The Everyday Awesome Project
The Everyday Awesome Podcast is your mega dose of multivitamins for building your mental muscles, physical body and an empowered life. Your hosts Polly and Sam are on your dream team; lifelong coaches in business, health & fitness and human potential. They are on fire to ignite change in the lives they touch.
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The Everyday Awesome Project
102: How NOT To Get Sick & Fluffy Over The Holidays
Feeling great in December shouldn’t require willpower marathons or food guilt. We map out a practical, compassionate plan to avoid getting sick and avoid getting “fluffy,” starting with the place your immune system lives most: your gut. From sleep and sunlight to hydration and real food, we walk through the small, compound moves that protect your energy when travel, parties, and family dynamics ramp up.
We dig into supplements and herbs people actually use this time of year—vitamin D3 with K2, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, quercetin, elderberry, oregano oil—and why quality matters with probiotics and enzymes. Then we get tactical with food: prioritizing vegetables and protein, saving starches for the end of the meal, and using post‑meal walks or “exercise snacks” to flatten glucose spikes. If you drink, learn how timing and quantity affect sleep, immunity, and cravings, plus simple sober‑curious swaps that still feel social.
Stress is the hidden bridge between getting sick and gaining weight. We share fast, science‑backed tools for nervous system regulation—sighing and humming for vagal tone, short cold exposure, midday sunlight, and grounding—along with boundary scripts that let you leave early, take a walk when energy shifts, and choose environments that recharge you. You’ll also hear travel strategies, airport movement ideas, easy detox resets, and why community conversations beat scrolling when loneliness creeps in.
Want a holiday that feels calm, energized, and joyful without extremes? Press play, take two or three ideas, and make them yours. If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a boost, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find these tools.
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Hey, superstars. Welcome back. Polly here. And Sam Pruitt. What's up, beautiful humans? Oh, Sam, it's so good to have your energy back. Oh I know.
Samantha Pruitts:Yes, yes. Two weeks out from surgery. That's awesome. Awesome. I can tell you're just like every day just higher talking louder, moving more. Good things. All good things. It's good to be back in the body. Well, today, speaking of being in the body, this episode is going live in December. So we are like, let's just help our people through the holidays with our favorite thing, you know, for the you know, not getting sick and fat, fluffy, excuse me, not getting sick or fluffy, but it's around immunity boosters, right? Because that's the key, is you know, I was doing some research because I've heard, you know, there's all this icotic cold or cold season. And it's like it's actually just a lower immunity season, right? And there's lots of reasons that your immunity gets lower, and we will definitely talk to people about that. But yeah, this is basically well, you and I could talk for hours and hours and hours on this subject matter. We're gonna talk a little bit like at a high level about these two things. So A, don't get sick, B, don't get fluffy. Okay, and then we're gonna give some real like do these things. They will make a difference. We're here to have impact. And you and I are not just pulling these things out of our rear end. A, we practice these things, we believe in them 1000%, but it's scientific research and proven tactics and techniques about the human body working at its optimal level. We believe in this all year, but we're gonna really double down on this holiday challenge that some people might be in. And I was even explaining, you know, I had company over the Thanksgiving holiday. And of course, I love having company. It's family and friends that I adore, but it it, you know, even I had to counter and bring about awareness for myself of like, whoa, whoa, whoa, now I'm doing some things differently. Let's make sure I'm have awareness and I am strategic about these choices.
Polly Mertens:We all do it. I think two things I can think about. I had a long phone call with a friend last night. Um, and she was just talking about how Thanksgiving, you know, she was like mentally preparing herself for, you know, family time, let's say, like emotionally and mentally. Uh-huh. And it's like, didn't go as planned. Let's just say that, right? And it was like, you know, kind of the worst case scenario was the end result, and just, you know, like, and and she's, you know, a warrior of light and and working on herself and you know, nervous system regulation and emotional stability and the face of, you know, triggers with family and stuff like that. And it was like, and I'm like, yeah, you know, you went into the ring. You went into the ring of fire, you know, and that's what sometimes families, depending on the nature and the dynamics in your family, it can be. So whether it's, you know, long trips, like one of the things I want to talk about is a lot of people go skiing and they get into elevation. And I don't think people are properly acclimated or understand that, because that could, you know, you know, hurt your immunity as well. So really looking at, and the other thing I want us to talk about is as we talked about just before, air is like listening for your body, not just like throwing in the towel, like, oh, like I I went to three parties in a row or I I drank alcohol two nights in a row or whatever, and I feel like shit, and oh, the holidays are shot. I'll just like turn it over. Debauchery for the next two weeks. Yeah, or yeah, or not come back to a level that feels good. Like just kind of go, oh well, might as well have cookies at the at breakfast, and you know, whatever.
Samantha Pruitts:So the first uh element we'll talk about specifically is how not to get sick. So let's go right out of the gate. We already started to go there, but obviously the immune system is linked to everything. Okay. So just a compromise.
Polly Mertens:Just a refresher. So 80, 70, 80% of your immune system, and the system is such an interesting word. I I you know it's white blood cells, right? That's part of your defense mechanism, right? So those little warriors, 80% of them live on the outside of your gut, meaning, like if your gut is like a tube, right? The outer lining from the outside of that you know, hose or whatever is the warriors of immunity for your body, right? And then the other ones are in your nose, in your nostrils, right? And maybe some in your mouth, right? So that's the ways that things can get into your body. You know, people get the the sore throat or you know sniffles or whatever. But 80% is defending against leaky gut or entrances down there, right? So just that's what we're mostly talking about is taking care of those systems and keeping that immunity, that army, at a high level, right? And things that can degrade it, right? Poor sleep quality, um uh toxins, right? Like everyday toxins, whether it's neurot- you know, toxins and electric frequencies and the airwaves, it can be the poor quality of foods that you're eating, not getting enough sunlight, lots of things can diminish the quality, the the strength of that army to defend against things that you might challenges, you know, like family time and you know, all the stress that goes on and the traumatic triggers. Yeah, I mean the chemicals that get released in an interaction with family if it's let's say it goes off the rails, right? Oh, I mean, the body's gotta flesh all that, right? Yeah. So it's it's really looking at ways to help that immunity. And you talk about things that you can do. And so I I would love to hear yours and I'll share some of mine that I've done. So, like for example, I on Thanksgiving Eve, so the day before Thanksgiving, I was noticing just, you know, like a lot was going on. Sleep had been irregular, just I'm not quite sure. I'm working on some hormonal, you know, changes and temperature in the room and stuff like that. So just noticing I'm not feeling my game, you know, it's like, uh, don't feel like strong and solid. And so I was like, okay, what can I do? So some of my go-to's, um, especially when you've like if I feel a tickle in my nose or a little something in my ear. So I think of like antiviral, right? So if there's something that's gotten into my body. So one of them is oregano oil that I learned from a friend. Um I think people also do um apple cider vinegar as like a, you know, I mean, like it cleanses, you know, vinegar is a great cleaner in your house, right? Like cleans out viruses and, you know, bacteria and whatnot. So an apple cider vinegar, um, and definitely supplementation. So a vitamin D with, and there's vitamin D you want to take with, is it like K12? K, yeah. So don't just get vitamin D, get a like a D3 with a K so that it absorbs it. Um, vitamin C and zinc, um, some magnesium, things like that. Um, and then little um herbs, so ashwagandha and elderberry are great for that. So that's just that's a little laundry list there of things that I think about as I'm going into either, oh, I feel something in my body. And I mean, people think of vitamin C and they don't really know how much they can take. I mean, you can take a lot of vitamin C. So just these little capsules that are like 500. Okay, go study this. I mean, I've seen people, you can take thousands of milligrams a day, you know. So, like during the season, I'm gonna take 2,000 a day for the next you know when you've taken too much, you will get diarrhea.
