The last quarter of the year is upon us....

The last quarter of the year is upon us and many of us will fall into the hustle, bustle and craziness of the holiday, stress and end of the year busy season. How many of us will fall prey to the flu and cold bug, and end up in the quick care or at your Doctors office looking for anything available to make you feel better? Year after year we get sick and swear that we will prepare ourselves next year, and when sick we will say out loud, if I only get over this I promise to take better care of myself. Sound familiar, of course it does because we all say it, do it and live it year after year.

When I am asked what to do to prepare for the upcoming season I have learned that the easy and direct path is a better course of action for me to express the basics that we should already be paying attention to all year long. I start with the most basic, and most commonly overlooked step, water consumption. We do not only need water in the summer when we feel the dehydration after five minutes in the heat, we need it all year long. When people get sick in the winter and end up at the Doctors office almost a hundred percent of us are low in moisture, and if there is a fever you will sweat out any reserve you have built up. Dehydration does not only cause cramping of muscles, but can stop your heart, affect your sugar level and cause devastation to all of your organs especially your kidneys, besides prematurely wrinkling your skin.

The second basic thing I speak about is sleep. Very few of us get the sleep we need, and if we do, many times we wake up more tired or just as tired as when we went to bed. Stress, too much on your mind and exhaustion can cause you to be over tired and can make it difficult for you to get the needed quality sleep you need. If this is an issue talk to your nutrition people about formulations, natural ones that can allow you to get into a deep constructive quality sleep every night.A tired, weak, low energy body is a gold mine for a virus or bug to take up residency.

The third is exercise. Anything that keeps you moving, active and reduces stress will work. It also has a direct relationship with building a solid immune system and building healthy fighter cells.

The last is diet. You know what you should eat, and you know what you should not be eating. Just remember to shop the perimeter of your grocery store, and stay away from the center, as that is where all the low quality foods are. Instead focus on the vegetables and fruits, healthy dairy, quality protein and healthy grains. This way you can do nothing but the right thing for your body as this is quality fuel your body needs and you will feel and enjoy.

If you get this far and are on the correct course, go to your health food store and check out a great whole food multiple, an antioxidant formula, a wellness product, some Omega 3 fatty acids and keep in mind the alternatives that are available just in case a bug gets by you. Remember, you may still have a bad day here and there, but that is so much better then an entire season of feeling terrible.