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Autoimmune Disease, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Health, Health Coaching, self-care, stress

Your emotional wellbeing is just as important to your healing as Kale!

cholleyhurt
Three ways to protect your emotional health during covid-19

We are in a situation once again when the world seems to have gone all topsy turvy. Things are so strange that we can’t even agree on what name we are using for this virus that has done so much damage. Is it COVID-19, Coronavirus, or SARS 2? There is a lot of uncertainty out there and for those of us with Autoimmunity or other health issues, there is a lot of fear. I’m not going to go into all the ways that you can take care of yourself right now because I think we all got the message- wash your hands, stay inside, and eat your veggies. What I do want to do is to give you some tips on tending to our mental and emotional wellbeing.

First, stop getting your medical information from your aunt on Facebook (unless your aunt works for the CDC) and go to reputable sources. My functional medicine doctor put out this amazing COVID19 Action Plan and I think it’s a great and comprehensive source of information.

Secondly, manage your energy! I like to think of my energy the same way I look at my money. When I tend to it and invest it wisely it grows and I have more of it to do the things I love but if I don’t, I fall into a cycle of struggle. Struggling to sleep turns into struggling to work in an effective manner which then turns into limited time to be with the people I love or do the things I love. Right now, during COVID 19, managing our energy is also another way to protect our mental and emotional health which is important to our overall health and well being.

Here is how I manage my energy

  1. Get adequate sleep, ideally between 10pm and 6am since research shows that those times are when our body is doing its job to repair our body and brain.
  2. Limit and put boundaries around what information is coming in. This looks like checking the news only once or at the most twice a day. You aren’t going to change anything by holding vigilance on twitter. Also, only tune in or read sources from media that has your best interest (not your spending dollars) at heart.
  3. Stop scrolling and start connecting. Social media is a really amazing tool but since it’s built using the same algorithms as slot machines we have a tendency to scroll for ages. The problem with this (other than its a massive time suck) is that you have no control over what is coming. Maybe its more cute kittens but it also might be a horrible and scary story that causes your body to react like its being chanced by a bear. Instead, get on Skype, FaceTime, Google messenger or whatever you have and check on your people. Tell them you love them, ask them how they are feeling, trade your best stories, or just have them on the line so you can work together.
  4. Go outside as often as you can. Go for a walk between meeting, do some yoga in the park, go pull those weeds in the garden, or just slip off your shoes and feel the earth under your feet.
  5. Have a mindfulness/spiritual practice. You don’t have to be religious or be a master meditator to have a practice that gets you grounded, calms your body, and helps you to put things into perspective. Find something that you do every day that grounds you. This could look like prayer or mediation, or it could be journalling, gratitude practice, a mindful walk in nature. There are hundreds of spiritual practices so try some on and see what works for you.
  6. Take action. So much of our stress comes from a sense of helplessness. You aren’t helpless. Yes, you probably aren’t the person who is going to cure this disease and you can’t save everyone but you can do things. You can take care of yourself, you can remove yourself from the general population so there is less people for the virus to hold on to, and you can tend to your emotional wellbeing. You can also reach out to your friends, donate to the food bank, give your neighbor a roll of T.P. or anything else you feel called to do. Don’t surrender all your power just because you don’t have all the power.

Finally, honor your emotions but don’t get stuck. Its 100% normal to feel fear, frustration, anger, sadness, or any other of the 100s of emotions we can feel as humans. We tend to think we need to push these feelings away but that doesn’t work. They just get louder. You can take a deep breath and say I’m feeling this way and that’s okay. And then, you do the work to say how can I tend to this. I’m feeling anxious, what do I need to do to remind myself and my body I’m safe? Who do I need to reach out to or what thoughts do I need to think?

So what are you doing to protect your emotional health? And/or what song are you using to make sure you get your 20 seconds of scrubbing? Let me know!

healing journey, Uncategorized

Closing out the year

cholleyhurt

As I reflect on 2019 coming to an end I’ve been thinking about the year I have had and, man, has it been a hell of a year. I put my father under hospice care and had to give the orders to remove all life-saving treatment. And then I watched my father slowly leaves this earth. Predictably my health took a nosedive and I had to step back from working full time which put me into a bit of tailspin of questioning my self-worth. Then the whole year culminated in being fired from my job.

I would be justified in giving the whole year the middle finger but the truth is I’m really grateful for this year. Yes watching my father die was heart-wrenching but it was also holy. Getting my health kicked out from underneath me was a bit of a hit to this health coach’s ego but it’s good to be humble and to be reminded that our mind and our body are inextricably connected. It also lead me to a compassionate and smart functional medicine practitioner that is helping me grow stronger every day. And yes losing my job and being unemployed at 41 really really sucked but it’s okay because I learned a lot from the time I had in the position and I know that whatever comes next will be wonderful too.

This year I confronted loss and failure (two things I have been so afraid of my whole life) and I’m still standing and my life feels more textured and whole in some way.

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”― Anne Lamott

detox

Toxins and You 4: Support Those Kidneys!

Today I am wrapping up the detox series by writing about our wonderful and powerful kidneys and how we can protect them so they can protect us.