Samantha Pruitts:That's how you'll know. Oh, I've tipped it a little bit too far and I can rain it back in. No need to panic. But then your body's basically overly saturated and it starts to, you know, want to shed.
Polly Mertens:Flush that, flush that. How about you? Any and I have some dietary things that I shift, you know, for immune basing. But what about you? Anything that you are fond of, your strategy?
Samantha Pruitts:Well, I take all of those things for sure. I also take cursetin, which um is uh antioxidant and really is helpful in the immune cell reaction um, you know, space, if you will. I do a lot of things related to my food additionally, but that's because I have food stuff, you know, my gut tends to be a challenge. And it's not that I'm gonna all of a sudden over the holidays eat all that differently, but yet I do, and I'm a sensitive person. So even if I got five or 10% different things in my diet that I wouldn't normally eat. So, like for Thanksgiving, for example, you know, we had a gluten-free stuffing. Well, I don't eat stuffing on a regular basis. So it's gluten-free, but you know, whatever, um, as examples of that. Or we had gluten-free apple pie, which was freaking amazing, by the way. And I was like, What? Are you sure this is gluten-free? Hold up, bro.
Polly Mertens:Which one? Because I did the sprouts gluten-free, and it was not good pie.
Samantha Pruitts:So I would love to know what the main company literally from.
Polly Mertens:I've had that, yeah, in the freezer.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, you can actually go on their website, buy them frozen, they ship them to you. Now I would never want to pay $30 for a pie that I'm gonna have a slice of or whatever, and I don't care that much about things like that, but it was a really lovely treat. But I was also shocked at the quality of it. So, anyway, so it's things like that that are like different, right? Things getting into your slipstream or whatever. Um, so then I will take probiotics, I will also take digestive enzymes, just different things to help my gut process all the comings and goings of these new things. Do you think it might seem really exciting?
Polly Mertens:So, what are your guidelines for probiotics? Because, you know, there's all this theory like they don't work because they don't digest in the stomach, because the enzymes are whatever. What do you find works for probiotics?
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, there are a lot of different schools of thought on this, but there's also the science is changing all the time. This is a field. Well, gut microbiome is a field that is right now getting flushed with billions of dollars and a lot of actual research. So you want to actually go to people that you trust, not just what ads are on Instagram or whatever, right? Like where are the scientists that you trust and then what are they utilizing? But the ones that I bought specifically came from my doctor, my functional medicine doctor. I don't know that I would have just gone into a store and bought some. At this point, I don't know that the quality is actually there. But there are a lot of companies online and they're never gonna sell through mainstream market.
Polly Mertens:And that's where I feel like, you know, I've been in um like I don't go very often, but like Walmart, you know, we'll have like a whole vitamin section, and there's like, oh, this and I'm like, that is not like that's just fluffy, yeah. Fluffy something that's yeah, it's not of the quality that your body's really gonna assimilate. So don't buy in book or I mean yeah, and these things need to be refrigerated.
Samantha Pruitts:I mean, they're alive culture, yeah. So if something is sitting on a shelf, it's already that's not gonna be working, it would not be alive, would it? Unless it had a bunch of preservatives and things in it to hold accounts out of it alive. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So things of that nature. But I do think um water intake also, right? Like needs to go up for people because they're gonna consume maybe an alcoholic beverage or maybe more coffee or other drinks than they normally would because it's like the holidays. So all of a sudden you're drinking a cranberry doodal, even if it's a mocktail, you know, but like that's a lot of extra sugar and things that you've got to counter. I don't wouldn't normally drink those things, but I did find like I was making a cranberry mocktail as an example. You know, I'm also um experimenting with uh sober curiosity right now. Not that I'm totally off alcohol, but I have, you know, I'm just trying to not do it and see if it makes a difference. And I don't need it, like it's not making a difference. But it's just one of these things that people have to figure out some of that stuff on their own accord.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:So food's huge, right? And the gut is massive for the immune system.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, and I I think the thing that I think about is um gluten, so you know, breads and things like that. If there's ever a time to go dairy, I'm sorry, to go gluten-free, the holidays is the time, you know.
Samantha Pruitts:People would say it's the hardest time and you're adorable because you're like, it's time to do it.
Polly Mertens:This is the best time because if you're going to, you know, have all these extra other stresses and toxins and stuff like that, don't add to it. You know, uh if you don't know what gluten does in your gut and in your your bile, your belly, please look it up. You know, like I have a friend that was just the other day saying, saying, you know, just bread. You know, he's a longtime sandwich eater, whatever. Bread, bread, bread loves bread, sandwiches, all this stuff. And he's like, Yeah, just bread just kind of puffs up my stomach. And I was like, it's not the bread, it's the gluten in the bread. You know, it's like, hello, you know, try and experiment, you know, if that now's not the right time for you to experiment, experiment otherwise. But um it's really amazing when you do find your lane in gluten-free items, right? Like you find the products that you like, like not all pies. Like I said, you found a great pie, the main company is great. I one got one at Sprouts, it wasn't so great. Um, but you can find those in the right. I have a bread that at my carbonate is my go-to seeded bread, gluten-free. It's amazing. So finding your things that allow you to have those things without the gluten, which is, you know, because what it's doing is it's just, you know, causing havoc in that gut.
Samantha Pruitts:Permeability.
Polly Mertens:Yes, yes.
Samantha Pruitts:And so therefore activating the immune system, they call it mast cell uh activation, basically when all the cells actually go, what the fuck? Yeah, right. And they literally just cascade into warfare, if you think about the immune system how you described it, and these things coming through the digestive tract, creating literally a war between the inner and the outer world. And then the, of course, the leakiness or the pure permeability dysbiosis starts dysbiosis. Yeah.
Polly Mertens:So if you imagine if you're putting things in your body and in your belly and they're going through this digestive track, and if you're treating it like a garbage can and willy-nilly, and all of a sudden all the immune cells are like, we're under attack, right? You only have so much in your army. Like you have whatever, a billion, a million, whatever. You have this army. And then you're like also adding alcohol. Oh, and then you're out in germ-filled rooms and you're not washing your hands in environments that you're not accustomed to. New people, new, you know, everybody walks in a different way. It's amazing to me, you know, we all walk around with our own basic garden in our belly, right? Little bugs and all this stuff.
Samantha Pruitts:Even on our skin.
