Did you try natural medicines yet they had little to no effect? Maybe you’ve been to a natural medicine doctor and still didn’t get the results you were looking for. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had several consultations with clients who told me exactly the same thing. This is a story I sometimes hear when people are talking to me about natural health practices and a root cause approach to healing. Many people have already been failed by alternative therapies and began to doubt them. Many people I talk to have already tried a lot of natural things. They’ve changed their diet, started to exercise, and maybe even had a few functional lab tests and they still aren’t getting the results. This is the typical story I hear… I did such and such lab tests, took such and such supplements… And they didn’t work.
The Real Problem With A Natural Medicine Approach
Here’s the problem with the natural medicine approach… When you don’t address the root of the condition like toxicity, relationship stress, nutrition, emotional impact, exercise (or lack thereof), then you’re never going to address the real root of the issue.
Hormones Example
For example, if I give you one of my favorite hormone tests called The Dutch Test and we find that you’re in estrogen dominance or estrogen toxicity, we can open up the drainage pathways in your liver to help you detox. We want to correct those pathways and drain off excess old estrogen to prevent things like DNA damage and breast cancer. But if you’re constantly exposing yourself to xenoestrogens or fake estrogens that are in our environment in the form of toxins, then it doesn’t matter how many pills and potions I give you… When we stop the treatment, the symptoms will return. And many times, they may never even go away, and you may never find hormone balance.
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Taking A Whole Body Approach To Wellness
I went through this cycle for many years, yet I had no improvements. I remember being on bioidentical hormone therapy and wondered why these pills and potions didn’t work for me. Why did I need to increase my dose every time I went? Why were my hormones not coming into balance? Those were the wrong questions. Those therapies were only one piece of a very big puzzle. Part of the issue is that when you receive an external source of hormones, then your own hormone production tends to get lazy. Your body is, naturally, going to do the easiest thing possible. A huge piece of the wellness puzzle is the lifestyle factors that may be preventing you from reaching your fullest health potential. I know for me, that was the case. Whenever I achieved the end result of my personal issue, much of that was related to toxicity and issues with my gut. This is the reason it is so important to take a whole body approach to wellness.
Doing The Detective Work To Find The Root
When we look at simple hormone imbalance and something like PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome, we’re going to see that the hormones are out of balance. But it’s not really a hormone issue. The driving forces behind these diseases are actually inflammation and abnormally high blood sugar, but your doctor is going to prescribe you hormones. The problem with this approach is it treats the symptoms but never addresses the underlying or root cause. Lab tests are only one part of the detective work. We have to look at your history, your environment, and your body. Are you being exposed to chemicals and toxins or mold? Are you even able to digest and absorb nutrients? Sure, we can run a simple lab test and see what it comes up with. But without a proper interview with you and the education to understand how your lifestyle factors impact you (positively or negatively), then you may never get well. When you’re attempting to follow natural healing protocols, this is often the biggest missing piece. That’s also why so many people suffer for years when they try to trial and error it on their own. When you operate in this manner in an attempt to save money, you’re prolonging your wellness results. You’re not going to get a full understanding of how your body truly functions and how you need to approach it in a systematic way if you don’t have the education to do that.
Looking At The Whole Picture To Find Wellness
When you hire a professional who will look at the whole picture, you’ll be able to find wellness in time. You don’t want someone looking at individual pieces of the puzzle – separate from one another. You want someone who is willing to do the detective work and determine what pieces of the puzzle apply to you. This allows them to address the root causes of your issue so that you can live in health and happiness instead of chasing symptoms. If you want a detective, learn how I help clients uncover the whole picture of their wellness. Someone recently asked me to run a simple lab test with them and interpret it instead of going through my program. While you may get some answers going that way, it still never addresses the root of the condition. And if you want to experience a whole body approach to wellness, you must address the root. Let’s discover the root cause for your unwellness and find healing together!
There are people working against you… Working to destroy you every single day. Food marketers are more interested in seeing you becoming addicted to their sugary, processed foods than they are about your health. Sure, you may read food labels. You should be able to trust in their packaging and labeling, but their packaging is purposely deceiving.
Deceiving Food Labels
Do you trust those deceiving food labels when they say they are…?
