Saunas have been around for 1000s of years. The Finnish saunas date back to BC and today Finland has 3 million saunas serving a population of 5 million. Most Finns have a private sauna in their home or apartment building. 90% of Finns take a sauna at least once a week. The ancient Romans and Greeks had a Bathhouse while the Turkish had a Hammam during the Ottoman Empire. Native Americans have sweat lodges. Russian Banyas also date back centuries. The Japanese invented the infrared sauna in 1965. As you see many cultures across the globe have historically used saunas.  A post-workout sauna has many benefits for your mind and body as its a great workout for your heart and blood vessels. It has become part of my weekly wellness schedule.

I've lost 25 lbs and I can't wait to tell you how! My weight has been creeping up the past 6 years and I was tired of buying new pants every year and just wanted to be able to wear the same pair of shorts for three years in a row.  I eventually realized that the reason I hadn’t been able to lose weight is a lack of consistency in meal planning. I have a love hate relationship with meal planning, sometimes I’m into it but then I lack motivation and I will just wing it and engage in overeating. I’ve always had a good relationship with exercise and enjoy it and that is something I consistently do. But I knew I needed to prioritize getting my calorie deficit down and upping my protein count so I can feel full longer and build more muscle. It took me a little over three months to achieve this result. 

I switched to natural deodorant a year and a half ago and it seems more and more people are making the switch. If you've been thinking more about what you put into your body, the pandemic is the best time to make the switch so you can detox at home. I want to share four new brands I've discovered as there are so many new brands on the market. 

I'm not a coffee drinker and when I wake up in the morning I'm fine to start my day, but find that I have an energy slump around 3-4pm.  Typically it's the bitter black teas that have caffeine while I prefer the fruity herbal teas.  So I had a hard time finding caffeinated teas that I like. Then I tried these green fuels and found they they did the trick to wake me up!

For about the past five years I have been doing a Dry January, which is a month without alcohol. Dry January is super popular in Great Britain as is Sober October and Dry July is a thing in Australia. This year I didn't do it in January because I went to Mexico so I did it in June instead. It was fairly easy,  I like to do this once a year as it gives me that "oil change" I need to reboot. Now I'm back to only drinking on the weekends. The reason I did it was to reboot my health goals on June 1 to help jump start my weight loss. I've been exercising consistently throughout quarantine, but have been eating a lot too. And when I drink, I get hungrier. 

I decided to make the switch to natural deodorant. Seems like in the past few years natural deodorants have been all the craze with lots of people talking about it. See the aluminum toxins in regular deodorant have supposedly been linked to harmful diseases like breast cancer yet there is no real scientific evidence backing up that claim. However there has been accepted research that says that a plant-based diet decreases your risk of cancer. So when I saw everyone jumping on the natural deodorant bandwagon, but not changing their diet it seemed so disingenuous to me. Hence it seemed too trendy  so I resisted making the switch myself as I just wasn’t sold on the idea. Plus why switch to something healthier that the initial reviews said made you smell and be sweaty? 

Have you wondered what exactly is this weird thing called acupuncture? Well I've been having on-going treatments for various issues and wanted to share with you my knowledge on the topic. Acupuncture is a component of traditional Chinese medicine that goes back over two thousand years. It involves the insertion of short needles in your skin at strategic points on your body to unblock the energy flow (Qi). Acupuncturists believe that an illness occurs when someone blocks or unbalances your chi. At my first visit my acupuncturist had me fill out a long form asking about all of the problems with my overall health and even asked what my favorite color is. She checked my pulse in several places on my wrist to check in with my Channels. What happens at the pulse informs her decision on what points to use to treat me that day. She also looked at my tongue as it also informs her as to what is happening inside my body.

I've always had this small issue that when I do I minor twist I get a muscle spasm in my lower back that is extremely painful and debilitating but only lasts 5 seconds, nothing lasting after that so I've just ignored it for years. It's always the same movement in my bedroom to put the phone down, you'd think I'd learn by now. lol Lately it's picked up frequency so I mentioned this to a friend and she told me to see a chiropractor. Turns out my insurance covers it at a $10 co-pay so I thought why not!

Well I had no idea what to expect and was nervous. I heard that many chiropractors see all their patients together in one room, but luckily that wasn't the case with my doctor. I spent a good 45 min on my first visit with him discussing my over all health, my diet, my vitamins, my posture, everything. He checked my blood pressure but didn't take x-rays. He tested my strength by making me hold different positions against his resistance. Then he did some adjustments on me which made my body make a snapping noise which I'm not going to lie alarmed me but he said that was normal. He literally popped my back but it didn't hurt.

