What I observed in 2 months of changing 3 habits is really shocking.
- Sleep
- Vitamins
- Exercise
I am that person who inwardly rolls their eyes when someone says ‘sleep, diet and exercise’ will cure everything. Because I’m a real person with bills that get paid because I have to work, which is both a real downer and a deterrent to any kind of life where I will be at the gym or eating salads or sleeping without first scrolling through ridiculous job ads online in spiteful resistance to going to work the next day.
But, when I hit my 30’s and started seeing real effects in my body, mind and skin, I got overly concerned to the point of hypochondria. I’ll admit it: webMD addict over here. At 36 I finally put these three things to practice and wish I did a lot sooner.
I helped my 7-9 hour sleep life by adding melatonin sometimes when the circling thoughts or scrolling fingers seemed to not allow me to just close my eyes, but practicing putting my phone as far away as possible also helped. It cancelled the urge to ‘just look at one thing’ and I found that when I closed my eyes from boredom, weirdly I fell asleep. I discovered the research behind the ‘golden hour‘ of sleep and it really changed the way that I handled bedtime. Having an hour to get myself to sleep became a challenge. Every night I look at the clock and when it’s close to 10, it’s time to get my butt up, make my chamomile tea and start trying to sleep before 11.
I also got myself a handy-dandy under the desk treadmill, which I highly recommended if you work from home or if you spend time reading or watching TV at home for long stretches of time. I decided to start writing when I walk so I’m doing 3.5 miles a day in about 90 mins, burning off one whole meal a day and also noticeably toning the thighs. It’s really a win all around. But that extra exercise improved my gut health incredibly.
I added various vitamins to my life, including a multivitamin, apple cider vinegar gummies, vitamin c, and a probiotic. Expensive as they are and as much as I had previously in my life thought they don’t matter much, I saw an honest improvement in a short time.
I will admit that getting the right vitamins is key, the first month I bought 3 different kinds and I did have to pull back on one because it was just too much of everything. I always want to get the biggest bang for my buck, and so I was looking for vitamins with damn near 100% of what I needed, however I forgot that healthy whole foods also provide these naturally and so I was way overloaded, which is also not a good thing. You may have to test some out and see what is right for you. I have the ones that I use at the bottom of this email but everyone is different and you should do your research and see how you feel after using the ones you choose.
In 2 months my tummy cramping and uncomfortable digestive system seemed to have regulated miraculously. When I was doing my vitamin research I came across articles that talked about the ‘second brain‘ concept and how important our gut health is to our overall well being and to our brains. A notable quote from this article was that “increasing evidence is showing that bacteria in the gut, and the byproducts they produce, affect mood, cognition, and behavior.” I was really amazed by this and I can attest that a probiotic has definitely been a key to my vitamin blend.
I hope that these are practices that are accessible for you and give your immune and digestive systems a much needed boost!
Namaste friends!!
