Affordable Ways to Improve Your Health

The other day I had a woman named Sarah reach out to me on instagram and asked if I could put together a post about my top buys to improve health on a budget. I had just been thinking about how I wanted to share a post about some of the different things I had learned recently about health, so her idea was the perfect way to expand on that post. There are SO many ways you can improve your health, whether it’s drinking more water, meditating, breathwork, getting adequate sleep, cutting out toxic relationships…the possibilities are endless. So these are the things that have helped me the most lately. Hopefully this helps you with some ideas on how to improve your own health!

FREE – Get outside every morning

This is something I just learned about recently and it’s super fascinating. Your T3 is the active form of thyroid causing your metabolism to move. There are a few ways to support this – through eating fatty fish, sea iodine, and selenium…AND getting morning sunlight. T4 converts into T3 and morning sunlight is what signals T4 into T3. By getting direct morning sunlight, it signals hormones to turn on and up. And this will improve thyroid production and in turn, improve your metabolism. The best way to do this is to get outside between 7-10am. If you can’t get outside, open a window because window glass acts as a blocker for natural UV rays.

FREE – Stop drinking alcohol

The amount of money people can save by simply not drinking is astounding. If you go out and get a drink in Denver, it will most likely cost you between $11-18. Say you only have 2 per week…on the low end, that $22/week, $88/month, or $1,144/year…and that’s not including the food choices you make when out drinking. But who cares about the amount of money you save, let’s talk about the health ramifications. Alcohol is truly empty calories because it has no amino acids, fatty acids, or vitamins, so you’re getting absolutely no nutrition from it. But the scary part is that alcohol is both fat and water soluble, so it can pass the blood brain barrier and cause neurodegeneration. It literally does damage to your cells. Cutting out alcohol will not only save your money, but it will improve your energy, memory, sleep, concentration, and can even help you lose weight since you are no longer consuming excessive, unneeded calories.

FREE – Walk

I always thought walking was a waste of time and it should be spent in the gym, lifting weights instead. And let’s be clear, I still think lifting weights is a non-negotiable, but improving your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) may be exactly what your body needs to see and feel a physical change. The more steps you get in, the more progress you can experience and the better you may feel when it comes to your mood! Incorporating daily walks may make a world of difference on your health…I know it has for me!

$0.05/day – Take Vitamin D3&K2 daily

I don’t think I’m sharing anything new when I talk about getting Vitamin D into your daily routine. Most of us have extremely low Vitamin D levels, especially if you live in a colder place where you’re not getting much sunshine. Vitamin D supports your immune system, it helps support and build stronger bones by helping you absorb calcium, it facilitates with hormone regulation, improves mood, and studies are still being done, but it may even help prevent cancer and reduce cancer cell growth. Yeah…it’s important. There are some foods that have vit d, such as cod liver oil, fatty fish and seafood, and egg yolks, but it’s pretty challenging to get in the optimal amount. And yes, getting outside in direct sunlight is going to be your best friend when it comes to improving vitamin d. But a little supplement can help boost things even more. And combining D3 and K2 together is a must because they work in harmony! This is the vitamin d3&k2 that I take daily. It comes with a year supply which works itself out to only $0.05 PER DAY! Pretty great bang for you buck!

$25.95 – Wear blue blocking glasses when the sun sets

Just as important as it is to get outside in the morning to turn on your hormones, you need to signal to the body that the day is coming to an end. But since we are surrounded by blue lights, that can be pretty challenging. Blue lights can hinder your ability to produce melatonin which can affect your sleep. And just like getting out in the morning for your T3, telling your body it’s night will help improve your T4 which will help improve your metabolism AND mood. These are the super affordable blue blockers that I wear. It’s important that they have orange lenses because orange blocks the whole blue spectrum while clear lenses block the least amount of blue light. By simply wearing blue blockers nightly, my T4 was significantly improved in just 3 months!

Prices will range – Eat more fiber

Fiber is SO important. I really came to understand this when I started eating beans back in 2020 and my skin completely transformed after years of dealing with acne. This skin-improvement was proof of what was going on in my gut. You’ll want to get a mixture of soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is found in oats, barley, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, peas, some fruits and vegetables, and psyllium husk. Insoluble fiber is found in foods such as wheat bran, vegetables, and whole grains. Getting in enough fiber can help improve blood sugar levels, aid in digestion and help balance hormones, reduce blood pressure and inflammation, and may lower your risk of heart disease. For soluble fiber, beans are cheap AF and delicious to eat. If you’re anti-beans like some people out there, concentrate on oats, apples, citrus fruits, and carrots. For insoluble fiber, most vegetables and fruits are a great option. Eat in-season to reduce the price and buy frozen, as well!