He told me I needed to come back for a series of 10 appointments which is typical with chiropractic medicine, it's not a one time visit like with a regular doctor. He fixed me on a good program to get rid of my muscle imbalance and recommended that I strengthen my core muscles. Honestly that's something I slack off on but now I realize it's really important to my overall body health. Having a healthy spine is a big part of being healthy so I'm going to do whatever I need to do on an ongoing basis to make sure I protect it to stay healthy. He said it's most likely a muscle imbalance pulling something out of alignment, so I'm hoping with regular appointments it will not continue to happen. He also put some tape on back which surprisingly feels warm, strengths the area and stays on through showering.

I found out that a chiropractor treats a range of things from allergy relief, back pain during pregnancy, reducing stress, migraines (yes chiropractors help with headaches), menstrual pain, helps children with ADHD, autism and other mood disorders. Apparently adjustments work to improve the function of the nervous system. So this allows the nervous system to function at it's optimal level, thus the nervous system is quicker and more efficient in balancing the body's chemistry which in turn eliminates mood disorders. Improved nerve function works to energize the body, allowing for higher function during the day and allowing us to think more clearly. And what interested me the most is that allows for a better and more restful sleep!

In short I learned that chiropractic care is not just for people in pain, but is good just to keep your nervous system and spine healthy.

In the winter time your windows are closed and your heating system makes the air dryer, which in turn causes nasal congestion, dry skin, chapped lips, and dry throat which can make you more likely to get a cold or the flu. Also check out my post how to prevent getting sick. The moisture that humidifiers give help to alleviate that as well as static electricity and peeling wallpaper. I know the humidity is low when I walk in my carpeted bedroom and constantly get shocked when I hit the light switch. Also adding humidity to your air makes your home feel warmer so you don't need the heat on as high, thus lowering your heat bill.
I know it's working because I no longer have winter time stuffy nose in the morning from the dry air from indoor heating. And I have a humidity monitor that tells me the humidity has gone up 10-20% in the room (depending if the door is open or closed). The reason I bought this monitor is because in the summertime the humidity is so bad it erodes the batteries in the programmable thermostat on the wall which prevents me from turning on the a/c, obviously that's a huge problem so the monitor allows me to monitor the levels at home so I can make adjustments to the temperature.

We shed millions of skin cells every single night when we go to bed. These cells build up and cause problems with our breathing including stuffy nose. Make sure that you wash the linens on the beds in your home regularly, especially during the winter months when the air is dry. The dry air causes the skin to become more dry and this means more cells are flaking off at night in bed. Bed linens should be washed in hot water at least one time every week. This will help to prevent a stuffy nose before it starts.

For dry skin check out my review of Trader Joe's Coconut Body Butter and for my face I've been really happy with the Collagen Lift Moisturizer I've started using this nourishing cream this winter to keep my skin hydrated from indoor heat and outdoor cold and wind. It has Encapsulated Retinol which helps increase skin's natural cell turnover and promotes collagen production.

You want to know how I manage to rarely get sick? I'd say maybe once a year I get a cough or sore throat, but never a full on cold.

Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to other. - CDC

Wash your hands regularly. You're probably not as vigilant as you think. I often see ladies in the washroom run out without washing their hands. I wash my hands when I walk into my office in the morning because I've touched door handles, elevator buttons, etc. Likewise I walk my hands everyday the minute I get home. My local grocery stores have wet wipes available for the shopping carts which I always use. And because of that and my vitamin regime/diet I rarely get a cold.

If I feel an impending cold I attack it with Vitamin C (oranges) and Zinc - I take a few blasts of Zicam. And I drop some Echinacea & Goldenseal drops into my tea. Zinc and Vitamin C will help shorten the length of your cold if taken at the start of your cold.


If I get a sore throat I drink fresh carrot juice with a little apple and fresh ginger, the ginger really clears out my throat. Then I drink this tea adding honey to it:

I've found that the best cough medicine is Delsym. It's expensive and you get a small bottle inside a large box (a 5oz bottle retails for $20). So I read the CVS sale flyer every week and it's on my list of things to buy whenever it's on sale just so I have it in stock. The serving size (cap) is much smaller than Nyquil but it works so much better. It does make me feel a little woozy though but it completely knocks out my cough for the full 12 hours it promises. They also have lozenges which have less medicine so easier to take.

If you do get sick, please wash your hands after you sneeze or blow your noise. Because at work you pass your germs on every time to touch a shared surface like a door or shared keyboard. Likewise don't invite friends over your apt when you're recovering from a cold, it's just common courtesy to try not top pass on your germs.

Interesting article that claims that public restroom soap could be dirtier than toilet water, course the testing was done by GOJO who manufactures hand santizer.