• Benjamin Horning DC – Chiropractor Laguna Hills, CA

Health means a lot of things to a lot of different people. For some, it could mean running a marathon. For others, it could be having normal blood pressure.  Some people may even think it just means looking good in a bathing suit.  Doctors look at numbers to see if you are healthy and patients look at what their bodies can do to determine health.  As much as it is objective, it is also subjective.

It becomes confusing when you start to googling tips to be healthy.  One article may say to do this, while another article says to do that.  Are they both right? Are they both wrong?  Who do you trust and who do you ignore?  While there is no definite answer to this question, there are general steps that you can follow regardless of your fitness or nutritional goals.  These steps will at least get you in the right direction.

1. Write Down Your Health Goals

This is the most important step in getting started.  If you don’t write down your health goals and you keep them in your head, then they lose their power. They can change. You can forget about them.  You can settle.  They need to be written down and clearly define.  They also need to be written down often.  This way when you get busy and life gets in the way (and it always does get in the way) you stay committed. You have a set target that you know you are actively working towards. When you reach it, celebrate. Afterwards, go for a bigger better health goal.  If you don’t you will achieve it and then retire from it and you might revert back to your old ways.  So always strive for new goals once you hit your goal.

2. Make it Easy to Achieve Eating Healthy and Working Out

Like I said before, life will get in the way.  If you know that beforehand you can prepare for it.  For example, if your office only has a microwave, then buy a portable oven or a hot plate and bring it to work.  If you have free time every Sunday spend an hour or two meal prepping and cooking your food for the following week.  If you don’t have a gym partner to work out with, hire a personal trainer, or join workout classes.  Set these things up early on.  This way when life gets in the way, you can still eat healthy and workout.

3. Get Chiropractic Care

Regular Chiropractic Care will recharge your body. Chiropractic adjustments help your nerves give your body the best chance to improve.  Nerves go to every muscle, cell, organ, and gland in the body.  If the nerves are not giving the proper signal; these areas are being affected. People from all walks of life get Chiropractic Care.  They do it because they get great results.  I have seen some amazing transformations just by giving Chiropractic Adjustments. By making consistent Chiropractic Care part of your health program, you will see a lot of positive changes and will give you an extra edge on achieving your health goals.

4. Eat Organic

There is debate in our country about whether GMOs are or are not healthy.  However, in many countries around the world GMOs are flat out banned for health reasons.  I would recommend sticking with organic foods.  Also, try to eat locally. Farmers Markets have a ton of healthy food and you help local family farms as an additional benefit. Fresh veggies have tons of vitamins and minerals which help your body improve and grow.  When it comes to animal products stick with grass fed meats that have not been injected with a lot of antibiotics/hormones injected into them.  These antibiotics and hormones may get passed onto you.  You don’t want them in your system. The cleaner you eat the better you will feel.

5. Exercise

Find sports or workout routines that you like doing.  Work out consistently and have a few rest days spread out through the week.   Exercise is critical for your health.  Laying around every day will not help you.  Movement is life. So start moving.  If your motivation is low then pay to join a workout group or have a personal trainer.  This will force you to show up and work out. If you are in a lot of pain then exercise on a gradient, but find some ways to get your body into motion.

6. Drink Water

Your body needs water to survive.  That is a simple fact.  You need to be drinking water every day and you need to drink a lot of it.  If you don’t then your body will have a harder time filtering your blood and helping you stay healthy.  There are certain types of vitamins that need water to go into your cells.  Drink a lot of water to make sure you get all the benefits from all the healthy foods you’ve been consuming.

7. Surround Yourself with Like-Minded People

This is an important one.  You need to surround yourself with people who also have health goals and are reaching them in a positive way.  You want to hang out with people who have targets and are working to reach them as well. If your “friends” make you feel bad for trying to improve, then don’t hang out with them. Get new friends.  Say you were trying to become a body builder.  Who would be your friends?  Other body builders or people who don’t lift?  I would hope it would be other body builders, but that is not always the case.  Sometimes people force their views on you and it affect your health.  Just like junk food is toxic, so are people.  If you have a support team of friends, great.  If you don’t, then make new friends with people who share the same goals as you.  You will be happier and it will help improve your health.

8. Stay Persistent

It’s one thing to do something for a week or two.  It’s another thing to make it part of your life.  It’s a mindset and a way of life.  There are going to be challenges to your goals. Time, Money, People.  Know that there will be road blocks beforehand and persist through them.  If your uncle always wants to have a beer with you and eat chips while watching football, then know every time you hang out with him he will offer you beer and chips.  Persist past that.   If you had to work overtime, find a way to get a work out in and persist onward.  If you cheat on your diet, make it a cheat meal not a cheat day.   Acknowledge it but then move past it. Do not succumb to it.

Follow these steps and you will be more successful in achieving your health goals.  It looks simple and it is very possible that when you are done reading this you will put down this article and think “wow that was nice” and forget about it.  I hope you don’t though.  Follow my advice.  It is worth it. These steps work, you just need to do all of them.  Good luck.

(This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition.)

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