Making Health a Priority in 2011
New Year’s Day has come and gone, and so have many people resolutions to exercise more, eat less, quit smoking, stop drinking and generally take better care of themselves. While most start the year off with ambitious intentions, the reality is that 65% of new gym memberships are cancelled in the first two months. Making health a priority takes discipline and focus, but the rewards of your efforts make it well worth it!
The payoffs from placing a priority on your health do not end immediately after a workout out or a healthy meal. Everything works better when you are healthy. Looking good and feeling good boosts your self-esteem and overall sense of well-being. With this new found confidence, relationships improve, thinking becomes clearer, and you’ll have that extra energy you need to truly enjoy life.
Why wait until something happens to your health to make a change? You may know someone who had a recent health scare or may have seen firsthand the toll that being sick takes on your life. Or, perhaps you saw former President Clinton change from a cheeseburger junkie to a health crusader after his recent quadruple bypass surgery. Simply put, being sick takes over your life, being healthy is a lifestyle choice.
Keys to Lifelong Success
Making health a priority is vital to long-term success. It can’t be treated as a short term solution to a long term problem, or you are destined to fail. Starting to focus on a few key areas in your life will help you along in your journey to better health.
- Eat Healthy – This does not mean diet. Depriving yourself of a specific food or food group is not sustainable over time. Learn about healthy food and eat it.
- Exercise – Thirty minutes a day, five days a week. Do whatever you enjoy, but just get out and get active.
- Stop Smoking – Isn’t it enough of an incentive to quit when you know that one out of every two smokers will die of their habit?
- Get Regular Checkups – Pick a day, the same day every year and go. As your mother probably told you, better to be safe than sorry. Knowing your “total health picture” will help you make better decisions about what you eat, what types of exercise you choose, and what exactly your body needs.
- Reduce Stress – Yes, this is a difficult one. Take time for yourself, make time to do the things you enjoy with the people you enjoy doing them with, take a vacation, visit a spa, get a massage, or even take an occasional “mental health” day away from work. Sometimes, small things work wonders.
Exercise and a sensible diet will help you enjoy the best of health well into the future. Because of its focus on the nerve system, chiropractic care can also be an important part of a wellness lifestyle. The nerve system controls the function of virtually every aspect of our lives. So, keeping it properly functioning is essential if you want to be your very best!
