Today’s Health Tip

Do you journal? Listen in for my reasoning to take up this helpful practice again but this time with less expectation and more freedom to explore what it means to journal. I reference The Artist's Way which is a book worth checking out by Julia Cameron. You can find me on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/MelissaHallKlepacki and Tiktok - www.tiktok.com/melissaklepackiwellness 

Listen in today as I talk about what to do when you get bitten by a tick. In a nutshell: 1. Pull the tick out with tweezers. Get as close to the skin as you can with the tweezers and pull directly up to remove an embedded tick.  Clean the skin with an antiseptic. 2. Save the tick in a ziplock bag.  Dampen a small square of papertowel and place inside with the tick.  This will keep the body moist.  If you decide not to do step 3 and pay to have the tick itself tested at this time PLEASE SAVE THIS TICK.  If you develop symptoms or a bullseye rash you have retained the option to have the tick tested which will save you pain and suffering down the line. 3. Go to www.tickreport.com  Fill out their forms and choose your test (the $50 is sufficient but if you have symptoms please run all the tests).  Send it in and you should receive results in 72 hours. 4. Take a photograph of the bite mark.  Watch it over the next 48 hours and compare it to your photo.  A bullseye rash is a tell-tale sign that you've been infected with Lyme Disease.  However, you do not need to have a rash to have contracted the disease.  Tricky, right? 5. Over the next 2 -3 weeks look for other symptoms or rashes and visit your doctor if needed.   Stay safe friends.  Long pants tucked into socks, light-colored tops with long sleeves and hats are always a good ideas when spending time outdoors.    

Lyme disease is the fastest-growing infectious bacterial disease in the US. Mostly known for being transmitted by ticks but recently they found that mosquitoes, biting flies, and spiders can all give you Lyme disease. These ticks are most often carried by deer and white-footed mice Many people think of Lyme disease as an East Coast disease because it originated in Lyme, CT. It's now found in every state in the US & in almost every country in the world. One in three ticks in New England are carrying a tick-borne disease. “Tick-borne disease” meaning bacteria that a tick can transmit directly to your bloodstream when it is feeding off you. One of the many is Borrelia Burgdorferi which is the pathogen that causes Lyme disease. There are other diseases a tick can transmit including Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, to name a few. Testing is difficult because the bacteria enters your bloodstream and hides.  While it’s in your bloodstream your body will mount an attack which causes symptoms and perhaps a bull’s eye rash but once it finds a good hiding place it can lay dormant for years.  Symptoms will most likely fade and patients feel better.  A latent infection can bubble up later in life and the patient will have long forgotten about the tick bite they once had. Testing very early on while the bacteria is still in your bloodstream and the body has mounted an attack is the best time to test. Also, note that each of those other infections that can be caused from a tick bite require separate testing. Unfortunately, each of these bacterial infections also require separate treatment. So you can see how tricky treating a patient with a tick-borne disease can be. Even trickier to be that patient. First symptoms sometimes include a bullseye rash where you were bitten by a tick. A red dot with a white circle around it with another red circle around the whole thing looking like a bullseye. However, only 50% of people diagnosed with Lyme disease remember getting a tick bite with a rash. Another very common presentation for Lyme disease after a tick bite is something that resembles the flu. A great deal of fatigue, headaches and just a general sense of unwellness that can last up to three weeks. This is the crucial time to see a doctor, get tested, and start on the drug Doxycycline which will kill the bacteria in your bloodstream. Very difficult to diagnose and treat but very easy to prevent and we're gonna talk about that next time. Come see me on TikTok http://www.tiktok.com/melissaklpackiwellness  Visit on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/melissahallklepacki  Check out the free Wellness Assessment on my website: http://www.melissahallklepacki.com 

If you want to worry less: understand this: Worry is not love. Worry is doubt. Worry is fear. Worrying is picturing the worst-case scenario in your mind. Worry is seeing things not work out for them in your head. Worry is imagining them failing and feeling bad about it in advance Worry is internally whispering to them your fears about what might happen. If you love someone stop this destructive inner thinking. Thoughts do not stay in your head, they vibrate out into the universe and affect every aspect of your reality, including your loved ones. Making a picture in your head makes it real in an energetic way. If that picture is of failure, disappointment, and things not working out that is an unloving thought. Loving them is uplifting them in your mind. Seeing them happy and healthy. Seeing them get everything they desire. Celebrating their successes. Wishing abundance and peace upon them. Imagining them perfectly happy & healthy and enjoying their life. That is loving them. If you love someone stop worrying about them. See them happy, wish them well.   I am seeing you happy, I am wishing you well.

