November Favorites

Things I’ve been all about lately:

• Sleep
• Slugging
• Hydration (Stanley Cup)
• Korean spa
• That feeling when you’re not sick anymore

Sleep

I recently got really sick with the flu.

It kicked my ass for a solid week: fever, chills, body aches, headaches, exhaustion, and a general sense of feeling like shit.

So I prioritized sleep.

Like, I slept as much as I possibly could.

And when I got better, I decided to keep prioritizing my sleep.

It felt great and I was still fighting the lingering sickness so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

And what a difference!

I feel better.

I physically look better (more rested, better skin).

I’m in a better MOOD! I’m happier. Little things don’t trigger me like they used to.

I have more energy.

I can wake up more easily! (A huge deal to not feel like I’m starting every day fighting a battle.)

Things that used to feel big and daunting don’t feel that way at all. Now they’re hardly a bother.

Work is not as challenging. I’m able to approach things with a decent attitude and feel like I can actually get shit done. The things that usually piss me off don’t have the same effect on me.

I’m not thinking the horrible thoughts (about myself, about others, complaining, bitching, etc.) that I usually do.

The difference is night and day.

After seeing the results of getting more sleep, I just have to keep up with it. It’s genuinely so good for me. I’ve even been seeing this stat going around recently stating that women need more sleep than men. (See this Sleep Foundation article for more.)

I can’t believe I was depriving myself of this sleep for so long. I used to tell myself that I was being more productive (I wasn’t, actually) or treating myself to “personal time” (see: revenge bedtime procrastination) so I kept going to bed late. But now that I’ve been on the other side, I’m a changed woman and won’t go back!

How much sleep am I aiming for now? MINIMUM 8 hours but I’m usually shooting for 9 – 10.

So this is my PSA: GET MORE SLEEP.

Try it for 3 days and see how you feel. It’s an experiment worth doing for your health, happiness and sanity.

Have you ever felt insanely stressed out about something, then took a nap, and woke up feeling remarkably better? (Even though the problem itself didn’t change at all?) Imagine that kind of reset for your life.

Arianna Huffington has a lot to say about sleep, too.

Slugging

Lately my skin has been dry af.

I live in dry ass California. I’m aging and trying to avoid wrinkles. And I’ve been into wearing more makeup nowadays and need a better base to apply products on top of. Because of all that, I’ve been trying new products to better hydrate my skin.

Then I found out about slugging from this Hailey Beiber’s Harper’s BAZAAR skincare video.

What is slugging?

It’s a skin care technique where you apply a thin layer of an occlusive product (something that hydrates and seals in moisture) at the end of your bedtime skin care to seal it all in and super-hydrate as you sleep. Apparently Hailey Bieber likes to use Aquaphor or even Vaseline for slugging.

Intrigued, I looked it up. I saw a bunch of people’s comments on YouTube testifying to its effects. And although I’ve been falling into the trap of consumerism the past year, I do have a hunch that natural shit is the stuff that works best anyway.

So I gave it a shot and tried slugging with a Cerave healing ointment that’s petroleum jelly-based (i.e. basically a Vaseline alternative). And my skin felt so good. I’ve also tried it with the classic Smith’s Rosebud Salve and my skin felt great. Sold.

Final verdict: I’m going to keep at it. Even if it doesn’t get rid of my wrinkles, it my skin is way more hydrated and that’s a win.

Recommended products for slugging:

• Smith’s Rosebud Salve
• Cerave Healing Ointment
• Vaseline
• Aquaphor

Hydration

I used to always tell my husband that I’m dehydrated. I told him that my gravestone should read “I should have drank more water.” A post-it on my calendar that says “water.”

Anyway, I feel like I’m finally getting the hydration I need thanks to my…

Stanley Cup!

(Specifically my Stanley Quencher H2.0 FlowState Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler with Lid and Straw for Water, Iced Tea or Coffee, Smoothie and More, Frost, 2.0, 40oz)

(Had to insert this photo – this is from the Stanley booth at Ambiente, a consumer product trade show that happens in Frankfurt every year. Love that they went in on the joke on how Stanley’s are embarrassingly big – good job, Stanley.)