Our kidney’s primary job is to filter our blood and send out the collected waste items out of the body. All of our blood runs through our kidney every five minutes. I don’t know about you, << Test First Name >>, but that’s mindblowing to me.

So how can we take care of this hardworking and important detox organ?

Your bodies are made to handle toxins but we have to do our part to reduce the toxins we take in and make sure our detox pathways are nourished. I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

detox

Toxins and You 3: You got to move it move it!*

The best possible outcome for toxins is for them to move through our body quickly. Movement is the name of the game when it comes to the toxins we come in contact with or that our bodies create.  If toxins don’t move out, they get stored in our fat cells and tissues. This can lead to anything from joint pain to autoimmune disease. So today I’m focusing on moving those toxins all on down the (sewer) line through our poop.

While we have many systems involved in converting toxins into waste, there are only a few ways that waste actually gets out of our body. Pee, poop, and perspiration are known as the Three P’s of detoxing (h/t to Dr. Hyman). All three P’s are important, but having consistent bowel movements is fundamental.

These tips are helpful in ensuring a daily or twice daily bowel movement.

1. Eat plenty of fiber in the form of leafy green and non-starchy vegetables and slow-burning, fiber-rich carbohydrates like lentils and quinoa. Pro Tip: If you are moving from a fiber-poor diet to a fiber-rich one make this move slowly and…

2. Drink plenty of water! I know this seems so simple, but most of us don’t do it. And tea, which is a  diuretic, does NOT count. Being well hydrated makes all that fiber you have eaten moves through your system and makes your poop softer. That’s a win times 10!

3. Move your body. A sedentary lifestyle is one of the biggest reasons most people are constipated. Exercise, even a nice walk around the block, gets your digestive system moving so that you can move out those toxins.

4. Magnesium. Most of us are deficient in magnesium. This super nutrient is all about relaxation, helping you sleep better, de-stress easier, and poop better. It’s also a key nutrient for those of us with autoimmune disease, especially fibromyalgia. Dr. Mark Hyman recommends people take between 400mg to 1,000mg of magnesium citrate daily. I use my bowel movements to guide how much I take. If I’m pooping too much and the poops aren’t well-formed, I decrease my dose.

5. Squatting on the potty. The modern toilet may be responsible for the straining a lot of us do on the pot, which leads to hemorrhoids and an unpleasant experience. The theory is that modern toilets have us sitting in a way that constricts our outflow. While there is no research to back that up, there is lots of anecdotal evidence that sitting in a squat position when going to the restroom alleviates the straining and actually allows you to poop more quickly. Here is a really weird, somewhat gross, but entertaining advertisement from the creators of the Squatty Potty.

I hope these tips have helped, and that you start having an easier time clearing out those toxins.

 

*I apologize for any earworms I may have started.

detox

Join my FREE March sugar detox challenge!

sugar written several times with inflammation, heart disease, insulin resistance, aging hidden in the text

Sugar is a serious problem.

It…
💫ages us
✨is a neurotoxin
💫creates inflammation
✨causes insulin resistance
💫messes with our immune system
✨prevents us from absorbing nutrients
💫upsets the balance of our gut bacteria
✨causes heart disease and feeds cancers

the list can go on and on but I think you get the point.

Join me this March for a sugar detox.  We are going to kick sugar to the curb and get our energy back.

Check out the video from day one here and sign up for my newsletter to get tools and updates all month long.

 

detox, Uncategorized

Toxins and You 2: Toxins in your shower caddy

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Last week I jumpstarted my new series by writing about the powerhouse of our detox pathways, the liver! In that post, I focused on all the ways you could nourish your liver so that it could do its important job. Today I want to talk about ways to reduce the toxins it has to deal with, starting with our beauty products.

You come into contact with a barrage of toxins every day, in everything from the air you breathe to the furniture you sit on. These toxins cause a laundry list of health problems from acne to cancer.  I say this not to freak you out but to impress upon you the gravity of the situation.  I also say this to motivate you to take what action you can, i.e. the whole point behind this series.

You might not (individually) be able to change the number of pharmaceuticals in the water or the pollution in the air, but you can control what you put onto/into your body.

For those in the U.S., the responsibility to ensure the safety of what you are putting into your body falls completely on you.  The ingredients in soap, moisturizer, makeup, and other products are not approved by the FDA nor are the manufacturers required to do health studies or pre-market testing. These untested ingredients then end up in your body, your urine, fat cells, and tissues.

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the results of this self-policing is…
“Personal care products are manufactured with 10,500 unique chemical ingredients, some of which are known or suspected carcinogens, toxic to the reproductive system or known to disrupt the endocrine system. Though some companies make products that are safe to eat, others choose to use dangerous ingredients like coal tar and formaldehyde, both human carcinogens, and lead acetate, a developmental toxin.”

Here are a few common toxins found in our ingredients …

  1. Triclosan. An antibacterial agent and preservative that among other things is an endocrine (hormone) disruptor and is toxic to our organs.
  2. Retinyl Acetate. A product found in many moisturizers that can cause biochemical or cellular level changes.
  3. Dibutyl Phthalate. A chemical often found in nail polish that is dangerous for fetal developmental and reproductive health.

