Whether you are traveling on a plane, walking your pups out in the cold weather, not getting enough sunshine or your friends or kids are sneezing in your face, there’s always something getting passed around in winter. I see it in the entries of the grocery store and the aisles of the checkout stands and all my cancelled meeting lately. It’s out there.

In fact, as I write this, I myself just kicked my own brief stint with a cold. Yup, even nutritionist and holistic practitioners aren’t immune (pun intended, hehe)!

But I’ve got some good news! I’v got some tricks and tips, I personally use to stay healthy and also beat that cold or flu! So, rather than having it hang around for 2-4 weeks (or more like I have heard from some) like a lot of my friends and family out there, this is exactly what I do to get quicker faster, so, I was only feeling down a couple of days instead of weeks.

Many of you have been following along on my journey of kicking alcohol to the curb. I thought I would share a few of the things I have learned on my journey over the past few months and some tips and tricks for starting this process and continued success. As someone who has struggled on and off with alcohol, it’s been a long and winding road to get to where I am today, a culmination of events, decisions and experiments to find and see what works for me.

Here’s a summary of what led me to where I am today. Please don’t read these as excuses, they are not, I hold myself fully accountable for my own decisions and actions. I also think it’s important to look at where habits and beliefs might come from. And share so that others don’t feel so alone. It can feel like a lonely journey to be on sometimes. You are not alone.