I am on a forever quest to improve my routines & make my life a liiiittle better.
Over the years I have found staples & implemented habits that I am completely obsessed with (like lymphatic drainage massages, Dieux & Primally Pure skincare, Branch Basics for cleaning, etc.).
Tbh, it feels good to be on autopilot sometimes. In a world where we have a zillion options at our fingertips, it feels easeful to know exactly what I need. Decision fatigue is real!
But sometimes, there are some new goodies I want!
It seems like capitalism has made its way into the wellness space, so I am always trying to decipher if something’s actually a * need need * or if it’s just marketing from the algorithm gods (B likes to say it’s the latter 😅).
In this blog post, I’m going to talk about three life upgrades that have made an impact in my well-being.
Let’s get into it!
Our AquaTru Water Filter
Besides the fact that tap water can contain different contaminants like PFAS, medication remnants, pesticides, fluoride & more, our tap water just tasted…gross.
Thankfully we have a water bottle refill station on our floor, so for months we’d just use this to fill every water bottle we own & lug it back to the apartment.
We made the best of it, even nicknaming it “The Well”, but…We found ourselves rationing the water so we wouldn’t have to go refill right before bed, or when friends were over, etc. We constantly felt dehydrated & it was getting ooold.
We discussed getting a water delivery service or just buying a huge jug & filling it at The Well, but those options didn’t feel right.
One day I was listening to an Organic Olivia podcast & she talked about the AquaTru water filtration system. I sent B the link when I got to work & a few minutes later, it was on its way!
This system has three filters & works in four steps to filter out over 80 contaminants:
- A pre-filter that removes larger things like sediment
- A carbon filter removes chlorines
- Reverse osmosis tackles heavy metals like lead
- A carbon filter removes bad organic compounds like PFAS & medication waste
They are third party tested for efficacy & have a 30 day money-back guarantee (but we for sure didn’t need that, because we love ours!!).
It’s been amazing to have on-demand, delicious water!
Pros:
- It tastes amazing.
- We have unlimited clean water.
- It works relatively quickly.
- It’s cute!
- The carafe is made of glass, so we don’t need to worry about microplastics or chemicals leaking into our clean water.
- The filters are supposed to last a pretty long time depending on how much you use it.
Cons:
- You have to dump out the last little bit of water in the chamber after it filters because it basically turns into hard water. This feels a bit wasteful.
- This doesn’t impact us a lot, but it requires an outlet nearby. This might be harder for some kitchens.
- Putting the chamber back on is kind of hard unless you buy the slider accessories. I kind of wish we would’ve bought it, but B thinks it’s weird it didn’t come with it.
We got the smaller version that’s for singles & couples, which has been plenty for us!
B likes his water cold, so we already had a carafe that we kept in the fridge for him. You could also buy a second carafe from the company if you want them to match.
We bought food-grade silicone ice cube trays so we could have yummy ice as well (I want pebble ice ones, too…IYKYK).
If you are searching for a water filter, we’d definitely recommend this one!!
My HydraGun HeatPod Sauna Blanket
Tbh, I basically manifested this sauna blanket 👀 But I’ll get into that in a sec!
Sauna has sooo many benefits!
The heat opens up your blood vessels to improve circulation, helping with muscle recovery & joint pain while promoting our body’s natural detoxification pathways.
It can even help with relaxation & sleep. No wonder Finns have been sauna-ing since 2,000 B.C.🤯
Buying my Sauna Blanket…
I’ve been wanting to sauna regularly, but all of the saunas I found in our area were both expensive & far (not a good combo, lol).
I looked into buying one, but it was a hefty financial investment & we didn’t have space for it.
But then I heard Jenna Kutcher talking about a brand called Higher Dose, & they have a sauna blanket (think…a sleeping bag that gives you a warm hug!).
I’ve been eyeing it for over a year because it’s cheaper & takes up wayyy less space than a traditional sauna.
I work at an integrative medicine clinic & sometimes we’re about to buy wellness items at wholesale price, so I asked our naturopathic doctor if we had access to these.
This same day, someone told me that they had just bought a sauna & they were sad because they no longer used their beloved, gently-used sauna blanket.
They offered to sell it to me at a fraction of the cost & a few days later, I was sweating it out while watching the new season of Bridgerton!!
I’m obsessed with this sauna blanket. It heats up soo quickly, it’s easy to use, I get VERY sweaty, & it fits in a corner when not in use.