Polly Mertens:On our skin. And then we go into a different environment where we meet, you know, families of 30 get together. And those people aren't used to hanging out together, and they're all bringing their own belly bugs and skin bugs and stuff like that. Washing your hand frequently, I would say blowing your nose. Like I make it a a thing about blowing my nose throughout the day and washing my hands just to keep those things from from coming in. But if you're doing other things, you know, not getting good sleep and whatnot, the immune system is a working on one thing, your gut, protecting that. That's like your number one defense. So if you add other things on top of it, you know, the the can't have it.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah. We mentioned sleep real quick, so let's make sure we touch bases on that. Getting enough sleep, period, is an obvious thing, right? Like people or maybe staying up later. Um, I don't know if they're sleeping in or whatever they're doing. Like, I feel so strongly that like if your sleep isn't on, nothing is on. Like the body does not know how to deal. A, it doesn't know how to process food, it doesn't know how to process stress, it cannot regulate its horror its hormones. And of course, your immune system is going to be compromised. Of course.
Polly Mertens:Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, if you're traveling, you know, looking at um, okay, not cramming all the, you know, I mean, you got to do what you gotta do if you got to work and you gotta drive late to get to the place that you're staying or whatever. But then allow yourself to sleep in and you know have times of rest or naps, especially like I know a lot of people go to the mountains during the holidays. It's like, okay, are you taking into account you need more oxygen and more sleep and sleeping at elevation? So are you hydrating fully and just preparing yourself for those cold temperatures, you know, just in all the ways, right? So like be mindful as you enter a new environment, whether it's a family gathering, like, okay, how am I gonna keep my immunity up around this? Like, what have I taken in preparation? Am I well slept? Should I leave early? You know, do I need to stay up late with everybody talk until the wee hours of the morning? Is that the best thing? It's you know, overall, yeah. So maybe you make that choice, right? Maybe that's what's best. Like, oh, I'm only gonna see this person once this year or something.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, and let's just double-click on something that you said that's related to the next element around getting fluffy during the holidays, too. You are in charge of the environment you are putting yourself in. Okay, so if you are choosing to put yourself in an environment, because last time I checked, most of us have some freedom and agency over our decisions, right? Last time I checked, I don't know that let's hope that doesn't change. So you decide to go into these spaces and visit these people or go wherever or travel or whatever you've decided to do. But be conscientious, have awareness around the decisions that are going to impact these really critical elements of your health, right? So, what time am I traveling? Again, like what you said. Do I have to stay up with these people? Because they're staying up to 11 o'clock and doing whatever. Like, I don't do any of that. I am so far over any of that shenanigans. Like, I'm the boundary queen. But if somebody wants to stay up and do that, why are we all doing that? So I prefer to like create environments or be with people. You and I are very like-minded. We can travel together well. Like, I have those kinds of people, right? We're all getting to bed at 8:30, 9 o'clock, or 9 30. Like, we're not doing these behaviors because we all value our health more than we value that extra hour of TV or whatever the heck the thing is. So don't be afraid to just make that choice and be the bold one in the family circle or in the friend circle or whatever, who's like, yeah, well, I'm gonna be leaving now because I'm gonna exercise in the morning. Exactly. Whatever your thing is, right?
Polly Mertens:Choosing choosing you, right? And I think one of the things I would I would add to this is um I love that you said boundaries, and I think it's, you know, and I can definitely say I've fallen prey to this in my own mind, is this obligatory family dynamic, right? Oh, well, it's my family, it's my mom, it's my parents, it's my whatever that we feel like we have to play a role or some expectation or it won't ever. It's like hello, so hey, if it's done from a guilt or a shame or whatever, you're not going in with the right energy. Like, you know, and if you expect, you know, and expecting things to be different than they've always been, unless you're different in those environments, right? Like, okay, like you're shooting 10 out of 10, this isn't going well every year. You go back and you fly home and you hope that, you know, whatever, like my friend and it just tanked on Thanksgiving. It's like, well, you have family members that aren't doing the work and they're not willing to take responsibility stuff. How much more of that do you want to put yourself into? Like, does that really serve you to keep going into that environment? Like, oh, you know, it's my family, oh, it's the holiday. It's like you don't really hang out with those people the rest of the year. So, you know, like until you can, you know, have healthy dynamics and conversations and they're agreeable as well. Maybe choose your family, you know, choose the family.
Samantha Pruitts:Well, I will say that can be maybe a lot trickier than um how you're gracefully stating it, even though I agree 1000%. It is. I know many, many people. I I have a big family, so like uh there's uh element to I do want to see those people and spend time with them. And you can do that, by the way, if you've got boundaries and not fall into these dysfunctional patterns that are not good for your mental and physical health. It is possible. Totally. So, but like you have to go in with so much awareness. So I'm not expecting them to be different. I gave that up a long time ago, but I'm definitely expecting myself to be different because I've invested time and energy thinking about things differently, looking at the world differently, getting really clear on my values, getting really clear on how I will or will not engage boundaries, right? Things of that nature. Yeah. Um, expecting them to agree to this change. That might not happen in a lot of families, but it doesn't even mean that you have to tell them what you're doing. No, you're just doing you. Yeah, and be a hundred percent responsible. I came for dinner, I ate the things that worked for me, and I'm gonna be leaving. Love you. Bye. You know, I mean, figure out, figure out a strategy that works for you, people. Come on.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, yeah, and be 100% responsible for your experience in that environment, right? It's like, okay, well, if so-and-so, family member, cousin, whatever, you know, has a you're a tree, you know, something is crazy. Some yeah, well, this this one was like, yeah, somebody was like, all kinds of like fist fights started going. I was like, wow, yeah. Yeah, it could I mean family drugs. It's amazing. So I I mean, I have never been to a family gathering like that before, but I don't I, you know, if I well, you and you who knows? Like, I don't think that's happened in their family either. But it's amazing how our family dynamics can really bring up the old for us to look at. And if we don't have, you know, really good toolkit in our back pocket and like you said, awareness and intention how you're gonna manage this. Um, yeah, the family members are probably gonna do what the family members have already always done. So decide if you're ready for that challenge, if you're ready for that experience, you know. And if not, maybe skip this year and keep working on yourself or go and do it in a very small dose. Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:The smallest dose you can possibly contribute and be like, hey, we're good here, or like I'll be submerged in these multi-day things, wherever and whatever. And I dude, I am walking out the door of said house, whatever whose ever house it is, not relevant to me, at all times of day, three, four, five times a day. I'm like, doo doo doo, bye-bye. Right? Because I sense an energy is shifting or a behavior of alcohol consumption or whatever the things are like shifting. And I'm like, while y'all be doing that, I'm gonna go hump up and down a mountain, or I'm gonna go see what's happening over here or whatever, right? So just tricks and techniques and things for making it work for you, you know.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, keep centered, keep the balance. Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:So we talked about booze.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:Basically, your immune system in booze. I mean, all things in booze. It's a pro-inflammatory ingredient that is man-made, because even if your alcohol is coming from natural sources, right? The pressing, whatever, it's pro-inflammatory. It goes into your body again. You're going to have a histamine reaction, some kind of cellular reaction on any level that's just natural. That's why you get the flush and you get the you know, sexy feeling, and you get all the things that you think are what you need to have a good conversation. But ultimately, as that streams through your blood system and elevates your blood sugar, which is not great, and then starts to get into your gut and create more permeability within the gut, you have compromised your immune system.