It’s disconcerting to think about those ingredients hanging out in your shower caddies and makeup bag BUT you have control!

Here are a couple of ways to take control!

1. Take an inventory of the products you use, from your shampoo to your toenail polish. Start checking those products or their ingredients against the EWG’s skin deep database.  Replace them as you can with safer products. I run any new product I want to buy through the database.  Yes, this takes a bit more time but your health is worth it!

2. Use less! We have all been sold a bill of goods about our need to look differently or smell differently than we naturally do, but that is all a part of a campaign to sell us things we don’t need or.  The truth is drinking plenty of water, eating plenty of vegetables, getting enough rest, and remembering that you are enough is the most powerful way to look and smell your best.

Toxins are everywhere but you have control over what goes into your body. Take the time to learn about whats in your products and then make better choices going forward.

detox

Toxin and You 1: How to love your liver so it keeps on loving you!

I am diving into a new series on nourishing those detox pathways and reducing our exposure to toxins. Today I’m starting off strong by getting right into it and talking about the liver because it is the powerhouse of our detox pathways. Our liver daily deals with all those toxins we put into our body like sugar, pesticides, and alcohol and those toxins our bodies create, such as ammonia and estrogen.

This powerhouse takes care of this onslaught of toxins through this really cool two-step process.  First, it takes the toxins and makes them water soluble. At this point, when the toxins are water soluble, they are actually free radical which makes them really dangerous and why step 2 is so important.

The critical second step is when the liver takes all those new free radicals binds them up and sends them out via our kidneys or our gallbladder. Toxins leave the body!

Maybe I’m the only one that geeks out about this stuff but isn’t that so cool!

To do the awesome 2-step process, our liver relies on the vitamins and nutrients we take in through food or vitamins. This means out liver needs B vitamins which come primarily from animal products, i.e. eggs or salmon.  Next, it needs FOLATE  from leafy greens. (note: folic acid is a man-made form of folate and doesn’t work for all of us). The liver also needs glutathione and flavonoids found in a diverse range of plant food.

When our liver isn’t supported it can’t do that two-step process which puts us at risk for health problems like skin issues, fatigue, brain fog and other problems. More seriously, when our estrogen isn’t dealt with properly we are at risk of cancer.

Our liver health is so important which means we need to show it some massive daily love so it can do its massive daily job of keeping us toxin free. Here is how you do that.

  1. Eat a diet full of all sorts of vegetables, especially those of the leafy green variety.  Aim to have vegetables at each meal. Spinach and eggs make a perfect combo!
  2.  Eat good quality protein from happy animals that weren’t shot up with loads of antibiotics. The extra cost is worth it!
  3.  Reduce those things that gunk up your liver. Reduce sugar (it turns to fat in your liver).
  4. Reduce pesticide exposure by making the right choice at the grocery store. Check out the clean and dirty lists from the Environmental Working Group to find out which vegetables and fruits have the most and least amount of pesticides.
  5. Cut back on alcohol (no more than 7 drinks a week and no more than 3 at a time). Too much alcohol depletes us of B vitamins.
  6. Stop smoking and don’t be around those that smoke. Do I even need to say this? Smoking is the worst, says this ex-smoker! 🙂

So let’s get going and start loving up our livers!

detox

Toxins are everywhere! Whats a lady to do?

Yellow and black sign that says Toxic Danger

I’m starting a series about our health and toxins, and I’ll be examining things like our beauty products, household cleaners, the stuff we cook with, and even the air we breathe in our home.

I’m going to be honest; I’m a little nervous. I remember when my own health coach brought up this topic, and I immediately felt overwhelmed. I mean, what the heck! I had just changed EVERYthing I ate, and now I had to think of this stuff too? UGH!!!!

BUT…

I know that you have a desire to take care of your health so that it can take care of you.

AND…

I know that this stuff is important.  Everything that ends up in our bodies affects our health for good or ill. Toxins affect out our health by wreaking havoc on our immune system and hormones and/or exposing us to carcinogens. And because we live in the world we do, we are exposed to toxins pretty much all the time.

You can unfold from the fetal position because, even though this sounds rather bleak, there is some really good news.  Our bodies are awesome (yes, even yours), and they can handle these toxins. We just need to do a little work to support that process.

Over the next few weeks, I will be writing about how we can both reduce our toxic load and how we can support and nourish our detox pathways. My goal is to give you actionable and practical tools and tips to make this process meaningful.

Are you ready?

Carrie

Cooking

Eat well without burning out under a pile of dishes!

Cooking now with 50% less time in the kitchen

So you want to change your diet so you can reduce your inflammation and feel better, but cooking is kind of killing you?  I get that!  Cooking three times a day means that much of your day is dedicated to cooking, eating, and cleaning up.  Which is why I give it a big fat nope!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love to cook, and I do eat home cooked meals almost every meal. But I’m not cooking each meal. Over the years I’ve developed some habits that keep me rolling in the homemade food without spending all my time in the kitchen.

But first here are 3 reasons you should be making your own food.

