Shelley Gawith, Functional Nutrition Shelley Gawith

There was a highlight that came up for me after our recent pregnancy events—but it’s applicable for everyone! And that is - what works for you, health wise, will be different to what works for everyone else. 

When discovering what’s best practice for yourself and also your partner, and child, it is important to treat this similarly to how we decide what's best for ourselves when it comes to food.

In today's newsletter (AND this episode) we discuss the importance of treating yourself as unique and one of a kind!

Our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gw4BFT

So winter is here right!! Some of us have children bringing home flu's from day care and school. Some of us are just picking up bugs from work mates! Flu is the most talked about topic with my corporate clients at the moment.

In today's newsletter (AND this video!) we share how to boost your immunity to fight flu and be your very healthiest self this winter.

Our newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/c8cd0243c78d/immunity-boosters

So I thought it was worthwhile to take a moment to think about what we can do? 

Why? 

 Well for example if you did the 31 day challenge over Christmas you would have learnt how plastics are impacting your health. It's impacting all of us directly or indirectly, via our health or via our environment. 

It can feel really overwhelming but on the evening show with Miriama (https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/sundays-miriama-kamo-shares-her-zero-waste-journey) she shared the 6 r's: 

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle - Refuse - Replace - Rot 

Vicky Robertson, Chief Executive and Secretary for the Ministry for the Environment said, "Sometimes it can feel really overwhelming about where to start. I said to my sister on the weekend, this whole zero waste thing feels too hard. And she very rightly said but that's how changing your diet can feel for some people but you would just tell your clients to do one thing. Not do it all over night. That one thing ... whether it's reducing sugar, gluten, dairy, adding in good fats and not snacking in between meals, can have a big impact on your body and health as we all know." 

I suggest either starting with a re useable coffee cup or taking a look in your fridge or pantry like what we had everyone do in the 31 day Shelley Says So challenge: What are you using to store your ingredients and leftover meals in? 

Do you use a lot of plastic in your house?  

Today, I want you to consider your plastic use.  Then, if you are up to it, start switching to using glass containers and jars. My favourite is to recycle jars from spreads and to use them to stores nuts and seeds in. If you feel really inspired, go through your whole pantry and make the switch to glass storage containers. Have a look at what sort of containers you are taking your leftover dinner to work in. Remember, if you are heating up food, you don’t want the plastic melting into your food. Glass containers are the BEST.  

Also for those of you who have already nailed this, as this was in last year's challenge, let's take it to the next step. What are you wrapping your food up in? This year can you make your own or invest in some beeswax wraps. They are amazing and can easily be brought online or from Commonsense Organics. I love mine. Making food wrapping is so easy and now I don't even own any other plastic wraps.  BAGS:  what sort of  bags are using? I have to admit I did like the ease of plastic bags as I was (and sometimes still am) forgetting my re useable bags. I was very lucky to have a client give me some beautiful re useable bags for Christmas. I walk lots, so now I keep one in my bag all the time, otherwise, I tell clients to keep extras in their cars, so they always have one on hand. Also are you bulk bin buyer? Over Christmas I purchased from Good Housekeeping on Cuba Street in Wellington, the cutest re useable bags that you can use for all your bulk bin purchases. They can easily be watched too.  We've already talked about hydration, but what bottles are you using? Plastic or glass bottles? Here's another easy swap you can make if you haven't already.  

Remember it's starting wherever you are at, there is no pressure, just start small than build on this!  Would love to hear any other swaps you have made to reduce plastic in your lives

👉Sign Up for My Online Course - 3 Steps to Finding your Personal Power Foods at https://shelleygawith.com/3-steps-your-foods 

As you know, health is about so much more than just our diets and movement.  Today Louise looks at the emotional component of our health. 

How many saw an emotional component in your stress beaker (https://youtu.be/Ji0Pj5vw72E)?

Many of us can relate to that feeling of being overwhelmed; feeling like we have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. My approach is never to give you more; it’s about doing what you are already doing but making tweaks to it. 

Louise’s advice is about focusing on the language we are using. And it’s a goodie. You’re really going to enjoy today’s video! 

As I watched this earlier, I was once again reminded about how important our language is; how easy it is to make changes to how we are feeling. We can totally change our day with the language we use. 

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👉Subscribe to my fortnightly newsletter for the complete exercise + much much more at https://shelleygawith.com/

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👉Sign Up for My Online Course - Finding the Fully Functional You - Be Your Best You!! https://onlinetraining.shelleygawith....

We often think that we are not in control of our stress or we have to do more to reduce our stress. Sometimes it can feel quite helpless. At about this time of the year this can kick in.

