Happy New Year! As the calendar turns its page to a fresh year, many of us set “Resolutions” to become a better version of ourselves each year.

Now, I know I’m not the only one who sets these resolutions each year and then the year goes by and we reminisce on the past year and see if we achieved the goals or resolutions that we had set at the beginning of the year only to think to ourselves “well, I guess I’ll try that one again”.

Many of us want to set resolutions to lose weight, get back in the gym, eat cleaner, read more books, create that business you’ve been wanting to, and the list can go on. Sadly, the research shows that only 9% of people who set resolutions at the beginning of the year actually follow through with it all year long.

In fact, 80% of our new year’s resolutions are forgotten by mid-winter, and 23% quit the first week of the year! The reason behind these failing stats is because we will set these massive goals that revolve around major changes and shifts in our lifestyle.

As humans we are not wired to make these big sweeping changes. Rather the research states that once we set these major goals, we need to set additional small goals, or steps, to ultimately guide us to our end goal.

What I want to focus on in this newsletter is talking about 6 things you can add into your lifestyle that if applied consistently will have a massive payoff at the end of the year.

In fact, if applied consistently I can guarantee you, you will be healthier, stronger, have more energy, and more motivation to accomplish any other task you need to! I know that’s a bold statement, but I have seen it work time and time again.

These 6 habits can have profound impacts on your health. Think about how important your health is – if you don’t have good health, you aren’t able to accomplish the things you need to.

Your health is your greatest asset, so let’s start taking care of your health proactively, rather than waiting until it’s too late.

Chiropractic Adjustments- this must be at the top of the list if you are looking to improve your health in the 2024 year, being that your central nervous system is most important organ you have. A lot of individuals what to increase the strength of their heart or improve their digestion or lose weight – all great but remember that your nervous system controls every organ, system, cell and tissue inside you (including your heart, digestion and even your fat!). When misaligned (or subluxated) your body isn’t functioning at 100%. Implementing a weekly chiropractic habit is extremely important in achieving your health goals!

Fasting- studies show that fasting raises human growth hormone, the so-called “fountain of youth”, and key hormone for anti-aging and looking young and vital. Fasting also turns you into a fat burning machine. Overtime with fasting, your body stops craving sugars and carbs.

Glucose control- this could be a whole article itself, but for the sake of this conversation I’ll keep it brief. The Standard American Diet (SAD) often causes glucose(sugar) spikes all day. These spikes drive the creation of Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), which age you quickly because they damage collagen faster than should occur naturally. These AGEs cause wrinkles and created inflammation in your joints and skin and can even drive autoimmune reactions. So how do you control these spikes? You need to get rid of or limit grains. Even gluten free grains will drive these spikes. You can also limit these spikes by increasing your healthy fat intake. Coconut oil, which is full of saturated fat, is a phenomenal blood sugar regulator.

Exercise- especially High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT training is all about getting your heart rate up high enough to where it’s tough to breathe and then resting and letting your heart rate come back down and repeating that process. With this kind of training growth hormone increases as do anabolic hormones that promote vitality and longevity. Your body was designed to move, and we have become such a sedentary nation, that just a little bit more movement each day acts as natural medicine to your body. A good rule of thumb to follow is aiming for 7,000-10,000 steps per day.

Prioritize sleep- I’ve written plenty of articles on the benefits of getting quality sleep so I’m not going to dive too deep into it here. But aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. Avoiding late night screen time will allow your brain to calm down and produce the proper hormones to give your body the sleep it needs.

Meditation, Reading, Sauna- I lumped these 3 together as they are all forms of stress management. You guys can all agree with me that life is unnaturally stressful, right? Stress is our bodies kryptonite. Learning how to manage stress and reduce your stress levels is vitally important in creating the healthy body you desire.

So, in 2024 it’s all about getting yourself in the habit of doing new things that promote overall health and well-being. Setting small goals that will ultimately lead you to achieving the overall major goal you have set for yourself is a much better approach and will give you much better outcomes!