Holy cow this one is good. Instead of making a to-do list today make a got it done list as you go about your day. I did this.  A normal to-do list for me is probably 10 items long and I usually get to 6 or 7 of them. My got it done list was 47 items long.  HOW EMPOWERING to see all that I accomplished instead of focusing on the 2 or 3 items I failed to get to. Listen in for more. Work with me: www.MelissaHallKlepacki.com  Insta www.instagram.com/melissahallklepacki TT www.tiktok.com/melissaklepackiwellness

Not that kind of butt, silly. Listen for the "but in your sentence".  I hear it with clients all the time.   They will say, "I believe in everything you are saying and I want to heal at the root level, but... I can't make the time right now. I don't have the money. I have to get through the end of the school year first. Not that those aren't all valid reasons.  But they are excuses.  When we truly are aligning our beliefs and our words there is no but. I believe in everything you are saying PERIOD. I want to heal at the root level PERIOD. Do you see the difference? My answers to those excuses: You need to MAKE time for yourself to heal.  Decide what's not crucial and nix it.  YOU need to be the center of your world right now.  It's not forever but it's time that you made time for you.  Because if you are sick and not healing you are headed the other way.  There will always be an event in the way, something immovable that you just will have to skip.  Remember: you cannot heal in the environment in which you got sick.  Your daily habits determine your wellness and we will change those.  It takes time and perseverance to transform health but it IS POSSIBLE. As for finances...    If you cut out everything you spend money on to take care of the outside of you and put that towards taking care of the inside,  what would that look like for you? Hair, nails, massage, facials, skin treatments - they add up.  Diets, the gym, the trainer, the makeup, new outfits and the shoes.... And while you might be fancier on the outside...still sick.  It is not, contrary to Zsa Zsa, better to look good than to feel good.  Once you feel good you will radiate health. And that is where we start in my Wellness Defined Program.  A highly individualized 5-month program for healing.  With functional lab testing, personalized nutritional supplements, weekly meetings, text support daily, and a little bit of cool technology this program is for you if you have been searching for an answer to what's hurting you. And it starts with removing the BUT.   Instagram: @melissahallklepacki Tik Tok @melissaklepackiwellness www.melissahallklepacki.com   

Hi, I'm Melissa. I am an Integrative Health Practitioner for women focused on optimizing health and longevity. I work with women around the country who are not feeling well but not quite sick.  I like to say I am the stop before your diagnosis. I hold a Master's Degree in Acupuncture and an undergrad in Education.  I am a wife, mother, athlete, author, speaker, entrepreneur, daughter and friend. I am so passionate about wellness because I spent my 40's super sick.  I saw 12 doctors to diagnose and treat what turned out to be Lyme Disease but it wasn't until I undertook a lengthy detox protocol that I fully healed myself. I want to help you heal yourself at the deepest level.  We will work together to figure out why you aren't feeling vibrantly healthy. Comprehensive specialized functional medicine lab tests will help us pinpoint the root cause of your health issues.  We will remove what's not needed and add what your body is calling for.  With simple changes and better choices we can restore wellness and vitality to your life. The world needs you to take better care of yourself and I'd love to help you. Listen in today to learn about how I practice. Find me on TikTok @melissaklepackiwellness  and Instagram @melissahallklepacki and visit my new website www.MelissaHallKlepacki.com  

Your job last week was to write down the one thing that is holding you back from happiness.  Nest, to find a friend to serve as an accountability partner. Listen in for how the conversation with a friend would go and how to work with the happiness journal you have created. This is a good one. It's little and often that wins the day. The next 30 days will show you how to stay the course and will also light the way forward. I'm proud of you! come follow me on Instagram @melissahallklepacki and TikTok @melissaklepackiwellness    

