Tag: mindset

Seven Simple Ways To Boost Your Immune System

Seven Simple Ways To Boost Your Immune System - shutterstock_220442575

Nobody likes being sick.  Besides feeling crummy,  being under the weather can interrupt every aspect of your life.

One of the best ways to avoid getting sick is to boost your immune system.

The words immune boosting have been used so often for mass marketing that it’s hard to know what really works.  While it’s impossible to guarantee that you’ll never catch a cold or the flu, there are some simple steps you can take to boost your immune system and dodge as many bugs that come your way as possible. The tips I’m sharing below are my own personal immune boosting secrets. My clients can vouch for me when I tell you it’s very rare for me to even catch a cold so they’re more than just a theory.  🙂

HERE ARE SOME PROVEN TIPS TO BUILD YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

1) Vitamin D. Researchers believe that one of the reasons we catch colds during the winter months is a lack of Vitamin D. Make sure you are getting outside when the weather allows. Ask your doctor to check your Vitamin D levels. Your doctor may recommend that you take a Vitamin D supplement to help boost your immune system.

2) Eat immune boosting foods. Foods like broccoli, almonds, cabbage, beef, garlic, spinach, sweet potatoes, button mushrooms, chicken soup, shellfish, yoghurt, oats and barley, acai berry, elderberry, and grapefruit are all considered to be immune boosting foods.  Do your best to incorporate immune boosting foods into your daily diet. Look for recipes that include them and get creative with snack choices.

Variety is important when choosing foods for their nutritional value. Each food offers its own unique benefit.  Avoid buying into the marketing hype around one magic food that can do it all.  It simply doesn’t exist.

3) Get enough sleep. Per WebMD, the average adult needs 7 to 8.5 hours of sleep per night. Lack of sleep can compromise your immune system, making you more vulnerable to colds, flu, and other more serious illnesses.

4) Exercise. Moderate exercise is proven to boost the immune system.  However, high intensity exercise can temporarily lower your immune system.  Make sure you are allowing yourself forty eight hours of rest between high intensity routines and if your energy seems a bit low, it’s best to stick to moderate activity and get some rest.

Studies have also shown that thirty minutes of moderate exercise can help improve your sleep as well.  Bonus!

5) Hit the coffee shop. Coffee and tea are both rich in antioxidants. Studies have shown that they can fight off illnesses when consumed in moderation.  Too much caffeine can interrupt sleep and cause your body more harm than good. It seems that some people metabolize caffeine quicker than others. If you know it keeps you up at night, you may want to limit consumption to the morning hours.

6)  Laugh more.  Researchers have found that laughter is good medicine.  Studies show that it can actually decrease stress hormones and increase certain immune cells while activating others.  In a study conducted at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, healthy adults who watched a funny video for an hour showed significant increases in immune system activity.

Watch funny movies, take a moment to watch silly videos on social media, spend time with people that like to laugh with you, and do your best to see the comedy in life’s day to day activities.

7)  Look on the bright side.  Studies show that optimists who look to the brighter side of life have less stress which results in better health.   A classic UCLA study found that law students who began their first semester optimistic about the experience had more helper T cells mid semester, which can amplify the immune response, and more powerful natural killer cells, than students who had a more pessimistic perspective.

Start each day with an attitude of gratitude.  No matter what we are facing in life, we can all find at least one thing to be grateful for each day.  Even if it is simply waking up to a new day.

Boosting your immune system doesn’t have to be a chore.  Focus on the things you can incorporate into your day.  A little bit goes a long way!

Here’s to avoiding the cold and flu aisle this year!

With love,
Jennifer

How To Handle A Setback And Keep Moving Forward

How To Handle A Major Setback In Your Life by Certified Personal Trainer and Healthy Lifestyle Coach Jennifer Ledford

Life can be unpredictable at times.  We live in a less than perfect world which means we will all have to deal with some kind of trial or setback at some point and time.  Some trials just happen to be more difficult than others.

Last week I stepped on some uneven sidewalk walking home from a restaurant. One minute I was walking and holding my husband’s hand, the next minute I was on the ground writhing in pain.  I tried putting weight on it and was able to for a small amount of time but after awhile it became obvious I was not able to put any weight on it all.  The emergency room confirmed that my foot was indeed broken, put a splint on it, and referred me out to an orthopedic surgeon.

Over the years, my job as a personal trainer has allowed me to help more people than I can count recover from injuries.  I have had the opportunity to work under the direction of the specialists and the physical therapists.  My career has allowed me to learn quite a bit about the rehabilitation process so, when the doctors were explaining my injury, I had a pretty good idea of what I was facing.  This personal trainer, business owner, wife, home maker, and dog mom was not going to be able to put weight on her foot for several weeks.  Ugh!  Almost everything I do requires that I’m on my feet.

