I hate feeling overwhelmed. Maybe I’m extra sensitive to being overwhelmed by info because I was a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and I know the dazed look of an overwhelmed 5 year old. Or maybe it’s because I’ve always been someone to shut down and tune out when I feel overwhelmed.
Either way, being overwhelmed by info is no good and is helpful to no one.
I mean, there are literally books written about how bad vegetables are for us. Vegetables!!!
(I hope you know by now that veggies are THE BEST thing for you so don’t waste your money or time on anything that tells you not to eat a sweet potato, mmmmk? They have motives that aren’t in your best interest.)
Anyways, it’s possible that you have felt overwhelmed by my own sharing of information. I love supporting your health goals, and sharing info about what I’ve learned and experienced is the best way I know how to do that. But it’s possible that my weekly (and if you follow me on social media, my almost daily) info about gut health, healthy habits, digestive support, sleep support, real food eating, skin/hair/nail health, and batch cooking could be a bit much.
It’s also for those of you that don’t feel overwhelmed by my info, so keep reading.
The most important thing you can do for your health, no matter what your health goals are, is to support a healthy gut.
There are many things you can do to improve your gut microbiome, but today I’m going over just two. Keeping it simple.
1. Focus on Digestive Health
I’ve been talking about this a lot lately. Sorry to repeat myself but it’s worth repeating…digestion is a window into your overall health.
If you are someone that feels bloated after eating a meal or aren’t having a bowel movement 1-3 times a day, your digestion is telling your something is off. Your body needs your help to move things along. If your food isn’t passing through easily, then your gut isn’t absorbing the nutrients it needs, throwing your gut out of whack and keeping you from enjoying true health.
A couple of things to do to improve digestion-
2. Manage Stress
There are sooo many ways that stress disrupts our gut. One of the biggest ways is the way stress affects our hormones.
The gut helps regulate hormones. When our body is chronically stressed and consistently making excess cortisol (the stress hormone) our hormones become imbalanced throwing our gut microbiome out of balance. Spikes in cortisol also shut down our digestion, which we know from reading above, plays a big role in the health of our gut.
Do one or two things a day to manage your stress. Think of something that brings you joy and weave it into your day. Is it connecting with a friend, going for a walk, doing a spin class, or reading a book in your backyard? Whatever your joyful thing is, let it become routine.
If that doesn’t seem to do the trick, take a hard look at your career and relationships. If either of them add more stress than joy, it could be time to move on. I know these are hard things to work through, but when it comes to your health, few things are more important.
If you find that something big like your job or partner are contributing to chronic stress in your life and you want to change that, a good first step could be reaching out to a counselor or therapist to walk you through it.
That’s it! Just two quick things to do to improve your gut, which in turn will have the biggest impact on your overall health!
Leave a quick comment below letting me know what resonated with you!
XO,
Kelsey