Polly Mertens:Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. And I would say two things the sugar. So alcohol, just look at it as sugar, bread, look at it as sugar. You know, these things just turn into sugar in the body. So sugar is, you know, weakening the immune, that's number one thing is it weakens the immune system and then it causes inflammation. So that's just like a you know, a storehouse for for you know, bad things to to fester, if you will. And then I would say, like, as I look at alcohol and where I've gone with it, is like, is it worth it anymore? Like I just look at, you know, like, because that I feel like when I was in the paradigm, and for I'm saying this for decades, you know, like the paradigm of, oh, alcohol makes me feel good and this and that. And I hadn't, even as healthy as I was, I hadn't really seen and really wanted to take a good enough look at the downside. Like I wasn't willing to look at the downside because I only saw the upside. Like I had wired my brain, like, oh, this is great. This makes me feel good in good times and hang out with people, whatever, and all these places that you get to go that people drink and it's acceptable. And then as I, you know, I did my 75 hard where I didn't do alcohol for 75 days. So you find other things to do and you find other, you know, ways of all the stuff. And then I did it again, and it was like, what? Alcohol? Like, like reintroduce it was how it, like I had done it for so long that it just was like, do I want to reintroduce it? And and then if I did and I saw how I felt, was like, am I willing to feel that way for that experience? And and I'm just and now my my paradigm, my neuroassociations that I have in my brain is it's more disson like it's dissonance. It creates dissonance for me to drink alcohol, whereas it used to create pleasure, you know. So which not everybody's ready for or wants to or whatever. And yeah, yeah, whatever. But yeah, so all right.
Samantha Pruitts:I've got a whole thing on sober curiosity if you haven't listened to that podcast yet. And I will talk about alcohol under the fluffy element too. It's got some nuances to it. And then the last thing I think for immune system before we talk about getting fluffy. Run, everybody, run. No, I'm just kidding. Um loneliness and connection or lack of and how it affects your immune system and really impacts how vulnerable you can be in the immune system way of um thinking about how you relate to the world and others.
Polly Mertens:And I want to say um, you know, loneliness because some people think of social media as a way to stay connected or whatnot, but I would say conversations disrupt loneliness, not watching other people's activities or just seeing like through a television or a phone what's going on in other people's lives, that's not going to create connection. It it if anything, it's probably going to create comparison, not good enough, look at their life, whatever. So conversations with people, like you said, anti-loneliness is you know, whether it's in service or just supporting people or talking, you know, so being in conversation or in person, even better. Yeah. The only other one I want to say dietary, just I the studies I do. So um dairy. Like just avoid all the dairy stuff at the holidays, especially because that's um A, because it's got a lot, you know, has a lot of hormones and stuff in it and antibiotics, you know, because cow fields and the way that they're processed are so low quality these days. So if you're doing dairy anything, um know that that's an immune compromiser, especially the buildup of mucus, right? So if you have any mucus-like symptoms starting to develop, anti-dairy will help with that. It's not a like, oh, it'll get rid of it, but avoiding dairy is my other one. And then some other little things like Ayurvedic, they recommend like ginger, turmeric, um, black pepper, and cinnamon. Just some throwing those in as finding ways that you can incorporate that cinnamon, you know, like a little cinnamon in your latte or something like that.
Samantha Pruitts:I do it every morning. Oh, nice. Every morning. I can't get the turmeric. I have curcumin. I've been putting in things because it's milder taste. Yeah. But turmeric is like, whoa, paw pow. So they can normally go like in certain dishes. Same with ginger, like ginger is really good for you, but it's like, whoa, dude, settle down a minute. So figuring it out, you know.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, good. Cool. So anything else on immunity?
Samantha Pruitts:No, but the link between what that, what we just talked about, is not getting sick during the holiday season and the not getting fluffy where we're going next, which are really people don't want either of these, by the way. But the link between the two of them, um, I just want to make sure that we tie with a nice little bow, is your nervous system regulation. So if your nervous system is not regulated, if you are a dysregulated person, hello, all of society, all people, okay.
Polly Mertens:All of us at times, for sure. Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:And if you haven't learned the tools to help down regulate and to recalibrate that nervous system, and we've talked about that on future episodes or sorry, past episodes, and we'll talk about it again on future episodes. Um, and we're gonna do some programming around this in 2026. Actually, we're gonna be teaching like live skills to people. Look at us having skills workshops. But if you don't have awareness about that common thread, you need to start really doing your homework there and understanding. And it is, there's it's also very hot in the latest and greatest with scientific research and all that stuff, but nervous system regulation, vagus nerve regulation and toning, all that kind of stuff. But if you're constantly stressed and unregulated, easily triggered, easily responsive, cortisol and stress hormones just going chaotic, you know, everything just feels like a hot button to you.
Polly Mertens:Fight and flight. Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:This word of like everybody is uh, you know, over-exhausted, over this, under overwhelmed, blah, blah, all the over all the overs, that's just regulation.
Polly Mertens:Yeah. Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:And that will lead to both of these things. A, it will lead to getting sick and it will lead to getting fluffy.
Polly Mertens:And I think just on a quick key point, it's um, you know, having either daily practices or tools in your toolbox for regulating it, right? So having like when I have morning routines, whether it's some exercise, meditation, walking in nature, things to just wake up in a steady state, like people who get up and just get in the car and go, you know, like there's there's no recentering, you know, like clearing that mind and kind of like, okay, all is well, and I'm gonna go into my day. So however you want to start your day, like you own the day. And then during the day, pulling back or, you know, coming away from things in those moments that reground you and re reconnect you, you know, the the slow deep breaths, Vegas nerve is great. I think my favorite one is just sighing out, right? So just that's a signal, you know, you're not being chased by lions. So there's no nothing to, you know, attack here. So okay.
Samantha Pruitts:Yep. Good code. So no, let's just uh because I was gonna say that um to labor. Let's just actually keep on that for a hot second. So you mentioned mentioned sighing, humming, singing, okay, in that same vein is activating and really calming the and toning the vagus nerve. Cold therapies of whatever type, not that you're gonna get up in the morning and take a cold shower, but getting cold exposure throughout the day. And lots of people are living in cold environments. Not me, South of Palm Springs, but all those other people. But even now, when I go out in nature a couple times during the day, I am going out in the morning when it is colder. And actually, I will even take my shirt off and just have like a sports bra and like get that cold exposure, wear shorts, breathe in the cold air, um, submerging your hands in cold water. Like these things are calming to the nervous system, which is kind of interesting. It's a like a nervous system reset, which is really important.