  1. Money. For most of us, cooking from home is way cheaper than buying it from a restaurant with the exception of those dollar menus, but given correlations between fast food and disease, this just means the true cost will show up in your healthcare bills. Fast food = too expensive
  2. Control over your food. Most restaurants, even those with “healthy” options, use highly inflammatory oils, like vegetable and canola oils. They also often use prepackaged food full of the neurotoxin MSG or additives that harm our gut.
  3. Quality. Most restaurants serve non-organic produce and conventional meat. While some non-organic produce is fine to eat (check out the EWG clean and dirty list), the majority isn’t. That means we are exposing ourselves to pesticides that harm our brain, disrupt our hormones, and contribute to cancer, while conventional meat is high in inflammation causing fats and carries gut damaging antibiotics.  This is especially important for those of us with autoimmune disease.

So now that we established the “why” let’s talk about the “how.” As in how do we get non-inflammation causing, nutrient-dense food into our body without burning out under a pile of dishes.

Tips

1. Get the right equipment. Get yourself a good, large sharp knife and a big cutting board. Its hard and no fun trying to cut with a dull knife on a tiny cutting board, not to mention dangerous. You can buy good quality and inexpensive knives and cutting boards at Marshall’s or Amazon.
2. Cut once; eat several times.  Cutting vegetables is the most time intensive part of cooking, so stop doing it every day. When you have a spare 45 minutes, start chopping your vegetables for the week. (This is where your new knife and cutting board will really pay off.) You can store your chopped vegetables in containers in your fridge for up to three days or in the freezer for longer. [Tip: Put a towel or paper towel in your container to absorb any moisture.]
3. Make a big batch.  Make the whole chicken and cook the whole bag of beans. Basically, just double or triple any lentils, grains, or proteins you make and store the remainder in the freezer for next week or in the fridge to use sooner.
3. Meal prep. Make a full meal that can be easily heated and eaten over several days. For my kids, I make these 3 ingredient egg muffins to make the morning easier. For myself and my husband, I roast 3 cups of chickpeas, half a butternut squash, a sweet potato, and a bag of Brussels sprouts and make a big pot of quinoa for a yummy weekday meal. This takes some time, but I save more time later in the week, and I get to eat well with very little effort.

Making the most of your meals does take some adjustment. But once you find your groove, you will be saving money and healing your body with the best of them.

What do you think? What questions do you have? Any kitchen hacks to share? I would love to hear your thoughts!

stress

Bump this to the top of your to-do list RIGHT NOW!

 Glennon Doyle's Facebook post showing a mom napping on the sideline of a soccer game. Head on purse, blanket over her face. Showing up for her kids but recognizing that she is tired!

Glennon Doyle posted this awesome photo on Facebook.

She captured a moment at a soccer game of a mom who not only showed up for her kids but she also showed up for HERSELF!

Glennon captioned the photo:

“I give you: MY NEW HERO. This Soccer Mom, at my kid’s last game.
Whilst the other parents stood loudly and earnestly and concernedly on the sidelines: this mother laid her body down on the ground, her head on her purse, and her blanket over her face – and napped.
Her entire existence said: I am showing up for my kid. But I’m not gonna pretend I’m not exhausted about It.
Please understand that periodically- when the sideline yelled and woke her from her warrior sleep- she would raise that little thumb of hers and say: yay. And then she’d go back to sleep.
I love her. She is a cultural icon for our time.
Here’s to WOMEN WHO FREAKING REST WHEN THEY’RE TIRED. May we know them. May we raise them. May we be them.
I would like to formally nominate this hero as the president elect of our Women Who Have Run Out of Effs to Give Club.
There will be no meetings.
I salute you.”

As a business owner, a mom, and some other titles that I’ve agreed to,  I can fall into the “productive trap.” You know that place where you have be productive all the time?  If you are up, you’re working or cleaning. If you are sitting down, you’re checking emails or googling your worries.  If you are in the car, you’re thinking about all the things you need to do. And if there is nothing to do, you damn sure can figure out something to do!

The productivity trap is addictive, and it hurts our health and keeps our body in a stressed state. We do not want to live in the stress response!

As a health coach and a fellow productivity addict, I don’t have the answers for you but I do have some ideas and some questions that I’ve been asking myself.

1. What do you want to do? That is, what really lights you up, gets you excited, and leaves you feeling accomplished?

2. How will you say yes in a way that protects your time, energy, and health?

3. What do you not want to do? What drains you and leaves you feeling frustrated?

4. What can you let go? What can you delegate?

5. When is your downtime for today?

This last question is frankly the hardest because we often batch our “downtime.”  If we are lucky, we are only getting a portion of the desired time one or maybe two days a week.

That ain’t great, and it doesn’t support our desire to calm our stress response, lower our inflammation, or even just find joy in this one, imperfect life.

I’m taking a cue from this soccer mom, and I’m starting to show up for myself.

Goal

Two simple ways to meet your goals!

 

This post gave me a good giggle this morning. Which is awesome because laughing is the best!

So many people are struggling right now to see their New Year’s resolutions through to the end of the month, let alone the end of the year. According to the U.S. News and World Report, 80% of people will drop their resolution by the time February rolls around.

