Did you know?

• You generate an entirely new stomach lining every five days?

• That all your skin cells are replaced once a month?

• That all your bones are restored every three months?

In fact, studies show you are an entirely different person, physically, than you were three years ago.

But if this is the case, why do our bodies continue to degenerate and age as the years go by?

It’s because of the habits we choose to follow in our lives. Our habits affect the physical body we create and re-create year after year. Poor habits cause our bodies to age faster. On the other hand, making even small, positive changes in our lives can slow down, even reverse, the aging process.

Now, changing habits may not be easy, especially if you’ve spent a lifetime reinforcing them. Less ingrained habits may be able to be changed immediately. However, most habits are changed over a couple weeks to a couple months.

When it comes to your health, try to change or improve it a little every day. Not the crash diet or the early January workouts to fulfill your New Year's resolutions, but incremental changes that will be long-lasting. Small changes will eventually lead to big results.

Try tackling one habit at a time (weight loss, smoking, exercise) and in one or two years, your whole life is changed. Be patient with yourself, realize it has taken10, 20, or even 50 years for you to accumulate the habits that you now have!

The most important things are to be patient with yourself, be persistent, and keep focused on your goal – to build habits that support a strong, healthy, youthful you!

Here are ten steps to help you get started. Remember, you don’t have to make big changes all at once. Pick one or two areas to work on, and set reasonable and attainable goals. Once you’ve reached those goals, congratulate and reward yourself. Then, re-evaluate your habits and continue to set goals as you need to.

“The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

“It's never too late to be what you might have been.”
- George Eliot

“Little strokes fell great oaks.”
- Tim Mckinney

Step 1: Eating Healthy

Over time, eating has become more of a social activity and less of a way to keep our bodies adequately fueled. We eat with our families, our friends, in front of the TV, at a party, and when we’re sad or bored.

Perhaps this is why 61 percent of Americans are considered overweight and one-third are considered obese today. These conditions can have serious health implications. For example, heart attacks and strokes are linked to high cholesterol, and diabetes is notably related to obesity and poor diet. In fact, the five major killers of Americans today have some connection to poor eating habits.

To help remedy this, we need to remember the #1 reason we eat is to keep our bodies full of energy to move, work, play and heal. To do this, we need to provide our bodies with the right kinds, and the right amount, of food. Some tips:

	Eat smaller portions more often.
	Don’t skip meals, then overeat later.
	Eat slower. Don’t read or watch TV while you eat.
	Focus on your food, your chewing, your breathing.
	Eat less red meat.
	Eat less refined sugar.
	Eat more fruits and vegetables. A good rule of thumb – eat more things that are alive to stay alive.

“Treat your body as a temple, not a woodshed.”
- James Rohn

Step 2: Drink Plenty of Water

It’s been found that aging is accelerated by two main factors; stress and dehydration. One simple step you can take is to drink plenty of fresh, clean water every day. A good rule of thumb is to drink at least 3/4 oz. of water per pound of body weight every day. For example, if you weigh 100 pounds, you should drink 75 oz. a day. Or if you weigh 150 pounds, you’d drink 115 oz. Remember that a quart is 32 oz. and a gallon is 128 oz.

Plan to drink more water if you consume tea, soda, coffee or alcohol. As these beverages are diuretics, which mean they take water out of your system.

“Our bodies are nothing but energy particles and electricity, frozen in space and time, and water is the conductor of that electricity.”
- Dr. Brent Wells

Step 3: Exercise

Ever wonder how to get started on an exercise program? The easiest way is to just "show up"! Show up with your friends for a walk in the park, show up at the health club to meet with a trainer, show up on the bike trail for a ride with a neighbor.

Once you get in the habit of “showing up,” make it a goal to get aerobic exercise at least three times a week. This includes activities like walking, running, biking or swimming. Also, do some weight-bearing exercise like light weight lifting, at least twice a week. To save time, you can do both types of exercise on the same day.

If you find yourself getting bored, try a new and different activity, or get a workout partner, who can encourage and motivate you.

The most important thing to remember is you have to move it (your body) so you don’t lose it (your health and your body).

