3 Ways to Stay Healthy As the Seasons Change

As the air becomes crisp and the colors of the leaves begin to change, we enter the seasons that are centered around holidays and celebration. Halloween is around the corner, shortly after comes Thanksgiving, and then Christmas and Hanukkah. Before you know it we will be ringing in the New Year and writing down lists and lists of all of our resolutions. So before we end up entering 2015 with a bunch of resolutions about getting healthier; let's do it NOW. Don't worry, you can have your cake and it eat too. It's just about finding balance; and that looks different for everyone. Here are four tips on getting and staying healthy as the seasons change.

1. Nourish Your Body- It is so easy to enter the "diet" mindset of deprivation and less. However the key to health and healthy eating is really more. More of the good food will inevitably crowd out the food that does not serve you. As it begins to get colder (at least here in New York City) it is important to eat with the seasons. You might have been eating a mostly raw diet full of fruits and veggies this summer- and that is awesome! But now it's time to introduce the fall produce and warmer foods into your diet. Eating warm cooked whole grains, steamed veggies, sufficient complete proteins, and root veggies will help your body feel strong and nourished. Eating enough, and making sure that you are getting all of the nutrients that you need will make saying no to candy and junk a breeze. I'm not kidding. A breeze. When you have fueled up on delicious food that keeps you full throughout the day, it is so much easier to see through the shiny packaging for what it really is.

2. Upgrade Your Sweets- Finding healthier versions of the food that you love will certainly help you feel great this season. Try finding recipes that use coconut oil instead of butter, or coconut sugar instead of refined sugar. Upgrade your white flour to almond flour or chickpea flour. There are so many ways to upgrade your treats. You don't have to spend Halloween eating a sweet potato while your friends are eating chocolate covered pretzels. Just make a healthier version of those pretzels, and share them with your friends! You will experience less of a sugar crash, less guilt, and definitely less weight gain.

3. Probiotics Are Key- Your immune system is greatly affected by your gut health. The cold weather is notorious for causing colds, flu, and other not so fun sicknesses. Get your immune system strong so it can fight for you! Many people eat yogurt for the benefits of the probiotics, and I have plenty of reasons why that is probably not the best way to do so, but that is for another time. Taking a probiotic supplement daily is an excellent way to help your body create the bacteria that you need. Another excellent source of probiotics is sauerkraut! If you add two fork fulls of sauerkraut to one meal a day, you will start to feel great and you will build your immune system.

Enjoy the fall my friends, it is a beautiful time of year!