Top 6 Things To Do To Regain Your Health & Fitness

Since it’s New Year’s Resolution time, I thought I’d share the Top 6 Things To Do To Regain your Health & Fitness.

I gave a talk on this today with a lot more detail, but this will give you the gist of it…and by the way, if you need a speaker for your corporate event, please let me know!

Okay, here we go:

1. Mindset.  It starts here, always.  You have to have the self-image of a healthy person to “re-become” that healthy person you once were.  If deep down, you feel like you were meant to be fat, arthritic, diabetic, etc., chances are good that you’ll follow those thoughts up with reality.

What you can do today: Start a daily practice of ​”I am” statements. I am healthy. I am strong. I am fit. 

2.Nutrition. I could put sleep here, but the reason I leave it for later is that by taking care  of the items, you often take care of sleep…so addressing your nutrition is next.

Food is medicine, medicine is food. Hippocrates wasn’t just throwing words around. He knew exactly what he was talking about.

The foods you eat can kill you slowly or they can help you thrive.

Did you know that nearly 75% of the US population is overweight or obese? It’s our food, it’s what people eat – ultra-processed foods with minimal vegetables/fruit/meat.

What you can do today: Cut out foods with low quality, highly inflammatory  oils such as canola oil, soybean oil, vegetable oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, etc.. Stick with unrefined olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil.  Make your own salad dressing – it’s so easy!

Today, you can also begin drinking more water. This will help you immensely. In the book, The Bodies Many Cries For Water, the author talks about people’s disease state starting with life-long chronic dehydration. You know you feel better – no headache, reduced tension, less anxious – when you’re hydrated so get on board with it! Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of pure, plain water.

3. Movement. ​Everyday, some kind of movement and not only your fingers on the keyboard or phone. I’ll emphasize strength training because it can increase longevity, enable you to do the things you love to do and things you have to do, improves insulin sensitivity, keeps excess body fat off and stops age related muscle wasting, sarcopenia.

Of course that’s not the only thing. Focused breath work and Walking will make my list, too. 

What you can do today: Go for a walk, practice Box Breathing, do 10 squats at your kitchen counter and then call me to set up your complimentary Success Session so you can really start lifting weights;)

4.Sleep: ​Sleep is necessary for good and optimal health. It is not a luxury. It is not something you should only do when you are dead. It should take place every day, preferably when it’s dark outside. Getting enough quality sleep will improve your life as you know it now and how you will know it later. Hormones are affected by when you sleep and the amount and quality of sleep you get. Human growth hormone, testosterone and cortisol are a few hormones that rise and fall by the time of day and when you sleep and rise. If you go to bed at mid-night you are missing out on two hours of HGG and testosterone while cortisol remains elevated.

What you can do today: ​1. If you are a night owl, start your bed time routine 15 minutes early for a couple of weeks and do so every two weeks until 10 p.m. or earlier becomes your natural bedtime. 2. Put black-out shades on your bedroom windows.

5. Sunlight: – ​We need SUN! All living things (at least a a lot of living things) need sunlight daily to thrive and be healthy. Getting sun, especially watching the sun rise for 10-20 minutes without sunglasses (don’t look directly at the sun) will help regulate hormones, increase you daytime alertness  and focus and help you sleep better.

What you can do today: ​Set your alarm early so you can be prepared to watch the sun rise tomorrow! If you can’t, there are artificial sun lamps you can buy. Probably on Amazon.

6. Social/spirit: ​Having a belief in something greater than yourself and being around other people will help longevity and give you increased feelings of life satisfaction. People who attend religious services or feel they are spiritual have health parameters such as lower blood pressure and fewer strokes.

What you can do today: ​It only takes a decision to believe so you can do that right now:) or you can call a good friend, have a laugh,  schedule a lunch/dinner date with a friend/family or join a group that does something you love (knitting, ski club, dog training, etc.)