Polly Mertens:I so what I was thinking is because we're in different climates lately, is for me, because another one for me that's part immunity or just well-being is um sunlight, right? So we talk about vitamin D. Great, take it. But so my usual fare is getting out in nature first thing in the morning. A, it's super colder then, and B, it's dark then. So, you know, can you shift your routine? So you're walk doing a midday walk with a little bit of sunlight and sunshine on your face, on your skin, because you know, when the skin and body and eyes can absorb the rays of light, and there's so much more coming in from a sun ray than just the vitamin D and what we think of, right? Like we just have no idea yet the amount like we're light beings. Like, if you don't know that you're made of photons, okay, you're a light being. So if you get this big old, beautiful sunlight, our planet grows because of the sun. Like we eat sunlight, basically. Plants turn it into photosynthesis and we eat sunlight that's transmuted. So, like getting out and getting that sunlight on your body directly, you can do that. Just, you know, we we we get up in the morning, we go to work, indoors all day, come home, get it's it's like something to intend for sunlight to be on your body and and every day. You in the beautiful warmer climate, that's easy, but yeah, yeah. And the other one that I think, and I think the research is going to get stronger in this over the next decades is grounding, you know, because you know, in the summertime we can be more likely to maybe have shoes off and feet on the earth and flip-flops or you know, like walk at the beach or something like that. In the wintertime, usually it's colder, right? So we don't have those instances of getting our feet connected to the earth. And there's a lot, I would say, if you study it, grounding, really, you know, we're part of the earth. So getting the it has to do with our um uh electrons, you know, like the magnetic field. So getting that rebalanced by the earth. So if there's any way, if you're not living in a snowpacked, you know, climate, to take your shoes off for some part of the day, if that feels good and reconnect with the earth, that can help you as well.
Samantha Pruitts:Well, for many, many reasons, just take your shoes off when you're indoors. I mean, come on, people, but also you can buy earth, um, I think they're called earthling mats. Uh uh my sister-in-law uses one of these under her desk, and basically you take your shoes off while you're at working. Oh, or if you have a standing desk, great, and you stand on a mat, and the mat actually gives those currents and restabilizes the energy system. Okay, this is cool. That's like, what the hell is this coolness? Awesome. I know, and she was like, Oh, my hippie aunt sent me this thing. What do you think about it? And I'm like, Well, if you don't want it, I want it. And it's freaking brilliant. And I immediately went on and did a bunch of research. I said, That's a yes. I set it up, I plugged it in. I was like, take your shoes off, let's go. Like, this is so cool. There's other ways just by going out in nature, right? Like, look at the plants, touch the plants, see the earth, see the mountains. I live one of the in one of the where I live in this particular neighborhood for a reason. I am surrounded by these huge desert mountains and even some high, you know, pine forests and stuff like that. But I can visually see nature no matter what I'm doing out every window and all the things or whatever. So that also is very calming for my brain, for my nervous system, for me to feel grounded in that way. Um, energetically, let's make sure we talk about the people that you're around and the energy that is being exchanged there, that's affecting your nervous system in a big way. We talked about it earlier about going into dysfunctional family environments. Seek out positive energy environments. Where are your people? Totally. Okay, where are they? And if you need to pick up the phone and call them, don't text them, pick up the phone and call them, hear their voice, have a verbal exchange, or you need to make a coffee date once a week. Yesterday I went on a long walk with a friend of mine from the gym I hadn't seen because I haven't been to the gym, right? I've been injured, and it was so good for both of us. We could have just kept walking all day long, you know. But it was like in positive vibes, and like, here's what we're doing.
Polly Mertens:Oh serotonin. When when women walk, serotonin gets created by the talking walking. So, yeah, serotonin going through your brain. So it's beautiful.
Samantha Pruitts:Right. Or like you've got a roommate right now who's got some good vibes. Like it's like people can really recharge your batteries.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, and the opposite. So yeah, yeah. And they can also choose wisely, choose wisely, for sure.
Samantha Pruitts:But go get recharged by people that you know, I'm sure everybody has that person in their life. If not, you and I have cultivated many of these people with great intention. The more we can surround ourselves, and you're creating circles right now with great intention, where that is the thing.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:The energy that's getting created in that circle of humans is next effing levels. So anyone who drops into that is getting fed.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:Go find those spaces.
Polly Mertens:We just had our final night of the Come Alive program, and it was so sweet for them to acknowledge each other and just really love on and appreciate. Like, you know, I was like, oh, and what did you get out of the material and you know, like all this stuff? And they got so much out of just the sisterhood, you know, like like I I'm stronger in the world because I know I have this group is kind of the vibe that they were saying. It's like, I knew I could get up to stuff, or I came in this group and you guys inspired me to something else. And right. And so choosing, like you said, the people that you spend time with and you're re-inspired by and re-energized by and supporting each other. It's not like it was always, you know, super fun. There was like challenges and breakdowns, and they supported each other. And it's like, yeah, get back in the ring, like go, girl, you know. So I love it.
Samantha Pruitts:Well, and like an example of that walk yesterday, um, what I've decided is I may or may not go back to this CrossFit gym because basically I hurt myself doing really heavy lifting off of CrossFit very quickly and all these things. So I'm gonna change up my programming for myself, my fitness and health and wellness programming as I age gracefully here. Not that I'm cutting back, I'm gonna do things differently because I have some very specific goals I want to achieve. But that group of core women that I work out with, I call them the badass babes. I mean, amazing humans, all different ages, and we have 30 all the way up to 70. We have built this circle that is just unbelievably powerful and so beautiful. And so I'm gonna start hosting a hike probably every other weekend for this same group. So A, I can get them out into the mountains where I want to be and express, you know, get them doing other things. Yeah, but so we can be together. Yes, still moving our bodies in nature, and then I'm sure we'll have coffee afterwards because everything good is followed by coffee. And but you know, like I so I'll make that effort, yeah, right with intention. I will be like, okay, that's a lift for me. I'm gonna put in the time there's 12 women. I gotta corral these 12 women, we've got it, right? And and it's fine. Like I'm about that because I so deeply understand the value for them and for me.
Polly Mertens:Wow, love it. So good. So, how can you be doing that? So that's a meditation for you, you know. And for me, you know, one of the things I was telling you before we went on air is my one of my intentions for 2026 is having more circles of community in my town. I have a lot of network outside of my town. A lot of my dear friends like you have left the area that I still live in. Maybe I'm supposed to move to where they are, but for now, I know, but for now, this is where I'm at. It's like, okay, how can I with intention create human connection, like a live, you know, the live feeling? Um, so I'm thinking like Amanda is thinking about reaching out to her. Let's do some hikes. She's into Pilates. I'm like, maybe I'll try some Pilates, you know. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So find that. Like create your group, create your network, create your circle, your core people, your, you know, let's not do it isolated anymore. So I dig it.
Samantha Pruitts:Totally.
Polly Mertens:I dig it.
Samantha Pruitts:Okay, here's how not to get fluffy. We already talked about some of the things. And if your immune system is not functioning, you're gonna get fluffy. So all the things that we just talked about at the first half of this are true and relevant, and you should pay close attention. Additional things to know about uh related to the gut and the microbiome, of course, is so that's where all of your nutrients are processed, right? People and nutrients, macro and micronutrients are building blocks of the body. Every cell, every bone, every connective tissue, every nail, every hair fiber, like all of that comes from the things that we put into our body. Additionally, our hormones are regulated through our gut and we regulate fat, like the usage of that energy fuel source, it's a fuel source, like putting logs on the fire, and our appetite through those hormones that are communicated through the gut. So if our appetite is doing a lot of weird things and we find that, you know, we're eating maybe more than we need to, larger portions or more often, or whatever, there probably is some activity going on in your hormones and within your gut and the communication pathways of these hormones that are causing that. So here's some basic things you can do. Now we talked about booze, so we don't have to keep beating that. It's just a bad idea. If you're gonna do it, do it in moderation. If you're gonna do it, drink water also, or create mocktails, or figure out some other way, and then the timing of it. Like if I'm gonna have a cocktail these days, it's going to be before my meal. Uh one cocktail in the social aspect of whatever that thing is, and then I'm gonna very quickly put quality food in with that. I'm not gonna drink it hour after hour after hour or go into the wee hours of the night. And I'm definitely not drinking alcohol with food during my meal or afterwards, because it's just all of that sugar will wake me up at one in the morning and it's gonna be a train wreck. So anyway, we've talked about booze a lot, but yeah. Well it's the holidays, dude. People booze it up.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, yeah, yeah. For you know, the loneliness, the family ties, the strength. For all the things we just the financial burden, you know, and I mean, not to mention all the stuff that's going on in the planet outside of our lives that you know they can put us on social media and remind us of that.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, but booze is not the salve for the crazy brain.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:Or for the broken heart or for the loneliness. We think it is. Yeah. We think it's serving us in that way, but it's actually counterproductive.
