Health is wealth

I’ve been coughing for 2 weeks straight. I got a virus courtesy of my daughter Dani, and her daycare. She’s been in daycare for 4 months, and this is the second time I get very sick. It sucks when she is sick because she sleeps terribly, so we all sleep terribly those days. But luckily her illnesses have not lasted long. Me, on the other hand, knocked-out.

Since I got this virus, I have had to substitute my yoga classes, which makes me sad. Also I have not been able to do any physical activity, which is quite hard for me because 1) I am a very active person, and 2) I am also an anxious person, and the way I calm my mind is focusing on moving my body.

These 2 weeks have made me think of something I always think about when I am sick and my body cannot follow what I want it to do: The fact of how we never really notice how amazing our healthy body is, until it is not that healthy anymore. 

When I was younger, as most of us, I didn’t give a shit about health or making healthy choices. I used to go partying and drink the cheapest alcohol in the open bar clubs. I slept very little, and on exam periods I would drink industrial amounts of caffeine to study in the middle of the night, as it was the only time in which my dispersed brain could focus. Ate extremely processed food and even felt proud about how it didn’t do anything to me… At that time! Little did I know that the body has memory, and sooner or later, the choices we make will reflect on how we live.

I am so, so, so, grateful to my mom, who raised us drinking plenty of water, eating lots of veggies and fruits, and avoiding junk food or sweets. Maybe for the wrong reasons, as her motivation was more focused on fat-phobia, but maybe because in her eyes being lean meant being healthy. But either way, after my young, wild and free years, I went back to my roots to take care of my diet in a healthy way.

The first time I ever got that little scolding about not taking care of my body, was when I was 20, I think I was somehow roofied (someone put something in my drink) at a club, but I was also drinking way more than I should have, and suddenly I could not stand from my chair. I had to be carried to the car, and there I past out. My best friend, with whom I was supposed to spend the night with, carried me from her car, to the room where I was going to sleep, and she of course dropped me. I didn’t know anything until the next morning when I woke up without being able to feel anything from my right knee, down. I waited one, two days, and went to the doctor. The impact hurt my nerve and I had to get physiotherapy sessions every day for 3 months. Limping in the meantime. I remember the session in which I could move my big toe for the first time after over two months. Do you remember that scene in Kill Bill when Uma Thurman is in the Pussy Wagon for hours trying to move her feet again after being in coma for months? Well, it felt something like that.

I was working as a waitress when that happened, because I wanted to save money to come to Europe for the first time. I had to quit my job as I could not do it limping anymore, and I spent all my savings in physiotherapy as my mom told me: you got yourself in this, you get yourself out of it. I remember how frustrating it was to not be able to make my body move. I hope I never get back to that feeling again.

I wish I could tell you I learned my lesson at 20, but it took me much longer. But finally getting to my mid 30’s, as priorities started shifting, and of course, after my brain’s frontal cortex got fully developed. I started to really appreciate my body and take care of its integrity as much as I could. And you will see, as the 40’s start breathing on your neck, the body starts acting differently and you will be either happy you are taking care of it, or regret you have not really paid attention to it.

Imagine you live in a very very hot place, where public transportation sucks (that’s my hometown), and you relay on a car to move around. Now, imagine you are given one car and one car only, for your whole life. It could be a brand new Jeep, or BMW, or a compact VW. It doesn’t matter. That is your car until the day you die and there is no possibility to get another one. What would you do? Would you put the cheapest gasoline on it, bring it to the unpaved roads at full speed, never wash it, and leave it out to the sunlight all the time? Or would you park it under a roof, give it the best gasoline, additives, keep it clean and waxed and drive with precaution? Well, THAT car is your body. And depending on how healthy it is, your life will be something to enjoy, or suffer from. And just remember, life is body, we can only remain alive as long as our body allows us to.

Since I became a mom, my focus on taking good care of my body has gotten a bit higher. And I do not mean taking care of my body in the sense that I want to look a certain way. I just want to be healthy, strong, flexible. I want to be here to witness my Dani’s life, as long as I can, and I want to be here being physically independent and autonomous.

So, what does that mean, taking care of my body? Well, it all lays on the habits. I wake up and make sure to drink water with minerals (lately I’ve been adding a spoon of water that I leave in a jar with Himalayan salt), I make sure to eat proteins in my first meal of the day. Limit my caffeine intake, and seasonally exchange it for matcha. I try to eat only if I feel hunger, and not eat too late so my blood can go to my brain in my sleep, and not stay only in my stomach. I have changed all plastic containers for glass, and all pans and pots to stainless steel instead of non-stick surfaces, to avoid leaching of chemicals into our food. We try to eat as least-processed food as possible. This is also why we got the Thermomix, this machine is a marvel if you want to cook healthy and with no chemicals and with minimum effort and time investment.

Supplements. Being an adult in this modern world, means functioning in a world that is designed to alienate us from practices that do us good. We will very very unlikely get all the substances we need to thrive, exclusively from our food. So this is when supplements come very handy. Informing yourself on what your body needs is a game-changer. Right now I am taking Omega 3, Magnesium, Vitamin D3, Collagen, Bovine Colostrum and Creatine. This works for me, so check what works for you.

Movement. Yes, you gotta keep moving if you want to keep moving. I used to be a runner but my pelvic floor got very damaged during child-birth, so now I have been coping more with HIIT training, my occasional tennis practice if I find a tennis partner, and of course my yoga practice. For 2026 I have a goal to be able to to a pull up (or more than one), and start working more with weights. Let’s see how that goes haha.

Sleep. This is a game-changer and is the one I haven’t been able to recover from since I became a mom. the interrupted sleep and the limited hours are something that is very hard to cope with. But this is what motherhood entitles. Me and my husband take turns and try to make the most of our available time to sleep, but is not enough for now and that is just the way it is. Better times will come. I think this is the factor that is making me get knocked-out, now that I have caught these cold viruses.

External care. In this I mean skincare, and clothes. I have been investing more and more into having a skincare routine that suits me and helps my skin be healthy, always paying attention to the ingredients. And it doesn’t have to be expensive, there are affordable options that can really work. And by clothes, I mean the materials you put on your skin. I have changed all these polyester and plastic fibres for natural ones. What you put on your skin goes into your bloodstream. So select good materials. In here also check my last post about tattoos.

And in general, just inform yourself and make conscious choices. We humans always tend to take good things for granted. We abuse, abuse and keep on abusing our body, until it is too late. Do not let that be your case. If you are reading this, most likely it is not too late yet. Start today.

I know this post is mostly focused on physical health. Mental health is also important, but a brain that has proper nourishment is less prone to mental issues. And mental health is a very important and complex subject we can discuss some other time. Let’s give it its proper focus later on.

In the meantime, I hope I stop coughing soon, and I don’t start coughing again anytime soon. And I hope this flu season treats you kindly and you stay out of sicknesses.

Stay healthy, weird and awesome. And please leave a comment below so I know someone is reading this haha. Thanks for reading and see you next week.

Love, Vero