Have you ever just felt like garbage? Well, I did. Come see what I did about it and let me know what you think about my 5 Simple Tips For Healthy Living for a happier, healthier you!
A few years ago, I was in pretty bad shape. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was sick all of the time. From my kidneys to my gut to my ovaries, something was always acting up. Each time I recovered from one thing, another issue would sprout up. I was beginning to feel like a leaky pool – you know, the one that you just keep slapping those clear, plastic patches on hoping that it’ll hold on for one more season? Yeah, like that.
As a perpetual optimist, I knew that I could do better. I also knew that it would require work, but I was completely up to the challenge if it meant that I could stop getting sick all of the time. I did a lot of reading online and a lot of consulting with people smarter than me and came up with a course of action that seemed both reasonable and intelligent.
I am by no means any sort of medical professional. I’m just a human who wanted to feel better. So I thought I’d share my 5 Simple Tips For Healthy Living in case they can benefit you too.
5 SIMPLE TIPS FOR HEALTHY LIVING
1.) Eat healthy, live healthy.
I am not here to tell you how to eat. All I can do is share my experience with you. And truth be told, I was eating way too much garbage. My daily meal plan consisted of leftover cereal from the kids’ plates, 2-second “lunches” wherever I could find them, and lots of prepackaged foods on the dinner table. It wasn’t good. I’m not sure when or how it happened, but it was really kind of yucky. So I made a grocery list that focused on real food – fruits and veggies, yogurts and cheeses, meat and chicken – and went grocery shopping. It wasn’t easy at first, but over time, our menu has changed – and we’re all healthier for it. Our grocery bill has also increased, but our bodies are much happier. But, we do still eat some prepackaged food – pretending we don’t would be a lie. We’re just smarter about the brands we buy and how often we eat them.
2.) Exercise.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t doing anything. Nada. Zilcho. I mean I would go play with the kids and walk around the parks, but I wasn’t doing anything for me. So two and half years ago, I decided to change that. I started boxing first, and then I decided to teach myself how to run. I downloaded a popular app and although it wasn’t always easy to stay committed, I did and last fall I ran a 5k Obstacle course with my brother-in-law and husband. Best feeling ever. I’ve learned that it doesn’t really matter what you do as long as you do something to get your blood pumping and your heart rate elevated.
3.) Drink Water.
Ahhhh. Water. This should be a no-brainer, especially since I was pregnant twice and you have to drink gallons of water while you’re pregnant. Unfortunately, I stopped drinking water. Like I never drank it. And then, I got kidney stones and was NOT a happy camper, so water became my BFF again. Some days, it goes down easier than others, and some days I have to trick myself. So I add fruit or vegetables to it to make it go down easier. Some of my favorites? Cucumber, lemon, orange, and watermelon – they all make it go down easier. Now, I try to drink at least 8 full glasses a day.
4.) Take vitamins.
Vitamins were a waste of my time. Sure, I gave them to my kids. I wanted them to be fit as a fiddle. But when it came to my own health, I was very negligent. My hair started looking dull. My nails were always breaking. My face was not as vibrant as it used to be. I visited my local health food store and casually mentioned that I hadn’t felt good since I stopped taking my prenatal vitamins. The woman behind the countered smiled and said that so many Moms come in there saying that. She promptly put me on a vitamin that was very similar to a prenatal and told me if I didn’t like it, I could simply take a prenatal instead because prenatal vitamins aren’t just for pregnant people! Who knew?
5.) Drink fermented milk.
Right after I recovered from kidney stones, I ended up with diverticulitis. Sounds impossible, right? But remember, I was not in good health. In my humble opinion, diverticulitis pain was worse than both kidney stones and labor pains put together. I honestly thought my gut was going to explode all over the living room floor. I was so terrified that I never wanted to feel that pain ever, ever again. So as soon as I got out of the hospital, I started taking heavy duty probiotics and drinking fermented milk every single day. (Fermented milk is chock full of nutrients and probiotics, and highly beneficial for digestion and gut health.) Within a few weeks, I felt like a million bucks. Plus, I stopped getting sick. Scout’s Honor.
Once I added daily probiotics to my diet, I more or less stopped getting sick. Now, every once in a blue moon I’ll catch a cold from the kids and when I do, I reach for my secret weapon. I don’t really want to share it with you because it’s very hard to find in my local store, but I have a weird common-cold-buster ritual. As soon as I feel a bit run down, I run to the store and buy 2, 8-ounce bottles of Naked’s Power-C Machine juice. I drink one bottle the first day, and another bottle the second day — and bam! My cold is almost always gone. It sounds weird, but it works.
My husband is also a fan of Naked products. He happens to like their protein drinks, like Protein Zone and Double Berry, and took their Berry Almond Nutmilk with him to New Jersey this past weekend to pump up his calories before his 70.3-mile triathlon. This dairy-free smoothie delivers 11 grams of plant protein per bottle and was a great addition to his nutritional needs. I was also happy to snag a bottle of Berry Almond Nutmilk for myself. Being a tri sherpa often means little time for eating, so I made sure to drink a bottle of this while he was on the swim. It kept me nice and full, which was good because no one wants a cranky sherpa pretending to cheer them on, right? Nah, it’s much better to have a happy wife!
So these are some of my simple tips for healthy living, but what are your best tips for good health? Share them with us in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!
Stay healthy,
Denine
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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