#HappyHealthyYou

Have you been following #HappyHealthyYou on Instagram?? I joined two of my good friends (Veronika and Sara) to start a weekly IG chat with y’all pertaining to all things health, beauty, and wellness. We’re excited to talk about these things that I know are important to all of us. I have been amazed at how many of you have chimed in and offered your experiences and suggestions. Y’all are a smart bunch of women and I am so inspired by you!

Every week we also include a little giveaway as a way of saying thank you and as an incentive for you to join in the conversation!

We post our question every Wednesday night at 8:45 CST on Instagram and to enter the giveaway all you have to do is follow each of us, leave a comment on one of the posts, and tag your friend!

Below are the topics we’ve covered so far, along with your best tips and suggestions so that we have them here to refer back to, all in one place!  Please feel free to leave your own suggestion in the comments and join us again this Wednesday! You can follow me on Instagram here!

#HappyHealthyYou - tips to drink more water

Top Tips for Drinking More Water

  1. Drink from a straw! I always do that, but recently found some tall, reusable silicone straws that are long enough for my big water bottle and they come with a straw washer brush. And if you prefer, there are also reusable metal straws.
  2. Add some flavor to your water with lemon, lime, fruit, ginger, mint or drink La Croix water.
  3. Drink a glass of water right when you wake up in the morning. Use coffee as reward AFTER you finish your water!
  4. Always keep water near you throughout the day (in your cute water bottle!) I use the slim Swell bottle for on the go because they fit easily in my bag and in the cupholder in my car. I use my 30oz Yeti Rambler everyday!  I fill up two every morning- one for upstairs and one for down!
  5. Track your water in an app or on your planner.  Do y’all do this??

Giveaway: Nordstrom gift card! 

Yeti Water Bottle and silicone straw

Striped Sweater XXS

#HappyHealthyYou - tips to get more sleep

Striped Pajamas

Striped Pajamas • The Little Book of Hygge

Top Tips for Getting More Sleep

  1. Stay away from your phone and electronics an hour before bed, instead grab a book.
  2. Use a Diffuser with Lavender Essential Oil.
  3. Use a lavender sleep pillow spray.
  4. Drink herbal peppermint tea or valerian root before bed.
  5. Take Melatonin. Several people recommended this Olly Restful Sleep gummy that has melatonin in it.  Y’all like it so much I got lots of screenshots of it! I just ordered it.
  6. Use blackout shades.
  7. Have a bedtime routine.
  8. Exercise daily.
  9. Use Hue light bulbs you can adjust to dim before bed.

Apps: Headspace – I use this meditation app and they have a series that is specifically dedicated to sleep.

My Sleep Issues: If you’ve been here a while, you know that even though I’m definitely not a morning person, I love to wake up early to start my day in a productive way and with a good workout.  I slacked off that big time in December and have had trouble getting back into a good routine this January. Truthfully, I’ve had trouble sleeping lately whether it’s because Jordan has woke me up or I just had trouble falling asleep.

So, this week, I’m giving up coffee for 5 days and exercising everyday to try to get my body back into the routine of waking up early (5:30am) and falling asleep earlier (by 10pm).

Yesterday was my first full day with no coffee and the hardest part was at 9:30 a.m. which is usually when I’ve been having my first cup.  That’s when my mom gets here to watch Jordan and I make my delicious cup of hot coffee, carefully add 3 tablespoons! of Coffeemate Vanilla Caramel creamer, and take it upstairs into my office, shut the door and sit down at my computer to blog.  I enjoy that ritual so much and don’t plan to give it up forever! but I know I need to do something different to shake out of this sleep rut I’ve been in. I’ll update you throughout the week on Stories if you want to see how it’s going!  So far so good, and thankfully, no headache!

Bedtime Routine: 

I also took your suggestions and created a bedtime routine to have a relaxing and calming environment in preparation for sleep.  I bought a diffuser and some lavender essential oils and have started using it at night.  The smell is heavenly and it truly is relaxing.  I chose this particular diffuser because it’s compact and cute (of course!) but also because it had tons of positive reviews (over 11,000) and can change colors. I don’t know much about essential oils, but I know people have lots of opinions about them! I chose one that was 100% natural and had more than 5,000 positive reviews on Amazon.

Lavender Oil Diffuser

coffee/tea warmer

I also got some Peppermint Tea and started drinking it the past two nights.  It’s yummy and I have slept good so far, so maybe these things are working in my favor.

Striped Pajamas and tea

I’m definitely buying a second coffee/tea warmer so I can keep one in my office and one on my nightstand.  I think this might be my Favorite Thing for this year!

Striped Pajamas and tea (1)

I’m looking forward to turning off my phone and getting into bed with a good book now.

Striped Pajamas (1)

Nighttime routine - reading before bed

The Little Book of Hygge

Giveaway: Silk Pillowcase – 600 thread count for preventing wrinkles, dry skin and frizzy hair.

Here’s hoping for restful sleep and energy-filled mornings! p.s. These pajamas are darling with the pink/white stripes and black trim!  They come as a set and the bottoms have a stretchy waist with a black tie belt.  I’d say they fit TTS, with some extra length on my short legs.  They are soft as can be and very lightweight with some stretch.

