Heather Allard

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Wellness

Colonoscopy Tips for First Timers

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I had my first routine colonoscopy today. Like most people, I’ve been dreading it for years.

Honestly though, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone says the prep is worse than the actual procedure, and they’re right. It took twenty hours of “cleansing” the day before and a mere twenty five minutes for the colonoscopy itself.

I didn’t know what to expect and I was pretty nervous about it, so I did some research beforehand.

I found these articles particularly useful, especially the advice about what foods to avoid (I eat almonds or almond butter every day, and was glad I saw to stop at least five days before!) and to bump up the start time of the prep. My colonoscopy schedule said to drink the first bottle of magnesium citrate at 5pm and the second at 8pm, but I drank the first at 1pm and the second at 4pm and it worked perfectly. I was pretty much “all clear” before I went to bed at 10pm, so I was able to get a good night’s sleep with just one trip to the bathroom at 3am. I finished the third bottle in the morning and had one final bathroom visit shortly after.

Good Articles:

Here are some other things that I did that might help you too:
  • On the advice of several people in-the-know, I purchased the grape flavor magnesium citrate. It comes in cherry and lemon-lime too, but apparently the grape is the best one. As I drank the first bottle of grape, I thought…ooooooh, this is actually yummy! By the second bottle, I was more like đŸ¤® and had to hold my nose as I sucked it down with a straw and brush my teeth immediately after.
  • Which leads me to my next tips – put the bottles of magnesium citrate in the fridge a few days before and drink it with a straw.
  • Make sure you wear comfortable pants that are easy to pull down when the urge to go strikes. đŸ¤ª
  • You will be wiping a LOT. Get good toilet paper, flushable wipes and something to soothe your butt like this calming spray and this diaper rash relief. Vaseline works fine too. Even better if you apply them before you start pooping.
  • Hunker down in the bathroom with some good books, podcasts or games. You’ll be there awhile.
  • Although you can drink any clear liquids the day before the colonoscopy, I quickly tired of sugary apple juice and Sprite and switched to chicken bone broth at “meal” times and then just ice water until midnight.
  • If you tend to be constipated, take probiotics (I take this one) for two weeks before to normalize your bowel movements before the colonoscopy prep. This PubMed article says, “Two weeks of probiotics pretreatment as part of bowel preparation significantly improves colonic mucosa visualization during colonoscopy and reduces preparation-related and postendoscopic gastrointestinal symptoms in constipated patients.”
  • Bring a portable essential oil diffuser in the bathroom with you during your prep to freshen the air and to ease anxiousness the morning of your colonoscopy. Wild orange essential oil is my favorite for cleansing and relaxing.

After the colonoscopy, I rested in a recovery room for a while and was encouraged to pass gas. This was definitely the first time in my life that tooting was acceptable in public. đŸ˜³ I also had some crackers and cranberry juice, which was a tasty treat after not eating for 24+ hours.

Post-colonoscopy tips:

  • If you still feel bloated after your colonoscopy, walk around a bit or try this wind relieving yoga pose. This should help release any residual gas.
  • Massage your abdomen with a gentle essential oil like frankincense or lavender.
  • Don’t worry if you don’t poop for a few days. Remember, your bowel was completely empty!
  • If you had any polyps removed (I had one), you may notice a little rectal bleeding for one or two days after. Don’t fret. (Of course, call your doctor right away if you have a lot of bleeding!)
  • Though you can usually resume your normal diet, you may want to ease back into eating. LOL.

After weeks (ok, years) of worrying about this middle age “rite of passage”, I’m so happy and grateful that the procedure went well and that everything was fine. I hope this helps make your first colonoscopy easier and less scary.

Meal Planning Simplified

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I’m going to be honest here. If I never had to make dinner again, it would be too soon. LOL.

After 25 years of marriage and 19 years of motherhood, I’m totally over cooking. Buuuut, it’s important to me to make healthy meals for my husband and kiddos.

That’s why I came up with a meal planning strategy that makes dinner making as simple as possible.

Now, I’ve shopped at Whole Foods for years, but it wasn’t until I came up with this system that cooking and eating healthy also became affordable.

meal planning made easy

I know what you’re thinking. Whole Foods and affordable in the same sentence? That doesn’t seem possible.

But it is. And now I’m going to share my strategy with you. :)

The Method to My Meal Planning Madness

A Monthly Dinner Menu

While setting up a monthly dinner menu takes some time up front, it will save you so much time and money in the long run.

1. Come up with 15-30 dinner ideas.

I had each of my three kids and my husband give me their 5 favorite meals, and I entered them on a Google doc. That definitely made things easier. ;)

dinner meal planning

Whenever I see recipes I want to try, I add them to my Pinterest “Dinner Inspiration” board. You can check it out right here. I will usually only make a recipe if it’s quick, easy, healthy and doesn’t have a million ingredients.

A Dinner Calendar

2. Once you have your 15-30 dinner ideas, create a Google calendar called “Dinner”.

(If you’re unfamiliar with Google Calendars, here are the steps for creating a new one.)

