Families can stay healthy by working together to support each other, but not all families do. For many people, “healthy” means a life of drudgery, but it doesn’t have to be this way. I find ways to make being healthy fun so my kids appreciate our healthy lifestyle and will hopefully continue on a road to a healthy lifestyle when they become adults and have their own families. My kids help me cook nutritious meals and we do stuff like go hiking to stay active and fit.
Here’s a few ideas for you to replace excuses with good diet and healthy lifestyle habits so your family can be healthy too!
Eat Whole Foods
A good first, and simple, step is to eat whole foods. Ditch the potato chips, and other junk food, in favor of salad, fresh fruits and vegetables, high-quality grass-fed liver and other meats, pastured eggs, and raw milk cheeses (if you can get them where you live).
Also, consider adding in fermented foods like real sauerkraut and yogurt. These foods provide your body with much-needed probiotic support, which can have an immune-modulating effect on your body. We make our own yogurt in our Dash Go Yogurt Maker
Check Your Blood Sugar If You’re Overweight
If you’re already overweight, you should check your blood sugar. Not every overweight person has diabetes, of course, but many people who have diabetes have trouble controlling their weight. A simple and effective way to do this is to get yourself a OneTouch glucometer. Check your glucose levels before and after working out, before and after a meal, in the morning, and at night. Diabetes is nothing to mess around with! I’ve seen it destroy a lot of my loved ones…
Get Both Aerobic Exercise And Weight Bearing Exercise
Most people know that aerobic exercise is good for them, but many people neglect or dismiss weight bearing exercise. But, there is increasing evidence that lifting weights is incredibly good for you, helps you control blood sugar levels, makes you strong, and reduces the risk of injury in day-today activities.
A good program to start out with is Starting Strength. For aerobic fitness, you can do anything from running to rowing to dancing, skating, skiing, or just speed walking.
Being a busy mom of 3, finding time to exercise has been tough but I found an app for my iPhone called 7 MWC and it only takes 7 minutes a day! It’s not much, but it’s all I can find time for right now and the app makes it easy for me to get in exercise daily. I know I’m getting stronger and getting my heart rate up so what more could I ask for?! Time to pee alone maybe…? I think that might be asking too much though… My Boba Carrier lets me carry my baby with me hands-free which is sometimes the only way I can get anything done, including exercise!
Get Regular Checkups
Going to your doctor at least once a year for a physical is a good preventative measure against developing a serious long-term illness unchecked. Most people don’t do physical exams, much less checkups that take an hour or more. Yet, this is a great way to catch nutritional deficiencies before they become serious, spot autoimmune problems as they start and head off the dreaded “C” word (cancer) before it becomes a stage 4, intractable, diagnosis.
Get Advanced Diagnostics
No one wants to hear it, but the only real way to monitor progress is with advanced diagnostics. Your standard lab tests just don’t cut the mustard. The problem is that most doctors don’t or won’t order advanced diagnostic testing. Fortunately, there’s Wellness FX. This company sells direct to consumer, and helps you find local doctors that can interpret your test results.
In general, you want to get extensive hormone panels done, including full thyroid function (not just T3 and T4) and cortisol monitoring (from ZRT labs). You also want a food sensitivity test to determine inflammation in your body in response to the foods you eat. Finally, a gut pathogen screen, combined with advanced lipid panels and a red blood cell micronutrient test will tell you a lot about your overall health, nutritional deficiencies, and how your body reacts to stress and your lifestyle.