All natural
Gluten-free
Humanely raised
No antibiotics or hormones used
Vegetarian
No added sugar
If you are using these labels as a way to decide and purchase foods, food marketers are duping you in one of the greatest marketing tactics in existence. They aren’t regulated, and they most definitely cannot be trusted. Listen here… The people creating these deceiving food labels are not even educated or informed when it comes to what the body needs to be healthy or find healing. They are simply… Marketers. Informing you of what you think you need to eat.
Deceiving Experience
In addition to the food labels, marketers are also tasked to create an experience that is bigger than the product itself. That crunch you crave that has you scarfing down an entire bag of chips or gobbling a pack of cookies. Yeah, you know what I mean. I’ve been there too. Those experiences – the crunching, the softness – were all created for you. The packaged and processed foods you’re craving – even those fast foods you drive through to pick up for “convenience” – are concocted to have the right combination of crave-worthy flavors. And these flavors or experiences are addicting. It’s hard to stop eating these foods when you start. There’s even a Pringle commercial that blatantly tells you how dangerous their product is. How do they know? They purposefully created their chips to give you the rush you need to continue eating them… Until the can is empty!
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Turning Away From Deceptive Food Marketing Tactics to A Healthier Lifestyle
It would be wrong of me to tell you not to enjoy the sweeter things in life. But as we jump onto these fad diets (keto, vegan, etc.), we replace carbohydrate-filled, processed junk foods with keto junk foods. And it isn’t doing you any favors! You may lose some weight, but your health will still not be optimized in the end. Because of these deceptive food marketing tactics, we’ve walked away from the simple principles and stewardship of our physical bodies. In this blog, I want to empower you to find balance so you don’t feel deprived.
Don’t Buy Packaged Foods
When people turn to a healthier lifestyle, I often see them mistakenly continue to use boxed and packaged foods – including healthier cookies, cakes, pastries, pastas, etc. … Instead of turning to whole foods. If you’re afraid of demonized carbohydrates or even nutrient-dense fruit (because there’s “too much sugar” in them) yet you’re filling your belly with processed and packaged low carb cookies loaded with alternative sweeteners, then you aren’t doing yourself any favors. Unfortunately, these fad diets are pushing these packaged products on you. And they are the very things that are keeping you sick. Do you really believe that a packaged keto cookie is healthier for you than a piece of fruit so that you can remain in ketosis? How does that even make sense? Yet, we fall for these things every single day.
Find Flavorful Food Elsewhere
These addictive foods are so packed with flavor that we become accustomed to it. As a result, it’s hard to “get off” those foods. You may find whole foods flavorless and boring. If you find yourself grabbing for a packaged snack in the pantry, you likely need a taste bud adjustment. The good thing is your taste buds evolve with time so you can enjoy the flavors God placed on this earth for you to enjoy.
Steward Your Health
The most important part of turning away from deceptive food marketing tactics is to start stewarding your health towards a healthier lifestyle. How can you live the life you desire when you don’t have the energy to do so? Or because you’re stuck in the bathroom after your meals, blaming your irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? If IBS is your problem, it’s not a death sentence – unless you allow it to be. I talk to people every day who are missing out on life. Their kids and spouses enjoy life without them because they’re stuck in their homes. I know how they feel. I was once afraid to venture too far from home in my life as well. But this doesn’t have to be your story. You don’t have to feel guilty for missing another appointment with your family. You don’t have to feel bad about canceling plans with friends because you end up getting sick. The truth is, you’ve been deceived into thinking this has to be your norm. Maybe even your doctors have told you that medications and surgery are your only answer. I’m here to tell you, it is not true. It is simply the knowledge they have around the subject matter that brings them to say such a thing. They are trained in medication and surgery. And that’s typically where their knowledge stops. Not to say we don’t need medication and surgery in some instances, but if you haven’t worked to address the underlying cause of your disease process, then starting with medication and surgery is a bad idea. Health and stewardship of the body will take you a long way. And these are the things we’ve gotten away from as big companies continue to make convenient (and addictive) foods.
Access Your Health
We can talk a lot about what causes disease, but one of the simplest tools you can educate yourself on is how to use diet and nutrition in the form of whole foods. God gave us everything we need to maintain health, and he placed it right here on this Earth. All you have to do is access it. Now that you have the knowledge, what will you do with it? Let me know in the comments. If you’re ready to start accessing your health, start by learning how to balance your plate to meet the needs of your unique metabolism. Download this free guide to help you understand what your ideal plate should look like.
