So here are all the physical reasons for establishing better sleep habits.
Check out the link below: (this wasn’t written by me) The links in the article
to the Centers for Disease Control are pretty awesome too!
https://www.amway.com/discover/nutrition/sleep/sleep-tips?logout=true
How many of you have been sleeping at least 7 – 8 hours per night? In the interest of full disclosure my average is 6 hours so I’m still working on Habit #1 in the previous post.
The second habit that is really working well for me is to stop eating at 8:00pm every night, allowing my digestive system to rest and fast for at least 12 hours before eating the next day. I also get a better nights sleep when I’m not trying to digest a heavy meal before bedtime.
This takes some planning. Schedule when you will be eating your evening meal along with how long it will take to cook it so you aren’t scrambling for ideas at 7:45pm and end up eating something that’s fast but not healthy.
Link the habit to other activities. Put a reminder on your phone or maybe make a sign for your kitchen that says, “Kitchen Closed after 8:00pm. Turn out the lights and put yourself in another room in the house. Fill a water bottle and take it into another room with you so you won’t have to return to the kitchen until the following morning. This habit will help with sleep and with weight loss.
Take it from someone who has tried lots of diets, fasts, reducing centers and support groups for weight loss. I am a foodie. I love cooking shows and collecting cookbooks. I love cooking new recipes and feeding my friends and family. I even enter baked goods in the local fair and win awards. Does that mean that I will always be an unhealthy overeater who has to be on a diet for the rest of my life? The answer is a resounding “no”!!!
On this side of the diet life I now know that putting good habits into my day will help me to optimal health and wellness. Here is today’s habit that I am currently working on.
>1. Sleep. 7 to 8 hours per night. I go to bed before midnight and wake up 7 to 8 hours later. I have energy for the day. If you have a challenge with getting to sleep at night turn off all screens an hour before you go to bed. There are great herbal teas that you can drink in the evening to foster relaxation. My husband takes an herbal sleep gummy that helps him to get to sleep. Personally I go to sleep easily after reading a personal development book. Explore what it will take for you to put this habit into place. I don’t recommend any drugs or supplements that interrupt your sleep cycles.
Link your sleep to other evening activities. For example, I keep my book and reading glasses on my bedside table and the goal is to read for at least 10 minutes before I go to sleep. I also have a daily reminder on my phone about 30 minutes before bedtime. A great book to read on developing good habits is, Atomic Habits by James Clear. However, if you keep it next to your bedside it may be hard to read just 10 minutes before sleep.
Did I mention on Friday that I also have slightly elevated blood sugar that puts me in the PreDiabetic category? Diabetes Type 2 runs in my family so this is a major wake up call too. Looks like choosing to eat a whole food plant based diet is one of the paths on this journey to optimal health.
Here is a very informative article about how the whole food plant based diet may lower the risk of Diabetes Type 2
The last two years with COVID have been a wake up call. I am 67 years old and have survived a bout with the disease however that was not the challenge for me. The staying at home with two hungry grandchildren led to my undoing. We had way too much fun cooking, baking, eating and ordering out. I gained 18 pounds over the last two years and developed inflammation in my joints.
So fast forward to February of 2022. Ever since menopause I have had what I call an allergic reaction to chocolate, especially dark chocolate. I react to it with migraines which is so unfair. This year post Valentine’s Day after consuming too many chocolate covered almonds I ended up in the ER with confusion and high blood pressure. These can be symptoms of a Transient Ischemic Attack in vessels of the brain. Sometimes a precursor for stroke.
Talk about a wake up call! I knew that when I got out of there I had to make some drastic changes. Life as I knew it was over. After being scanned, poked and prodded I found out the results of all the testing: high cholesterol, moderate build up in Coronary arteries, migraine, and obesity. Time to take control over my health.
First step was agreeing finally to take a Statin drug to lower the cholesterol. That worked beautifully and brought my LDL down to healthy levels. Second step was to find some help. I asked a close friend and coworker who has a large health and wellness practice to mentor me in diet and exercise. I also enlisted the support of my family. My husband is going on this journey with me for which I am grateful.
The third step was beginning a journal during my prayer time in the morning. Asking God for His guidance with why I’m overeating and using food as a drug. Food has been a source of pleasure, reward, solace, entertainment, and basically an emotional crutch as far back as I can remember. I have examined why I overeat during other times in my life and I have learned a lot about myself but there are still places within that need healing. I know that as I learn and grow personally food will become just a source of fuel, not my go to friend.
That brings us to today. This series of posts will be about my journey to optimal health and I invite you to come along. Maybe you need healing in this area too. I will share my successes and failures and the forever plan that I’m following. We can be healthy at our stage in life. In fact, it’s been my experience that once the kids are out of the house I now have time to focus on me. For those of you who are younger, start taking care of your health now!! For once your health is gone, life becomes a huge struggle.
I welcome your comments just know that I will be approving what is published here.
A lot of people have been asking about hand washing products and which are the most effective? I’ve read about antiseptics, disinfectants, antibiotics, alcohol, bleach, germicidal, virucidal and viruseptic properties. So, in trying not to confuse you, my readers, or myself I found a simple article sourced through the CDC that helps explain effective hand washing outside of the hospital.
