Move More
A sedentary lifestyle is one of the leading causes of
preventable deaths worldwide. This is defined as a lack
of regular, routine physical activity for a sustained
minimum of 20 minutes more than 3 days a week. It’s
not just being physically active that is required, but
being in continuous physical activity for a minimum of
20 minutes.
Starting small, pick two days a week and walk out for
ten minutes, then walk home. If you miss one day then
go the next day but don’t give up. After two weeks add
a day and begin walking three times a week. Then on
the sixth week walk out for fifteen minutes, then walk
home (30 minutes total). The ultimate goal is to be
walking 45 minutes at a time four or five days a week.
Decrease Caffeine, Sugar and Other Chemicals
Treat caffeine or junk food just like any other bad habit
and slowly reduce your intake. For instance, drinking
four cups of coffee and 8-34 ounces of soda per day is
extremely unhealthy. Begin by reducing your coffee
from four to three cups a day for one or two weeks,
then go to two a day for one or two weeks until you are
down to only a cup a day. As for soft drinks, these
should be consumed no more than once or twice a
month due to their chemical content.
This plan also works with snacking, high sugar intake,
consuming chemically altered diet snacks or drinks,
and high carbohydrate/low protein diets. Slowly
decrease your intake over a regular period of time and
you’ll hardly notice it, but you will be making a change.
Less Over-the-Counter Medications
It may be that you’re one of the millions of people
worldwide who find they reach for over-the-counter
(OTC) drugs on a regular basis: allergy medications,
cough or eye drops, pain relievers, sleep aids,
antacids, cold remedies and weight-loss drugs are
taken routinely. This is called “self-medicating” and can
be dangerous for those who aren’t aware of drug
interaction risks as well as the side-effects of the
chemicals in these drugs.
Talk to your Family Wellness Chiropractor about any
OTCs that you take and why; it may be that there are
healthier, holistic options you haven’t considered.
For more information about getting a fresh start to your health, read “A Fresh Start – Part III“
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