What comes to mind when you think about your picture-perfect image of health?
Do you picture a specific person?
Maybe an authority in the health and wellness community comes to mind. When we start our fitness journeys, many of us look to others who already have what we want for direction. We think… “If I can just do exactly what she does, then I’ll look and feel like she does too.”
Like a recipe, we start cooking up that picture-perfect image of health. We add each ingredient and follow each step exactly as the “recipe” calls for.
But, after a few months of hard work, we find that our results are lacking. Our image of health still doesn’t compare to that of our idols. We wonder…
Did I add too much of one ingredient by accident?
Did I make a mistake?
What am I forgetting?
Before we get into my 5 practical tips to achieving your health goals, we need to look at what the original diet looked like and why returning to the original diet can help you to reach those goals…
The Original Diet Was A Flexible One
Our ancestors likely got their food through hunting or foraging. They didn’t have grocery stores with a variety of food options year-round. With changing seasons, the types of food available to them changed. Our natural eating patterns are meant to change depending on our environment and our body’s needs.
Processed foods and foods sprayed with poisons and pesticides weren’t on the menu for our earliest relatives either. The original diet consisted of eating patterns that revolved around things found in nature.
Fad Diets
Today, all the latest fad diets promise tremendous results for anyone who can stick to a strict set of rules-all the time, no matter what season it is, or what our body truly needs at any given moment. This can easily set anyone up for failure.
We were created to eat intelligently. It is the imbalance in our bodies when these diets do not give us what we actually need that has brought about cravings and the desire to eat foods that were not originally even meant to be eaten. While some people may adjust to digesting the altered foods of our modern society, others might benefit from eliminating foods that cannot be naturally processed or cause inflammation.
Fad diets do not consider the individual. How can we expect keto, paleo, or low carb to be the answer for everyone if we are all built differently?
Keeping An Open Mind Towards “Fad Diets”
Instead of treating fad diets like a religion, I approach them with an open mind. I try to understand what goes on in someone’s body when they alter their nutrition in a certain way, and make adjustments that are in-line with their natural needs.
Instead of subscribing to a particular diet, opt for the customization and flexibility you need to maximize your results and keep doing so overtime.
5 Practical Tips to Achieving Your Health Goals
Now that you understand why focusing on your unique biology is important for getting the most out of your health and wellness plans, let’s talk about these 5 practical tips to achieving your health goals.
“Success is the maximum utilization of the ability you have”
-Zig Ziglar
1. Get Crystal Clear on Your Goals by Making Them SMART
If you are not sure exactly what you want then you will never get it. What do I mean by getting clear with your goals?
They must be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
More importantly, they must be SMART for you. Your goals may change overtime, but for now, start SMART where you are.
This time, when you think of your picture-perfect image of health, imagine the best possible version of yourself. How does this version of you feel? What do you look like? How far into the future will it be before you get there?
Remember to be realistic and specific to you.
2. Understand and State Your “Why”
If you were going shopping for a new outfit for an important business meeting, would you just buy the first thing you saw in the window displayed on the manikin? Even if the outfit looks great in the display, it might not look the same way once you try it on.
You need to have a goal in mind for what that new outfit is going to achieve. If the outfit on display is too flashy or too dull for the goal, it might hurt your chances for reaching that goal. So, you wouldn’t just go ahead and buy it anyway.
Think about your wellness plans the same way. Don’t just purchase a meal plan for the sake of purchasing a meal plan. Figure out what your BIG motivator is. Are you wanting to get healthy or to lose weight? Why is it important for you to get healthy or lose weight? Why is that meal plan so important for reaching those goals?
Once you figure out your “why,” you’ll be more prepared to customize a flexible plan that fits you and your specific needs. Without your “why”, you risk wasting your time on a plan that is miss-matched with your intentions.
3. Set Yourself Up To Take Action
Next, you need to set yourself up to take action. Are you a doer or a sayer? I have phone calls with sayers almost every single day. I want to talk to the doers.
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The doers are the ones who are ready to take action toward weight loss, nutrition, fitness, and shifting their mindset so they can live their best life. If you dabble, you will only get mediocre results.
Stop and ask yourself, “are my words embodying my own truth, or someone else’s?”
Already set your SMART goals and identified your “why”, but you are stuck in taking action? Then it’s time to consider if you are using your unique strengths to their fullest capacity.
