When you go to your local supermarket or big box store, you might have noticed that the seasonal aisle is already packed with pencils, notebooks, and colored pens. Is it really that time of year already?
Even though we’re still in the hot August weather, summer is starting to wind down. It’s almost time for back to school and back to routine.
Keep Your Kids Healthy and Strong for School
Before the seasons actually change is the perfect time to start preparing and thinking about how to get the kids back on track. There’s routines to put into place, healthier eating to nourish strong bodies, and things you can do to strengthen immunity.
As your Girlfriend Doctor, here are some of the ways that I recommend preparing your family for the fall season:
1 - Bring The Kids for Annual Physicals
You can start a list of questions now to bring with you to your kids’ physicals so you don’t forget to ask anything. Your pediatrician will make sure their vaccinations are up to date and be a resource for you if you have any questions about your child’s health or activities.
2 - Help Your College Kids Stay Healthy
If you have college-age kids, make sure they know how and where to seek medical care on campus. Give them their own copy of their medical insurance card to keep with them at all times. Make sure they know - write it down and keep it handy - important medical information such as allergies, current medicines, and relevant health history.
3 - Encourage Kids Stay Hydrated
Drinking plenty of water helps boost their bodies’ immune system. Water flushes the body, especially any toxins they pick up from the environment.
Set an example by carrying refillable water with you, and have your kids carry their own water bottles, too.
4 - Do Less and Lower Stress Levels
Constant stress lowers natural immunity. So you can help your kids feel less stressed by preparing them for school transition. You might want to reduce extra-curricular activities if they lead to too much stress.
Even though they want later bedtimes, growing kids and teens need a lot of sleep. Adequate rest helps boost natural immunity. Sleep is the time their bodies can repair and get rejuvenated. You can help them by encouraging wind-down routines, shutting off screens earlier, and getting them to relax so they can drift off naturally.
Children typically have anywhere from six to ten - or even twelve - colds a year. It seems pretty clear this happens because they spend so much time in close contact with other children, from daycare centers to school classrooms, to the sports locker room.
5 - Nourish with Alkaline Foods for Stronger Immunity
Eating nourishing foods is important for growing bodies. Eating the Keto-Green way is not just great for you – it’s good for the whole family. It starts with eating more alkaline foods over acidic foods.
Foods that are on the alkaline end of the scale include vegetables (particularly greens), fermented vegetables (like sauerkraut and kimchi), low-glycemic, low-sugar fruits, and various healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, and seeds.
If you eat enough alkaline-forming foods, your body has better access to immune-boosting nutrients. Also, many nutrition and medical experts believe that diseases like colds and flus cannot develop in an alkaline environment. I agree!
Many of my keto-green recipes are family favorites in heavy rotation at our home. You can experiment with them and see what your kids like.
You can also add my Immunity Bundle to your supplement supply to support the body in keeping its natural immunity strong.
Prepare Yourself for The School Transition
Having the kids home in the summer is fun, and it can be chaotic, too. Once they go back to school, it’s a big transition for us as parents.
Once they’re back at school, there’s suddenly peace and quiet. You might even be looking forward to it if you work from home or hybrid between home and office.
And yet, it can also feel a little lonely and isolating. Are you just missing your kids or is there something else?
Physiologically, there's a drop in cortisol because you don’t have the same worries of keeping them entertained, or shuttling around to various activities. But you also don’t have the constant excitement – so you fall off the adrenal/cortisol high.
You give so much of your time and energy to your kids, and you can get lost in the shuffle. Now there’s space for you to tend to your own routines and self care.
6 - Reset Your Circadian Rhythm
Seeing natural light when you first wake up can help reset your circadian rhythm. The morning light is energizing and recharging, and it tells your brain and body that it’s time to wake up.
One thing that I will do is get up in the morning and watch the sunrise. Get outside, getting barefoot and grounded is really important. Getting those early rays of sunlight into your eyes helps a lot.
At night, it’s equally important to avoid bright light, so that means shutting down electronics at least two hours before bedtime. It can also help to wear blue-light blocking glasses in the evening to help your body transition to sleep.
7 - Connect Through Prayer
Whether you’re religious or spiritual, spending time in prayer and meditation can help you feel more grounded. Taking time for spiritual reflection can bring more clarity and focus to relationships and passions that nourish you on a deeper level.
I spend time in prayer, touching into that Enlightened spirit within me and without me. It helps me get clarity around the healthy and important relationships in my life, and nourishing those as well.
8 - Get Back to Your Passions
With the kids preoccupied at school, you have a lot more space to think about what else you love.
One of the things I talk about in my Magic Menopause group is our “cheer” word – that one word or phrase that helps us get back to our joy. What makes us smile? What nourishes our soul?
So you can ask yourself:
- How do I show up in this world?
- What makes me smile?
- What brings me pleasure and joy outside of my kids' lives?
- How do I bring that back into my life?
I encourage you to nourish yourself, focusing on those things that just bring you joy and pleasure. You know what that builds? That builds oxytocin and that just makes everything better.
Stock Up on The Immunity Bundle
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Having been in medicine for three decades I have used many protocols and truthfully, this is the best one for safe and fast results.