Fortunately, my husband is totally stepping up to the plate, we were able to get some help with the dogs right away, and we’ve had wonderful friends volunteer to help.  However, after about five days of trying to get around without putting weight on my left foot, I began to feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and even a bit depressed.  The truth is this is a major interruption that is affecting many areas of my life.

Fortunately, as tempted as I was to feel sorry for myself and slip into pity party mode, I DID NOT allow myself to go there.  I admitted to myself and God that I was struggling and then took action steps to turn my mindset around and focus on what I can do rather than what I can’t do right now.

How To Handle A Setback In Any Area Of Your Life

In today’s video I share tips on how to handle a setback in any area of your life and continue moving forward toward your goals.  We can’t always control our circumstances in life.  We can, however, always control how we respond to them.

Enjoy the video.  I shot it right after a hair appointment so credit for the hair goes to John Ryan at Festoon salon.  🙂  And, if you think this video could bless someone else, please feel free to share it!

Make it a great week!

With Love,
Jennifer Ledford

Book mentioned in the video: Failing Forward

 

How To Set Weight Loss Goals That You’ll Stick To

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Millions of Americans will start off the New Year with the goal to lose weight and exercise more. It’s always great to hear those statistics! However, as a health and fitness coach for 26 plus years, I can also tell you from experience that 1/3 of the goal setters will have already broken their resolutions by January 7th. That is frustrating because I also know from experience it doesn’t have to be that way.

HOW TO SET WEIGHT LOSS GOALS YOU’LL STICK TO

Before setting any new health and fitness goals, it’s important to know what causes people to fail in the first place. One of the main reasons people have a hard time keeping their resolutions after the new year is that the goals they’ve set are usually unrealistic. Even the most disciplined person on the planet is going to have a hard time keeping a goal that is way too lofty to start with.

Permanent weight loss and maintaining a regular exercise routine is a lifestyle that is built by developing one healthy habit at a time — not created by some unsustainable fad diet or painful exercise routine!

FIVE TIPS TO SET WEIGHT LOSS GOALS THAT WORK

1) Know what you want. Take a moment to decide what you want your end-goal to be and whether or not that is aligned with your values and current priorities. While looking like the model on the cover of a magazine may seem like a motivating goal, after discovering what’s required, you may decide that’s not for you.

Keep your goals personal.  Copying someone else’s health and fitness goals can be like wearing shoes that are a bit too tight.  It never feels quite right.  It’s okay to use general guidelines, but when you finally set the goals, they need to be customized to fit your life. You are an individual which makes a cookie-cutter approach tough to stick to.

Look at your calendar and be realistic about how much time you can commit to your new weight loss goal.  This is really important!  Often times, we can get so caught up in the excitement of setting new goals that we forget to think about the time involved.  Adding a new “thing” to your life usually requires an adjustment period so allow yourself some time to figure out what works for you.

If you are struggling to find time, ask yourself if there are other commitments that you should put on hold.  If that’s not possible, consider being creative with your time like exercising when you watch TV or walking during your lunch hour.  Do what you can.  It’s better to get started with a smaller goal than to never begin at all.

2) Change one thing.  The people that see the most success do so by setting small incremental goals, knowing that they are committing to the long term and not just temporary behavior change. For example, if you eat out 4-5 times per week, set a goal to brown bag your lunch or cook at home 5 days per week for the next 30 days. Or if you want to add more exercise, tell yourself you’re going to walk 20 minutes per day for the next month.

At the end of the 30 days, commit to another 30 and then repeat. Once the first habit becomes as natural as brushing your teeth, you’re in a safe place to add more to your plate.

Or, if you’ve reached your desired goal, you are now in what we call maintenance mode. You can now continue your healthy habit for life. Mission accomplished!

3) Write it down.  People that commit their goals to paper have a higher success rate. So take a moment to write down your goals for each area of your life for the new year. If you are keeping your list realistic, it shouldn’t be too long. You can always add more later in the year once you’ve accomplished the first set.  Keep your list posted in a place you’ll see it daily to help you stay on track.

4) Do the work.  Once you’ve set your realistic weight loss goal, follow through and stick to your plan. Research shows us that once one healthy goal becomes a habit, momentum occurs leading to success in adding other healthy lifestyle habits automatically.

5) Don’t quit.  From time to time circumstances may throw you off track. This is normal and happens to everyone. All you have to do is get up, get back on track and you will succeed in the long term.

New Year’s resolutions should advance and take you forward, but not be so lofty or torturous that they are completely unobtainable. Keeping this mindset will allow you to set yourself up for total success.

Have a Happy New Year!
Jennifer

P.S.  Have a question or comment?  Please post it below in the comment section.  I love to hear from you!