You can be a doer in many ways. You don’t have to do a workout at the same time as someone else. If you have more energy in the mornings, get your fitness in before work. If you have more energy after dinner, get in a bike ride with the family in the evenings.
Leverage your unique strengths and preferences to take action.
4. Take Clear Assessments of Your Results
Think back to item number one when I said you need SMART goals. My question for you here is… How are you measuring your progress? Are you measuring weight loss in inches or body fat percentage? Are you doing blood tests or other lab testing to see if you got rid of some of the pathogens that could be causing you pain, gas, bloating, or diarrhea?
When we set goals, we must clearly assess the results to know if we are on the path to success.
The way you measure your improvements may be very different from how someone else measures theirs. That is totally okay. But the most inaccurate form of measurement comes when we compare our progress to that of others. This will not give you a clear assessment of yourself. Your journey is your own.
5. Be Ready to Change Your Routine
If you are giving it everything you’ve got and you are still not getting the results you want, then it’s time to change up the routine until you find what works. Everyone’s body is unique, and we are designed to adapt and change with the seasons. You must find what works for you and continue to listen to your body as your environment and needs shift over time.
Changing routine isn’t always easy.
But it becomes easier once we realize that many of the routines we follow do not actually serve us. Once we break free of routines that don’t serve us, we can open up to a healthy life that serves our greatest wellness potential.
Making a Serious Commitment to Yourself
Shift happens when you make a serious commitment to yourself. We shift when the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the discomfort change initially brings.
So let me ask you… What is one thing in your life you can use right now as leverage to facilitate change?
Are you having pain in your legs and knees because of your weight? Are you feeling a lack of strength because of poor nutrition? Is your doctor warning you about diabetes or other disease processes that may arise if you don’t start eating right and exercising more?
Change starts with a decision. The outcome you receive follows the choice you make.
A one-size-fits-all fitness plan acts as a temporary Band-Aid for the things your body and soul actually need. There is irreplaceable value in working with someone like myself who understands the science behind creating a unique plan for a person, including nutrition, exercise, stress reduction techniques, supplements, toxin removal, and the ability to shift mindset.
That’s exactly why I do what I do!
I help people change their lives every day through this process.
You don’t have to idolize the lives of those you see online. You don’t even have to ask for their workouts and meal plans. Just get clear on what you want, find the leverage to change, take action, and tweak things along the way.
Start with the five steps I outlined and let me know how you do. If you’re ready to have a mentor who prioritizes you and your personal journey to wellness, fill out a discovery call form here. I’ve had years of experience identifying personalized approaches to wellness for others, and I’ll be so happy to do the same with you.
On the inside, the only thing sweet was the sugar that filled my belly from my sugar addiction – the candies, cookies, brownies, cake, and ice cream.
At one point, I thought… “there’s nothing wrong. It wasn’t the sugar or anything else. There was simply something going on that I would suffer with for the rest of my life.”
Health or the lack of health doesn’t always show itself on the outside. From the naked eye, you would have never thought I was suffering. I’m not a complainer, so none of my friends or family were aware that I was suffering in silence.
This same story is one that many people experience, but it doesn’t have to be your story forever.
Silently Suffering with Toxic Burden Doesn’t Have to Be Your Story
I think about my grandfather who was diagnosed with a rare cancer the day before his death. He had been silently suffering with toxic burden, and for how long, no one knows!
It’s interesting now that I’ve experienced my silent suffering, I can see it clearly in the people I interact with.
Today, I watch people with their energy-depleted faces. I physically see their tired eyes, dull skin, and pain on their faces. I hear the hurt in their words. And I can see the suffering through their tough exterior.
Maybe it’s a gift I gained because I know it so well.
When we’re like this, we feel there’s no hope. We’re trying to feel better. But everything we try seems to fail us… once again.
The thing is, you don’t have to suffer in silence anymore.
There’s hope, life, and light at the end of the tunnel. Your story is just getting started…
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How do you get out of this cycle? I spent many years throwing every supplement I could possibly get my hands on at many of the symptoms I was experiencing, hoping to get well.
I call this a hodgepodge approach now.
Fighting symptoms with supplements is no better than fighting them with medication.
We hear a lot about root cause analysis in today’s health and wellness world. The truth is, we may not always know the exact root of a person’s illness. Why is this?
