Lifestyle Medicine
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Nourishment
Nutrition is about nourishing your entire being.
This goes beyond the foods you eat to the stories you are living in, the air you are breathing, how you move your body, the water you are drinking, the quality of your sleep, and the environment in which you are surrounding every cell in your body.
Lifestyle Medicine
There are simple lifestyle practices that determine the majority of our health. Some of them are things we just don't think about but could easily incorporate into our lives - things like breathing deeply, drinking more water, and getting a little extra sunlight each day.
Different, not difficult.
Other things, like eating nutrient-rich food or getting more movement seem like unnecessary challenges in an already over-packed lifestyle. For these types of practices, small adjustments over a longer period of time are the best way to make healthier choices a part of our routine. And truly, these changes are not difficult so much as different. We fear them because they make us feel like we would have to give something up - free time, comfort, pleasure, reassurance, and even love.
True nourishment is pleasurable and fun.
Choosing to nourish yourself means adding in more of what you need, not taking away things that are helping you get by. As you give yourself more and more of of what you need on a cellular and soul level, your fears start to disappear and you realize that true nourishment is pleasurable and fun.
The environment pulls the trigger...
In the past few decades, scientists have discovered through the field of epigenetics that our genes are not our destiny. There are factors within our control that can turn genes off or on...and we can sometimes pass these traits on to our children. No longer are we considering our fates as written in stone...genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger. This means that you have the power to turn on health-promoting genes and turn off others.
What about my attitude?
While nutrition is the foundation of good health, our genetic environment is also determined by our thoughts and level of positivity. We can use the neuroplasticity* of the brain to our advantage and rewire our minds for happiness, gratitude, and wellness. This mental environment has a chemical and physical impact on our genes and our cells. Positive attitude = positive impact on genes.
These are exciting times because there is so much we can do to be well. I invite you to look at the guide below of lifestyle practices for good health and choose one to incorporate into your life this week.
Lifestyle Practices for Optimum Health
1. Drink half your weight in ounces of water daily. A water app tracker like Hydrocoach for Android is a great tool.
2. Eat nutrient-dense food. Get my GUIDE TO CLEAN EATING to learn about the best food choices you can make.
3. Spend at least 15 minutes outside, in the sunlight daily. You get a dose of nature, which sends key stress-relief signals to the brain, as well as exposure to sunlight which promotes vitamin D synthesis and helps regulate your circadian rhythms (i.e. better sleep) and promote feel-good chemicals in the brain.
4. Breathe deeply, routinely. Link thinking about your breathing with something else you do regularly like sitting at stoplights, walking your dog, or watching commercials. You can even do this at night when you go to bed. Be sure to notice your breath and how it is normally. Then take deep breaths and fully inflate your stomach as you inhale all the way. Many people breathe more shallowly than they realize, whether it is because of stress, restrictive clothing, or lack of attention. Making an effort to increase oxygen flow helps nourish your tissues and allows your body to utilize nutrients more effectively. Linking your breath with your thoughts brings them into harmony to create a balanced mind-body connection.
5. Sleep. Some people need 7 hours, some need 11. How many hours do you need to feel great? Make a plan to get it. Start a sleep routine that involves turning technology off at least 20 minutes before bed and creating a nighttime ritual that helps you feel relaxed before sleeping. Be sure your environment is optimal for you...whether that means a dark room and complete silence or a night light and white noise. Take time to make your sleeping space comfortable and conducive to deep, restful sleep. There is no nutrient to replace sleep, so if this is something you struggle with, be sure to work with a practitioner who can help you naturally address your needs. Check out my SLEEP SURVEY to learn more.
6. Move. This can be as simple as walking for 15 or 30 minutes per day. Sound too difficult? Start with walking for 1 minute. Or sit on your couch and move your arms during commercials. It doesn't matter where you start, just start. The difference between doing 10 of something and doing none is HUGE. After a year, it is a difference of 3,650 of something and that adds up. If you are someone that feels like 30 minutes or more is no big deal, but you still aren't doing it, then get started in the 1 minute category. Sometimes it is more about the mental challenge and making space in your life more than it is about the difficulty of the actual task. Make it fun, make it easy. Don't sign up to go to the gym if you hate the gym. Dance, jump, ride a bike, skate, swim, twist, stretch, play. Life is too short to spend time moving your body in ways that make you miserable. If everything fits in that category right now, start small. It only gets better.
7. Start a gratitude practice. Every night for a week, write down three things you are truly grateful for from the day. Each thing must be recent, positive, and specific. Tell why you are grateful for that thing. Don't say, I am glad there was no traffic today. Say, I am so grateful that my ride was smooth and enjoyable. This practice trains you to focus on and see the positive. The more you do it, the more you reinforce those neural pathways in your brain. After 21 days, this becomes a habit. Happiness studies have shown that the majority of happy people have some type of gratitude practice. Gratitude doesn't come from happiness. Happiness comes from gratitude.
What can you ADD to your life this week? Let me know which practice you choose and how it goes!
*Neuroplasticity means that the brain has the power to change. The more we train the brain, the more those pathways are reinforced. Coaching sessions and exercises capitalize on this ability and give you the tools necessary to build a strong foundation of positive experiences. The stronger the foundation, the greater the momentum for change.