Mid-summer health coach thoughts
Our long term health is dependent on the small things we do daily. Any small healthful habit you incorporate in your daily flow contributes to your longevity and primes your brain and body for maintaining sustainable wellness.
It’s the little things that add up.
A sun-filled hello!
It has been exciting and inspirational seeing friends and family slowly and safely emerge to get on the road for small and large-scale driving trips. I’ve been mindfully and socially distancing on a road trip myself and have been brainstorming some healthful tips for road trips.
Healthful road trip tips
Stay hydrated. Buy a few large jugs of water so that you don’t run into a moment when you are out of drinking water. Most grocery stores are allowing safe water bottle refills, too!
Even if you can’t eat a full meal, try to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at times you normally would when home.
Eat enough when you are sitting for a meal so that you don’t need to grab gas station snacks.
Sleep is so important always, and especially when traveling, but can be tough when you’re not at home. Introduce sleep aids (CBD, melatonin, magnesium) when needed. Consult your primary care physician before adding supplements to your regimen.
Choose fruit and veggie snacks over processed quick bites. A lot of times this ends up being more cost-efficient than the usual road trip snack! Carrots, bananas, berries, green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas. Grab some bags of cut-up veggies at the grocery store. Even if you don’t have a cooler, the veggies I listed should stay fresh for a couple of days in the car. This is a great way to stay up on fiber, probiotics, and phytonutrients while eating away from home.
In-season fruit and veggies
As I mention eating fruits and veggies as snacks on a road trip, let’s get excited about summer produce! Though this obviously depends on where you are in the world, most grocery stores should feature in-season fruit and veg from local farms. You can always check the sticker tag on the item to see where it comes from, or even ask the employee stocking produce.
FRUIT
I have been loving summer berries, cherries, and peaches from local areas. Peaches from the farmers market in Asheville, NC are easily one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten.
Breakfast fruit salad: Combine berries and cut-up peaches (or whatever fruit you have) in a bowl. Squeeze the juice of a quarter lemon over it, and add a tablespoon of ground flax seed on top. Add any chopped fresh herbs you may have and enjoy!
VEGGIES
Summer veg salad: Arugula, carrot, radish, and beets. Start by roasting beets. Cut your beet into 1” square pieces, cover with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes in a tin foil bowl or on a baking sheet. Let cool over night. Add cooled, roasted beets to arugula with a few grated carrots and radish. Serve with a quarter of a lemon squeezed, salt, and olive oil. Too hot for the oven? Grate fresh beets and add to your salad of veggies listed above. YUM! Add quinoa or brown rice and rinsed white beans for some heaviness.
Detox, detox, detox
Another health topic that has been on my mind this summer — detoxification! A mega-important process in digestion and bodily function, detoxification is the way our body gets rid of excess toxins, hormones, etc. Our bodies do this naturally, but here are some simple techniques to boost detoxification…
Dry brushing: A simple, at-home addition to your self-care ritual, and easy to take on the road with you. Along with aiding in detoxification, dry brushing helps with circulation and lymphatic drainage. Dry brushing derives from Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old healing science from India. Simply use a hair brush or an exfoliating cloth to brush your skin when it’s dry before hopping in the shower. Always brush in the direction toward your heart.
Chlorella and green juice: Drinking green juice with chlorella, or just taking chlorella tablets, aids in detoxification. Chlorella is a fresh water algae that has multiple health benefits. But, when we are talking about chlorella in terms of detoxification, it binds to heavy metals and other harmful toxins in your body and helps the process of eliminating them. If you’re buying green juice already made, don’t forget to check for sugar content on the food label! Chlorella can be taken in the form of a tablet supplement, or powder added to water with lemon.
Some final healthful summer thoughts…
Be present and enjoy yourself, whether you are on a road trip or hanging out at home. Allow yourself to take breaks from our current media frenzy to remember who and where you are. Close your eyes, take a few breaths, and honor your mind and body wherever you are on this beautiful planet.
Go for a walk wherever you are. See how other people live and how different species of plants grow. Breathing air that’s different than our norm increases the good bacteria in our microbiome, which helps maintain healthy cell function, among other things.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me with topics you’d like to read about or to book our first free session.
I hope you, your friends, and your family are in good health and thoughts. I look forward to connecting with you regarding booking a session or discussing a topic of your interest.
xo, Gina
P.S. Enjoy this lovely article from Alexis Smart, maker of natural remedies, Love In The Time Of Corona Virus. I appreciate her explanation of what she eats daily and the lentil soup recipe included.
P.P.S. I am thankful for Bill Maher’s PSA directed toward staying healthy during the pandemic, since overall wellness has been completely lost in the media covering COVID-19. Check out this article which includes the video of Maher’s five-minute monologue.
