Staying Healthy as Hell

I have to admit, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to summer, but now that fall is in full swing I am welcoming this grounding season with all the $3.99 Target golden leaf tchotchkes, PSLs and best of all - sweater weather.   For me, fall is a time where I’m layering up for my morning miles, getting creative with my end of week vegetables by making soups, and most importantly getting outside with my friends and family as much as possible before the snow.

Vitamin C Does Not Stand for Cure.

Despite how cozy and cute our wool sweaters make us feel, the common cold around this time of year is unfortunately…common, and Vitamin C alone doesn’t stand for a quick “cure.”  Our immune system is constantly working to support us, but our very complicated, busy lives make us more vulnerable to a dry throat and runny nose than nutrition alone can army.

Stay healthy as hell this fall with these quick and dirty tips to upkeep your immunity through the holidays.

Don’t Hide, Seek Peace.

Many of us, including myself work to avoid confrontation at all costs, but eventually if tensions get high enough, opposing opinions and tempers will find a release.  If you work in a stressful environment, where everyone has high anxiety, your muscles are being told to prepare themselves to run from a threat in the way our ancestors had to thousands of years ago.  When the event of stress occurs, other bodily functions including our immune system turn off.  Talking through conflict, will result in a more productive workplace while also informing your body it is already protected keeping stress hormones at their appropriate levels.

Similarly, work to seek peace with family at home.  Relationship stress of any kind can have the largest burden on your body.  Ease any future worry by keeping lines of communication open and exchange Vitamin C for Vitamin L*.

Move.

Staying active is one of the best ways to prepare your body for unavoidable stress.  Exercise as Elle Woods suggests is true too, it makes you happy.  Happy people get sick less often.  According to a Carnegie Mellon Study, “Happy People are Healthier,” people who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to become ill when they are exposed to a cold virus than those who report few of these emotions.

When you move your body, you move your mind, when you move your mind your brain sees greater activity, and when your brain has more activity, you are confident and less vulnerable.  This not only informs your body it is safe, it feels empowered, a cold-fighting defense system in itself.

Fast before you're forced to slow down.

I avoid sharing tips on fasting because I believe in stressing the importance in learning how to identify sustainable ways your body enjoys eating, without feeling as if there are limitations.  For the purpose of this newsletter however, incorporating small periods of fasting into your day can lessen inflammatory responses which is typically connected to longer life spans.  This suggests that when cells are more productive at recycling themselves, your immune system becomes stronger.

I always like to emphasize how we are all human and there are uncontrollable factors making optimal health, harder than it needs to be sometimes.  It is my hope these tips at minimum increase your awareness on the tools you already have to be the best, healthiest version of you.  Nutrition should only be the greatest compliment to your life not a place of destination.

*Vitamin L : Vitamin Love