It’s cold & flu season are you ready to D.R.E.S.S?

Are you like me and a bunch of our clients/members and feel like time is flying by right now? You may be surprised that we are only weeks away from the dreaded ‘cold and flu’ season.
 
…and this year is going to be extra-interesting…

Myself and many of our members are ramping up our eating plan with higher nutrient foods and supplements and jumping on the ‘Transform in 4’ program to clean our kitchen, focus on sleep habits, nutrition, workouts, other habits, etc. I’m going to share some other strategies with you today, but first let’s talk briefly about WHY this newsletter is so important.

Let’s look at the various factors that are at play here.

Generally speaking, the summer brings about less supportive nutrition, especially in the form of sugar and alcohol; both increase inflammation and weaken the immune system. Then, with the days being longer a lot of people go to bed later leading to getting less sleep. While people tend to be more active outdoors, they often stop weight training. This is a common mistake; people thinking that somehow “exercise is exercise” and that walking around the lake or doing a lot of yard work is the same as lifting weights. FYI, it is NOT!

And, for some reason, when people slip on their nutrition and training, they often slip on their supplement intake; Although, I think a lot of people were more diligent about that this year with COVID. The supplement industry has seen a huge spike this year.

So, there’s a lot of factors that can have you rolling into cold & flu season with a weaker immune system.– Not good!! 

However, the “problem” doesn’t stop there.

Now that summer is over, many people are back to a more formal work schedule, and kids are “in school.” Both are added stress to the body. A body that we’ve already shown to be weaker. Then you can pile on top of all that a presidential race, continued uncertainty of COVID, year-end holiday stress….you get the point that our bodies are getting hammered. 

Can you see why strengthening your immune system is so critical right now?

Of course, you can. Let’s put a simple plan in place then, shall we? We’ll use the D.R.E.S.S. protocol to outline our plan:

Diet
To start, reduce/eliminate processed foods, sugar, and alcohol. I’m not saying this has to be a permanent thing. Just give yourself a few weeks. You can at least make it until Halloween. If you want more education, coaching, and accountability to be successful participants in our transform in 4-program.

Rest
Get to bed early. Turn the TV off, put your phone down too, and let your mind rest.  Take 5-6 deep breaths to let your body and mind know it’s time to wind down and prepare to sleep.   I do this with my (now 11-year-old) son every night.  It helps both of us relax and knock out. Getting enough sleep is a game-changer for weight loss, energy, mental health, and overall goodness.  If you have a sleep tracking device, please use it.  These will often tell you different info than you think is happening. 

Exercise
STRENGTH train at least twice a week. Three times would be great!  You already know that Strength training is imperative for quality health and an active lifestyle.

Hey, I know a couple of great programs that can help you!  See our schedule and sample a couple of weeks of zoom classes on us.  

Supplementation (Impowered Nutrition) 
Supplements are the cornerstone to good health – I recommend the BIG 3.  At the very least, take a high quality multi vitamin like Active MV  
Add Omega Fish Oils for overall heart and mental health as well as immunity boosting through anti inflammation. 
And to round out the Big 3, add Vitamin D3  for immunity, sleep and a host of other benefits.  Plus. many studies are showing COVID patients having low levels of vitamin D). That makes sense in regards to immunity strength. 

Stress Management
Naturally, all of the above are going to help this. Also, just chill the heck out a bit. Stop getting caught up in social media arguments (even if you’re just reading them). Finally, be cautious of how much news you watch.

Whether you agree or not, you will find the negativity getting in your head.  Even if you walk by the TV hear something and you make a comment and keep walking.  You still just made a comment because it affected you in some way.  Usually negative.  Just be aware. 
 
One final note, This one is BIG… your mindset controls everything. If you expect to get sick because you do every year, well then you’re going to get sick.

Health starts in your head and becomes your habits.
If you’d like to get control of your thinking and the results you manifest in your life, then I’d strongly recommend you participate in our 5-Days to New Habits Program.

Alright, there’s a lot of info and some great resources for you in this newsletter today. You might want to read through it again and make sure you’re checking all the boxes.Please fire back some questions regarding any of this info or other supplement and immunity boosting.  I am here to help and educate.