For many years, I would experience a symptom and find a supplement or medication for it. Don’t get me wrong, supplements and medications have their place and are very important.

But, you don’t want to put band-aids on mortal wounds….you’ll die. The band-aids helped me get by, but didn’t stop the bleeding.

You have to fix the big stuff before the little stuff will really have an impact. I mean who cares if there is dirt in the wound if there is a big piece of metal sticking out of it?!? You have to remove the metal projectile and then clean the dirt out….

The BIG stuff….

1. Food and Beverage Quality

You’re going to get out of your body what you put into your body. I type and say the word “quality” everyday to someone; it matters! What you put into your body is either taking you one-step closer to health or one step closer to disease.

If you would like more information about this subject please read Eat the Yolks (Audible version is $1.99). I have a post called Quality Food Sources you can check out for some quality resources.

2. Sleep Quality (and Quantity)

Your body heals when it sleeps, it cleans when it sleeps, and it rebuilds when it sleeps. If you have poor quality sleep, the wheels will fall off the wagon. Your body cannot heal and restore health unless you are getting enough good quality sleep.

A few tips for better sleep: 1) Reduce or Remove Screen Time after sundown (use flux or Apple’s “night shift” function on phones/tablets, and blue-blocking glasses), the blue light prevents melatonin production; 2) Reduce your home temperature around 70 degrees, 3) White Noise, I use fans and earplugs, but you can also use APs like SleepStream; 4) Super Dark Room, mostly the artificial light is the issue….light from devises, smoke detectors, yard lights etc., if you cannot block all the light out, use a sleep-mask, 5) If you can take an evening walk around sundown that is a great way to wind down for the night; 6) Supplements or Herbal Assistance – Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy (Discount Code: candace to save 10%), Epsom salt bath, EASE Magnesium on the bottom of feet, and to help your body produce its own melatonin use Cedarwood Essential Oil

3. Stress Management 

This subject is very touchy for me. I’ve shared some on stress here.

Stress itself is not a disease, but it will kill you!  I think that “mind-set” falls under this category.

There is physical stress like an internal infection or exercise and there is mental stress which is everything else…..mental stress is about your perception. The trick is learning to change your mind-set about how you perceive the things that typically stress you out.

When I get stressed out, taking a walk really helps me (inside, outside). Taking at least one walk a day helps me to prevent getting stressed as well. Using the Calm AP is helpful which has guided meditations, relaxing sounds, and more. Self-care is fantastic at preventing stress and helping reduce existing stress (schedule a massage, a mani/pedi, get out in nature (go fishing), play with pets, take a nice long bath, read, take a nap, spend time with light-hearted friends, whatever will help you relax and decompress.) I also love Stress Away Essential Oil; it smells sooooo good.

4. Smart Exercise / Movement

When it comes to exercise there are so many people who take it to such extremes and I’m not sure they even realize it.

Be specific in the goals you want to achieve; you won’t know how to get there if you don’t know where you are going. Measure your movement; use a tracker, count your steps and your stairs each day. Keep yourself to a pre-set measurable amount of time for exercise each week. Stay within the parameters you set so you don’t overdo it. Be realistic in the amount of exercise is really needed to effectively achieve your goals. Don’t do anything over what is necessary. Allow time for warm-ups, cool-downs, rest, and recovery.

Choose challenging and relevant movement and exercise to achieve your goals. For example, if you want to be able to do pull-ups do exercises to strengthen the muscles needed to achieve a pull-up.

Find the balance between achieving your fitness and health goals and all the fun stuff in life, like sleeping, eating, and hanging out with friends and family.

Recommended Exercise

Walk every day as much as possible

• 1 – 3 sessions of around 30 minutes of challenging weight lifting per week
• 1 – 2 sessions of 5 – 10 minutes of sprints each week
• At least 1 – 2 sessions of 10 – 20 minutes of mobility work and stretching (Look into Becoming a Supple Leopard.)

All of the above is less than 3 hours a week of exercise time that will help keep your body healthy and mobile.

Start your health journey with what you can control – you can control these 4 things.

Once the big metal projectile is out of the wound you can clean the dirt out and really start healing.