Kerri's 2021 Holiday Gift Guide

For Cozy-Lovers

Manitobah Mittens
Breathable suede, fleece lining, and soft fur cuff to keep you warm in style! I love this company and its mission.

Pique Tea Matcha
Warm up with a nourishing cup of matcha for calm energy and focus without the herbicides and heavy metals found in most traditional matcha brands.
Use code Kerri5 for 5% off your first order.

Adaptogenic Coffee Alternatives
A cup o’ joe that’s good for your brain and your soul, giving you a stressless, sustainable energy boost.
Use code KERRIAXELROD for a discount.

For the Self-Care Superstar

Copper Body Brush
Take dry-brushing to new heights with ion-charged bristles that wake up the body, exfoliate the skin, and promote relaxation.
Save 20% with code DOSE2021 through 11/29 or take $75 off with code Kerri75 at any time. Use the link above to shop.

Infrared Sauna Blanket
Take your sauna up a notch! Great for detoxing the body, relaxing the mind, boosting your mood, and promoting glowing skin.
Save 20% with code DOSE2021 through 11/29 or take $75 off with code Kerri75 at any time. Use the link above to shop.

Blue Light Blocking Glasses
Beat digital eye strain, headaches, and improve sleep in comfort and style!
Use code Kerri15 for a discount.

Red Light Therapy Device
Red light therapy can help improve thyroid function, boost energy, reduce inflammation, and heal mitochondrial dysfunction. It’s also great for optimal health, clear skin, and anti-aging!
Use code Kerri15 for a discount.

For the Movement Devotee

Electrolytes
I absolutely love LMNT and use it daily because it supplies the electrolytes we need to get water into our cells to effectively hydrate, without the added sugar! Electrolytes are also critical for brain health and gut health, and minerals are one of the most overlooked keys to health.
Use the link above to shop.

Oura Ring
24/7 heart rate monitoring, personalized health insights, sleep analysis, and so much more. What better way to skyrocket your health in 2022?!

The Class Membership
Online workouts that feed your mind, body, and soul. Hundreds of classes are all done from the comfort of your home.

For the Clean Beauty Queen

Orgaid Non-Toxic Sheet Masks
Organic, natural skincare that contains safe ingredients to create a glowing complexion. Keep your skin clean and healthy! These organic sheet masks are a must in your beauty routine
Use code KERRI10 for a discount.

The Rose Quartz Facial Roller
De-puff your face with my favorite facial roller! It increases circulation and lymphatic drainage for relaxation and release of facial tension.
Use the link above to shop.

Resurfacing Mask
Give your skin a golden glow without the skin-stressing, chemicals of traditional peels. Save the hormone-disrupting chemicals and instead load up with enzymes as your go-to solution to revive dull skin.
Use the link above to shop.

For the Homebody

Grocery Meat Delivery Subscription
Better meat for a better you! Premium, high-quality grass-fed meat delivered right to your door. Skip the grocery store and nourish your body with protein sources you can trust.
Use the link to get $10 off your first box.

Non-Toxic Cleaning Supplies
Experience the life-changing power of non-toxic cleaning products in your environment. This company has all you need to make the switch to a healthier, cleaner home.
Use code KERRI for 10% off starter kits.

Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System
Don’t just filter your water, purify it! This water filtration system removes 83 dangerous contaminants for a refreshing and delicious way to hydrate. It’s also certified to remove 95% of mercury, 97% of chlorine and arsenic, and 99% of lead and asbestos from your water that most commercial filtration systems and pitchers miss.
Use the link to get $150 off.

Gifts Under $50 and Stocking Stuffers

Hu Kitchen Chocolate Bars
A delicious treat that you can feel good about! Sourcing only simple, clean, and ethical ingredients to put both humanity and the human body first. I’ve already purchased some of their holiday gift boxes for the chocolate lovers in my life.
Use code KERRI for a discount.

