I recently got back from a trip from Switzerland and it was a LOT of travel. Despite it being an amazing trip, I was pretty exhausted by the end. So I can home and gave my immune system a little extra TLC. Here’s what I do when I start feeling a bit sick or run down.
Nutrition
The first thing I do is pay extra attention to the foods I’m eating. I strip down and go back to basics. This means packing my plate with lots of vegetables, protein, healthy fats and increasing hydration, especially foods that are gut healing, and packed with added vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc. I also add lots of garlic, onions, ginger, and turmeric to meals. I pay more attention to and aim to decrease refined carbohydrates and added sugars, as well as eliminating alcohol for a short period of time. I eat at around the same times every day and avoid skipping meals. I also aim to slow way down at meal times, focusing on the food and only the food, rather than multitasking.
Lifestyle
Sleep
Sleep is SO important especially when feeling run down. I try to turn all electronics off about an hour before bed and switch to reading instead. Added magnesium before bed is also helpful – either in the form of an epsom salt bath or 400mg magnesium glycinate. I’ve tried melatonin, L-theanine and valerian root before, but the most helpful for me are CBD gummies. I first hear about these from my dear friend Lisa. They’re from Charlotte’s Web and are truly the most effective thing for me for sleep. I do not have a discount code, as I made the decision when I started working as PA to forego supplement partnerships.
Movement
I scale back on movement when I’m feeling under the weather or super tired. Rather than doing cardio intensive exercise, I’ll instead switch to yoga, pilates or just walking.
Stress Management
This is MAJOR when I can feel myself getting sick. Head to this post to see how I take care of myself during stressful seasons.
Supplements
I always recommend focusing on nutrition prior to supplementation. I firmly believe you can’t out-supplement sub-optimal nutrition. But there are a few supplements I’ll add in (at baseline I take a probiotic, vitamin D, and omega-3).
- single dose of high dose vitamin D (50,000IU)
- vitamin C (2000mg per day)
- zinc: 30mg per day
That’s it! Leave your tips and tricks below!!
