Happy new year! It’s Lifestyle Month at Rising Sun Chiropractic here in St. Peter, MN and we are here to give you our Top 7 Steps for a Healthy Life in the New Year! What are your goals for 2020 and what are the action steps to get there?
We have the opportunity to focus on local issues, such as lower back pain, or a much broader view of our lives, such as lifestyle. Did you know? Lifestyle directly affects health issues & diseases such as cancer, diabetes, blood pressure, obesity, headaches, back pain, sleep, and many more!
What to Consider Before Creating Change
Dr. Nelson has frequently said “Unfortunately, there is no magic pill to change lifestyle. That means, we have to put in the time and effort to make a change! Even small, incremental changes will push you in the right direction of better health!”
The challenge? A healthy you isn’t going to be free of sacrifice and change. When asked about changes in his life Dr. Nelson said “If you would have talked with me in my 20’s, I would have a very different point of view on what my future held. If you said I would have given up pop and candy, nearly eliminated alcohol, exercised on a regular basis, and had a bedtime, I would have laughed! I am the reason I believe anyone has the power to create these changes. I NEVER thought I would be anywhere near where I am today in terms of a wellness lifestyle.”
Second, there are powerful daily activities that can make you healthier than ever! The most frequently asked question we get at Rising Sun Chiropractic, about lifestyle changes is, how do I start? This is both easy and tough. Tough because if you search the wellness topic or healthy lifestyle you get 10 billion opinions! My opinion is, simple often produces the best results. The key is consistency! Don’t let one bad day set you back; just keep giving it your all!
Pick little targets and stick to them. I promise if I can do it, you can! If you want a little help or even a lot of help reach, we specialize in helping people get the health they want and deserve.
Wheel of Life
In both business and life, I look at my goals from a wheel approach. Look at your life as different spokes and break it down into categories.
Rising Sun Chiropractic’s Top 7 Steps For A Healthy Life In The New Year
1 Diet
When it comes to diet, the most popular goal is weight loss! Rising Sun Chiropractic + Weight Loss specializes in lifestyle changes that lead to amazing weight loss successes for people that need some help. If you are ready to start, begin with small steps; for example, incorporate 1 new vegetable into meals per week, or prepare a vegetable you prefer not to eat in a new way 1 time per week. Veggies have the power to reduce cancer, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation risk and gives an amazing boost in our overall wellness.
2- Exercise
As we look at exercise, the world opens up to us. Dr. Nelson has been thinking differently about exercise recently. “Right now my kids are young and the thought of grandkids is a distant twinkle. I think about how my kids play with me or with my parents. They rush full speed and expect to be lifted and carried. I believe we need to exercise in ways that will ensure we have the ability to do the things in our lives that create independence as we age. Start exercising in ways that build you up for the things that are most important to you and your future self. Usually, that will lead to forms of aerobic exercise like walking, biking or swimming. Work up to resistance movements like squats, pressing or pulling exercise. It’s easy to get turned off by exercise if it doesn’t mean anything to you, when you can leverage it to give you freedom as you age the motivation comes naturally.” In St. Peter, MN it’s easy to find fun things to do year-round but taking the time to develop strength will give you more freedom to enjoy them all.
3-Learning
How does learning lead to wellness? People that engage in learning and lifelong education have mental wellness that is immeasurable. How do you feel when you solve a problem or complete a challenging task? Dr. Nelson is a frequent attendee of new educational classes, “I know that when I get to go to continuing education or read a new book or even a blog post and it teaches me I feel better. The more that we can incorporate learning activities into our wellness mindset the more confident you’ll feel and the healthier your brain will be. Many of the conservative treatments for brain diseases involve learning, just like exercise strengthens the muscles, learning strengthens the brain.” The benefit of learning is that it can take you out of your comfort zone, get out of St. Peter and Mankato, see new people and new places.
4-Sleep
Holy cow, does sleep help you feel better?! Dr. Nelson’s big challenge “I challenge you to do one thing for yourself that requires the least amount of commitment or sacrifice, it’s a bed time. You wouldn’t keep your kids up all night long, why do we do it to ourselves? Sleep should be a pattern of cues. For example, Bedtime is 9 PM. By 8, stop watching exciting TV or video-games, stop reading social media or news, move into creative things like meditation, taking a shower or bath. By 8:45 brush teeth, cozy up in bed, and read something light and enjoyable. Make this a discipline. Don’t go off this plan over the weekends, don’t sleep in. Make sleep the same, day in and out. IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!”
At Rising Sun Chiropractic + Weight Loss, we frequently give dietary and nutritional tips and recommendations to improve sleep quantity and quality.
5-Hydrate
Hydrating is easy, drink half your body weight in ounces of water, not more than 100 per day, 2/3 of it should be water the rest can be creative. Pop, energy drinks and juice should be limited, avoid consuming too much caffeine, especially in the afternoon. Consider eliminating alcohol consumption for larger periods of time. Dr. Nelson doesn’t believe that all alcohol is bad “I am not here to bash booze, I enjoy scotch when I can but I also find that even having 1 drink in a night effects my sleep, clarity of thought and my waistline.” Giving alcohol up for longer periods allows for our body to regenerate and repair at a higher level.
6-Stress
Stress is the number one reason we end up in the medical office-mental, physical and chemical stresses are everywhere; the more you can eliminate them and focus on GOOD stress the healthier you’ll be. Good stress builds us up and helps us grow. Learning, exercise, new experiences, challenging ourselves, and staying disciplined create good stress opportunities.
Over-scheduling, lack of sleep, poor work-life balance, or doing things we don’t want to do create negative stress and break us down. Burnout is a real thing and something we help people with on a regular basis! Avoid this as diligently as possible!
At Rising Sun Chiropractic + Weight Loss, we offer stress hormone testing, dietary and nutritional therapy for burnout and adrenal fatigue.
7-Self Care
Self care is a big field, things that help me feel better may not help you. Dr. Nelson feels strongly about getting in touch with your stress-relieving habits “I have found that personally my stress and wellbeing are much better when I have time to exercise, play video games, and read. If those three things happen during the week I am a much better me. There are things above and beyond that help but these 3 are my core of rejuvenation and allow me to push through the tough stuff. I make time to go to my chiropractor, I take the time to eat clean and make sure that I drink water.” Simple daily disciplines create the freedom to grow and do more. Discipline creates freedom, stick to the tuff stuff in the short term because in the long term it becomes a natural part of your day.
Bonus-Relationships
Finally, take inventory of the relationships in your life. Are they healthy? Are some of them toxic? Stay close to those who help you grow, and are supportive in your lifestyle changes. How will a lifestyle change affect those around you? What helpful information and tips can you pass along to others?
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