Personalized Gut Health Supplements
Take the confusion out of finding the right supplements for you. We are all unique and need supplements that are tailored to our specific needs.
Use code KERRI10 for a discount.
For a limited time only, you can also enjoy 20% off sitewide! Use the link above to shop.

Stasher Bags
Reduce your carbon footprint with these sustainable snack bags. Great for storing nuts, crackers, and munchies or for taking them on the go!

Four Sigmatic
Crash-free coffee and other elevated essentials to work wonders on your day. My personal faves: Chill Caco Mix and Lion’s Think Coffee.
Use code KERRI for a discount

For Shop Local Supporter

Holistic Spa Day for those in the Boston area
Share this neighborhood beauty wellness center, where treatments are built around maintaining mindful and emotional health. Combines holistic methods for whole, healthy skin, mind and body results.

Feel-Good Pilates Classes
Work out and feel well! Jennifer combines her fitness expertise with a realistic look into motherhood and how she makes it all work. She currently teaches outside at the historic Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, MA as well as online for those not in the area!

By now, you’ve likely heard about the importance of gut health.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the links between your gut health and your immune system, mood, mental health, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, endocrine disorders, and skin conditions!

Read more about how your gut health affects your mental health here: https://kerriaxelrod.com/brain-food-how-gut-health-affects-mental-health/

Water and Gut Health

Staying hydrated is one of the simplest and easiest ways you can promote a healthy gut.

Yes, incorporating things like prebiotics and probiotics, eating more fiber, reducing stress, and getting enough sleep are all important to your gut health (I’ll talk about those in another post), but drinking enough water is at the foundation for building good gut health.

Water isn’t a miracle cure, but it is essential.

Drinking plenty of water has been shown to have a beneficial effect on the mucosal lining of the intestines, as well as on the balance of good bacteria in the gut.

Water supports your digestion, which makes sure minerals and nutrients are being absorbed properly in the body. Without enough water, you can’t efficiently digest your food, which can also alter your gut flora.

Water also helps to flush toxins from our bodies and keeps our digestive systems moving.

Toxins and slow digestion affect our gut bacteria and kill off good bacteria. Studies show that the gut flora of patients with chronic constipation is different than those with healthy digestion.

Simple Ways to Drink More Water

How much water you should drink each day really depends on your lifestyle. Those who exercise frequently generally require more water; regardless, staying hydrated can be difficult for a lot of us unless we make it a deliberate habit to incorporate into our daily routine.  Once drinking water becomes a habit, it will become a natural part of your routine, but you will have to spend time initially making it a habit.

Here are my simple tips for drinking more water throughout your day.

• Start the day with a big mason jar of water to wake up your body. Fill up a 16 oz. mason jar with water at night before you go to sleep and place it on your night stand. Drink the water upon waking before eating or drinking anything.
• Sip hot water with lemon. After I drink my mason jar of water in the morning, I make myself a mug of hot water with lemon as I’m preparing my morning tea or coffee. Add the juice of one lemon to a mug of hot (not boiling) water and sip on it before drinking your morning caffeine. To simulate sluggish digestion, add fresh ginger to your lemon water.
• Keep a bottle or a measurement so that you can check your water intake throughout the day. I fill up my 32 oz. water bottle twice during the day, aiming to drink one before lunch and one in the afternoon.
• Bring a water bottle to your workout and finish the whole thing before getting home. Depending on your workout, sipping on water during your exercise way not be the best option, but you’ll want to make sure you rehydrate after your workout. Bring a water bottle with you and make a point to finish the bottle before you get home.
• Buy a reusable water bottle you love. While I don’t love to encourage you to buy more stuff, drinking from plastic water bottles is not only harmful to the environment, but to your health as well. The chemicals from the plastic can seep into the water. You’re also much more likely to drink water from a bottle that you love. Here are a few water bottle options that I love: Hydro Flask (white), que Bottle, and, Yeti.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission if you make a purchase through my links at no additional cost to you.

