Are you struggling with your health journey?
Maybe you've been on it for a really long time
or maybe you're brand new to realizing, gosh,
there's so much that I can do that can make an
impact on my health. When we start or have been
going in a health journey for a really long time,
oftentimes what I'll hear from people is that
they'll say that they're very overwhelmed, whether
they're brand new and they're overwhelmed by
all the conflicting nutrition advice or they're
overwhelmed by all the things that do need to
be overhauled in their diet, in their lifestyle.
are going to make a difference in their health
journey or perhaps you've been at this for a
really long time and you know too much you know
all the things that are going to make a difference
for you that are going to be needle movers for
you or your family and it ends up becoming a
source of stress when we have this long laundry
list of all these things that we can need should
do and so if you're really struggling here I
want you to sit down take some deep breaths and
listen to this episode because this is exactly
what I want to talk to you about today. Welcome
to Health and Hormones. I'm Rita Johnson, your
host. Here you will get fatigue solutions, period
help, hormone healing, and a real life approach
that works for you. Let's dive in. Alright friends,
if we are overwhelmed by our health journey,
that is not going to help us be able to dive
in and support our body. It's also not going
to be able to help us when things get really
hard and tough and I really want to record this
right now because I am in the thick of a very
difficult season. We have our youngest who is
17 months old and he is right in the thick of
weaning and it has been a very difficult 10 days
and anytime our sleep is severely disrupted,
you know how this feels. It is just really tricky
to get going in the morning. It's really hard
to have a normal output of energy to be able
to make the things right in the kitchen to clean
up afterwards to plan the things and then to
do things we need to do like work and run a household
and get the kids to the places that they need
to go. And so I really just wanted to jump in
now while I'm feeling this personally. and tell
you the ways that you also can apply this into
your own life even if you don't have kids even
if you have you know some very different things
that are heavy heavy taxing on your body right
now maybe it's your actual health maybe you're
dealing with a lot of pain and discomfort and
so it's hard to get these things done and then
when we start to kind of i think of it as like
pick our head up out of the sand then we start
to get really overwhelmed because there's so
much that could be contributing to that so The
very first thing I would say is when we start
to research these things and look at, you know,
oh, it's plastics in my kitchen. It's making
everything at home from scratch. It's, you know,
doing all of these things at once that are going
to make up my health journey really to make that,
you know, whether it's alleviate some of these
negative symptoms we're dealing with or help
strengthen us as we move forward, whatever that
is, you know, there's a lot that we can do. And
so what do I do in my day to day and what do
I recommend my clients do in their day to day
is start with where you're at. What is one thing
you can start to do differently right now? And
I would always say that this is based on the
symptoms that are heaviest for you. So for example,
if you're struggling with constipation and also
severe fatigue or hormone imbalances, the very
first thing I would say is let's focus on things
that can be needle movers for you with eradicating
constipation. So it might be something where
you're like, I'm not eating clean food. I'm leaning
too heavily on fast food or processed food. I'm
not drinking enough water. I'm not sleeping enough.
I'm not able to get movement in my day. And so
to that person, I would say, let's just start
by focusing on incorporating more water. Can
you just have a cup of water you bring with you
everywhere you go, throughout the house, in the
car, everywhere you go? Because even if you're
going to church and you're not going to bring
your water in with you, if you can drink your
water in the car on the way, if you can drink
water in the car on the way home, it's easy to
start to mindlessly add that in and support your
body in that very small but very supportive way,
right? So perhaps you're saying, okay, Rita,
that sounds great, but I can definitely drink
enough water. Then can we look at your diet?
What is one thing that you're eating a lot of
that we could just level up? it's a type of granola
bar you're using. Perhaps you're using a granola
bar that has a lot of sugar, low protein. Can
we just look for a better alternative that has
less sugar and more protein? Can we, instead
of leaning on a packaged protein bar, use some
type of meat product that is going to be a snack?
For me, right now in this season, that might
be more like a Costco frozen sausage that I could
just warm up when I need a snack and eat it with
some some sauerkraut and maybe some tomato or
avocado. It doesn't take me that much time. I
can do that with the baby in my arms, but ultimately
it's going to help me to be supported more in
my energy levels when I'm not getting enough
sleep and also increasing my protein intake.
So these small changes can make a big difference.
The other thing they help us to do is to increase
our confidence that we can do it, that we can
do something. So in a season when things feel
very out of control, it's very helpful for our
mental state of health to do one thing and to
do it well. And then to be able to look back
and say, okay, well, I could drink more water.
