My health journey has been rocky. At age 10, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. For the better part of 20 years I was on steroids and multiple medications at a time. I lived at the hospital so much that I felt more comfortable in that environment than around my peers. Last year, I could tell my health was get worse again. I had fallen off my healthy habits list. It was time for a reset.
After becoming a mom, I had to balance my health with being able to care for my children. I remember going to urgent care when my oldest was just a year old. But, I was going for my health. He was fine.
I was the patient.
The experiences of living with a chronic illness motivates me to live as healthy as I can. I also want to teach my children to stay healthy.
I know a lot of people with chronic illnesses like mine give up. They think they can’t really heal from their disease. They just deal with sickness, being tired, and feeling like garbage every day. I was there for a time. I completely get it.
I was still drinking soda and eating processed foods all day every day. I didn’t care. My perspective was that I was going to eat what tasted good because I was sick anyway. The doctors and the medicines would have to fix me. I felt no power to live better.
But, all that changed. Being a mom with special needs, I feel that I have to help my children live as healthy as they can. That means I have to set up healthy days for us at home. I have to lead my family to natural living using simple action steps that teach big health lessons.
I want my children to avoid walking the path of hospital stays and surgeries, like I did. This is why teaching healthy living is important to me.
It is overwhelming when you are the mom, and you are the one with health troubles. There is enough to take care of every day. We can forget that we need to care for ourselves too. I want to share the action plan that worked for me to get my health on track. We moms have to keep ourselves healthy so we can care for our families.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions and experiences are my own. Please view my disclosure for more info.
Disclaimer: This post details my personal experiences and is not intended to be taken as medical advice. Please consult your medical team and resources prior to making any changes to your health routine.
Healthy Habits List for Families
I started by assessing my health. I was due for a colonoscopy, and that provided not so great results. But, based on how I felt, I knew it was not as bad as it had been in the past.
My first step was to cut out the foods that cause inflammation in the body, Toxic free living makes a huge impact on health. Alcohol, sugars, and processed carbohydrates take their toll.
For 30 days I focused on detox, rest, and healing. I drank more water; I snacked on vegetables and nuts rather than granola bars and crackers.
I did not exercise.
From my 30 years of health challenges, I know that my body needs rest. Solid, real rest.
Inflammation is a real thing. It can help the body signal where it needs to heal, but when we let it get out of control due to poor diet and lack of real rest, it grows.
When I say I did not exercise, I did not actively workout every day. I still would walk with a neighbor now and then. I would go on a trail walk or beach walk with the family on a weekend. But, my day-to-day focus was rest and healing-no intense exercise. During this time, I gathered information and prepared to take action.
Tools that Teach Healthy Habits
The books Grain Brain and Wheat Belly were key tools in my health toolbox. Either one will teach you more than all of your high school science classes combined.
The second step to my health reset was adding quality nutrition, a daily meal supplement, and targeted supplements for minerals and nutrients. I went with a clean company, Shaklee. I knew I had to buy quality for this health reset to work.
When it came to supplements, I focused on lab work results to guide me. My lab work suggested I needed a couple different supplements- iron and calcium.
Always consult with a doctor and use hard numbers to guide your use of supplements.
I added a Shaklee meal replacement protein shake every morning. This was to get concentrated protein and amino acids. The gut is a muscle. We must feed our bodies with gut-repairing nutrients. A clean protein shake, like the Build or Life Shake from Shaklee, was important for me.
Shaklee also offers a large selection of toxic free supplements for the entire family. It is a company that I feel comfortable buying products to help me live as toxin free as possible. It has become my go-to wellness lifestyle company.
If you like natural products, but not the price, I stretch things out. I love buying quality. I just make it last. If the protein powder says two scoops in a serving, then use one. It will last twice as long. You could share a Shaklee account with a family member. Alternate ordering every other month. Or, combine your order together with a neighbor for more cost-effective wellness.
Be creative to achieve your healthy reset.
So, I added a Shaklee protein shake every morning, needed supplements, and healthy snacks. Those were my focus. Oh, and rest – for 30 whole days. That was all in the month of January 2023.
What Health Reset Looked Like for Me
Within the first 2 weeks of my rest and reset plan, I felt and saw improvement. Headaches were showing up less. My GI issues were calming down. My energy level improved. I was feeling better. Life was coming back!
When we fuel the body well, it really can heal. That rest is so important too!
In February, I was very ready to get to working out again. The funny thing about feeling sick is you want to rest. Then, when you do rest without exercise the body starts to hurt. I was feeling aches in my hips and back from lack of activity. I knew it was time to get moving again. Isn’t that cool that our body tells us with signals that it needs to move?! I love that!
I used this fitness plan for women. I planned healthy meals every day. I still gave myself a cheat day to get takeout. (Only after that 30-day rest and reset month, though. That month I stuck to meal planning all homemade meals and no takeout or fast food.)
The other steps I took were to eat green vegetables and nuts every day. I stuck to my healthy living plan. I put a list of healthy habits together so you can kickstart your own health reset. The free printable is detailed below.
Every morning, I woke up before my alarm feeling energized – even before coffee – ready to start the day. When does that happen in mom life?!
My friend, Amanda, is a fellow stay-at-home mom with chronic health challenges. She is the one who introduced me to clean supplements and Shaklee.
Follow her on Instagram to dive into what clean, toxin-free living can do to support your goals as a mom. I have known Amanda for about 6 years now. I love that she and I share the goal of wanting to teach our kids to live a healthy lifestyle.
She is inspirational with how she works out with her kiddos. She shows how we set the example as moms. Check out one of her recent videos on Instagram.
Healthy Family Approach and Printable
In our house, what mom makes, everyone eats. I set the tone and meal expectations. Most nights that means I make healthy, from-scratch meals.
I may hear the kids complain that it looks too green or too mixed together. But the kids are required to eat what I make.
It’s more than just meals too. A healthy family means connection. We eat together at least one meal per day. We have focused conversations. The kids take part in our healthy habits list.
The healthy habits printable makes staying focused on a health reset easier.
We take a whole family approach to healthy living. That is how we teach our children to eat well.
I put the healthy habits list that I covered in this blog post into a printable for you.
>>Subscribe by email by clicking the image below. Access info will be emailed to you.<<
You don’t have to wait until a new year to start new healthy habits.
This printable healthy habits list is great to print and put right on the fridge. You can slip it into a page protector. Use dry erase markers to mark each item off as you complete it.
These healthy habits are a path to balance at home, They will also teach your children healthy lifestyle habits too.
Get your healthy habits list printable:
- Subscribe and download the Healthy Habits List for Families
- Check out the protein shakes and supplements from Shaklee.
- Get your fitness plan (the meal planning guide is included)
- Follow the plan on the checklist, and if you miss a day, try again!
