Seems like a pretty simple concept, right?  We all know it’s much easier to stay on top of things than to fall behind and then try to play catch up.  Going out of the office for vacation?  I bet you planned ahead and got as much work done as possible before you left, right?  Your body works the same way, so your health should get the same attention.

When we stay on top of our health, our bodies are better prepared to defend us against all the outside invaders.  The most obvious example of staying on top of your health is when you eat healthy and maintain healthy hygienic habits during cold and flu season.  We know we can’t avoid being in contact with cold or flu germs altogether (though wouldn’t that be nice!), so making sure our vitamin levels are adequate and that our gut health is in check helps prepare our body to recognize, isolate and eliminate those harmful germs that we do become exposed to.

The trouble is that just like we evolve and adapt, so do viruses and bacteria.  Sometimes, and perhaps increasingly so, simply eating right and washing our hands frequently just aren’t enough.  I discussed already in my previous blog post about ways to help your body heal once it has already been attacked by pesky sick germs, but did you know there’s an in-between?  😮

That’s right!  Somewhere between basic health habits, like eating right and staying clean, and major recovery efforts during sickness, is a place I like to call “self-care.”  I call it this, because it is just that, taking care of yourself.  Of course eating healthy and maintaining healthy hygiene habits are a form of self care, but this is a much more in-depth dedication to your own well-being.  I could go on and on about all the self-care things I recommend to maintain a positive and healthy being (mind, body and soul, not just the physical being), but instead you can read about them under the self-care tag.  Here you will find some of tips and advice to help you be the best you that you can be!  😉

Let’s talk about some of these “in-between” things you can do.  One of the most important things I think I could recommend is for people to take a daily multivitamin (YES, EVERYDAY).  Even if you don’t feel like you “need” one, and even if your doctor hasn’t told you to do so.  Multivitamins are designed to help ensure you are getting ALL the vitamins that you need every single day, not just some of them, sometimes.  Each vitamin and mineral has a particular purpose or role to play inside you body.  When you don’t allow your body access to the necessary amounts of these vitamins and minerals, you are setting yourself up for failure in the long run.  Each nutrient you are lacking may cause a slight, or even large, “hiccup” in your body.  Think of it like this…  This morning your boss told you to complete a report and deliver 6 copies to him, ready for presentation by 2pm.  You start to work on the project and discover you are missing pieces of information that you need in order to complete the report.  Hopefully, you find an alternative or work-around for the missing information.  Perhaps you were able to Band-Aid the report in order to get a finished product to present that you felt okay about, though definitely not as good as you would’ve liked to have been able to.  You take your mediocre report to the copy room.  When you arrive, you discover a jammed copier that was left for someone else (lucky you) to deal with.  Now you also can’t make copies of the report that you are only moderately satisfied with from the start.  You are running out of time, so you rush to the printing company to get copies made.  When you arrive at the printer, you discover they’ve had an emergency and had to close unexpectedly.  You rush to find a way to print your report copies, and perhaps even make it back, 6 copies in hand, 5 minutes to spare.  As you deliver your reports that you are not totally satisfied with that you have worked even harder on than you should have had to, your boss informs you that there’s a mistake because he forgot to tell you to update the original data.  Feel defeated yet??  I sure would!

This is how you body feels when you expect it to perform optimally but don’t provide it with the things it needs to do so.  Now, one day of this type of chaos can be easily recovered from.  But if you put your body through this day after day, month after month, year after year, just like you would be looking for a new job, your body will also give up.  Perhaps this means something small like your immune system can no longer fight off that pesky cold germ you keep getting exposed to by your office coworker who doesn’t understand what sick time is for.  But maybe this means something much bigger.  Perhaps one of your organs stops working properly from being overstressed or under-cared for.  When we don’t allow our skin the appropriate nutrients and moisture it needs, we can see that it gets dry.  This is especially obvious in the winter.  What if, though, instead of having dry skin you find yourself with a heart condition because you have not been providing your heart with what it needs to take care of you?  See where I’m going with this?  We have to be aware that what happens on a small scale also happens on a large scale.  This is true for all things, including with our body.

Another thing I recommend people do is improve their gut health, even if they don’t believe they have any issues.  In my experience, most people don’t realize what their digestive system is trying to tell them.  Just like all things, there will be signs.  If you choose to ignore those signs, the problems will continue to get worse.  Worsening problems will likely become other problems, and so the downward spiral will continue.  Want to read more about gut health?  Check out this article by Dr. Damian Rodriguez, DHSc, MS of doTERRA!  There are lots of way to improve gut health, but you should seriously consider taking a daily probiotic.  You can also eat gut healthy foods that are a natural probiotic.  Yogurt, cottage cheese, kombucha are all examples of such foods.  You can read more about gut healthy foods here.

The last thing I want to discuss is stress. We all know it’s bad for us.  But most of us chose to ignore the depths of it’s affect.  The most obvious effects are on our energy and mood.  But stress also affects our bodies ability to function.  It becomes harder to maintain a healthy weight when we’re stressed.  Our sleep patterns are affected when we are under stress.  Our hearts work harder under stress.  This is why stress management is so crucial to our every health.  It’s also why we seem to get sick easier during times of duress.  While it’s impossible to completely eliminate stress from our lives completely (wouldn’t that be awesome?!) there are many ways we can reduce its negative effects on our minds and bodies.  One popular way to manage stress is through meditation and visualization.  There are all kinds of different types of mediation and visualization, so I won’t go into those here, but you can read more about meditation and visualization here.  Another way people manage stress is through exercise.  Exercising doesn’t just mean running, bicycling, swimming, or any of the other traditional ideas of exercise.  Exercising means getting your blood flowing and your heart pumping and kind of pushing everything though your body.  Kind of like a reset button for your body.  I hear people say all the time “I don’t like exercising,” and I always think the same thing…  How could you not?  Do you walk?  Even going for a stroll is good for your body.  Perhaps you like physical activity.  These days there’s all different kinds of methods of exercise.  Yoga, weight lifting, Zumba, dancing, Pilates, stand-up paddle boarding…  All forms of exercise!

If you really aren’t interested in exercising, or maybe just aren’t able to, do something enjoyable.  There are other ways to relax and destress.  Play a game, put on some music, have a good chat with a great friend or loved one.  We are taught that we have to work really hard to get everything we want.  But it’s my belief that the harder you work, the more you should enjoy your life; that whole work hard, play hard concept.  But it makes sense.  If you’re going to put your body through that much stress you should allow it time to recuperate adequately as well.

These tips, along with a regular exercise regimen, and a healthy balanced diet will help your body prepare for the tasks you ask it to do each and every day.  Why not set yourself up for success?

Looking for more information about any of the topics I discussed above?  Check out the links below.

• Multivitamin:  Here’s the one I take.  It also comes in a vegan version (my personal preference).  You can get it for yourself here.

• Probiotic:  Here’s the one I take.  You can get it for yourself here.