Hot, humid weather trips off my SVT like nothing else….If you are like me, then you have been S U F F E R I N G the last few days, (if you live in the northeast region of the US that is..)…After not having an SVT for over 1 year, I have had almost 3 in the last 2 weeks…Miraciously I was able to convert mine yesterday by holding my breath and bearing down immediately when it happened…Luckily it went back to normal almost instantly…

So the question is, what can we do to protect ourselves when the weather is sticky, HOT and humid and an episode seems imminent?

First things first…stick to your plan…which I HAVE NOT been doing. I recently moved, and my eating habits have been shall we say…less than tip top. I have even eaten gluten….There I said it! After 15 months of being 100% gluten free, I accidentally ate gluten last week. Hmmm coincidence that I also had an SVT? I’m proving my own theory right….Basically, I went out to eat and ordered the yucca fries ( I guess my judgement was off from all the sangria)((alcohol too, another no, no!) so it turns out the yummy yucca slices were breaded before they were fried, and let me tell you they were delicious! In fact, they were so delicious that a few fries later I KNEW they couldn’t be just YUCCA. So I ate a few more in denial before confirming that, in fact, the most delicious fries I ever ate did in fact have gluten. So needless to say I ingested gluten….and have had 3 SVTs since then…

I also have been super stressed and extra angry (yes anger causes SVT’s)….The perfect storm for an SVT….

So here are my tips for fighting this weather and reducing your risk of an SVT!

1. No gluten! (sorry, I know this is the one that none of us want to face)
2. No alcohol ( Ok maybe one glass of something once in a while, but how about in the middle of winter and not on a 90 degree day with humidity)
3. Lots of water…Count it out every morning. at least 60 oz. (seriously, don’t blow the importance of this one off and just think you are drinking enough when you really are not!)
4. Sleep! 8-9 hours per night (Sleep is crucial for healing and staying in great form)
5. Turn on your A/C. Don’t try to save money at the risk of overheating.
6. Dig deep into your anger…whoever you think you are angry at, is probably not the real issue…maybe its time to let the anger go…and stop expecting, demanding, and being so mad all the time…(I will explore this massive issue in another post)
7. Drink your greens, green vibrance, green juice, green anything
8. Lighten your food load, try eating half of what you normally would when its this HOT out.
9. Make sure you rest when you need to. I cannot stress enough how I am always TIRED when I have an SVT
10. Clean your house (What does this have to do with an SVT? I don’t know, it just seems to help with the panic part of things…like if I have an SVT and someone has to come over and help me, at least my house will be clean)
11. Avoid your allergens. We need to watch our toxic burden overall so avoiding your allergens will help. Mine are corn, wheat, soy, dairy, literally all of which I have had in the last month. And by the way, I ate corn enchiladas a few days ago as well which under normal circumstances would not have bothered me…but add in all the other stuff and boom Im on overload.

Here’s the deal, for the last 13 months I have been super strict. No gluten at all, but maybe the occasional corn, or glass of wine, or ice cream. BUT in the last month, its been a free for all. My diet has been the worst its been in a long time and I’ve had 3 SVT’s to prove it. I have been eating too much of my “no” foods and to top it off, the stress of moving, and the added gluten, and guess what, my body can’t handle it. So today, its back to square one. I need to eat clean unless I want to wind up in the hospital. I guess the bonus is that bathing suit season is around the corner and when we cut out the allergens we will shed the pounds….

I’ll keep you posted…and feel free to comment on if the weather effects YOU and what you do to stay COOL!