5 Ways To Take Your Health In Your Hands

I feel like I do a pretty good job of promoting the belief that we have the power to change our lives and to take control of our health; it’s my mission for myself and something I feel very passionate about sharing with others. It’s because of that fact that I want to share with you all today five ways in which you can take your health in your hands.

Sometimes life (and our health) throws us curve balls but there are things we can be doing everyday or when we feel something isn’t right, to get ourselves back on that path to health.

1. Nutrition

What we eat is so important! It’s funny to me because I really surround myself with people who understand the importance of nutrition that when I’m around people who don’t quite get it, it confuses me and throws me off guard, but what we eat is a huge part!

2. Fitness

Staying active is another fairly obvious one. For me, when I discovered an active lifestyle, I also found a form of therapy and stress relief that I really needed. To this day, I live for my moments on the mat at hot yoga, running on the treadmill, or lifting weights.

3. Clean Up Your Cleaners

While I understand the importance of cleaner products, whether the ones we’re using on our bodies or the ones we use to clean our homes, this is still a new thing for me and one I’m really starting to finally do something about. As I finish one bottle of cleanser, I replace it with a cleaner, more natural version. I hate waste and can’t afford to just dump it all and start over, so this feels like my happy medium.

4. Check Your Environment

Never discount that things in our homes could be making us sick, besides just the cleansers. If you can’t figure out what is causing your health concerns, maybe it’s time to check your home, your work environment and your water. While I’m talking physically, this also rings true from a mental and emotional space.

5. Order Your Own Health Tests

Did you know you can do this? Because you can! I was recently selected to get some testing done through a partnership with Everlywell. Testing I can do at home, mind you! I got a few tests done: Metabolism Test, Inflammation and Vitamin D Test, and Heavy Metals Test. I got the results back and my numbers for the Metabolism test were normal, my Vitamin D was a bit low (easy fix), but guys, I’m not saying this because someone made me, the Heavy Metals test is changing my life and was a complete and total eye opener.

The level of Iodine in my body is low but is necessary for thyroid function and deficiency can cause hypothyroidism (as you may or may not know, I was sure earlier this year that I had hypothyroidism, and while my docs said no, I share many of the symptoms).

But what really caught me off guard, was the high levels of arsenic in my body.  Sources of arsenic include water and foods contaminated with Arsenic containing soil (often rice falls into this category). Arsenic exposure is known to manifest in headaches, vomiting and/or diarrhea, stomach pain and weakness. Without going into too much TMI, those symptoms fit the bill.

Guys, this is changing my life. Seriously.

I got a call from the lab late last week when my results came in, concerned about the high levels of arsenic and recommending that I share these results with my primary care doctor, which I already intended to do upon seeing them. I also did some additional research and found that my area of Michigan is the second highest group known for arsenic contaminated water, and that normal filtered water pitchers don’t remove arsenic. A little more research showed that I should be drinking water that has gone through a reverse osmosis treatment and that I can get my water tested through the state.

So what now? 

I’m moving in a few weeks, so until then I will be drinking bottled water that clearly states it has been through the reverse osmosis treatment; I will be sharing the results of this test with my medical team; and once I move in a few weeks, will likely be getting my water tested at the new place before deciding what I should do next.

This isn’t to scare you, but it is to show that we have the power to take our health in our hands, to order tests that we feel we should because we aren’t getting answers anywhere else, to know that we can do these in the comfort of our own homes.

Everlywell offers a variety of tests including: Food Sensitivity Test, Heavy Metals Test, Cholesterol & Lipids Test, Metabolism Test, Women’s Health & Fertility Test, Thyroid Test, Sleep & Stress Test, and Inflammation and Vitamin D Test.

If you would like to order your own tests, use discount code EVERLYFALL10 for 15% off your kit through November 20th.

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How have you taken your health in your hands?

Which test would you order from Everlywell?

This post is sponsored by Everlywell through my partnership with Fit Approach; as always, all thoughts and opinions are completely my own. Thank you for your support of this blog.