Polly Mertens:But anyway, I'm gonna like I said, I used to have a lot of associate, you know, so you know, with eating disorder, you associate a lot of at the time, a lot of good things with eating, overeating. Like I had a lot of, I didn't dis I didn't have a strong, it's like women who, you know, have a baby and then they somehow forget about the pain of birth, you know. It's like, oh, it's having a baby, right? So they're willing to do it. And so with alcohol, it's like you think you're having such a good time, but you know, especially as you age, more bad morning, you know, like I can just remember, especially when I used to drink red wine like in my 30s, and it was like, wake up with these gnarly headaches, found, you know, don't you don't have to look far to figure out what that is, but if you don't know, like look it up. Um, and I was like, oh, this red wine thing is not well for my body. So I got out of that and then went to a few other things. But now the further I get from it, it's like, am I willing to like compromise my immune system for this little these small gains, if you will, like it no longer feels as good. Um, because I'm you're more like a clean vessel, and then you feel the toxins come into the body, and it's like uh the brain doesn't function as well, you know, just yeah. So yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:So that wine thing, just to jump in real quick, um sulfites. So many people, I'm highly allergic, do not I cannot drink anything like that or anything that has sulfites or sulfate in it, is and and many people are allergic to it. And so it will cause a histamine reaction, and then there's again this cascade, this cellular response of like all hands on deck, hell's breaking loose, right? Yeah, anyway, enough of the booze. Let's talk about food. Let's talk about food. Okay. Can we just eat fresh food? So obviously, year-round, but not the holidays also. Can we just not make a little more effort to eat real food? I don't have any qualms about people eating holiday food and doing these fun things around food. It's cool, it's culturally, it's social, it's like it's also all these fun, can be really fun. Um, but why can't the food be real food? Like, can we make an effort to cook real vegetables? And can we make an effort to add, you know, fiber and fruit and other things into the meal? And can we buy higher quality or eat, you know, maybe less of a higher quality thing rather than thinking we need this giant volume of a turkey and this giant volume of a ham and this giant volume of bread and all these things, you know? The reason that we eat these giant volumes generally is because a hormonally we're dysregulated, but in it and we could be tired and we could be all these things, right? Our blood sugar could be doing this, which actually is a false reading to eat more. So all that could be happening, but also they're nutritionally void a majority of the time. So yeah, I'm gonna eat freaking three bread rolls because there's actually no real food in the bread roll. It's like feels like I'm eating air. You know, it's not satisfying me, it's not satiating. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Polly Mertens:So real mentally, mentally and like on the tip of the tongue, but the body's like, what you got for me? You know, flour, flour and water? Well, thanks. Uh, can I get some, you know, some vitamins, some green leafy vegetables, some coniferous vegetable for sure, for sure. And totally best to avoid the packaging because the gut microbiome is um, you know, we talk about antibiotics. Well, preservatives in foods are like the antibiotics for your gut, right? So you're just if you're eating foods that are packaged or dry, not dried, but like put in shelf stable, shelf stabilizers, things that can sit on your shelf for more than you know, a couple of days, even breads. Um, you know, if you're not eating your breads, and again, preferably gluten-free, but breads that could stay in the fridge, anything that can just sit on a shelf has got preservatives in it, and it's killing the microbiome in your belly.
Samantha Pruitts:So I actually freeze my bread and I'll take out a slice if I'm gonna have bread and put it in the toaster and cook the thing. Like I don't need to have a whole loaf of bread sitting in my fridge. Because then you have this idea around, like, oh, I need to hurry up and eat it because it's gonna go bad. So, you know, there's ways to figure all this stuff out. Um, stabilizing your blood sugar is really important. Okay, so how you pair your food and the timing of said food are big things. And if your blood sugar is elevated, it could be actually, I should back up. If your nervous system is dysregulated, it could be your blood sugar.
Polly Mertens:Totally.
Samantha Pruitts:We just talked about that for 20 freaking minutes, right? So look at that. But getting enough fiber in your diet, in your meals, so your meals being quality meals of whole food, right? Ideally, half vegetables, so that's your fiber content that's gonna really slow things down as they move through the system, feed that gut microbiome we just talked about, and then some kind of healthy protein. And if you're gonna do a carb, ideally a complex carb if you can, but it is the holidays, if you're gonna do a bread product, a carbohydrate or gluten product, you know, a quality version of that. So it's the pairing of all of those things that allow the system to work properly, and even that carbohydrate, if you can eat that at the end of the meal. So again, not having bread crackers up front, chips up front, you know, carbs, carbs, carbs up front, spiking your blood sugar. And now you're, by the way, that's just swelling up in your gut.
Polly Mertens:Start with the salad, always start with the greens and the salad. Eat in that order too. I want to give a shout-out to the glucose goddess. So if you ever want to like, yeah, I don't know if you've followed her. Yeah, the glucose goddess, she does a ton of little charts on what happens to your blood sugar. Like if you were to eat a meal in a different order, she'll have a chart like that. Like if you eat the, like you said, the the bread the rolls yeah, if you eat the rolls or the crackers or whatever before you eat the salad and whatever, like here's what your blood sugar looks like versus if you eat it in a slightly different order, same meal even, you know. So yeah, yeah. So have such a different impact. And just knowing that, like we don't, we're not taught that, you know, we just eat what's on our plate or whatever, but it does make a difference. And I would say just while we're on that topic, so one of the things I learned when I, so Zoe, Z-O-E, Z-O-E is where I did my blood glucose monitoring from. I love that company, they did a great job. Learned a lot about mine, and then that's how I found the glucose guide. So I could just like study the stuff without having to monitor mine all the time, but taking the knowledge that she's acquired. And what I've discovered, one of the things is going for a walk 30 minutes after. So if your blood sugar is, you know, kind of spiking, or you know, you've eaten food that's going to elevate it, the act of the walking gives that sugar somewhere to go. Like, so yeah, so it's a good one.