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👉Click here to read the full article: https://mailchi.mp/049e902165e9/stress-beaker

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So let’s PAUSE and see what is really going on.

1. First, download your Stress Beaker PDF: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/7f134c1b5f115aa1fa56a3c81/files/93aa1910-2d39-41e6-b79a-9b5bbf361c75/stress_beaker.pdf

2. Start filling it up with all your stressors. You might first of all think of all the external stressors in your life. For example your family, cultural pressure, deadlines, work, bosses, financial challenges, renovations, car repairs you name it.  

3. Work out what percentage of your Stress Beaker they take up. 

4. Next, write down all your internal ones; it might be an injury, oral health, your gums, your sore tooth, your hair falling out, any symptom you have, lack of energy, stool health, period health, acnes, skin rashes, parasites, fungus, mould, environmental- lights, computers, technology, EMFs. Anything and everything, write it all done.

5. Now, put a percentage around those things as well.

6. You have two options now. You can:

(a) do a combination, get a bigger beaker so you don’t feel like you are about to boil over all the time. How do you do this? You do more things that you love in life, you create more joy, more purpose, more fun and connection. More learning! What ever it is that you love.

OR,

(b) you start to take control of the stressors that you can control. And guess what the great news is? Everything health related/symptom related, you are in control of. You can change this. How awesome is that!!!

7. Now colour in all the ones you can change. Remember when your are suffering from a symptom that’s a huge stress on your body and guess what, you take that internal stress everywhere you go. So your body is in constant stress when you heal that symptom you are getting rid of a whole bunch of internal stress in your life. It’s so EXCITING!



What can you do today to change one of your internal symptoms?

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👉Sign Up for My Online Course - Finding the Fully Functional You - Be Your Best You!! https://onlinetraining.shelleygawith.com/your-best-you



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Do You Look After Your Teeth?
Do you think about your teeth and oral health when you think about your overall health? 


Your mouth is your first line of defence against pathogens and bacteria. If your mouth is toxic, it can impact your immune system and drain your energy levels when fighting infections.


In clinic when I ask clients if they floss their teeth, the answer is often, “there isn’t enough time”, or “it’s just another thing to do”. 


Which I get. Sometimes, you just want to get out the door to work or hop into bed. 

When I was in the States earlier and went to see a biological dentist, they were able to take a sample of my mouth bacteria. I’ve included the video, see all those squiggly lines? You don’t want them. That’s a sign that you have “bad” bacteria in your mouth.

The dental nurse reckons that flossing with baking soda for 6 weeks will change this. New bacteria grows every 24 hours so this has to be a crucial start to your oral health regime. I included this step in Shelley Says So last year (PS: if you want to sign up for next year here you go.)

Okay, so if you are not flossing then that's the first step.
But this year i'm upping the game. I'm obviously not a dentist but I do have a passion for oral health, probably because mine has been so bad. I've had jaw surgery, braces, root canals, crowns and mercury fillings, all of which I wouldn't do again if I could go back in time.  Now that I know better, I'm doing everything I can to prevent those things in the future, and now you can too!

Here's our new routine (once again, this is what I am now doing, but you can pick parts of it and incorporate as much or as little as you want. You will definitely see health benefits no matter how much you add. 

If you can help your immune system fight infections by flossing your teeth, you will have more energy to do the things you love doing.

Here's this year's eight steps for your morning or evening mouth routine from Nadine Artemis, check her out if you want to learn more about leaky gums and all about our mouth microbiome. 
Step 1: A salt or baking soda rinse before you brush your teeth, you can even add an essential oil to this as well. This gets the mouth into a more alkaline state which is what you want before you brush.


Step 2: Scrape your tongue. 


Step 3: Brush your gums. Make sure you brush gum down, it's more stimulating for the gums. 


Step 4: Polish your teeth. Use baking soda, essential oils and maybe a botanical serum to do this.


Step 5: Flossing!! Yay!! You want to floss at least twice each time so you get everything out. BUT make sure you are not using a floss with chemicals. But remember to get right to the back, the last tooth on each side, you need to get that gum part!!! (don’t make the mistake I’ve been making for years.)


Step 6: You use a ribbed rubber tool to go along the gum line to get all the plaque. 


Step 7: The next step is massaging your gums. You want to take a botanical serum or an ozonated gel and massage that into the gums.  


Step 8: Pay attention to any special area that needs some TLC


Side note: Remember, the whiteness of our teeth is a reflection of our health on the inside of our bodies. 

Did You Take Time To Floss Today?