Do you suck at sleeping? Do you struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or get enough sleep? You’re not alone if you do. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, about “40 million people in the United States suffer from chronic long-term sleep disorders each year and an additional 20 million people experience occasional sleep problems.” By now you know sleep is absolutely critical for health. Sleep affects nearly every part of our wellbeing, from appetite, mood,  cognitive functioning, and energy levels. We all could probably use more sleep, but what if we really don’t have the time to get in the recommended 7-8 hours each night? Are we…

Let’s talk winter blues. Winter can be a difficult season to trudge through, especially when the excitement of the holidays die down and the cold just seems to be getting colder. I personally think January is the WORST and longest month of all time because of this. (But I’m trying to change my outlook.) Days are shorter in the winter and if you work in an office, you’ll hardly see the sunshine. This can lead to SAD, or seasonal affective disorder, or just feeling like a hermit.  Although I’ve never dealt with severe depression or SAD in the winter, I definitely have more “meh” days than normal when I would…

If you’re on Facebook you’ve probably seen those super sad videos of sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, and other sea creatures swimming in and getting tangled up in plastic. Whenever I see those videos it definitely leaves me in a solemn mood. I have a huge soft spot for living creatures and our beautiful oceans. I definitely get that this topic can get political really fast. But when it comes down to it, humans are simply consuming too much plastic and if there is something we can do about it, even if it’s small, we should try. So, although I have a long way to go and still contribute to way…

To be completely honest, I’ve had mixed feelings about the whole “clean living” movement. Ya know, all the non-toxic makeup, skincare, and cleaning supplies that are out there. I think it’s totally awesome that we are becoming more aware of what ingredients are in the products we use every day. I think it’s great that you can now buy non-toxic just about everything. What I don’t like about it is when bloggers, influencers, or companies spread fear and negativity to try and sway people to buy these non-toxic products, many of which are expensive and may not be needed or realistic for everyone.  So, let me first start out by…

Halloween is almost here and things are getting pretty spooky! I figured now is the perfect time to cover one of the scariest topics in health and wellness…SLEEP DEPRIVATION! Ok, so there are scarier topics, but not getting enough sleep can have some pretty scary consequences. Sleeping is super critical for a healthy, happy, and long life. The problem is, actually getting enough sleep can be tricky when life gets’s busy, stressful, or we want to go the newest Star Wars premiere at midnight. #Guilty Here are some things to consider next time you want to skip out on your pillow and my best tips to help you get enough…

I was gifted deodorant from Native, but the thoughts in this blog post are my own.  For the past couple of years I’ve tried to avoid traditional deodorant. At first, it was just because I made the connection that I probably shouldn’t be putting weird chemicals under my arms right where my lymph nodes are. Then last summer I had a very brief, although still alarming, breast cancer scare. Everything turned out to be fine, but after that, I vowed to NEVER put questionable deodorant near my precious lymph nodes and boobies again. And for those of you who may not be aware and before you start to worry, there…

A healthy lifestyle is often talked about as a long term process.  Ya know, slowly making changes until we have built several strong healthy habits that make up a well balanced life.  Many of us put off starting any of these healthy habits until some designated day. “Diet starts monday!”  But the truth is, you can literally start today, right NOW to make healthy choices. You don’t have to wait and making these small healthy choices won’t disrupt your life like you might think. Here are 10 super simple things to do TODAY to help you be healthy and feel better. You don’t have to do all 10, but pick…

There are fewer things worse than getting sick. You have zero energy, get behind on work and house chores, and you just feel like literal crap. As much as I think I’ll enjoy Netflixing in bed all day long, it gets old super fast and all I really want is to get back to my workouts and feeling good again. I know you’ve all been there too. The best way to avoid getting sick is to prevent it, but that’s not always possible. I used to NEVER get sick but when I started teaching the 6-year-olds in church on Sundays, I seem to pick something up more often during the…