How Not To Get Sick This Winter – Plus Win a $160 Shoppers Drug Mart Pack!

***GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED***

I will admit I didn’t come up with these tips all by myself (I’m no medical expert), and I’m pretty sure you’ve heard them before…but do you really follow them?

As parents, it’s important to keep ourselves healthy and to model good habits, but it’s also sometimes necessary to explicitly teach our kids how to avoid illness themselves. Pick one of these six tips to discuss with your child today…after you enter the great giveaway below, of course!

1. Get your sleep. Sleep is one of the top priorities in my life, and warding off cold and flu is only one of many reasons. No matter how much I want to finish Season 2 of The Crown, I turn it off each night early enough to ensure my eight hours, and I’ve always been diligent about making sure my girls get their sleep too.

2. Eat wisely. While research seems to be continually evolving, foods that are currently touted as immunity-boosters include citrus fruits, kiwi, spinach, poultry, yogurt, and almonds, as well as garlic and ginger. (“Yay! They’re not all fruits and vegetables!” says the adult picky eater.)

3. Get your fluids. While each person has individual needs, 8 glasses of water a day continues to be a benchmark. Note that green tea also contains powerful antioxidants shown to boost immune function.

4. Stop transmission. Coughing and sneezing into sleeves instead of hands is a great start for keeping germs at bay, as is keeping your hands off your face. Alternatives to hand shaking are also worth considering: according to research shaking hands transmits 2 times more bacteria than high fives and 10 times more than bumping fists. (I’m sure that’s not why the Obamas did it…but I still think it was cute!)

Photo: Getty Images

5. Get your flu shot. 70 – 90 percent of flu cases may be averted through vaccination, and Shoppers Drug Mart makes it easy with no-appointment-needed shots for everyone in the family.

6. Wash hands. Washing for 20 seconds with soap and warm water is one of the most effective ways to prevent the transmission of germs, and to keep yourself healthy. (I’m not even going to get into all of those studies about the levels of bacteria on your devices! Yuck.)

Now which one of these tips are you going to talk to your kids about today? (Having them model for related photos like I did is optional!)

Time for one lucky Canadian This Mom Loves reader to win an awesome flu-fighting pack from Shoppers Drug Mart valued at approximately $160, which includes:

• Life Brand Hand Sanitizer
• Life Brand Cough Drops
• Life Brand Vaporizing Cold Rub
• Life Brand Electrolyte Maintenance Powder
• Life Brand Vaporizer
• Life Brand Digital Thermometer
• No Name Disinfectant Wipes
• PC Chicken Noodle Soup
• PC Facial Tissues
• PC Feeling Soothed Tea
• $100 gift card

All you have to do to enter to win is post a Twitter or Facebook update that contains all three of the following:

1. A link to this post (the one you’re reading right now!)

Here’s a shortlink: http://wp.me/p8FBtj-1vs

2. A tag for @thismomloves

3. The hashtag #ShoppersFlu

For example:
How not to get sick this winter – plus win a $160 SDM prize pack from @thismomloves!  http://wp.me/p8FBtj-1vs #ShoppersFlu

Feel free to use that exact tweet, but be careful with Facebook: if you copy and paste, you still need to type @thismomloves manually or the tag won’t pop up and I won’t be notified in order to count your entry!

NOTE: It is NOT necessary to leave a comment linking your social media posts.

You can enter once per day until the giveaway ends. The giveaway runs until Friday, January 19th at midnight Eastern, after which time the entries will be totaled and a winner will be chosen through random number generation. Good luck…and happy flu-fighting!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Shoppers Drug Mart. Opinions are, as always, my own.