Glorify: Health Journal

As I mentioned yesterday, I started 2017 feeling very depleted and wanting to make some changes. I was unmotivated, not resting well, unfocused, anxious, angry, low feeling and had a lot of headaches. When we got home from Christmas, I started doing some research on vitamins. I knew I wanted to be more careful about what I was eating but still I thought I needed to do more. And I knew myself well enough to know that I'm historically low in iron and have low blood sugar.

With all of that info, I went to a site I trust which is Beeyoutiful.com, I've been using their Tummy Tuneup successfully for years and am a huge believer in it for keeping away tummy bugs! Anyway, they have a lot of great info and articles so I started reading about various vitamins and benefits, etc.

I had already been sporadically taking iron and Beeyoutiful's Super Mom vitamins but I wanted to do more and be more consistent about it.

To do this, I knew I would need a way to keep track of things and also a way to gradually add so that if I had any side effects I'd be able to figure out what had just changed and maybe what didn't work. So I started a health journal. An empty journal I already had became dedicated solely to this purpose. On Sunday afternoon/evening I would write out a list for the week and then use it as my checklist for the week in keeping track. And I would only add one thing per week.

For example, the first week I took a probiotic and Super Mom and breakfast and a second Super Mom at lunch and that was it. The next week I added iron on Tuesday and Thursday only. The third week I added Magnesium twice a week and so on.

The first thing I did was sit down and make a list of all the things I wanted to improve about the way I was taking care of myself. Eat more salads, take Vitamin D, increase walks, try protein powder, etc. Then as I was writing out my weekly checklists, I could refer to this overall goal list and see what I still hoped to add.

I weigh myself every Monday and write that at the top of my week so I can see the progress from the week before. 

While I can't point to one thing in particular that I've felt benefits from, I would say that overall I have noticed how much better I'm feeling. And like most natural-health things, it is such a little bit at a time and over the long haul rather than quick simple results.

For now, this is my most successful weekly plan {shown above} and what I'm restarting with this year as I'd gotten a bit lax about it skipping a couple of months.

Some of the vitamins I take are just from Wal-Mart and some are from Beeyoutiful. My favorites from Beeyoutiful are:

Tummy Tuneup: this is a very easy to take and easy to store probiotic, it is shelf stable so it doesn't have to be kept cold. I've been using this for years and love it! My kids can take it too - when they are too little to swallow the capsule, I simply opened it up and sprinkled it on applesauce or dissolved in water. Cannot recommend this highly enough if you are averse to the stomach bug as I am ;)

Super Mom Vitamins: I tried these years ago and did not love them but gave them a second try and am glad I did. The suggestion is to take four capsules per day and I started with one for a long time and now take two. They are loaded with lots of vitamins but don't include iron which is why I take a separate iron supplement. I order the veg caps because they are smaller and I can't swallow large pills easily!

Other favorites:

Daily probiotic: In addition to Tummy Tuneup {which we use only when we are exposed to a tummy bug} - all of our kids and myself take these tummy gummies daily. This is one of those things I won't be without now - I'm a huge fan, they taste great and I am grateful for the benefits we receive from taking these regularly. My sister just told me there was a Wal-Mart brand now but I haven't tried those yet.

Iron: sometimes iron can be hard to take - but I really like Slow Fe and have had very minimal side effects from taking it. It is a great option for people like me who are historically anemic. I have been using this brand for years.

Other things like Vitamin D, Magnesium, etc. I'm still unsure if brand matters on - like I mentioned earlier some of mine are just from the drug store and some from Beeyoutiful and I'm fine with that for now.

I'd like to learn so much more about vitamins! So far, when I check out a book from the library about vitamins I get very overwhelmed so I've been sticking with things I'm already familiar with or have a personal recommendation on.

Some of these are affiliate links just in case you decide to try something. I'm not a doctor or a medical professional, again, just sharing what has worked for me. I love the journal because it keeps me accountable and gives me a place to log how I felt that week and what worked and what didn't. 

Do you take any vitamins? Or keep a health journal?