Samantha Pruitts:You actually want to do it a little bit faster if you can fit within 15. Ideally 15 minutes, no more than 30 minutes. But yes, I have that down here in exercise snacks. Yeah. Huge. So let's just talk about it because you're spot frigging on. And a lot of people will be like, Well, I can't go out and walk because I have three little kids, whatever, whatever their story is, you know, the relatives and all the things. You can go do an exercise snack. So it could be that maybe you can do a 10, 15, 20, or 30 minute walk. It's amazing. Heck yes. By the way, that's a great mental and emotional break from said relatives, just pointing out the obvious, right? And you're getting some sunlight or some fresh air. There's so many oxygen, so many things are right about that.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:It's free. I mean, yeah, we could just go on for a whole episode just about walking, but anyway, or walking in nature. You could also just go climb some stairs for 10 minutes. Clean your house. Yeah, you could clean your house. Okay. You can do squats in place, squats in place. All of these things are doing the same thing, bringing that blood sugar up into the muscles so it can get utilized, transported, utilized, and exit the building, get processed to the places it needs to go in the body rather than just sitting on the sofa.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:And letting it just fester and fester until it will wake you up at 1 a.m. Oh, it will. Because it's got to get processed eventually.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:Right. So, I mean, that actually is like the money. Jump rope. I jump rope, I'm a jump roper. I don't have a jump rope currently in my house because I was doing it at CrossFit. But there's so many things you could do. And you can do that with yourself escaping the dynamics of said moment, or do it with friends. Like if you and I were here, we'd go do it together. Um, maybe I've got kids and I'm gonna go jump roping with my kids in the front drive.
Polly Mertens:Jump on your bike or play a little basketball in the driveway or whatever, you know.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah. Anything, move the body, anything, and try and get everybody else to do it. And if you can't get everybody else to do it, because you know you're being a positive influence. If they don't want to do it and they think that you're the crazy one, I've always been sort of the crazy one in my family. Oh, there she goes, going out of the house again, whatever. I don't mind being the crazy one. But you're still having an influence, an impact. You know, there are people are watching and they're noticing and they're paying attention whether they're taking action or not. They're registering. And I do have, you know, stepkids and grandkids and all these things now, right? And they all, or I've had them for a long time, but they will say to me, Oh, you know, I really love when we come to your house or we do stuff with you because it's always going to involve an activity and there's always gonna be healthy food choices. And I'm like, damn, look at me. I did that. I'm the one in the family, and I'm like, I'm a rock star, right? Like that little bit of influence, if that's I delivered into these humans' worlds over my lifetime relationship with them. I'm like, it's rubbing off on them.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, totally.
Samantha Pruitts:Totally, totally winning. Um, okay, so we talked about blood sugar, timing of the foods, spreading these meals out, smaller amounts of food. We don't need to do these massive elements. We had Thanksgiving dinner, and I said, Well, how about if we take this meal we're gonna have, which is larger than we normally would have, and we spread it over lunch and dinner? So let's eat some of these things now, and let's eat some of these things later. Do we have to have all of this in one giant setting? Because I like these types of foods. I normally don't have them in my house, but I want to have a little bit over here, and then I want to be able to enjoy them over here. You know? That's great. Um, so that was a little technique that we used, and that was not everybody got on board with that, but again, I'm a boundary queen, so I did it anyway. Uh yeah, that's all I want to say about food.
Polly Mertens:The only thing I would add that you and I were talking about before we got on is about um, and we'll talk as we go into like detox and stuff, because there's a big thing for me, is um, you know, after the Thanksgiving dinner, I just, you know, like like I said, pre-Thanksgiving was feeling a little off, so I was boosting my immunity. And so whenever you have a moment, you know, like um I was noticing, you know, Thanksgiving eating things like bread breads and like a whatever. Um I was like, uh, this didn't feel great. So the next morning for me, what felt good is uh to get breakfast. You know, I was like, okay, I because I wanted to do so two things that I enjoy doing in terms of detox. So or three, let's say. So one is two things you can ingest to help the body pull toxic things out of it, right? One is wheatgrass. So there's little shots you can get like a jumba juice or Whole Foods or something like that, you can get a wheatgrass shot. Um, number two is activated charcoal, which is a powder you or you can get it in a tablet and pills and stuff like that. And just know if you do either of those two, as they for them to work, you don't eat, drink other things around it, because otherwise there's like little sponges that go into the body and they like suck up, you know, things. So if you're taking your supplements and you're taking activated charcoal, well, it's just sucking the supplements out of your body, you know, like don't do that. So I was like, okay, I'll skip breakfast and I will do that and just a lot of hydration and whatnot. Um, and the other one is we talked a little bit, I think lymphycizing, right, is so helpful to a body that's got stuff sort of clogged up and backed up and whatnot. So lymphycizing is basically, as you've said in other episodes, like it doesn't have a pump, right? So the heart has a pump, moves all the blood, lungs have a you know, pumping, if you will. Your lymphatic system, you've got lymph nodes all over your body, under your chin, all these places in your armpits. There are the storehouses of, I'm just gonna call it shit. It's like it's where this, you know, the body's like, okay, I'm just gonna go put it in the lymph nodes, right? Well, to pump that garbage out of the body, whatever's gotten clogged in there, you need some up and down movement. So it can be bouncing. People have like those little trampolines, like regulators. You can just bounce on your feet, you know, just moving your, you know, up and down. Some people have said that running isn't lymphosizing, but I swear it's like I it's gotta be. But people say it's not, but basically up and down, right? So sometimes I'll brush my teeth and just kind of bounce, right? Just a bouncing move. So whatever that looks like for you, you know, I think doing some squats up and down, up and down can help the body move that. And walking is is, I think, also a good one for that.
Samantha Pruitts:It's muscle contraction. So definitely running would be a thing, but any kind of physical activity, if you dance or whatever the fun stuff is that you do, Pilates and all that stuff, um, muscle contraction is part of the pumping system. Heck yeah, you gotta clean that stuff out. Yeah, yeah. You gotta clean that stuff out. Exercise, let's talk about exercise. I mean, we've been weaving it in, but we've talked about things that you can do. So taking breaks, obviously, throughout the day. And when I say a break, I should say a non-sitting break. Okay, so a majority of the time now apparently we've decided sitting, sitting is a new smoking, right? So sitting is just what we all decide we do. And if you get in a group, everybody sits, you know, and it is kind of fun to be the weirdo who's standing, but anyway, try that on for size. Why is she standing? Because I'm over here going, you know. But we don't need to be sitting for hours upon hours upon hours watching TV or even just talking to each other. Or on the phone. We need to take breaks moving around during these holiday times, even when you're in, you know, whatever the thing is. Um, so I'd like to see people take breaks every 30 minutes, but even if every hour you took a five or 10 minute break of not sitting, of moving the body, and again, moving all of this stuff that we just talked about through the body, including the lymphatic system, right? Super, super important that we do that. Um, and then we've talked about other ways that people can just integrate these workout snacks or whatever you want to call them, these movement snacks into their day. But I also want to just pay homage, if you will, to people who exercise. For you and I, exercise is a non-negotiable part of our everyday life. Unless you're injured, exercise is part of our daily ritual, right? Whatever type of exercise we're into. And there's a lot of us out there who love our exercise. It is our time to self-invest. It we we get a lot out of it and we understand the value of it. But then the holidays happen and these different schedules, kids are at home, maybe traveling, whatever, and we just decide that that really important ritual of ours is no longer important, and we kick it out. What in the hell are we doing? Again, like that is not okay because we know for a fact that we value that. It's part of our value system, and we know for a fact it works well for us, it helps us regulate all of these things we just talked about. And then we decide all of a sudden that, well, for the next week or two weeks, I'm just not gonna do it because of these other people or other circumstances. And that's just a that's just a no-go for me. Like, I think, and anyone who's with me is gonna know that they have, and hopefully, you create this environment, people, for your friends and family. Hey, I'm going to get my walk-on. What are you guys gonna do today for exercise? Oh, you're gonna stay here and watch TV? Okay, cool. Well, I'm I'm still going. Like you just bring about awareness of this is just part of my daily routine, this is what I do. There's nothing strange about it. You don't need people's permission to go take care of yourself. And so I just want to give a shout out to that.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, and invite people along. I, you know, I learned so much with that 75 heart, how much 45 minutes of walking in a day, it's just so it's like so helpful. It's so it helps in so many ways, you know, emotionally, physically, all of that. So that and I just want to give a little shout out to people who might be taking long drives or flights, right? So when I get in the airport, I'm standing as much as possible in the airport because I know I'm gonna be pretty much required to be sitting in the airplane. So walking around the airport, not sitting in the airport, doing some laps, you know. I mean, like I'll go in the Denver airport and I'll be like, boot, doo, you know, if I got time, I'm I'm walking, walking, walking, making phone calls, whatever, right? So moving, and then if you know you have a long drive, like, okay, well, get the exercise, the movement in before, right? So get up at a time that you know makes exercise non-negotiable. Get get that movement in. Because if you've got a long drive, okay, you're gonna be backed up, you know, body just or stop and take breaks because of this back thing.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, I haven't been able to drive for long periods of time. And so I know it might sound ridiculous, but even like driving to the doctor's appointment, different things, like you know, allowing more time and putting a break in there.
