I have been exceptionally healthy for the last several years, and I'm not entirely sure what to credit because the only thing I've really changed is my marital status. I am MUCH happier now than I used to be. Coincidentally, despite working in a petrie dish - a/k/a the Emergency Department - I have been amazingly healthy even when my seasoned co-workers were catching every bug that went around. I did get mild versions of a couple of stomach bugs (hard to avoid), but I can't remember the last cold I had that took me completely out of the game. I'm not a vitamin popper either. Every once in a while I take a B-Complex, but not a multi-vitamin. If I've been exposed to something I'll often top off my A-C-E vitamins, zinc occassionally, etc. My big bugaboo are my electrolytes. For whatever reason I can't seem to keep my potassium levels up naturally, so I usually drink a Zipfizz every day, especially when I'm doing alot of exercising. I also struggle with my magnesium and calcium. The Cal is easy to supplement, but the magnesium makes me nauseated, so I'm still trying to figure that one out. But I do notice it in my nervous system when I'm depleted on both the Cal and the Mag.

Honestly, I think the biggest key for me is really knowing my body very very well. I had a long period in my life (previously discussed) when I was terribly sick and nobody could figure out what was wrong, so I spent a TON of time doing research and really learning about cause and effect, my symptoms, standard diagnosis and differential diagnosis. I know my body so well now that when something starts to get out of whack I know immediately and can alter my behavior to bring it back in line. Apparently this is working for me, because despite the extraordinarily stressful events I've just gone through (2 weeks after applying to school I was accepted and had 3 weeks to quit my job, empty out my condo, leave all my friends and loved ones behind, and move from AK to NC with nothing but the 2 pieces of luggage the airline allowed), the only consequence has been a flare up of a chronic neurological condition I have (brachialplexitis) caused by my stress hormones depleting my Ca and Mg reserves. A co-worker of mine was also moving out of state at the same time with similar stress levels, and she ended up with pneumonia.

Oh... my Celiac does require me to eat relatively healthy... I can't eat 95% of the fast food out there, or any quick and easy meals off the shelf. Fresh meats, grains and vegetables are my staples, so that helps alot too, I'm sure.

My vice is rum and red wine.

MNS