Striped Pajamas (2)

#HappyHealthyYout- tips for exercise

I’m not sure if it’s that people who exercise often are more likely to let you know, but I was happily surprised to hear from so many of you that workout 5-6 times a week or even daily! I am so motivated by YOU!

Y’all do a combo of :

  • Crossfit
  • HIIT
  • BBG – Sweat App
  • Orange Theory
  • Nike Training App
  • Yoga
  • Beachbody
  • Pilates
  • Spin
  • Zumba
  • Barre
  • Jazzercise
  • Run
  • Weight lifting

I’m a better person mentally, spiritually, and physically when I exercise.

Workout clothes - Zella leggings, tank and jacket

Tank • Leggings • Jacket • Sneakers • No Show Socks  • Aviators

If I overslept and didn’t catch my morning workout, I’ve been going in the afternoon after I pick up James from school. I’m lucky that our gym has both a  wonderful daycare for the younger kids and a kids gym that James enjoys playing at. If I’m just doing cardio on the treadmill and running I will listen to music that gets me going, but if I’m doing incline at a slower pace, I enjoy listening to podcasts.

On weekends when the weather isn’t freezing cold, getting out and running or jogging the park is a literal breath of fresh air!

Tank • Leggings • Jacket • Sneakers • No Show Socks  • Aviators

Zella workout jacket and leggings

 

#HappyHealthyYou - tips for healthy snacks

Giveaway : GG Crackers & The F Factor Book

I’m traditionally not a big snacker, but it’s good to have something healthy on hand to reach for when you get hungry between meals.

  • Apples with almond butter and cinnamon
  • Greek yogurt with fruit or granola
  • 100 Calorie Packs
  • Cheese Sticks and nuts – pistachios
  • Pre-packed carrots, cheese, almonds
  • Bars – Kind, Rx, ThinkThin Brownie Crunch protein bars, Goodness Knows, Larabar
  • Hummus and carrots
  • Crunchy veggies with TJ’s Everything But The Bagel Seasoning
  • Organic popcorn with garlic and avocado oil (I want to try it with my truffle sea salt)
  • Frozen grapes (especially good in the summer at the pool!)
  • Kale chips – toss in EVOO, spread on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with pink salt and cracked pepper, bake at 40 for 10ish minutes.
  • For kids – annie’s snacks, zbars, applesauce pouches, cheese sticks, Trader Joe’s seaweed

Are you liking this #HappyHealthyYou series? We’d love to hear your suggestions for upcoming topics! Let me know in the comments!

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

27 Comments

    1. Thanks Aubrey!! It was a fun post to put together!! I love hearing what’s working for everyone and then I get to try it out to see if it works for me!!

  1. I know you really enjoy your coffee as I do. Have you thought about decaf for a while you’re experimenting with how it effects your sleep? Or they even have half decaf now. Just a thought.

  2. Have been loving these posts on Instagram! Definitely going to try tracking my water intake and ordering some of those gummies for sleep. I’ve been sharing your struggle in not sleeping for the past few weeks!

    1. Thanks Alexis!! I caved on the coffee… so I hope that doesn’t totally ruin me! Good luck with the water and the gummies, these should really help!!

  3. Totally working on all of these next week. I’ve developed insomnia again, so I really need to start a nighttime routine with a brain dump notepad beside me. I tend to just pull out my computer right there and work on it. I’ve also fallen in love with OralIVs to help with hydration. Seriously magical. It’s just two liquid ounces with electrolytes and they don’t taste bad. And I am going to restart my pilates. I’ve had busy days and I don’t want to waste my energy on exercise, but I always have 10x more energy once I do get past that hump! And it helps with sleep! Thank you so much!
    http://www.holycitylife.com

  4. Really enjoying this series but love even more that you consolidated everything here! I don’t always get a chance to read through all the comments so found this so helpful!

    1. Thanks Amanda! I totally understand – the comments can get a little long! I’m glad I was able to sum it all up so you can see everything!!

  5. I’m using the hidrate spark 2.0 water bottle. it’s blue tooth, tracks your water intake, and sends you reminders to drink more.

  6. Such a great post! It’s motivating to see everything together at once – and fun to read what others do for snacks and workouts.

  7. Thank you for all your posts regarding getting healthy!! You’ve motivated me to start drinking more water and to start back up on my exercise routine. I’ve been in a rut for a while now, feeling down, no energy, etc. Your posts let me know that I’m not alone in the struggle to get back on track 🙂

  8. I have a tip for you for drinking lots of water. Heat it up really hot, like you’d drink coffee. And I put it in my yeti cup and sip it. When I drinks tons of ice water it makes me so cold! (It’s only 20 degrees here). It sounds so weird but when I tried it, I loved it. It’s hot so u swallow fast so you almost kind of don’t notice it’s just water. It works for me!

  9. I really want to try a diffuser. I have cut way back on my Starbucks, and I only have one cup of coffee in the morning at home. I want to drink more water and exercise!!!

  10. I switched from drinking coffee to 1 cup of decaf last year and it was so hard to give up regular coffee but definitely worth it! I don’t get that head fog in the morning and no longer get tired in the afternoon’s like I used to. You might want to give it a couple weeks because it takes a good week for the withdrawal symptoms to go away!

  11. I love to listen to podcasts when working out as well. Would you share your favorites? I am always looking for new ones to add to my list!

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