Common Sense about staying well.

Why it may seem simple, eating the right food to stay healthy can be pretty difficult. In our fast paced, fast food, prepackaged world it is a daily challenge to eat something that is nutritionally balanced.
There are many sick people walking around today, more and more of them imbalanced hormonally. Why then if we have come so far scientifically in dieting and nutrition there are more people obese than ever? More diabetes, more auto-immune disorders, more heart disease?
This is a topic I have been researching for about 2 years now. I find there is very little information that makes sense or that I can use. When browsing websites I find most are advertising a product and giving tidbits of information only in hopes you will buy their "miracle product" and become healthy overnight while you sleep.
Sometimes the easiest things can be the hardest to see but I feel that if a person is eating well, getting enough sleep and managing stress there is very little chance of them getting sick. Makes sense right?

Lets go over the three things that make a person healthy.

1. Eating healthy: Eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. Keeping your furnace going so to speak. Very simple yet so many people skip meals, especially breakfast.
2. Sleep: Simply going to bed at a time that allows you to get 7-8 hours of sleep is all you need to do. If you have trouble sleeping, find out what can help with that. Are you taking in caffeine later in the day? There can be many things that keep you awake, you must find out what it is and change it.
3. Stress: If you don't already know this, STRESS is the main thing that causes death. I know that sounds dramatic but it does. Stress causes all kinds of illness due to how it lowers your immune system and allows you to be susceptible to illness and disease. It's like standing at the door of every virus, infection and disease and saying, "come on in"
There are many ways to handle stress, it is up to you to decide what works for you. Just do it, don't put it off any longer.


About eating healthy, any recipe that you can find can be made healthy buy using low fat or fat free ingredients. If you must eat out, then choose chicken instead of beef, or salad instead of a creamy soup. Eat 3 meals a day and bring healthy snacks with you to work. Never skip breakfast, keep things like yogurt, bagels or whole wheat english muffins handy. Its not how much you eat it is what you eat.

Sleep, It can take some discipline on your part to get more sleep. It needs to become a habit of making a bedtime and sticking to it. 1 hour before you have decided it is bedtime, make your environment quiet. Choose to read or take a long bath instead of running around the house. Relax your body and your mind and you will sleep much better. 7-8 hours is the recommended amount of sleep for adults.

Stress, I cannot begin to tell you how important it is to keep your stress under control. Every moment you are stressed out is a moment that will take away from your life. Try some of these suggestions, or all of them if you can.
Exercise
Meditation
Massage Therapy
Deep breathing
Eliminating the stressful situation, ie: Job, relationships, living situation

I am not an expert on this subject, only a Mother and wife who has desperately tried to take good care of myself and my family. I have been a massage therapist for 7 years. My clients are by far healthier people because they understand that in order to live life to it's fullest, one must take care of the whole person. Now with the current pandemic, doing everything you can to stay healthy is more important than ever. Keep yourself fed well, rested and stress free and you will be ahead of the game.