There are two main reasons I find that people, myself included, fail to meet the goals they set.

Reason #1

First, they don’t make a plan. So you have decided that you are going to cook every night so you can get out of the takeout rollercoaster. This is a great, clearly defined goal, but…but you haven’t done anything to shift your schedule. If you don’t make the space for this new habit (like meal planning and prepping on the weekend), you are going to find yourself squeezing in these homemade dishes until you are all squeezed out and revert to your old ways.

Tip 1

Create a plan. Decide what ya need to do to make this new activity happen and when you are going to do those things. Decide what day(s) and what time(s) of the day you are going to focus on those activities, and then write them down! Setting a time for the work you need to meet your goal will increase your success rate 2 to 3 times.

Reason #2

Secondly, people who fail to meet their goals throw the baby out with the bathwater. I find that many people think that if they can’t make their activity happen exactly the way they envisioned it, then they just won’t do it. For example, they set the goal of going to the gym for an hour every day, but something happens (because life!) and they only have 30 minutes. Instead of taking advantage of that 30 minutes, they hold on to their vision and do nothing. As this happens more and more (life happens), they find themselves doing less and less of what they wanted to do —  until it’s February and they have joined the 80% of people that have fallen off the resolution wagon.

Tip 2

Be imperfect. At the end of the day, our goals are about improving the quality of our lives, not about being the perfect cook or be the best gym goer. Even though we worship perfectionism in our culture, it is the killer of success and joy. So just do it! Do it imperfectly. Eventually, it will become just what you do, and you will find yourself where you want to be.

You got this!

self-care, Uncategorized

Protecting yourself from the flu!

April

 

My husband came home last night and said, “Everyone at work is out with the flu.” I quickly suggested he take that zinc and those multi-vitamins I had just purchased for him, and (maybe for the first time) he didn’t blow me off. Side note: It’s hard to be married to a health coach. Good thing I can cook. 😉

This flu season is predicted to be one of the worst in recent history, and that is pretty scary especially for those of us with a whacked out immune system. Here is what I am doing to protect myself and my family. 

Disclaimer: I am a health coach and not a doctor.   I make no claims to any specialized medical training, nor do I provide health care, medical, or to diagnose, treat or cure any disease, condition or other physical or mental ailment of the human body.

1. Wash your hands! I know this is super fundamental, but I see people in public bathrooms. I know that at least some of us are not washing our hands as often as we should. Wash your hands before you eat, after you come in from being out, and after touching stuff like money, handrails, and elevator buttons.  In other words, if one potentially sick person touched it, wash your hands! 

2. Stay away from sugar. Sugar is just horrible for us. It creates inflammation and harms beneficial gut bacteria which leads to immune system problems. If you must have something for that sweet tooth buy yourself some richly colored fruit so you get the fructose you’re craving and the vitamins you need. Note: Fruit juice doesn’t count!

3. Get that sleep. We need at least 7 hours of sleep each night, but most of us get about 5. We have to get the sleep we need so our body can do its job of protecting us.  If you need to be scared straight on this topic, I found this interview with sleep scientist Michael Walker to be very effective. 

4. Eat the rainbow. Load up your plate with veggies of all colors! Vegetables are full of vitamins, nutrients, and fiber our body needs to nourish our cells and feed our good gut bacteria. 

5. Take your supplements. I’d rather get my nutrition through food because I know that work better for my body, but there are somethings that I can’t get through our food.  This looks different for all of us, but for me, this means making sure I get my vitamin D, omega-3, and gut healing probiotic every day, without fail.  Note: People with very active autoimmune symptoms should not be taking loads of immune-boosting vitamins like echinacea. If you aren’t sure what you should be taking, talk to your openminded nurse practitioner or doctor to see what they recommend for you. 

7. Eat all those probiotics! If it isn’t clear by now our gut health is super important. SEVENTY (70%) percent of our immune system is located in our gut. If you have lupus or another autoimmune diagnosis you have to address your gut health.

During this flu season, I’m making sure I give my gut everything it needs (and avoiding what it doesn’t) to make sure my immune system is given the best chance to protect me. I’ve written about eating your probiotics here, but for a shorter version, I’ll just tell you that I am loading up on miso,  tempeh, homemade sauerkraut, and these Bubbies pickles that I can’t seem to replicate.

So far, staying vigilant about these things has kept the flu at bay, and I’m hoping and praying that it will stay away. However, if it does happen, I am confident that my little family and I will be in good enough shape to weather the storm. 

May the flu pass you by!

Public Service Announcement: Stay home if you are sick. I know that’s hard. I know that kids have to be places and sometimes work is unforgiving about days off, but you have to get the rest you need to protect yourself. And you have to keep your germs to yourself. You flu could literally kill someone with a weak or whacky immune system. Stay home in bed and binge watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel because it’s brilliant.

Goal

Simple exercise to help create the life you want

 

It’s happening! We have made it through another year more or less in one piece which means that it’s time to celebrate and if you are like most people set a resolution for the year. And I am all about that…but I want to make an argument for doing things a little differently this year.

