Sharing some ideas on how to promote gut health after being sick. Please keep in mind that this isn’t medical advice, and talk with your doctor before making any health or nutrition changes. 

Hi friends! How’s the week going? I hope you’re having an amazing one. It’s been a bit wacky over here. The Pilot got sick when we got home from Orlando and has been in bed with a fever all week. Liv went down this morning, so P and I are still standing and taking all the vitamins etc. It’s definitely *sick season* in Tucson – so many people are sick – so I figured it would be a good time for this post: how to restore gut health after stomach flu.

Stomach flu can be the WORST. It’s a viral or bacterial infection of the digestive system, which can lead to symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. It’s super common and recovery is often quick, but you might be wondering about what you can do about gut health after recovery.

In today’s post, I wanted to share some tips on how to support the digestive system, replenish lost nutrients, and reduce inflammation for a smoother recovery. 🙂

*Not medical advice. Always check with your doctor and I’m just sharing some of the things that have helped us.*

How To Restore Gut Health After Stomach Flu

Stomach flu disrupts the balance of gut flora (the collection of beneficial bacteria in your digestive system) and can leave the body depleted of nutrients and electrolytes. When you’re actively sick, you’re burning through your reserves and feel depleted afterwards.

Here’s how I’ll break down today’s post: understanding gut health, why it’s important, and actionable steps to restore balance.

What Is Gut Health?

Gut health includes balance and function of the bacteria and microorganisms living in your digestive tract. This amazing lil ecosystem – often called the gut microbiome – plays a critical role in maintaining overall wellness. A healthy gut helps digest food effectively, absorb vital nutrients, produce essential vitamins, and  also helps to communicate with the brain through the gut-brain axis.

The gut also has major impacts for your immune system. About 70% of your immune cells reside in the gut, which help to fight pathogens and regulate inflammation in the body. When your gut is balanced, you’re more likely to feel energized, focused, and resilient. But when the balance is disrupted, it can lead to issues like bloating, fatigue, weakened immunity, and even mood changes.

After you’re sick, replenshing the delicate balance of your gut can affect your full recovery, your mood, and your immune system. Replenishing beneficial bacteria can help rebuild the gut’s protective barrier, improve digestion, and strengthen your immune system to prevent further illness. Incorporating probiotic supplements or fermented foods (like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut) can help repopulate your gut with the good bacteria it needs.

Reducing inflammation is another key step in recovery. Stomach flu can leave your digestive tract inflamed and sensitive, which is why we want to focus on bland, easy-to-digest foods, and stay hydrated to soothe your stomach. Foods like bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, aloe juice, and plain chicken broth are gentle on your gut and can provide essential nutrients without causing additional strain.

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Sharing some of the details on how I overcame my autoimmune struggles, brought balance to my body, and am now symptom-free. Download the free ebook here.

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a wonderful morning so far. I have a day stacked with client calls and am looking forward to some adventures with the fam  — we’re headed to Disney for the long weekend to celebrate Liv’s bday. I’ll share the adventures over on IG stories! The kids have been asking for events or trips instead of birthday parties and I’m into it. Way less stress all around and a lot more fun.

I’m usually weird about celebrating personal things – for example, I never tell anyone when it’s my birthday lol- but there are two milestones I’m celebrating this month, and embracing every single part of these huge milestones:

– one year symptom-free and

– one year of negative Lupus markers

how I overcame autoimmune struggles

My main symptoms

Just under two years ago, some wacky things happened with my health. I went from feeling *ok* – I still had occasional anxiety and was tired sometimes – to dealing with mystery rashes, histamine issues, joint pain, and extreme fatigue. I couldn’t recover from workouts, and if I did something that was particularly intense, I felt like I needed to sleep the rest of the day. My eyes also gave me a lot of grief. I’ve done quite a few blog posts about the eye saga, but it ended up being blepharitis, Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, and dry eye.

My last eye flare was a little over a year ago. We had seen The Nutcracker as a family – one of our favorite traditions – and I could feel my eyes flaring during the show. All of a sudden, they were burning, itchy, and neon red. As soon as it was over, we raced to Walgreen’s for Claritin – I knew at that point it was part of a histamine resp

Sharing my tips on dealing with burnout.

Hi friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful morning. We have a couple of appointments today, and it’s back to school and the *real world* after a glorious winter break. We slept in almost every day, watched a ton of movies, played Tucson tourists, ate takeout, got together with friends and family, and just enjoyed our time together. I hardly touched my laptop, but I’m excited to be back at it today!

For today’s post, I wanted to talk a bit about burnout, which is a little bit of a triggering topic. So many of us know exactly what burnout feels like, and it’s horrible. I picture myself in full burnout mode, and how exhausted and utterly depleted I felt, and I just want to give my past self a hug.

I was a Type A, super anxious child, who spent my childhood into my 20s in flight or fight. Then, I got married, started this wild adventure of a military life (we’re almost done!!) and became a mom. It was such a beautiful time, but it was a hard time — I feel like I missed a lot of the girls’ baby years because I was dealing with postpartum depression/anxiety, and completely burned out.