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:It's not, it's just something. If you have kids, you have to do this anyway. They have to get on pee or whatever. And we should be going pee. If I'm hydrated, I need to pee, right?
Polly Mertens:Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:So just not being so rushed about it all, right? And allowing that to flow. I know I'm sure if people just we should just put a camera on us at some point when we're like traveling and going to an airport or whatever. Because if I'm on an airplane too, I'm also that crazy person. Yes, I am getting up a gazillion times. You don't want to be the one sitting next to me if this is disruptive, and I'm doing this. And you know, if I'm traveling with somebody I know, and I'm hey, go visit each other, and then I go to the back, and I'm literally in the back by the bathrooms, like doing stuff. Yeah, yeah. And the stewardess and flight attendants are like, Oh, they see us.
Polly Mertens:They they know. I'm sure we're not the only ones. I I know there's other people that no, I think they want to join. They're gonna come and even just stretching, you know, in the Places so keep you know get the body, you know, get that um what's that fascia, you know, get the fascia moving so it doesn't get all clogged up, and that helps with the lymphatic and all that. So yummy, yummy stuff. Yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:We gave people a lot of ideas, and frankly, if they just take a handful that works for them, I'm gonna be stoked.
Polly Mertens:I would say, um, and maybe this is my one thing, or maybe it's not quite yet, but but the um like taking a read on your body, you know, moment to moment, you know, so like when I woke up after Thanksgiving, it could have just been like routine, have my breakfast, whatever. And I was like, no, what does my body need right now? Okay, body's like, yeah, I could use some flushing. Like that's what it just was calling for. Because, you know, thankfully I've done um longer detoxes, longer cleanses to know the benefit and know what happens and have studied this stuff. So it's like, oh, you know what my body needs right now is it it needs a little break. It needs a break from digesting, it needs a break from intake. Let it flush some stuff out. And it wasn't, it was just I skipped a meal, right? Not like this fasting for 24 days, or you know, I've done other cleanses. And then um really just being in tune with what you need and giving it to yourself, giving yourself permission, even in environments that maybe there's no agreement for you to do that, or they're not gonna do it, or they expect this. It's like, like you said, having boundaries, like, you know what, guys, I'm getting up in the morning, I'm gonna go hike that mountain, or I'm gonna go out for a walk. I would love for you to be there. Um, and then I'll come back and we can have family time or whatever. Or I'm going to bed early now, take care of my rest. We had a long drive today, so it's lovely to see you all, and good night.
Samantha Pruitts:And good night.
Polly Mertens:And good night, yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, right. Well, what I want to say uh in my closing argument is you know, what you choose to do and what you choose to put in your mouth is a statement about how you want to feel. If you want to feel a certain way, you will be making statements very loudly to yourself by your actions and by what you're putting in your mouth. So whether it's around sickness or the fluffiness, like those are just things that we have control over. And I know how I want to feel, and I do think most people want to feel energized, alive, you know, have fun, humor, joy, all of that kind of stuff, and just comfortable in your skin as you move around, you know. So it just makes sense to make good choices.
Polly Mertens:Yeah, and I think it's not, you know, some people will look at these New Year's resolutions and um exercise as like a chore and gotta get up to something, they gotta drop all these pounds after the holidays. And it's like, you know, that feels if it feels like punishment, it is. So that's not something that you're probably gonna enjoy doing long term. And I think lifestyle, sorry, fitness as a lifestyle is like the motto, like that's your your home is this is a lifestyle. What would feel good to me? How can I be compassionate with myself? How can I take good care of myself? And, you know, having the the boundaries, the the presence of I'm gonna take care of me during this period so that I can be the best me around these people. And it may not match what they're expecting. I might say no. Like I know people, especially um when I've been, you know, more staunch vegan, you know, vegetarian, and whatever I'm doing at the time, gluten-free now, it's like I just will bring my own food or I will say no to things that are served, and that will look at me however you want, or whatever they who cares? Who cares? Like, this is my temple over here, right? So give yourself permission to. If you're going to a place where you're not comfortable with the food that's going to be served, or you're not sure your needs are gonna get met, it's okay to bring what will serve you and be like you know, criticism be damned or judgment be damned or whatever, you know, like take care of you. You matter, you matter.
Samantha Pruitts:Yeah, yeah. If anyone's throwing shade on you, it has nothing to do with you, actually. It has to do with them.
Polly Mertens:Totally. Oh, yeah.
Samantha Pruitts:So it's just uh deflect the shade. Put your shades up, put your shades on while you're eating that gluten-free.
Polly Mertens:Oh I want to look into this because you know you're you just don't know something I might know over here that you may want to find out about.
Samantha Pruitts:Have you noticed me on my A game over here?
Polly Mertens:Have you noticed me? What's up, right? Like, have you noticed I still weigh about the same amount that I did in high school and uh more fit than ever. So, you know, there there could be something there for you to to to discover.
Samantha Pruitts:So it's all lifestyle, dude. This is what this is what we're doing. All of the things, it's so fun to be doing this, isn't it? Look at us doing this fun work in the world.
Polly Mertens:Keep it up, keep it up. So, you guys give yourself that permission, just love on yourself the holidays. And if you have a blip or like, oh, like had too much wine last night, whatever happens, you know, like okay, get up and get back in it, you know, like take care of you. What do you need? What do you need taking care of you? So exactly.
Samantha Pruitts:All right, let's close it up.
Polly Mertens:Let's tell them what we always remind them of how awesome they are.
Samantha Pruitts:What do we say? How your life feels is way more important than how it looks.
Polly Mertens:And every day is your opportunity to find your awesome.
