Vegetables and fruits are a regular staple of my daily meals, but I still don’t get enough nutrients. They say many of us don’t get enough nutrients everyday. For many years, I have been taking vitamins and as the years pass (and I get older), I have added a few more supplements to my daily dose. Sometimes I am good about taking them daily, other times I am not. We are all busy – and sometimes, I simply forget. Plus, I have to take them with meals and I don’t eat at the same times everyday. In addition to the fact that many vitamins are better absorbed when taken with meals, if I take them on an empty stomach or without enough food, my stomach will get upset. I take multiple vitamins now and try to split them up throughout various meals, particularly because my meals are usually small.  (breakfast consists of fruit with a little natural yogurt).

I’ve tried various methods to remember to take my vitamins. From keeping them in my desk drawer at work to remember to take them at lunch time, then I was caring around a pill box with multiple days worth of vitamins in my purse, I also tried keeping them in the pantry at home to try to take them at dinner time, and keeping a weekly pill organizer box with each day labeled. The pill organizer was probably the one that worked the best for me, except that I kept it in my desk drawer at work and would forget to take the vitamins on weekends.

This year, we are going to try to have a baby, so it is very important that I take my prenatal vitamin daily. Very important! I started to think about a method that would work for me. Then I remembered some small pill pouch bags my hubby had purchased. They are small clear bags with a zipper (like a tiny Ziploc bag). I don’t think he ever used them. I had used them to pack Ricola for him when he travels, but that was about it. In an effort to do a better job about taking my vitamins, I started using the pill pouches for my daily dose of nutrients and love it! It is very easy! I fill about two weeks worth of pouches at a time and place them in a clear jar in the pantry. Vitamins are supposed to be kept at room temperature (cool) in an area that is not exposed to too much humidity. I place them on the shelf that is at eye level, so everyday I see the jar.

This has been the best way for me to remember to take my vitamins! It is easy, convenient, and practical! I keep a pouch or two of vitamins in my purse, for weekends or if we are out to dinner. During the week, I place a pouch every night on the kitchen island to make sure I see it the next morning before I leave the house. It has worked wonders for me! I also like that I can take a few vitamins at a time and leave the rest in the pouch to take them later in the day. There is a white area on the outside of each pouch where one can write the day and mark AM or PM. I don’t do that since my vitamin dose is the same everyday.

A few tips that work for me, when I fill the pouches, I sit in the family room and simply fill them while I am watching TV or talking on the phone with a friend. This way, it seems like an easy task to complete. I try to re-use the bags. My hubby bought the pill pouches at CVS ($4.19 for 50), they are also sold at other stores such as Wal-Mart ($1.38 for 50), and Walgreens ($2.99 for 50). I use a clear glass jar, which makes it easy to see the vitamin pouches. Initially, I stored them in a brown empty vitamin jar, but would forget to grab a pouch daily. We already had the glass jar at home (isn’t it lovely?). It was a gift – filled with fermented fruit – from my aunt Cinthia. Every time I take a vitamin pouch out and see the pretty jar, it reminds me of her and that makes me smile. We used the jar for nuts before I washed it out to use it for the vitamin pouches. Any clear jar or container should work, even an empty jam jar. I place a tiny freshness preserver pouch from one of the vitamin jars in the glass jar.

Since I take multiple vitamins, I’ll post about the purpose of the vitamins in a future post. Some are prenatal vitamins, another for my knee joints since I enjoy exercising, others to help my skin, and others in an effort to try to avoid getting sick. There are some funny and not so funny stories tied to almost every vitamin I take. They all seem to be helping, I feel healthy, young, full of energy, and happy!

Do you take any vitamins? How do you remember to take them daily?

Hugs,

Paola

PS – Here’s the post regarding the Healthy Breakfast I Eat Everyday, it’s yummy,  nutritious, & easy to make! If you are curious about the proper way to store vitamins, click here for short video I found on Web MD.

The three easy steps I follow:

1) Set-up vitamins in a row, with pill pouches and jar next to them

2) Fill bags

3) Place them in jar

Done! As easy as that!