Supplements are things you can add to your life that help SUPPORT your body’s systems. Things found in nature like herbs, vitamins, roots, rinds, resins, minerals and more. Milk thistle helps support your greatly overtaxed Liver, for example. I know how hard it can be to set aside money every month and create a habit of buying and taking supplements. What’s the point when we don’t see some miraculous overnight transformation from taking them? Keep in mind that most chemical drugs from pharmaceutical companies are created to mimic the effects of herbs other things found in nature that are known to help us combat disease. And these chemical drugs are not natural, and our bodies recognize that they are not natural, so the liver has to work even harder to detoxify those chemicals from our bodies.
Supplements support an overstressed body, a weak immune system, an overtaxed liver. They help your body naturally re-build, repair, return to its natural state of balance so that your body can do what it does so well, heal.
There are many supplements available to help us combat different things. I personally make supplementation a number 1 priority in my wholeness regimen. I do it because I want to make sure my body is working as optimally as it can, I do it to live a longer and healthier life, I do it to combat the external stressors that I cannot control and which do tax my overburdened immune system. I do it to help my body heal from many surgeries, nerve and muscle damage. I do it to be able to be the best mom to my son I possibly can. I do it because I take full accountability for my health and wellness. I leave that to no one else. So I arm myself with knowledge, I study, I research things that will support my body and my mind and I implement those things and experiment with those things that seem most appropriate for me and my needs.
When Rachel or I get hired to help people with their health and wellness, part of that is working on their nutrition to understand their diet and what is good for their body. Pretty much every time we get to the part where we ask clients about their monthly self care budget, the tell us they don’t have one. I urge you to create a self care budget. Be it $10, $20, $50, $100 or more per month, budget for your health. We are so conditioned to think we only need to budget for insurance, doctors, medicine. Please remember those things are there for us when we finally get to the point of disease, illness, imbalance. Self-Care regimens that include preventative support help keep us from needing to see doctors and take medicine. It makes perfect dollars and sense :) when you realize your vessel, your body needs support to function well. If you continue to support it, it will function to the best of its ability.
That is WHY I have a self care budget, and that is why supplements are a big part of that self-care monthly budget. My body is precious to me, your body to you. Support it in all the ways you can. Support that precious body with supplements.
Tips:
When I first started exploring this glorious world of body support, I struggled with four things:
1) Figuring out a realistic supplement budget
2)Which supplements should I take?
3)Getting in a habit or routine for taking my supplements
4) Buying more when I ran out
1 – Figuring out a realistic supplement budget: If you are like I was when I was first starting out, I was overwhelmed by all the choices out there, which ones were best and how could I ever buy any of them! It is pointless to even start researching nutritionists or supplements until you know how much you can spend each month on such things. So the first thing you must do is sit down and create a supplement budget each month. I was in college when I really started focusing on supplementation and I had no money for self-care. But I wanted to have the funds for it. So I literally started with $20 a month for supplements. I wasn’t sure yet what supplement I would start with, but I had an amount in my mind to work with. So I encourage you to do the same. Figure out what you can afford per month to support your body naturally.
2 – Which supplements should I take: This is the hardest one of all. You are different from me and your friends and family. When I was young and interested in supplements I had no money. I couldn’t afford to see a nutritionist or wellness coach. So, I researched and researched and researched. I had zero budget for supplements and didn’t think I could afford to get any of the supplements I wanted.
If you can afford to meet with a wellness coach or nutritionist, that’s a great option for those new to supplements. And if you can’t, start to truly take accountability for your health and wellness and begin to learn, research, educate yourself about the body and its systems and natural constituents that can help support those systems. If you have a small budget, start with one supplement, something like vitamin c or milk thistle. Luckily, you can start on a very modest budget. Tap here to see the brands I personally use for both Vitamin C and Milk Thistle. Very affordable supplements that support your body in phenomenal ways.
I have done a plethora of my own research, I’ve hired nutritionists and health and wellness coaches, I’ve taken courses and seminars and trainings. But, I didn’t start with the knowledge base I have now. And for you it really is as easy as just picking a supplement to research, picking an organ in the body to learn about, just begin to learn about your body and what kinds of things it needs to work at its best. And if you want the help of a wellness coach, Rachel and I are here to help you create and implement an actionable wellness plan to create and maintain wholeness in your life.
I hand pick supplements for my personal needs, the things I need for support. And then I tailor fit those supplements and herbs into my lifestyle, not just my pill box. For example, my adrenals are always taxed so I add ashwaganda powder to all my smoothies and I take an incredible daily supplement with ashwaganda in it. I also diffuse apply specific essential oils to support my bodies adrenals as well.
3 – Getting in a habit or routine for taking my supplements: I used to always always always forget to take my supplements. They are not very useful in the bottle, aha. I struggled big time to be consistent. I’d find myself remember to take them one night before bed, forget the next day and take them the following morning. The cycle would go on for years, to be honest. And the easy solution? Buy a cheap pill bottle, pre-fill your vitamins and other supplements for the week ahead, set them on your kitchen counter or bathroom counter in a visible location, begin the practice of taking them each and every single morning when you wake up. Repeat, repeat, repeat; HABIT. You’re welcome :)
4 – Buying more when I ran out: The above system works like a charm, every time. With the exception of when you run out of said supplements and then you have to go to the store, or even hop online to purchase more. Pretty much every time that happens, I fall out of routine for taking my supplements for several days to several weeks and then struggle to get back into the habit. And it feels like a hassle to have to go online or the store to buy more. It was a real struggle to make supplementation a simple and seamless addition to my life. In order to make this part of my lifestyle, it has to be effortless in some ways. So I combat having to deal with refills and remembering when to order more by setting up auto ship through vendors I order from, mostly amazon and young living. Tap here to see some basic supplement suggestions from Amazon. Submit the form below if you’d like some recommendations for essential oils to use and how to order.
I do want to stress this is not a quick fix, this is something you begin to habitually add into your life and overtime you notice you do not get as sick as often, or when you do you get better faster. You notice your complexion is better, sleep is better, have more clarity, the list goes on and on.
If you are even remotely interested in looking and feeling better, please understand this is a lifelong practice, it must become part of your lifestyle. It is not just doing this or doing that and all of a sudden you look great. Its doing the work everyday which might include opening a bottle of vitamin C and a bottle of milk thistle and taking a couple tablets to help that beautiful liver process all the processed chemicals from the environment, medications or foods you ate the day before. You deserve to live your best life. You matter.
If you would like more information about supplementation or just have questions, shoot us an email.
Namaste
Krista