No lie, drinking out of a gigantic Stanley cup with a straw makes a BIG difference.

I got it through work as a freebie from ULine (an industrial shipping supplies company). When you place orders over a certain dollar amount you can select a freebie from a list of designated items. The options change but they consistently have really good stuff.

When I saw the Stanley cup I decided to get it, despite my disdain for its rabid public demand. I guess I’m a hypocrite and a sucker.

But now I get it! It genuinely makes such a difference.

All of this actually started, again, with that time I got the flu. Even after I got it I never really used my Stanley cup because it’s embarrassingly, impractically huge. But then I got sick and quarantined myself in my room, so I’d fill up my Stanley and retreat for as long as I could. And I started chugging water. Now I’m drinking a ton of water every day. Even more than the 40 oz it holds because I drink a full cup and refill it before the day’s out!

There are obvious benefits. I’m actually hydrated. I have more energy. I’m eating less junk food because I’m not eating mindlessly. My skin is glowier.

Drinking water used to be hard but now I love drinking out of my Stanley. I’m turning into the ultimate basic bitch, but a hydrated one. So I don’t mind.

Korean spa

The Korean spa is the shit.

If you’ve never been, here’s what to expect:

The Korean spa is a public bathhouse experience. Women and men have separate areas.

You check in, get a locker, towel, and clothes (loose top and bottom to wear in the common areas of the spa). You get fully naked and enter the public bath area.

Here there are bathing stations where you wash yourself first before entering the public baths. These stations have little plastic seats, faucet and shower heads, and water bins, plus shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

Once bathed, you can enter the public baths. These are pools of water – usually hot, warm and cold. You sit in these (don’t swim, and don’t submerge your head or hair). There might also be saunas. All of this part is public and everyone is nude.

At the spa I go to, there’s also a co-ed upstairs area where everyone wears the shirt and shorts that they’re given at check in. The upstairs area at my spa has multiple saunas (clay room, jade room, Himalayan salt room), a cold room, a gym, a gaming room, and a restaurant/cafe that is absolutely amazing.

When you’re fresh out of the spa – clean and steamed and feeling fresh – you can apply skin care and do your hair in the vanity area outside of the locker rooms and leave feeling super pampered.

Now you know: Korean spas are the shit.

I love going there anytime but especially when I feel like I’m about to get sick and want to beat it, or after I’ve gotten better and want to hit full recovery.

Check it out if you have a Korean spa near you!

That feeling when you’re not sick anymore

As I’ve mentioned, I recently got really sick. Getting sick sucks. But after I finally get better I always feel amazing.

Health is wealth.

I know it conceptually, but it really sinks it once I get better from being sick.

When your health is taken away from you, you realize that nothing else really matters as much. Suddenly the importance of every other problem drops. You realize that when it comes down to it, health is the first priority. If you’re not healthy enough to enjoy your life, what is the rest of it for?

Extremely wealthy people get this. Rob Dyrdek believes in human optimization and seriously prioritizes his health, saying he wants to live to 114. Longevity biohacker Bryan Johnson spends literally millions of dollars on his health each year. Lots of wealthy people spend money on their health because they know it’s incredibly important and have the resources to invest in their health: personal trainers, private chefs, expensive fitness hobbies, high-tech health gadgets, etc. For more, check out this article about millionaire daily routines.

We all know health is wealth but don’t always act like it. Getting sick can be a powerful wake up call to help us remember what matters most.

Summary

My November favorites, recapped and with notes:

• Sleep
  • Try getting a minimum of 8 – 9 hours of sleep
• Slugging
  • I like using Smith’s Rosebud Salve (but Cerave Healing Ointment, Vaseline and Aquaphor are also recommended)
• Hydration (Stanley Cup)
  • This one!
• Korean spa
  • Check it out if there’s one near you, it’s AMAZING.
• That feeling when you’re not sick anymore
  • Health is wealth. Remember what matters most 😉

Will you get into any of these recommendations?

What have you been loving lately?