This Winter season has been a hectic one! I legit have gotten sick at least four times already. I keep joking that my immune system is that of a five year old. NON EXISTENT! Anyways, after figuring out what I should and should not be doing, I finally think that I have it down packed.

So first and foremost, BUNDLE UP! I am literally always on the go. I love walking and I will walk anywhere in any weather. I was dressing for how warm I would become during my walks, however I need to dress for the temperature. I would be so hot and start to sweat, and once I calm down I would be super cold. No wonder people say layer up, because if I get too hot, just remove a layer. However when I just dress with a short sleeve and then jacket, when I am cold… thats it. I’m cold. So make sure to bundle up, add layers, and dress for the weather not to be cute or for what you think you’ll feel like.

Secondly, stock up on some vitamin C! What everyone thinks is that oranges are the way to go. Well fact check, Kiwis contain a higher content of vitamin C than Oranges. Kiwis taste better in my opinion as well. I love to scoop it out with a spoon and eat it just like that. Simple, sweet, and does the job.

Stay hydrated folks! I have slowly been transitioning from 3 cups of coffee to 1 cup of coffee and multiple cups of water. If I am craving something warm, then replacing my second and third cup of coffee with hot tea, slice of lemon, drop of aloe and honey! Aloe has so many health benefits, and has little to non taste. Its the perfect additive to my cups of tea. I never really understood how important it was to stay hydrated until I got into skin care. Cold air will really strip away everything and leave you looking cracked and white like a snow man. Believe me, if you want to keep that sun dewy skin, soft lips, and not turn white everytime you pull your shirt sleeves up.. HYDRATE! HYDRATE! and HYDRATE!

Take immune boosting supplements. I like elderberry. Introduced to it by my mom and her fiancé, I can say its been really helpful. you can get them in gummy form, pill form, and powder form. I am a big kid so I want gummies 9 times out of 10.

Speaking of immune boosting supplements, I also like immune boosting juices. My boyfriend and I often frequent juice shops (well I should say often order from them), and when I was sick I’d order immunity juices. A lot of them contain oranges, lemon, carrot, beets, ginger, apple, etc. Every juice shop is different, but you are sure to fine immunity juices wherever. If you have a juicer even better, you can always google a simple recipe and your good to go. One juice I like is the Oregano Oil Cold Buster from Lakou right here on Utica ave. It is a small but mighty tonic with pineapple juice, fresh orange juice, lime juice, ginger, and oregano oil. Whenever I feel the sniffles coming on I order this and I swear I can breathe instantly again.

Most importantly rest! As I ease back into working out, I can not stress enough how important it is for the body to rest. To be honest being sick is what taught me to rest. As someone who always wants to be productive and workout, work on orders, clean, drop off. orders, study, babysit, etc… I barely took days to rest. Now that I am a stay at home gf, everyday is an opportunity to be productive. I have a hard time deciding what days are my rest days. It is so easy to sleep in and say oh okay, today I will do nothing, then have a burst of energy and work the rest of the day. I truly believe I was working myself to death. I couldn’t blink without it hurting, sneeze, cough, roll over. My body broke down, my immune system shut down. It was bad. So I say all this to say listen to your body and rest when necessary.