For how much I love the Fall and Winter seasons, I absolutely loathe getting sick. It keeps me away from the people and things I enjoy doing! So, inspired by some friends who have already managed the flu bug [and my mother's persistence that I get  a flu shot, I've compiled a list of four easy things YOU can do to keep yourself from getting knocked out by the nasties!

Wash your hands: Keeping our hands clean can help in so many ways. Viruses and bacteria can live anywhere and trust me, they do! We pick things up off the ground, we flush the toilet, we handle money, we pet our animals; our hands are our tools for everyday living. By keeping our hands clean, we can reduce the chance that those pesky bugs get into things like our food (or worse yet, our bodies).
Hint: When washing your hands, it's the friction that actually kills the germs more so than the actual soap. Rub hands vigorously for twenty (20) seconds, or sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself twice over. Just remember, these aren't American Idol auditions!
On that same note, keeping hands away from your face can also help reduce the chance of infection. We collect most of our little germy friends through our eyes, nose, and mouth. Touching our face is the key way we catch colds, and pass them on to other people. Also, grab a kleenex or hanky when you feel a sneeze or cough coming on instead of using your hands to muffle them.

Drink plenty of fluids & Eat the Good Stuff: Water flushes the poisons and toxins out of our body. By keeping our body hydrated, it lets things flow a little easier. The natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So put away the vitamin pill, and eat dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits. Orange juice, apple juice, and tomato juice are also great sources of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps to strengthen the immune system, as well as reduce the appearance of aging and stress.

Learn to RELAX: No, relaxing doesn't mean doing nothing. Do some big deep belly breaths, close your eyes, and think of something that makes you happy. Try doing some yoga or meditation. Whatever you do to relax (that doesn't involve a margarita or the TV), take time for yourself everyday and do it. This lets your body and all of its systems get back to the business of keeping you healthy. When we get stressed, our body's nutritional storage gets depleted (it needs to use the good guys like vitamins and minerals to help keep us un-sick as long as it can!). The more stressed you are, the more your body becomes susceptible to all those viruses and bacteria.

Get outside and exercise: Aerobic exercise (waking, jogging, playing with the kids) speeds up the heart to pump more blood, makes you breathe faster to help bring oxygen from your lungs to your blood, and makes you sweat once your body heats up. Sweating is one of the body's best ways of detoxifying; our porous skin covers our entire body, allowing us to get rid of more of those bad guys. Go out and enjoy some fresh air. Being cooped up indoors all the time just sends your germs (and everyone else's!) back around.

Not so hard, right? Piece of cake.

Mmmmm, cake....

See y'all next week!