Ladies, all the ladies, can I have your attention, please?!
Let’s have some open dialogue. You’re often the hub of the wheel of your family and if you’re not feeling good, no one is, either. You’ve got to prioritize yourself and it starts right now.
It’s National Women’s Health Week (NWHW), a weeklong health observance led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH). The week May 10–16, 2020 serves as a reminder for women and girls, especially during the outbreak of COVID-19, to make their health a priority and take care of themselves. It is extremely important for all women and girls, especially those with underlying health conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, and women 65 years and older, to take care of your health now.
What steps can I take for better health? They seem like common sense but it’s an important reminder:
• Monitor alcohol intake and avoid illicit drugs, including drugs that are not prescribed to you.
• Maintain a healthy weight and watch sugar intake (no more than 25 added grams of sugar/day for the ladies)
• Get and stay active regularly in your home or outside your home.
• Eat heart-healthy, well-balanced meals and snacks and avoid processed foods and sugary drinks.
• Take care of your mental health, and plug into a community, regularly. Stay connected with family and friends, even when you can’t meet up in person.
• Find healthy ways to manage stress with physical activity, meditation, prayer and breathing techniques. Check out the podcast I did on the power of breathwork with Samantha Skelly.
• Practice good sleep habits to improve your mental and physical health, and boost your immune system – and try to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
• Look out for your lungs and quit smoking or vaping.
{ Smoking weakens your lungs and puts you at a
much higher risk of having serious complications – including COVID-19.
Taking care of yourself also means focused attention on a balanced diet. Filling up on fiber, leafy greens, calcium-rich, probiotic and prebiotic-rich foods and good Omega-3’s will help support your body’s hormones, weight, boosting immunity and managing stress. What you eat becomes you, it’s that important! That’s what I focus on in my book, Eat Like You Give a Fork: The Real Dish on Eating to Thrive and what I’ve taught literally thousands of people to do – starting with lots and lots of clean fresh produce.
When you wash your produce with Eat Cleaner, you get it clean and ready for the week, so you’re more inclined to actually eat it before it goes bad. This is such an important step for helping your produce become safer and last longer so you get the benefits nature intended.
To round out your good habits, know that I’m a huge fan of good supplements, ones that are backed by science. Nupeutics Health is a line I trust and they have great blends like Hormone Master, Immunity Master and Stress Master so you don’t have to take a million different things. Their science-backed formulas give you a balanced, real support system using the power of plants and herbs.
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Small habit shifts can make a huge difference! Here are some to consider:
- Set your alarm for sleep time and get into bed before 10:30 pm
- Plan your meals to make sure you’re getting your nutrients and spend an hour doing meal prep every Sunday or Monday to start the week on the right foot. Wash your produce with Eat Cleaner, cook off some proteins and single ingredient grains so you have easy mix-and-match meals.
- Fill up your water bottle the night before and have it by your bedside as a reminder to drink half your body weight in ounces daily
- Schedule at least 30 minutes of physical activity every single day, event if it’s just a walk around the neighborhood
- Start the day in gratitude rather than looking at your phone first thing. It’s a game changer!
- Place your supplements in a vitamin dispenser every Sunday night so you’re ready for the week.
It starts with you prioritizing you. Then, you can take care of those around you.
What are you doing this week to self-care in an actionable way this week?