1. Celebrate you! I like to look back at the year and think about everything that I did or accomplished that I am proud of. I either write or say out loud “I am proud ….” Big or little it doesn’t matter, the important part is to acknowledge what you have done. And yes this is challenging because we are wired to focus on all the ways we don’t measure up but if we aren’t going to celebrate what we accomplish what’s the point of working towards any goal? So celebrate you because I guarantee you have done some amazing things. Give yourself time for this exercise and try to think of at least 30 things you are proud of.

Bonus: Do the exercise with someone you love. You can help each other recall all the amazing things that happened.

2. Determine this year’s vibe. How do you want to go through this year? What feelings do you want to have in your relationships, business, health, and your interactions with the world? I bet its to feel more love, more peace, more fulfillment and less anxiety, anger, or fear. While we can’t control the world we have control of how to respond to it. Take some time to visualize the new year and how you want to feel throughout the year.

3. Create the plan. Now its time to get to the nitty-gritty of making that vibe a reality. If you say you want to feel more loving what steps do you need to take? Are you holding on to unforgiveness? Do you need to have an uncomfortable discussion? If you want to take power over your health what will you be putting in your body? When and how will you move your body? If you want to explore that passion how are you going to schedule the time into your life? Give yourself time to create a plan that will help you live the life you want.

We create our reality- either intentionally or unintentionally- which is why this time of the year and this simple exercise is so important. If you are struggling to create a plan for yourself contact me for a free consultation. I would love to learn more about you and see if we are a good match.

I hope you have a wonderful and healthy new year!

Uncategorized

Keep the inflammation at bay this holiday season

Santa holding candy at the Austin Texas Trail of Lights

This Saturday was my first party of the season and it got me thinking how the holidays are really a minefield for those of us trying to keep inflammation at bay. From loads of sugar we push on each other to the stress of making it a perfect holiday, the season can leave us worse for wear. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are simple steps we can take to protect ourselves and keep the inflammation at bay.

1. Have a plan. Whether it’s your companies holiday party or Christmas dinner with your in-laws decide beforehand what you will and won’t be eating and drinking.  Have a plan to eat one good piece of pie or only indulge in one nice cocktail. Deciding beforehand will give you the power to say no overindulging on the things that make you feel ill.

2. Bring a dish you love that is nutrient rich. If the environment is right and you can or are asked to bring a dish make sure you provide yourself with a really healthy and delicious option. I love braised kale because of its silly simple, delicious, and can be dressed up in all sorts of ways with nuts and berries. Bonus points if you use bone broth!

3. Be a mindful eater. Often times the reason we eat things that make us feel bad is that we aren’t aware of what we are eating. We load our plate up and shovel it all down fast. No matter what your plate looks like make sure to get into a relaxed state before eating (my go-to is deep breathing!), and then chewing thoroughly, pausing between bites. Notice the taste, the smell, the texture. Doing these things (all year round) will ensure that you are digesting properly and giving your brain room to send you the “all full” queue we miss when shoveling in food.

4. Manage stress. The holidays can be stressful which can rob of us of our joy and seriously do a number on our free will. When we are stressed our body is driven towards those types of foods that cause inflammation, like sugary sweets and highly refined carbs. Finding a way to manage your stress, especially when everything else is against you, will keep you in the driver’s seat. You can check out my FREE stress management course here through the end of December.

Holidays are supposed to be a pressure release from the mundane but often they feel like a powder keg. But you can change that. You are in charge and you can create a space to enjoy and nourish yourself.

Happy Healthy Holidays!

Carrie

PS I have recently partnered with a haircare line that uses cruelty-free non-toxic ingredients that WORK!  I know, I was surprised too. If you are interested, check out my Facebook Live announcing my new venture and/or contact me.

Autoimmune Disease, elimination diet

Moderation doesn’t work when your immune system is bonker balls

We all grew up hearing “everything in moderation” which to me meant the world and all its food are your oyster just don’t reload your plate.  I think this message is fine if not a little ineffective (hello startling national health statistics) but if I took it to heart I wouldn’t be where I am today, remission.

You see the biggest step I’ve taken in my healing was finding out my food sensitivities and eliminating them from my diet. This meant I took out gluten/wheat, eggs, soy, corn, and dairy from my diet for an entire month and then one-at-a-time slowly added each ingredient back in to find out how my body responded. Turns out my body does not do well with dairy, eggs, and gluten aka a breakfast taco.

After the required mourning period, I got real about keeping those things out of my diet. Cooking at home is the best thing I can do because I know what is going in my food but when I go out to eat I have to be that person. You know the person we vilify in pop culture that makes the server swear on his mother’s grave that the food they are contemplating ordering hasn’t even so much as looked at gluten, eggs, or dairy? Yeah, now I get to be that person. At first, I always gave this fast mumbling excuse about my autoimmune diseases which just made things way WAY more awkward. But now I’ve been on this bandwagon so long I can’t be bothered to make anyone else comfortable because the stakes are just too high for me.

When I eat gluten my chest tightens up, my joints ache, and my anxiety increases often followed by depression. When I eat dairy I end up with a bunch of mucous and a migraine. When I eat eggs I look about 4 months pregnant and am not a fun to ride in a car with, if ya know what I mean.  These symptoms suck but they are really just the tip of the iceberg.

