To live a life of vitality we have to re-evaluate most importantly our sleep, our liver function, our hormones, our metabolism, our thoughts.
Sleep
Our sleep is in my opinion the most important part of living a life of vitality. If we are not getting the right amount of sleep, the right quality of sleep then our body can not rest and repair itself properly.
It is even more important as we age due to the fact that our body doesn't produce as much melatonin as we age. Melatonin is our sleep hormone. I know this from my own experience after having hormone tests done and finding out that my body was no longer producing melatonin and my acupuncturist was shocked to see that I could actual walk through the doors pf the clinic. She said I should have been laying on the floor.
This was the start of my melatonin journey. After a year and half I am still taking a form of melatonin to help me with my sleep. I am hoping that my body will reset itself and start producing the hormone itself again.
Liver Function
I believe our liver is one of the most important organs in our body as we age ( it is actually our second biggest organ) . It has a lot of work to do on a day to day basis. The main function is detoxification. A well functioning liver helps with living a life of vitality, to aid using body fat as fuel, help with hormonal balance plus so much more.
Some signs you need to love you liver a little more are:
You may suffer from bad PMS/PMT
Cellulite ( yes that's me on the usual places - bum & thighs)
You might wake up hot in the night after drinking alcohol ( this was me. I would have a terrible night sleep if I had a few glasses of wine)
If you wake on a regular basis around 2am-3am ( yes I would regularly wake up between these times and then not be able to get back to sleep again).
If you are Oestrogen dominance ( yes after having an in-depth hormone testing done I found out that i had very high levels of Oestrogen....not very good at all. It can lead to severe illness.
plus many other signs.
How to help your liver:
Stop drinking alcohol
Eat crucifers vegetables - cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, leafy green veg.
Drink lots of water ( filtered if possible)
Try to have a break from drinking coffee.
There are many more ways to help you liver
Love your liver and it will love you back.
Hormones
These are way to long to go into and extremely in-depth. I know from past experience.
If you would like to get an in-depth hormones done I would suggest doing the DUTCH test. If you would like ore info then please feel free to send me an email and give me a call. I would be happy to suggest a practitioner that can help you with this. The major hormones that I had tested were: Estrogen, Progestogens, Cortisol and Melatonin.
Metabolism
As we get older your metabolism slows down. Which means weight loss can be harder.
To have a healthy metabolism we need to look at:
Eating slowly - don't rush your food. Enjoy every mouthful
Eat in a relaxed state - if you are stressed and eat your meal then your body will not absorb the nutrients from the food because you are in a fight or flight mode and it's busy trying to keep you safe.
Where you eat - are you sat at the table so that you are focused on your food and sitting in the right position or are you sitting on the couch watching TV not being aware of what you are eating, slumped over your plate.
Mindset
I believe mindset and our thoughts have a lot to do with living a healthy vibrant life.
If you deprive yourself of everything ( chocolate, wine, desserts, etc) then you will constantly be thinking about them and wanting them. If you are mindful and maybe have one glass of wine a week on a Friday night then it gives you something to look forward to and you will be able to stay focused for the week. But remember don't get into the habit of "treating yourself" everyday this is not a good mindset to have.
If you focus on the wins each day such as ' oh I had a great breakfast this morning that made me feel energise and full" or " dinner was so delicious tonight we had a rainbow of veggies and I don't feel bloated and heavy before I go to bed" these are all wins and your mindset becomes more positive towards food and you will eventually listen to your body and know when you eat something and it doesn't feel good. ( this is bread for me).