Most of us are anxious and stressed, and it’s only getting worse. To give you some perspective…

In 2018, The American Psychiatric Association surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults about their sources and levels of anxiety, and here’s what they found.

• Approximately 39% reported being more anxious than they were at this time last year
• Another 39% said they were equally anxious
• Only 19% said they were less anxious than last year

Stress and anxiety are different. Stress is typically categorized as a reaction to an external cause, such as a deadline at work, and subsides once the situation has been resolved. Stress should theoretically be a short-term physiological experience. Anxiety on the other hand is a reaction to the stress. Anxiety doesn’t fade into the distance once a threat is mediated.

The goal isn’t to eliminate stress from your life, that’s impossible, and some stress can actually be healthy, but most of us need to manage our day-to-day stress so that it doesn’t become chronic.  We can also use some of these same tactics to reduce general day-to-day anxieties.

Here are five ways to reduce day-to-day stress and anxiety.

Meditation

It’s mostly common knowledge now that meditation can reduce stress. Meditation takes your body out of a fight-or-flight response, or a stress response, and into a rest-and-digest state. In a rest-and-digest state, we are better able to respond and not react to a situation, our digestion works better, our muscles relax, and we are better able to manage day-to-day responsibilities.

With all of the benefits of meditation, the biggest obstacle for many people is how to start a practice. I share some of my top tips to starting a meditation practice here. 

Sleep

Depression, weight gain, and high blood pressure are just a few of the health issues that can be related to insufficient sleep and the connection between poor sleep and stress can be a cyclical one.

Too much stress can cause you to have a bad sleep, leading to mental and physical health issues which can, in turn, cause stress in daily life, leading to poor sleep at night.

Click here for five simple ways to improve your sleep.

Supplements

When it comes to supplements to help ease stress and anxiety, I turn to Ayurvedic medicine and herbs that have been used therapeutically for thousands of years. Some of my go-to herbs include Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, and Holy Basil. I will take these herbs on their own, or as part of a daily supplement. I recently started using Terra Origin's Inner Balance, which is now available at Target (both in stores and online). Inner Balance includes include Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, and Holy Basil, as well as other stress reducing herbs such as Astragalus, Kelp, and L-Theanine.

A few health benefits of these herbs include:

 Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is an incredibly healthy medicinal herb. Ashwagandha has been shown to reduce cortisol levels, boost brain function, and help fight symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Rhodiola

Rhodiola can be used to reduce stress, combat fatigue, increase mental performance and improve physical and mental resilience.

Holy Basil

Is an adaptogen with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It’s used to help tackle stress, anxiety, and inflammation.

Movement

Exercise reduces your stress-level; however, there is an important cavate. Moderate to high-intensity exercise may increase cortisol (your body’s stress hormone). Generally, that increase is seen as acute—meaning it won’t have long-term effects. Yet, if you are doing high intensity exercise multiple times a week, especially if during a stressful time, your cortisol levels will stay elevated.

Consistently elevated cortisol levels can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, osteoporosis, and even impaired fertility.

It’s important to balance high intensity exercise with low-intensity movement such as yoga, Barre and walking. You may need to avoid high intensity exercise if under chronic stress until your hormones rebalance.

Your-To List

Managing my daily to-do list maybe one the best strategies I’ve used to combat daily stress.  Here’s how I like to manage my to-do list. I keep a master weekly list of what I need to accomplish for the week, both professionally and personally. Each night I look at my master to-do list, and on a Post-it Note, I create a list of my most important tasks for the next day.  I do my best to limit my daily to-do list to accomplishing one important task of the day, which I tackle in the morning, and then maybe 3-4 medium things to do, and 1-2 small tasks. For me personally, I know that’s really all I can manage in a day. I include any workout I’m doing that day as a “to-do” item, and include that in my tasks so it stays a priority right along with my work projects.

Thank You Terra Origin for sponsoring this post and thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible. As always, opinions are my own. 

Using this system has really transformed how I work, and prevents me (on most days) from feeling too overwhelmed.