I’m currently taking a few preventative measures to improve my overall health. I’m not going to lie, it has been a super rough start to my year. I’ve had 4 illnesses this year alone and it’s only March. I consider myself a healthy person but clearly there is room for improvement.

My lifestyle has changed over the past few years. I went from living in NYC and riding the subway, to living in the burbs and working remotely. I’m not exposing myself to germs the way I used to. Secondly, I now have a toddler so my sleep is not always consistent. Plus, he’s now in daycare so each week we play disease roulette.

We can’t avoid exposing ourselves to germs but can we boost our immune systems to a point where getting sick happens less frequently? Or symptoms are mild? I don’t claim to have all the answers, but these are the lifestyle changes I am exploring.

Here are 3 steps I’m taking to improve my health:

1. Culturing my own yogurt

Recently, I read Dr. William Davis’s book, Super Gut where he talks about how specific strains of probiotics can help to reverse SIBO. What I love about culturing your own yogurt is that the fermentation process breaks down the lactose making it suitable for people like me who are lactose intolerant. I have eaten countless jars of this yogurt without any side effects. Each serving also contains hundreds of billions of probiotics, more than anything you could ever buy in a store. Lastly, there are no thickeners or preservatives. If you’re interested in making your own, check out Cultured Food Life for ordering culture starters and supplies.

2. Eating more plant diversity

Another health goal of mine is to eat more plants in general. There are many benefits to eating an abundance of plants. One of those benefits is feeding the diverse bacteria in our microbiome. The more plant diversity, the stronger our microbiome. Each week, I’ve been focusing on incorporating seasonal fruits and veggies to improve my health. Another helpful book on improving gut health with plants is Fiber Fueled, by Dr. Will Bulsiewicz.

3. More sleep

Having a toddler creates an unpredictable schedule. My son has also been sick a lot since starting daycare and hasn’t been sleeping well. As a result, we are both up constantly throughout the night. It’s easy to get burned out running on little sleep day after day. My bedtime is now around 9-9:15 pm to ensure I can get 8 hours even if he gets up at 5am (which happens often).