School has started for many or our friends but starts for my babes on Monday.  I think I am mostly ready. Part of being ready for me is having my cabinet and pantry set with health and immune-boosting essentials.  I think this deal from Vitamin World is a great chance to stock up on vitamins and medicines for your babes returning to school.  Probiotics are a must have in my home, I really believe they have helped my kids not get sick as often as normal.  
See this post to read of other essentials I keep in my home.  Happy shopping! 

Today I am tired.  My family and I drove through the night last night from Missouri to Utah.  Yep, 20 hours straight.  I did get in 2 or 3 power naps but I need my bed for high quality sleep so I think I ended up with only 1 hour from the car and then another 2 after we got home.  We rolled in at 5:30am (insert poop emoji).  Then, this morning, when I went through my email I had an email from Precision Nutrition on the importance of sleep. Every article from Precision Nutrition resonates with me, I really like their stuff. The point of the infographic is: we aren't getting enough sleep and it's affecting our health. I am not guiltless on this one, some nights because I have 4 kids and moms usually don't get the sleep they need and some nights because I need some me time and I want to be lazy for one dang minute. For a quick peek at some sleep stats, google "sleep infographic" and you'll get lots of information on the importance of sleep and how we are getting fatter and sicker because we don't get enough.  

​I read a book several years ago by Jan Chozen Bays titled: Mindful Eating, a book which quite literally changed my life and helped solidify some similar ideas I gleaned from a nutrition course in my college days from a book called Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole.  In Mindful Eating, Bays lists 8 types of hunger which are: eye, nose, mouth, mind, heart, stomach, cellular and thirst*.  I have always known that for me personally (and the infographics will state this) I eat more when I am tired.  It's like my body is looking for energy and tells my mind that I need to eat even if I'm not hungry.  So I add sleep hunger to Bay's list bumping it up to 9 types of hunger.  

If you want to recover from workouts faster, not get sick, live longer, be happier, maintain your weight, have a better memory and even have prettier skin then maybe you'd benefit from making one small step towards better and longer sleep tonight.  Even going to bed 10 minutes earlier could make a difference for you.  Maybe you'd fall asleep faster if you read a book right before bed instead of looking at your phone.  Maybe you can give up mindless TV watching before bed and find a more thoughtful bedtime routine that works for you.  Think of something small you can change, something you are at least 9 or 10 confident you can change on a 0-10 scale.  Commit to that doable habit and see how you feel and adjust where needed.  Hopefully you'll gain some confidence in your sleep habits and maybe feel like you can ramp it up another doable notch!
 As for me tonight, I'm hoping for a wicked early bedtime.  
​XO

Read PN's infographic: The Power of Sleep
*more musings to come on my experiences with the 9 types of hunger