I've shown that to myself. And look at the cascade
of impact that has had on me. A lot of times
when we are really hydrated it's going to help
support our ability to think clearly, it's going
to help our digestion, it's going to help you
know these little cascade things that we will
notice start to notice if we just have the eyes
to see. So pick one thing. move forward through
it because then what's gonna happen is as that
is successfully implemented, you can go back
and say, okay, now what's one more thing? Can
I make this subtle food change? Is there one
thing that I can start to make at home that my
family has been leaning on once, twice, three
times a week? Is there something in my day to
day that I can level up? Remember that it's just
as much about our mental state of empowerment
as it is about our physical health and the way
that those symptoms improve as we make these
small, minute changes. And then what ends up
happening is over time, they start to snowball,
right? So if one week you pick, I'm gonna drink
more water, then next week you pick something
that your family's eating regularly. Maybe it's
something like yogurt. If you're having yogurt
for breakfast every couple days or even days.
Thank you very much. Can you switch to a yogurt
that doesn't have added sugar, but instead you
add maple syrup or honey to it? Or you're adding
frozen fruit or some type of nuts that help to
make it more palatable to you. But we're reducing
some of that dietary sugar. We're reducing some
of that processed ingredients when we're adding,
you know, just a whole ingredient yogurt. And
then as that gets going well, what else is there
that you can choose out of your daily life, whether
it's a snack, could upgrade you know perhaps
leaning away from chips but if you like the salty
crunchy could you do roasted cashews or you know
instead of Having a empty caloric snack that
really just fills your heart up. Can you find
something else that you enjoy eating and also
fits that same need for you? And one of my favorites
is something like, you know, if you like a square
of chocolate after a meal, can you instead of
having a Hershey's bar of chocolate or whatever
brand it is you really like, go for a Who brand
chocolate that's going to be less sugar. It has
coconut sugar in it. It's going to be more expensive.
but that naturally helps us to reduce the amount
of times that we're gravitating towards that
chunk of chocolate to help support our heart
or our mind or whatever it is that we need at
that moment. So really just remember the small
things matter. They make a big difference. If
you find yourself struggling and feel like, well,
these little things aren't going to make a difference
because there's so much in these big things that
I need to do as well. I want you to continually
catch those thoughts in your brain and say, no,
we don't need to worry about that. We don't need
to freak out about that. If we do one thing well,
we're going to get to that. So whether it's having,
you know, an RO system installed in your home,
to improve the quality of water you're drinking
or whether it's getting rid of plastics in your
kitchen. Whatever it is that you feel like is
actually the big thing and that feels really
scary and intimidating, I want you to start here.
Because a lot of times it's the mindset piece
as well as those small things that we've neglected
over time that we've written off as they can't
possibly be a big needle mover for us. And sometimes
I see this happen. more often with people that
have these really big scary health things. And
sometimes it's with people that are just struggling
with something for a really long time, but yet
they feel like I'm at this place in my health
journey. There's no way that can make a difference.
And I just want to say to you that friend, it
will make a difference. These little things make
up our daily life. They make up our daily health
picture and where we're going to be a year or
two years, 10 years from now. Going back to my
personal story, I mentioned that we're up a lot
in the night right now, and I just said to my
husband this morning, I said, you know what?
I'm really amazed at how even though we're sleeping
really bad, when I wake up at four in the morning
with the baby and we're up from four to six,
and then I still have to get up in the morning
to do all the things I need to get done in a
day, I'm really surprised at how my energy levels
throughout the day are not tanking. And I really
credit that to the fact that we're doing so much
of these things that it's become a habit in our
daily life that it's not completely derailing
us even if we're not getting sleep. We're still
getting to the gym. We're still eating good quality
whole foods. We're still drinking a lot of water.
We're still doing these other things that are
helping to take care of ourselves. Deep breathing,
quiet prayer time, right? All of those things
are making up your health. Our thoughts around
what we're doing and the ways that they're impacting
our health are making up our stress load. And
if we can reduce stress here, if we can do these
little things that move of needle forward for
us, it's going to make a difference in your overall
health and how you're feeling in your day to
day. I hope this encourages you wherever you're
at in your journey. If you feel like I just have
no idea where to start and it's so overwhelming,
then I want you to grab my ebook, especially
if you're dealing with GI issues. It's all about
healing your gut. And I start with some of those
small things that you can start to incorporate
now to really move your body forward. And then
if you've done all these small things, if you've
been doing them for a really long time, what
are some next steps you can do to help your body
really be able to heal and have that long lasting
impact so that when you do get back to a season
where things are hard and you get derailed again,
you know what to do and how to support your body
from there. If you like content like this, please
like and subscribe for more from me.