Enter your dinner ideas on the calendar and set them to repeat however often you’d like.

meal planning calendar

I typically have 8 dinners (Sunday-Wednesday because we usually get takeout on Thursdays + Fridays and go out to eat on Saturdays) on a 2-week rotation, so I set each dinner to repeat every two weeks. My husband and kids don’t mind eating the same dinners twice a month, but if your family does, you can increase the number of dinners and decrease the repeat frequency. :)

For Google Calendar repeat steps, check out this page.

Tip: When you’re entering each dinner and setting the repeat frequency, it’s helpful to enter the link to the recipe in the Description area so it’s handy. If you’re super ambitious, you could also cut and paste the ingredients list into the Description area too. LOL.

A Weekly Grocery List

3. Make your weekly grocery list based on that week’s dinners and the other things you need. I use a Google spreadsheet to make my grocery lists (see a sample right here)

I have Whole Foods deliver my groceries each week, and it has saved me SO much time and money. It used to take me at least two hours to grocery shop and would cost $350+.

meal planning list

Now, I look at their weekly sale flyer on Thursday, write my list that night, email it to them on Friday morning and they deliver it Friday afternoon.

By having them deliver, I save myself at least two hours each week. It’s really more than that because I don’t have to reinvent the wheel/grocery list each week. Now I can usually just cut/paste my grocery list from a prior week into a new email, tweak it a bit and send it.

*Update 2019: Since Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon, my local store no longer has an in-house delivery department. Instead, they offer Prime Now delivery for Amazon Prime members, and I use it each week. My experience using Prime Now has been awesome and I would definitely recommend it!  I continue to use my dinner menu and grocery lists, and can quickly add items from my “Past Purchases” on Prime Now too!

Since I’m not doing the shopping myself, I’m not tempted to make impulse purchases. My grocery bill is now $200 or LESS each week. That’s HUGE! Over a year, I’ve saved about $1,800!

If you’d like to see a sample of my grocery list and dinner menu, click here.

tomatoes-1338938_640

Tip: If your market doesn’t offer delivery, you can still use this meal planning strategy by making your list according to your weekly dinner menu and the store sales flyer. Print it out and take it with you so you can keep yourself honest by sticking to ONLY what’s on the list. You can also stock up on staples at online stores like Thrive Market and Vitacost.com. They have awesome prices and often offer free delivery.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

4. Look, schedule, make, eat, tweak, repeat :)

  • Look for recipes on Pinterest, in magazines, online, etc.
  • Schedule them into your Google dinner calendar
  • Make your list
  • Eat your dinners
  • Tweak your menu
  • Repeat :)

See how easy that was?

7 Ways to Make the Holidays Happy and Healthy

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The famous song says it’s “the most wonderful time of the year”, but for many, the holidays can be super stressful.

Money worries. Work woes. Family feuds. Winter blues. Too many cookies, and too many glasses of eggnog.

Well, I’m here to show you that a happy, healthy holiday season is possible. Here are seven tips to get you started.

7 Ways to Make the Holidays Happy and Healthy

1. Manage your stress level

Easier said than done, right? But the fact is, it can be done if you make the effort. A few things have helped me lately, and they’re super simple.

One is meditating, even for just minutes a day. I use an app called Headspace and love it. You can get a free 10 day trial to see if you like it.

The other is breathing. Literally just breathing. Which sounds ridiculous, but it works. You see, when we’re stressed, we tend to hold our breath. Then we get tired and more stressed. So, check out this cool gif that helps you breathe deeply easily.

Try those two things – meditating and breathing – for a week and see if it reduces your stress level. If it does, keep doing it through the holidays and beyond.

2. Load up on antioxidants

Antioxidants help protect your cells from free radicals, which damage cells. Fruits and vegetables have tons of antioxidants, which makes green smoothies a great way to get them into your body.

If you’re looking for green smoothie inspiration, here’s my favorite green smoothie recipe.

Try to drink a green smoothie for breakfast so you’re ahead of the game and a few holiday treats later in the day won’t be so bad. ;)

3. Take your vitamins

A daily multivitamin is an easy way to make sure that you’re getting all of the vitamins and minerals you need to support your body and stay healthy, especially if you take it with a green smoothie. :)

I take these vitamins and supplements, and they give me so much energy!

This is such a simple way to boost your winter wellness.

4. Get moving

Getting regular exercise can help keep your immune system strong and healthy, even in winter. Now, I know the weather will be getting colder and it might be more challenging to get outside. But you can still get your exercise. Like meditating, you don’t have to exercise for a long time to reap the benefits. 10-20 minutes will still help you.

Take a walk midday when the sun is brightest and warmest. Hop on a treadmill if you have one. You could even jog in place or do laps around your kitchen table. I’m serious! My elderly neighbor (who passed away last year at 93 years old) did a mile of laps around his basement each day! An old school pedometer or the health app on your iPhone will help you keep track of steps and miles.

Just do it…and you’ll be jolly.

