Well the cold has come and gone about three times since school started in August. Having small children means having large amounts of germs. It’s a parental rite of passage that my husband and I accept. Now, while we may accept it, we also fight it with both modern and traditional forms of medicine. Here are a few of my favorite natural remedies that we keep in stock in our house.
Flu Bombs You can’t go wrong with homemade flu bombs that you can store in your freezer. There are a ton of recipes out there but here is the one that I use:
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice (2ish oranges)
1/2 cup of lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1 cup of coconut water
1/3 cup honey (plus an extra dollop)
1.5 tsp of Turmeric (you can use fresh turmeric as well… I use like an inch and a half)
Smidge pinch of pepper
Throw it all in a blender and pour into an ice cube tray (I use a deep square one) and freeze. When you are ready to enjoy, pop a cube out and throw some hot water on it. Voila- goodness in a cup!
Homemade Cough Syrup Cut up about a quarter to half a white, red, or yellow onion. Throw it in a mason jar. I use a large one so I use like half an onion. Cover the onion with honey but leave some room at the top. Close the lid and let it sit for 24 hours. I store mine in the fridge. Take a tablespoon or two as needed. This serves as both a cough suppressant and decongestant.
Fermented Garlic and Honey Why? Need help with inflammation? CHECK. Good for your cold? CHECK. Helps activate immune system? CHECK. This is the recipe I use. I also use the cloves (once fermented) in my cooking and the honey on toast or drizzled on charcuterie (credit for these uses goes to my friend who got me hooked on this).
Fire Cider Just google it. There are a plentiful amount of recipes for you to choose from. Since I am not patient, I buy mine from the fancy organic store in town. A shot of this when you are sick or others are in your house are sick helps activate all the good things in your body that are needed to fight sickness. It also helps with coughing and sore throats. Recipes vary so find something that appeals to you.
Italian Penicillin This recipe is a family favorite. There are MANY versions of this out there. Here are two that I think are worth checking out.
I am not a doctor and as such, my tips and tricks are just that… tips and tricks. If you are sick, see a doctor! This is just where I start my journey. I am not stubborn… if I need medicine, I take the medicine. Do what is best for your body!
My most requested blog post of the year has to be the herbal remedies that I recommend going into cold (& flu) season. I HAVE to start this off by saying I am not a doctor and am only giving my personal opinions of what has worked for me and my family, this is NOT medical advice. I’m not making a commission off of any items, just linking some of the products that I have and that I like.
Okay now that we got that out of the way… a little back story:
GUT HEALTH
Earlier this year I got a chronic sinus infection, it was so bad that I went on three different antibiotics before finally having to take antibiotics and steroids together to get the inflammation and infection out of my sinuses. These back to back infections sent me down the rabbit holes of researching natural remedies to make sure I didn’t have to go on multiple antibiotics like that ever again. However, if you are going to take antibiotics I HIGHLY recommend taking SEED every day, a symbiotic that includes prebiotics and probiotics. I never had any GI issues while taking the antibiotics, they didn’t ruin my gut or make me feel terrible which they definitely have in the past. This time though, I was taking SEED every morning which saved my gut microbiome during those back to back antibiotics. I still take SEED daily for gut support and am so grateful it comes in a subscription so I never run out. Number one recommendation for going into the flu season as well. Protect your gut health!
NATURES ANTIBIOTIC
While being terrified of another sinus infection after having an ongoing infection for three months, I learned quickly that natures’ antibiotic is Oil of Oregano which I buy in capsule form, from my local co-op (similar but not exactly to what I linked) and Black Seed Oil which I bought from HB Naturals (exactly what I linked). This combo when started early on in the feeling of getting a sinus infection can really combat your cold. I followed the recommended dose for each and took it once a day before dinner time. I took it with a juice drink to get the varnish taste of the black seed oil out of my mouth. Taste aside, this combo worked for me and naturally kicking a sinus infection that wanted to come back a few months after my traumatic three month infection. It also works when you feel like you are going to get an ear infection, again, if you can catch it earlier the better. It takes about 4-6 days to see a difference but recently my dad became a believer himself after flighting the start of a sinus infection which was also causing pressure in his ears. He noticed symptoms gone in about 5 days.
