1. EAT HEALTHY:
As I said in my last blog, I start my day with a healthy breakfast. Once a year I might have a doughnut or cinnamon roll, but 99.9% of the time I will start my day off right. My all time favorite breakfast is a fruit smoothie.
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| Fruit Smoothies for Breakfast |
Combine 1 cup of kefir, 1 cup of berries, and 1 tablespoon of flax seed. Sometimes I blend it, sometimes I just eat it with a spoon, either way, it's DELISH!! Kefir is full of probiotics and helps boosts my immune system.
I really try to avoid processed foods if I can. If I eat a cookie, it's made with real sugar, eggs, butter, and flour versus the overly processed oreo cookie (for example) that is made with crazy chemicals leading you to intense cravings causing you to eat the whole bag of Oreos. Here's a good article about the Oreo cookie: Death By Oreos I can go on and on about the chemicals in processed foods, but I won't bore you. When you eat good food you feel good. Period.
I also try and eat at least 4-6 servings of vegetables a day. When I get home from work and the kids get home from school I serve raw, organic veggies of some sort. There are five of us, and we consume a mixed bag of organic raw vegetables daily. In the growing season, we snack on whatever is in season. This is our snack before supper and I like the fact that my kids are eating raw vegetables. That's right. All of my children eat and like raw vegetables and I bet not every mom can say that!
2. STAY HYDRATED
Yes, we all know the importance of staying hydrated. I spent years drinking 64 ounces of water every day until newer studies indicated we should be drinking only when we are thirsty. I still try to stick to 8 glasses of liquid, but I'm not nearly as rigid as I used to be. You may think I'm weird, but this is what I drink nearly EVERY single day.
Kombucha Tea is a bottled fermented mushroom drink that I swear keeps me healthy and happy. I've tried many different kinds but GT's Kombucha ROCKS. When there was a recall on GT's for about 2 months, I thought I was going to die. Kombucha tea is full of 1 million probiotics and makes me feel fantastic! Yes, it's an acquired taste, but if you can drink it I guarantee you will be hooked. Not to mention the fact that if you drink one that's close to the expiration date, you feel as if you have a slight beer buzz (the fermentation.....shhhh!).
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| My FAVORITE Drink, Kombucha |
Read this article, and I think you'll understand why I'm TOTALLY hooked on Kombucha: Health Benefits of Kombucha
I also drink chia seeds daily. I add 1 tablespoon of chia seeds to my water daily and I have a days worth of omega 3 fatty acids, some added fiber, and it helps maintain blood sugar levels. Here's the website with all the benefits of drinking chia seeds: Benefits of Chia Seeds
Last but not least, I drink 2 cups of green tea a day which is full of antioxidants. My cousin Erinn bought me a two cup tea maker and I use it daily. Greta also loves green tea, so we drink it frequently drink out of my Grandma's tea cups. As with most foods, all tea's are not created equal so I try and stick with organic green tea varieties
As you can see, my days of only drinking water are long gone, and these beverages keep me hydrated and healthy!
3. SLEEP
I manage to get 9 hours of sleep most nights. Over the years, I've found that with 9 hours of sleep I feel my best. Eight hours is fine, 10 is too many, but 9 is the magic number. And yes, that means I have to go to bed early, but I'm convinced that's why I can ward off the bugs. I exercise daily and limit caffeine after noon, so 99% of the time I have no problem falling asleep.
I also believe in the power of a cat nap. My naps are no longer than 20 minutes (if I sleep longer I don't feel refreshed), and I take about 2 naps a week. Afterwards, I feel like a million bucks!
This Thanksgiving when I wasn't feeling 100%, I slept for 12 hours and then took a 2 hour nap on Black Friday. By Saturday I was back to normal. My body just needed a little extra sleep to get back on track. Had I pushed myself, it may have turned into something.
4. MANAGE STRESS
We all have stress, who doesn't right? First and foremost, I'm the mother of 3 busy and active children and I have a full-time job as CEO of a medium size multi-million dollar company with 60 staff. Despite these responsibilities, I rarely feel overly stressed. There are 3 ways I manage my stress: exercising daily, brief daily meditation (5 minutes), and I use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT / tapping) as needed to deal with my unresolved issues. EFT is a blog onto itself, but here's some information: Benefits of Tapping
When I first heard of tapping, I thought it sounded very weird. Now I use it daily and I was able to work through issues that had bothered me for years and now I just tap on current events. How cool is that?
5. KEEP FIT
I am a cardio junky. I try and exercise daily and I believe it has boosted my immune system. Even on the days when I'm not feeling up to it, I go at it and ALWAYS feel better afterwards. If I feel a cold coming on and I exercise, I swear I sweat it out of my system and I'm back to normal.
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| Working Out With Friends |
6. FOCUS YOUR MIND ON YOUR HEALTH
I have a day or two throughout the year where I may not feel not up to par, but if I feel "feverish" I take Tylenol and if my joints ache I take Ibuprofen and most importantly I DO NOT GIVE ANY MENTAL ENERGY TO ACHES, PAINS, or SICKNESS! If I wake up and I'm not 100%, I'll take something and go to work and if someone says, "how are you?", I say, "great" and usually within hours I feel great. A lot of sickness could be avoided by focusing the mind on feeling healthy. Sounds crazy, but it works for me. I'm also grateful for my immune system that keeps me on track.
And finally, if you do find yourself unheatlhy, here's my favorite chicken soup recipe to get you back at it:
Chicken Noodle Soup
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| Chicken Noodle Soup |
What's your tip for staying healthy?
Here's Wishing You A Healthy, Healthy Holiday Season!
Kristin
AH! Kristin! How do you find the time? When on earth do you read about all of this? And how can you cook, work, blog, exercise, read and still run everyone everywhere? You are amazing.
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