Friday

Is Your Immune System ready?



September is coming in just a few days. I cannot believe it! Do you know what that means to me?

Crazy schedules
Germs
Sweets & desserts (Holidays are coming)
Germs
Being around a lot of people indoor (church & homeschool co-op)
Germs

I don't want to sound negative, but the reality is we are coming into the crazy season!
School has started back.
Our church fall schedule is about to kick off.
Our homeschool co-op is beginning soon.

It can often mean dinner in the car and snacks on the way. Eating out of a cooler instead of at home. Not getting enough sleep. Late night meetings or work sessions for me.

Our body will take a beating if we are not careful. Stress levels can easily get out of control.

And to make it even worse, we are coming into a season of holidays, baked desserts, being indoors with a lot of people who forget to wash their hands when they sneeze or cough, etc...

Is your immune system ready?

How are you preparing yourself for this crazy time of the year?

Stress can get you down so fast you didn't know what hit you! I get stressed out just looking at my calendar! And when I get stressed, I want to eat. I don't want to eat salads, I want a chocolate bar!

Did you know that sugar compromises the immune system? And what do we have a lot of from October until February? Sugar & lots of it!  And when do we seem to get sick the most? October through February.  Coincidence? I don't believe in that! Is there something we can do about it? Of course!



Number 1: Limit or even better eliminate sugar! Sometimes, you just can't. That Christmas party is too much fun, hanging out with your friends is too much fun and the desserts are way to good to pass up. But, limit yourself. If you know that party is coming up Friday evening, avoid all sugar during the week. 
If you know your kids are going to have cupcakes at school on Monday, make it a no sugar kind of weekend. A few days of your kids having no sugar and I have a feeling you will never want them to have it again. My kids always behave better when they haven't had any sugar. And be mindful of those hidden sugars in snacks. Sugar shows up everywhere.

Number 2: Drink a lot of water. This helps the body flush out the toxins that can make it easier for our immune systems to fail. A well hydrated body is a healthy body.  See this blog post for an idea of how much water we should be drinking.

Number 3: Protect your immune system. This is so important. Don't wait until you are sick to make changes. Make them now before you are sick. Build your immune system up so that it is better able to fight off the germs & whatever is floating around.

Natural, Plant based protection is best!

We build up and support our immune system in several ways.



Ningxia Red is a nutritional drink that is packed with fruits, veggies and essential oils. It does not have the junky fruit juices in them like white grape or apple juice that tends to raise the blood sugar. The protein levels of 2 oz equals that of a boiled egg and it scores higher than any other juice on the market on the ORAC scale.  My kids love it and I have to ration it out or they would drink it like Kool-Aid! It doesn't take much of this to give you the nutritional boost to your immune system, that is another reason why I love it!

Thieves Vitality is an essential oil blend that is another mainstay for us during this time of year. Adding a few drops of this to some warm water or into a capsule makes for an amazing body guard to my immune system!

Citrus Vitality essential oils added to my water is how I not only keep myself hydrated, but give my immune system that support that it needs. These oils also contain Limonene & you need to google that so you know why it is so important! Lemon, Orange, Tangerine & Lime Vitality are my favorites!



Thieves hand sanitizer and Thieves spray in my purse so that while on the go, we can protect ourselves from germs.



Number 4: Protect your schedule! It is so easy to sign up for everything. I homeschool my kids, I work from home and I'm involved at my church. It is very easy for me to let my activities get out of control. I have to be very careful! I have learned to set boundaries. I have to say no sometimes. I need to know what is important, what will help us accomplish our goals, what fits in to the purpose of our family.

Stress is a crazy thing and it can make us sick, lose sleep, crave the wrong kinds of food. So we need to keep it in check.

If you want to incorporate Young Living products into your daily health regimen, now is the perfect time to do that!! Contact me today & I can help you get started!!  Or click this link to get started right now! The offer below won't be available for very long.

You can also visit my business site for more information on the products.




Are You Moving?

Exercise.

I can hear you groaning already.



I've never been a good example of exercise. I'm still not!  So, I just want to put this out there now. I am not writing about how I have it all down and am not an expert on the importance of daily movement. Nope. I'm not there. But, I am working on it, because I have not only realized the importance of it, I have experienced the amazing benefits of it.

Last year, Scott had decided he was done being fat. He almost weighed 300 lbs, more than he had ever weighed in his life. We were already working on cleaning up our diet, but he knew that the missing factor in his weight loss was exercise. So, he began getting up early and walking. It wasn't long before he was walking over 2 miles a day, 6 days a week and the weight was coming off.

Then we went to the Young Living convention in August. The Young Living Foundation had a 5k fundraiser. He bought us entries. What? I can't walk a 5k!!  But, it was for a great cause, so I did it. And do you know what happened? I survived! I felt good! That night I knew I had to join my husband and begin walking with him.

So, every evening we would walk together. Sometimes our kids would join us. And that was fun. But something began to happen that I didn't expect.
I began feeling better.
I slept better.
My moods were better.
My clothes got too big. (OK, that one I was hoping for)
I got a lot more serious about taking care of myself.

30 minutes a day. That is all it took!

Walking is easy and free! You don't need any special equipment or gym memberships. You just need a good pair of shoes and ground to walk on or a treadmill. It is a good place to start if you aren't doing anything.

Don't walk alone! It is a lot more fun to walk with a partner.

It is time to get moving! Make it important! You will never regret it!