Today I want to get into mindset & motivation. Today it's my job to remind you that no one is coming to rescue you; it’s on you to find your happiness.   No time like the present, so today is the day we start.   Pick one thing and make a change. Pick the thing that makes you unhappiest. Is it something when you look in the mirror? If you said yes, is that really what makes you unhappiest.?  Just ask yourself gently. Or is it something in your relationship? Or is it situational? Maybe there’s something that you’re currently doing that’s not making you happy and you continue to try to do it and are continually unhappy? Perhaps you need a shift in that behavior? Whatever it might be, today is the day to start. And we’re not looking to make quick fixes here. Rather simple changes and better choices.   Perhaps you need one fix to get the job done or, perhaps it’s something that needs to be worked on daily. Only you can decide. Your job today is to take five minutes to figure it out. You already know what the answer is so you shouldn’t even need the whole five minutes.   Then you’re gonna go do two things. 1. Write it down in a clean book or pad of paper. This will serve as your goal journal. And we’re going to talk about the purpose of this goal journal next week. 2. Call your best friend in the whole world and tell them what you’re working on. We all need accountability partners so ask this friend to help you stay on track. I’m going to give you an example:   I really feel unhappy about my weight and I’d really like to lose some fat and gain some muscle before my next trip in six weeks. The first thing I do is grab a fresh notebook on the first page I write out that sentence. The next thing I do is call my best friend and tell her that I’ve decided to make some changes, specifically to exercise more and eat healthier and that I would love her support.   For the sake of time in this 3-minute podcast,  the next episode will include both how to use that goal journal and what that conversation with that friend looked like.   Your job this week is to uncover what’s making you unhappy and get excited about changing it.   Remember: I work 1:1 with highly motivated individuals on a comprehensive program to uncover the root of what ails you and live a more vibrant lifestyle.  More information can be found at www.melissahallklepacki.com/apply

Listen in if you deal with constipation which is defined as not having at least one bowel movement a day.  Share with a friend who is struggling. If you visit my site www.MelissaHallKlepacki.com under Resources you can download the free Constipation Checklist.

It’s the month of February which always reminds me of Valentine's Day and love. Today I want to shine a spotlight on the love that we show ourselves and I'm hoping to grow in self-love this month, perhaps you'll join me. I'm gonna give you 3 easy ways to love yourself a bit more this month. Start every day with gratitude. The act of taking just a few minutes and writing down a list of things you're grateful for while you have your morning coffee is it great way for you to see all of the love in your life and encourages you to love yourself a little bit more. Daily affirmations. I know it can seem funny to look at yourself in the mirror and recite a list of positive affirmations, however, it works! Many meditation experts often talk about being in a state of receptivity so that daily affirmations are more easily accepted. Whether you do this practice post-meditation or simply before brushing your teeth in the morning it’s a wonderful way to show yourself some self-love.  I like to make a list of 5 affirmations centered around something I’m working on.  I’ll give you an example; if you are working on healing your body, your five affirmations might look like this: My body is strong and healing. I live with an attitude of gratitude. every day I feel healthier and healthier. I am grateful for this experience of healing and welcome each new day as a step closer to wellness. I feel supported and loved as I work on healing my body. Up the Self Care. If you didn't listen to the episode a few weeks ago about self-care I reminded you that self-care looks different for everybody all the time. What you need today might be completely different than what you need a month from now or a year from now. It might be different than what your partner needs or what your best friend needs. Self-care is about giving yourself the space to decide what's best for you in the very moment you need it. A hug, a warm bath, a nap, a walk with a friend, a five-mile run, buying new underwear, drinking more water. All of those things are self-care and needed from time to time; it's up to you to figure out how best to nurture yourself. It’s a short month this month friends – let’s put a whole lotta love into it. 