“If you want to know what your mind was like in the past, then all you have to do is examine your body now. If you want to know what your body will look like in the future, you should examine your mind now.”
- Deepak Chopra, M.D.

“Take good care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”
- Unknown

Step 4: Stay Flexible

Keep both your body and your mind flexible by participating in a regular stretching program like yoga, Pilates, tai chi or even general stretching. Not only will stretching improve circulation, decrease tight muscles and decrease pain, it will also help reduce stress.

A regular stretching program also significantly reduces the chances that you will suffer an injury. Injuries don’t only happen at work or in a car crash. Many times they occur while doing simple things like shoveling snow, cleaning the house, or washing the car.

In the beginning, plan to stretch every day. However, once you’ve developed some flexibility, it can be maintained by stretching three times a week.

“Flexibility of the body is like flexibility of the mind, what you don’t use gets rigid, tight, painful, and useless.”
- Dr. Brent Wells

Step 5: Quiet Time/Healthy Thoughts

Think about the last time you were under a lot of stress at work or in a relationship. Did you catch more colds? Did you have trouble sleeping? Did your heart beat faster than normal? Were you edgy and anxious? Did you feel a pit in your stomach? If so, you’ve experienced firsthand how stress in our minds can affect the health of our bodies.

Studies have shown up to 95 percent of illnesses and other health problems are related to negative thoughts. And people who feel stressed, resentful, worried, angry, anxious and fearful are several times more likely to suffer from hypertension, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, depression and many other health conditions. This is because negative emotions weaken the immune system, making it more susceptible to disease.

The cure to the these problems is not found in a prescription bottle – it can be as simple as relaxing, breaking negative thought patterns and changing the way you react to situations.

One place to start is asking yourself a few questions whenever you’re faced with a negative situation.

For example:

	Will this matter to me 10 years from now?
	If I can only be sure of something 55 percent of the time, can I be sure that I am right now?
	What if I look for the good in everyone and every situation, even if I don’t like it?
	Am I thinking this situation is worse than it really is?
	How can I change my perspective so it does not appear so bad?

Taking the time to meditate, read inspirational stories, go on a long, quiet walk, or just lie down and breathe deeply can also have many positive health benefits. And, of course, it’s important to get enough deep, restful, healing sleep each night.

“As you think so shall you be.”- James Allen

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be."
- Abraham Lincoln

“There is no stress in the world, only people thinking stressful thoughts.” - Wayne Dyer

“The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their state of mind.”
- William James

Step 6: Build Healthy Relationships

Close relationships can give us the most joy – and the most pain. Studies have shown that relationships with spouses, family members, friends, and co-workers can have significant health benefits or drawbacks, and this has an enormous impact on your health.

For example, when you’re with someone who makes you happy, you may find you have more energy, a bounce in your step, a glow on your cheeks. Your body secretes more endorphins and dopamine, which makes you feel happy, less pain, and have a general better sense of well-being.

When you run into someone you have or had a negative relationship with, all of a sudden, you’re uncomfortable, anxious, worried or angry. Your body secretes adrenaline and cortisol, two chemicals that cause breakdown of body tissue, weaken the immune system, and cause many other negative effects in the body.

Over time, these emotions can wear down your immune system, causing illness.

Making it a priority to build good relationships and have a positive attitude will not only make you happier – but healthier, too.

“In relationships, can you decide that you would rather be happy than right?” - Dr. Phil McGraw

“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.” - Unknown

Step 7: Healthy Breathing

Breathing is one of the most basic, and the most vital, body functions. Your body can go without food for weeks and without water for days. But it can only survive for minutes without life-sustaining oxygen.

Because breathing is an automatic function, it seems like it would be easy to do. However, most people breathe incorrectly. Most people are “chest breathers,” which mean their chests expand when they breathe deeply. However, the ribs are located in the chest, making it difficult for the lungs to fully expand. This can eventually lead to diminished oxygen supply in the body, causing fatigue and other problems.

The most efficient breathing technique is through the abdomen. When you take in a deep breath through the abdomen, the diaphragm flattens allowing the lungs to fully expand.

Take a moment to check how you breathe. Does your chest expand? Do you feel like you can’t get a deep, full breath? Does your heart speed up when you breathe deeply? If so, you’re probably a chest breather.