These sensitivities are an indication that I have leaky gut which means proteins from these foods leave my digestive track and leak into my body and my body responds-rightly so- by engaging my inflammatory response. One bagel could have by immune system going bonker balls for months.  There is just no room for moderation here.

Diet isn’t the only thing I have to watch, stress and toxins are important too, but if I’m not diligent with what I put into my body I suffer and suffer and suffer. This isn’t easy. It isn’t easy to schlep all the food I can eat across the state every holiday. It’s not easy watching everyone else eat at functions while my stomach growls. It’s not easy having to be on my guard around food all the time. But in the end, my quality of life is worth it.  Being in remission is worth it. And there is nothing moderate about that.

Autoimmune Disease, inflammation, Lupus

Using delicious fish to fight your inflammation!

 

Have you ever noticed how bears never get autoimmune disease? Okay, I don’t actually know if that’s true, but I’m going to guess that this fella above and his buddies are pretty darn healthy. That’s because they are gorging themselves on some of the earth’s most powerful forms of omega 3 fatty acids.

While I have been a plant eater for the majority of my life, as I’ve gotten more in tune with my body I’ve found that my sweet spot is eating mostly plant-based with the occasional high-quality animal protein. Sometimes this looks like pasture-raised beef, chicken, or pork a few times a month, but mostly, like that bear, my go-to is fish — specifically fish that is high in omega 3 and low in mercury such as wild-caught salmon, Pacific-caught sardines, farmed rainbow trout, and Atlantic mackerel.

The good news about fish…

I eat these fish because they are delicious but also because the omega 3 fatty acids in them reduce inflammation. For those of us with autoimmune disease, we know that the key to feeling good is to reduce the inflammation in our bodies. Omega 3 fatty acids do that by influencing our inflammatory cells.  When we eat foods with omega 3 fatty acids or take supplements, those fats go into our cells that are causing us so much pain and sickness and say, “You can relax now.” How amazing is that? One study looking at the impact of omega 3 on autoimmune disease reported that:

“[m]any of the placebo-controlled trials of fish oil in chronic inflammatory diseases reveal significant benefit, including decreased disease activity and a lowered use of anti-inflammatory drugs.”

That alone is motivation enough to add in a dose of high omega 3 fish into your diet. Am I right?

Wild-caught salmon have some of the highest levels of omega 3s out there, for one 3-ounce cooked piece you can get upwards of 1,500 milligrams of omega 3s.  Canned sardines can give you up to 1,000 milligrams per a 3-ounce serving.  Check out these recipes for quick ways to add salmon and sardines to your week.

But

The bad news about fish…

Omega 3s are the good news, but when it comes to fish, there is also some bad news. Due to humans dirtying up the planet, high levels of mercury have made their way into the ocean and into the bodies of marine life.  This is a problem because when we eat the fish we are being exposed to that mercury. And mercury exposure can cause inflammation and may even be the culprit behind some people’s autoimmune disease. On top of all that, it can cause neurological problems, birth defects, cardiovascular disease, etc., etc.

So before you go to town eating fish every day to reduce your inflammation, remember that you have to balance the two. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group has an excellent tool to help you do just that. This calculator will tell you which fish you can safely eat and how much you can eat each week to avoid getting too much mercury.

What do you think? Is fish your thing? Do you think about the mercury in your food? Do you think about getting omega 3 on a daily basis? Let me know in the comments below.

Holidays

Lupus and You: How to survive the holidays!

Evergreen trees at night with a block over them that says the antidote to holiday stress

 

Awww, the holidays. A time to relax, spend time with those that love us most, share a lovely meal, and just rejuvenate our soul…

Or not.

Let’s face it the holidays can be stressful and overwhelming, and that’s not just for those of us with a chronic illness. It seems like everybody is missing the mark on having the perfect Hallmark holiday.   But for those of us with chronic illness, this stress is serious because it can be devastating to both our physical and mental health.  In other words, stress steals our joy, robs us of the moment, and sets us up for a flare.

But thankfully there is an antidote to all this stress, it’s called mindfulness.

Before you click out of this page, give me a second to sell you on this.

Mindfulness is just making sure to pay attention to the moment in front of you instead of letting your mind dwell on the past or future causing you stress. See? It’s not hard or weird; it’s just about where you put your energy.

Great, now that we have cleared that up. Here are some ways I’ve developed to help keep my focus and energy on what’s in front of me so I can enjoy the holidays and protect myself from stress.

    • Store up energy: I’m an introvert.And even though I’m spending time with family, my introvert self still sees them as a group of energy suckers. Even my sweet grandmother. So I make sure to give myself time in the morning and throughout the day to get away from everyone and recharge.

In the morning this looks like locking myself in the bathroom for 10 minutes and doing a guided meditating using a tool like the Headspace App. Throughout the day it could be going for a walk, offering to run an errand or making up an errand to run, or maybe just finding a place to hide and do some deep breathing. Remember energy is like money: You don’t have endless supplies, and if you don’t spend it wisely, you can end up hurting.