The one I have is by a brand called HydraGun, which has some differences compared to the Higher Dose one.
- Price (blanket): The Higher Dose one is more expensive by a few hundred dollars, but it has a layer with embedded crystals as well as a charcoal layer that’s supposed to help with detoxing
- Price (accessories): Even the blanket insert for the Higher Dose is more expensive…sooo, maybe this brand is just more expensive in general?
- Electromagnetic Frequency exposure: The Higher Dose blanket has low emissions of EMF, while the HydraGun one has NO emissions of EMF (score!)
Here’s my routine…
I’ve been pretty interested in lymphatic drainage for a couple of years, & it’s been fun to optimize my sauna use through incorporating what I’ve been learning!
Throughout the day, I make sure I’m hydrated. I’ve been playing around with different water bottles to see if I’m more likely to drink out of a certain one, & getting our new water filter has really helped as well!
Our liver is one of the primary detoxifying organs in our body, so I also bought The Cleanser tea by Organic Olivia that has herbs formulated to promote healthy liver function. (The link gives you $10 off your first purchase of $50 or more)
While my sauna blankie is warming up, I use my Primally Pure body dry brush that helps prime my lymphatic system. (Use the link for $10 off your first $50 purchase)
Thennn, time to sweat! I made a pact with myself that I couldn’t watch Bridgerton unless I was sauna-ing, so it’s a win-win hehe (I’m alllll about the habit stacks!).
I use the towel insert so cleanup is super easy—I just wipe it down with some water or a little bit Branch Basics All-Purpose spray! (Use the link for $10 off your first $15 purchase)
I shower right after the sauna sesh, then I do a full body lymphatic drainage massage using some Trader Joe’s jojoba oil. The technique I use is from Gracie Norton, who learned from Rebecca Faria.
Let me know if you have questions about it!
Lots of Dietary Changes…Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Omnivorous!
After being primarily vegan for five years, my body was feeling……blah.
Why I’m no longer vegan
Blood tests revealed that my hormones were out-of-whack, I’d get very tired because my meals didn’t give me the gusto to last, & I was having food anxiety about not being able to eat at restaurants, airports, parties, etc.
When my naturopath recommended I cut out soy products due to my hormonal imbalances, it severely limited my choices for protein. I felt a gentle nudge to start eating animal protein again.
She also recommended that I limit gluten because it can cause inflammation that could contribute to women’s health issues.
Eating animal protein has been hard to get back into, but I am overall feeling a lot more satiated & healthy! It’s also wayyy easier to focus on eating whole foods, since I don’t need ultra-processed foods as high protein sources.
I’ve been wanting to avoid refined sugar since learning about the Whole Food Plant Based movement. But…it was HARD 😅 It seemed genuinely impossible for me.
I think my naturopath was trying to not overwhelm me, but my acupuncturist didn’t seem to mind lol.
She told me that if I was going to make changes, I should just go all-in: eliminating sugar would help me see huge improvements.
Shoot.
After some other aha moments & such a long journey of fighting it, that was that! I haven’t had refined sugar since.
What It’s Been like with no sugar
Annoyingly, my body was NOT happy 😅
I didn’t have the same withdrawal symptoms that people talk about, like intense cravings & brain fog, but my skin broke out for the first time in years.
It’s been pretty triggering because I’ve struggled with acne from high school until just a couple of years ago, & I thought it was linked to how much sugar I was eating…
So now that I wasn’t eating any sugar & my body was breaking out…I was frustrated, to say the least.
It showed me that even when we think we’re pretty healthy, our bodies can just be compensating & holding onto junk without us even realizing it.
Sometimes acne can be from our body’s detoxification pathways being backed up, so rather than the toxins getting processed, they come out through our skin. Thankfully, I already had the sauna blanket & the other tools I talked about before, so the acne is getting better!
I thought the pimples would go away if it was actually due to stopping sugar, but it’s been a few weeks & there is still some lingering acne. So now I think it might be due to starting dairy again?? I’ll limit that & report back! 🫡
Overall, I think these nutritional changes have been really, really good for me. I’m proud of myself for accomplishing what I didn’t think I was capable of!
I’ll do another blog post about going sugar-free, because there’s a lot more that I could say.
In the meantime, lmk if you have questions about my dietary changes.
There ya have it—3 changes that have been big upgrades to my life!
Do you have a water filter you love??
Would you try a sauna blanket, or would you prefer a regular sauna?
Could you ever go sugar-free?!
Let me know in the comments section.