COLD COCKTAIL
Whenever I feel cold symptoms coming on, whether that be a runny noise, scratchy or sore throat…I bust out my go-to “cold cocktail” my sister-in-law taught me about years ago. Again, all capsules are from my local co-op store, I will link them on Amazon but I recommend you go to a co-op to buy them. I don’t love buying “pills or supplements” off of Amazon. My vitamin cocktail includes Echinacea with Goldenseal, Garlic supplements, and Vitamin C supplements and take the recommended doses of those per day and I usually drink it down with some electrolyte water to stay hydrated. The best medicine for a cold is also getting proper sleep, take some magnesium before bed or drink some Sleepytime Tea to get you relaxed. This vitamin cocktail when taken daily is really helpful to help your body fight off the cold and I tend to start taking these days before I travel anywhere or know I am going to be exposed to more germs than normal.
TINCTURES
I am new to the world of tinctures but I am liking what I am learning and how helpful various tinctures can be when needed. I follow Noble Task Homestead and am a big fan of their tinctures, balms, and loose leaf teas. But for the sake of this post, I am going to focus on the tinctures I have of theirs. I’m still in the thick of researching these tinctures and how often and when to use them. Lobelia and Mullein are suppose to be good for respiratory health. There are so many great tinctures but I may have to write another blog post on them once I have tried them out a little longer. For now, those are the two I recommend and I suggest you look into the benefits of other herbal tinctures too.
There you go, my top recommendations during cold and flu season! Stay safe and HEALTHY!
Let’s be real, the gym doesn’t need to be scary or intimidating. I know that is easier said than done. I have been there. I used to go to the gym and get extremely intimidated and end up just doing small workouts that didn’t utilize any of the machines or other numerous amounts of equipment available to me. It’s also worth mentioning that there was a time where I loved group classes BUT getting up at 4:30 am almost every weekday eventually wore me down. To be honest, my inconsistencies with exercise have been confusing over the years. I have gone from expensive barre classes to cheap box gym memberships and so many others in between. But like everything, there is a season and I have found myself at a local gym where I see it as an extended home gym with so many options. I now think of the gym as a sacred space for me to sweat and get my heart pumping; it’s a place I look forward to going, whenever I can.
How did I get to this current moment of loving my gym? Here is how… I knew pretty quickly into “at home workouts” in 2019 that I missed the gym. Nothing against home workouts but I know myself and I need the physical location of a gym. The machines, the classes, and mostly the separate space to work out rather than my cozy living room. My husband and I visited several gyms at the end of that year and I am so glad we did because we found the perfect gym for us and it was close to home. Everything about the gym drew us to it, from the reasonable cost of membership, to 24 hour access 7 days a week, to the open floor plan and less crowded space. It was an easy decision and so we decided to join.
Then Covid happened… and we were back to at-home workouts, bike rides, and outdoor activities. Which was fun but not quite the same as going to the gym. We counted down the days until our new-to-us gym would open back up and we could get into some sort of routine.
Finally the gym reopened and we have been diligently going ever since. My husband, Alex, and I have a routine now, we start with cardio and transition into weight training (usually targeting a specific muscle group). When we first started I would walk around the gym aimlessly and get a little overwhelmed but Alex would find exercises based on what body part he wanted to focus on and eventually I caught on and started to do the same. We even lift together several times a week! We always start with cardio and a good 10-20 minutes of getting our heart rate up. Then we pick 5 or 6 different workouts that target a specific part of the body… back, arms, shoulders, legs, or core and we do each exercise in sets of 5, the reps of each depend on the exercise we choose. To be honest, I prefer doing exercises in sets of 3 but Alex pushing the 4th and 5th set have been the game changer for me. I think I get tired of the repetition or exhausting a certain muscle group but in reality – that is the point, to break the muscle down to build it back up!
I truly look forward to the gym these days. It’s hard to explain the rush of excitement at the thought of going and working out. Maybe it is because I am finally noticing a difference or maybe it is the rush of endorphins. Whatever it is, I am thankful that I get to experience a healthy and happy relationship with the gym. I wish this for everyone so please reach out if you have any questions about the gym and what to do there. I am happy to help!
From Kendall:
I love working out. Before getting pregnant I was in great shape and was doing crazy PIIT workouts (Pilates Intensity Interval Training) and running about 5k multiple days a week. Then during pregnancy I stopped working out. Every time I went to do something, my stomach pulled in this super uncomfortable way. It hurt. So I listened to my doctor and stopped. After giving birth, I had a hard time finding that fire to get back in it. I was constantly breastfeeding AND leaking milk all the time. I preferred to just stay relatively still.
