle. Some supplements I recommend taking during the winter season include:
- Essential Oils. Essential Oils are a must-have to protect yourself and help your immune system. There are a variety of essential oils that have been found to be highly effective against airborne bacteria. They also can do a lot to strengthen your body, boost your immune system and help you to overcome colds and flu.
- There are several products in the Standard Process / Medic-Herb line that I recommend during this time of year. Your unique health situation determines which one would be appropriate for you. Contact me to discuss which product might be best for you.
There are several products in the Standard Process / Medi-Herb line that I recommend during this time of year. Your unique health situation determines which one would be appropriate for you. Contact me to discuss which product might be best for you.
- Exercise regularly. It is important to exercise regularly, even if only for 15 minutes a day! Get out and take a short walk and enjoy the cooler weather.
- Get the right amount of sleep every night. The average person needs 6-8 hours of sleep per night. If you’re not getting enough sleep, your body is extremely vulnerable to illness. Sleep is very much like fuel that recharges your batteries! You’ve got to do it to keep the machine running.
- Wash your hands regularly. Keep the bacteria and viruses off your hands and out of your mouth and eyes. Keep a bottle of hand sanitize close-by for those instances where you can’t get to soap and water.
- Don’t smoke. Most of you already know this, but it bears repeating because smoking significantly weakens your immune system. If you want to quit and have tried everything else, let me know. I have some nutritional recommendations that can help you quit!
- Eliminate all forms of sugar. This includes not only the obvious kinds (cake, cookies and sweets, in general), but bread, pasta, rice, yogurt and commercial, store-bought fruit juices. Although all of these things are made with different types of sugars, your body still converts them to sugar, which will compromise your immune system.
- Despite your best efforts, you still can feel like you’re “coming down with something.” Some things you can do to help your body recover more quickly:
- Eliminate all dairy products.
- Eliminate all alcohol.
- Eliminate all grains (bread, rice, pasta, etc.).
- Boost your Vitamin C (with bioflavanoids) intake when you initially feel something coming on.
- Boost your intake of Zinc.
- Increase water consumption (even more than normal!).
- Eat less food as this will give your body a much needed rest from digestion and give it a chance to concentrate on fighting off potential invaders.
- Add herbs like Echinacea, Golden seal and Grapefruit Seed Extract to your supplemental regime.
- Get more rest than normal. If you normally get 6 hours of sleep a night, try increasing it to 7 or 8.
- Increase the recommended supplementation above.
