Category: Overall health

Posted in Overall health, self-care, Work/life balance

Sleep – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Where do I even begin with making sleep a priority? Looking back, for years I ran on little sleep which didn’t help me to better health. Then, for awhile, I would go to sleep really easily but wake up around 1 or 2 am and just be in the bed, wide awake until about 5, doze off and jump up to a 6 am alarm. I would maybe get 4 hours of sleep. Not enough hours and lack of quality caught up with me.

And I knew I needed to do better because I felt tired all the time. I would need a nap in the middle of the day, which worked out as I worked remotely at the time. But I felt awful and it affected everything else.

I follow a couple of functional doctors who kept emphasizing the need for quality sleep as well. Then I started with working my nutritionist (I actually work with two now who focus on different things). The first one really helped me to understand the importance of sleep and how it allows the body to repair itself and reduces inflammation, which is HUGE for me. And it’s made such a positive difference.

So if you are not getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep, rethink your routine. Wear blue blocker glasses after dark. Limit the amount of time you watch tv, especially at night. Don’t use overhead lights after dark. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule, even on the weekends. Meditate before bed to get your mind prepared to sleep. These are all changes that I made and continue to tweak as I still work on this area.

Any suggestions on how to improve sleep quality? Comment below and share what works for you.

Posted in Overall health

Summer series – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

I am so excited to update everyone on this new venture that I plan to work on this summer. I’m going to publish a blog post every Wednesday, beginning in May through the end of August. Each week, I will feature a topic that has helped me throughout this wellness journey. I do not intend this to be medical advice for anyone. I am not a medical professional. I’m just someone who hopes to shed light on options that have worked for me. I even have friends and family who have asked for assistance with health challenges. And guess what? The solutions work!

I’ll also update you on my health journey throughout as well, including challenges for transparency. If this is your first time reading this blog, thank you. And thank you to those who continue to follow. I reached over 100 followers! Wow! That’s amazing as I never thought anyone might be interested.

For those who don’t know, I was diagnosed with PCOS in my mid-30s after YEARS of trying to find solutions to all of the issues that I was having. There are several types of PCOS and you can have more than one. Some days, I feel like I deal with them all at once! My biggest concern is chronic low grade inflammation; this (only my belief) led to the osteoarthritis that I deal with as well. I started working with a nutritionist in 2018 as I was having so many health issues and through the work, I’ve had major improvements including losing 95 pounds to date! With the arthritis, however, I am looking at possible knee replacement and physical therapy for cervical arthritis. It can be a lot and overwhelming sometimes, so yoga, meditation and prayer are key for me.

Down 95 pounds, starting mid-August 2018

So join me on this summer’s adventure. And feel free to comment with solutions that have worked for you. Let’s build a community. 🥂 to your good health.