Now, place a hand on your abdomen. As you take a deep breath, expand your abdomen. Your chest should remain still, while your abdomen expands and contracts as you breathe. You might find it helpful to imagine a balloon filling up and deflating inside your stomach as you breathe.

If you practice this technique for a couple minutes a day for a week, you’ll find it becomes more automatic. And, better yet, you’ll find you’re calmer and more energetic!

“Proper breathing increases overall health by improving oxygen to the body tissue, improves mental clarity, and decreases fatigue.”
- Dr. Brent Wells

Step 8: Live a Balanced Life

Think of your life as a wheel made up of six or seven primary parts. For most people, their primary parts will be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, career and family.

Now, consider how much emphasis you place on each of those parts and take a moment to fill in the wheel. The sample wheel shows someone with increased emphasis on career, finances, and mental development.
Do you think this wheel would ride smoothly on the street of life? Or would it quickly wear out?

On your wheel, are there any parts you concentrate on much more than others? For example, are you placing so much emphasis on your career that you are ignoring your physical needs? Are you so worried about financial status that it is negatively impacting your family life? Are you so focused on learning and achieving that you are missing out on the wonderful relationships you once had with close friends?

The key to a happy, healthy life is balance. If you focus too much on some areas of your life, your wheel will become unbalanced, wearing out quickly and causing a very bumpy ride.

While it’s not necessary to place equal emphasis on every part of your life, are there areas in your life that could be more balanced? Would you – and others in your life – be happier and healthier for it?

“There are three things extremely hard, steel, a diamond, and to know oneself.”- Benjamin Franklin

Step 9: Adequate Sleep

The average American sleeps approximately just under 7 hours per day. While the body needs at least seven hours of good restful sleep to regenerate and prevent disease, it can run on less sleep for weeks without breaking down. Eventually, lack of sleep can lead to confusion, disorientation, delusions, colds, flu, elevated heart rate and many other conditions and symptoms.

Sleep is different from quiet time in that while it is a form of rest, quiet time is typically done consciously, and sleep is done unconsciously. While they are both healthy and necessary, you need to sleep a minimum of 7 hours per day, every day.

Some older adults can do fine on 5-6 hours per night because as a person grows older, activity is less, hence the need for less sleep. Older adults also don’t produce as much melatonin, a hormone necessary to induce sleep.

The most common cause for lack of sleep and insomnia is a busy mind. Many people lay down to sleep and think about everything that happened that day, as well as everything they have to do tomorrow. This creates stress, and causes your body to secrete chemicals that will make it difficult to fall asleep.

Use your bed only for sleep. Don’t read or watch TV in bed.

Avoid drinking too many fluids before bed. This will cause less trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Practice watching your thoughts when you lay down to sleep. See if you can identify your thoughts: what they are, why you are thinking or worrying about these
thoughts, and what lying there thinking about them is doing for you.

If you still cannot sleep, make sure you keep a pen and paper by the side of your bed. When you notice you are thinking about something for more that 5 minutes, sit up, turn on the light, (this may disgruntle some spouses, so you may want to get a penlight), and write down what you were thinking about and what you are going to do about it tomorrow.

Do this as many times as necessary to empty your mind of it’s concerns. This will help to resolve the problem so you can get to sleep.

Step 10: Care for Your Spine

Your spine is a major part of your nervous system, which controls all your body functions. So when caring for your body, don’t forget about your spine! Receiving regular chiropractic treatment – every month or two – will help your spine remain flexible and in proper position. And a flexible, aligned spine is more able to adapt to everyday stresses, is less prone to injury, and helps your nervous system function at it's optimal level.

“Some people don't do well simply because they don’t feel well.”
- Unknown

“A tree’s fruit is only as good as the strength of the branches and trunk that hold it up to flourish.”
- Dr. Brent Wells

If you want to find out more, there is a wealth of information on each of these topics. Your physician or therapist will be happy to provide an author, title or Web site recommendations.

I hope this information will be of use and of value to you. As our patient, I would like to personally welcome you to our clinic, and wish you better health.

Yours in Health,