Good For You

I have been focusing on supporting my body after going through the holidays and eating some things that I don't normally eat, and going to six family Christmas parties in nine days. I'm not obsessing about it or feeling guilty, I just want to make sure that I continue giving my body what it needs to encourage healing and low inflammation and good health. So many times people get "off track" during the holidays and then end up staying "off track" for quite awhile...and then end up paying for it big time in a month or two. Did you know, ladies, that a lot of times we end up having our worst periods in January and/or February because of all the late nights partying and sugar/carb binges that happen around Thanksgiving and Christmas? Yeah...bummer. It's so easy to just think "Oh one more day of splurging on treats isn't going to hurt anything at this point", or "just one more tiny peanut butter ball can't be too bad, right?" But really, the sooner you get back to healthy nourishing foods, the less impact a few holiday feasts will have on your overall health trajectory. For most of us anyway. There are some people who really can't handle ANY departures from a low inflammatory diet, and anytime I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself, I remind myself of that and just try to be thankful for what I CAN have.

Another motivation for getting back on track with healthy eating is that you feel better! Maybe you've heard this before- "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". Well, I say nothing tastes as good if it makes you feel like garbage later. It literally makes me think twice about eating another cookie if it means that I'm going to have a tummy ache later...which is a decision that I do have to make a lot of the time. Kind of a blessing in disguise really though...before I had any of my symptoms, I ate whatever I wanted. Did it hurt my tummy? No. But I was overweight and didn't really love the way I looked and my skin was not clear or smooth. And now I can see that I definitely did not set myself up to have healthy pregnancy and postpartum experiences, or healthy, happy babies. Thankfully I did have uncomplicated pregnancies with no fertility issues and natural, safe births with both our babies. (Although we did have a scare when I went into labor with my son, and then again right before he was actually born.) But postpartum, I did not do well. And with our children being born 21 months apart, I believe I was depleted of vital nutrients which opened the door for the avalanche of health issues that began three months after my son was born. If I had known then what I know now, I like to think I would have done things A LOT differently. But you can only do your best at any given moment, and I just didn't know any better back then.

Everything I have learned about how our bodies function and what it means to be truly healthy over that last few years has really changed how I think about what I put into and onto my body.

This isn't about becoming OCD and tracking every calorie or making sure you work out X number of minutes to make up for every piece of cake you eat or wearing a gas mask when you go to a friend's house and they have candles with synthetic fragrances burning . This is about caring for the body you were given and finding out the best ways to support optimal health and wellness. We live in a fallen world and we get sick and things break down and wear out and get old and there's no way to just magically feel good every single minute of every day. But being mindful and aware of what we consume and expose ourselves to can go a long way towards a happy, healthy life. 

I wish that I had been taught more about health and wellness and physical activity and all the body's systems when I was younger. Perhaps I would have been more aware of the affects my choices make, and would have been more willing to make good, healthy choices that set me up for success. 

Not that I have made particularly destructive choices; I have never been a drinker or done drugs or partied all night every weekend. Which I think goes to show even more how what we think of as insignificant choices such as choosing to eat cereal for breakfast every day instead of protein and greens, or relying on coffee to fuel us for our days (Is it the caffeine or the sugar that we really need?), or having that bowl of ice cream or that bag of chips every night before bed while we stay up past our bedtime, usually watching TV, really does have a very significant impact, especially when we keep up these habits for years.

Again, I'm not hating on anyone. I'm a human being who likes cake and ice cream and TV shows just as much as the next person, and I did eat cereal at least once a day when we were newlyweds. I get it; it's hard to do things that you don't like. It's not fun to put things into your mouth when they don't taste good, even if a nutritionist tells you it's good for your body. 

It's hard to get to bed on time when you have kids who won't go to sleep, and you just want a little chill time with your husband in the evenings. It's not always fun to do exercises that make your body shake and burn, and feel like a bow-legged cowboy the next day. Swallowing a fist-full of supplements every morning isn't very easy for most people.

But you know what else isn't fun? Being sick.

You know what else isn't easy? Trying to be a nice person and a good mother while feeling terrible.
How can we help others if we aren't even feeling well enough to care for our own self and family?

I think sometimes, when it comes to health, people have an attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" or "quit while you're ahead". We think that when we are feeling good, we can do whatever we want. But trust me, you do not want to wait until you crash and become unwell to start taking care of yourself...been there, done that. It's is so much harder to get healthy when you reach a deeper level of illness and imbalance.

Well, on to what I have been doing to nourish and balance my body- I have been drinking lemon water in the mornings, lots of herbal teas, eating a good sauerkraut, and taking a variety of supplements, as well as eating lots of greens and fish and I've even had a few smoothies lately, since I was craving them. ( I've changed my recipe a little for those, to hopefully make it even easier to digest)

I think its just important to remember not to take our bodies for granted, and remember that we are all different and you have to find what works best for you. Don't beat yourself up about what you did yesterday, just try to make positive choices today. And it's worth noting that you need to balance all aspects of you- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  Time in God's Word and in prayer, and deep breathing and good sleep go a long way towards feeling well  physically and mentally and emotionally, so don't neglect those things.
 Focus on what you can do to add to your life and wellness, as well as what you can add to those around you, and you will definitely reap the rewards, now and later.