 

    • Say “Nah”.  Speaking of spending your energy wisely, feel free to say no to things in favor of taking a rest. It’s okay to be too tired not to do all the things. I know that this can result in feeling guilty, resentful, or just having plain old FOMO. But you’ve got to take care of you.

Even when I’m feeling great, I try to assess what my body needs because I know that the highs and lows of chronic illness can be difficult to navigate. When we say “yes” too often, we tend to regret it the next day because we are spent. Learning to navigate the highs and lows of energy isn’t easy, but it’s not going to happen unless you start getting present with yourself.

  • Help. Getting out of your own head and back to the now can be hard, but being of service to others helps.  This could mean anything from volunteering to dish out food at your local homeless shelter to finding someone who looks lonely and asking them questions about themselves to show them they are loved. Even if you are feeling not at your best and aren’t up for moving around, you can find a way to be of service to others. Don’t underestimate your power.

 

 

    • Lower your expectations. We often create stress when our reality isn’t living up to our expectations. I know I have these fantasy about smooth 6-hour road trips with two kids and lovely and relaxed meals with family.

But in reality, road-trips with kids can suck and holiday meals mean schlepping an entire meal across the state of Texas because of my dietary restrictions.  So I manage my expectations. I know I want to get from point A to point B, and  I know want to spend time with my family. These are simple things that are not rooted in the where, when, and how of it all but still allows me to set and meet my goals — attainable ones.

Finally…

  • Be present for the good stuff. I really do lovely the holidays. They provide an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary and to be around people you love.  Things — good things — do happen, and they don’t need our stress to happen.

 

Lupus

Take Your Power Back From the Comfort of Your Own Home!

A vintage radio (1960s) with a microphone

I had the pleasure of doing a radio interview the other day and it was a lot of fun.  The 10-minute piece turned out to be a good summary of what I do as a health coach, why I do it, and where I see my business going. Check it out here and let me know what you think. 

The most important thing I spoke about was my vision for the future of my business/passion which is to make my work more accessible to more people. I just completed the first step of this process with an online course called Take Your Power Back: A 21-Day Guide to Healthy Living with Lupus.  This course is designed for you to do in the comfort of your own home at your own pace. Which means that you take your time to really dig into the work.

And the really cool thing is that once you buy this course it’s yours forever. You can revisit it as much as you like and all future content will be yours. And there will be future content because my head is a swirl with all the good things I’m going to create for this course. Check it out and let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to help you navigate the process or answer any questions you might have.

Until next time!

 

 

stress

What if we just trusted ourselves?

I trust you

Like some 40% of humans, I have an MTHFR gene mutation. This means, among other things, that when my stress response gets turned on I have really hard time turning it off.  This means that I take my stress management very, very seriously. But sometimes the pressure from the outside gets to be too much.  Like it did this last Friday when I was getting whiplash from the personal, professional, and social deadlines coming on top of the daily maintenance stuff and other responsibilities — like my brand new threenager.  (If you pray, please throw one my way because threenagers are no joke.)

But I digress.

Stuff was a lot, and I was feeling really, really stressed. So I tried something different. I decided to just have faith in myself. I made a physical list so I wouldn’t have to try to hold all that stuff in my head, and then I just said, “I trust you.” And then every time I felt that familiar feeling of stress and being overwhelmed I would just repeat it to myself, “I trust you.”  And you know what? It worked.

While this was a new tactic for me, it’s not a new concept. In psychology, they call this reframing, changing how you perceive something so your experience of it changes.  When I was feeling overwhelmed with all the to-dos, it was because I approaching them from a place where I felt inadequate to do it all. But that feeling of inadequacy was a false one. In my nearly 4 decades, I have tackled some pretty nasty to-dos. This was not my first rodeo or even my biggest.

But it’s so easy to forget how very adequate we are.  I see this in my clients (and in myself). We downplay our achievements, and we highlight all the ways we feel inadequate. So what if you flipped that script? What if you took a few minutes to see how far you have come, how much you have accomplished, and then just said, “I trust you?”

Uncategorized

I am absolutely aware of the irony

Setting the intention to thend to your health is often the only dividing line between feeling good and feeling horrible.

Tonight I was getting in bed, more or less on time, when I realized that I hadn’t prepared Day 2 of my awareness exercise for some of my newsletter subscribers.  Yes, I’m well aware of the irony.

Today I allowed myself to scroll endlessly through repeating headlines on our latest mass murder. Yes, I think, speak, and write extensively about stress management, and I am well aware of the irony.

This morning, it took me two hours to get anything done because I created no boundaries and let others pull me around. Yes, I preach self-care, and I am well aware of the irony.

Some days I do everything I know to do to keep my inflammation down and my mood up and other days…well I am absolutely aware of the irony.

Tomorrow I will try again. It will be a bit harder to get going because I won’t have all the sleep I need, but instead of allowing it to handicap me I will use it as a reminder to be more mindful. I will look at what my priorities are and let all that other stuff go.  I will do this because I will make a choice to do this. Sometimes that’s the only dividing line between feeling good and feeling like crap.

What choice are you going to make today?