I know that this is what led me down the path towards mystery health issues and autoimmune symptoms.

While I’m not *fully* recovered from burnout, I’m now symptom-free and feel a million times better. I’m always a work in progress and learning as much as I can, but wanted to share some of the things that helped in today’s post. As always, this is not medical advice! Just sharing my experience, and if you’re dealing with burnout, please reach out to someone who can help you on a path to wellness and peace; you deserve to feel amazing <3

How to deal with burnout

Let yourself be a little more Type B

This was a huge one for me, and has also been the hardest one. I just learned that I can’t be everything to everyone all the time. I can’t do everything, I can’t be perfect, I can’t have a perfectly clean house 24/7, wear makeup and look cute all the time, and say yes to the millions of social activities and kid events.

Sometimes now I’ll leave the dishes in the sink until the morning, I’ll leave laundry on the chair for an extra, day, I’ll go out in public looking like a hot.mess, and will say no to events and invitations. I also used to work 24/7, but I stopped answering emails after hours and try to close my computer at a reasonable time.

The messy house is a stressor for me, so I still try to clean every day, but I’ll set a timer. When it goes off, that’s it. Also, the kids are older now and can help more!

Incorporate things in your day that you enjoy, that are just for you

This is SO important. It’s so easy to feel burned out when your entire day is consumed with tasks for other people. You *have* to t

Hi friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful week. I’m headed to Orlando for back-to-back adventures and will be sure to report back! Check out my IG stories for all the fun.

For today’s post, I wanted to chat a bit about headphones.

Here I am with my wired headphones, years after the bluetooth options arrived on the scene.

In college, I had a bluetooth earpiece (along with everyone else who thought they were cool lol) and used it constantly. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was bad for my brain, and decided to eventually stop using it. I’ve always been wary about phones and bluetooth close to my head, but for convenience, I used Bose sport headphones for years. (I loved these things!!) Over time, I’ve learned more about EMFs and decided to make the swap back to wired headphones a couple of years ago.

why I wear wired headphones

The Wired vs. Wireless Debate

Wireless headphones, like Air Pods, have become extremely popular, but wired headphones still have a strong following. I feel like as people have become more health conscious, they’ve gravitated back to wired headphones. Maybe they’re returning back to wired headphones after using wireless, maybe they delight in being old school, or maybe they stick with wired for some of the reasons below.

Better Sound Quality

Wireless headphones tend to produce more consistent audio, without interface or drops.

It also seems like many musicians, sound engineers, and those who value audio quality tend to prefer wired headphones.

No Need to Charge

One of the nicest things about wired headphones is the battery-free convenience. You never have to worry about charging them.

They’re also perfect for long use since you don’t have to take breaks to recharge.

These are also a lower stress option because you don’t have to worry about the headphones dying mid-use, especially during workuots, calls, or long trips..

More Reliable Connection

Wired headphones are also more reliable since you don’t have to worry about signal drops or interference that can occur with Bluetooth. They connect instantly without pairing or connection issues; simply plug them in and you’re good to go.

They’re also compatible with multiple devices and you don’t have to worry about connectivity issues.

Health and EMF Concerns

Wireless headphones emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which some people prefer to avoid. The more I learn about EMFs, the more I prefer to minimize exposure as much as possible. I tend to be more sensitive to these things, and it was even worse when I was in the depths of my healing journey.

Wired headphones eliminate the close proximity to Bluetooth signals, which is another peace of mind for EMF exposure. Read more

Sharing some of the random and important things I’ve learned in my eye journey since the great saga, a year and a half ago.

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having an amazing day so far! I have client calls all day long, so I have my beverages next to me (Organifi green, decaf Danger coffee with Malk, and water with citrus LMNT) and I’m ready.to.go. My plan is to get in a little movement vitamins in between calls to shake out my legs a bit.

(Jeans are on sale here // sweater is Farm Rio)

For today’s post, I wanted to chat about eyes! I think many of you can relate, but whenever I’m going through something (or someone in the family is), I learn as much as possible about this topic. I read as many books as I can get my hands on, binge through podcasts, scour threads and articles online. I become hyperfocused and my whole life is consumed by this entire topic, learning as much as I possibly can.

I feel like I could do TEDx talks on a few random topics, from Sensory Processing Disorder (something one of the kids went through years ago and is completely resolved), affiliate marketing, pelvic floor and Diastasis Recti, lifestyle and nutrition for auotimmune symptoms, and after the past year, I feel like MGD, dry eye, and blepharitis are.my.jam.

While I was learning about eye health (so I could get my own dang eyes under control), I came across nuggets and strategies that have made a huge difference for me, so I thought I’d share them today.

Please keep in mind that this is not medical advice. Always talk to your doctor before making any changes; I’m just sharing my own experience.

For more about my eye situation, check out the full podcast episode here. (I need to do a follow-up episode because at this point in time, my Lupus markers were positive, but when we re-tested last December after I made HUGE changes in my life, they were negative.)

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