5. Wash your hands

Sounds simple enough, right? Just washing your hands vigorously for 20-30 seconds with regular soap (not antibacterial) will help you fight illness by cleaning the germs off your hands before they wreak havoc. This is the only hand soap I’ve used since 2012 – it’s amazing and does not dry your skin at all.

You don’t want to spend the holidays in bed with a bowl of chicken soup, so scrub those hands!

6. Catch some Zzz’s

Sleep is one of the most important ways to stay happy and healthy – it’s the time that our body restores and repairs itself – yet most of us don’t get enough of it. Adults need about 8 hours of sleep each night, and kids need 10 or more hours per night!

There are a few things you can do to get better sleep each night – set a bedtime each night (mine’s 9pm), and start to “unwind” an hour or so beforehand by turning off the computer, cell phone, and TV. Make sure your bedroom is dark enough (I use a battery powered travel alarm clock from Target instead of a digital clock that glows) and keep your electronics in another room (I turn my phone off and put it in the charger in my kitchen each night).

You can also try taking an Epsom salt bath (you can get them at CVS, Target or on Amazon) or a magnesium supplement like Natural Calm. Magnesium is super relaxing and will help you nestle all snug in your bed, while visions of sugar plums dance through your head.

7. Use essential oils

Essential oils are a huge part of my wellness. In fact, I use essential oils to support me in all six of the tips I mentioned above!

If you want to see how essential oils can help you be happier and healthier, contact me right here for more info.

Cheers to a happier, healthier holiday season!

3 Simple Ways to Relieve Tight Lower Back and Hips

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For the past year, I’ve had problems with my lower back and hips being really tight and painful. I knew that the best way to fix things was to stretch my muscles and strengthen my core, but I had thrown my back out twice before and was worried that it might be too much for my back to handle.

On April 24th, I was truly in agony and nothing seemed to be helping. Not anti-inflammatories, not ice packs, not heating pads. I decided that day that I wasn’t going to live that way anymore. I decided to strengthen my core slowly and gently.

Fast forward to today, May 4th, and I’m happy to say that just TEN days later, I feel like a new woman.

Three super simple things helped me relieve my tight lower back and hips, and I’d like to share them with you. :)

3 Simple Ways to Relieve Tight Lower Back and Hips

Sit less

I’m currently reading Younger by Dr. Sara Gottfried (a must-read for any woman over 40), and Chapter 7 made me realize that I’ve been sitting way too much and how it’s affecting my back and hips. She says,

“Yes, sitting is the new smoking because of how it increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease – but it can also make your belly look fat by tightening your poor hip flexors and increasing your waist circumference. Here’s how that works: When you slump in a chair, abdominal muscles go slack while lower back muscles tighten, leading to swayback. The sway in your low back pushes out the abdomen, and your hip flexors are too tight to pull the belly back into the core.”

In other words: me. LOL.

Between working from home (and sitting at my computer for most of it) and waiting in school pick up lines, I realized that I sit for about 5 hours each day. While my sitting time is lower than the average American who sits for 8 hours a day, it’s still a lot of sitting.

So, how do we sit less? Here are a few simple suggestions:

  • When waiting in school pick up line, get out of the car and get some fresh air
  • Reserve the last 10-15 minutes of every hour to get up from your desk, stretch, and walk around a bit – if you work from home, do some jumping jacks, jump rope, or jog in place
  • Try a standing desk or a treadmill desk (you can find them on Amazon)
  • Watch less TV – take a walk instead and listen to an audio book

Stretch more

We all know that stretching is the best thing for tight muscles, but mine were so tight, that even basic stretches were impossible.

I searched through my DVD collection to see if I had anything that might help, and found Yoga for Energy and Stress Relief by Rodney Yee. I scanned the back to see what it was about, and zeroed in on the second sequence which uses a chair for support, called Gentle Relaxation. It said, “Use your breath to relax the body and quiet the mind. This practice is designed to help you release tension in the hips, back, and side body.”

Bingo! That was the one for me.

On April 25th, I started doing that 20-minute sequence every day and by Friday, April 28th, I noticed a remarkable difference in my lower back and hips. For the first time in over a year, they didn’t hurt and I could actually sit in a cross-legged pose without wanting to cry. The “quieting the mind” part of the sequence also made me realize that I hold all of my stress in my lower back.

Now when I’m feeling anxious about something (like, oh I don’t know… my daughter getting her driver’s license ;), I know to (and this might sound weird) inhale deeply into my lower back and exhale all the tension out.

Strengthen your core

After a few days of doing the yoga DVD, I decided to add some gentle core strengthening exercises to the mix.

Doing standing exercises was still too much for my back and hips, so I chose these floor exercises to help strengthen my hips, butt, and abs. I started off with 10 reps of each exercise, and now do about 25 reps of each of these 6 exercises, for a total of 50 reps per body part. When I’m feeling stronger, I’ll add more. :)

Floor exercises for hips, butt, and abs:

Who knew it could be this simple?

These three simple things totally relieved my tight lower back and hips in under two weeks.

Today is May 4th and I have zero pain in my lower back and hips. I can bend and stretch easily, and I can even tie my shoes, sit in lotus pose, and clean the tub without wincing. :)