I find that my journey to trying to live healthier has been a slow ride with ups and downs. I learn something new, it excites me, and then I go crazy strict for several months. I stop buying my husband’s favorite snacks at the store, and I put everyone on lockdown with the food they put in their mouths. Then as the weeks pass, it becomes less of a priority, and too much effort to continue.
So…..the snacks start making their way into the house again, I stop interrogating my husband when his breath smells like fast food after he comes home from work, and we slowly go back to “normal.” Then life gets crazy, I get pregnant again, or I just get tired of caring. Does this narrative sound familiar to anyone? It’s really hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle!…..or is it?
As I was starting to do my own research about health related things, I came across some YouTube videos from a lady named Barbara O’Neill. I would see some of her video “shorts,” and the more I watched, the more intrigued I became. Finally, one night, my husband and I sat down and watched her full length video on cancer and how to naturally treat it.
I won’t go into the specifics on all that now, but after watching the whole thing, he and I were hooked. I started watching her videos nonstop. I was even watching one of her lectures while I was in labor with my third child! Her voice is so calming, and the information she presents is inspirational!
Then one day over dinner, I found out that she was coming to my town! This world famous health guru was coming to my little hometown! I was ecstatic. However, that excitement melted away quickly once I saw how expensive the conference tickets were. I am quite the penny pincher, and you won’t often see me spending $10 on a shirt, let alone, several hundreds of dollars on an “unnecessary” conference.
However, my husband looked at me across the dinner table and said, “You should go.” Just as simple as that. What a guy! So, I had his permission, but I still needed to give myself permission to be frivolous and figure out what to do with my three children for four days. It was crazy trying to line everything up, including coordinating with my mother-in-law who was preparing for her son’s wedding that week. But we did end up figuring it out, and I went!
Barbara’s presentations over the four days basically went through the whole body and how different things in our world affect how our bodies function and cause disease. She didn’t end with how bad things are. She gave hope and taught how God designed our bodies to heal themselves!
This was the part I especially wanted to hear, because I’m all too aware that there seem to be so many things trying to kill us. I’ve often gotten lost down the rabbit hole worrying about all those deadly elements in our lives. But what I want to hear is what we can do about it! It is good news to hear that there’s hope!
More importantly, the solutions I learned are very simple and methods I could start right away. Today, I’m going to share some of those simple methods and give you perspective on how easy it is to improve personal health starting today. I’m only focusing on a few basic tasks for today. Those basic tasks include drinking more water, getting outside every day, exercising every day, and getting better sleep.
I know we all have busy lives, but if we’re all honest with ourselves, these changes really wouldn’t take that much time. I will briefly go through some of the reasons for these simple changes and how to do them without adding too much extra time or stress to your already crazy, busy lives. Some of the facts I reference will be from Barbara O’Neill’s book, Sustain Me, which I highly recommend as a good reference book.
The first improvement we should make is drinking more water! Our bodies are made of about 50-75% water. Water gives us life, and it cleans our whole system. Barbara says, “Water lubricates and cushions the joints, forms the basis of blood, digestive juices, urine, and perspiration, and is contained in muscle, fat and bones” (O’Neill, 2024, p. 12). As you can see, water plays an important role in our health!
What about juice, coffee, tea, or other flavored drinks, you might ask? Without getting into too many specifics (we are trying to keep this simple, after all…), if water is vital in cleaning all the systems in our body, imagine what that looks like if you’re washing your body in juice or tea or coffee? Not the best of visuals! And what’s so wrong with caffeine?
I’m not going to be one of those extremists who says you can’t ever have coffee. I will just pose this one question to you. Do you actually think that extra energy you’re feeling is free? Everything in life has a cost, and that energy boost you get from caffeine is coming from somewhere in your body. In basic terms, the energy that you already have stored in your body is being brought to the surface in an intense way, which is why you feel great. However, this is why it leads to an intense crash later.
Plus, as far as hydration, caffeine makes you dehydrated. All that hard work you’re doing to stay hydrated is being undone. A good rule of thumb to follow when drinking coffee, tea, or anything that could be a dehydrater is to sandwich it between drinking water. Coffee shouldn’t be the first drink of the day without a little food in the stomach and some water to drink prior. As with anything, moderation goes a long way.
Speaking of hydration, let’s talk a little about that next! While it is possible to drink too much water, that is rarely the case with most people. The common problem is not drinking enough to stay hydrated. If it’s hard to drink “plain” water, make a water infusion. Add some fresh lemon slices or juice to your water, or put a couple slices of strawberries (and/or cucumbers) into a cup and fill with water to drink. Now it’s not plain anymore!
But, how much do you need to drink? I’ve heard in several different places that you should drink half your bodyweight in ounces. To keep it simple…If you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink 100 ounces of water. Figure it out for your own personal weight, but you’ll see that it is quite a bit of water.
Are you surprised to find out how much water you’re missing out on in a day? I know I was. What if you are drinking that much, and it seems like you’re just in the bathroom all day? Then it’s likely that your body isn’t absorbing it. So what can we do to help our body absorb it? The answer is thankfully simple, and it’s something we all love….Salt! Specifically Celtic salt.
I promise to keep this simple, so I’ll use Barbara’s words to explain the importance of salt. “Celtic salt contains 82 minerals…when a crystal of celtic salt is placed on the tongue, the mucous membranes begin to absorb the minerals, and the blood transports them to the cell membrane. Following the salt, we drink water, and the magnesium from the salt pulls the water into the cell. This is the quickest way to hydrate the body.” (O’Neill, 2024, p. 118). Honestly, if there’s anything you take away from this blog, I hope you go drink a glass of water right now!
The next simple change you can make, starting today, is going outside for at least a few minutes a day! Barbara recommends 30 minutes of sunshine exposure every day (O’Neill, 2024, p. 199). However, I find that is a tricky one to accomplish every day, with changing weather and busy schedules. But it is something to consider if you notice that you’re feeling sluggish, depressed or overwhelmed.
Being out in the sunshine helps our body produce vitamin D. “Sunshine boosts the mood and increases blood movement, purifies the air, allowing a higher percentage of oxygen in the air.” (O’Neill, 2024, p. 199). I find that my kids love being outside, so on nicer days, it isn’t hard to find 30 minutes to spend outside. However, if you can’t work that into your schedule, I’ve found that going outside in the morning, and closing my eyes and holding my face towards the sunshine for a few minutes, can help me start my day on the right foot.
In addition to helping mood and energy levels, sunshine can also have beneficial properties, help our immune system, and also help our hormone levels. “Sunshine (especially received through the eyes) stimulates the pituitary gland, which aids in hormone balancing, and positively affects the thyroid. Daily sunshine to the thyroid gland will boost blood to the area, stimulating healing.” (O’Neill, 2024, p. 208). I also learned a lot about how powerful sunshine can be to any area of the body. Next time you’re experiencing a health concern, try adding a regiment of sunshine exposure directly on the area that is causing you an issue. Definitely can’t hurt, and it’s free!
For now, I’ll conclude this part of the blog for fear of information overload. Next time, we will continue talking about some first steps we can take to easily improve overall health. The next blog’s focus will be a little more involved as we will be diving deeper into the importance of exercise and sleep. Now get outside and drink some water!
Till next time,
Abby
Sources
O’Neill, B. (2024). Sustain Me. Seal Books
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