Health

I’m Deborah Enos, certified nutritionist and soccer mom! I travel at least once a month for my business. Flying has changed in the past few years. I actually used to look forward to business trips but now I find that flying just makes me tired.
Here are a couple of reasons why flying makes me so tired. Read on to find my strategies to make flying healthier and even enjoyable!

• The Air: Ever wonder why you fall asleep on take-off and then have a hard time getting back to sleep? Oxygen levels are lowest right before the plane takes off. When oxygen is low, you feel sleepy and groggy. If your goal is to sleep through your flight, set yourself up before take-off—use an eye mask and ear plugs, and buckle your seat belt around your blanket so the attendant doesn’t wake you to check it.
• Dehydration: The humidity level of most of the world’s deserts is around 20 percent; optimal humidity for human comfort is about 50 percent. Airplane humidity can get as low as 5 percent on long flights. No wonder we get dehydrated, have dry skin and hair and even develop wrinkles while flying! It can take several days or more to recover your fluid balance, just in time for the flight home. 
• Illness: The poor quality of airplane air makes avoiding illness a real challenge. We get infected through the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth, and being dehydrated makes it easier for bugs to take hold.
• Inactivity: Sitting still for hours at a time also poses risks to our health-please note, this is especially important on long flight! When we don’t move, our circulation is decreased, and this can lead to the formation of blood clots.

Here are some tips to stay healthy in the air:

• Keep the nose moist (I put moisturizer or lip balm around and slightly inside my nostrils). My favorite brand to use is Burt's Bees.
• Drink a glass of bottled water every hour while in the air, and keep it going after you land. It also helps to drink more water the day before the flight.
• Don’t drink alcohol! It will dehydrate you even more. Coffee and tea can also be slightly dehydrating, so make sure you pace yourself.
• Get up and move, or at least tap your toes and extend your legs forward, every hour to boost your circulation.
• Never cross your legs—doing so cuts off circulation to the rest of your body.
• Bring your own hand sanitizer to keep your hands clean.
• Bring your own food. I always pack a protein bar, thinkThin are my favorite bars, a piece of fruit and a small bag of nuts or seeds. I prefer pumpkin seeds; they are high in zinc, which will boost your immune system.

Safe travels to you, and don’t forget to smile… laughter can really boost your immune system and relax all of your muscles!  Read More »

Deborah Enos, CN, also known as “The One-Minute Wellness Coach,” is one of the most popular wellness coaches on the West Coast.  She pares her good-health messages down to simple and fast bullets that can impact lives in 60 seconds or less. Deborah is a dynamic motivational speaker and author of the popular new book Weight A Minute! Transform your health in 60 seconds a day.

What perfume should you wear at the office? Should you wear fragrance on the plane?

According to Allure, "one word should be going through your mind right now: imperceptible." They recommend that you "skip any scent that smells full-strength for more than 20 seconds. Better yet, try a lighter scented body lotion instead of a perfume. We like Estée Lauder Pleasures Body Lotion, which smells of lilies, peonies, and jasmine."

Have you tried it? Your thoughts?  Read More »