Before we can even start to think about embarking on a detox program we need to think about stopping the onslaught of toxins in our everyday environment. Here are my top five actionable tips, you can take today, to start living less toxic lifestyle. Ditch any product that artificially fragrances your home; candles, air fresheners, Febreeze. All toxic. Same for fragrances IN your products. Make the switch to fragrance free. For laundry detergent, for body lotion, for shampoo even.  BEST BET: go to www.ewg.org and look up your favorite cleaners and body products.  They will show you how safe or unsafe your products are.  Start today by simply KNOWING which of your current products are toxic.  When something runs out replace it with a better choice. For personal care products not only do we want fragrance-free but we need to be on the lookout for aluminum in deodorant and fluoride in toothpaste. Both are heavy metals both are poisonous to the brain and both are unnecessary additives. It might seem controversial but I encourage you to do your own research. Toxins are everywhere. Take a look in your kitchen, specifically at your pots and pans. If you are using something with a non stick Teflon surface it's time for a new pan. Cast iron, stainless steel, or a ceramic coated pan like GreenPan are better choices here. Teflon contains toxic chemicals you want to avoid. Your drinking water. Please visit www.ewg.org/tapwater and plug in your zip code. You will be shown a report of all of the toxins you are drinking if you drink tap water. Unfortunately most filters do not do a great job of filtering out the most toxic chemicals in our water. PFOA, PFOS, radioactive elements, and fluoride are all very hard to get out of water. Distilled water is truly the only pure water.  Do the research, make the switch.  It’s important for your wellness. By making simple changes in better choices, by knowing this information that you now cannot unknow, you are on your way to well being. Please share this podcast and this information with people that you love, sharing is caring. instagram: www.instagram.com/MelissaHallKlepacki tiktok @MelissaKlepackiWellness

Self-care isn't all bath bombs and face masks and if you want to do it right - it takes a little introspection.  Ask yourself where you need it the most from these 5  pillars of health: Nutrition Hydration Movement Mindfulness  Sleep It could change daily or you could be working hard for improvements in one of those areas.  But dig in somewhere and work to make improvements slowly and over time. Listen in today for more on finding a self-care habit that is right for you. COme follow me on instagram for more wellness content: www.instagram.com/melissahallklepacki

You know I love to talk about simple changes and better choices and it's never more important than when we talk about daily habits. Remember that our daily habits are who we are and how healthy we are and how vibrant we are. That weekend run, that Tuesday afternoon salad, that once a month massage...those are all lovely choices but those are not habits. Waking up every morning and having a glass of water before anything else. Taking your supplements daily, committing to not eating anything in bags or boxes, developing a meditation practice that you do daily, getting to sleep before 11:00 PM every night: those are daily habits and those are what move the needle in terms of our Wellness. Make a list of your daily habits and take a look at what is serving you and what you need to move on from. If you are not as healthy and vibrant as you want to be, what small changes can you make today to increase your Wellness by just one percent? Now go do those. Listen in for the idea of habit stacking and one simple habit stack I use to make sure I take my supplements every single day.

People often ask me what are some simple tips for staying well. So today I'm going to give you my best advice. It starts with drinking clean water. One of the pillars of health is hydration and making sure that you are drinking pure clean water is super important for your health and wellness. Flushing your system regularly with distilled water will help you to feel better. Bottled water can't be trusted and tap water, as we know, is very contaminated. Please visit the link http://www.ewg.org/tapwater  to find out how many contaminants are in the water you are drinking. Next is nutritional supplementation. Please read the literature. People with bad outcomes from viral diseases most likely have very low vitamin D levels.  If you are not supplementing and you do not know your vitamin D level, which can be obtained with a simple blood test, supplementing with vitamin D3 plus K2 is cheap and effective. We also know that sleep, good sleep, is integral to proper immune function and feeling well. I always recommend some early morning sunlight in the eyes paired with some sort of movement whether that's a few calisthenics or a walk with a friend. I shoot to get this done five times a week. Lastly, we all know how important nutrition is. People with bad outcomes from illnesses are generally overweight or have metabolic conditions. I simply ask that for this month you avoid anything eating anything in bags or boxes which includes frozen foods, pre-packaged foods, snacks, energy bars, etc. Eating Whole Foods is the way forward. So that's it. And it's pretty simple.  Quick tips for better wellness a drinking clean water, eating whole foods, supplementing to increase your vitamin D levels and striving for better sleep.  Let’s do this!! Come follow me on Instagram for more www.instagram.com/melissahallklepacki