In late December of 2019, I re-committed myself to getting back in the gym. Lucky for me, that ended up being in my basement. Considering how 2020 turned out, I am beyond grateful that my husband built us an amazing and functional gym space. Phew. Anyways, I was a SLOW starter those first few months. Due to a variety of factors I mainly did quick 15 minute HIITS. Sadly, those kicked my butt. But then, I got better and stronger so I upped my workouts to longer HIITS. After about 3 months, my husband (a total gym nerd) started me on muscle group workouts. And that’s when I began to notice a huge difference in my body.
Everybody has a different threshold of what they can handle. Further, everybody has something different they want to accomplish with being in the gym. For me it has become about staying healthy and, honestly, soaking up the ONLY alone time I get all day. When I am in the gym it’s just me and my music or audiobook. It’s 100% my time where I focus on strengthening my body, pushing it to train harder, and care only about myself.
I do not have a model’s body- and I am cool with that. But I have amazing endurance, strength, and focus. I want my daughter to see that her mom is healthy. I want her to see that being active is a normal and essential part of life. Sure, she can watch Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin five times in a row (and no I am not kidding) but she also LOVES running around outside, going on walks, and climbing the ladders at the park. She is a super active kid and working out consistently has helped me to keep up with her.
Every week I average about 4-5 days of gym time. I love it. I have actually changed in that I NEED to workout regularly. IF I don’t, I am irritable. Being in the gym has been beneficial to myself not only physically, but mentally as well. Endorphins are key to being happy and I definitely feel them. Something else the gym has done is give me stamina… you know the kind I am talking about. I have no shame in saying that my appetite for that part of my relationship came back with a fierce vengeance as my body started building more muscle and cardio endurance. So not only is that part of my life on fire but I am also able to keep up with my toddler… all because of my time in the gym. Being in the gym is truly my time to mentally vision board who I am and where I am going.
Anyways, here are some of my tips and tricks for getting back in the gym, staying at the gym, and evolving your workouts:
Get a pre-workout supplement you like. I love Advocare Spark. Consult your doctor before trying any product.
Stay consistent with your gym time. Creating a routine where working out is done at the same time is key to making it part of your life and muscle memory.
For home gyms: shop sales for equipment AND make sure to use your CC for purchases until they arrive in the mail. There are A LOT of scammers out there and banks are a lot more lenient on helping you out if it is a CC transaction.
For gym memberships: make a list of what is important to you on your health journey. Do you want a gym that offers Zumba classes? Do you want a gym that has a great crossfit set up? Don’t waste money on a gym you aren’t committed to. Find a place that gives you the specific resources you need to succeed in your fitness goals.
Change it up! I get bored doing the same thing every day. PLUS- it doesn’t actually do your body justice to serve it the same workouts every day. Mix it up! Make Monday your leg day followed by cardio Tuesday and so on. If you want a sample workout schedule, let me know. My husband and I can help draft one for you. His arms don’t lie- he works out.
Give yourself rest. IF you injure yourself determine if you need to take a few days off or if you can push through. Don’t think you are a failure for taking the rest. Sometimes that rest can keep you out of the hospital!
Stretch! Ok- I am the worst at this. But you should really do it. And I am constantly trying to be better about it! Stretching is good for your muscles AND your mental focus.
Alright, get in the gym. Get your heart rate going and PUMP IT UP! And if you need some inspo, check out The Rock’s insta. Holy hell. My workouts are downright cute next to his. But hey, I still do it!
In late 2019, I rededicated myself to “wellness.” I knew it was going to be a long journey and not a get rich quick scheme. I wasn’t expecting dramatic results for a few reasons:
I wanted to give myself some grace and not be too ambitious and then, as a result of potential failure, be disappointed in myself.
I really wasn’t focused on anything other than establishing a routine, finding new ways to care for the various parts of myself that motherhood had pushed to the side, and creating a mental space in which I could healthily address all the thoughts and feelings that go along with being healthy and well.
Despite 2020 being a bit of a total mind f&#k, I think I did a really good job of prioritizing my health and what it means to me. I got to know my body again through pushing the limits in workouts, figuring out what I actually like to eat (because that’s not quite what I originally thought it would be), what I need mentally, and in prioritizing my partnership with my husband. All of these things taught me one thing: Obsessing about my body and losing weight really isn’t for me (see my post from a few months back about that). And, it still isn’t. I have been thinner, and I have been bigger. The truth is, I like myself in THIS moment… it only took 32 years to happen, but hey, it did. I have a bit more cellulite than my past self and my backside looks WAY different than it used to but oh well. I really don’t mind it. What my journey to wellness enlightenment has given me is a better appreciation for my body and what it’s capable of and why I need to take care of it.
