Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness Blog

Reconnect to Your "Resolutions"

Reconnect to your Resolutions

According to Business Insider, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February!  Say it ain’t so!!!  Luckily, when it comes to setting goals, there are ways to help you get on track and program yourself for success!

There’s a strategy to setting goals so that you reach your goals, which keys into our pleasure centers by creating attainable “wins”!  Using the SMART goals template can help to jumpstart and fire up your health journey.

There are FIVE KEY characteristics of a SMART goals! 

SMART goals are:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant, and

Time-bound

Instead of stating:  “I will lose weight, get a promotion, and buy my dream house,” take the time this week to reconnect to your goals, and break them down into manageable, measurable steps.

Let’s practice.

We’ll start with the age-old resolution - the one that fills the gym and depletes the organic food section at your grocery store for the month of January - I will lose weight.

Now let’s make it SMART.

Specific: I will lose 30 pounds by the end of 2019.

Measurable: I will lose 3 pounds per month.

Attainable: I will choose whole, healthy foods 80% of the time, and exercise for 20 minutes per day.

Relevant: I will lose weight in order to protect my joints and have more energy daily.

Time-bound: I will weigh-in once a month to assess my goals.

Now that goal doesn’t seem quite so far out of reach, does it? Find your why; your reason which trumps any excuse tired you, stressed out you, or grumpy you can argue with. Make your year-end goal a part of your everyday routine, and you are that much closer to long-lasting results.  Now that’s creating a healthy and vibrant lifestyle which will add “Life to Your Years!”

If your New Year’s resolutions seem like a silly thing to devote time and energy to on a daily basis, take it off the list! If it seems trivial now, you will have no reason to continue your efforts next week or next month. Don’t lose weight because you want to fit into your old jeans for your high school reunion, because once the event is over your goal becomes irrelevant. Lose weight because you want to live longer, healthier, and happier.

How are you making sure that your goals become a part of your everyday routine?  If you need help reaching your health and life goals, let me help! I've had over 30 years of helping clients reach their health and wellness goals blending functional medicine, lifestyle medicine, movement guidance, nutrition, and now brain health assessments as well.  Email me for a FREE initial consult to see what I can do to help you reach your goals.  It's a New Decade!  If not now, when??  nancy@youroptimalhealthsolutions.com or call 248 652-2323 today!

To Elderberry or Not with COVID-19? My Take

Obviously, everyone is working to gain an understanding of the physiologic changes with Covid-19, but what is becoming evident is that what is dangerous about the virus is not necessarily the virus itself, but the affect it has on the immune system.

Ditch the Sugar - Cut the Cravings

Any time of the year is the perfect time to zap your sugar addiction and cravings. Cutting out refined sugars and focusing on whole foods to help reset your insulin function and reduce your cravings begins by becoming aware of how much added sugar is in your diet.

Sugar: The Silent Killer

The addictive nature of sugar and the effects on our physiology create a perfect storm for creating an obesity epidemic. What’s becoming clear, though, is that it just may not be all your fault!

When Your Gut is a Jungle Instead of a Pasture

Hippocrates once said, “All health comes from the gut” and we understand more today than ever just how true that statement is. There are many things that can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut. One of the most common and powerful disruptors of a healthy microbiome - antibiotics. What many people don't know is that the disruption of the gut microbiome by antibiotics can trigger mood disruption. In a 2015 study looking at multiple types of antibiotics, it was found that even one dose of any of the antibiotic groups was associated with a higher risk of depression, while recurrent antibiotic use increased the participants risk factors even more.

Manage Your Holiday Stress

Most people don't realize that the stress response triggers a cascade of physiological actions in the body that can shut down stomach function and create digestive upset! There are ways to counter the effects of Holiday Stress this season - read on!

Optimizing Body Composition and Weight Loss by Optimizing Gut Health!

In my practice I work with patients to optimize gut health as a means of optimizing their health. Patients come to me with a plethora of symptoms such as brain fog, digestive issues, skin rashes such as eczema, low energy, muscle pain and fatigue, weight gain, cardiovascular issues like increased cholesterol and atherosclerosis, food allergies and sensitivities, immune system issues and autoimmune disease and more. Most everything begins in the gut whether they realize it or not. Gut imbalance creates inflammation and inflammation sets up increase in fat storage; the excess fat then creates more inflammation and a cascade of health issues over time!

The Gut Microbiome and Health

The Human Microbiome Project has shown that the intestinal microbiome has communication networks with other organ systems including the gut-brain, gut-liver, gut-adipose axes, and it plays a critical role in our health, brain function, body weight and fat maintenance. Nature, 2012.

The Mind-Gut Connection

Did you know you have two brains? One in your head, another in your gut, and the health of your gut can result in many "non-gut" symptoms!

Breast Milk, “Good Bacteria” and Immune Health

Why is mother's milk so healthy for the baby? Not only does the composition of the milk change from week to week to best suit the needs of the baby, we have known that breastfed babies have better immune function and protection in later life than bottle fed babies.

Looking to Get Healthy? Focus on the Gut!

New Years Resolutions nearly always include a goal of weight loss. And this year will be no different in that sense. What is different in the last few years is that we now know that weight loss is not just calories in = calories out anymore!