Ugh! There is
nothing worse than being sick with a cold. I don’t
know about you, but this feeling of stuffiness and congestion drives...me...nuts.
Since winter is cold intrusion time, PLUS I work with twenty-six fourth
graders on a daily basis, I can almost count on having at least one stuffy nose
per season. When this happens,
there are a few things that I swear by to ward off the cold
symptom woes.
I thought this picture was cute since it reminded me of
my little guy…
First, it’s important to stay hydrated when a cold has
moved in. To help this process, I
have a stash of tea in my desk at work. My latest fav? Mighty Leaf. My friend Jolene gave me a box of these organic, assorted,
whole leaf tea bags back in January and they are absolutely divine. My favorite is Green Tea Tropical
which is a blend of green tea (obvi), cornflower and marigold petals, and
pineapple bits. It smells so good
when brewing that even my male coworkers comment. Since my first sip, I've been hooked.
In addition to tea, I continue to take my multivitamins. Plus, I drink one small glass of 100% OJ in the morning
to give me the extra vitamin C my body needs.
Colds are a bummer, but they are not debilitating. The ever-popular question in my mind
whenever I have a cold is...“Can I run?”
Below is the rule of
thumb that I tend to live by:
If my
cold is in body parts above the neck such as clogged nasal passages, sneezing, runny nose, etc...then I run.
If my
cold has symptoms below the neck such as body aching, bronchitis, etc...then I
think twice about stepping outside and possibly will call my doctor.
For more information, there was a very helpful article from
Runner’s World at:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-286--9082-0,00.html
But the most important rule of all is to listen to your
body. Here's to staying healthy!
On a different subject...
Monday at physical therapy my trainer re-reminded me of a
way to ice down injuries. I say
“re-remind” because I used to do this back in high school and college. All you do is fill paper cups ¾ of the
way with water, drop in a popsicle stick, and freeze.
Walla…once frozen you have your very own ice on a
stick. Why do this? You can rub the frozen ice directly on
the inflamed area rather than sitting for 15 - 20 minutes with a bag of frozen peas.
Here's my stash!
Genius, I must say!
On another completely different subject...
The healthy granola from Monday’s
post has been a huge hit among recent taste-testers. My colleagues at school, Willsey’s dog trainer (where he
goes to become a role model amongst dogs), along with my husband all agree that
this granola is tasty stuff. If
you try the recipe, I would love to hear your feedback!
It’s Wednesday everybody…smile! We’re half way to the weekend!
Tracy
You don't even need to put in the popcicle stick. If you use a dixie cup, freeze it, and hold it with the base of the cup in your palm it's a little easier to hold and work in the areas that need the icing, and as it melts, you just peel away portions of the dixie cup.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention, you can wrap the cup in a washcloth so your hand doesn't get cold.
ReplyDelete