Source: Show Me the Science | Hand Hygiene | CDC
Even though being sick is not a funny situation, we still need a sense of humor surrounding the quarantine and staying home circumstances. Also, I believe that laughter is the best medicine. So here are some of my favorite funnies. I’m posting them so that all of us can find some joy in our day.
Having a healthy, robust immune system is a great way to fight off any disease including viruses. The mechanical practices of washing hands, getting immediate help when symptoms appear and staying away from those who are sick are important recommendations. There are also ways you can improve your body’s ability to fight back.
Since I work with the Nutrilite Corporation I will include the immunity boosters that they provide. There are Foundational Supplements that give the cells of your body what they need to produce overall wellness. Then there are specific Immune Boosters.
The Perfect Pack is an everyday foundational combination which includes:
Then there are supplements that are specific Immunity Boosters:
Nutrilite Balance Within Probiotic, a once-a-day probiotic supplement featuring an exclusive blend of five strains supporting immunity and healthy digestion†. It supports and maintains a healthy balance of good bacteria in your gut with daily use.†
Also, The Immunity Health Twist Tubes To Go provide vitamin C and B vitamins in a liquid form that can be added to a 16oz bottle of water. I recommend oxygenated water like the Perfect Water brand. The flavor is Strawberry Kiwi and my grandchildren love it. We drink one bottle per day.
Finally, the Immune Health Pack which includes Echinacea and Time-release vitamin C is useful when symptoms of a cold or flu first appear. Take it as directed for the next two weeks or until symptoms are gone. My experience with Echinacea is that it shortens the duration of a cold and decreases the severity. In other words I’m sick for three days instead of seven and the symptoms stay out of my chest.
I know this sounds like an infomercial; however, Nutrilite produces supplements using pharmaceutical standards and grows the whole food plant sources on their own organically certified farms, controlling the process from seed to supplement. So that’s why I recommend them.
Nutrilite also has supplements for children, Vitamin C, Daily Vitamins, Probiotics and a Fruits and Vegetable tablets to support their health and immune systems as well.
The disclaimer for all of these products is that they do not treat, cure or prevent disease. They support the health and wellbeing of your body at the cellular level.
For healthchat followers, I had a successful 21 day detox in the Fall and felt great going into the holidays. Results were surprising for me. The acid reflux symptoms I was having before the detox went completely away. I found they were associated with dairy and wheat. And it reinforced the experience that chocolate brings on wicked dizziness and migraines. Weight loss was not the motivating factor but, I lost 15 pounds anyway. So, I considered it a success.
However, with the holidays and 40 inches of snow last weekend some of my unhealthy eating habits have reared their ugly heads. I call the post-holiday eating syndrome Hibernation. Snow shoveling has been my exercise and all I want to do is stay at home, read and eat. I can relate to the bears and ground hogs. 
Some good habits are still in place. Cheese and chocolate are still off the menu and I’ve reduced my wheat consumption most days. Finally got back to bicycling at the gym. So, some of those ugly habits are not going to come back.
The plan now is to keep the healthy eating and exercise in place until Spring. I’m not going to begin another detox or add anything new until my body wakes up from the long winter’s sleep. Remembering how I felt before the detox and preventing those symptoms from recurring will help. Also, keeping fresh fruit and vegetables on hand to prevent eating processed food from the cupboard is key.
Finally, accepting the fact that my body is coping with the season. Eating heavier foods that help to keep me warm is okay. Also, I’m determined to stop stressing about what I weigh, instead learn how to like myself and accept my new habits as part of the journey to ultimate health. Enjoying the winter months and hibernation mode is the goal. I think I’ll take a nap.
In my world there are not 21 days in a row that are conducive to staying home and concentrating on a healthy Detox. So, this past weekend covered days 9, 10 and 11 on the Detox plan and I had to fly to Denver for a conference. Instead of giving up before I started , I decided to plan ahead and be creative.
The first thing I packed was some Protein shake powder and a good shaker cup. I’ve found that the Nutrilite Body Key shakes work really well because they have great flavors and all you have to add is water. I also packed some ready-made shakes in a separate suitcase. So I had my protein shakes, 2 per day ready to go.
I made sure that all the accompanying supplements were in my travel vitamin case and I packed an empty water bottle to refill with filtered water when I found some. Next I included apples, and carrot sticks for the plane, instead of eating sugary snacks or nuts.
Once I got to the airport it was time to be creative. I love Dulles Airport because they have a Chipotle restaurant open early in the morning. Before I boarded the plane I ate a bowl of brown rice and vegetables. So satisfying and I wasn’t ravenous when I arrived in Denver.
From then on it was just a matter of making good choices from the restaurants and stores. Would you believe I even found delicious seedless grapes at the 7-11 along with giant bottles of filtered water. The only compromise was egg whites and vegetables on a thin whole wheat bagel for breakfast.
On Sunday, day 11, I could introduce chicken breast or fish. So, we went to a great restaurant that served bison and I ordered grilled Salmon with asparagus and kale salad.
Now a lot of you are thinking, “how restrictive, I could never eat that way”. I get it, but I wasn’t craving dairy, red meat or wheat products at all. I felt great, had good energy and all systems were working well if you know what I mean. I just had to think ahead with a plan and make choices that fit the detox profile.
Healthchat 
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