cheers to my health!

I had the flu in November (started the day before my best friend got married and carried on for about a week - straight through mine and my husband's holidays - joy) and I just spent another week at home sleeping. Yep - that's right ... I got sick at the beginning of this year's flu season and at the end. And the season isn't over (doctors say it is quite late this year) so who knows what will happen. The one positive point is that this is the first time in about 5 years that I wasn't sick at Christmas/New Year's - just before and after :) I consider myself fairly healthy - I don't exercise near as much as I want/need to but I do play soccer regularly, we eat healthy for the most part and I get lots of sleep because my husband gets up 2.5 hours earlier than me but I still try and go to bed at the same time as him most nights.

via

With all of these "sickies" invading my body, it made me really start to think about what is going in my body and how I can help ensure that I do not miss nearly 3 weeks of my life again this year when cold and flu season rolls around again in the fall. This is what I am working on ...

Step 1: An old friend saw my "i'm-so-sick-please-feel-sorry-for-me" photos on Instagram and suggested that I go and purchase some Thieves Oil right away. I immediately purchased some and added it to a roll-on carrier oil which I apply to the bottom of my feet every night before I go to bed. I was actually feeling really good for about a week after I started using it and then I got sick AGAIN but I truly think that this round of the flu was not nearly as bad as November thanks to the Thieves.

Thieves® was created based on research about four thieves in France who covered themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing plague victims. This proprietary essential oil blend was university tested for its cleansing abilities. It is highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health.

via

Step 2: Try to eliminate as many chemicals as I can in my beauty related products. I didn't go all crazy and throw everything away in my bathroom but I am slowly trading out some old products for new organic, paraben and chemical free. I have used Cetaphil for years to cleanse my face but read a few articles about how bad it actually is and I am definitely switching for good! Experimenting with a few different drugstore options but here are my favourites so far.

via

via

via

Step 3: Working on eliminating wheat from our diet. Not gluten per say although it is a lot easier to find gluten free products than worrying about the wheat factor individually. Yes, I am reading Wheat Belly and yes, I bought the Wheat Belly Cookbook. I have jumped on the bandwagon but have always considered this (my dad had celiac disease and passed away from stomach cancer so it is always on my mind) and I just found that the Wheat Belly craze made it easy for me to looking into it a bit more.

Step 4: Consider eliminating dairy. Doing some research. Thinking about it.

I hope some of these tips might work for you and I would love to hear about any healthy living tips that you use on a daily basis! Thanks friends! xo