The holiday season has begun and now is the time to commit to a lasting holiday health plan. Enjoy the healthiest holiday season ever and start your new year with a mindset of staying healthy for a lifetime.
The Lifestyle Care Continuum
The three elements of the Lifestyle Care Continuum are Crisis Care, Critical Transition, and Lifestyle Care. Too many of us make unhealthy choices during the holidays which results in a crisis, and then use the crisis to motivate us to get healthy again (usually right around New Year’s). Every year millions of people begin exercise programs, diet plans, and chiropractic regimens to get themselves healthy… and then usually by February are right back to where they started.
However, when you choose to live your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle, you will get off the roller coaster ride and enjoy good health without extreme ups and downs and you will never feel deprived. A vital piece to beginning the 100 Year Lifestyle lies in the Critical Transition.
The Critical Transition is the transition from Crisis Care to Lifestyle Care! To help you make this transition, remember this acronym for FitNESS every time you are faced with a choice during the holidays or any other time that you feel tempted or get off track.
FitNESS: Neurology, Nutrition, Endurance, Strength, and Structure.
Neurology comes first for a reason. Muscles are attached to bones and controlled by nerves. In fact, your nervous system controls and coordinates all of your conscious and unconscious functions including your muscles, organs, and systems. You must have a spine and healthy nervous system for your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, your brain to work right, and your balance to be stable. The transition from Crisis Care to Chiropractic Lifestyle Care will keep your nervous system functioning at its optimum potential and is the foundation for everything else that follows. This is one reason why many of the top athletes in the world utilize chiropractic care to optimize their training and fitness program.
Nutrition comes next. Make healthier food choices this holiday season and as a part of your lifestyle. Learn to love the things that are good for you. It is true, you are what you eat. Consuming a diet filled with organic fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and very low in sugar, white flour, white rice, and pasta, should be your lifestyle and not just a weight-loss fad. This will sustain you not just while getting into shape but as you stay in shape. It’s making your new shape your lifestyle.
Endurance develops through cardiovascular exercise which includes walking, running, hiking, bike riding, and ellipticals that will increase your heart rate and strengthen your cardiovascular system. Start slow and steady, be consistent, and as time goes on increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of your endurance training.
Strength gives you confidence and is necessary if you want to be independent as you age. Whether you use weights or you do strength training through yoga, Pilates, or other types of plyometric training, it is important to keep yourself strong as a part of a lifestyle.
Structure is also vital, especially when you consider the overuse of technology, cell phones, and computers. Even children are developing postural imbalances at a very early age and it is wreaking havoc on their health and posture. When it comes to your 100 Year Lifestyle fitNESS plan, having a healthy, straight, strong spine and posture is vital to your quality of life in the short and long term. This is another reason why chiropractors have become the central figure in the healthcare team for millions of people including nearly every professional and collegiate sports team.
Statistics show that you will probably live longer than you ever thought. If you want to get there in style with health and vitality, you must make your lifestyle fitness a priority. Any time of year is the right time to shift to a lifestyle of fitNESS and enjoy the journey on your way to a sensational century.
Schedule an Appointment for yourself and your family today and give the gift of health and chiropractic this holiday season.