The truth is, I wasn’t emotionally mature enough to tackle the weight stuff and the self-confidence of that issue until now. I am one of just many people who grew up associating worth with weight. And oddly enough, you feel like you have MORE worth when you weigh LESS. And when I used to try and fight that battle, I always ended up losing and hating myself for it. To be fair, health and being mindful of your body and the decisions you make with it ARE important. It is common sense that a healthy salad is probably a better choice than a triple cheeseburger and fries… now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t indulge. BECAUSE YOU SHOULD. But you should also eat the salad and find a way to not hate it. Don’t like salads? I have some alternatives that I will share with you in a bit. I learned that I really like salads. I don’t like plain salads… I like really hearty salads that are full of mixed greens, protein, nuts, maybe some blueberries, and a great homemade vinaigrette and some feta. I genuinely like that stuff. I also love to stuff my face with pizza… So, how do I balance?
Well, that’s the kicker isn’t it? There are a bunch of different avenues to go down when it comes to the subject of wellness. And, boy oh boy- EVERYONE has an opinion. Not just an opinion… but like, an opinion… you know what I mean? And the truth is, everyone’s body differs in what it needs. The key for me to properly address my health is to not be afraid to ask questions, not be afraid of my scale (not an easy emotional feat), and to have ownership of my decisions. That’s ME. I have friends who do other things and stay in great health! And for some other friends, it takes like no effort… and yeah, you can bet I am jealous. Imagine how much mental space would be freed up if staying in shape and keeping your body truly healthy took absolutely no effort? What a different place the world would be… Instead, my instagram and facebook feeds are littered with ads for different weight loss teas (seriously… WTF), workout styles (I personally love Cassey Ho from Blogilates and was doing her program super consistently before getting pregnant), and different diets… oh, the diets. It’s an endless puzzle of sorting through these things. And here’s the thing… I have a lot of knowledge of food. A lot. It’s all jumbled in my head and it’s been hard for me to make sense of it all. So… I caved. I researched a bunch of different programs to see if one of them might be a good fit for what I was trying to achieve. What was that, you ask? Well, now that I am on a good physical fitness path, I am trying to figure out how what I eat affects my body. Do I bloat? Do I lose sleep? Is my energy depleted or lifted? HOW DO I FEEL? And the truth is this: ALL of this is very much influenced by your own personal goals. As I said, I am not in this journey for immediate results… I barely have a final “number” in mind because for me it isn’t about that. I am ok with the slow and steady race that I can actually maintain for the rest of my life. I am in no mood to be let down by a program that promises a lot of things in a short amount of time that is either impossible to maintain or too expensive to maintain. Enter, Noom.
Noom. It’s EVERYWHERE. Truth be told, their success stories were, sure, inspiring. But I didn’t really care about them… what I did find out I was interested in is that I got to set the script for my goals; how I got there, how I am motivated, and more importantly, doing all of that and not instantly reverting to 24 year old Kendall (ugh- she was a mess) and hating myself for not being perfect at it all. Noom has things in place to keep you accountable such as food and water logs, exercise logs (hey NOOM- add a HIIT setting, will you?), daily lessons that are a required part of the journey, and your very own personal goal specialist to help you meet milestones and give you support along the way (a real person, not a robot). Personally, I like Noom; despite the extra cheesy factor, I like them and feel comfortable taking 10 minutes out of my day to do the work. I am a relatively new Noom user but will be keeping you updated in the coming months about how I feel, how it helps, etc. I think what I most appreciate about Noom is that everything is on me to accomplish. Sure, I have support (and they teach you a lot about the psychology of food (which I knew a lot of but had a hard time organizing to make it relevant to me) but it’s up to me. I don’t feel bad that I am getting out of the holiday food funk and some days are great and some are bad. There is no beating myself up. I am just chugging along on my journey. That alone is something I could not have done in my twenties. I simply wasn’t mentally mature enough to really understand health and wellness… but then again, it’s not like they teach you how to love yourself in school. That S*^t just comes with time. And patience.
