Let’s face it. If you’re a mom, a spouse or a person living on this planet, life can be hard. It’s important to find the little joys in life to get you through the day. When I was a teenager, those joys were often big things like cliff jumping with my friends. Now that I’m old and boring, getting to go to Natural Grocers without my kids and walking down every aisle is a huge joy to me. The point is, we each have to find what not only helps us survive, but things that truly bring us joy every day.
As dramatic as that may sound, these ten products help me feel that joy. That joy may come because they ease a burden (like having a dishwasher), or they may have something about them that just makes me happy (usually things that smell good).
I have MANY things in life that bring me that joy, but for time’s sake, I’ve narrowed it down to ten I use on a daily basis.
Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Powder (click here to view)
I LOVE this stuff. I have struggles with energy and low blood pressure and this really helps me feel better. Not only that, but it tastes so good! My favorites are the lemon and the grape, but we like them all. And when I say I use it daily, I mean it. When we go on vacation, we get the single packs to add to water bottles. My kids love it and it helps them drink enough water when we are someplace hot. I get this from Amazon Subscribe and Save, but you can also find it at Sprouts.
Klean Kanteen Water Bottle (Click here to view)
Speaking of water bottles, this is our favorite for several reasons. First, it’s stainless steel. We try really hard to avoid plastic as much as possible. Plastic is not great for the environment or for health. Yes the lid has some plastic, but the bulk of the water’s time in the bottle is in the stainless steel. Second, you can buy several different lids for this bottle depending on your preference. Our favorite is the pull-top lid, but you can buy lids you remove each time you drink, ones that fit straws, or ones you drink out of like a coffee cup. These also come in different sizes. This makes them great to send with my kids to school as they come in a small 16-ounce size. Lastly, these fit in car cup holders. I take this with me everywhere! Running errands, car trips, picking the kids up from school, parks, etc. I need to be able to keep this in my car cup holder. I’ve linked the bottle here from Amazon, but we generally get them from Zulily.com. During the summer, these often go on sale in preparation for the upcoming school year and we usually get them for a great price. I’m not exaggerating when I say we have 14 of these in our cupboard in varying sizes.
Audible (Click here to check it out)
If you don’t know what Audible is, it’s an audio book app that lets you listen to audio books from your phone. My husband and I share a monthly subscription which allows us to purchase two books a month, which is way cheaper than purchasing the books one by one. And we own the books forever once we buy them. I use Audible for all my unpleasant chores. It’s amazing how much more enjoyable scrubbing a toilet is when you get to listen to your favorite book. A membership also gets you deals and free downloads from a specific list each month.
Magnesium Glycinate (Click here to view)
This is one supplement I can’t go without. We’re all so deficient in magnesium, chances are you’ll see benefits from taking it. It helps keep me calm, helps me sleep, and keeps me regular bathroom-wise. I have two forms I love. I linked above to the one I currently take but I also love Magnesium Threonate (click here to view). These are both brands I trust and both forms are great. Magnesium Threonate has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and is a pre-cursor to gaba, which helps us sleep. I love both so I recommend trying each and noticing which works best for you.
Vitamix (Click here to view)
I really do use this daily. Being a busy mom, running a business, and all the other things that come with being alive, it can be hard to eat a healthy breakfast. I have a green smoothie every day for breakfast. On days I lift weights my smoothie includes a carbohydrate, and on days I walk or do yoga it includes a fat. Either way, it all goes in the Vitamix. I put 2-3 cups of veggies in each smoothie, so I want to make sure it’s completely smooth. This is the only blender I’ve used that achieves that. I know Blendtec is great as well, I’ve just never used it. This is definitely an investment, and we bought ours as a mother’s day present, but it was worth it! I’ve had it for 4 years and still use it at least once a day. I’ve linked it here from Amazon but it’s sometimes available from Costco or you may find a new one on Craig’s List. I recommend price comparing this product.
Soothing Touch Lip Balm (Click here to view)
I decided to follow up a super expensive product with a cheaper one. I talked about this lip balm in my Safer Skin Care post (click here to view)
It is amazing. I keep four on hand at all times and I give it as a gift regularly. It’s safe, smells amazing, and really works. Plus it’s a fat stick which I love.
Great Lakes Collagen Peptides (Click here to view)
Collagen is AMAZING! It protects joints, heals gut lining, keeps skin soft and even makes hair and nails healthier. I use it in several different ways but I make sure to have it daily. I’ll add it to golden milk (basically warm milk and turmeric), to smoothies, to nut butters or to baked goods and fat bombs. It’s flavorless and doesn’t thicken things like gelatin. There are so many different brands but I love Great Lakes because it’s grass-fed and a lower price than other top brands. Like the Ultima, we get this shipped automatically from Amazon Subscribe and Save.
Ghirardelli 100% Chocolate (Click here to view)
Before you close this window, hear me out. When I first cut out sugar, I knew I still needed a treat. I decided to switch from milk chocolate (which now tastes like wax to me) to dark chocolate. I started with a square of 80% chocolate. At first, it was bitter. After about a week, I was totally fine with it and it felt like a treat. Then I found 90% chocolate and decided to give it a try. It was still delicious. Then I found a 99% bar at World Market and bought that. It took another adjustment, but I found I really did like it, and I was satisfied with much less of it than that 80 or 90%. One day I was baking and thought, “What’s 1%?”. I grabbed the 100% chocolate and ate a square. I never looked back! Every night, I have a square of my 100% chocolate. I feel like I’ve had a treat and I can’t sit down and eat the whole bar. It’s too rich. You may not be able to do 100% today without gagging, but try upping your chocolate percentage. Start with 70% and work your way up. The good news is, the Ghirardelli 100% is often cheaper than the “dark” chocolate options, especially if you order a box of 12 from Amazon… which I did…
Dohm Noise Sleep Machine (Click here to view)
I’m one of those people who has to sleep with white noise. The main reason is, I like my husband, and he makes noise. I can’t sleep with any lights or sudden noises. Seriously, my sleep is like a delicate flower. It’s ridiculous. I’ve tried several noise machines and apps and this is the best I’ve found. Rather than a sound recording, this is an actual motorized machine that makes noise. That means there’s no sound loop. My husband thinks it’s crazy that I can hear the sound loops so well, but they drive me crazy! This is a pleasant noise that is continuous. Plus, it has volume settings which is impressive since there are no speakers. Volume is adjusted by opening and closing sections and by fan speed. It doesn’t blow out air so it really just serves to make noise.
Turmeric (Click here to view)
Turmeric is another supplement I can’t go without. I have a few things that cause me chronic pain and daily, regular turmeric really helps overall. It’s not an instant pain killer but it keeps inflammation under control, which really helps with pain. The Equip brand is my favorite supplement form (linked above) because it has other components that help regulate blood sugar. I also cook with a lot of turmeric (add black pepper to make the turmeric work better) and add it to smoothies.
Those are my top ten and I could list several more. What is one product that gets you through the day?
Comments are closed.