We come into contact with stressors on a daily basis that may or may not push us over the edge enough to drive a disease process. It’s my experience that a major life stressor can be the turning point for someone when it comes to illness. Major life stressors might include moving to a new city, changing jobs, growing your family, divorce, or a death in the family.
So how does all this work?
Those who want to heal the body naturally from the inside out would likely work on things like detoxification, gut healing, and hormone balance.
In the event that cleaning up a person’s environment doesn’t work, then I, or other wellness practitioners, will do a little more detective work.
This usually happens when we discover that there is an environmental culprit preventing you from getting well. For example, this could look like constant exposure to mold or allergens in a person’s environment. It can be viral infections, parasites, or any number of other invaders.
Maybe you’re holding on to extra body fat that won’t seem to budge. Did you know there’s much more than diet and exercise when it comes to weight loss? That’s why we have an obesity epidemic on our hands.
Cancer & Toxic Overload
What about more serious illness like cancer? The C-word – cancer – is one that seems to creep into our lives. I recently lost my grandfather due to cancer. Like I said previously, he silently suffered for a long time. I’m sure of it. He even seemed to be in severe pain last time we were together.
As my family is recovering from this loss due to cancer, here are some things that I want you to think about today.
Cancer is Preventable
Did you know that we can prevent cancer if we live a life of health? I also don’t imagine that cancer has to be a death sentence, although many people do die from it.
“More people live off cancer than die from it.”
Deepak Chopra
Our bodies are in a very acidic state as a whole. We also lack nutrients, are depleted in our hormones, in toxic overload, and are bogged down with life stressors.
Did you know that when many oncologists are interviewed they say they would not subject themselves or their family members to the same treatments they give their patients?
Isn’t that a shocking statement?
The truth is, whether it’s cancer, autoimmunity, diabetes, or high blood pressure, treatment with medications is no fun.
What if you could prevent diseases like this though?
What if basic lifestyle adjustments could actually be what would bring the body back into balance so these symptoms and the underlying disease could clear up?
Would it be worth it to you to give up those sodas and drive thru window meals to get rid of some of the things that are preventing you from feeling your best?
Choosing Health Over Sickness
I know that’s what it took for me. And that’s what it takes for the people I work with today. It’s a simple decision we can make every day to choose health or sickness.
It’s your choice.
I remember meeting a man about 5 or so years ago. During our conversation, I mentioned that I don’t get sick. He said, “You can’t say that. That’s ridiculous!”
Well as ridiculous as it is, it was true.
If you’re at your wit’s end with your health – whether it’s your weight or you’re experiencing a more complex issue – there’s hope for your story.
Improvement is possible when you partner with someone who can help you.
If you resonate with the information I shared today, I’ve designed programs that allow us to work together anywhere from 90 days to 9 months or longer, if you choose. I’d love to take some time to get to know your story a little better – whether you want to work with me in one of my programs or become part of the Chelsie Ward Wellness community by commenting below. It’s time to take action and reclaim your health.
Healing doesn’t take place overnight.
If you feel like you’re doing all the right things and still aren’t seeing improvement in your symptoms or your weight won’t budge, it means you may need to dig deeper to find the cause.
I help busy, healthy-minded people like you get to the root and restore your gut and hormone health so you can feel good in your skin and live your best life in joy!
If you’re looking for a root cause approach so you don’t have to continue chasing symptoms or following confusing and conflicting advice, then fill out this short application and schedule a complimentary call with me today so you can finally take control of your health and live in happiness and confidence like you deserve.
Thomas Edison – the inventor of the light bulb and – once said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will educate his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
Edison had a good point – prevention is the best medicine. But there’s an issue with his statement. Many don’t think anything is wrong with them until they feel unwell. As a health and wellness practitioner, I see more people that are feeling less than their best and less people who want to prevent disease. When they come to me, they are too far in their disease to bypass some sort of preventive medicine or natural intervention.
It’s time to tune in to your body’s signals.
As someone who believes that God provided everything on this earth for our wellness, my methods include course correction and working with natural substances (or supplements), which in my experience, gives individuals a whole new life.
Prefer to watch a 9 minute video with the same information…
https://youtu.be/3i539RRL92c
Using Medicine for Healing
I desire to see others thriving and well – not just managing their symptoms. When I was studying to become a nurse, I never realized I would learn so much about what I didn’t like about conventional medicine. Let’s take a look at how to use conventional medicine and God’s medicine for healing.