I could go into all the different tips and tricks that I find useful, but the truth is… you don’t need it. As I said, the idea of what constitutes wellness and health is different for everyone… whatever that looks like, YOU DO YOU. What I will share with you all are a few different links to great articles that give you truly good and wholesome recipes (nope, not all of them are salads). So go forth and live well. Don’t take that for granted. At the time of this writing the US Coronavirus death toll is 406K. Life is really fragile, y’all. Take care of yourselves… Whether that’s eating a quinoa bowl, running a 5K in your city (by yourself of course, because, you know- COVID), or biting into a big ole’ bowl of homemade mac and cheese- make sure to be feeding yourself in every possible way. Get the facial. Binge the show. Take the nap. Go on a walk. For me, it will be taking my daughter out into the snow to play and be merry. That trumps my workout today. Be well, my friends.
Need some food inspo? Check out these articles- they’ve got some good and healthy recipes!
Health: what a LOADED word that is. It can mean so many different things to so many people and, sadly, most of us still struggle to define it in a truly healthy way.
My adolescent brain associated heath with weight and athleticism. As a 16 year old, going into my junior year of high school, I trained all summer in the hot and blistering sun to attend a soccer camp at what would eventually be my college alma mater. All of that hard work was put in to obtain athleticism and yet… that time was really just a thief of joy because I never felt good enough… no matter how much energy I exerted. Countless days during camp left me nearly crawling back to the dorms, feeling nauseous and fatigued for the majority of the summer. My hard work and consistency paid off though. I made the varsity team that year only to sit on the bench because the coach had her own methods of not allowing her subs to play, if she did, it was never for long. Due to her warped coaching agenda she single handedly ruined soccer for me. After playing soccer for 12 years I never played again after that year. Dramatic? Yes. Absolutely. However, I wish I could go back and tell my younger self during that season of life how proud I was that I did not allow my mental health to go through the abuse of that ignorant coach. Instead, I used my own, hard earned money and took private tennis lessons after school and around my work schedule my senior year. Again, my hard work had paid off, I was captain of my tennis team. High fives, 17 year old self for being competent enough to re-route that energy into something positive (a major enneagram 7 trait, I’ll blog on that in the near future).
In college, fad diets and an unattainable image of what women were supposed to look like was the standard. Although I wasn’t particularly mad at my weight or pant size, I was constantly striving to be smaller which translated to petite, cute, attractive… UGH. I remember looking at all my beautiful girlfriends and thinking I was the largest one of the group (*facepalm*) when the truth was I actually wasn’t and probably had slight body dysmorphia at the time. Also in my 20’s, I did fall victim to fad diets. There was, however, one fad diet in particular that was a 24 day challenge which made me rethink my cooking skills and try some fun food switches like using spaghetti squash instead of pasta (who knew?). Although I am not a fan of fad diets because they are usually not attainable for the long term, I did enjoy improving my skills in the kitchen and still reference several of the recipes from that challenge. I like to lovingly refer to ‘the experimental food phase’ as a major advancement in my appreciation for food and eating thoughtfully. Food is fuel! It really is AND we are allowed to enjoy it too. I learned that I could make a vegetable soup that tasted delicious and ALSO have a cookie with no shame or punishment at the gym. What a liberating concept!
Now I am in my early 30’s and looking at health in a completely holistic way. I have the experience and maturity to understand that health is not only about weight, athleticism or food…it is about your mental health, financial health, spiritual health, work/business health, and relational health. Health takes EVERYTHING into consideration which is why it is such a loaded word. We all search for what health means because to be healthy isn’t one specific answer. When I write out my health goals now compared to when I was younger my goals include budgeting my finances, incorporating spa days, traveling, daily prayer & gratitude, sleep, meal prepping, movement, career goals, and lots of family time. The vision I have of myself at my healthiest looks like hiking up a mountain barely winded, cooking meat and veggies over the open fire, with my husband and friends laughing nearby, bare feet in the dirt, security of a job and a home to come back to after this idyllic, healthy, and welcomed getaway. And during this getaway I envision being well-rested with energy to explore and swim in the alpine lakes. I will also see my family when I get home – we’ve made dinner arrangements. I am out enjoying God’s creation where I honestly feel the most spiritually connected. I am happy, I am content, THIS is what HEALTH is.
If you’re reading this, I hope it is a reminder that there is more that comes into play with your health than diet and exercise. How do you envision yourself at your healthiest?
The Salty Exchange 