It seemed like this year had some really nasty bugs going around. These bugs also seemed more contagious than I have seen before. I usually get a pretty good pulse on bugs going around because of how many people I see each day through my gyms.

People ask me all the time how I avoid getting sick with all the exposure to sweaty people breathing in my face every day. I will attempt to answer those questions here, not because I’m any kind of a doctor, but because getting sick seriously derails fitness programs and can be quite frustrating when on a quest to get in top condition.

The following are the seven most effective ways I have found to stay healthy. I’m not saying these are the best ways for you, but it certainly has worked for me.

1. I wash my hands often. I am somewhat of a microphobe anyways, but shaking hands with someone who is sick or someone who is coming down with an illness and doesn’t know it yet are great ways to acquire their virus or bacteria. It’s not just about having the virus or bacteria on your hand of course. Unless you have a scrape or cut, the presence of the virus or bacteria on your hand won’t make you sick. It’s when you take that hand and wipe your face that allows it to get into your body through your nose, mouth or eyes.

2. I get between seven and eight hours of sleep per night no matter what. I’m a workaholic, so it’s hard for me to put work down and go to bed, but I force myself because if I get less than seven hours of sleep I have found that I am much more likely to catch a bug.

3. I drink 3 to 5 quarts of filtered water per day. Viruses and bacteria thrive in dehydrated tissues. I drown them out by drinking lots of water every day. Drinking lots of water also creates a cleansing effect, so I get rid of bugs that way too.

4. I eat lots of organic green vegetables. I get most of my nutrients through large amounts of green vegetables and these nutrients strengthen my immune system and help me fight off bugs. Another reason green vegetables are so important is it keeps my digestive system healthy and moving along. 80% of the immune system is found in the digestive tract, so optimal digestive health is vital. Junk food, starches and especially sugars, on the other hand, are the preferred fuel for viruses and bacteria. Seaweed is another green vegetable that is very helpful to your immune system because it has lots of blood-cleaning iodine.

Seaweed is another green vegetable that is very helpful to your immune system because it has lots of blood-cleaning iodine. Fermented vegetables provide tons of probiotics – even more than the pill supplements, so that’s a great way to nourish your gut microbiome. Sauerkraut is my favorite source and it comes in many flavors nowadays, so even if you don’t “like” sauerkraut, you will likely find a flavor that works for you. All you need is a heaping spoonful per day anyway, so it’s just one big bite.

5. I take lots of vitamin D3 and K2. Vitamin D3 is a powerful immune booster and vitamin K2 encourages absorption of vitamin D3. I normally take 15,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day and 50 mcg of vitamin K2. If I feel a bug coming on, I bump up my vitamin D3 to 50,000 IU and K2 to 200 mcg. I rarely feel bugs coming on and sometimes that’s probably not even what’s happening, but taking this precaution is a great choice because there really is no downside. Another thing I do if I sense a bug might be trying to get a hold of me is take zinc every night.

6. I take 1 gram of liposomal vitamin C (from Mercola.com) every morning and every evening. Liposomal vitamin C is specially encapsulated so it gets through the hostile acidic digestive system and into the cells that need it.

7. My attitude is as important as any other aspect. Visualizing health and wellness with a positive attitude is a powerful defense. Using positive phrasing is also very important. What I mean by that is, if you tell yourself, “I don’t want to get sick,” then you are actually more likely to make that happen. The reason is that your subconscious only understands images and emotions, so when you say, “I don’t want to get sick,” the pictures and images that come to mind and that you are consequently sending to your subconscious are of yourself being sick and other people being sick and that, of course, creates an accompanying emotion that drives those images right into your subconscious. Remember that your subconscious is the boss of you and it will act on whatever images and emotions you feed it. It might sound crazy, but thinking of what you don’t want actually makes that more likely to happen, whether it be bad things like sickness, illness, or good things like success and happiness. We truly become what we think about, so thinking of what you DO want instead of what you DON’T want will help you get what you do want. You can probably tell that this philosophy spills over into many other areas of life, but that topic is for another post – or heck – a whole book…

I also have a certain procedure I follow before and after a flight, seminar, crowded party, or anytime I’m in a room with lots of people who invariably have sickness they may or may not even know about at the time. I take the supplements found in this post, as well as extra sauerkraut and organic seaweed. On a flight, if there is someone nearby with a bad cough or cold, I also have a mask I wear, but that might be going a little too far for most people, especially if you care about what others think of you. Obviously, as you can see in the picture below, neither Bev or I give much thought to that.