Conventional Medicine
I realized my patients were just like me – suffering with no end in sight without some medication to mask the symptoms, surgery to explore a little further, or remove an organ that had failed.
I knew from the very beginning this type of treatment didn’t resonate with me.
What I didn’t realize at the beginning is that I had a choice, and so do you.
It was when I became sick that I started looking for treatments outside of conventional medicine.
Before I go any further, please hear me loud and clear… I believe there is a time and place for conventional medicine. But I also believe that the “pill for the ill” world we live in has us in a heap of trouble.
Did you know (at the time of this writing) the 3rd leading cause of death is medical error? That’s shocking to say the least!
God’s Medicine
Why do we continue to trust in man’s medicine over God’s medicine? Everything we need to heal our bodies has been placed on this earth in nature. The medicines we need are found on the earth, and their leaves are to be used for healing (Ezekiel 47:12).
“And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
I see this type of medicine work every day of my life.
I watch people with chronic illness transform before my very eyes – people who have been on prescription medications for 20 years suddenly heal their bodies naturally. Plus, they don’t need their prescriptions anymore.
I’ve watched countless clients be released from their doctors care, not because I told them to, but because the numbers on their lab tests literally reversed after implementing natural healing methodologies.
What a miracle!
If you want to kickstart your 2020 goals, I’m starting a free 5-day challenge that focuses on the area many have problems losing – the spare tire. Over those 5 days, we’ll also look at the communication signals that drive inflammation and disease your body
Think of your body as a very intelligent machine. There are many times we should simply allow it to do its job – so tune in to your body’s signals. It’s telling you everything you need to know.
Hear me closely… If you need to see a doctor, go see one. Don’t procrastinate. I’m not telling you to stay home and avoid conventional medicine. Emergencies happen!
What I am saying is that when we give the body what it needs and steward it well, then we can build an immune system that will fight for us.
Every sniffle does not require an antibiotic.
In this wired and connected world, we’ve become increasingly impatient. As a result, we no longer listen to our body.
When we have a symptom, our body is speaking to us. I encourage you to begin to listen to what your body is trying to tell you.
Steps To Tune In To Your Body’s Signals
So, how do you tune in to your body’s signals?
Follow these 5 steps:
1. Practice Deep Breathing or Meditation
If you are consuming foods that make you feel groggy and sleepy afterward, then begin to investigate the culprit. Maybe you’re choosing the wrong foods, or even the wrong combination of foods.
If you’ve been stressed recently (a divorce, a big move, an illness, or a loss), it can negatively impact your adrenal health. It’s time to slow down and rest a little to recuperate. Listen to your body. There are herbal mixtures that can bring healing to your adrenals and rescue you during those high stress times. One of my favorites is a simple amino acid called l-theanine.
3. Adjust Length of Workouts If You’re Exhausted
Exhausted after your workouts? Complete exhaustion after a workout is your body’s signal that you’re doing too much and pushing yourself too hard.
This is especially common in individuals workout out for over an hour a day. Adjust the lengths of your workouts to shorter increments until you feel more energized.
Not everyone is in a place physically that they should push to the max on a daily basis. Learn to rest when your body is telling you it’s exhausted.
When we declutter our lives, we declutter our minds.
4. Create a Bedtime Routine
If you feel wired before bed and feel like you can’t fall asleep easily, it’s time to pay attention to your bedtime routine.
We enforce bedtime wind-down with our children, but we quickly dismiss bedtime routines as adults. Turn off technology an hour before bed, take a warm bath, read a relaxing book, and prep a healthy lunch for work for the next day.
Do something to chill out.
5. Take a Breather
Stressed at work? Maybe you need to walk away and take a breather. Literally, walk away and do some deep breathing. I call this “box breathing.”
Breathe in 4 counts, hold 4 counts, breathe out 4 counts, hold 4 counts.
Repeat this for at least 1 minute and work your way up to longer periods over time.
Work to fill your belly, not your chest, with air. This will calm your nervous system. If you do this on a regular basis, you will find that you’re naturally more calm during stressful times.
These are a few ways you can tune in to your body to give it what it needs throughout the day.
Stress is a driver of disease.
As a nation, we are chronically stressed. Stress is not only emotional, but it is chemical, physical, and even goes on inside our bodies. It can be a fight with our partner, a bad work relationship, traffic jams on our commutes, eating inflammatory foods, and even illness in our bodies.
Think about the things you come in contact with on a daily basis that your body perceives as stress. I encourage you to slow down on a regular basis.
Helpful Tips To Prevent Disease And Reclaim Your Health
Many health and wellness blogs this time of year focus solely on food – how to avoid it and what to eat. We know food is a central part of this season. Families gather around the table for a full feast. We attend back-to-back Christmas parties which, of course, have tons of food. Then don’t get me started on all the sugar that’s around this time of year! But this year, I want to give you 7 tips on staying healthy during the holidays that aren’t about food.
7 Tips on Staying Healthy During the Holidays
This wouldn’t be a Chelsie Ward Wellness blog if we didn’t talk about looking at health from a holistic approach. These 7 tips on staying healthy during the holidays focus on the whole body – mind, body, and spirit. Our goal is to coach you to honor your body during this Christmas season.
1. Get a Good Night’s Sleep To Better Handle Stress
There’s no doubt that with all the Christmas parties, errands, and family gatherings that the holiday season is exhausting. To add to that exhaustion, you are exposed to unhealthy foods, family stressors, and eating too much sugar. All of that impacts your energy levels. If staying healthy during the holidays is a priority of yours, then you need to get a good night’s sleep to better handle the stress.
While this tip is a short-term solution for the holiday season, getting sufficient sleep directly correlates to your health in the long run. According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, insufficient sleep has links to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and decreased immune function.
2. Take a Walk Early In The Morning
Even if exercise is on the backburner during this season, your body still needs to move. Take a walk early in the morning before you travel or spend time with family. You’ll be less likely to indulge because your body has already been energized by the activity. You won’t be reaching for that extra piece of peppermint bark or the next cup of coffee to keep your energy levels high.
3. Focus On Low Intensity Exercise
If you want to continue your exercise regimen through the holidays, focus on low intensity exercise. High intensity exercise can actually add to the stress and cause more weight gain during the holidays.
4. Add Appropriate Supplements Into Your Diet
The holiday season can cause ruin on the body, especially with the average sugar intake spiking. We’re consuming foods that are causing imbalance in our gut. Supplement appropriately to suit your body’s needs.
There are a couple options to add appropriate supplements into your diet. First, you can take a full spore based probiotic and multi-vitamins to round out your diet and give your liver extra support for the toxic burden that holiday festivities may bring.
There’s no time to be sick! Boost your immune system by taking Ganoderma spores.
Deep breathing and meditation is often overlooked because mental health often isn’t valued as much as physical health. But this practice can help you destress, stop anger or rage from turning into something you’ll regret, and ultimately make you happier.
Let’s practice right now!
Breathe in 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Hold 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Breathe out 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Hold 4 counts. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Do this for a couple minutes. Feel free to stop reading right now and set a timer.
Feel better? You can do this for a couple minutes at a time and then work your way up to longer periods of times. This practice will help shift your nervous system into a relaxed state.
When can you do this? Just about anytime. To start, I suggest you practice deep breathing when you wake up, feel stressed, and/or before meals to help digest your food.
6. Spend Your Valuable Time With Positive Relationships
There’s a direct correlation between relationships and your health. When we’re surrounded by toxic people, we start thinking toxic thoughts. Toxic thoughts become actual toxins and impact us physically. We resort to coping mechanisms such as emotional eating or avoidance of supporting people.
Pick a few people that energize you and give you joy. Stick close to those people, especially when you’re going to be around those toxic people. If you need to step away for a few moments to practice your breathing, do so.
7. Declutter as You’re Cleaning
Christmas is now over, and you’re taking down all the decorations. This is a perfect time to declutter as you’re cleaning and repacking those Christmas decorations. Throw out anything broken or not serving a purpose anymore. When putting back your living space to the way it was before, evaluate if the way you had before stressed you out or brought you peace and comfort. As you bring in the new and put away the old, Marie Kondo your home. Get rid of things that no longer serve you or give you joy.
When we declutter our lives, we declutter our minds.
It’s Your Choice To Be Healthy
In conclusion, you have a choice to make. Are you going to settle into old, unhealthy habits over this holiday season? Or are you going to work towards staying healthy? It’s your choice.
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